B-Spec: Annoyance or Enjoyment?

  • Thread starter Thread starter masterrawad
  • 41 comments
  • 3,543 views

Is B-Spec an Annoyance or is it Enjoyable?

  • Annoyance!

    Votes: 51 56.7%

  • Enjoyable!

    Votes: 39 43.3%
  • Total voters
    90
  • Poll closed .
masterrawad

masterrawad

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CHALLENGER1ON1
In GT4, B-spec was the easy way out most of the time. In GT5, not so much. There is an entire set of cups for B-Spec. Think of these points when deciding for the poll:

PROS:
Easy money gaining.
Managing drivers is fun (or at least in my case).
You don't have to toil away at endurances; it's as simple as set up and leave alone for the hour-specific endurances.

CONS:
Some races are very long and quite tedious, such as 10 laps on the full cape ring.
Money isn't worth it.
Your bob might most likely lose if at a low level.

There are several other points, feel free to add your own insight, it is very appreciated! :)
 
I'm personally not a fan, I feel as if it were a last second thing that PD had implemented into Gran Turismo 5 due to lack of features and completely useless long races..

Some people really enjoy this feature however so I'm glad they added it. 👍
 
Never found the attraction whatsoever. It eliminated any personal desire to try for 100%game completion.

Used it to get some prize cars initially and now only to break in a car at Laguna Enduro.
One of the many times my tennis elbow has prevented me from driving, I attempted a BSpec career. Got tired and bored of baby sitting the drivers even after they gained experience.
 
Didn't really see the point of B-Spec in GT5, because we couldn't use the Bobs as part of a team to complete the Endurance races.

I would have happily seen it all dropped in exchange for some more tracks or more A-Spec special events, after all, I paid for a driving game, not a management game.
 
roflcoptor
Didn't really see the point of B-Spec in GT5, because we couldn't use the Bobs as part of a team to complete the Endurance races.
[...]
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That is my main issue with B-spec. Having the divide between A and B in GT5 is rather tedious. I couldn't see what was wrong with simply choosing what type of race you wanted to run at the menu before starting the event, like in GT4.

Since we can save midway, I've ran the 24 Hour races on more than one occasion just because I like to watch them from time to time, although I may run them myself again since the tire wear was adjusted, but being able to be part of a team with my Bobs would be the best of both worlds. Regardless of what the rewards would be at the end; as I recall GT4 would give you B-spec prizes if you ran a mixed endurance race, but I didn't really mind.
 
Sleek Stratos
That is my main issue with B-spec. Having the divide between A and B in GT5 is rather tedious. I couldn't see what was wrong with simply choosing what type of race you wanted to run at the menu before starting the event, like in GT4.

Since we can save midway, I've ran the 24 Hour races on more than one occasion just because I like to watch them from time to time, although I may run them myself again since the tire wear was adjusted, but being able to be part of a team with my Bobs would be the best of both worlds. Regardless of what the rewards would be at the end; as I recall GT4 would give you B-spec prizes if you ran a mixed endurance race, but I didn't really mind.
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Were there really different prizes in GT4 for A and B Spec? I thought there was one prize for a race regardless of the completion method, was I mistaken?
 
That's the way I remember it anyway. Was GT5 the first one to have different amounts per spec? Now I'm gonna have to look that up...

EDIT: I poked around but I guess I was wrong, all endurance races did have set amounts of prize money regardless of how you raced them... which I imagine is why PD had to wise up and lower the B-spec amounts in GT5. :p
 
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Long post alert! I have a LOT to say about this!​

The first time I ever did a B-Spec race was the FR cup in GT4. I had an '05 Ford Mustang GT, the car I started the game with. I had a hard time adjusting to the new engine (My wheel was a piece of crap made in China), and the understeer fact that it was a Mustang lost me quite a few races. I sat and stared at my tiny little screen as this faceless driver driving my car calculated every turn, took every apex with absolute presicion, and won the race when I (thought I) could not. I raced t again, this time in A-Spec, trying to remember what I watched him do and I won the race.
Fast forward a year and change, that Mustang is gathering dust and every main race is completed, as well as the first two licenses. I decide to B-Spec once more (I hadn't done it since that one race), so I buy another memory card and start another save game to use B-Spec ONLY. I watched him. I watched every race, and I never raced once. In that save, I never did a single license test, I didn't even do a single arcade race. When I finished the final race (The Infineon enduro, I fought with the tune for it for hours) I was extremely proud of myself for doing it. I had fought and fought and fought and spent countless hours tuning a Dodge Viper SRT10 '03 for the Supercar Festival, and the day after I finished it I went to GameStop and bought a PS3 and a copy of GT5. I install the updates (18 hours of my life I won't get back) and sign on to find that they gave me a car to start with, the Toyota 86-GT. I spend the 20,000 on tuning parts, throw a mediocre tune on it and go to the Sunday Cup and lose.
The main reason I lost was because I used a wheel for GT3 and GT4, but was forced to use a DS for GT5.
I go to the B-Spec Sunday Cup, and I got a very warm feeling when my driver (Who's name was C. Beach) lapped the tailing car in a race I couldn't even win. I then made a resolution: I would finish every single B-Spec race GOLD before I started A-Spec. I had a tremendous amount of fun! I can't even say how many hours I sat on the edge of my seat, wondering if the non-tuned ISF Racing Concept was good enough to beat the menacing R8 LMS, or watching the last few minutes of the Nurburgring 24 (A race I will NEVER forget) as my driver's XJR-9 got in a huge crash in the last lap, and finished 16 seconds ahead of second place. To celebrate, I grabbed my X2011 Prototype and beat the Sunday Cup with it.
When I started the Clubman Cup, I had over 13,000,000 creds to my name, and a garage of over 280 cars. I end up using the Ford GT40 in the Classic Muscle Car race, and find that I had more fun in the B-Spec race where I used a GT350R.

