Few of my friends play anymore.

[seslab]

Sorry in advance for the off topic but something needs to be clarified.

Not that long ago (for some of us) F1 teams were permitted as much testing throughout the season

That was until 2007. 11 years is a long time no matter how old you are.

The main reason for the introduction of the RRA (Resources Restriction Agreement) back in 2008, was to reduce costs in a time where even some top teams were complaining about the high costs in F1. Fearing that many teams could leave F1 as happened in the DTM some years earlier, where except for Ope, all competitor left the series becoming too expensive, and killing the DTM for several years, FOM and FIA decided to bring cost down.
RRA was way more a "series survival rule" than everything else.

RRA was by the way not only limited to free testing, but came along with other things like a standard electronic unit for the engines, gearboxes toast 4 races or engine freezing for the next 5 years, to only mention a few of them.

Luckily for us simracing is less expensive

 

[cleanLX]

The main reason for the introduction of the RRA (Resources Restriction Agreement) back in 2008, was to reduce costs in a time where even some top teams were complaining about the high costs in F1. Fearing that many teams could leave F1 ~ and FIA decided to bring cost down.
RRA was way more a "series survival rule" than everything else.

Agreed, the lower funded teams could not afford the costs associated with duplicate cars/drivers/engineers, world wide testing/travel, and asserted they would no longer be competitive due to the cost associated, and would leave the sport... so the FIA said, rather than have the sport become the Ferrari Cup, we'll limit free testing so that budget constrained (time on track) teams are no longer disadvantaged by time on track.
It was indeed budget driven, but it was budget driven as it was related/relevant to time invested.
Potatoes and Tomatoes... and 'round it goes.

 

[ynot]

I've noticed for the last few weeks that whenever I log in, there is either 1 or 0 friends playing at the same time.

The folks that I used to play open lobbies with in GT5 and GT6 have abandoned the game. They haven't played in weeks/months. I know that the lack of balance in the street car racing is the problem here. Few of them were fans of the BoP, finding it of little help in balancing the street cars, and having no BoP on leaves the N classes a complete mess.

Maybe there's other regions where the game has maintained popularity, but it seems it has fallen off a cliff here. If I go into the open lobbies looking for some street car racing, there is precious little out there, and what is out there is almost insufferable.

Note - please don't suggest leagues and stuff, that misses the point.

I know some have said tuning is a painstaking process, but with the dumping of the PP system and no tuning in the dailies, that entire aspect of the game seems to have been tossed out the window. Not to mention the loss of server settings, like a timer.

The mileage exchange hasn't seen anything new, other than paint, in months now. So, is this all we get???

For years, I could fire up GT and play with friends, some of whom have become quite close. We came to discuss the ups and downs of life. It was more than just a quick race. Still, the game had the underpinnings that supported nearly endless play. Now, with the changes that have simplified the game, it's all fallen apart.

Is my experience common for anyone else or is this just an issue for me? I know many GTPlanet folks are into the leagues, but I'm sure some just play with friends from time to time.

Is this how this franchise dies?

Not dead at all. Make new friends if yours quit playing. Thats what we all do. We seem to always get a good turn out whenever we are on. I always see some of my friends playing whenever I get on.

 

[Voodoovaj]

Sorry for missing that bit. What exactly about leagues missis the point? What are you after then?

A good old fashion evening hanging out with friends and talking about real life. A league isn't much different than a daily. I used to participate in SNAIL but, like the dailies, you show up, race, and leave. There's the practice lobbies, but again, you don't show up to a practice lobby to chat.

Making new friends is easier said than done since, yet again, the lobbies are imbalanced and not much fun. If I put a concerted effort into that, I'd be committing myself to playing in lobbies that are no fun, which is at the root of why my friends aren't on line much anymore. The N-classes are simply not fun and it takes too much effort to squeeze the fun out of them.

Many have made new accounts. Most are sick of getting penalized for dummies unaware of the need to use their brake pedal. Some are waiting for good daily races or the much anticipated endurance sport mode races.

It might go a long way if the game placed friends into the same dailies lobbies, which it actually might, come to think of it, considering how often I see @Sven Jurgens. That said, it's not much of a solution since players who like tuning stay away from sport mode, thereby never increasing their rank, thereby never being in the same room as I am.

 

[Voodoovaj]

sorry, unintended double post

 

[Sven Jurgens]

How busy is the game right now?
Is the coming update fueling anticipation and therefore more online presence - since players are the lifeblood of the ‘game’ now - or is activity more or less lackadaisical?

I've gone from doing 30 races on Saturday and Sunday to 7 this Saturday and only 3 on Sunday. That has more to do with the summer weather than the game yet I can't deny that the penalties and matchmaking are also making me quit much sooner nowadays. The days of finding myself in rooms with mostly A's and some A+ seem to be gone. It's mostly B/S now with C/S and D/S as well.

