My opinion on the Explorer DLC

[darkSol]

Kind of annoyed to see this if I'm honest. On the one hand I appreciate the devs need a bit of a financial influx as a reward for the hard work of getting to 1.0, and I'm strongly considering paying for it with that in mind. On the other hand, it feels a bit iffy to go this route. The price for what you get seems too high IMO. One loco, and a handful of props is pretty meager for 1/6 the cost of the full game. I feel like this content should have been all packed into the Pioneer DLC that is free to the early access players, and a more fleshed out and content rich DLC should have been announced and planned out for a few months after release. The Pioneer DLC as it is, is pretty much nothing by itself, with a redundant loco and a redundant building. If it had been the other way around even, that would make more sense, where the better content DLC was the EA bonus, and the lesser was the "devs reward", that players who chose could pay for it to reward the hard work. Heck, I think if the locos stayed the same, but the other content was reversed, that would have been better.

Anyway, that's just my opinion, I'm curious how other players feel about it. I could be off base. I'll likely be picking it up regardless.

[BrioBoy2009]

I am a self-proclaimed Mastodon simp, with the exception of it having a "Tweetsie That Hit Puberty" Whistle

[Pyrotrainthing]

If I buy it, I am leaving a negative review simply because the animal props are disappointingly lazy to me. The locomotive & caboose are nice, but I think they could've been bundled into the Pioneer pack upping the price to $4.99 and nobody would be upset with the amount of content provided in it. The animals could've been random wandering AIs that keep distance from the player & track and despawn when outside a certain distance of a player. Instead, they're animated props.

[darkSol]

Originally posted by Pyrotrainthing:

If I buy it, I am leaving a negative review simply because the animal props are disappointingly lazy to me. The locomotive & caboose are nice, but I think they could've been bundled into the Pioneer pack upping the price to $4.99 and nobody would be upset with the amount of content provided in it. The animals could've been random wandering AIs that keep distance from the player & track and despawn when outside a certain distance of a player. Instead, they're animated props.

Interesting. I guess for the price I would tend to agree. If they were in the game itself as is, I would not complain one bit, I think they are kind of a fun little touch, and wouldn't mind having more of them in all honesty.

I think my main concern is that this pricing to content ratio sets up kind of a bad precedent for what we will see going forward, in that the devs will likely be motivated to piecemeal out small bits of content like this with one or 2 locos and a few props, and charge $5 or whatever for what amounts to very little, but they know that enough people will be tempted by a cool new loco or rolling stock. Smacks of micro-transaction BS, and doesn't seem like the kind of thing we players should encourage.

I think the team has been attentive to the community of late though, so I'll not judge too harshly on this one example, and hold out hope they will work on a more purposeful and content rich DLC down the road.

[Qualified EIC]

Originally posted by darkSol:

Kind of annoyed to see this if I'm honest.

Well, I am annoyed, no kind of about it. What's next, the Settler DLC? They are going to run out of 19th century western American archetypes pretty quick. And putting the ability to plant trees and place rocks behind a paywall? Irritating, to say the least.

What is even worse? They didn't bother to announce it here at all. I think that says volumes about how eager the game studio is to tell the player base about this.

[DishDoggie]

I like it and I will Buy It. We Need more asset Packs. The More The Better IMO. I think all the hard work making all the new stuff free with the base game is a Very good Price for all the fun you get with it. The Add-Ons look to be a good price too. I hope to see more. Thank You

[Fully operational death star]

What is the explorer DLC

[fixins]

same question

[darkSol]

Explorer DLC is $4.99 US, has 1 loco, the mastadon, props for animated animals, rocks and vegetation. I think I'm forgetting something. I just think it could use more content for that price myself, and as I mentioned, could be a bad sign for upcoming DLC practices.

[Pyrotrainthing]

Originally posted by darkSol:

Explorer DLC is $4.99 US, has 1 loco, the mastadon, props for animated animals, rocks and vegetation. I think I'm forgetting something. I just think it could use more content for that price myself, and as I mentioned, could be a bad sign for upcoming DLC practices.

you forgot the 4-axle caboose with a golden 8-ton porter because haha funny easter egg

[Dude Neon]

Its a DLC Its optional if you don't want to support it then don't buy it its as simple as that. I will be buying it because its 5 dollars like seriously why are we upset about 5 dollars. I want to support the team in their future endeavors but if you don't want to that fine keep complaining about the small things and watch this game die as they run on pennies instead of supporting the game you love.

