Poll - 1.13 Penalty System Initial Impressions

[TenderLoins]

Unacceptable. Penalties need to be the same for everyone.

Serving penalties during the race is ridiculous and causing even more chaos because so many idiots decide to just slam on the brakes while still on the racing line.

 

[CeeJay]

It's a really weird system that seems like it should be ok in theory but in practice I'm having even less fun in Online races. I admit I'm just an average driver & I'm using a DS4 so it's not a precise way to drive. I do my best to watch out for those around me and I just want to have fun but what fun is there when a slight bump or brush with a car is a big penalty I have to immediately scrub or get an even worse penalty? I feel like the game doesn't want me to drive close or race another car. I race for fun after a long day of work but now I'm finding myself stressing out in a race because I don't want to hit anyone and ruin their race. I'm racing way slower than normal and not enjoying it much at all. It's frustrating and not a lot of fun anymore.

 

[bdubclub]

I just raced the nurb round in sport mode today, where my SR dropped from S to B from being behind a driver brake checking me on what should be wide open turns... Not a fan of this new system to say the least...

 

[Venymous]

Tried to race the Nurb today, my favorite track. Can't even enjoy it because of these penalties. I get smashed at the first turn and get a 10 sec penalty. I'm already in last now I have to basically stop to get the penalty to start counting down. I'm done with Sport for now. It's not worth the frustration.

 

[WheelmanSteve]

I ran Nurb GR3 a few times tonight- no Q time, stated mostly at the back. Got banged around quite bit, but most of the penalties went to the other drivers. Got dive bombed in P2 going into the last turn and bounced off the wall and back into traffic, and got a 2 second penalty. Ended up 7th. Still had a lot of fun- gained positions in every race.

 

[zdenko]

This new penalty system is crap.
I just worked my way to Speed A from B in the Mazda Roadster online race but have been DR S for a long time.
I hope I don't go down the table because of this ridiculous update.

First thing, the only online races I do are the Daily Races and the Online Championship.
Never even touched Open lobby.

Just to start with, for the set online championships Australia is mixed with other Asian countries. Japan is the most represented by far, Australia being 2nd. Being speed B and DR S, I have found in the past that most races were pretty clean. The faster the car or the more hairpins on a track the more dirty it is which is no surprise. When I first got the game in November, I found the lower ranks had much dirtier racing. I was glad to make my way up to S.

The first race I did under this new update was the Roadster race at Tokyo.
I was a B S(LOL) rated driver and so was everyone else.
I did not notice a difference as I was in the top 3 for most of the race until I hit the pit wall entry(oops) which dropped me to 5th and ran out fuel for the last couple hundred metres so down to 6th.
The only time penalty I got was for hitting that pit wall entry. The car completely stopping is not a penalty in itself??? Also still trying to work out how I went from Speed B to A after that as well.
The one thing I did like, was the ghosting of lapped cars. However I don't think these cars would have been lapped under the old penalty system.
Most of the other drivers were Japanese so I could not read the comments after the race, but there was a lot more chatter than usual.

Last night I was racing in the McLaren F1 race at Suzuka. What a nightmare it was.
To be honest I stuffed up my qualification completely which added to the nightmare. I did not set a time in qualification and started 2nd last.
15 out of 18 drivers all had red dot penalties on the final screen. Only the top 3 were clear. I have never seen that before this update and we are talking all A S and a few B S drivers here.
Every time you have 2 cars side by side with a little bump between them there is a penalty of 2 to 3 seconds, most of the time for both of them.
Then you have to slow down to a ridiculous speed to get rid of the penalty.
This then leads to other drivers swerving to avoid them because that it is your first reaction, until you go oh yeah they should be a ghost. I found that this is not always true. I hit a few in the rear because of this and I got rear ended for the same reason. 5s penalty each time. And the penalty gets dished out for both on a fair few occasions.
Everyone other than the top 3 was saying how crap this was after the race.
No one was complaining anyone was dirty at all. Just the new penalty system is rubbish. It was creating more dirty racing, not reducing it.
I recognised pretty much all the Aussie user names in this race, and if someone is dirty normally it gets called out. No call outs of dirty racing. Just lots of complaints about the update.
The most common complaint was that you cannot overtake without being penalised for a minor rub or bump.

