Forza Horizon 4's Festival Playlist is a Step Backwards
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Joey D
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All the Online Adventure stuff I've played ends up being team based. Is that not the case? It's also a massive :censored:show too, especially with the Rush events. I am not taking a 1,000hp supercar offroad because it's just going to end up in a tree.
Still, it's a multiplayer portion of the game you need to do in order to get over 80%. The best I can figure, you can get something like 70%-ish by doing all the single player stuff, plus all the dailies. I think if you add in Rivals, you end up with 75%.
- 2,120
- Sunderland
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- neema_t
Sorry, my point was you don't have to win so it doesn't matter who you get paired with, you just have to complete it to get qualified, I think? I mean I've only done literally as many as I needed to complete the requirement so I don't know for sure, but I can't imagine you don't qualify if you lose, you just qualify for the bottom league. If that's not how it works then it's dumb.
Is that in unranked adventure or ranked? I was lucky and only got disconnected once before I unlocked ranked, after that I didn't get disconnected at all in the next ten qualifying rounds and a lot of other people are saying the same. There might be a bug in unranked that doesn't happen in ranked.
Sorry PG, don't have XBL and have no intention of getting it. If that means I can't win prize cars, so be it. Why players can't just buy the cars as part of DLC is quite frankly baffling but whatever. Continue making stupid choices, that will be a sure fire way of alienating people.
HyperSpeeder
(Banned)
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Why exactly should the little snowflake who doesn't pay for XBLG and plays the game via the Game Pass have the same bonuses as someone who subscribes to Live Gold and also owns the Ultimate Edition?
In fact, if anyone is getting the shaft here, it's the people who invested the most money into this game, because online play is a mess, a good chunk of the DLC cars' roster has been unimpressive and the first expansion is all but abandoned these days.
I'm sorry to say but, to Microsoft, we are not the same. And wishing to bridge the gap because "you don't like online" is a bit unreasonable when the whole game is based on online interaction, which is not limited to gameplay and also includes the ability to download and upload content as well as interact with friends who may or may not be playing the game.
In other words, people need to stop painting Microsoft like a monster for enticing players to subscribe to XBLG. This is capitalism, companies do capitalist things. Need I remind anyone that Gran Turismo Sport revolves even more about its online mode than either Forza game?
FH4 plays best offline. You already have the best experience. And you want to increase the gap! I mean, really?
Joey D
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- GTP Joey
Ah gotcha, I see what you're saying now .
Playground Games point blank said a constant internet connection wasn't needed for FH4. Really outside a MMORPG, battle arena, or battle royale type of game you shouldn't really need a constant online connection.
I don't have a problem with FH4 having several online events. What I do have a problem with is it locking brand new cars to the series behind a multiplayer experience that's awful. I'm happy to run more single player events to get the cars, I just don't want to deal with the people that populate online games.
Also I own the Ultimate Edition and have had XBL continuously since 2004. So I'm not entirely sure what your point is about that?
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To play the devil's advocate, none of the 100% reward cars have been new to the franchise - so far at least. The Spec 5 Mustang, FD Mustangs, and Z4 are all 50% rewards, meaning that multiplayer can be avoided entirely without stopping you from earning the new to franchise cars. And the statement of a constant internet connection being needed is still correct, since none of the reward cars are required for any kind of gameplay, they're just there for completionists and people who want them.
- 273
- Slovakia
- palqo
- DeliriousRex5
I've noticed an interresting thing. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but after qualifying for ranked online adventure last week, this week's online championchips were almost too easy.
The game seemed to pair me with competent players this time. I've done both trial championships (mainland and island) on first attempt, we won everything. With the playground game, I got lucky also with coplayers (level 200-300) against other team (level ~50), however after the lobby freezing after first race that we won, only 4 players waited for it to continue and both players from rival team disconnected in second round. On the bright side, the championship finished after that, it did not force us to do all five rounds.
The game seemed to pair me with competent players this time. I've done both trial championships (mainland and island) on first attempt, we won everything. With the playground game, I got lucky also with coplayers (level 200-300) against other team (level ~50), however after the lobby freezing after first race that we won, only 4 players waited for it to continue and both players from rival team disconnected in second round. On the bright side, the championship finished after that, it did not force us to do all five rounds.
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- STR3LA
I believe it's just a coincidence. I've qualified for adventure too but got paired with the worst players both in Trial and Playground. Finally managed to complete the PG after most of the rival team players quit the game(or got disconnected). And I complete the Trial after some luck, when only one teammate showed up.
