Japanese ghosts (phantom racers) in online lobbies?

[Chrunch Houston]

I first noticed last night, when checking the race results there were Japanese flagged unnamed drivers showing up. The room was pretty full so I thought I had just missed noticing them and they had left the room before the end of the races.

I noticed the same thing tonight in the results, but there were no Japanese people in my room at all. After I said something in the chatbox others noticed and the ghosts left, but not before I got these pictures.

The fist time I noticed tonight they finished 10th and 12th(no pic).

Has anyone else noticed this? I assume they are PD testers but I really don't know. I'm not sure if anyone actually saw them on the track or not. (my room is no mics, so communication is not great)

 

[GranTurismo916]

 

[lmartinzr]

Probably pd just dropping in being creeps lol

 

[Chrunch Houston]

Who ever they were they had some kind of hidden account. At the end of the race, before returning to the lobby, they did not show up in the results.

 

[disinfected]

Mysterious.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yōkai

 

[Grayfox]

It must be the Ghosts of Akina.

 

[JogoAsobi]

They are ghosts of previous GTs, they come out to play after new releases.

 

[Bluntified]

My guess would be that they're bots? Are they on the track as well? or are they just on the list? If it's the latter, I'd say they're bots. Pretty weird.

 

[nasanu]

I have seen that come up when people were entered into qualifying/race but left the room just before it actually started.

 

[FishHunters]

What do they call those google bots that scour the web looking for information? I'm guessing its a PD bot gathering information on the product.

 

[mistersafeway]

Nope, it's definitely what comes up when people quit the race. I had a race where 7 started, 5 finished and there were 2 Japanese flags at the bottom.

 

[OdeFinn]

Same happened to us last night too.

 

[Doodle]

Nope, it's definitely what comes up when people quit the race. I had a race where 7 started, 5 finished and there were 2 Japanese flags at the bottom.

I can confirm this. There's no PD employee snooping around.

 

[Connorman95]

Japanese. hmmm PD

 

[sumbrownkid]

There's a ghost in the system.

Damn it where's Public Security Section 9 when you need them?

 

[sparkytooth]

Don't worry kids, I've been informed that they're there for science purposes, what kind of science I have no idea but they're doing science clearly.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Don't worry kids, I've been informed that they're there for science purposes, what kind of science I have no idea but they're doing science clearly.

 

[banginspl]

I've seen this as well. Not sure what it is though. My theory is that its Obama using the nsa to spy on people using fake Japanese accounts. Yep. Just kidding

 

[Mini Stiggy]

Nope, it's definitely what comes up when people quit the race. I had a race where 7 started, 5 finished and there were 2 Japanese flags at the bottom.

Yep. These appear whenever someone exits.

 

[ZHPbimmer]

Lol @ people thinking it's PD testing/spying on us.

This is clearly a plan by the Yakuza for world domination. They have threatened Kaz for a recommendation on which of the 4,000+ Nissan Skylines they should use for their gang cars and are using the game to achieve this goal.

 

[stormbringer]

The japanese ghosts are actually GTs equivalent of the secret service.
They can ban you at will.
If your behavior is in accordance with law, they just observe and leave.
However, if you upset them,....just dont upset them.
Never mention pizza, turbo charger and samurai in the same sentence, ever!
My friend cant play anymore....he just cant.

 

[trustjab]

F-in' perfect!

 

[NICKname]

The japanese ghosts are actually GTs equivalent of the secret service.
They can ban you at will.
If your behavior is in accordance with law, they just observe and leave.
However, if you upset them,....just dont upset them.
Never mention pizza, turbo charger and samurai in the same sentence, ever!
My friend cant play anymore....he just cant.

You want a hat with that?

 

[NA]

It's the first clue that Skynet has become self aware.

The next clue is when a naked, heavily accented Austrian guy busts through your front door, blows a huge hole in your TV with a shotgun, and then calmly informs you that he'll be back, just before riding a Harley through your back door.

It's happened to me before. Kind of annoying really.