American Railroads - Summit River & Pine Valley

This is going to be a long one, folks. There are a lot of variables and situations that have led me to leaving this negative review. First, I want it made very clear that this review was never intended in the first place. If anything, I would have wanted to leave a positive review in its place. However, recent developments have radically changed that outcome. I started out on this adventure when I had purchased "American Railroads - Summit River & Pine Valley" back in late 2019/early 2020. I was immediately met with a game that was BARELY in an Alpha-state of development. However, after viewing the consistent updates and constant communication from the developer (Kueme/Stefan Keinberger), I decided to shelve the game until a year or two down the road in hopes of significant improvements. When I had revisited the game in 2021, I was met with an outraged community, shouting cries of "abandonment". Come to find out, 7 months had passed from the last update, to the time I decided to revisit AR-SR&PV, and total radio-silence from the developer. 1 month later, we were met with an "update" depicting the "Closed Alpha Multiplayer Build! -NEW RELEASE!- RAILROADS ONLINE!". Along with the promise to ALL those who had purchased American Railroads - Summit River & Pine Valley that it would be a FREE upgrade(this was a lie), we were given a link to their new, official discord. For the next 4-6 months, progress was smooth sailing, communication with everyone was 'decent', the discord community was hopeful/cordial and always helpful towards new players.. It was just an all-around good development process,.. until it wasn't. Firstly, I have to say bravo to the original Discord Community Manager, and the sheer amount of flak and BS he had to put up with. Not only was he catching grief from the community due to the sudden lack of communication from the developer, he was met with grief from the modelers and other volunteers for the lack of communication. Yes, he was the CM, however the amount of flak he received was unjustified. A CM can only communicate what has been communicated to him, and Kueme had cut EVERYONE out of the loop, at least that's what we were ALL led to believe. Fast Forward to the second Discord Community Manager. Oh boy. God Bless you, brother. You got it even worse.. Not only did the second CM have to pick up the flak and grief the first had left behind, but now he had to deal with Discord Community Staff who were manipulating others in private discussions, talking to Kueme in private discussions and manipulating his decisions(or trying to), to outright slandering other members of the community. (ALL of this can be proven with screenshots from various members of the former team, and older members of the community). Once these Staff members were publicly exposed for their Conspiracies against the CM and the rest of the staff who were just doing their jobs, all hell broke loose. Over 300 accounts were permanently banned that day. Unjustifiably so. The conspirators won the day. My permanent ban was a result of saying, and I quote: "They banned Wings and Strings?! Why? What did he do?". Nearly 1/3 of the Community was abandoned that day, and where was Kueme? REAL STEAM PHYSICS. REAL PHYSICS SIMULATION. ALL promised features, however we all learned very quickly just how much Stefan Keinberger honored his promises to us. When it was announced to everyone that we were getting a Spline Update, which would essentially nullify the physics of the Locomotives/rolling stock and instead, they would be on a "pulley" system while on the rails, or so I've come to understand it. This system is so beyond flawed, I don't even know where to start. Aside from the fact that the Locomotives/Rolling Stock don't have any REAL weight to them, you're consistently derailing on sections of straight track with no obstacles. Even trying to drive your locomotive at its max speed, you are then met with visual glitches and bugs that will launch your train into the stratosphere. Let's jump to 2023, roughly a year after the events of the Discord Rebellion. At this point, those of use who still remembered what happened were incredibly sceptical of how development would turn out. Proven by the scant, and severely lacking bug fixes and content updates. Outcry about that from new players were met with censorship, and swift permanent bans if they spoke out against their poor treatment from the Forum Moderators. (Goku over 9000, CaptainChooChoo, Sandy, I'm looking at you) Fast forwarding to today/recent history. We're met with the "Full Release" of Railroads Online!. Without being too terribly toxic, I have to call this an absolute JOKE of a decision. We STILL don't have the following: -A way to sell our