I do not like aspartame, but I would not say that it is worse for you than sugar. They are both detrimental in different ways, but I would argue that it is a lot easier for sugar to negatively affect one's health than to consume dangerous amounts of aspartame. And to another point, there are several artificial sweeteners that are perfectly fine, like sucralose. This however is very true. The carbonic acid in fizzy drinks (much like the excessive citric acid used in sour sweets) is terrible for the enamel. A combination of sugar and acid is probably one of the quickest ways to lose your teeth apart from a brawl. I try to stay away from such drinks, myself. An in-game Coke advertisement only makes me more cynical rather than thirsty. Cheers
I am perfectly aware that they can be turned off, but it's not that I did not want the ads at all. What I wanted (on the Bakerloo, and what I thought we had been promised) was Underground ads - the ones you see on the Underground. Designed to be read by people waiting for a train they are unique and often quite clever and - yes - add to the immersion as there would be more of them. In addition there are LT's own ads, which would be good as they are also unique. But a banner ad (whoever it is from) designed for gamers that would NEVER be seen on the Underground? No. Really, no! Worse than nothing.
Think yourself lucky your cookies don't feed adverts. I'd be all over the monthly screenshot competitions with billboards for all manner of odd things then.
Why do DTG 9/10 implement something that got add immersion then turns out to do the opposite. Driving on the older routes would be great seeing ads of that era and of that country the route is in. Like in the forthcoming SOS the ads would be fascinating if they were of that time period, showing a modern day Coke advert in SOS would ruin the whole experience I'd imagine for those who wanted to buy it. Same with other routes. IMO DTG need to be careful with these billboards as it might put people off. I will be switching them off if I get back to playing TSW2 and hope a decent mod comes out to fill the void.
The thought DTG would ever go through the effort of getting era appropriate ads is a pipe dream. It would be so much effort to go through for what would ultimately be something that doesn't even add much in the first place. Companies can be a pain to deal with even when it comes to promoting their latest and greatest. It's even harder when you're talking products they might not even make anymore, and that's assuming they still exist. Also in a lot of cases a lot of companies would rather not air their old ads, as they may think it's inappropriate for modern tastes. The idea's neat sure, but then again, so is a lot of thing. I think if I were to suggest a TSW mega route with 10 brand new fully detailed locos, a hundred pieces of rolling stock, and 200 miles of trackage I think everyone would agree it's also a neat idea. Now trying to convince DTG that it's a practical and profitable idea would be a uphill battle. Assuming the idea would even be able to move on slightly downhill bit of ground before the hill first of course.
Why is it a pipe dream? Tell me what is easier, researching ads of a few years ago where there is still plenty of evidence. On youtube there are videos showing all the old ads Or researching SOS where not a lot of it exists? You really think it wouldn't add much? I bet you haven't used mods have you? Having era specific details would add loads of immersion if they set in the right era. So I wonder how you would feel at driving a Loco in SOS and there is a billboard for 'Coke Zero'?
They wouldn't get paid for those ads though, which is the point of dynamic billboards. Coke Zero would look weird but still generates the ad revenue. This is why I unticked the box and don't use them...
If that company doesn't exist then yeah they wouldn't get paid but if they did and still selling that product maybe they would? But I would untick them too tbh unless they were period.
Are you suggesting that DTG just pull old copyrighted ads from the internet and stick them in the game without permission? Surely not. If you mean, using old ads as a basis for creating original parodied ads in the style of different eras, that's something that DTG already does. Turn off the Bidstack billboards and you'll get exactly what you're asking for. Bidstack is not going to service ads of a different era because the companies serving their ads don't want to advertise their brand as being from a different era. If you think DTG is going to develop their own in-house dynamic billboard advertising service to attract companies to run their outdated branding, that is the pipe dream. Cheers
I didn't really say anything about research, my main point was that a lot of companies flat out wouldn't want to run their old ads. For some it could be as simple as them being boring or irrelevant to modern audiences. While for others it could be content they fear could be considered offensive, as they feature cultural stereotypes which wouldn't fly. Or they may even feature people who have fallen out with the company in question. With that said I do agree with that point, old ads would be a massive pain to research. Although I fail to see how that goes against my point that era period appropriate adverts would be unfeasible to do, if anything that actually helps further my point. Funny you should say that, I've literally bought Southeastern during a recent sale and installed various improvement mods, one of which did add ads. And no, they really don't add that much, because it's hard as all hell seeing tiny posters and billboards when you're having to concentrate on driving a train. I also believe I have a few other improvement mods which add ads, but I honestly couldn't tell you which ones because I don't remember. Just about any other improvement to the simulation would have a much more noticeable improvement to the experience. I mean I agree, but again I don't see how your point is going against mine. Also you to be assuming I want modern ads in the game, which is quite a hoop to jump through since I said not such thing. In fact I'd rather see the entire dynamic ads project gutted if I were completely honest, it's a waste of time and resources. As it adds zero immersion to TSW in its current form, nor do I think they could improve it to a point where it would do so.
I also think the dynamic ads is a waste of time and makes DTG look cheap imo. I would want period ads on Billboards that won't affect precious copyright but would add to the experience in older routes. I had mods for diesel legends and they did exactly that, replace billboards with period ones and it kept the immersion for the route as a whole.
This. Period adapted ads. Non real for avoiding any copiright problem is enough. Moders will always add something to spice it up. Now maybe we can imagine multiple ads that would be switched over time, 1 for evrey season for example with winter sports maybe in december and sunny beaches in summer. Thinking about it would actually be cool.
I don't see how that's any different from what DTG were doing before the dynamic ads though, they were already doing that before.
