Official GT Blog: "Pit Stop" by Polyphony Digital

[Imari]

That's no massive slight against him just the by product of a guy taking his idea global and maintaining absolute control.

As far as talking about the future of the franchise and such, that's probably true.

As far as talking about the current state of GT6, I doubt it. It's simply not possible to run a hundred+ person company where only one man at the top knows what's going on. He may be the only one with the full vision, but there has to be some delegation of responsibility and dissemination of knowledge going on. Middle management can't be expected to do a decent job if they don't have at least some idea how their section of the project fits into the whole, and they need to know their section as well or better than someone like Kaz does.

Whatever issues there might be around communication, there are solutions available, if they wanted to communicate. Obviously they don't, or they don't think it's important.

 

[Zlork]

Yes, communication has changed.

• They reveal their game just a few months before the release and not, five years before. They decided that, since Gran Turismo PSP. And for me, it's a great progress. What Jordan said not surprise me at all.
• Kaz speaks much less in interviews. I mean, he talks a lot more concrete things rather than his wishes.
• The Pit-Stop blog. We can say what we want, but it's also a step. For some time, they use it to talk a bit about updates of Gran Turismo 6 - Suzuka 2014, VGTs, seasonal events holidays, etc. -. Then the other news is really cool.
• No more time for anything. The update, the game comes out when it's ready, period.

I'm not saying that communication is perfect but it has nothing to do with the previous ones.
Other studios communicate in the same way or are worse ! Get out of your bubble "racing game" and contact others sites.

Example: ask Rockstar Games for Red Dead Redemption 2 or GTA 6. They will not respond or they will make a philosophical discourse.

Anyway, if Kaz replied, critics will continue.

Therefore, the disappearance - temporary ? - of forum Q&A change nothing. Like it or not, GTPlanet represents a minority of the millions of players. Haters will continue to hate and others will support Kaz and his team.

I repeat, I will continue to support Kaz and his team, wathever happens.

About GT6 is for me the best of the saga. Congratulations to PoDi, keep it up, I can't wait to know the next updates.

In the discussion, I'll stop there, anyway, it's going around in circles.

For optimists members, I would like you to know that I support you!

 

[Imari]

Other studios communicate in the same way or are worse ! Get out of your bubble "racing game" and contact others sites.

That's not entirely true.

Games like iRacing, AC, and Project CARS seem to keep up a reasonable level of discourse with their customers without it getting out of hand. This includes delivering bad news when necessary, and information from key personnel on important issues.

For me, Blizzard has the best communication from a developer I know of. They do a crapload of stuff wrong (which is probably why they need good communication), but they have people whose job is specifically to communicate with the fanbase, key team members make time periodically to address the community, they co-opt helpful members of the community itself to help them disseminate information, and when something is clearly broken they're at least usually decent about making some sort of statement.

There are plenty of other developers out there, major and minor, who manage their interactions with the community better than Polyphony does. It should also be remembered that a lot of developers simply don't have a requirement for any real community interaction at all, they deliver a game on time and complete that doesn't require major support afterwards. Job done. Polyphony cannot take that route, they produced a game that requires ongoing support and maintenance simply to fulfill the conditions of it's sale, and as such they need to remain in contact with their customers.

The way you make it sound, Polyphony are among the best in terms of communicating with their community. That's just not true. They're improving, in that they're at least not handing out information that is actually incorrect any more. But they have a long way to go before they're able to actively respond to their community, and deliver timely announcements and information about their game.

It's only recently that we've started to get somewhat comprehensive patch notes out of them, and even those could still use improvement.

Some studios are worse than Polyphony, no doubt. But Polyphony is not among the best, and I would even argue that what they are doing now is not even adequate to the situation they have placed themselves in.

 

[SSQES]

GTPlanet represents a minority of the millions of players. !

That's still the biggest GT Fan community, and Jordan, the creator is close to PD and other.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Jordan raises valid points, however PD should still just come out and address certain aspects of the questions. I mean yes it is unrealistic to expect a confirmation of a Livery editor at this point but stuff like shuffle races, female avatars, real custom parts etc would have been nice to get addressed.

