paulz6 wrote:... The loading screen advertisements so far have been US too.
I'm assuming that had there been a brand spanking new UK route/DLC model they wanted to market to us players thats what would be up on the loading screen, similar to, say, if had been a brand new German DLC of some importance then that's what would be shown? The bell isn't just heard in the U.S, it's also a feature of Canadian rail roads, and since we're part of the Commonwealth...I'm trying to extrapolate (?fish) for something to make it more palatable, even if the constant ringing does get to be a bit annoying (I usually shut the bell off asap when I'm simming in North America which may not always be best practice in real life).
Kind regards,
Dave
"The truth is this: for alarmingly large chunks of an average day, I am a moron." (N.Hornby, 1992, "Fever Pitch")
However you try and gloss it over TS2012 is an American aimed product. All the loading screens are American, the background sounds, the flagship route is American, the prelaunch trailers are all American even with American voiceovers. You can laugh at this if you want (Adelaide man seems to have a particular problem with this) but once and if RSC break America then it will be curtains for the UK side of things. Some folk are naively suggesting that booming sales in America will somehow support future UK development, nonsense, any product that breaks America becomes American. The UK will become nothing more than a niche market. If RSC take off in the USA then they will either be bought by an American company or they will be spending their every waking moment churning out supply to meet the American demand. Every successful brand in the world always inevitably ends up in the hands of American corporations, RSC will be no different so if you're a UK train fan be careful in wishing for continued development and success in America because it will lead to the end of this company as a UK primary entity. Cadbury is a classic example, a staunch UK chocolate that was recently taken over in part by American giant Nestle. Noticed how Double Deckers taste a bit funny now? It's because they're now made in Poland to an American recipe!!
I'm going to disagree. There are many UK companies which are globally successful and have actually taken to buying up US companies to gain a presence there.
And then you only have to look at who owns the federal reserve.
The value of your investments may go up as well as down.
jimmyshand wrote:However you try and gloss it over TS2012 is an American aimed product. All the loading screens are American, the background sounds, the flagship route is American, the prelaunch trailers are all American even with American voiceovers. You can laugh at this if you want (Adelaide man seems to have a particular problem with this) but once and if RSC break America then it will be curtains for the UK side of things. Some folk are naively suggesting that booming sales in America will somehow support future UK development, nonsense, any product that breaks America becomes American. The UK will become nothing more than a niche market. If RSC take off in the USA then they will either be bought by an American company or they will be spending their every waking moment churning out supply to meet the American demand. Every successful brand in the world always inevitably ends up in the hands of American corporations, RSC will be no different so if you're a UK train fan be careful in wishing for continued development and success in America because it will lead to the end of this company as a UK primary entity. Cadbury is a classic example, a staunch UK chocolate that was recently taken over in part by American giant Nestle. Noticed how Double Deckers taste a bit funny now? It's because they're now made in Poland to an American recipe!!
I would not overestimate the size or strength of the US market or percentage of rail enthusiasts ("foamers" as they are apparently known). Certainly my impression is that among the general populace they are very much an unknown, background form of transportation or an inconvenience when you're waiting to drive over a level crossing, blocked by a mile long freight train. There's a good history of model railroad stuff as exemplified by the Kalmbach empire but, as we know, model railroaders do not always want to come over to the virtual side. Other than the urban corridors and metros etc. passenger transport by rail in America is virtually dead. Everyone goes by car, bus or plane.
So while I think RSC are right to test the water a bit more with the US scene and as someone from afar with an interest in American railroading I may purchase some of the items produced, I would certainly recommend a bit more research before throwing too many resources at it. I mentioned in another thread that I hoped the low number of people registering completed career scenarios did not indicate poor sales of Horseshoe Curve - given many of those have sold globally, not just in North America.
The problem tends to be that each locale has its favourite train sim and users tend to be a bit parochial about it. Happened to MS when they put two Japanese routes into MSTS, what they didn't realise is that Japanese train simmers fell broadly into those playing the arcade games, such as Densha de Go, or the anti-commercial contingent supporting BVE. Likewise, Germany. There is obviously some interest in RW but very few routes produced and for those who want to simulate the technical side, RW is still a poor substitute for Zusi soon (hopefully) to be superceded by Zusi 3. For the US, it seems MSTS is still seen as the primary simulation product and I know from my own experience posting at TS, there is fierce opposition in some quarters at moving over to the interloper - even without all the issues TS2012 has spawned.
jimmyshand wrote:Cadbury is a classic example, a staunch UK chocolate that was recently taken over in part by American giant Nestle. Noticed how Double Deckers taste a bit funny now? It's because they're now made in Poland to an American recipe!!