Not sure but I did at least 5 Trials and 7 PG before completion. To be honest, I almost gave up on PG.
Not sure but I did at least 5 Trials and 7 PG before completion. To be honest, I almost gave up on PG.
Joey D
Premium
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Fair enough with the cars I guess. I still find it a terrible way to deliver content to the game.
But the last part of your statement is a problem. Yes, people want to drive the cars in the game. I don't see why they shouldn't be able to earn those cars if they want them. When you lock them behind a timed event that requires you, at a minimum, to login to the game three times in a week then it's a problem - especially when PG said the game is "play your way". Now it's "play PG's way" or miss out on content you might otherwise want. Racing games are unique in a way that they offer the ability to experience cars you otherwise can't in real life. If someone's favorite car is the BMW GTR, then why should they not be able to earn it at their own pace so they can experience it? Forcing people to log onto the game comes across like a move to bolster FH4's numbers.
If a constant internet connection wasn't required, then things should not be locked behind it. There's no purpose to have a constant internet connection to the FH4 servers and I can see where people who live places without decent internet are a bit annoyed.
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I do think it's a move to maintain numbers and I'm not strictly disagreeing with you, just trying to present the other side of things. I think the number one thing people should be doing if they have an issue is to keep voicing feedback though, as they've clearly demonstrated that they're listening, and the system seems to be designed to be easily changeable based on the numbers and feedback.
- 319
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- Stormer248
- Phendrax248
I was out of town last week, so I missed out on the Porsche. But this week, I've been gunning for the GTO and will likely be unlocking it today.
That being said, this whole playlist feature has been a mixed bag for me. There's certainly things I didn't enjoy about it, but at the same time, it made me perform tasks that I'd usually ignore, and found to be rewarding experiences.
Online adventure is the biggest pain for me ATM, but that's only because I completely ignored it prior to the playlist, and had to endure 15 or so sessions to get to rank 3 and qualify for rank 20. Yet at the same time, this also passively earns me one of the million Cr Ferraris (500 Mondial I think), so in a way, it saved me more time than it costs.
Its a big time sink filled with the worst and most salty drivers, but it does have one saving grace in the sense that you don't actually need to win anything. Just drive well, take nothing personally, and it'll be over soon enough.
The rest of the playlist, I have no problems with. The weekly challenges are something I look forward to and I wish there were more of them to complete outside of the playlist. The playlist also gives me an excuse to complete all the offline championships, and not just the ones that earn you a car. I do enjoy completing them, its just that the reward was never worth the time prior to the playlist feature.
As for the rewards themselves. The 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% marks sound fair enough for me. But unlike others here, I think the 100% mark should have a bit more than a simple cash prize or FE car. Here's what I think:
25% Completion: Weekly Exclusive Car 1 + 2 Wheelspins
50% Completion: Weekly Exclusive Car 2 + 200FPs
75% Completion: FE Car/Returning Exclusive Car + 1,000,000Cr
100% Completion: Multimillion Cr car (ie: Ferrari 250 GTO) + 5 Super Wheelspins
Completionists get properly rewarded, people who missed out on exclusive cars get a challenge, those who're too busy with the playlist to participate in Forzathons get compensated, and offline/time constrained players get all new vehicles without a problem.
That being said, this whole playlist feature has been a mixed bag for me. There's certainly things I didn't enjoy about it, but at the same time, it made me perform tasks that I'd usually ignore, and found to be rewarding experiences.
The Playground Games mode is an oddity. I actually enjoy doing this task, its just my kind of hectic gameplay. Yet its also frustrating because it makes teams endure all 5 rounds regardless of the outcome. Once my team finally won three rounds, we had to sit through two more because one person on the opposing team got sour and wanted to waste our time. That being said, if you enter playground games, and the opposing team gets 3 points, just do the courteous thing and drop out. The credit reward isn't even worth the time.
Same goes for The Trial. If you're holding back the team on the first race, just drop out. Its easier to win with less players. Mind you, this particular task could be far less tedious if PG simply lowered the ai difficulty to expert like the offline championships.
Same goes for The Trial. If you're holding back the team on the first race, just drop out. Its easier to win with less players. Mind you, this particular task could be far less tedious if PG simply lowered the ai difficulty to expert like the offline championships.
Online adventure is the biggest pain for me ATM, but that's only because I completely ignored it prior to the playlist, and had to endure 15 or so sessions to get to rank 3 and qualify for rank 20. Yet at the same time, this also passively earns me one of the million Cr Ferraris (500 Mondial I think), so in a way, it saved me more time than it costs.
