Microtransactions Have Arrived in Gran Turismo Sport

[Joey D]

What comment in that thread that you would label as "outrage"? I see some skepticism, but most people seemed to be perfectly fine with it.

So why are you blaming the GTPlanet community for the toxic comments on Facebook and Twitter?

It's the GTPlanet Facebook and Twitter, which is the only gaming social media accounts I look at.

But if you look at my original post, I didn't specify GTPlanet, but rather the player base in general. However, looking through the thread it seems like several members are unhappy with the addition of loot boxes. But like I said, since this site has rules, comments can't be overly toxic or the members will get action taken against them for not following the rules. It's one of the reasons that make GTP a way better gaming site than say IGN.

 

[Tornado]

Its kind of important that people understand what you are saying.

I certainly don't understand why someone would draw a line in the sand from the business practices of another company and then in literally the next sentence admit to having no actual knowledge of them.


That should have been pretty evident as the point of my response even if something was misspelled.

Further that you get snarky on someone else due to your mistake says a lot about you.

My response to him was specifically worded for a reason that is known to him. I don't need to explain it to anyone else.

 

[GTSeriesVids]

It isn't only a paid content for GTsport folks.. They've used 3d models of cars from GT2 till GT5 with the standard cars

No, they used models from GT4 in both GT5 & 6 to inflate the car count, in GT5 they were separated in the dealerships (standard models being in the UCD) and in the garage so you could see which car was premium and which was standard then in GT6 they took the UCD away and allowed you to have all your cars the garage along with a stockyard and the only way to tell if it was premium or standard was a bit of text while viewing the car in the dealership

It would be nice if people actually knew what they were talking about before they post

 

[BadFlounder]

I'm sorry, but I have to at some of these "greed" posts. Did you guys think Polyphony was some collective full of starving artists that only make racing games for the love of racing? That they don't care about profits? Polyphony's goal is to make as much money as possible with nearly everything they do. Sony has the same goals. This is 100% normal. These are businesses. I never understand people that get so upset when companies do things to try and make money. You (we) have all the power as consumers. If companies make poor DLC implementations, like in Star Wars Battlefront, then the community pushes back and companies adjust. This is a good thing. But we can't expect companies not to try things like this. The key IMO is how they do these implementations, are they fair/balanced, etc. Look, in a perfect world, there would be no micro-transactions but that ship sailed long ago....as long as there are people willing to pay for this stuff, then these kinds of markets will continue to exist.

As for Polyphony's take on micro-transactions; I really don't see the big problem here. Isn't this simply an option for people with more disposable income? Personally, I wouldn't pay for cars, but that's my choice. If people want to spend their money on them then so what? How is it all that different from spending hours upon hours grinding to buy these in-game? In one case you sacrifice your money, in the other it is your time; it's a personal choice for each gamer. IMO, Polyphony seemed to have made a fair micro-transaction system. You can shut the option off, no competitive advantages are gained, etc.

I mean....a petition?!? Good lord.

 

[witham]

This does not cancel the fact that the game is worth $ 60, except times when it on sale. The game is EMPTY compared to other GT games, its even worse than gt5 prologue, so i dont see a great game support from PD, there is still lack of real tracks and real cars, no weather effects or day/night-cycle, but now PD add AVATAR CUSTOMIZATION, SO GREAT FEATURE and MICROTRANSACTIONS. This features costs time to develop, so i cant find any reason why this features more important then making real game content.

I don't agree personally but I guess it depends on your priorities, this is my most played GT since maybe 3 and that is largely down to the livery editor and well implemented online (compared to other races), features that quite frankly I couldn't live without in a racing game now.

For me, these features are miles better than millions of random cars and offline racing against mindless AI, I've played this game miles more than GT6 which had "content" left, right and centre because fundamentally there are more interesting gameplay aspects in GTSport.

You joke but tonight I am going to go home and enjoy playing with the avatar customisation (if video games are meant to distract you from the real world what better way than creating your own racing driver in intricate detail), new cars and the new track. I will probably buy a couple of the cars using real money and that sits fine by me as in my life, time is more important than money as I lack time more than I do money if it were the other way around I would grind away like I did in previous GT games

The reason why it is important is that a lot of people value it, Gran Turismo has always had a great community sharing photos, tunes and lap times. Now we can share liveries and race suits to thanks to GT Sport and this to me is one of the biggest USPs of GTSport. If I want tracks I can play Project Cars, if I want cars I can play Forza.