I do race at low level in real cars. Never had a bump with another car.
The big difference in a real car vs the game is you have so much better awareness of your surroundings in real life.
I except bumps in the game as when you have 2 cars side by side, it is near impossible to know how close you are, as all you see on your screen is the forward direction. No peripheral vision. From what I can tell most others don't really worry about minor bumps either.
This update though considers you to be a dirty racer.

Sorry Polyphony, you have ruined what was a fun game online. It is now rubbish. Change it back.


Edit:
Having read through some threads it seems mostly DR S drivers are finding this update to be bad as it seems to be on an uneven playing field. Ie An S-Rank driver will get a 5s penalty for a minor tap, where as a D rank can plough into someone and get nothing.
If this is the case, definitely change it back as it should be a level playing field.
You should not be rewarding low rank people for bad driving and heavily penalising high rank ones for minor touches.

 

[Pedinhuh]

I see way too many people complaining and I really don't think it's this bad at all, and I have been SR S since yesterday(for the first time ever!). I got some penalties from contacts but those were my own fault, still though I think the system is very good now.

Needs some working in the edges yet, but so far it's good for me(no I'm not a rammer, otherwise I wouldn't be S, in fact I do my best to avoid contact and I willingly give up my position if I somehow make other driver crash to it)

 

[phil_75]

This is how stupid and annoying this update is for us DRS drivers and even ine of the best GT racers.

 

[zdenko]

That video is GOLD.
Exactly what I was trying to get at.
As a S ranked driver you get penalties for literally nothing.
And then you have the issue of a slowing cars getting rid of penalties causing more penalties.
And exactly as the video says, I found it very difficult to get rid of the time penalties. You slow down, and nothing happens. Then it adds more time on just making it worse. You get going a car bumps you, you get another penalty and they may get one as well.
CHANGE IT BACK NOW PD!!!

Edit:
I think I may load Project Cars 2 back up.
Haven't played it since December, but I cannot see a point in playing GT Sport online with this rubbish update.

 

[Quakebass]

Interestingly enough, a few days ago in an MR-2 one make on Nurburgring I got rammed from behind on the last lap (didn’t cause me to go off track but it ruined my line through the corner), didn’t get a time or SR penalty, and even recieved a clean race bonus at the end. I regret not saving the replay, I believe the other driver did receive some sort of penalty, and if he did it could indicate that the SR system is starting to detect fault.

So far I’ve liked what I’ve seen with the SR penalties, but I feel like it’s too hard to scrub down time penalties. I’d have to brake hard everywhere except halfway down a straightaway just to get the time to go down, you would think letting off the throttle out of a corner or at the beginning of a straight would do it, but nope, wasn’t able to make it happen.

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

I see way too many people complaining and I really don't think it's this bad at all, and I have been SR S since yesterday(for the first time ever!). I got some penalties from contacts but those were my own fault, still though I think the system is very good now.

Honestly, from my subjective opinion the update is generally fine. I have yet to experience the dark side of the penalty system.

My biggest concern though is in how erratic and different it appears to be behaving with different players. Generally we can decode the intention of their penalty system, but at the moment it all seems really confusing and inconsistent. Today was the first time the penalty system worked in a way drastically different than before for me. I wrote about it in the other thread but a player was able to ram me off of the course twice and not receive any penalties. Totally bizarre.

 

[Matty28]

The new system promotes hanging back and waiting for other drivers to get penalties and avoiding racing. You can't go near the limit or defend or attack because one tiny little tap or go on the grass and it's fun/race over thanks to a 3-20 second penalty. I am deliberately letting people past as well just so I can avoid penalties and SR going down. They've ruined the game and made it unplayable. I said in a lobby I am quitting if they don't change it and was not fully serious but now I am. The game was great and now it's become penalty/Sunday drive simulator. I am not exaggerating when I say out of 20+ races I have not had a single fun/proper race since the update. Every single "race" has been playing follow the leader or being nowhere near anyone. If I have been near someone, one or both of us has got a 3-20s penalty within a lap and the battle is over for no good reason.

