But there is no reason a player of any skill level should not be able to race a car in stock trim and have a race against the AI that is competitive.
Same reason that an experienced player should not be limited to using a stock vehicle that garners a slower lap time than an upgraded vehicle and still be able to experience the same level of competition from the AI.
Your way takes away and limits a players options based on their skill set when racing the AI. It does not give the players more options.
Lower and mid level players should still be able to have competitive races racing stock vs AI, they just can't expect to finish 1st without practice and improvement first. As long as the entire field hasn't driven away from you, finishing lower or mid pack is still a competitive, enjoyable race - and is good practice. It also can't be realistic to expect PD to develop a level of AI which, driving stock vehicles, are capable of challenging already high level players who are driving upgraded ones - without just doing something crude like massively boosting their straight line speed
Plenty of other racing games accomplish this task with no problems and most run out of a much smaller and less financed studio's than GT.
Not looking to see GT do anything not already being done in other games here.
Perhaps, but PD haven't yet developed any driver AI which feels balanced and life-like, how realistic is it to expect them to manage it for several different difficulty points within the next year or so?
Now how does that work with racing classes and one make events? Why should I have to for example down tune my GT500 car because when equal to the AI i walk over them, and have no option to speed them up?
That's why GT's AI would have to be improved so as to be a similar pace to quite high level players. No down tuning should be needed for the vast majority of players to have a competitive race, unless you're a top level alien - in which case are there any racing games with AI that can provide a genuine challenge without down tuning yourself?
Also even with upgrades there is the problem you've always had, not knowing just how much you need to upgrade to get a fair challenge, you just have to guess. Go too overboard and it's made easy, but you only find out once it's done.
Agreed, but isn't that an issue with selective difficulty levels too though? How do you know exactly how fast 'Amateur', 'Pro', 'Intermediate' etc AI are comparative to yourself until after you've actually raced them?
Fixed AI difficultly levels and tight event restrictions solve that problem. A racing game is never an RPG in terms of the actual gameplay, it shouldn't be treated as one.
I mean tbh I wouldn't be at all against several fixed difficulty levels for AI if PD could pull it off. I just don't feel it's realistic given GTs history, and the lack of any signs of improvement in GT Sport, even after many updates. And given the choice I'd rather they develop just one high quality and believable level of AI, which we can adapt to with car upgrades if needed, than several unbalanced and unrealistic levels which kill any immersion