General Discussion Is Gone

I agree with that. I haven't been at every corner of this forum, but overall, this forum is one of the friendliest on the internet.
If people think this forum is rude and oppressive, they're either huge bosses whose employees are afraid to tell them what they think, or they're just incredibly lucky to always be in good company wherever they go.

 

I was gonna say, biggest thing I would say is remove the "like" system. It's purely toxic. A lot of back-patting and reciprocal upvotes for saying "what people want to hear" and often "what people want to hear" is wrong. Like telling people a cold hard fact on reddit and getting downvoted purely because people don't like the truth. This is kind of the mirror image of it. If you don't have a 2:1 likes to messages ratio you aren't playing the game and saying what other posters, especially the chronically here ones, want to hear. Useless feature.

 

These people get indignant because their dissatisfied customers tell them the truth to their faces, and like little children, they decide that no one else can play with their toy anymore.

Do what you want. My response will be the same as it has been for the past year: I won't buy anything from them at all because I'm fed up with their shameful lies. I uninstalled the game from my PS5. It had been there since TSW 2020, and I've spent thousands of euros, but no more. The situation has become untenable, and instead of trying to get us excited again, they seem to want to push us further away.

Lately, they've been treating the customers who keep them in business like enemies. They're earning their demise, and I won't feel sorry for them because there are many talented people ready to take their place, and I will support them, just as I did with you before.

 

However, there are many sites on the internet or on YouTube where you can get an idea of TSW or a new dlc.
Just browse the web a bit.
Ultimately, I don't understand why some people take this forum so seriously, as if it were the sacred tablets of Moses.
I will no longer buy TSW or its expansions simply because I'm no longer satisfied with them.
It's old and beyond repair.
TSW 6 is what you see, and any TSW 7-8-9 releases won't change, because that's impossible.
I'm waiting for something new.
I use my head; a negative or positive comment won't change my mind.

 

Why should they pay for you to post and distribute that criticism? Doesn't make sense economically. If there is a loss of customers it exacerbates it.

I understand bugs are very frustrating, and a critical bug actually kept me from even trying the game at all for over a year after first buying (the Dosto cabs didn't work and that's exactly what I wanted to use the game for). Still, as some who knows a little bit about game development I think people have really unreasonable expectations about the degree of polish and perfection that is possible for a company this size with the complexity of the product. Is it a bad choice for them to tolerate the degree of bugs there is? Maybe so. But again, why should they pay for you to publish criticism of that?

If you want a forum, use reddit. No reason for the developer to host them at all. This is a common trend in the industry, focusing on Discord, which is popular with younger users who are the future, and is easier to moderate.

 

You mean the same Reddit that has a TSW subreddit moderated by DTG employees?

 

Start your own sub then, that's how reddit works.

 

I'll add my 2p.

Agree with everyone, the GD forum is where I end up daily, even when I haven't played the game for a few weeks, or like now, when at an event with some down time. I don't see the logical thought process here.

So, some personal thoughts.
TSW4 was the pinnacle for me and Blackpool Branches, the growing 3P roster and the improvements looked like it was going from strength to strength.
The launch of TSW5 was the polar opposite, with bugs and issues now starting to show. I actually have some sympathy here. Everything game, iteration and development should improve the game and push the boundaries. Unfortunately for console users, that was TSW4. The game is beyond the tech of that generation and we are where we are today.

That however is overshadowed (for me), by the things that have happened in the last year. This is all pure conjecture on my part by the way.

I fear the parent company/driving force behind DTG have moved the goalposts. Maybe it was like most takeovers or parent company acquisitions, they take stock, review and understand the product before making changes, which in most cases takes a while (years).
I feel that's where we currently are.

We had a flurry of activity and announcements like the VR game, the Minecraft style (kids) variant and the UE5 teachings of Metro Rivals. Two stalled with no follow up and the last was canned. You can kind of understand that if the numbers don't add up, but I believe they let all the staff go. No redistribution, or long term goal learnings being harnessed, just a loss leader.

You then have the disappearances of the CM team and the EP who were once on here daily actively engaging on most threads. The reduction in the link between developer and community, which i feel is one of the reasons the forum has become sour and sometimes nasty. No excuse, but it's born of frustration.

