Why is ATS not as popular?

[Iuca]

As someone who comes from Europe (where the main player base is based) I can understand why its not more popular but, I do believe that ATS is "underplayed" on TMP with very few people actually bothering to even buy the game. ATS can feel a bit plain sometimes but I prefer the trucking. Its just strange as not as many people are online. Whats your opinion?

[OnurBey.]

Hello, @loolee

Actually, I think about this question from time to time. Why is Ats not popular, why do not players participate in Ats much? Especially in TruckersMP, Ats servers are very calm. However, Ats is crowded at official events and convoys, apart from that, there is not much player community in Ats.

My expctation from Scs is that the maps and roads of ATS and ETS2 are the same, and I would like the environment details to be the same in both games, if such a thing happens, the game will have a very different world.

 

King Regards;

OnurBey. 

[Yarkoon]

For me, ATS is not at all interesting as a simulator, for me European trucks and European surroundings are more interesting than the American desert. 

Зайдя на серверы TMP в ATS, я не встретил ни одного человека в 1 игре, с тех пор я даже не пытался играть в нее онлайн.

 

[fs7-]

European trucks have been popular for many years. That's why people play ETS2 more. I guess there isn't much ATS can do to attract players. Only when there is any ATS event in TruckersMP the servers are full. 

[Hawkmusen]

I have always said that ATS has better graphics than ETS. I think the reason why people don't want to play ATS is that they don't want or can't drive long-nosed trucks.

[[KızılTürk] Sinyordess]

I like ATS more, but for some reason the servers are not popular, maybe people are playing ETS because they want to encounter more players, wich is the intensity, so maybe the popularty of ATS is decreasing for this reason 

[AlfieGMTV]

I used to play ATS a lot more than I did ETS when I first started playing TMP, it used to be a lot more popular than it is now, but I play ETS more often now. Every now and again, when I'm not convoying with my VTC on ATS for events, I'll often go back and do a job or two on ATS and explore parts of the map I haven't gone to. 

[[G-T-R]GrayWolf]

I have both game but not prefer to play ats and don't like the long nose trucks not looking nice to me.

[Flaming.]

I feel like SCS put more time and effort into ETS2 than ATS. A lot of base game ATS has basically no scenery. The DLC areas are nice, but the average player isn't going to buy DLC if base game isn't impressive. 

[Guest]

Hello, people in China don't like ATS, and they don't like to hold convoys on ATS, which I think is why ATS is not popular!

[[MF-Founder] Fan Ci]

Because ATS we Chinese players don't like to play.

[Guest]

I'm not used to driving American trucks

[Samderali]

Most Ets 2 players live in Europe and there is less interest in Ats as everyone wants to see where they live. 

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, Samderali said:

Most Ets 2 players live in Europe and there is less interest in Ats as everyone wants to see where they live. 

Yes, I believe most people who play ATS are American or Canadian

['Carter]

hello @loolee

As ETS was created first, the span of attention from everyone has gone into the game that everyone already knows. Not to mention the great deal of detail in the ETS Promods compared to ATS. So with this being said there is to many benefits to ETS that ATS cannot keep up sometimes in my opinion.

[Zodiac]

When we compare Euro Truck Simulator 2 with American Truck Simulator, American Truck Simulator is a more up-to-date game, but since Euro Truck Simulator was released earlier, most players continue to ETS2, with the addition of new things, various truck customisations, gameplay and gameplay are more appealing to the eye. In general, Ats is more optimised and stable, but most players prefer Euro Truck Simulator 2, which is both crowded and has a clear audience.

[Snow Sheltie]

I honestly wonder what would happen to server population if that C-D road was ever removed entirely. Thus far, what I've seen I like. It seems that anywhere from a quarter to a third of the server at any given time does nothing but run laps on that section until they get kicked or banned for wreckless behavior. I also avoid that section of road because it's such a minefield and I play the game to just have a nice trip, not be watching every other driver with paranoia and fully expecting each one of them to suddenly turn into my truck because, well, reasons.

On 3/31/2023 at 10:47 PM, Flaming. said:

I feel like SCS put more time and effort into ETS2 than ATS. A lot of base game ATS has basically no scenery. The DLC areas are nice, but the average player isn't going to buy DLC if base game isn't impressive. 

