My MBS experience and the impact it has made on my life

[ern45]

Hallo everyone!

In South Africa the 1st of September is spring day and yes, I know in the northern hemisphere you are now going into winter. But that is life. I remember the other day someone said you actually must not count you age in years - but rather the number of times you have gone around the sun full circle ...and I am on my 67th lap!

I was thinking on this beautiful Sunday morning at 05h00 am when I got up as to the impact MBS has made on my life since 16 June 2021 when I bought V6! V7 was purchased on 7 August 2022 and just the other day, 26 July 2024, I purchased V8.5. When I bought V6 it motivated me to upgrade my computer (10-year-old standalone running on Windows 7), so I bought a secondhand laptop (about 2 years old and running on Windows 10). This was the first impact!

In South Africa we went into Corona Virus lockdown in March of 2020. Fortunately, I had just started renting the ground floor of a beautiful house on the river in Kleinemonde whilst my good lady friend was living in the top part of the house (her father's house and she is only on lap 51 around the sun now - so no, just friends). In any event the lockdown rules were very strict in the first 6 months - to the effect you were not even allowed to go paddling or boating on the river! Fortunately, we had strong Wi-Fi, and we spent a lot of time on our laptops playing games or watching TV.

You can only play some games only a few times then it becomes quite monotonous! As a model railroader from a very young age (my mother bought us our first electric trainset - Marklin entry set, in 1969) but when I moved to the coast in 2010, I gave all my N-scale stuff to my brother living in Pretoria (coastal air is not good for N-scale even though all my track and points were Peco and 90% of my rolling stock was Riverossi). On my old PC I was able to play Railroad Tycoon but when I upgraded to the laptop with Windows 10 that was it. I started searching for a model railway game online that I could play (this was in March 2021) and found MBS!

Since then, it was all MBS and just MBS! My lady friend said in the first +- 3 months I was like in another zone - building until 2/3 in the mornings! But the impact of MBS was not just to kill time, but it also had and still have the following impact: -

* Stimulates the brain and especially in the beginning learning how to build and manage each layout, especially when I started learning to use EV!

* Stimulates your creative mind in designing new track plans, concepts, scenery etc.

* Stimulates your sense of achievement when you are busy or have completed a beautiful layout! (as long as it is beautiful to you it does not have to be beautiful to other people!)

* Stimulates you to come up with new concepts and challenges i.e. if you only had a 1,2 x 2-meter board or what era are you going to model, selection of rolling stock, buildings etc.

Now to some people the above might be hogwash but when you get to 60+ and retirement, you need to keep your brain active and not become a couch potato watching TV all the time because if you do, chances are good within 6 months there will be a funeral! (I knew quite a few people that went this way).

To Stefan Werner and his team, I wish to extend my sincere gratitude and thanks for this wonderful program! In a sense it has kept me alive, well and positively!

 Regards from South Africa!

Ern45

[Neo]

Hi Ern45,

thank you for the very positive feedback. For me, this is always the greatest praise when someone spends a lot of his free time with the MBS. It motivates me to keep improving and extending the app. And soon there will be lots of new things to discover in the studio

Kind regards,

Neo

[Atrus]

Hello @ern45 and @Neo and anyone else in this forum. I was really impressed, when i wrote your letter from yesterday and i wanted to answer you in the same moment.

But then i thought by my self, i'm also only a simple user of MBS and there is a number of other people, to whom belongs the glory for this beautyfull program at first. So i didn't.

I only fully agree with your opinion. It is more then a simple simulation of Railways at all. It makes really addicted. And it not only helps you, to use your time with sense. It becomes definitely part of you and is able to change your mind in different ways. I don't know, how many users from MBS are living outside from europe, but i'm proud, to share my favorite hobby, in the meantime with even south africans. Great to know. 

Have a nice time and enjoy your life further on with MBS, I'm loving it.

Very kind regards from austria, Atrus 

[ern45]

Hello Atrus! Thank you for your kind wishes and the same to you in beautiful Austria!

[ern45]

On 9/2/2024 at 9:24 AM, Neo said:

Hi Ern45,

thank you for the very positive feedback. For me, this is always the greatest praise when someone spends a lot of his free time with the MBS. It motivates me to keep improving and extending the app. And soon there will be lots of new things to discover in the studio

Kind regards,

Neo

Hi Neo!

You are now whetting my appetite and I see you are not giving anything away! Okay, I will not pester you about what and when 

[220hotwheels]

Hi Ern45 @Neo

Every now and then I take time out from my quest to create the perfect layout and just check out the forum to see what interesting items there are and this evening came across your post from early September. 

How appropriate are your views with regard to MBS. For me it has proven to be one of the most time consuming and challenging past time that I have ever had the pleasure to take up. When you have been used to working full time running several companies 15 hour days become the norm. When you stop the void needs to be filled with something other than simply reading, watching TV, playing the odd round of golf, working in the garden or taking the grandchildren out for the day. So, when I came across MBS back in April 2019 my addiction began. To begin with it was a bit daunting but with the help of other members my understanding became clearer and I quickly became hooked. Since then I have perhaps averaged 5 hours every day, sometimes much longer, time just flies once you turn the computer on and begin to create layouts from your imagination. Every day is a challenge, even now. For me there isn't a day goes by that I don't come across some element that I had previously overlooked and in doing so it allows me to broaden my knowledge and to  create something quite magical.

I therefore concur with your sentiment regarding Stefan Werner and his team. They have not only created a rather wonderful program but have provided an extremely therapeutic pastime for so many. We all wait with baited breath for the launch of V9

Kind regards

Pete

 

[ern45]

Hi Pete

Thank you for your reply. Sounds like you were very active in your working life! I'm so glad you filled the void (many don't and pay the price). Now we wait to see what "magic" is coming in V9!

Kind regards

Ern