Either way I'm sure some GT7 news will pop up soon (betting E3) so heres to that.

 

[Zlork]

That's still the biggest GT Fan community, and Jordan, the creator is close to PD and other.

I don't deny it

 

[jimipitbull]

GT is not a special and unique snowflake in that regard. It's just a game. It works for some people, but evidently it doesn't work for a lot of other people.

PD are unique.

Yes, it's just a game. Which is why it seems so odd that people such as yourself write 1000 word essays on how PD have virtually ruined your life by not communicating.

Unless of course, it is more than just a game to you. In which case, the quoted post is not your true feelings on this matter.

 

[Imari]

Which is why it seems so odd that people such as yourself write 1000 word essays on how PD have virtually ruined your life by not communicating.

Exaggerate much?

I'm passionate about gaming. I make no apologies in that regard.

I also don't believe I've ever made any statement that my life has been ruined by PD's miscommunication. If I have then point me to it and I'll retract it, because it isn't true. Otherwise you can feel free to not attribute comments to me that I haven't made.

Edit: To reply to your edit:

PD are unique.

Unless of course, it is more than just a game to you. In which case, the quoted post is not your true feelings on this matter.

You notice how I said "GT is not unique in that regard", and you changed it into "PD are unique"?

GT is not unique in being a game that people can put many hours into. I made no comment about how unique PD are.

Any time you'd like to stop arguing against things I haven't said, that would be great.

 

[jimipitbull]

Exaggerate much?

I'm passionate about gaming. I make no apologies in that regard.

I also don't believe I've ever made any statement that my life has been ruined by PD's miscommunication. If I have then point me to it and I'll retract it, because it isn't true. Otherwise you can feel free to not attribute comments to me that I haven't made.

Perhaps I was reading between the lines. Or maybe it was the general feeling conveyed whilst reading one of those essay posts.

Either way, it's good to see you are passionate.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

We're all passionate, that's why we are here, that's why we are pissed off.

 

[nickg07]

We wouldn't be on the GTP forum posting about the game if we didn't care!

It's only because we all (mostly) love playing the game but we need more from PD to be able to enjoy the content within the game more.

 

[TeamCZRRacing]

I seem to recall you yourself in the Whining and Crying thread not so long ago to try and provide reasons for why the Course Maker wasn't ready yet.

I'm not suggesting that it was intentional trolling, but if you feel the need to go into the one thread on the site specifically marked for dissatisfaction with the game and attempt to reason with the people therein about how they're incorrect, I think you're doing it wrong.

I do not encourage or condone anyone doing anything similar to your posts, but you could at least try to practise what you preach.

Someone was asking why the course maker wasn't out yet, so I was trying to answer his question.

Enough about me, though. Let's get back on topic before this thread is locked.

 

[sparkytooth]

Guys, the blog.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Guys, the blog.

Is there a new post?

 

[sparkytooth]

Is there a new post?

No, but the off topic drivel needs to stop.

 

[mister dog]

The Q&A forum was Polyphony's idea. For whatever reason, Kazunori has addressed only the first question about engine sounds, and there's nothing I nor any of my contacts within PD/SCEA can do to force him to answer more.

Personally, I suspect he's been advised by senior SCEI PR bosses to keep a low profile, lest GT7 get too hyped, too early. Keen observers will note that Kazunori hasn't given any interviews since he was in the UK last summer for the Goodwood FoS and GT Academy Race Camp, nor did he speak with anyone in the media at SEMA in Las Vegas. This is unusual and very different from years' past.

He'll be talking a lot more after the wraps come off GT7, and, who knows - he may even address some of the forum's questions if they give him the opportunity to speak about some new features in the game.

As bitterly disappointed and embarrassed as I am for his lack of engagement, it is important not to overlook the profound impact the sound question seems to have had. Improving the sound has become a major priority for himself and Polyphony Digital, and the question has moved the company to make some unprecedented and public moves to recruit better audio engineers. That's a big change and a great response to what is one of the most serious and common complaints with the series, and it should not be discounted or forgotten amidst our collective hand-wringing.

