Anyone Done The Winter Survey Yet?

I finished the survey without running in any problems. I didn't have any questions about DLCs or content packs, but that's probably because I selected that I haven't upgraded to TSW6 (it's in my library, but never installed). This time I didn't write anything except email, but only answered questions by putting checkmarks and selecting radio buttons.

 

I really hope they don’t start introducing any kind of forced progression by having some timetable services locked, only to be revealed as a Mastery reward. Want to play that rail tour? Complete five services as a conductor first. No way. Keep the Mastery rewards frivolous like they usually are now. All gameplay should be available from the off as long as you own all the necessary elements. Please no locking it behind a progression, TSW should not be that kind of game.

 

Done survey, unfortunately there was not an option for scrap mastery

 

I am sure they did -- according to their own preferences... I mean the second comment in the thread insinuating if you do not agree with the author --- you are wrong.

 

As I stated in my survey responses on all the mastery nonsense, the moment they start locking any primary gameplay features behind a separate account to my Steam one, is the moment I stop buying. Plain and simple.

 

I understood this as a type of in-game currency which is earned doing the masteries, with which you can use to purchase items of your liking.
If you're lazy and got the dosh, just buy with real money.

I put somewhat appealing as I'd do the work and have a choice of reward. If there was something I couldn't live without and was busy that week, I'd think about spending. Very much like Mortal Kombat, where I've never needed to use real cash, just earned 'crystals'.

But I understand the fear of over monetisation.

 

Railjet was my suggestion for a new train. It would be some SBB stock but that's impossible.

 

The problem comes if you look at games like Clash Of Clans where, even several years after playing it, I’m still only at Town Hall Level 14. And they just brought in a new Level 18. Unless you spend silly amounts of money on the monthly pass or one off bundles, progress is an impossible grind. So if TSW ever went down that road, would be a sad day.

That said, I would not be averse to an *optional* system where you could effectively do a route in some sort of career mode and unlock more as you go along. The old Densha de Go Professional did that, successfully completing timetable runs gradually opened up longer or more interesting parts of the timetable. However the progression would never have to be so strict as to potentially prevent players seeing all the content they paid for.

 

If they hid services behind mastery and introduce micro-transactions then they can go LOVE themselves repeatedly.

We already pay a premium price for content, if they then think that they can only give us 90% of the content and make us either grind or pay a 2nd time to unlock the remaining 10% then they will lose 100% of my gaming budget.

 

I agree that it could become very grindy.
Hopefully it'll create currency by just playing routes as we would anyway.
I assume that the monitored numbers playing is important to the suits, therefore the incentive to keep us playing is strong.
The rewards could be really nice; liveries? trucks? scenarios? The sort of stuff they sell additional to routes now.
Better than decals anyway.

 

Yeah, i like getting new content, personally. If no DLC came out of a whole year, i'd probably move on to something else just tbh.

I also don't care about multiple save slots since the existing one doesn't even work half the time. An autosave though....

I put NPC passenger fixes as my top priority- the most obviously broken part of the game IMO (besides core issues, which we all know will never be fixed)

Amtrak P42 Genesis as my most wanted loco (just like i do everytime).

Questions about a new yard manager mode (or modes, maybe, some of that stuff really overlaps tbh) and freight gameplay improvements like DPU fencing are giving me a little hope that US Freight might finally make a comeback.

Didn't see any mention of multiplayer for the first time in a while, unless i missed it.

Time will tell on all of this though.

Oh, +1 that Subway Sim 2 should have been listed in the "other games you play" question. It has its issues but is doing some interesting stuff (random shift generator, just launched a battery-electric shunter as its first DLC), at a much lower budget than DTG. No idea how much legs it's got but it's fun to play for a couple of sessions here and there.

 

Regarding the yearly releases, if they are struggling to meet budget requirements, the only justifiable reason for a new iteration of the game is if these "core" features are implemented on every route previously in game. Currently, I'm incredulous that these "core" features are essentially just new features on 3 new routes considering that they've neglected to implement them on recently released DLC due specifically to their insisting on a yearly release schedule and withholding DLC from release solely to use it in the next iteration. If they are looking for other ways to strip our pockets, especially considering the recent wave of negative feedback from all sectors of the community, they need to understand that we go through the trouble of buying a "new" game to feel up to date only for the number on the title to leave the progress of the game behind. Right now it feels like they go through the trouble of making a new game for it to end up causing THEM more headaches and bugs and overcomplicating EVERYTHING. I'm convinced most of the problems plaguing the game are a direct result of the yearly iterations. If these releases were more spaced out, and "core" features actually meant what they're called (as in a core part of the game and not a feature on 3 / ~60 routes), they would likely encounter most bugs with the DLC before launch, be future-proofing the game, still attract new players (which I think is the whole point of a yearly release), and people would be willing to spend the deluxe price we already do and complain a whole heck of a lot less.

 

Main things I put were:

What roles on the railways you would like to see featured

• Maintenance worker
• Signaller
• Line controller

What potential new game mode sounds the most appealing

• Freight hauler

Which core features would you most like to see improvements for

• Formation designer
• Scenario planner
• Free roam

Which DTG releases would you like to see remastered

• Hauptstrecke Hamburg-Lubeck
• Spirit of Steam
• Ruhr Sieg Nord

If you could have one locomotive what would it be

• ICE-TD

(If they meant loco specifically then I would say either a class 73 or class 68)

 

Interesting there was a focus on US freight questions and the "station management roles."

 

I did it.

 

Completely off-topic, but there's a name I haven't seen since my days on the Auran forums in the early 2000s!