If I want detail and creativity with the best online racing I play GT Sport. I agree we need more tracks but that will come in due course, the updates are thick and fast at the moment by the end of the year I am sure we will have Silverstone and Spa and a load more cars to go

I appreciate though for you, you are looking for something different but surely you must be able to stand back and see why others will welcome this news? and why others love GT sport? much, in the same way, I can understand why you don't. Hopefully, I am proved right and by the end of the year there will be more tracks and cars and we will both be happy

 

[PocketZeven]

I agree! As long as there isnt any content locked away behind a paywall I dont mind it that much. This form of DLC is not pay to win and/or pay to progress. But not being able to sell gift cars does still annoy me.

 

[kjeldsen]

I agree! As long as there isnt any content locked away behind a paywall I dont mind it that much. This form of DLC is not pay to win and/or pay to progress. But not being able to sell gift cars does still annoy me.

Gift cars are what i use to make money by selling the cars i already bought

 

[PocketZeven]

Gift cars are what i use to make money by selling the cars i already bought

Yes but the muliple duplicate giftcars just annoys me. I have only giftcars at the moment. Only bought the 1500T. Does anyone know if you can only buy the cars directly or do you purchase ingame currency like GT's before? The press release states that you can buy cars from Psstore, but that doesnt neccesarily rule out putrchasing ingame currency. (which I really wont like!)

 

[AshenGraey]

I was wondering how long it would take PD before they'd introduce micro-transaction in GTS and there it is. Seems like it is the norm nowadays in the gaming industry so can't blame them for jumping on the same bus...that said, let me go see if there is anything in it for me!

 

[FoRiZon]

Hey atleast in GTSport you buy the car exactly what you want.

Instead of some vague lootbox where theres a chance of getting good, crap, or even duplicate cars.

 

[kjeldsen]

Yes but the muliple duplicate giftcars just annoys me. I have only giftcars at the moment. Only bought the 1500T. Does anyone know if you can only buy the cars directly or do you purchase ingame currency like GT's before? The press release states that you can buy cars from Psstore, but that doesnt neccesarily rule out putrchasing ingame currency. (which I really wont like!)

You buy the cars directly, no currency, and only cars below 2 million, i also seem to get cars i do not want from the wheel of misfortune, but i did get a 20 million car once, so i guess that evens it out..

 

[Lukanyon]

"But but but Forza 7 has loot boxes!"

Which aren't bought with real money not have any exclusive content. Also, FM7's cars cost 1.5 million at most.

 

[Vspectra]

"But but but Forza 7 has loot boxes!"

Which aren't bought with real money not have any exclusive content. Also, FM7's cars cost 1.5 million at most.

GTS doesn't have any exclusive content for this "MTX", and you can only buy with real money the cars that cost at most 2 million in the game.

 

[AlanH49]

Nothing has changed for players.

Anyone who has put in even a moderate amount of time will have either won, or have enough credits, to buy most cars they want under 2m credits.

By now I would have expected PD to transition to paid DLC. The fact it is still free keeps the community united and extends goodwill to all players. If someone wants to shortcut some relatively quick and easy to achieve cars. Be my guest.

 

[queleuleu]

I hate microtransactions. Even from my favorite franchise, I can't accept it.

 

[GTSeriesVids]

if it helps fund work on GT7 and maybe help it release quicker then i don't have a problem with it, still not going to spend any money on them though as i have pretty much every car other than the most expensive ones and they don't really get used enough to warrant me grinding for them so this doesn't really concern me too much

 

[eran0004]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/03/07/gran-turismo-5-prologue-features-announced
76 cars and no fantasy gr.b/gr.3/gr.4/road cars
And 3 real tracks vs 7 (13 including different types) in gt sport. Not bad for $40 demo, but bad for $60 game.

That’s not vanilla. The original release had 37 cars. And there were 16 fantasy cars in GT5 Prologue.

There are 9 real world locations and 19 real world layouts in GT Sport. For GT5 Prologue it’s 3/6.