Its a big time sink filled with the worst and most salty drivers, but it does have one saving grace in the sense that you don't actually need to win anything. Just drive well, take nothing personally, and it'll be over soon enough.
The rest of the playlist, I have no problems with. The weekly challenges are something I look forward to and I wish there were more of them to complete outside of the playlist. The playlist also gives me an excuse to complete all the offline championships, and not just the ones that earn you a car. I do enjoy completing them, its just that the reward was never worth the time prior to the playlist feature.
As for the rewards themselves. The 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% marks sound fair enough for me. But unlike others here, I think the 100% mark should have a bit more than a simple cash prize or FE car. Here's what I think:
25% Completion: Weekly Exclusive Car 1 + 2 Wheelspins
50% Completion: Weekly Exclusive Car 2 + 200FPs
75% Completion: FE Car/Returning Exclusive Car + 1,000,000Cr
100% Completion: Multimillion Cr car (ie: Ferrari 250 GTO) + 5 Super Wheelspins
Completionists get properly rewarded, people who missed out on exclusive cars get a challenge, those who're too busy with the playlist to participate in Forzathons get compensated, and offline/time constrained players get all new vehicles without a problem.
- 1,135
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- stupidstormy36
- Stormy036
While you do have a point there, these are cars that are new to FH4. For those who actually do want those cars in the latest title, and I'm not talking about the Capri, getting them became nearly impossible strictly because of the multiplayer, for one reason or another. The only reason I say nearly is because there's a chance you may be able to obtain them through the Auction House.
With the 80% requirement, it'll be more
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you there. First, we are not painting Microsoft like a monster. It's constructive criticism, and without it, we potentially wouldn't get better games over the years. Of course, it doesn't matter to some publishers/developers what criticism is there for, or that it even exists, but with T10, PG, and PD, it appears they actually listen to their customers.
With the comparison with GT Sport, yes it is more focused on the multiplayer aspect this time around, but nothing is locked behind it, and does have an offline mode that was expanded on over several updates. In fact, nothing is locked behind anything really. The online here is a much better experience. And all DLC has been free.
Multiplayer is supposed to be an extension of a game. Yes there are some exceptions with games that focus only on multiplayer, but you shouldn't be locking content behind, especially if the experience is an exercise in frustration for the wrong reasons. Segregation in any community just doesn't work and has always had a negative impact on games, at least from what I remember.
Capitalism should not be used as an excuse to compromise a game experience for anyone. If you want to boost the online numbers, make the online portion more enticing for people. Fix the issues to the best of your abilities, and you'll see people flock to your service because they want to, not because they feel forced to. This is also why I hate multiple editions of a game. I only got the ultimate edition because it was on sale at the same price as the standard edition.
I will say that I agree with you on the DLC (car pass and all) not being "favorable" this time around.
These are just my thoughts.
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Specifically, content that can be used in singleplayer should not be locked behind multiplayer events and vice versa. Players should be given multiple ways to unlock said content without having to touch one or the other if they don't want to.
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I really do not understand this constant moaning about „The Trial“. Personally this is my highlight and the event I love playing the most each week. Compared to the other multiplayer events it is in my opinion the must fun and cooperative one, and that by very far. Sure you also got idiots, you got quitters, but still in 8 out of 10 times this is doable if you are a somewhat decent driver. I would rate myself maybe somewhere in the top 25% of drivers, but probably not within the top 5% and me doing a good job usually is sufficient to win this. You can even try to use some cooperative strategies, like when you are ahead drive deliberately slow to block the AI cars so that your teammates can catch up to them.
Compared to the in any way dreadful playground games this is just pure joy. The playground games on the other hand are the stuff that really should get dumped. I want to play a racing game here. People who want to play some FPS shooter should go to Fortnite or PUBG or any other of the billions of shooters out there.
Also compared to The Trial here if someone of your team quits you are out of luck not only for the event but for the whole championship as with a player less you basically have no chance (and because of that most other players of your team will also quit).
Compared to The Trial, which I never had to play more than 3 times to win (80% we win in first attempt, 15% in second, 5% in third) I had to do this Playground crap up to 6 times.
And what I absolutely do not comprehend and I cannot believe is still not fixed (and also that no one else seems to complain about this!) is that if it is 3:0 for one team, then why on earth do we have to continue for a 4th and 5th event!? It makes no sense! Any rational person from the losing team will quit at that time because it makes absolutely no sense to continue playing when you have already lost! And people certainly do (as they are not idiots). And then the people from the winning team just sit there for minutes until the game gets its act together and times out the final two events until it recognizes that no one from the other team is there anymore. It is absolutely ridiculous and as I said I cannot believe that this still has not been fixed.
