"GT Sport will require an internet connection for the majority of functionality"

[Outspacer]

Career, livery, scapes, arcade and local MP(?) are all offline.

Since there isn't a career, I suppose you can say it's offline! If you meant the 'campaign' glorified licence tests etc, then they would appear to be NOT included in the offline, going by that vague statement in the blog. And it does say 'portions' of arcade are offline, not all of it, leaving some question as to which parts of it require online.

 

[GT6mebe]

That's what I gathered from what I've read. It's just that all this talk about being comparable to games that actually do need to be connected to function at all got me paranoid.

If this is the case, Sony needs to clarify this before launch because people are saying GTS is an always online game.

GTS was never said to be an online always game, in fact the press release highlights how certain parts aren't. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Once release comes people will understand.

Since there isn't a career, I suppose you can say it's offline! If you meant the 'campaign' glorified licence tests etc, then they would appear to be NOT included in the offline, going by that vague statement in the blog. And it does say 'portions' of arcade are offline, not all of it, leaving some question as to which parts of it require online.

There is a career and last time I checked license tests did not have races which the career mode does. It says local MP and SP racing are offline. Thats exactly like previous games. Any further additions may be new features with online connectivity.

 

[Outspacer]

There is a career and last time I checked license tests did not have races which the career mode does.

There's a 'campaign' mode which includes licence tests etc. By 'etc' I meant for example 'driving etiquette', which presumably involves other cars on track. From what we know so far, there's way less than 100 events in that section (was it 60 or 72?), a lot of which will be trivial. Not even close to a 'career', and anyway would appear to require online connection.

What, exactly, do you consider to be the career?

 

[GT6mebe]

There's a 'campaign' mode which includes licence tests etc. By 'etc' I meant for example 'driving etiquette', which presumably involves other cars on track. From what we know so far, there's way less than 100 events in that section (was it 60 or 72?), a lot of which will be trivial. Not even close to a 'career', and anyway would appear to require online connection.

What, exactly, do you consider to be the career?

Apart from the self discipline ones the main meat would be mission challenge, which seems to have races in it. We've only seen one stage (line) from it so I'm willing to wait before calling the career mode completely barebones.

 

[jm79]

No. I. Am. Not. If you need an internet connection for credit/mile rewards in order to buy cars in solo play modes then I am 100% right.

Kaz is the head of PD. Part of his job is to understand the game market. If YOU see a game that requires an alway on connection (NFS) and it attracts nothing but complaints from the players to the point where EA state the next game won't require this and you still make your game like that then you are NOT doing your job properly.

If you then see a game, SFV, that launches as an esport title and is only bought by esport players and not by the people who normally buy SF games. Then another company, Namco, make absolutely sure not to make the same mistake by showing solo game modes in Tekken 7 early and often before launch and that game beats SFV lifetime sales in the first month and you STILL make an esport title then you are not doing your job properly.

You're in a flap about nothing I think. DriveClub isn't required to be always online for singleplayer modes and GTS will be the same, it just needs a connection for leaderboards and credits and whatnot. To get the full functionality of those modes, you need a connection. It doesn't mean those modes are blocked off.

I can understand your concern, because those singleplayer 'online always or nothing' games are a joke. But the industry realised that I think. That requirement is only for games that are entirely online like Overwatch nowadays.

Honestly, it'll all be fine

 

[Outspacer]

Apart from the self discipline ones the main meat would be mission challenge, which seems to have races in it. We've only seen one stage (line) from it so I'm willing to wait before calling the career mode completely barebones.

Then maybe you should also wait before posting that "career [is] offline"

Again only from what we've seen so far, 'mission challenge' was, what, 12 events? That could expand, but it's pretty clear by now that PD's intention is to have no real career mode outside of e-sports.

 

[Tassie_tiger]

I've been thinking about this, and I'm fairly happy with where I've ended up.
Apologies in advance for the inevitable wall of text to follow, but here are my thoughts.

Firstly, it's essentially all about Sport mode.
It begins: "Keeping things fair"
Then: "a world first" blah, blah, blah, "FIA" blah,blah,blah, "Charlie Whiting" blah, blah, blah, "racing integrity" blah, blah, blah.
It continues: "In order to ensure fair racing for all, GT Sport will require an internet connection for the majority of functionality. This connectivity requirement is to ensure that progress, car availability and driver ratings are properly maintained at all times."

Progress, car availability and driver ratings are all linked, and really only relevant in Sport mode.
As you progress through the game you win cars, therefore the game will know you have an appropriate car for the race it is matching you to.
You also earn experience points in both Campaign and Arcade modes which go towards your Driver Level.
Driver Level wasn't seen in the beta, but it's the third metric (along with Sportsmanship Rating and Driver Rating) that is used for the match-making system.
And then there are the Achievements such as Distance Driven, Time Driven, Clean Races, etc which also offer rewards as you progress through the game.
Yet another indicator for the game to know what cars you would have won, your Driver Level, etc.

So again, it's all about fairness of racing in Sport mode, and helping the match making system do it's work.