I was in a crashfest on Bathurst caused by the penalty system and I'm still sitting here several days later trying to get back up to 99 SR. I am now at 81. I've been as high as 89 and back down as low as 74. I bump a D class driver because he almost stops in the middle of a corner and some other guy taps me from behind and I get -10 SR. That is ludicrous! It takes 3 completely clean (almost impossible) races to earn 10 SR! I do a completely clean race where I brake a metre too late and veer off the track so I don't hit the guy in front i.e. I'm making it worse for myself to avoid ruining other people's races and I get slammed with a 9 second penalty for lightly tapping the wall and only get +1 to the SR. I'll be here for weeks before I get to 99! I wonder if I'll ever get back into the top races. I noticed another guy who was in the Bathurst crashfest with me is also still trying to get his SR up in daily races as well.

I've been filming the past few races and will continue doing so. I will upload a video later showing how the penalty system ruined the fun races I could have had with the top guys and dropped me way down along with other people. Weeks of good races and then all comes crashing down in one day. Then after that I will upload a compilation of how my grinding of daily races to try to get to 99 has been. Hint: a mixture of frustrating, ridiculous, boring. None of them include a good battle or overtake. Not one.

At this point I just cannot wait for Assetto Corsa Competizione!

@BallPtPenTheif Ooh yep I've noticed that too! One time I hit the wall losing not much time and get a 9 second penalty, the next I get a 18 second penalty having already lost about 10 seconds. One time I get a tap from behind and get a 1 second penalty, the next I get a 5 second penalty. It's just a random number generator.

One more thing they could change: Make it so we know exactly when the penalty starts being taken. Currently I am just slamming on the brakes to get rid of it because otherwise I lift off and lose time but nothing happens. Sometimes I have to almost stop and sometimes I have to just lift off. When I'm serving my 20 second penalty for gaining 0.005s cutting the corner I usually lose about 30 seconds in the end.

 

[Finflash]

The system is ridiculous, c'mon. I'm DR A/S (depends on my form and track) SR S (still).

I really haven't had any problem with penalty system regarding hits and collission before, because really there's hasn't been that many in SR S and I haven't seen anybody exploiding the system overall. I can live with that if someone makes mistake or even does that on purpose sometimes (they can't do that very long unnoticed anyway). Very fair racing in general, its always up to the drivers anyway. Now this system alters the driving in the wrong way in my opinion, you can kind of threat the guy following you to be overly careful by planting your car at the middle of the road. at a tight track for example brands hatch, how can you pass cleanly if someone drives in the middle of the road? In general it always favours the cars in front..even if someone makes a mistake there's a possibility that you may get time penalty when passing much slower car, I have seen time penalty without a touch even?!?

I really like close racing and would like to pass sometimes without the driver in front not making a big mistake.. These kind of penalities effect the racing in a way that hasn't been even touched yet. For example, how do you pass a car that is faster on the straight? You need to be really close on the exit to get slipstream a make pass in braking. How can you do this anymore? such a high risk now because leading car on exit can get a little spin and the following car hits slightly because of that or at the braking you ar side by side there's always chance of that minor tap that doesn't effect anybody.

I guess in general tighter penalty system suits endurance racing but even there there no point of making tight overtakes anyway.. for sprint races I don't see the point at all.

Serving penalty should be immediate after you lift the gas at straight otherwise it's just ridiculous, we have to guess where the penalty burns. I also wonder why is there a time penalty if crash out of track or go wide because you lose time already? I think game could use car telemetry to decide whether someone is cutting the track or just crashing out/going wide.

 

[Sven Jurgens]

I'm A/S as well, and although I was on the bad end of the penalty system a few times today, the vast majority was positive change. There were a lot less accidents, with tight racing waiting for the right time to pass. The focus has shifted to planning for a faster exit instead of passing at corner entry.

What needs to change is where you can serve the penalty or not serve it at all. Add it at the finish for sprint races, serve it while in the pit for the longer races. Mandatory stop and go when it exceeds a certain time, either forcing an early pit stop or an extra one.

Passing is still possible, both players run the same risk. You can still put the pressure on without touching. The defender doesn't want to risk a penalty either, bad blocking is also discouraged. The effect was immediate today. Car in front of me swerving from side to side to stop me passing on the final straight, as soon as I got close enough and dodged to the opposite side he stopped not willing to risk a penalty himself from cutting me off.

Perhaps PD could add a 'forgive' button. If both players press it after an incident, the resulting time penalties are scrubbed. That way you can still rub with other people that have the same idea. If one player doesn't press it, it stands for both. Call it the sportmanship button.