So really... the Trial is quite good in my opinion, the real bad stuff is the Playground Games.
PS: and like some other people here already wrote I also am a passionate hater of the Freeroam Rush in the Adventures. This was somewhat acceptable in the older Forza Horizon games when you just had to drive to the next event, but without it counting as an extra race, just for the XP. But here this really really sux. I always have a feeling that I am driving against people that have played this for 10,000 hours and have learned where every tree on the map is. Otherwise it is a stupid reaction test evading trees and got nothing to do with racing. This should get dumped from the adventures no doubt.
They can make an adventure type of its own for the masochists that really like to play this, then they can even have 5 freeroam rushs in one adventure...
Compared to the in any way dreadful playground games this is just pure joy. The playground games on the other hand are the stuff that really should get dumped. I want to play a racing game here. People who want to play some FPS shooter should go to Fortnite or PUBG or any other of the billions of shooters out there.
Also compared to The Trial here if someone of your team quits you are out of luck not only for the event but for the whole championship as with a player less you basically have no chance (and because of that most other players of your team will also quit).
Compared to The Trial, which I never had to play more than 3 times to win (80% we win in first attempt, 15% in second, 5% in third) I had to do this Playground crap up to 6 times.
And what I absolutely do not comprehend and I cannot believe is still not fixed (and also that no one else seems to complain about this!) is that if it is 3:0 for one team, then why on earth do we have to continue for a 4th and 5th event!? It makes no sense! Any rational person from the losing team will quit at that time because it makes absolutely no sense to continue playing when you have already lost! And people certainly do (as they are not idiots). And then the people from the winning team just sit there for minutes until the game gets its act together and times out the final two events until it recognizes that no one from the other team is there anymore. It is absolutely ridiculous and as I said I cannot believe that this still has not been fixed.
So really... the Trial is quite good in my opinion, the real bad stuff is the Playground Games.
PS: and like some other people here already wrote I also am a passionate hater of the Freeroam Rush in the Adventures. This was somewhat acceptable in the older Forza Horizon games when you just had to drive to the next event, but without it counting as an extra race, just for the XP. But here this really really sux. I always have a feeling that I am driving against people that have played this for 10,000 hours and have learned where every tree on the map is. Otherwise it is a stupid reaction test evading trees and got nothing to do with racing. This should get dumped from the adventures no doubt.
They can make an adventure type of its own for the masochists that really like to play this, then they can even have 5 freeroam rushs in one adventure...
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Joey D
Premium
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I hate it because it's terrible. Over the weekend I did it six times and lost every single round despite coming in first or second in most of my races. When people weren't trying to ram me (even though we were on the same team), they were just useless at trying to drive. Nevermind that PG made people use S2 998 Hypercars which is an awful class to begin with.
Perhaps if I had people who weren't useless I'd think differently about it, but when it's only you and another race actively trying, it makes it a fun suck.
- 1,135
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- stupidstormy36
- Stormy036
That's another way of looking at it.
As far as the Trial thing goes, I don't think it's the events themselves people are complaining about, save a few, but the quality of your fellow teammates that's the issue. whether they just sit there, troll you, quit, or are "less than average." Usually it's easier for me if some people quit. Again, I found that last week's event (summer) was super easy as I dominated all 3 races, and I don't consider myself a top driver. This week's event (autumn) was a little more challenging, winning only 2 of the events overall. The only ones I really have an issue with are the Cross Country races. I've actually mentioned the best 3 of 5 finish thing in my post on page 2.
I think a good way to make these events easier for people is to get a group of people with lower class vehicles and race against the A.I. that way. You don't have to fully upgrade to the max PI to participate, the A.I. will pick classes that reflect the player's class. The issue is that most people just max out their PI and you get grouped with them. That's why I think the match making can use an adjustment to take PI into account, unless an update nullifies this.
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- 2,099
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There's something fundamentally wrong with an event where your chances of winning increases when more and more of your teammates quit.
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So how would you handle it then?
That the game must handle quitters is obvious and there is no way around it, there could also be connection issues or other issues, that just is a given.
Would you prefer if the teammates that quit still counted for the events?
If the teammates that quit still counted for the later events then I would understand the frustration levels with "The Trial", because then it really would be almost impossible to win this.