As for the other strange wording of that section of the blog post, I have a few thoughts.
"Single player on select tracks".
I note that even though some tracks are available in Circuit Experience they are not available in Arcade Single Player.
So perhaps it's as simple as not all tracks are available there.
And therefore "select" Single player tracks.

"portions of Arcade Mode"
Clearly leaderboards (and perhaps ghosts) require internet connection.
But there is a Multiplayer Battle option.
At first I took that as LAN gaming.
But the sub-menu here are "Create Session", "Search Session", and "Friend's Session".
So perhaps it is a pre-organised LAN option using the internet as I first suspected.
Or it could even be you and a few mates racing against AI cars in an online environment.
Eitherway, it's obviously a part of Arcade that uses internet connection.
Hence "portions".

"Limited two-player split screen".
Don't know with this one.
Perhaps again it's limited due to the track options available.
Or perhaps they were trying to seperate it from Multiplayer Battle by suggesting the "limited to 2 players" mode.


And after saying all that I'll add one last thing.
I see absolutely no reason why not being connected to the internet means you don't win credits and therefore cannot buy cars.
I see absolutely no reason to assume the Campaign, Livery Editor, etc. requires internet connection, simply because it wasn't specifically named in that particular sentence, which was about PS Plus anyway.
And mentioning that, I see no reason why PS Plus is required for anything other than online multiplayer gaming.

 

[Johnnypenso]

There is a career and last time I checked license tests did not have races which the career mode does. It says local MP and SP racing are offline. Thats exactly like previous games. Any further additions may be new features with online connectivity.

When people refer to a "career" in racing games, particularly with reference to the GT series, they are referring to an extensive series of pre-determined races in various cars and series of cars, as in previous GT games and games of this type. Can you link us to this "career" you are saying the game has?

 

[GordonS]

If there is any 'career' it is only for 'my real self' for preparing online, the daily races and ultimately for aiming the eSport and FiA gala in the end of the year ( not me lol). Other than that it's a campaign as the official site describes.
We'll see if in the future PoDi will be forced to add traditional elements on the platform. I doubt that though.

 

[Castrol96]

@another_jakhole the statement isn't 100% clear to be honest and some clarification from Sony/PD would be helpful. The problem is that it talks about PS+ online racing and then moves onto Arcade Mode in the same sentence.

Or maybe Arcade Mode has completely changed from what it used to be (racing with AI, 2P mode, time/drift trial)? I don't know. My head hurts now!

What if it's all a translation error?

It has been known to happen in the past.

 

[PhaedrusSocrate]

I'm not personaly in problem with online demand, yet even though it didn't concern me that much - that wording is so unusualy that from first second I felt sure it suffered being translated not only through 1-2 languages, but also trough definitions of multiple development branches (and then trough translations on top) - and if such process was finished of by some non-gamer administrator to web site, he wouldn't be able to understand the havock of one or two phrases could do to actual gamers.

For instance:
Portions of the Arcade Mode, including... - could very well meant (in other language grammar) - Portions THAT ARE Arcade Mode,....

Also:
two-player split screen, single-player races on select tracks - could well mean - on tracks YOU YOURSELVES select

Will see... It will be a good year for gaming, including GT.

 

[Johnnypenso]

I'm not personaly in problem with online demand, yet even though it didn't concern me that much - that wording is so unusualy that from first second I felt sure it suffered being translated not only through 1-2 languages, but also trough definitions of multiple development branches (and then trough translations on top) - and if such process was finished of by some non-gamer administrator to web site, he wouldn't be able to understand the havock of one or two phrases could do to actual gamers.

For instance:
Portions of the Arcade Mode, including... - could very well meant (in other language grammar) - Portions THAT ARE Arcade Mode,....

Also:
two-player split screen, single-player races on select tracks - could well mean - on tracks YOU YOURSELVES select

Will see... It will be a good year for gaming, including GT.

Translation - careless at best.

 

[versous]

internet requirement is never a good option for gaming unless the game does something great and truly unique with it that directly affects the gameplay just like any true MMO title ever released. At least it looks like GTsport will let you play offline in modes where you expect it.
There are games that lock themselves behind the online wall to just play trough their SP modes (They even officially call them SP modes).

Still not interested in GTsport. I'll not just buy&play for the graphics which at this point would be one of the main reasons.

 

[Ameer67]

What if it's all a translation error?

It has been known to happen in the past.

I hope it is.

 

[zzz_pt]

Hoping for someone involved in the writing, translating and proofreading protocol of this press release is incompetent. That's saying something. ^^

 

[PhaedrusSocrate]

As it is - it DOES sound constructed in not so normal way - besides meaning, I refer to actual sentence construction.

It could also be said the same for "you" as if you are someone hoping that it means the worst

 

[Rallywagon]

People saying that being mostly online will kill the game. What about adding in a $14 A month subscription as well? Last I checked, iRacing is still a fairly popular racing sim... Personally, I mostly did league racing with gt5 and 6. So nothing they are doing upsets me. Yet. I personally was also never a fan of the 20 versions of the same car thing either. Another thing I am glad to see go. In fact, more I hear about this game, the more I am liking it. A striped down GT focused on online racing is a game I would like.