 

[zdenko]

Perhaps PD could add a 'forgive' button. If both players press it after an incident, the resulting time penalties are scrubbed. That way you can still rub with other people that have the same idea. If one player doesn't press it, it stands for both. Call it the sportmanship button.

That's it. That is the fix. Hurry up and implement it PD.
It still does not address the major issue they have introduced where they reward low rank drivers for their bad driving against high rank drivers. The new penalty system is like a government welfare system, take from the good, give to the bad. Apparently that is modern day equality or so I'm told.
OR we can go back to the way it was and build from that. Penalties worked before and were dished out evenly regardless of your ranking.

 

[Twissy]

I have been racing at Bathurst this morning and to say the penalty system is shocking is an understatement.

I'm all for clean hard racing, but there is always going to be slight bodywork rubs and wheel to wheel action with slight touches here and there. This morning racing at bathurst I would get someone going for a clean pass, there would be a slight touch, hardly anything which is fine and we both would get a slow down penalty for it and just ruins the race. Just pants!

Sort it out PD! ASAP!

 

[Mr616]

So it seems the majority are in favour of the change but that it needs adjusting slightly. It says it all about the standard of driving before the patch.

The amount of drivers who don't understand that if a corner is flat out in qually, it is not flat out while in a pack of cars and caution should be shown. "That corners flat out and he was slow through it, not my fault I hit him". Yes it was, you were behind.

After watching some youtube complain videos about these penalties, most incidents could've been avoided but weren't because of "I'm faster so I have devine right to force past", or "why are they defending against me, I'm faster". They are defending because they are in front of you. I've also seen top drivers serve penalties in the most stupid places.

People need to learn the difference between being fast, and actual racing.

Since stats have come on to the scene, all people seem to want to do is preserve them. It's turning into CODs kill/death ratio imo.

If damage was enabled, slight body rubs could still end your race. Why do people seem to think that body contact in every race is fine? You could lightly brush somebody and get a puncture, or lose bodywork that starts rubbing on your tyre.

Contact is not acceptable, but will happen, but should only happen from time to time, not every race in some form or another.

If the new penalty system helps people understand that, then good.

 

[ststav01]

Voted for bit harsh - because this is what the system is - I don't like such major changes - you can't go from no penalty for slight bump to 5-6 secs penalty for both drivers for even the slightest touch - this is something that needs to be fixed because it ruins the game for everyone - you can't expect every race to be super clean - a slight bump is nothing as long as it doesn't affect your racing line so no need for penalty...

 

[OrokuSaki]

Initially not impressed. Still getting penalties for other driver's bad mistakes. I want to know how the game determines lines? Oval track for example. High lines on the straight away and then dipping low I should have the clear path. Car that takes the low line though can cut the turn short and either push me up into the wall or I bump him. Why do I get the penalty for him taking a bad line? That's my only issue with it.

If I knew how to save replays I'd also show where the "ghosting" of cars needs to last longer until they're up to track speed. Someone who wrecks shouldn't be allowed to dive directly back into traffic and cause more wrecks or get bumped from behind causing a clean racer a penalty.

It is a step in the right direction. I don't see as many bad drivers out there but, I do come across the occasional jackass. I'm not good by any means but I shouldn't have my already slow times drop even further because I'm in a pack with someone who doesn't care to race cleanly.

 

[Big_M]

x

 

[bmxmitch]

I'm shocked on how many people think this is a step in the right direction, or even think this is fine!?

Curious to see how, or if PD will react to this topic

 

[TenderLoins]

I'm shocked on how many people think this is a step in the right direction, or even think this is fine!?

Curious to see how, or if PD will react to this topic

It’s easy. B/S and lower rated drivers love it because small contact still doesn’t get them penalties and they can now smell fear when racing against A/S and S/S drivers who are automatically penalized for any contact no matter how insignificant.

The higher ranked racers hate it for those same reasons.

 

[bmxmitch]

It’s easy. B/S and lower rated drivers love it because small contact still doesn’t get them penalties and they can now smell fear when racing against A/S and S/S drivers who are automatically penalized for any contact no matter how insignificant.

The higher ranked racers hate it for those same reasons.