Thanks for clearing that up 👍 Very strange that they actually requested it themselves, you set the whole thing up and then this community spend hundreds of hours to give our input only so we can get treated like the ugly girl at the dance (supposedly because of the preparations for the GT7 PR machine).

Indeed it seems to have had an effect on the sound issue (after 15 years), so if it has opened their eyes on that aspect i suppose we can view it as a small victory, but i hope they at least look through all the other threads also so they realize what else they have been neglecting so far. Our part is definitely done here, for them to take notice of it now.

 

[Raggadish]

What I'd like to see now, is for Jordan to make a News-post annoucing its closure right on the front page.

He won't. Remember, there wasn't a single news item about all the problems, lack of communication or what-not when the game launched. This is all fine if Jordan whishes not to step on any of PD/Sony toes but as a fansite does GTplanet not carry some weight for it's users interest too?

Anyway, it's just a quick thought. I probably shouldn't read too much into it.

 

[Johnnypenso]

He won't. Remember, there wasn't a single news item about all the problems, lack of communication or what-not when the game launched. This is all fine if Jordan whishes not to step on any of PD/Sony toes but as a fansite does GTplanet not carry some weight for it's users interest too?

Anyway, it's just a quick thought. I probably shouldn't read too much into it.

You're right, Jordan didn't build the biggest GTP fansite in the world by not being a shrewd and savvy fella. IMO he does a great job of balancing the needs of the fanbase with his relationship with Sony/PD/Kaz and there's really no need for him/GTP to publicly flog Sony/PD/Kaz for the Q&A failure as it wouldn't serve any useful, productive purpose. I'm confident that PD/Sony/Kaz are all well aware of our disappointment so throwing it in their face with a very public news item on GTP will only serve to embarass them and disrupt the special relationship Jordan has cultivated over the years and that we've all benefited from.

 

[Raggadish]

You're right, Jordan didn't build the biggest GTP fansite in the world by not being a shrewd and savvy fella. IMO he does a great job of balancing the needs of the fanbase with his relationship with Sony/PD/Kaz and there's really no need for him/GTP to publicly flog Sony/PD/Kaz for the Q&A failure as it wouldn't serve any useful, productive purpose.

Oh yeah, because a public flogging is just what I suggested. Why do you have to take what others says to the extreme? It just makes you look silly and thus not very fitting of your persona.

The game was crashing for alot of players, installation failures, features were missing(no ETA either), online play made the console lock up. These are issues I think people on this forum and casual racing fans alike would very much like to know about and I don't think it's unreasonable that, as the biggest GT forum for fans - by fans, GTPlanet should/could have made a report about the issues.

Not that it matters now though, GT6 is in much better shape at the moment. And this has gone plenty off topic, sorry thread readers!

 

[Johnnypenso]

Oh yeah, because a public flogging is just what I suggested. Why do you have to take what others says to the extreme? It just makes you look silly and thus not very fitting of your persona.

The game was crashing for alot of players, installation failures, features were missing(no ETA either), online play made the console lock up. These are issues I think people on this forum and casual racing fans alike would very much like to know about and I don't think it's unreasonable that, as the biggest GT forum for fans - by fans, GTPlanet should/could have made a report about the issues.

Not that it matters now though, GT6 is in much better shape at the moment. And this has gone plenty off topic, sorry thread readers!

I see your mistake. You believe that me making myself look silly doesn't fit with my persona My mistake, I didn't mean to infer that you specifically wanted a public flogging, it was meant more as a general summation of a few of the posts I read that want GTP to step up and represent the interests of the membership which to me, would be tantamount to a figurative public flogging and Jordan might as well just kiss his special relationship with Kaz/PD/Sony goodbye in that case. We'd all be worse off if that happens.

 

[apexpredator100]

I wouldn't be surprised if PD are indirectly answering the questions from the Q&A forum, by implementing on some of the stuff that people have constantly asking about into the game.

