How does having some scratches on your car after being slammed into a wall realistic? I'd much rather they not waste their time and do weather and other stuff that actually improve the driving dynamics than try to please fans who don't know what they want. Better yet, make cars have realistic crash physics and roll first before you add cosmetic touches, since, I don't know, having your car behave like it crashed after you crash it would seem like a better way to improve realism than some idiotic kiddy damage.
"OH No! My car looks ugly now after a race! *car resets to brand new when you go to your garage*" What's the point? Damage is a whole lot of work for minuscule pay off.
It's because every fan wants everything from GT5 that it's taken so long to make. You want a badass online AND you want FULL damage AND you want FULL cockpit view in every car AND you want weather AND 5 million tracks and kittens AND YOU want over 1000 cars, otherwise GT5 is a disappointment to you. I feel sorry for Kaz, trying to please certain fans who want nothing less than god himself from GT5 and yet he even has the nerve to delay the game so he can add-in/polish features that are otherwise useless, but certain people think they can't live without.
You're obviously upset with the release date. However, you're not blaming PD for the extremely long development cycle. No, you're apparently too much of a fanboy to blame PD for anything. You need a scape goat instead. So you blame the whiners what turns you into a whiner yourself.
The problem is that, as you said, developers shouldn't bother with whining fans
and they don't. Do you honestly think that they are bothering with damage because some of the people who are gonna buy the game anyway (read fans) want it? Do you honestly think they waste their time with many features because
some people want one or the other? Of course not. You know that's stupid but you don't care if it's true or not. You need to blame someone after all.
I'll explain you why they are bothering with damage. They know they can't release a game without damage anymore. The time for releasing a game without it has already come and gone. The only people who would accept the game without the damage ironically are the fans who are complaining. Those buy it no matter what. All the other 95% of the people would find it stupid.
Every single respectable racing game out there has damage nowadays. GT would look stupid without it to the casual gamers, which are the vast majority. Most people would go "WTF? This game is a joke". They don't care it has amazing graphics, they don't care it's an awesome simulator, they don't care it has 1000 cars, it doesn't have damage
and every single racing game out there has. That's why PD and every other developer out there is bothering with damage. Not because of the few whining fans.
PD is put in a tight spot because, unlike other developers, they are not about bull****ing you. They want to do it the right way, and that's why they delayed damage so much and would like to delay it even more. However, they had to give in to general public pressure, not the fans. As I said before, the latter buy the game, damage or no damage.
Take your own advice and stop whining. The game is out when it's out and it's nobody's fault but PD's.
This thread is funny. 