My gut tells me that something big is coming. It could be the end of TSW and the move to something else.
As I mentioned previously on one of my posts , I fear the DLC and core size now are so big, it isn't financially viable to fix. Doesn't mean they can't get another two years out of it, but if things are only going to get worse, then removing things that they have to moderate the fallout, may help.

It could be that the next raft of Focus 'improvements' is to streamline the CM team. They let devs go, have stopped making in-house DLC (at the rate they used to), so by streamlining the forums and Discord, you can see what may happen next. Hope I'm wrong for all involved, as that usually means more departures to be cost beneficial.

As I said, all conjecture on my part, just find it sad that we seem to be on a downward trend on a game that I really enjoy and is what I use to clear my mind, depart from reality for a bit.

They will inevitably do what they want, just hope they revise THIS decision. This place here is what made me spend £50 last week on the JT DLC. The buzz, the discussions and the 'what ifs' made it a daily visit and even with all the issues, I still bought it on an XBox Series S.
It's what keeps me linked. Lose the link, and it will likely mean I'll drop out the loop for the game and ultimately future spending.

 

Yeah, lets all use the mess that is discord which has zero structure and most of the time if you post looking for help with something your message gets lost in a sea of wibble. At least on a forum like this you can post something and easily find it again later on if needed.

 

Here it is.
Every now and then I take comfort in the fact that someone is gifted with a thinking mind and is therefore using their intelligence (which is a precious gift).

 

I seem to have been singled out in a train sim society video for calling Candace an AI bot? That was a joke for crying out loud based on earlier posts where people suggested she was.

I suggest you go back and read my comments in the thread in context.

I was pointing out the reasons dtg have given for closing the forums make no sense, repeatedly said my comments weren't directed at any individual and thanked Candace for being the most open and up front CM on these forums.

Edit: if people like "train sim society" are just going to post screenshots of posts and quote them out of context for clicks and engagement then I'm fully in agreement with getting rid of the forum.

 

I totally agree about this forum being friendly. Anyone crossing the line soon gets called out by other users.

 

Well... I will not say that removing General Discussion is a bad idea, it was already said, but basically removing ALL "free posting" sections? That's... something. This forums do not have moderating teams for whatever reason. And it should not be a CM's job to moderate forums.

So I cannot even imagine how their workload will increase after this, moving all the "I am not sure where to post, so I post it HERE" topics to the relevant sections, explaining to users why it was done and why it belongs here and not there, then moving it to another, even MORE appropriate section and so on...

I was there Gandalf 3000 years ago... I mean, 30. First in FIDOnet, then on www. That's a LOTS of work. Do not know who pitched it as a "workload reducing" action, it can result in it only if forum loosed at least 70% of users after it.

 

That's how reality works. Except there really is no special advantage to a "like" except that it's the digital equivalent of someone visibly nodding in agreement at what you say. Not sure why that's so triggering. I'm just curious if you get upset when people nod in agreement in real life.

 

You say that... but when I was first looking into TSW about 90% or more of the google searches were back to this forum.

 

We're discussing a new alternate backup forum on the other thread if anyone is interested.
Come on over and throw in your two cents.

 

I'm not saying that's the goal. I don't know. However, OTHER games have tried to "moderate" player interaction (reduce) while "maximizing sales." I don't know of any who have succeeded. Turns out the games with the most active fanbase tend to be the most supportive financially as well. Trying to separate the two so you get all the benefits of fans but not having to "deal with" the fan community (customers) is that mythological holy grail of corporate marketing teams everywhere.

Two sides of the same coin.

 

Regarding the GP60M. I personally don't care about that locomotive. I am not into freight and DTG have repeatedly said that freight doesn't sell well

 

Except Larry the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office.

As an American, maybe he should be promoted to the Office of Prime Minister

 

He'd do a better job than some of the recent PMs tbh

 

If DTG do not want a forum then why not give it to the fans and then they could run it? They could call it a 'Fan Site' if DTG can't handle hurty words so they can be separate from it no?

 

Anyone having a "dissenting opinion from the status quo" get called out by other users - fixed that for you.

 

"Oh No they Don't"..................lol

 

OH YES THEY....

 

Someone likes Panto eh? LOL

 

it’s very clear to me what DTG wants: they want to keep treating TSW and its consumers the way they have for some time now without having to read criticism
notice how any criticism immediately gets labeled a "personal attack" even when it CLEARLY isn't one