[Pyrotrainthing]

Originally posted by Dude Neon:

Its a DLC Its optional if you don't want to support it then don't buy it its as simple as that. I will be buying it because its 5 dollars like seriously why are we upset about 5 dollars. I want to support the team in their future endeavors but if you don't want to that fine keep complaining about the small things and watch this game die as they run on pennies instead of supporting the game you love.

First off: Let's begin with the knowledge that people were only informed about the Explorer DLC when content creators who are not the Railroads Online Dev team were given early access to the content to show everyone. The problem here is not "Hey we have a DLC you can buy" the problem is "Hey, we have a thing we didn't say we were releasing and are at the same time that you were never given an announcement directly for." The Railroads Online Dev team didn't make an announcement saying "Hello players, we're going to be having a second DLC on launch & here's what you can expect!" that was not what happened.
Second: "It's only 5 dollars" you're right, it is. People value their 5 dollars, though. And consider the publisher: They will want the dev team to make more DLCs, fine enough, gotta support the game. It's what you get for that 5 dollars that matters. 1 Locomotive, 1 Caboose, props that were likely taken from an asset store for pennies? There's paying someone for their time then there's this. The Pioneer Pack is 2 dollars less for people yet it contains equally as much content I would say as the Explorer DLC (A building, a new locomotive, and a paintjob for a locomotive already in-game).
Would I like to give the RRO team money for making content in the form of bundles containing buildings, rolling stock and locomotives? Sure, I wouldn't mind as much. I only think that 1 Locomotive and 1 Caboose alongside a bunch of props doesn't necessitate $5.

[Dude Neon]

Originally posted by Pyrotrainthing:

Originally posted by Dude Neon:

Its a DLC Its optional if you don't want to support it then don't buy it its as simple as that. I will be buying it because its 5 dollars like seriously why are we upset about 5 dollars. I want to support the team in their future endeavors but if you don't want to that fine keep complaining about the small things and watch this game die as they run on pennies instead of supporting the game you love.

First off: Let's begin with the knowledge that people were only informed about the Explorer DLC when content creators who are not the Railroads Online Dev team were given early access to the content to show everyone. The problem here is not "Hey we have a DLC you can buy" the problem is "Hey, we have a thing we didn't say we were releasing and are at the same time that you were never given an announcement directly for." The Railroads Online Dev team didn't make an announcement saying "Hello players, we're going to be having a second DLC on launch & here's what you can expect!" that was not what happened.
Second: "It's only 5 dollars" you're right, it is. People value their 5 dollars, though. And consider the publisher: They will want the dev team to make more DLCs, fine enough, gotta support the game. It's what you get for that 5 dollars that matters. 1 Locomotive, 1 Caboose, props that were likely taken from an asset store for pennies? There's paying someone for their time then there's this. The Pioneer Pack is 2 dollars less for people yet it contains equally as much content I would say as the Explorer DLC (A building, a new locomotive, and a paintjob for a locomotive already in-game).
Would I like to give the RRO team money for making content in the form of bundles containing buildings, rolling stock and locomotives? Sure, I wouldn't mind as much. I only think that 1 Locomotive and 1 Caboose alongside a bunch of props doesn't necessitate $5.

I think that's fair to say but if you don't like it then why buy it. If you want to oppose this less than adequate dlc then don't buy it as it will say to them that you don't mind the less than adequate dlc and would gladly pay for more like it. And yes while leaving a review could help they might not see it buried under all the others. the best type of review is the one you make with your money. But i understand where your coming from.

[Qualified EIC]

Originally posted by Dude Neon:

Its a DLC Its optional if you don't want to support it then don't buy it its as simple as that. I will be buying it because its 5 dollars like seriously why are we upset about 5 dollars.

I realize that Pyrotrainthing beat me to it, and not to beat a dead horse, but here we go...

You are right, it is simple to not buy it. A one time purchase at $5 isn't what bends me out of shape. It's that we are looking at $5 today, on top of the $2 for the Pioneer DLC (nice of them to throw that one in), but what about tomorrow? Is the $35~ish dollar base game going to wind up with $50+ of DLC content? And with no option to make mods on the horizon, I don't know. I will choose what I buy (if anything) carefully.

The next issue is value for money. I figure that on a per asset basis these DLC's tend to be extraordinarily expensive. Take a mental inventory of all the assets included in the base game, all the care and time it took to generate (or buy) that content, and code the game to boot. You get all of that for $35~ish; for the $5 price on the DLC to be reasonable, you should be getting about 1/7th more content. You can think of this as; 7 pieces of rolling stock (half of them locomotives and all with at least 4 skins each), half a map, two industries, a few prop buildings, a couple of facilities, several plants, and a smattering of simple props. But that's only if you are looking for a fair deal...