With the worse matchmaking and penalties favoring the lower classes my DR has gone from hovering around 45K to 35K, which means only more chance to be matched with DR.B, thus more difficult to gain DR and even less DR.A to play against. It wouldn't be a problem if PD would make the penalties the same for DR.B and DR.A yet atm it is frustrating to race with different rules.

My activity is trending down

This heavy addict with 2833 sport races might be cured soon if PD doesn't fix a few things :/

 

[Voodoovaj]

...It wouldn't be a problem if PD would make the penalties the same for DR.B and DR.A yet atm it is frustrating to race with different rules.

Oh, yes, that's another HUGE issue. The penalties can be frustrating to the uninitiated, straight up, but to have the penalties be completely unequal is terrible. I've had the misfortune of breathing too heavily on another car and getting an SR drop...and of course, the SR hits from being rear ended. That has dropped me down into those rooms with SR A and DR B drivers. There, it's a mad house.

I was in the Dragon Trail Gardens GR4 race and I passed the leader on the main straight. I was comfortably a few car lengths ahead going into turn one. He follows me in hot and gets too close. I downshift to maintain the apex (which I was doing the whole race) and he taps my rear, giving himself a 5 second penalty. His reaction was to crash me off the road before chicane and then rage quit. Now, he was a B driver that was dicing with a C driver up to that point and they were banging doors and trading paint all over the place, with no penalties. Then he hits me and his rage boiled over.

If the penalties were the same all over, the lower ranks would learn to play nice, and that 1 second penalty for the victim needs to get canned, especially for rear end collisions. I know they want to avoid brake checking, but that can be dealt with other ways.

In any event, I have seen a maximum of 1 other person on my friends list in GT at the same time as me. So, I stick to Sport Mode. My street cars remain undriven.

 

[photonrider]

I've gone from doing 30 races on Saturday and Sunday to 7 this Saturday and only 3 on Sunday. That has more to do with the summer weather than the game yet I can't deny that the penalties and matchmaking are also making me quit much sooner nowadays. The days of finding myself in rooms with mostly A's and some A+ seem to be gone. It's mostly B/S now with C/S and D/S as well.

With the worse matchmaking and penalties favoring the lower classes my DR has gone from hovering around 45K to 35K, which means only more chance to be matched with DR.B, thus more difficult to gain DR and even less DR.A to play against. It wouldn't be a problem if PD would make the penalties the same for DR.B and DR.A yet atm it is frustrating to race with different rules.

My activity is trending down

This heavy addict with 2833 sport races might be cured soon if PD doesn't fix a few things :/

Great post! Thank you. 👍

But where do we go from here? It is quite obvious - even just from posts at GTForum, and without actually playing the game - that GTS has huge potential. And yet in a state of flux that usually doesn't effect other games. I'm sure the usual FPS's, or for that matter even a game as strange as TDU2 and its addictive Casino, didn't have these sort of jumps up and down in player presence online.
Is PD trying to satisfy too many driving disciplines all at once?
Or is purist virtual racing too niche to finance through a video-game platform - and not the 100% change in direction that Gran Turismo should take? Is PD only catering to a former generation of racers/GT players and forgetting that there are millions of new teens, and young adults only just becoming petrol heads and are looking for a simple 'car game'?
And who don't know nut, bolt or screw about Gran Turismo till they pick up GTS - will they go back and play the numbered versions like many who began with 3 or 4 or 5?

The DLC's are something that helps of course - bandaids for now.

Something more is needed to bind the players together and keep them playing together.
Fully customizable lobbies?
Trading?
Gifting?

Rare cars?

And then we start picking up on ancient Gran Turismo DNA. Cars.

 

[CBH]

Great post! Thank you. 👍

But where do we go from here? It is quite obvious - even just from posts at GTForum, and without actually playing the game - that GTS has huge potential. And yet in a state of flux that usually doesn't effect other games. I'm sure the usual FPS's, or for that matter even a game as strange as TDU2 and its addictive Casino, didn't have these sort of jumps up and down in player presence online.
Is PD trying to satisfy too many driving disciplines all at once?
Or is purist virtual racing too niche to finance through a video-game platform - and not the 100% change in direction that Gran Turismo should take? Is PD only catering to a former generation of racers/GT players and forgetting that there are millions of new teens, and young adults only just becoming petrol heads and are looking for a simple 'car game'?
And who don't know nut, bolt or screw about Gran Turismo till they pick up GTS - will they go back and play the numbered versions like many who began with 3 or 4 or 5?

The DLC's are something that helps of course - bandaids for now.

Something more is needed to bind the players together and keep them playing together.
Fully customizable lobbies?
Trading?
Gifting?

Rare cars?

And then we start picking up on ancient Gran Turismo DNA. Cars.

Hey my friend, when you said this in your post, something more is needed to bind the players together and keep them playing together, you missed Time Trials and Drift Events.
Fully customizable lobbies? Yes.
Trading? it will never happen.
Gifting? it will never happen.