PC Where Did All The Starter Packs Go? (on Steam That Is At Least)

I wouldn't usually do a thread like this, but I have a little mystery on my helm here.

We all know how with TSW3, you can now purchase the game as either a standard edition, or just simply purchase each individual route as a starter pack (as well as a few other routes that are not part of the core 3 TSW3 routes like Spirit of Steam, Birmingham Cross-City & NEC: NEW York-Trenton).

Well, from having checked the Steam page for TSW3 recently, I discovered that all of the starter packs that mysteriously vanished. It seems like they were taken down at the beginning of this month, along with the Birmingham Standard Edition and the Deluxe Edition+Loco Add-On Pack. The only options to purchase the game right now, if you are new, are the standard/deluxe editions, as well as the US bundles.

Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1944790/Train_Sim_World_3/

Now what makes this whole situation stranger is that if you go to all the other places that TSW3 is available (Epic, Xbox, Playstation stores) all those bundles, starter packs are all still available to purchase.

Epic Games Store: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/train-sim-world-3

Microsoft Store: https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/train-sim-world-3-standard-edition/9pn99px1p1lx

PlayStation Store: https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/EP2866-PPSA07618_00-TSW3STANDARDEDIT

So I guess the question from all of this is, what on earth is going with the steam edition of TSW3? Why where those starter packs/bundles removed from the store? Are they coming back at some point? Or are there plans to remove them from all the other places you can by TSW3 from?

Answers on a postcard I guess... (Unless they've already been answered somewhere that I haven't seen).

 

My guess is, they prepare for the sale, if somebody wants to find their (cheap) way into tsw on sale, he has to choose a us bundle. Its only a guess, the trenton route i will only purchais on a 70% sale, which is maybe next chriatmas.

 

I suspect it’s because of the March Madness sale on Steam coming up, so that people will buy into the more expensive bundles available instead of what would be super-cheap one-route starter packs, although that’s just an assumption.

IF it’s true, it’s a scummy move IMO.

 

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/application/bundles

Q. Is there a limit on how many Steam Bundles can contain a product?
A. You can create as many bundles as you wish that contain a product, but the product store page may only show a maximum of three bundles that contain that product. The store page will show the top selling bundles based on revenue.

Although packages and bundles differ slightly, I'm sure they are somewhat limited to how much they can show on their store page. They have 5 packages currently, 3 with extra DLC and 2 being the standard and deluxe versions available since launch.

 

I think this though is different, as if you go onto the individual store pages for each of these add-son that had starter packs, they do not show up. Taking this example from SEHS steam store page:

Plus looking through the packages for TSW3 on the steamdb, it looks like they were all removed from the steam store on either the 24th February or 1st March. Again using this example of SEHS.

Again, appreciate the explanation, but I think it's a lot more than that, as they seemingly have completely gone full stop.

 

They were indeed taken off sale, look under packages;

https://steamdb.info/app/1944790/subs/

 

That's a shame, if DTG had ever deemed SoS worthy of fixing that was the package I would have bought. Maybe in a year there'll be a steam bundle with SoS and Peak and it will all actually work (yeah yeah, I know, hope springs eternal!)

 

I still think it would be a brilliant idea to give the game core for free and create some nice discount packs for everyone, so you can buy say3 DLC for a reasonable amount of money. It would be nice if DTG does something for loyal customers in some way.

 

First off why exactly wasn't this factored in before cluttering the store page with a dozen starter bundles? Seriously, this seems like something that should've been factored in well before giving the greenlight to this idea. Second why wasn't advanced warning given say just before the last sale that were gonna be removed from sale soon? The lack of warning really makes it look like you're trying to force players to buy the more expensive bundles.

 

Why wasn’t there any notice of it happening?

Rush Hour bundle in 2021 had a notice before it was taken off sale. TSW 2 had a notice before it was taken off sale.

…and it doesn’t make sense that it’s only Steam and not other platforms

 

I agree with your comment. They would obviously not be able to give it out completely for free, but a significant price reduction for the core package would be nice for old and new players alike.

But even more strongly I support some cheap packages of well-received older DLCs to lower the barrier of entry for new players. Let me explain… back when I bought TSW2 (for 10€ on discount), I also got the TSW2020 deluxe edition on sale, which gave me like 6 or 7 older DLCs for 20 bucks.
The point I’m trying to make is that without these discounts, I would never have gotten so invested in the TSW franchise in the first place and then proceeded to spend lots of money on newer DLCs. DTG needs to realize that a main objective should be to attract new players, give them a cheap way to access older add-ons, which would then cause them to get more invested in the franchise and purchase newer add-ons as well. These expensive barriers will need to be removed. You cannot expect a new player who doesn’t even know if he fully likes the game yet to spend that much money on a single add-on, which has in many cases been on the market for years and doesn’t have all the new features.

To summarize, ways to get new players involved more easily:

• Reduce price of core game and deluxe edition
• Provide a cheap starter pack (“TSW Classics”, containing various routes like the TSW2020 deluxe edition) to make it easier for new players to obtain an initial library of add-ons
• Provide further themed bundles for players (German, US, UK, Freight)

 

Very disappointing. Was going to pick up a starter pack in the next sale but this will stop me coming over to TSW3 for the time being. I don't want to be forced to buy a bundle with routes from other countries that I am not interested in, unless it has a very big discount.

Why was no notice given about this? The starter packs feature heavily in your promotions for TSW3.

 

This is really sad, was going to buy the Birmingham Starter Pack today and I just couldn't find it

 

Want to come back here, because there's good news, the starter packs are back on steam... for the core routes that is.

Yes, since around the time of the March Madness sale, DTG has at least brought back the starter packs for the core three TSW3 routes on steam. What I find really interesting about this is that they are all slightly discounted. All of them costing £26.44 compared to what they would normanlly be as stand-alone routes at £29.99.

German Starter Pack: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/31381/Train_Sim_World_3_German_Starter_Pack/

UK Starter Pack: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/31382/Train_Sim_World_3_UK_Starter_Pack/

US Starter Pack: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/31380/Train_Sim_World_3_US_Starter_Pack/

I mean, at least it's an improvement, but I also do really hope they bring this pack for all the other routes that had starter packs before like Spirit of Steam, Birmingham Cross-City & NEC: New York-Trenton.