Afterthought here... I wonder what that Mastodon cost the DEV team to make, I'd be really upset if I found out the content creator was a volunteer, or the model was freeware from a third party.

[Goku over 9000]

Originally posted by Qualified EIC:

Originally posted by Dude Neon:

Its a DLC Its optional if you don't want to support it then don't buy it its as simple as that. I will be buying it because its 5 dollars like seriously why are we upset about 5 dollars.

I realize that Pyrotrainthing beat me to it, and not to beat a dead horse, but here we go...

You are right, it is simple to not buy it. A one time purchase at $5 isn't what bends me out of shape. It's that we are looking at $5 today, on top of the $2 for the Pioneer DLC (nice of them to throw that one in), but what about tomorrow? Is the $35~ish dollar base game going to wind up with $50+ of DLC content? And with no option to make mods on the horizon, I don't know. I will choose what I buy (if anything) carefully.

The next issue is value for money. I figure that on a per asset basis these DLC's tend to be extraordinarily expensive. Take a mental inventory of all the assets included in the base game, all the care and time it took to generate (or buy) that content, and code the game to boot. You get all of that for $35~ish; for the $5 price on the DLC to be reasonable, you should be getting about 1/7th more content. You can think of this as; 7 pieces of rolling stock (half of them locomotives and all with at least 4 skins each), half a map, two industries, a few prop buildings, a couple of facilities, several plants, and a smattering of simple props. But that's only if you are looking for a fair deal...

Afterthought here... I wonder what that Mastodon cost the DEV team to make, I'd be really upset if I found out the content creator was a volunteer, or the model was freeware from a third party.

For some clarification all of our locomotive, cars, facilities, industries, rails.

Are made in house and the modelers are paid for their finished products, so lets not say that we have volunteers or buying engine models off of asset stores just for the sake of making dlc’s.

Again, it is a 5$ purchase, at this time we do not know or have any plans for additional dlc content at this time, if we do in the future then we will look at optimal pricing, I do not believe we will sell dlcs for expensive prices. After all we are not TSC. LOL

At the end of the day we are a business, if you want us to keep making things and releasing updates then unfortunately we may have to charge for said things to make the money to keep the lights on or so to speak.

We will think long and hard on what gets included and what feels valuable to player for potential content. We will discuss this internally when/if that time comes.

For now if you don’t want the dlc then that is fine, we are not holding it against anyone. It is there if you want it.

[Dude Neon]

Originally posted by Goku over 9000:

Originally posted by Qualified EIC:

I realize that Pyrotrainthing beat me to it, and not to beat a dead horse, but here we go...

You are right, it is simple to not buy it. A one time purchase at $5 isn't what bends me out of shape. It's that we are looking at $5 today, on top of the $2 for the Pioneer DLC (nice of them to throw that one in), but what about tomorrow? Is the $35~ish dollar base game going to wind up with $50+ of DLC content? And with no option to make mods on the horizon, I don't know. I will choose what I buy (if anything) carefully.

The next issue is value for money. I figure that on a per asset basis these DLC's tend to be extraordinarily expensive. Take a mental inventory of all the assets included in the base game, all the care and time it took to generate (or buy) that content, and code the game to boot. You get all of that for $35~ish; for the $5 price on the DLC to be reasonable, you should be getting about 1/7th more content. You can think of this as; 7 pieces of rolling stock (half of them locomotives and all with at least 4 skins each), half a map, two industries, a few prop buildings, a couple of facilities, several plants, and a smattering of simple props. But that's only if you are looking for a fair deal...

Afterthought here... I wonder what that Mastodon cost the DEV team to make, I'd be really upset if I found out the content creator was a volunteer, or the model was freeware from a third party.

For some clarification all of our locomotive, cars, facilities, industries, rails.

Are made in house and the modelers are paid for their finished products, so lets not say that we have volunteers or buying engine models off of asset stores just for the sake of making dlc’s.

Again, it is a 5$ purchase, at this time we do not know or have any plans for additional dlc content at this time, if we do in the future then we will look at optimal pricing, I do not believe we will sell dlcs for expensive prices. After all we are not TSC. LOL

At the end of the day we are a business, if you want us to keep making things and releasing updates then unfortunately we may have to charge for said things to make the money to keep the lights on or so to speak.

We will think long and hard on what gets included and what feels valuable to player for potential content. We will discuss this internally when/if that time comes.

For now if you don’t want the dlc then that is fine, we are not holding it against anyone. It is there if you want it.

Lol that TSC comment is so true they over charged to much for some ok dlc