Two of the biggest bugs in the game that many people on here wanted to be fixed, the pitstop and camber bugs, were fixed (or at least tried to fix with the camber bug). Some of the other bugs that people mentioned on here also have been fixed.

Improvement in car sounds is another thing that many on here wanted, and PD held job openings for sound engineers, Kaz had an article explaining their methods of gathering engine sounds in the GT series, PD implemented a new way of gathering car sounds with the Red Bull cars, Senna's Lotus, and some of the VGTs, and in some of the more recent updates, the engine sounds in cockpit view have been improved.

Many on here also requested for PD to become more open in communication with its fans, and so far PD has opened the Pit Stop blog, Kaz held an Reddit AMA, and PD wanted a Q&A forum to be opened on here.

While I don't agree with PD's methods of communication and of addressing certain problems, I don't think they are ignoring us at all.

 

[AKps3]

Auto Salon Special Night “Super Gran Turismo Competition”

 

[Hetare21]

The article about a program (about Formula 1) broadcast only on Japanese cell phone was not translated.
http://pitstop.gran-turismo.com/article/1209

Also, I found EXP's Twitter account.
https://twitter.com/expediment

 

[Normalaatsra]

Seems another niconico livestream is announced. Maybe this time there's a chance we see new content like the Alpine VGT?

 

[sparkytooth]

The article about a program (about Formula 1) broadcast only on Japanese cell phone was not translated.
http://pitstop.gran-turismo.com/article/1209

Also, I found EXP's Twitter account.
https://twitter.com/expediment

The blacked out cockpit machine in this image:

Intrigues me, I wonder what it is.

 

[RaY29rus]

Intrigues me, I wonder what it is.

Toyota GT-One, I think. It's mentioned before image.

 

[sparkytooth]

Toyota GT-One, I think. It's mentioned before image.

I don't have a TS020 on GT6 so that's nice to know.

 

[Raggadish]

I see your mistake. You believe that me making myself look silly doesn't fit with my persona

I'll make sure to always think of you as silly from now on if you think it more accurately reflects your persona.

 

[Johnnypenso]

I'll make sure to always think of you as silly from now on if you think it more accurately reflects your persona.

Right on brother:tup: Is it ok if I think of you as someone who doesn't get jokes?

 

[FoRiZon]

Yes, communication has changed.

• They reveal their game just a few months before the release and not, five years before. They decided that, since Gran Turismo PSP. And for me, it's a great progress. What Jordan said not surprise me at all.
• Kaz speaks much less in interviews. I mean, he talks a lot more concrete things rather than his wishes.
• The Pit-Stop blog. We can say what we want, but it's also a step. For some time, they use it to talk a bit about updates of Gran Turismo 6 - Suzuka 2014, VGTs, seasonal events holidays, etc. -. Then the other news is really cool.
• No more time for anything. The update, the game comes out when it's ready, period.

I'm not saying that communication is perfect but it has nothing to do with the previous ones.
Other studios communicate in the same way or are worse ! Get out of your bubble "racing game" and contact others sites.

Example: ask Rockstar Games for Red Dead Redemption 2 or GTA 6. They will not respond or they will make a philosophical discourse.

Anyway, if Kaz replied, critics will continue.

Therefore, the disappearance - temporary ? - of forum Q&A change nothing. Like it or not, GTPlanet represents a minority of the millions of players. Haters will continue to hate and others will support Kaz and his team.

I repeat, I will continue to support Kaz and his team, wathever happens.

About GT6 is for me the best of the saga. Congratulations to PoDi, keep it up, I can't wait to know the next updates.

In the discussion, I'll stop there, anyway, it's going around in circles.

For optimists members, I would like you to know that I support you!

Yeah. Its like a bizzare catch 22.

Kaz dont answer, we say PD is lazy and dont deserved our money.
Kaz answer, we say PD is lying, delaying, delusional, philosophical, or all of those things and doesnt deserve our money.

So he made a third option: just straight announce the goddamn update before release.