That the game must handle quitters is obvious and there is no way around it, there could also be connection issues or other issues, that just is a given.
Would you prefer if the teammates that quit still counted for the events?
If the teammates that quit still counted for the later events then I would understand the frustration levels with "The Trial", because then it really would be almost impossible to win this.
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- Zimbabwe
Remove it from the game.
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- Vienna
Nah, at least for me it is so much more fun than the adventures with all their rammers and free roam rush nonsense, I really hope the Trial stays. If they remove the Trial they can remove the whole multiplayer altogether because this is the best part of the online multiplayer. It might be frustrating to some and maybe is not perfect, but it is nothing compared to the frustration in the other parts of the online multiplayer. The ranked adventures are more like a ramming deathmatch than a race compared to the Trial.
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Yes.
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- Vienna
so... new season, new trash playground games. first matching, we are matched four 1 star players in my team vs. 5 players on the other team - 7 star, 5 star, 2 star, 1 star, 1 star - pointless to even try, I quit immediately...
in second attempt again an impossible match.
and in third attempt I was lucky and in a superior 6 vs. 5 group - whole opposing team quit before the first event was finished.... this is complete bs...
...and The Trial done in first attempt despite me being the only one with an AWD tune and only one other good driver in the race.
Just get an AWD tune, get ahead of the CPU cars (should be in the first few curves as the CPU cars all use RWD) and then block the hell out of the CPU cars so your RWD teammates can catch up. Keep blocking all the way to the finish and stay behind your human teammates - real easy.
in second attempt again an impossible match.
and in third attempt I was lucky and in a superior 6 vs. 5 group - whole opposing team quit before the first event was finished.... this is complete bs...
...and The Trial done in first attempt despite me being the only one with an AWD tune and only one other good driver in the race.
Just get an AWD tune, get ahead of the CPU cars (should be in the first few curves as the CPU cars all use RWD) and then block the hell out of the CPU cars so your RWD teammates can catch up. Keep blocking all the way to the finish and stay behind your human teammates - real easy.
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- 319
- Canada
- Stormer248
- Phendrax248
Don't judge drivers based off of star rating, time invested in a game isn't synonymous with talent. There's a threshold to pass before a player can no longer be considered a noob, and earning a first star is well beyond that. Once the threshold is passed, its all up in the air as to who's the better driver. A 7 star player may have more time invested in the game, but they could have used that time performing tasks that don't improve their driving. Meanwhile a single star driver could be a racing game veteran who's only just started with this game in particular. You never know, and dropping out only solidifies defeat for yourself, and everyone who stayed in attempt to overcome the possible challenge.
If you want to judge people off of anything in this game, judge them off of their tune. In my experience, the worst drivers only use stock, trollish, or pre-built vehicles with community liveries. Better drivers tend to build their own cars.
And the real thing to look out for are vehicles that are well below the level cap. Unless a driver is an absolute marvel at the game, no A720 vehicle is going to compete with a grid of A800 vehicles.
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Yes I know the star rating is not that much of a sign but if you are only 4 drivers with lower star rating (including myself knowing that I am not that good in these PG games) vs. a team of 5 of much higher star rating it would be an immense uphill battle (maybe individually they’re not better but you can‘t really expect them to suck badly so we could overcome the 4:5 disadvantage). I stayed in almost to the end of the first CTF round and it was obvious that we wouldn‘t stand a chance.
If it was best of three and stopped at a 2:0 then I and probably more people would stay in, but if you are just getting crushed anyway and would have to stay in for close to half an hour until you have received your crushing 0:5 defeat... well thanks but no thanks
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The stars, aka prestige, are gained by leveling up to a certain point... they don't mean anything as far as talent goes and certainly don't mean a thing with Playground Games either. Stars aren't tied to how good you are, they're tied with how long you've played the game. Lots of people were farming influence on Mixer during the demo period and once the game came out, resulting in people actually starting the real game with ridiculous amounts of level ups.
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Yes sure it doesn't mean much when it comes to talent, but you can can expect them to have some level of experience and e.g. know that it makes sense to hit me if they are not infected and I am, to heal me - which many players don't seem to know, they just try to evade me despite we being on the same team... and I am pretty sure that there is a positive correlation between knowing these things and acting on them and the star rating.
And if you're up 4 against 5 and the other team likely has more experienced players too and in the first two minutes your expectations are pretty much confirmed, then imho staying in the game is just a waste of time, especially when the game doesn't know when to stop this (which would be at 3:0).