Time to get back to DR B then

 

[VFOURMAX1]

It’s easy. B/S and lower rated drivers love it because small contact still doesn’t get them penalties and they can now smell fear when racing against A/S and S/S drivers who are automatically penalized for any contact no matter how insignificant.

The higher ranked racers hate it for those same reasons.

Guess PD would think that making 97% of the player base happy versus 3% would probably be a pretty good trade off.

Also if this change had of happened two weeks or so ago you would probably be in the camp saying it was a good move as well. You have only been a level A driver for what a week and a half now?

 

[TenderLoins]

Guess PD would think that making 97% of the player base happy versus 3% would probably be a pretty good trade off.

Also if this change had of happened two weeks or so ago you would probably be in the camp saying it was a good move as well. You have only been a level A driver for what a week and a half now?

My second account. Also notice how quickly the account got to A/S. Other account was back and forth between A/S and B/S. It’s currently B/S and I’ll be using that account until the penalties are the same for everyone. I’m fine with any system they implement as long as the rules are the same for everyone.

If the change had happened weeks ago it would have been that much easier to get to A.

 

[Johnnypenso]

I'm shocked on how many people think this is a step in the right direction, or even think this is fine!?

Curious to see how, or if PD will react to this topic

All depends on your experience. It's still fresh and new and if you've had a few good races you'll think it's fine. If you've been bounced around like a pinball and punished in a way you feel is unfair you're going to hate it.

 

[bmxmitch]

All depends on your experience. It's still fresh and new and if you've had a few good races you'll think it's fine. If you've been bounced around like a pinball and punished in a way you feel is unfair you're going to hate it.

I just don't want a racing game that forces you to slow down on every little thing. Thats against the whole racing philosophy IMO

 

[FUNanywhere]

It's a really weird system that seems like it should be ok in theory but in practice I'm having even less fun in Online races. I admit I'm just an average driver & I'm using a DS4 so it's not a precise way to drive. I do my best to watch out for those around me and I just want to have fun but what fun is there when a slight bump or brush with a car is a big penalty I have to immediately scrub or get an even worse penalty? I feel like the game doesn't want me to drive close or race another car. I race for fun after a long day of work but now I'm finding myself stressing out in a race because I don't want to hit anyone and ruin their race. I'm racing way slower than normal and not enjoying it much at all. It's frustrating and not a lot of fun anymore.

That slight bump or nudge is enough to ruin others races so thats why.

Game is more fun when its super smooth from everyone.

 

[phil_75]

I'm shocked on how many people think this is a step in the right direction, or even think this is fine!?

Curious to see how, or if PD will react to this topic

You and me both mate.
Literally killed the game for me.

 

[Matty28]

Right here's my first video. It's not as in depth as the other guy's but more compacted.

First race I was chasing the Corvette guy and caught him up. He was a little slow mid-corner and I must have touched him although I didn't notice at the time aside from the penalty. That ended the race because it split us up and he ended up in 3rd without doing anything wrong. The guy in the Porsche won without doing anything right.

The second race was an FIA race in which I was racing against some of the best like Indianfood and Desmania. Usually I qualify like 5th and finish 3rd at best. This was the first time I was actually looking at a potential win outright on sheer pace. Indianfood had just come out of the pits right behind me and we were on for a 6 lap dual to the finish. I overstep the limit by literally centimetres (see the comparison pic) and the game decides gaining that 0.05s is worthy of an 8 second penalty (going up to 12s as I didn't know it increased with time). As you can see the battle is over before it begun, I'm thrown down to 4th. So it ruined the fun and ruined the result. Then the lightest of taps again which did not need a penalty send me back to 5th. A 1 second penalty would be absolutely fine - I did overstep the mark and deserved a penalty but 8 seconds?! And the second penalty was completely pointless and ruined the battle between Desmania and the other guy. And as you can see the other guys got penalties for a light tap as well - completely pointless. When every single person has had penalties in a race containing SS and AS and some of the championship winning drivers, you know your system is broken.

The third race was the aforementioned Bathurst crashfest. This race was literally dropping down to 16th and then bouncing between 8th and 16th purely based on people getting penalties for nothing and then causing more penalties by dealing with the penalties. How can you have any sort of battle on a track like Bathurst with a penalty system like this seriously?