Okay, so I have to vent. Humble just dropped this bundle:
I was tempted because I was like, $12, that might be fun to stream, so I’m looking at what it comes with, especially this:
Because I used to take these in NJ all the time when I was younger. I look at its description and it included the train and three scnearios. Great! However, to use the scenarios you need this:
Which is $40 and not in the bundle at all.
Fuck. That. That’s really shitty, if you ask me.
Urg, that sucks. Seems like a serious mistake.
Though, maybe an honest mistake–there are 616 pieces of DLC for the game. Who the hell could keep all of those straight??
The developer who’s helping put the bundle together, I’d hope. ;)
I’m honestly skeptical even they have a clue anymore…
Just clicked on the first DLC in the bundle, BR Class 421 ‘4CIG’ Loco. It includes 5 scenarios for the Portsmouth Direct Line add-on, which is sold separately and also not part of the bundle.
I usually grab these bundles for my dad, as he enjoys Train Simulator. May pass on this one though.
If you didn’t buy TS 2021 already, it’s worth getting this bundle at the cheapest level as you get 3 routes with the TS 2021 (Clinchfield, Fife Circle, Nordduetsche) included here even if you own a previous iteration (confusingly they upgrade you to the latest version for free each time but don’t give you the new “headline” routes). This is kind of hard to explain but hey, 3 new routes for 73p is a great deal and the other basic stuff at that level is gravy if it works for you and ignorable if not.
Is this that game that has like $73,000 “worth” of DLC?
616 dlcs!
It’s $12,500, let’s not exaggerate over here. :)
Can you imagine if Microsoft Flight Simulator sold pieces of the planet this way instead of giving us the whole Earth in the base game? They could have so much DLC!
We still doing this tired old DLC number thing eh.
Nobody has spent 12 grand on this game (at least I hope not), as you simply don’t need to. I’ve spent a fair amount on UK content but I’ve played it for 500 plus hours so probably got my money’s worth.
I think a fairer comparison to MSFS is custom hand built airports, and new planes, which quite often are not free.
I agree. It’s like Paradox games. The problem is most consumers have FOMO. If if they do not get all the DLCs then they will not have a true experience. I’m guilty of this sometimes.
Yes, but only to piss you off.
I jest, though. It’s a niche product that I would liken more to a physical hobby than a video game. Yeah, it’s not cheap, but it’s specialized quality for people who appreciate it and spend an extensive amount of time enjoying it. Kinda like those $80 DCS planes. It’s just not for me.
I actively avoid buying cheap older games with expensive DLC. This pisses me off.
Not really. Paradox integrates their new stuff into the game out of feature creep desires or necessity. Heck for the olden days games, you basically had to buy DLC just to fix the dang game because the “fixes” were in the DLC not a patch. It’s not like they’re just throwing a new map out there. Their DLC changes the game.
Never seen them hit 70k though, but not due to lack of trying!
All you said is true, but the point I was trying to make (unsuccessfully) was that DLCs are optional. To quote Moss “you simply don’t need to”.
But consumers will always feel there’s an obligation to buy them all regardless if they’re cosmetics or adding a new exciting core mechanic.
This is exactly it. A lot of people into it will only play Train Sim and few / no other games. There are huge rabbit holes you can fall down with this game, and plenty of freeware out there too. I think TS gets criticism because most people genuinely don’t understand it, and that’s fair enough, who gives a shit about train sims unless they are a massive fucking dork right?
Here’s another big number:
What’s that? It’s the number of workshop items on Steam for the game. All of them free! Who’d have thunk it, from a game seemingly playing the long con to squeeze out 12 grand from the owners. Sure, you’ll need to spend that 12 grand to use them all, but probably you can get by with the sizeable fraction that relates to stuff you do own and still never run out of new content.
And what about this one? It’s my third party / freeware download folder. Plenty of the stuff in here I paid for but none of that money went to the TS developers who could have locked their sim down and prevented this sort of behaviour so they could force everyone to buy every single piece of DLC instead.
PSA:
Heads up! Starting in March, Humble Choice games will arrive on the first Tuesday of each month. Next month active members will get access to games on March 2nd.
We need to start pausing earlier in the month right?
I feel like this timeline change plays into their business model of ‘hoping people forget to pause’. :-)
Yeah, I went ahead and paused early. Just too much on my plate right now and the games weren’t particularly calling my name anyway.