 

[infamousphil]

Still no word on GTS's pay-to-play status. But that's not my main concern currently. Anyone try starting GT6 offline recently? My wireless connection somehow became non-connectable a few months back. So l decided to reset the PS3 and go at it without internet connection. Conclusion... terrible!

No VGTs. No Sierra race track. No course creator. Ok, so there was a lot of game play l had found enjoyable. I had gotten used to the game play w/o all the updates until...

After sending a large group of non-wanted cars to the stock yard... WAM!!! All cars disappeared from the garage... GONE!

Just like that. Six had gone from terrible to a most horrid experience. I would not recommend Gran Turismo without a great internet connection PERIOD!

Sony's Polyphony and Kazunori Yamaoto's Gran Turismo have not been able to and/or not willing to release a dissaster free GT since 1994.

 

[Johnnypenso]

People saying that being mostly online will kill the game. What about adding in a $14 A month subscription as well? Last I checked, iRacing is still a fairly popular racing sim... Personally, I mostly did league racing with gt5 and 6. So nothing they are doing upsets me. Yet. I personally was also never a fan of the 20 versions of the same car thing either. Another thing I am glad to see go. In fact, more I hear about this game, the more I am liking it. A striped down GT focused on online racing is a game I would like.

Define fairly popular. Do you know what the active user base is for iRacing?

 

[Rallywagon]

Define fairly popular. Do you know what the active user base is for iRacing?

To be a single "game" studio with near 10 million annual revenue and over 50k active user base... I'd say that they are doing well enough. I would also say that is exactly the user base that GTS is aiming for.

 

[Northstar]

To be a single "game" studio with near 10 million annual revenue and over 50k active user base... I'd say that they are doing well enough. I would also say that is exactly the user base that GTS is aiming for.

First off, revenue is pointless, what matters is profit. I have always been curious how much is left after licensing, server costs, wages etc.. are taken out.

Secondly, the game has been around for nearly 10 years and has only managed to get 50,000 subscribers, that's really not all that great.

 

[Johnnypenso]

To be a single "game" studio with near 10 million annual revenue and over 50k active user base... I'd say that they are doing well enough. I would also say that is exactly the user base that GTS is aiming for.

A player base of 50k makes it niche, not fairly popular. $10 million annual revenue would put PD into bankruptcy.

 

[GoSpeedRacer]

I'm just glad to be done with the whole online experience. Loved GT5, but I guess I fell behind the curve in GT6 and never really fell in with a good crowd like in GT5. Just didn't have the same feel for me anymore. I have a strong connection, but not even sure I'm going to get a PS4. I wanted to play Rock Band 4, but all of my other gaming has gone by the wayside. Having twin 3 year old granddaughters will do that.

From what I've read about GTS, I'm "meh" over it. Who knows though, maybe when I retire, the GT game out then, might lure me back, lol.

 

[ryandtw]

For a person who spends racing mostly offline and not online...this news means GT Sport isn't really for me. Glad that I bought pCARS 2. I have to wonder what restrictions are going to be placed on the arcade mode of GT Sport...

 

[Imari]

People saying that being mostly online will kill the game. What about adding in a $14 A month subscription as well? Last I checked, iRacing is still a fairly popular racing sim...

Firstly, iRacing is somewhere between $50-$100 a year if you buy in bulk. Secondly, ~50,000 users is not "fairly popular" when applied to a game like Gran Turismo. 100k sales and 50k users would be a catastrophic failure for GTS.

All iRacing does is demonstrate that in fact, yes, adding significant subscription and content costs does restrict the user base to only the most dedicated and niche consumers, of which there really aren't that many.

 

[JockeP22]

Sony's Polyphony and Kazunori Yamaoto's Gran Turismo have not been able to and/or not willing to release a dissaster free GT since 1994.

Who?

 

[DRambo]

Who?

Distant cousin I think.

 

[torque99]

So do you all play your PS4's without an internet connection offline all the time with every game you have, with out updating anything with the day 1 versions?

I don't think I have ever played a game offline from start to finish ever on the PS4 or not had to update a game to continue with patches etc.

Daily updates normally pop up on notifications of various games requiring further updates as soon as you put in a disc or on digital library. It is the way the PS4 now works. Mine just sits on wireless connected all the time to update any game etc no different to using a PC/Laptop internet. I am sure most parts of arcade mode, campaign mode, scapes, replays will all be fine offline if you wish to take it all offline and will update again when you connect again (like DriveClub). I would be extremely surprised if it was anything like NFS2015 or the Crew etc with no access to the menus unless connected.

A permanent connection and PS+ is required for the Sports mode/MP online like any other game.

 

[Mr P510]

Not really looking forward to online racing in GT Sport, coming from iRacing as no doubt there'll be kids that destroy your online rep.

Sadly, thinking of passing altogether.

 

[Scaff]

A permanent connection and PS+ is required for the Sports mode/MP online like any other game.

I don't think the always online is the bit that will be the major issue, it's the need for PS+ for what appears to be the majority of the gameplay side of the title.

Sony's own numbers show that 60% plus PS4 owners don't have PS+. That's a big audience that are going to either not be able to play a lot of the title or will feel annoyed that they have to pay again to do so.