CONTEXT: A couple of friends informed me that AP are working on a Cloud Enhancement Pack (and I guess they next plan to make a Kuju Enhancement Pack.) Apparently people didn't like it so instead of listening to their dwindiling amount of paying customers, they instead turned off commenting on their socials. Again, I don't spend any time in Train Sim nowadays but every bit of news I hear from the left and right reveals a shocking amount of incompetence from so many people. A buisness that refuses to take critisim and feedback on the chin and/or adapt to the changing landscape of the market is a bad buisness. Plain and simple. NO, you don't need to bow down and spread your rear for them. But if someone says "I'm not paying £640,000 for that bedsit in Warrington, sod off" then it might be a good idea to ask yourself "why?" Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. Git Gud. Your choice, I don't care what lol. Normal railway review videos willl continue as planned from tomorrow :)
A Cloud Enhancement Pack? Seriously? CLOUDS?! Didn't we get a Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack a few months ago? Why couldn't they just update the Sky & Weather Enhancement Pack and call it a day? AP is just disgraceful nowadays...
And they denied it but I contacted them cause I have the weather enhancement pack, saying “it has broken my weather enhancement pack” but they were just denying the fact that they released something that is A) Overpriced, B) Pointless as the current weather enhancement pack comes with realistic clouds and C) Stupid. I will never understand AP sometimes they stuff can be good but can also be a utter scam, they have fixed the issue now though and in all fairness replied within 30 minutes of me emailing them apologising for the inconvenience. So although their stuff can be stupid, pointless and overpriced at times they are a reliable source for good train sim content.
@@MaverickHunterDanieltbh I don’t know how long I’m going to cling on at this rate as I have been playing TS less and less and this cloud EP debacle will probably kill what’s left of APs reputation
@@MaverickHunterDaniel I haven't really clung onto them tbh, It's been a long time since I got enjoyment out of developers chasing after perfection/realism
An enhanced version of a small part of an enhancement pack of an enhancement pack. Just what the doctor ordered and no doubt for the bargain price of £29.99!!!
Also the price rises are a joke as well. Using “inflation” as an excuse even though normally prices in the digital realm are typically immune to that thing. Like I’ve never heard of DTG upping prices on their legacy DLC.
Yeah that makes no sense either. In the real world, resources are finite but the products he sells are inifinte, so how could inflation be an excuse to justify higher prices lol
I think inflation is fair because although the products aren't affected, the people working on the products are affected, and they need to make money. Its probably a lot easier for us to criticise the move as we aren't the ones who rely on the business, but they can't go homeless by keeping prices low. Anyways it doesn't affect us if we already bought it lol
@@bongman123 But inflation is a two way street that's not just affecting buisnesses but also consumers as well. There's a reason why the goverment extended the £2 bus fare cap multiple times already along side the multiple schemes to help towards heating and electricty bills. If Mr Richard wants to ensure he can pay his employees, he should invest the time into products that people would actually buy. Paying for a drone to get some cloudscapes, taking down items without replacement (he planned to take down the Class 90 pack before people told him no) and running away from feedback like a 4 year old isn't the way forward.
@MaverickHunterDaniel it definitely is something people like to have, though. You dont speak for everyone! The games engine is what, 15 years old? All the work they are doing is keeping the game visually appealing, if you don't like it you don't need to buy it but it just provides a better experience, a better environment. I've watched a few clips from ATS where they had a constructive debate regarding the whole cloud EP and it opened my eyes to both sides of the argument, I'd recommend watching that. I think you know that AP have never made a train, they rely on third parties like Waggonz to create hugh quality train models. However there aren't many around, as Train Sim is an extremely niche hobby compared to something like aviation. There is more money to be made so we don't have a lot of modellers, we are lucky to have around the people who exist right now. Inflation is a bit of a sticky one, from what I hear a lot of people have received some sort of "compensation" I guess you could say from their employees - from my parents, to many friends and colleagues who work in various industries, they have received some sort of temporary bonus until this financial crisis is over. However I know this doesn't speak for everyone. Not to mention the large communities that are dedicated to pirating AP content, that's a lot of revenue lost there - I bought the 317 Vol2 on release and word of mouth is that someone already cracked it! Ridiculous.
As an American, the dollar had less buying power than the pound. Increasing these prices is crazy, suddenly a product that was at 20 dollars is at 30. This is stupid. At this point for the ultimate experience I should go out and ride the Northeast Regional. Record the sounds, buy a model train set, and have those sounds play. Their recent decisions are also incredibly silly. 35 dollars for better weather. With 20 dollars I can get business (first) class on the Northeast Regional to and from uni. This is stupid and I do not plan on buying their new products, especially if they dig their heads and not listen to honest criticism
They came out with the cloud pack. Now for better weather it now costs you a grand total of 45 pounds, or almost 60 usd. Now I'm all for making stuff look better, but when TS costs 25 USD, 140% more money again, weather is way too rich for my blood. It's a good thing that when it was thunderstorming here today I got some nice photos of clouds and lightning.
Really, a CLOUD enhancement pack? And I thought the recent sky/weather EP was pointless, and just when I thought AP shutting off comments was bad enough too. I guess this is what happens when a developer is surrounded by yes-men for too long and refuses to even accept feedback. I guess AP are fine to lock themselves in an echo chamber while their reputation tanks. I've been questioning AP's antics for a few years now, but I draw the line at a Cloud EP. They've lost a customer in me, and it'll be a tough job to bring me back.
A CLOUD enhancement pack?? Are you serious?! And this is how AP respond? This is exactly why people will soon be abandoning Train Simulator for good and switching to Simrail.
What Kuz said. I don't think people will leave this game because of this, but less people will be inclined to give AP anymore money, which could see him closing up shop when the baliffs reposess his keyboard RGBs.
@@MaverickHunterDaniel i never give AP money because i dont feel its worth it to spend so much money on something that does minor things to the game. I've only had TSC for a day or two, and already I've really enjoyed the default stuff. Don't need any stupid AP "enhacement pack" to change the trains because they look and sound fine.
I saw the post on the Cloud Enhancement Pack earlier and was astounded at it, I thought it was a joke, considering AP had not only released the Weather Pack but also updated it to v2. I've began to question AP's claim for high-quality for a while now, considering that I've tried out some of their lacklustre products, not helped by their community willing to deflect the slightest amount of criticism. By closing the comments, this pretty much confirms everything. Now, how did Iron Horse House went away again?
Yeah, IHH got judo flipped by the ASA some time ago due to some tax related reasons. He's still doing other stuff nowadays, just nothing to do with Train Sim and I honestly think that's for the best.
@@MaverickHunterDaniel I was more suggesting that AP is going down the same path of IHH - both had produced lacklustre products, but handled criticism poorly which led/will lead to their downfall. Hell, IHH was more ruthless back in their day, even going as far to bring legal action to anyone mentioning their name on forums! But I guess the ASA verdict was the cherry on the cake. I've heard the IHH dev was producing a 3D signalling simulator a while back, with some videos showcasing it but it's been radio silence from them.
Ahhhhh, yeah. That's an option but a better idea would be to learn to take customer feedback like an adult and stop whining that people aren't bending over backwards to improve the clouds in a 16 year old video game.
Lmaooo love this. I doubt AP will survive as a business for much longer. The price hikes are just gonna put more people off buying in the first place and they're clearly not releasing EPs that people want to see. Perhaps they should make a weather simulator altogether haha😅
This just also reminds me of that Spongebob scene when Mr Krabs went on a whole banning spree in paranoia of Plankton. I'd say both scenes would be equally as accurate lol