equipment to recuperate some funds. -Graphics Settings that actually adjust the graphics (noticeably) between Low, Medium, High, and Epic. -Optimized Graphics/Ability to play in 4k/2160p. -REAL PHYSICS -REAL STEAM SIMULATION -A way to edit already purchased equipment. -Multiplayer (That works as advertised. The multiplayer in this game, ITS SELLING FEATURE, is beyond atrocious -SINGLE PLAYER MODE. -Bug fixes, some of which still present since day 1 EA release. -MORE PLAYER MODELS. -Passengers/Industry for passengers. -A FUNCTIONAL UI/QoL changes There's certainly a lot more I could list, but I've made my point in that this game IS NOT ready for a full release, and is in fact falsely advertised as such. However, talking about such things in the Discussion Threads of RRO is absolutely Taboo. If you are in any way critical towards the development and road that RRO has/currently is taking, you WILL be silenced. The Forum Nazi's are on crowd/damage control and implementing mass censorship/bans in order to keep a positive image of RRO. I would also like to point out: U.S. Code 230, (2)(a)(2)(2021); Protecting Constitutional Rights from Online Platform Censorship Act, H.R. 83, 117th Congress. Because of the literal law violations of these individuals, as well as MANY other developers/forum moderators in games all across Steam, it has now put Steam/Valve Corp in a precarious position and has opened up an avenue for Class-Action against Steam/Valve Corp, as well as ANY developer engaging in Violating American's Consitutional Rights. The following screenshots are the reason as to why I was banned from the Discussion Threads for RRO: My comment in the Discussion Threads 12/5/24: https://imgur.com/a/1PI0JCy My "First" warning issued 12/5/24: https://imgur.com/a/6FbBjuu (Note: this was issued 8 minutes after my first comment. They are monitoring these threads like there's no tomorrow for them) My private conversation with Goku over 9000 from the first warning 12/5/24: https://imgur.com/a/s4lpFQG Now for why I was retailated against and banned from the Discussion Threads: My comment in the Discussion Threads 12/9/24: https://imgur.com/a/18kAP7W My permanent-ban notice issued on 12/9/24: https://imgur.com/a/pGsGuF7 (Note, this ban came IMMEDIATELY after the comment I made in the screenshot above this one, and it's for an entirely separate, and PRIVATE conversation, not made available for viewing in a public forum, until now) My ban was out of pure pettiness and spite. Regardless of what was said, you cannot supercede US Law due to your fragile feelings and inflated ego. My comments also fell in line with the discussion at-hand, so that excuse is out the window. No harsh, deragatory, racist, or other language was used in my comments within the Discussion Threads, so that excuse is out... So what exactly is left? Feelings, Pride, and Ego. In conclusion, just ignore this game and wait for Century of Steam to reach Early Access. It's guaranteed to be a lot more engaging, fun, and interactive than RRO. It's also being developed by some of the original Team from RRO who were usurped/left of their own accord when RRO started to nose dive into what it has become today.

This game has been abandoned by the developers in favor of their sequel platform. It is not under development, has no forthcoming updates or upgrades, and yet it is still here, for sale. AVOID THIS GAME AT ALL COSTS!

Hey, friends and folks, don't buy this game. Its unplayable and broken. I don't understand why they are for some reason still selling it.

Terrible game that was never finished. DEV took money never finished the game and then started a "new game" which was basically what this game was promised to be. If you are looking at this genre, just go buy "Railroader!" instead... much better game. Better community. Better mod support.

broken game never to be fixed

seems like it can be a good game but it's just not even close to a game. for me the biggest problem with these games is there's no over sight map. in real life you would have surveyors map out best routes, but here you have to guess where you need to put curves and when to start inclines. there needs to be an over view map so you can plan youre route. They definitely need to think about replay-ability factor take a look at Farm simulator 22 everything should be connected, maybe even have it where you have to pick up rails and logs for building. why do I want to keep playing if its just to get a better train to carry more logs hmmm you're gonna lose my interest and I'm sure others. I'd give it a 4/10 I'm not disappointed in it, just not there yet.

Clunky!

rro is better, idk why this is still being sold, if it is to be sold, make it like $0.99 or smth

This game is broken, pretty much unplayable.

abandoned