This doesn't explain ETS's popularity, given much of the base game is in a similarly bland state. Where ETS does beat ATS is in the official customization options, especially with the truck and trailer packs. Yes you could install player-made addons or edit files but file editing is fidgity at best and workshop addons aren't supported in this multiplayer mod. I know some drivers just like to show off their trucks and/or trailers.

 

On 4/1/2023 at 4:29 AM, Guest M a r l o n said:

Yes, I believe most people who play ATS are American or Canadian

Lots of latinos as well. There's a spanish-speaking convoy that frequents ATS and I've driven alongside them a couple times.

[Interstate Nomad]

Hello @loolee,

 

I couldn't agree more: American Truck Simulator is well underrated in TruckersMP.

I dare say that its content is at least as beautiful and interesting as that of Euro Truck Simulator 2 (and off the record, I think it's even better).

Every time I returned to Euro Truck Simulator 2 after driving one of these huge rigs in American Truck Simulator, the European rigs felt like toys.

American Truck Simulator also boasts breathtaking landscapes that are second to none.

 

[Sunstrider]

When the game first released in 2016, it was thriving.

However, many issues were deterrents

1. Lack of trucks & Brands. There were 2 brands and about 6 trucks total.
2. Lack of a map. Even today, it's only about 45% done.
3. Lack of official TMP events has no incentives to play. I highly doubt there are any player hosted events on ATS.
4. No AI/Alternating vehicles. All you have is the Skoda. I even have a suggestion about playable AI cars in my sig.
5. Boring drives. You won't see anyone outside Vegas. Just like you won't see anybody in ETS 2's map expansions.
6. WoT events are the only incentives to be playing ATS. If they are specific to the game (typically for a new state's release).

 

[Deactivate]

Maybe more people like ETS vehicles

[Andy1411]

My "problem" with ATS is the fact, that you have very long roads, with not that much to experience. Every time I start up the game I become bored pretty quickly, because of that.

 

Dont get me wrong, thats how the US streets are and thats how I experienced it, when I visited the states.

 

Compared to ETS2 with lots going on in your enviourment and different city patterns and so on, its just the more interesting game at all.

 

And it feels pretty different to drive the american trucks, because they're build different. It takes some time to become confortable, but thats not that much of a problem to me.

[Stones8000]

7 hours ago, Somehow Lucky said:

I highly doubt there are any player hosted events on ATS.

There are quite a few big VTCs who host events on ATS, whilst these are not nearly as frequent as ETS2 events (due to them simply not being as popular to attend) but there is plenty out there if you look for them.

[SpeedTrain66]

ATS just feels boring after a while for reasons I can't explain. I also don't like the trucks with the long bonnets.

That's why I rarely play ATS

[ShastaKovich]

Lotta good points in this thread, many of which I was prepared to talk about in great length. But, imma still throw in my take 'cuz why not.

SCS released ATS with so much less versus ETS2 at release. Way smaller truck selection, an environment with little to grab people's attention and a lengthy time before more content would eventually be added.
I'm not gonna whine and say the devs were lazy, the SCS team probably had some pretty crazy ideas. But of course, complications can and will arise, many of which can and will impact the game's final state, so I trust it was within SCS' best interest to release ATS in a playable and enjoyable state.
Overall, the game had a rough start and thus impacted its perception by a loyal base that most likely has a Euro-centric bias with ETS2, and couldn't be bothered to adjust to the nuances and unfamiliar nature of the American trucking world brought to bear in the ATS experience.

With all that being said, TMP at the time was already in full swing developing and improving the ETS2 online experience the team had made known to the world, and of course, when ATS hit, they were prepared to do the same with this title.
However, with the previously mentioned issues, the TMP team probably had difficulty trying to foster player retention in a modified game that at its base, was very lackluster to what ETS2MP was offering at that same period. There was some attention brought to ATS and ATSMP, mainly from a U.S-centric playerbase who, like the European crowd and ETS2, had implicit bias towards the American trucking experience. Still, even with continuing support from American players, the lack of base game content ATS had meant the European folk were not incentivized to purchase the initial map DLCs, which also lead to many just outright not touching the game, and finally, has lead to the current day situation of little to no community appreciation or attention to American Truck Simulator's TMP iteration.

But, as the saying goes.. It is what it is.

[Sunstrider]

A point i forgot to make. As shown in the video in my above post, that was basically ATS' "CD Road". But the new scaling removed it and nobody seemed to want to find a replacement.