TLDR: I had more fun in the B-Spec events (In both GT4 and GT5) than I had in the A-Spec events.
 
I get the point of Remote Races but I don't get the singleplayer aspect of B-Spec since it is included as an entire separate mode that players are encouraged to complete and take part in. I'd rather have that all events were shared A-Spec and B-Spec events and that it was my own decision how I wanted to complete them. Furthermore, it would be nice if we could use the AI drivers to help us complete the long endurance races. However, in GT5 I have to decide whether I want to drive 24 hours alone or watch three bobs do it. Actually, I have to endure both scenarios because the game encourages me to do it if I want to complete every single event. It's a horrific nightmare in a lovely setting.
 
I like the B-spec feature, and with Yonis' widget, I love Remote Racing. The only thing I don't like is that B-spec has never felt like it's been properly explained by Polyphony Digital. There aren't clear instructions on what makes your driver better or worse over time, or if anything has any long/short term effect throughout the driver's career. I also wish the endurance races could switch between A and B-spec like they did in GT4.

I think B-spec could also benefit from interactive online play, though I'm not exactly sure how it'd work, apart from each player providing instructions to their driver. A-spec vs. B-spec mode could also be fun, again I'm unsure exactly how'd it work.

I think B-spec has promise but needs more development and a better explanation to the user. Regardless of it's future implementation, the feature would look and feel much better with an improved AI.
 
I'm somewhere in-between, though more towards annoyance. I wouldn't have minded it if the B-spec races weren't longer than the A-spec ones, or if it weren't required for 100% completion. It made much more sense in GT4 where you could let your Bobs' drive during long races, or grinding.
 
I play GT5 for the DRIVING simulation experience. (I obviously use a wheel.) The only use I had for B-spec was for winning certain cars & cash. (Esp. before the big seasonal payouts.) The only other use I could see would have been the OPTION to use it (at will) in endurance races.

Why PD would make an entire B-spec career in a game that's meant to be the 'REAL DRIVING SIMULATOR', is beyond me. They should have made this all A-spec. Just my opinion...
 
I find it to be nothing but a huge nuisance. The only thing I get out of it is easy cash. Otherwise, I think it's a waste of time.

And B-spec is actually worse in some ways than it was in GT4. What on earth was PD thinking by removing the ability for your driver to help you finish races? Why remove the speed-up option? Why make us constantly remind our drivers on what we want them to do like they have ADD or something?

PD really didn't think things out for this one. I don't hate B-spec itself, just the way it's done in GT5.
 
I thought that remote racing was great when it first came out, mainly cos I hated playing the offline game to earn money to buy cars. I don't find B-Spec annoying or enjoyable, I just find it, well, meh.


:indiff:
 
Couldn't decide.....I enjoyed the spoils from winning in b-spec but it is a bit of a waste of electricity!!! (the hidden costs of levelling up to L40 through nightly Sarthe & Nurbie 24hr! And this was before the log in bonus and seasonal b-spec races!!)
 
I got it to level 40 so I kinda like it. I did most of my leveling with the spa event which was amazing money/exp wise. Also I loved that you could level up your friend drivers and gave them cash at the same time as getting cash/exp for yourself.

Kinda cool when you dont have time to sit infront of your screen 12h a day.
 
At first I thought it could be interesting and gave it a chance trying hard to find some appeal but that didn't last long.
After completing each event I don't make use of it anymore apart from sometimes breaking in a car I'm gonna use for an online event and I can't be bothered or don't have the time to drive roughly 300 kilometers to achieve that.
Didn't make much use of the Remote B-Spec either, other than sometimes feeling the need to return the favor if somebody else used my drivers but I stopped doing that too (sorry to those using my Bobs).

I personally simply don't like the concept of a videogame playing itself, that isn't the reason I buy a game and I could appreciate it much more if it indeed was more like GT4, where you could use your B-Spec drivers in endurance races and could speed up the time.
Currently it's only slightly more enjoyable than watching paint dry.
 
Morgoth_666
It beats watching clip shows or reality shows or singing & dancing contests on TV.
Click to expand...

It surely does but why would that be the alternative? We have A-Spec and life is full of other great things to do.
 
Nielsen
It surely does but why would that be the alternative? We have A-Spec and life is full of other great things to do.
Click to expand...

Not if you're looking for something amusing to have on while you're otherwise occupied... doing housework, practicing an instrument, installing stuff on your computer, listening to your friends prattle on about nothing on the phone, et cetera.

That's the main draw of B-Spec for me anyway, I can't stand just sitting there doing nothing but watching my idiot drive slightly better than the other idiots and deciding whether or not I need to poke him with a stick now and then to keep him from falling asleep. All the while getting mad at him for having the privilege(sp?) of running longer races than I'm allowed to in the same races in my career mode.
 
It's good, but I don't like the babysitting. It's not like a real team manager has to tell the driver how to drive every 10 seconds... I mean come on, I'm supposed to be the driver's manager, not his wife...

If they fix that, and let me team up with my drivers for the A-spec endurances, it would be fantastic.
 
I despise it with passion - if we're talking about Gran Turismo 5. I never really understood why they didn't keep it optional or the fact that they dedicated an entire career mode to it. But on the otherhand, every aspect of the career mode seems like a complete afterthought.
 

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