 

[Epic B]

PD is well aware of a backlash which is why they put a hide-MT option. But I think the reason why they went ahead with the idea is cause MTs are proving to be important to the video games industry for post-launch profits. Maybe Sony was directing PD to do it. At least it was done in a sensible way, a dollar for a car instead of a cash pack.

Hey at least it isn't RNG loot boxes, and no content is exclusively locked away for people to get, unlike FM/AC/PCARS DLCs.

Besides, GT Sport already has had lootboxes since the beginning.

 

[Flashfire926]

What this tells me is that GT sport didn't do as well as they thought it would, and these mt's are there to make some extra revenue

 

[eran0004]

It's the GTPlanet Facebook and Twitter, which is the only gaming social media accounts I look at.

But if you look at my original post, I didn't specify GTPlanet, but rather the player base in general. However, looking through the thread it seems like several members are unhappy with the addition of loot boxes. But like I said, since this site has rules, comments can't be overly toxic or the members will get action taken against them for not following the rules. It's one of the reasons that make GTP a way better gaming site than say IGN.

So why did you use the words “outrage”, “this thread” and “the forums” if you weren’t talking about outrage, this thread or the forums?

“The outrage that took place on the forums when it was discovered FM7 had loot boxes and then this thread where people seem surprisingly OK with microtransactions.”

 

[KK78]

I'm sorry, but I have to at some of these "greed" posts. Did you guys think Polyphony was some collective full of starving artists that only make racing games for the love of racing? That they don't care about profits? Polyphony's goal is to make as much money as possible with nearly everything they do. Sony has the same goals. This is 100% normal. These are businesses. I never understand people that get so upset when companies do things to try and make money. You (we) have all the power as consumers. If companies make poor DLC implementations, like in Star Wars Battlefront, then the community pushes back and companies adjust. This is a good thing. But we can't expect companies not to try things like this. The key IMO is how they do these implementations, are they fair/balanced, etc. Look, in a perfect world, there would be no micro-transactions but that ship sailed long ago....as long as there are people willing to pay for this stuff, then these kinds of markets will continue to exist.

As for Polyphony's take on micro-transactions; I really don't see the big problem here. Isn't this simply an option for people with more disposable income? Personally, I wouldn't pay for cars, but that's my choice. If people want to spend their money on them then so what? How is it all that different from spending hours upon hours grinding to buy these in-game? In one case you sacrifice your money, in the other it is your time; it's a personal choice for each gamer. Again, I just don't see the big problem here. Polyphony seemed to have made a very fair micro-transaction implementation. You can shut the option off, etc.

I mean....a petition?!? Good lord.

Hammer. Nail. Head

In 2018 it is bordering on ludicrous for gamers not to be expectant of microtransactions or paid DLC in some form or other and yet still, at every juncture (not just those times when a publisher really takes the urine- Battlefront 2, Street Fighter 5 etc take a bow) there's a never-ending line of people tramping out the same entitled rubbish over content that you DON'T have to pay for and in this case, you DON'T need, that DOESN'T offer an advantage over other players and you can actually hide from view and ignore forever.

Also, the sizeable and generally well received FREE updates since launch just called and said hi!

You know what often happens if a game with this considerable cost of production, marketing and distribution does not charge for extra content at some point? Free content dries up, future support and fixes come to an end, the game dies prematurely and in some cases it potentially jeopardises future releases.

What would happen to games like WOW, Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch, PUBG, Forza 7, DriveClub etc etc if there was no paid content over time? Yep, they'd die after a year or 2 as opposed to some of these which are still offering enjoyment to millions of gamers many years later.

This is not 1992 and what you got on the disc is not the end of the journey.

So the equation is simple, if don't like then don't buy but stop short of telling others it's wrong, evil and whatever other grandiose rubbish you can dream up and save it for the few genuinely egregious cases out there because entirely optional microtransactions for cars you can otherwise earn and don't even need to participate in the game is so harmless it's not even funny.

 

[crooky369]

The way I see it is that I try to buy my must have games for around £30-£35. GT Sport I got for a remarkable £18 back in November. I’m quite happy to spend a bit of money on it as I got such a good deal in the first place.

Just sell me the XJ13 and 330P4 already!

 

[FoRiZon]

The main problem though isnt the Microtransactions itself. Sure, it can be the nicest Microtransactions ever on the market or whatever.

