I'm newish...posted a couple of posts but never introduced myself...Just realized that might be some sort of "netiquette" violation. Name's JF and I live in Montreal Quebec. I am a fan of GT and am eagerly awaiting GT5...Now, onto the topic:
I read all posts up to page 5, then I got too upset. Here's why: My impression was that the GT series is about cars. Not exclusively racing, not exclusivelyy modding or anything else. Just cars and the things you can do to cars within the realm of possibility. "the Real Driving Simulator", for me, does not mean "Racing sim", "Drifting sim", or "modding sim". All it means is that the game simulates driving a car. What car is entierly up to you.
This said, I think GT should include ALL FACETS OF AUTO ENTHUSIASM. Why do you think they offer drift/racing settings? I agree that with online play, there should be more personalizing. I also agree that neons and hotrod tape are lame, but that's my choice... I see the addition of performance hindering parts as a great thing! For one, with those, we will see the people who build a car for show VS those who build it for speed. This would bring a new dimension to the game. No longer will people feel comfortable "tuning" their cars by simply buying what's most expensive. Most people will have to be careful when chosing parts because, as in real life, you have to know what you are putting in your car. I don't know, I think that would make the entire experience more rewarding.
Even online, I would love to race and make people realize that, you know, "you were slower than everybody else in this race... perhaps all that extra wight you added with neons and spinnies might not be ideal for racing..."
Look, all the purists would still be able to play the game as a trus gearhead and tune for hours to reach peak performance, and the guy who likes pretty shinny things will be able to race hi looker with other lookers if he wants...
The only way GT could end up being NFS is if they got rid of tracks to give us a city with traffic (not going to happen) or start shooting some Screamo at me during the menues instead of that coolass elevator jazz...
That was my opinion...it was long, but that's only me....