1. Sounds - Ever since like say, maybe Horizon 3, the sounds of Forza have gone way downhill. It's no surprise that the former head of their sound development has defected to Gran Turismo, giving them far greater sounds that recent Forza titles (but still behind Motorsport 4). It's quite ironic now that for Gran Turismo, they once had vacuum cleaner-like sounds and now their cars sound great.
Motorsports 5 and 6 had pretty decent sounds, but I believe Turn Ten and Playground Games really need to find another talented audio lead and/or take advantage of new sound-recording technology to improve on their sounds. I remember there was an update in Motorsport 7 where some cars got their sounds updated, but I do hope that a big overhaul in terms of audio technology would come for the Xbox Series X/S.
2. Post-launch support - The post launch support of recent Forza titles have begun to take its toll. The car packs were all the same, seven cars a month, with no new tracks and career events whatsoever, and that the expansions themselves were the only ones that added the new tracks, career events and other stuff, besides far more cars than any car pack could provide. Motorsport 7 had no expansions at all which made it feel like there was nothing else to look forward to, and became very stale when there were no new career events in that game whatsoever, let alone, new tracks.
I believe that this next Forza should take the same game as service model like in GT Sport where they would add a variety of cars and tracks with every update, as well as new career events to reflect on the new cars and tracks. They should make it where we get no less than seven cars (up to a maximum of 20 in one update) and depending on the update, occasional new tracks and/or new layouts to existing tracks, all in free updates where they immediately get added to Free Play as rental cars and the "Buy Cars" feature.
3. Microtransactions - Ever since Motorsport 4, microtransactions have plagued the Forza series somewhat, firstly in the form of Tokens as means of an alternate currency if one is running low on credits and went on and on until Horizon 3. However, there is an option to turn them off because, well, this feature would prove itself to be very unpopular. It wasn't until Motorsport 7 where the microtransactions became borderline predatory with the use of loot boxes to get Mods, cars and race gear, and because of the backlash, I'm sure Turn Ten have learned their lessons with that.
4. Implementation of car divisions - Like I said, Turn Ten should not cut down on the car list at all, but I somehow see a problem with their divisions. Some feel very mismatched to the point where it feels bizarre, like for example, why put an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione in "Supercar Renaissance" where it should actually be in "Sport Luxury"? Another is the fact that GT4 cars are in the "Forza GT" division. If the next Forza brings back a lot of the Super GT/JGTC/DTM cars from the older games, as well as add new ones, they shouldn't put them in "Forza GT", rather, create a new division called "Forza Super Touring". Either Turn Ten can sort out the cars that feel mis-matched in certain divisions, or overhaul this mechanic entirely.
5. Incomplete dynamic time of day and weather - There is actually dynamic time of day in Motorsport 7, well, sort of, but is very half-assed to the point where after several minutes on end on a night race, you start to see the sun rising a little bit. However you don't have full control in adjusting the time of day at all, and the dynamic weather is only limited to some tracks. I hope the next Forza provides us with full 24-hour dynamic time of day and complete dynamic weather, as in being available on ALL tracks.
6. Lack of animated pit stops - I noticed that when you pit in in Motorsports 6 and 7, there is no pit crew, no evidence of tires being change or refueling whatsoever when doing so. Instead, the car just floats in the air and magically gets refueled with new tires and that it gets major performance repairs. A Ferrari Challenge game on the Dreamcast could do something better than this.
7. Lack of skill-based matchmaking - Exactly the reason why you will keep encountering rammers and violent, chaotic races in the online modes. Forza also needs a driver and sportsmanship rating similar to GT Sport, as well as skill-based matchmaking, which will go hand-in-hand to separate the purists from the morons.
8. Inability to select from factory colors and perform basic tuning on rental cars in Free Play - One feature from the older Motorsport games that I miss is being able to choose from a car's factory colors when using rental cars in Free Play, as well as being able to do basic set-up tuning, which are all car-specific. Such a bad shame that Turn Ten have since omitted this feature since Motorsport 5.
9. Forced homologation if lobby settings are set to cars racing on only a specific division - In Free Play, or the online lobbies, we should have a setting where if we want to race against cars from only the same division, we can choose whether or not homologation should be in place. Motorsport 7 always forces it on whenever you set the specified race division for any particular race in Free Play and/or online which is very frustrating indeed.
10. Lack of proper progression in the career mode - This will probably be my most controversial opinion yet, as the career modes in Motorsports 5, 6 and 7 are not really worth playing due to the fact that with DLC's, especially if you pre-order the game, you can already get access to impressive cars which gives off an unfair advantage when starting off, and that there really should be some incentive to play through the career mode, Gran Turismo-style, where leveling up unlocks new championships, career events and playlists, as well as special events, not to mention, new cars that you can buy in the "Buy Cars" mode. In the career mode is where you also have the incentive to not only collect cars, but also even customize them.
That way, even the car collecting aspect also has more incentive, where you must be in a specific level or meet certain requirements to be able to buy a certain car. But with what I mentioned earlier, new career championships, playlists and events should be added as well to continue in adding more life to the game, besides reflecting on every new car and track added.
If you want to have all the cars in the game right away, just play in either Free Play and/or online and use them as rental cars. Simple as that. Because of the game as service model, any new cars added through updates should not have the option to be obtained for free in the career mode anymore. If you want to use it right away, I will repeat: go to Free Play and/or Online and use it as a rental car.
11. Car acquisition with limited availability - Besides improving the idea of progression and enhancing the car collection aspect hand-in-hand, the Forza series also has had a bad reputation in making cars into limited-time rewards such as through unicorn cars, #Forzathon, Bounty Hunter events (in Horizon, it's "Festival Playlist" and other such things) and locking them from access to the "Buy Cars" mode. Turn Ten fixed this by adding a vast majority of every car in Motorsport 7 in the "Buy Cars" mode, leaving only the Forza editions to actually try and get with those means.
While I have said that the feeling of progression in the career mode must be improved somewhat, Turn Ten should give 2+2, not 4. What this means in a way is that Turn Ten should allow players to experience the entirety of getting the ability to have all the cars in career mode, but it shouldn't be as far as spoon-feeding. You'll still need hard work to get them. But with otherwise extreme means to get them that are beyond such, would mean something else.
What?!