Funny because Nestle is actually a swiss company though? Although they were taken over by an american company I won't defend them on that although I think that you'll find that Kraft were the company that took over Cadbury! Although no offence though just because the horseshoe curve is American that doesn't mean that everything in the future will be us only! I'm sure there will be plenty more things for the uk over time as well
I think we are all missing a more sinister, yet subtle, development. I perceive the introduction of GARL and Glasgow-Edinburgh as the thin end of the wedge in RSC's attempt to capture the Scottish market. The English will be marginalised. Eventually prospective purchasers will have to offer proof of ownership of either a flock of sheep or herd of highland cattle to qualify for purchase. Ability to throw the Haggis would also qualify. Railsimmers will have to move to Scotland in their droves to satisfy their hobby.
This is only an assumption, and it's only based on the undertones I've picked up on on other RW-based forums, but I got a suspicion that there was a sizable portion of the US market that is dead against Payware of any sort, and it seems that a large portion of US simmers favour the MSTS market because of the amount of Freeware that has been available, still is, and judging by the amount of files uploaded almost daily for MSTS, that trend is not likely to change - especially with Openrails and all it promises for MSTS compatibility. I personally feel the die-hards, armed with this reasoning along with the challenge about physics in RW, are a major discouragement to third party developers in the US, and it will be a battle that will be fought very hard. I feel until these guys are won over, US market won't flourish. In fact, the response often comes up after the release of DLC for the US market that RSC are quite happy with producing a money-making arcade game. Get new users reading that enough times and the damage is done.
Of course, we only see/read what's the tip of an iceberg. I'm sure RSC are well aware of sales figures, and just maybe those die-hards don't really add up to much?
If only more US Freeware developers could start to produce on the same level as here in the UK, then the trend could change - rapidly. Get a large base of Freeware first to tempt doubters over, then drop in the Payware. The trick is to create the enthusiasm to back a quality product.
jimmyshand wrote:Cadbury is a classic example, a staunch UK chocolate that was recently taken over in part by American giant Nestle. Noticed how Double Deckers taste a bit funny now? It's because they're now made in Poland to an American recipe!!
Funny because Nestle is actually a swiss company though? Although they were taken over by an american company I won't defend them on that although I think that you'll find that Kraft were the company that took over Cadbury! Although no offence though just because the horseshoe curve is American that doesn't mean that everything in the future will be us only! I'm sure there will be plenty more things for the uk over time as well
Quite true, Kraft is what I meant! And we all know what they're famous for don't we? Spray cheese in a can, classy!
Vern makes some interesting remarks about the number of rail enthusiasts in the US. How many are there? I've no real idea about rail enthusiast numbers not just in the US but around the world. I do however have a gut feeling that it's not that large. Taking the USA for example, how many people in the USA live within a few miles of a railway track? Maybe 10%? less? There are only a very few railroads in America and I'd bet there is a large percentage of the population that has never even seen a train let alone been on one! You could drive coast to coast in America across dozens of states and never see a train.
Compare that to the UK where almost 100% of the population live within a few miles of a railway track, 100% of the population have been on a train and many use them regularly. Virtually every inch of our country is criss-crossed by railways and always has been. This country is where railways began, they are steeped in our history and folklore and have been an everyday part of life for the entire country for generations. Go into a newsagent and there are about 50 different UK train magazines including dedicated steam mags still in the 21st century!! Go on the internet and there are about 5 million UK train enthusiast related websites!
A purely subjective observation but whenever I've travelled by train overseas, I've never once seen a spotter at a station, in the UK they're everywhere!!
How many train buffs are there in Australia? one? Transadelaide it seems!! I can't for the life of me imagine many Aussies hanging out at their local station! Peru? not likely. Khazakstan? doubt it!
I maybe wrong and I'm going on pure gut feeling, but if you want to sell train-sims then the UK has to be your number one place doesn't it? big population and surely a world-leading percentage of rail enthusiasts.
Doom and naysayers! May be in the minority, but are usually anything but silent. And of course we never dig up these old threads when their forecasts of doom turn out to be wide of the mark, so they're safe, whatever they predict. If it's a contest for predicting the future, I'll chip in that I'm pretty sure we'll all be dead someday. You're naive to think otherwise! What RSC ought to do is figure out what the afterworld market is interested in! I wonder which country the various afterworld markets are particularly attached to? I will resist speculating!
I can't speak for a sizable portion of the US market, but I'm not against payware (as the >$1000 amount I've spent on FSX...and the somewhat more embarrassing several hundred I've spent on iRacing that I never used much attests to). I've not even explored half the routes in the sim yet and have begun looking to see which payware routes might be upgraded first to use all the 2012 features. NEC?! WCML?!
This was the guy who tried to tell freeware devs that making stuff was their duty to the community... I agree! the poor US community is suffering from a lack of developers, all of us ought to chip in a little.
My posts are my opinion, and should be read as such.
