I don’t think some people are getting the message that 2 lines worth of words isn’t enough for a proposal so please add info and pics so people get interested.Because I saw a proposal which was recent which just said I think they should add this in the game or something like that so ADD INFO PLEASE.
That's your opinion and you are entitled to it. I happen to disagree. Sometimes two lines is all that's needed to convey the idea. Ultimately, it's down to DTG to assess the viability and sales potential. Remember this is free feedback for DTG. Not everyone has the time to devote to research and writing a detailed message but that doesn't make the idea less worthy.
Yes it is but then at the same time DTG respond to the ones that have that detail since they are intrigued by the pictures and the imfor,action they include in them
Two lines of information? I would like to know how. If you say "DTG make this route please. I really like it." Do you think there even bother to look at it? No they won't.
I think DTG look at all ideas and I don't think they want anyone to be discouraged from giving them no matter how detailed. That's the point. I don't understand why someone should dictate that all ideas should involve meticulous research. Who made the OP the standards Police?!
If people want to spend time researching and preparing detailed proposals for free that's fine but don't expect others to be able or willing to do the same. I don't give away my time so easily for a company to profit from it but understand if that's your thing. DTG must be rubbing their hands: The customers pay us for a product and then some work for free to provide us with detailed proposals for new products that they pay us for again. Reminds me of Tom Sawyer convincing a group of boys to paint the fence. I think people on this forum need to remind themselves that they are the customer/potential customer.
This forum isn't just about suggesting routes to DTG, I'm sure they're capable of researching routes for themselves, but what WILL make them look a bit more is interest in BUYING a route, which is determined by how people talk about routes, how often and in how much depth... So what you're trying to get by making a suggestion is likes, conversation and interest So "Hey, I want the route from Rainham to Gillingham, it's great" isn't going to give you that And to be fair... your responses on this post alone have been longer than many of the suggestion posts I've seen...
The simple reason why more detailed proposals have higher chances of receiving attention is the fact that we are getting hundreds of proposals every single day. These forums are just one of the venues really, we've got our social pages where people always propose something. The more detail there is the more chances to get noticed. I would also note that the availability of licenses plays a big role in all this as we can't just take any route and make it. Even if a proposal is super detailed it may still be blocked by a single licensing issue. Overall though, the more similar the proposal is to the way our current routes are built, the higher the chances of it being picked up, i.e. we won't be making a 150-mile route regardless of how exciting it is.
[QUOTE=" So "Hey, I want the route from Rainham to Gillingham, it's great" isn't going to give you that[/QUOTE] If you know the route being suggested and want it you don't need to have an essay on it and you don't need an essay to give feedback saying yay or nay. If you know it, you know it. If DTG want to know if people are interested in BUYING a route let them do the research, write the essay and propose it on here. I'm sure people will willingly give their feedback for nothing.
I'm sure it does get more notice as you've managed to get a customer to do free research for you but that's not my point. Any forum member should be free to provide as much or as little as they like without being called out for not obeying a self-appointed standards moderator (the OP). You've also highlighted why people don't bother. Investing lots of time and research only to be tripped up by an unknown licensing issue and no guarantee that the idea will be implemented. And if it is implemented, what's the prize? Bragging rights? A cut of the profits? Who owns the intellectual property?
I agree anyone and everyone should be able to submit the proposal, whatever the length. That's not the main point, though. We are talking about being noticed among hundreds of suggestions proposed every day. And we are not really asking anyone to make proposals, be it detailed or not - that's up to the users to decide. There is only a handful of routes that we can do in one year so it's natural that a proposal with more detail has higher chances of getting noticed.
Appreciate the input, but how do you know how detailed the proposal is without clicking on it? And in all seriousness, what is the prize?
Every forum member is free to provide a suggestion with as little or as much detail as they want. The point is, the more detailed a post then the more likely it is going to get noticed and start a discussion. When I see a one line suggestion with no context to it, I simply click back to the main forums page and move on without any further thought because there was no substance to it. No one is saying they can't post but it, but it will more than likely be lost in the void of other one line suggestions There is never a guarantee that any suggestion will be implemented into the game. It's not outlined anywhere that that is the case and if someone comes here thinking otherwise, that is on them. The "prize" is that everyone gets a new piece of content to play and enjoy.
We do check the proposals section all the time. It's natural that a proposal with images and perhaps text gets noticed. Not sure what you mean by prize.
That would happen anyway wouldn't it? Are you suggesting that DTG are solely reliant on customer proposals?
Not at all. DTG clearly do their own research and development regardless if the route was proposed by a member of our community or internally decided on without our influence. Your remarks are becoming unreasonable at this point. We have all clearly stated our points and there is nothing left to say about it.
If you are referring to my questions to DTG, I think they are reasonable and any company should be capable of answering them. Of course, they don't have to but I'd suggest that if people knew there was an incentive they may be more inclined to provide more detail in proposals. A kind of competition....with a prize. It's usual for companies to offer something in return for ideas/marketing info and not rely on the goodwill of their customers. It would also give them an opportunity to have some T&Cs to negate any risk of litigation or accusation of stealing intellectual property at a later date.
I think you are taking it a bit too seriously, whatever research that a user can conduct would still be one-hundredth of what would actually go into route development. Proposals give an idea, but they are not a concrete development plan and will never be. In addition, whatever route is proposed, it's very likely that it was already proposed by someone else before so the idea of ownership of the idea becomes very vague.
Agreed, but the developers are paid by DTG. It's their job. Asking users (customers) to invest time and effort for DTG to profit doesn't sit well with me personally (I know DTG aren't asking for this but that's what the OP is alluding to). So forgive me if any route suggestions I make aren't very detailed and I accept that I've lowered the chances of my route being selected. I think you've identified a risk to DTG regarding the ownership of ideas if they are very vague. Of course you could easily argue that a user has waived their right to a claim by posting on a public forum.
Then by all means keep your suggestions minimal. Actually, by your logic here, never make any suggestions ever again. I mean, what's the point if you're not going to be monetarily reimbursed for posting 3 lines of text into a forum that no one asked you to do. It's not like this a forum for the open and completely voluntary sharing of ideas by the community or anything. You're not entitled to anything.