Trainz 2009 Beta, Windows Vista & The Auran Helpdesk… WTF?
November 17th, 2008 Posted in Bizarre, News, Trainz
I am an avid railfan, and the Auran Trainz series has played a big role in my hobby. I have even devoted personal funds and a massive amount of time developing a website (GAURC) dedicated to the popular railsim.
As you might imagine, I was very interested to hear of the pending release of a new version of Trainz, and even more interested when I received an email from Auran inviting me to beta test the new software.
The email contained a link to download the software, and also a CD Key which was to allow me access to the software for a limited perod of time. I registered the key as required in my Auran profile, and proceeded with the massive download.
Once complete, I installed TS2009b and immediately encountered an error when I ran it for the first time. “Unable to register Trainz URL,” Windows Vista advised repeatedly, before the software eventually started.
Part of the first-run process involves entering the CD Key into the Trainz software, which I did by copying and pasting directly from the Auran email… and was immediately advised that my CD Key was invalid.
Like a good Trainz Community member and Auran worker-bee, I immediately searched the forum for information and sent a message to the Auran Helpdesk; and was shocked at the robotic and unrelated, non-helpful response from the company in which I have invested for so long:
“The serial number,
BETA-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
is correct and valid and you have even registered it in your profile.
Regards,
Auran HelpDesk”
Well, no shit, I thought… I am the one that registered it in my profile. Thanks for that news flash, but it has nothing to do with the fact that TS2009b won’t accept it. I sent a clarification reply within minutes:
“That means you have not entered the CD key correctly. Make sure to enter it correctly to access the Beta version.” Replied Auran.
Ok, I guess more clarification is needed… So I replied that I did a copy/paste of the CD Key from the original Auran email. And then it came; the reply that knocked me to the floor:
“OK, no problems, the game is due for release on the 14th December.” Said Auran.
I am sure this would confuse and irritate anyone as much as it did me, so I responded:
“So, am I to understand then that the fact of a beta version with some sort of error which won’t allow a user to register a valid key is ‘no problem?’
This concerns me and makes me question my excitement about running a new version and investing in Auran yet again.
I have run several versions of TS, consider myself to be an advanced user and am quite comfortable with the concept of entering registration keys.
What I am suggesting is that there is either an error in the software, or some sort of anomaly between TS and WinVista causing this problem.
Because I really do care about the TS series and Trainz Community, perhaps I should put my own projects on hold and dedicate all my efforts to diagnose and fix the situation…”
This passionate message generated an equally simplistic and useless response from Auran:
“…This would seem to be a PC or user specific issue that we cannot possibly resolve…”
Where I come from, this translates into “Sorry, you are screwed,” but a bit more polite. It felt the same though. It wasn’t the first time, but I was glad however to have received it this time without having suffered the shame of spending good money on the software first.
I did eventually solve the problem, without any constructive assistance from the game developer. The issues lie within Windows Vista. The solution is to manually locate and modify the properties of every .exe file in the program files/Auran folder to ‘Run as Administrator.” …pretty simple actually, but potentially far beyond the abilities of many beginners and even novice users. This is a problem of which Auran will not have heard the last from customers.
I can’t begin to express how disappointed I am with TS2009b, for reasons I have agreed not to discuss when I signed-on as a beta tester; but also how extremely disappointed I am with Auran and the Helpdesk. So much, that I have completely lost interest to explore TS2009b any further, and I am seriously questioning my endorsement for Auran products. (Just so you know, my Community friends continue to talk me away from MSTS2.)
I guess only time will tell for sure, but presently I am disgusted with the whole thing as a direct result of Auran’s complete lack intelligence in the support department or interest in it’s true investors… the consumer.
Unfortunately for now, I feel honesty is in-order and I must urge the Community and especially new members to stay away from TS2009 and in particular from Auran. A better choice may be a lesser product by a different company that has professional, compassionate staff with interest to solve problems of every customer… A company that cares about your gaming experience slightly less than your credit card number.
GAUX says: I would add that it saddens me to make this report, as I truly believe in the Trainz series; I just wish it were produced by someone else. I’m sticking with the several versions of Trainz I’ve already paid for.
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18 Responses to “Trainz 2009 Beta, Windows Vista & The Auran Helpdesk… WTF?”
By Mike on Nov 17, 2008
Well no real surprises here, although I was kind of hoping for something new. Yet again just like the 06 release, we have repackaged garbage. Can some one tell me where in Harlem one is to find a cornfield? Where does the 06 holdout line begin?
By RGoodell on Nov 17, 2008
Good point, Mike. I am getting sick of paying for the same Download Station routes over and over again too.
By mikw on Nov 18, 2008
Trainz IS, and always will be DEAD!!!
Auran is the worst for support, JET even in 09, sucks, no new content, and Auran making everyone do all the work. Avoid this buy at all costs!
Ever since the cool TT left the scene, all thats left is old retired men, playing games that look 15 years old now.
Trainz is, and has been, since UTC. DEAD!
AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
Tony Hilliam is an #%&*@^!
By Mike on Nov 19, 2008
Well mikw, I will have to disagree. (respectfully) I do alot of beta testing of various new things for 06 and 09, by a well respected member of the community, TRS is far from being dead, yeah most “new” releases are just band-aids on the problems, but this individual has changed it to do amazing things.
Respectfully Submitted,
Mike
By RGoodell on Nov 19, 2008
Mike, I have to agree with you. I haven’t given-up on the Trainz series by any means.
The point of my post was that Auran has incredibly crappy customer support; that doesn’t mean that all their products are crappy too.
While I have seen TS2009, and have not been impressed… I am still a believer in Trainz; just not the 2009 release.
And I’m not sure were the personal attack on Tony Hilliam came from… I kind of like him; whether I agree with his decisions or not.
I would also add that Mikw’s post was heavily moderated. Not just for content, but also for spelling and grammar… that might give everyone a different perspective on the comment.
By Ex-Railwayman on Nov 25, 2008
Yes, I read your comments regarding TS2009 Rick and thought it was quite honest. I too think that TS2009 is repackaged garbage from UTC days, however, it was stated that the content in this beta was old stuff, so what were we to expect. It made me smile though when it says that they have been preparing this for 8 years, hmmmmm, 95% of the staff that were working for Auran then have now left the company, so they cannot fool me with this load of old tosh, nobody knew what could be achieved with Trainz 8 years ago… They depend utterly on content creators in the community, so who knew what was going to be available so far into the future… I cannot say that I am overly confident with the way Tony Hilliam is running the show, but, I suppose he has the shareholders to answer to, and has to give them some words of comfort…
By Pat Knight on Jan 9, 2009
I am interested in reading all about TRS 2009 BUT where in South Australia can I buy it? It is now middle January and no stores have even heard of the new version. I have 2004 and 2006 and really want to try 2009. Please help…
By RGoodell on Jan 9, 2009
Pat, you can buy TS2009 at the Auran Shop Online:
http://www.auran.com/auran/shop_ts2009.php
They will deliver it right to your door.
By Bill Halsall on Mar 4, 2009
I purchased TR2009 on 14Feb, or there about, and have upgraded with SP1. It is my view that this program is severely flawed, and has numerous bugs. It crashes constantly and becomes unpleasant to use. I suggest that it is better to stay with 2006 until such time as the bugs have been removed. There is little about 2009 that makes it much better anyway.
Bill Halsall
By TRAINSTOP on Apr 3, 2009
iTO AM FED UP WITH THE WAY I HAVE BEEN TREATED.ALL OF A SUDDEN MY USER NAME AND PASSWORD WILL NOT WORK i CANOT DOWNLOAD PATCH #1 BECAUSE AURAN WILL NOT ACCEPT IT.ALSO I DOWNLOADED PATCH#1 FOR TSR2006 AND NOW PARTS OF SUVAYER WILL NOT WORK AND DRIVER WILL NOT WORK AT ALL, AND I CANNOT REACH THE HELP DESK. AND THEN THEY WANT ME TO TELL MY FRIENDS TO BUY 2009. ITHINK NOT TRAINSTOP
By Bill Honeywell on Jun 20, 2009
After swearing off Trainz forever, I went ahead and got 2009. I don’t know whether the program is any better than 2006. WHAT I DO KNOW is that support [Help desk]must stink up the southern skies. The Content Manager on my copy creates the error, Content Manager has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience. MS will debug the reasons. I saved that file, attached it to an eMail ticket, and sent it to Auran 6 weeks ago. Not even an acknowledgment of receiving it. SP1 doesn’t solve the problem. What good is 2009 without a working CM? Advice? Help?
By DaveKB on Jul 14, 2009
I must agree with some of the comments above, the 2009 Contents Manager should be renamed “Contents MISS Manager”.
Recently mine refuses to go beyond “database repair” and I HAVE re-installed a backup of the whole Auran folder as well as the initial setup several times. And still it refuses to go beyond repair.
My Auran folder incidently contains TC3, 2004, and 2006.
By marc on Jul 23, 2009
OK. people keep saying this is’nt any better graphic wise yet the spec for the pc running it is a lot more demanding than that of 06….. so it must have gotten better surely?
By FATTY1998 on Aug 27, 2009
Is trainz 2009 comaptible with vista?
By RGoodell on Aug 31, 2009
Yes, it is.
By James on Feb 2, 2010
Trainz 2009 is really crap, there is hardly any activities you can actually play, plenty of error messages though.
lots of waiting for it to load so you can play a selected activity. for it to then crash.
Hey another pile of crap! and a waste of my money
By jeepinjoe on May 16, 2010
So I’m guessing from all of this that Trainz is a good product (or was in the past) but has miserable help/support staff? I’ve been interested in buying a copy, whether of the new software or something older but I’m really worried that the 2006 or the 2009 won’t work with Vista, which is what I’m running.