In this thread, and others there have been a lot of comments along the lines of:
"Why are PD not fixing the basic errors/adding modes like BSpec as advertised, yet they seem to be releasing VGT cars, the M4, etc"
Now it could be that the cars were nearly finished before release, and are therefore less labour intensive to add compared to "proper" new content/bug fixing. They probably require less coding than BSpec/Telemetry/Course maker...
...but I do wonder what the financial incentives are. As in how much money are PD getting in advertising from BMW and Merc, and whether they have contracts with set release dates for cars like the M4. I do wonder how many GT6 sales these contracts might be equivalent to. I'd imagine lots.
After all, if it comes to a toss up between defaulting on a contract with a major car company, or keeping gamers (who have already paid their £40) waiting... it's sad to say that the choice is an easy one.
"GT6, the real advertising simulator"?
Of course there is goodwill to consider, and how much a bad rep could affect future GT6 and GT7 sales. Also, fewer sales mean less audience for the advertising.
Now I do like the new cars, and am grateful for them, along with the seasonals we have been getting. It's just that I'd prefer to wait 6 months for these, but have:
i) a fixed pit stop bug,
ii) fuel/tyre wear/damage in arcade mode
iii) Telemetry, or at least an x and y G-force "ball" meter, with numerical readout
iv) the reason why zero camber is best in this game
first.
Cheers,
Bread
You're likely correct about the vgt's being partially done and easy to finish, especially if they aren't doing interiors. And the seasonal will take 2 min to create.
The financial incentives are broadening reach and increasing the user base beyond gamers and further leverage for manufacturer support/participation in future installments.
And this brings about the scariest point you mention. If in fact pd are trying to reach beyond gamers (primarily) then GT 6 is more of a marketing tool than a game appealing to the core.
And if this is the case, then existing users are secondary priorities... And there are certainly strong indicators of this. A patch doesn't generate PR, neither do features already promoted regardless of whether they were delivered, and gameplay add on's don't really sell more copies as they target existing users.
There certainly is strong evidence to suggest GT 6 is a marketing tool and I know that business model well... And they are following it to a 'T'... Sometimes the business models get reprioritized to increase users if sales are missing expectations... But they rarely net out to expectation. Especially in the game space.
In this instance I could imagine GT 6 being a tool to increase exposure in anticipation of a future release getting maximum visibility, huge marketing through many more outlets than games for GT 7, and leveraging past legacy. GT fans are already going to buy it... One million units alone covers PD's payroll for a lot longer than most would think. As it really equates to roughly 20 million minus marketing.
Indicators; no communication with end users, all announcements are with a PR splash (videos etc), GT 7 rumors already slipping out, every peace of content thus far is to attract a user based on the asset, not the game, sales are not exceeding earlier installments or on pace to (can't confirm but price has already been cut for a fixed time to test lift, with no incentive to buy beyond credits), all news surrounds an auto show, not another venue, less support than GT 5, etc.
The reality of the features being stalled is likely much bigger than we are thinking... For b-spec to work the AI needs an overhaul, standing starts need to be introduced, and the entire career needs to be adjusted or a secondary one added, and physics being changed has a big impact on AI car behavior... So B spec is likely a lot of work... And is also likely why endurance racing is strangely absent for the same reasons... And formula GT series, the Nissan micra spec events... Any spec racing in fact.
Community has a tie in with mobile and is a whole new 'thing' and I have some insider info about the mobile app (though its dated now) as Sony have been shopping for support for it from groups that are both mobile and console service providers a few months back... They don't want to replicate the remote b spec failure. So the dependencies beyond console here are rough.
Corse maker has no residual value beyond current users and a marketing bullet point, and is also not a traditionally requested feature of racing games so the priority is low for a release of the system... But pd will continue using it as an internal tool.
3d is likely not going to happen as it doesn't add anything beyond current users and was likely under utilized in GT 5... Though I used it allot.
Triple screen requires 3x consoles and games... This might have something to do with the current price reduction assuming it materializes in the next week... And might create a tiny lift.
Additionally GT games have long tails... So there is likely no rush as GT 5 sold consistently for years... And there was no real ps 3 competition.
All objective assumption despite any desire I might have for said features.
and it's more fun to talk about possibilities vs disappointing results...
they are the best!