Its the fact that Polyphony themselves have said that GTS doesnt have Microtransactions. It's a trust issue. If they already break that promise, then how can they keep the other promises, particularly the 500 cars thing?

 

[archangel717]

If there's one type of game where I actually don't mind this, it's a racing sim. If most of the good content was locked behind a pay wall, I would be pissed. But this doesn't change anything about the game you already own. Games are prohibitively more expensive to create than they ever have been, and yet the price of AAA games has not risen beyond $60. In addition, if you have the money to buy all the cars, so you can have the opportunity to try them all out, what's the big deal? It's like being upset at someone who can afford a nice wheel/pedal setup, because they didn't "prove" themselves by earning it through a racing competition, thus leaving everyone else to use a lowly controller.

 

[spb812]

That’s not vanilla. The original release had 37 cars. And there were 16 fantasy cars in GT5 Prologue.

There are 9 real world locations and 19 real world layouts in GT Sport. For GT5 Prologue it’s 3/6.

Oh, sorry, i thought spec. 3 was vanilla. Its big progress, in 2018 we can have a game, bigger then demo from 2008/

 

[kilesa4568]

Pay real cash for one of the cars then get it 5 minutes later as a prize car. I'd pay to watch their face if that happened.

On the subject of paying cash for the current car stock, I really don't care. I'd happily pay for something that was exclusive though.

 

[AudiMan2011]

Not being intrusive does not mean an excuse for a free pass on MTs in $60 games. People that let MTs slide because they think it doesn't affect them are part of the problem and contribute to their increased normalization in games, whilst the 0.05% of whales that continue to dump loads of money into MTs give the publishers an ample excuse to keep doing it.

If GTS had been Free-to-Play, then there could have been some leeway.

 

[BadFlounder]

The main problem though isnt the Microtransactions itself. Sure, it can be the nicest Microtransactions ever on the market or whatever.

Its the fact that Polyphony themselves have said that GTS doesnt have Microtransactions. It's a trust issue. If they already break that promise, then how can they keep the other promises, particularly the 500 cars thing?

That is a fair criticism. Personally, I never really takes these statements too seriously because things change, economics change, etc. The 500 cars thing is another thing I wouldn't necessarily take all that seriously. Perhaps that remains their goal, but things could change in the interim. Perhaps they decide to shift more resources towards PS5/GT7 at some point? Who knows. I think PD have done such a superb job with free DLC that I am willing to give them more of a pass on things like this, but I take your point, if they are going to make a statement about it as Kaz did....then you have to take the criticism when you change course.

Not being intrusive does not mean an excuse for a free pass on MTs in $60 games. People that let MTs slide because they think it doesn't affect them are part of the problem and contribute to their increased normalization in games, whilst the 0.05% of whales that continue to dump loads of money into MTs give the publishers an ample excuse to keep doing it.

If GTS had been Free-to-Play, then there could have been some leeway.

On the flip side, one could easily make an argument that $60 price point is too low for modern games. The price of games simply has not kept pace with the development costs in the industry. That's great for us, but it's also pushed companies in the direction of alternative methods to generate revenue. While I think that is part of the motivation for micro-transactions, the other part is more basic; at least some people are willing to pay for stuff like this. I know if I were running a business I sure as heck would go after that market. For me, as a consumer, the key is how companies approach this. I will not support garbage like SWBF, but I have no problem with what Polyphony did here. Just my two cents.

 

[WyldAnimal]

It's the Grinding that I hate most in the GT series of racing sims...
I'd much rather have a Pay one price to UnLock all of the Content...

Why Only the under 2,000,000 credit cars...
it should be the other way around..

It's easy to eran credits to buy the Under 2,000,000
It's a Grind and a waste of time to earn credits for the 15,000,000 and 20,000,000 credit cars.
Especially when your bank can only Have 20,000,000 MAX...

The way it is now, what a waste..

Add the Most expensive cars to the Store,
I'd buy them just so I don't have to do any more grinding !

Also, If I pay Cash to unlock a car.
I want to be able to Add Every Color of that car for that Price.
NOT pay for each and every color...

Some cars have 20 or more Factory color options.
If I pay cash, I want to be able to add every one of them to my garage.

 

[kjeldsen]

Besides, GT Sport already has had lootboxes since the beginning.

What? Lootboxes is something you buy for real money, what you are talking about has been in games since forever. #fakenews