JB

 

Man those were the days, haha

 

I was there too, good times

 

Honestly like a lot of things with this game I actually am not opposed to a progression system, I just don't think DTG are the ones I'd want designing it. Based on how tedious some of those mastery achievements are DTG would 100% make you grind stuff. The game's obsession A to B routes with so little traction included out the gate doesn't help either. It's kind of hard to imagine how you'd "lock" things with any logic or reason to it, I feel like we'd need much longer routes, likely also with more traction included.

Like, we could probably do something interesting with progression if we got the Weardale & Teesdale route for this game, or some other 200ish mile long network route with four or five engines off the bat, but that ain't this game's style.

 

The writing is on the wall because TS Unreal 5 is undoubtedly in development and taking up a lot of resources. Then we will be back at square one of platform development. I remember when TSW first came out and you were lucky to get 20fps on a above average PC.

 

Part of the winter survey and of course, Metro Rivals had to appear. So, who said yes please to this and why?

 

i put down et44ac for locomotive i like to see. i hope the dlss/fsr get good vote. if it dose that mean they can look at upgrading to 4.27.2 which support dlss 3.

 

I am not sure there's a lot of overlap with TSW there, but they keep pushing it because they both have to do with rails.
It's like pitching rally racing to ETS/ATS truck drivers.

 

Hey JB hows you?
Yes those were the days lol. I trhink most of us who were around then used to live on the forums from Auran.

Hentis

 

done and done! reaching for unbelievable amounts of hopium but "Australia" as a region gives me hope

 

I put my phone in landscape and it worked as intended, as I also suffered the stuttery-ness!

I also thought it was considerate while also being open to the evolution of the game - especially since a fair few other Train Sim games have announced console versions.

The idea of introducing a progression based currency that can unlock certain things is interesting. I’ve often found myself only interested in mastery if the scenery tile, or poster, was desirable or relevant to my interests. Personally, I’d rather part with in-game ‘earned’ currency than cash for cosmetic upgrades.

 

Where I can find the winter survey?

 

Same here, for the same reason. The ones appearing on railway tracks are particularly awful, I'd hate to imagine what flashbacks actual train drivers who've experienced suicides are getting sometimes in this game.

 

https://bit.ly/TSWPlayerSurvey2025

Here hope this helps and remember, when it asks you what train you want, don't forget to write Deltic

 

Name a train you want in TSW using only the letters D L I E C and T once each.

 

Honestly wouldn’t be too bad to lock certain things behind mastery

My idea being better than what they put, so basically my idea is to have backdated timetables locked behind mastery instead of paid dlc
Like stage 3 of Rivera being a timetable set in the br era with all currently available in game stock

 

I was very encouraged by the questions regarding the community's interest in remastering old routes. I really hope that DTG will bring most of the early DLC into line with new standards (1-2 routes per year will make many happy).

There's no mention of VR support, so that means it's not even planned in the long term!

 

Also no direct mention of multiplayer unless people chose to write it in the free text section with regard to other games they play.

 

Not needed, like at most 10 people will actually use it after the first week

 

Just like the Simrail English server!

Now I have a confession to make... when asked about my most wanted loco, I forgot how to spell TICDEL and it somehow came out as Class 26 instead. Preferably crossing at Lairg and Brora (or Garve and Achnasheen).

 

I get the idea, but that's a LOT of work for no gain for them. A simple scenery asset is relatively easy. A whole timetable? Massive.
Days of work.
Unless the "timetable" was only a handful of runs.

I do think the "hidden assets" has worked well in the past.
Also liveries are easy and eye catching.
There's also a much lower bar on realism and quality those since you're not spending "real" cash.
More just for fun. So if it's a fictional or "interpreted" livery (like a non-existent one that is around theme like Christmas or London BiCentennial in 2026, people won't be so upset about it being "inauthentic."

 

I'd prefer something big like a timetable isn't locked behind doing 12 guard modes in the rain thank you very much

 

Don't worry, DTG have you covered with multiplayer, it is call metro rivals

 

One thing I forgot to mention in the survey is the negative effects of the decision to discontinue XBOX Achievement support for new DLC. I’m surprised how much this has turned out to be a disincentive for me to purchase DLC for TSW6, and really wish that DTG would reconsider this as it’s impacting my enjoyment of the game more than I expected.

 

That thought did occur to me. If you miss a "monthly mastery" award, is it forever not available?
Or an event offering like the historical railway event they had this year... IF they had offered something special, should it be possible to get it even years later if you didn't even have TSW then? Or is part of the draw the elite feeling of uniqueness? You had to "be there to get it?"
I struggle to see the point of the latter because it's such a limited application in a single player game. In multi-player games you can at least "show off" to other players in game. In a single player game... who are you showing off to?

 

Masteries are so pointless… if they include exclusive livery designs or interior cab designs, great. Doing them to see a poster at a couple of stations along the route is a waste of time. Let’s hope they improve, then I might actually be bothered to do them.

 

I dont think micro-transactions have a place in TSW 6. But, they could have a place in Metro Rivals and TSW Next (UE5) if those are multiplayer. Personalizing your looks is the usual field for micro-transactions.

 

lol

 

There are some scenes that improve the game abit.
A dragon statue on Cardiff!

 

The rewards would need to be meaty enough to give incentive, but not too much as to be missed.
In the survey I requested for an upgrade to the livery designer. I don't use it but would download more stuff if it had quality tools.
With the possibility of that not happening, some good liveries for freight wagons or coaches would be nice.
Just an example. It would diversify the playing experience with more colours and build the environment.

 

Is that a thing in game, or a suggestion?
I haven't pulled the trigger on Cardiff yet so don't own it.

 

Yes, it's there.
Dioramas are good but smallfry really. Anything that could add realistic variety to routes would be great, assuming it doesn't ruin frame rate. Liveries are an obvious choice. Putting on funny hats may be appreciated by some but I'd prefer to up the sim reality.