I think overall, Forza is a dumb expensive flashy game. I do enjoy it but this VIR thing is a prime example of how to squander your resources. Ok I get to race it a few times in the Porsche campaign, Ok here's the rivals where you can lap it in its variations, here's a single monthly rival in a Porsche. Its a bit... perfunctory.
I'll admit, fencing off VIR to be exclusive domain of the PEP buyers is sort of silly. At the least, T10 could've included it in the hopper rotations, to sell people on it.
It's unfortunate that tracks are pretty much expected to be available to everyone, genre-wide. They take far more resources to create than cars do.
People can readily say "oh you can spam your own races to your hearts content... its your playground, go play".
Which is, admittedly, a chorus often repeated on either side of the FM/GT divide. Or really, most racing games in general. I think NFS is far worse in that sense; you've got only the game-maker's pre-set races, or some half-assed single-opponent challenges. Or you can try and race other players.
Forcing the player to make their own races is lazy game design, if we're looking at the titles as games. Which I'd rather do, in all honesty: I get the appeal of an all-access approach like PCARS for the hardcore sim enthusiast, but a lot of more casual players want something resembling progression. It's why I like Forza's two-pronged approach of opening everything up for Arcade Mode/Test Drive/what have you, but also giving a more typical career structure for progression and customization.
Unfortunately, the career itself doesn't seem to be as well-designed as FM4's. The PEP stuff should influence the next game's approach, IMO: focus on the cars more. Get people to know the things they're driving.
Also I dont get this "billions hours spent per dollars" value argument. If I spend $100 on a fancy dinner, is that bad value because it only lasts an hour. Its not the same.
What?
I also see that as a bit of subconcious advertisment of sorts on how Microsoft themselves try to pump up their 2nd place position by always pointing out how they are responsible for a "million Forza laps or XBox Live hours" because std. metrics doesnt suit their narrative.
What about highest-rated racing series (going by Metacritic)? That's a pretty standard metric.
They're "2nd place" in terms of sales. Which really just goes to show judging games based on that criteria is flawed: we don't look at the highest-grossing films as the best examples of the breed, nor do we with music. It's not even considered a legitimate concern: I've yet to run across a review of Jurassic World or Furious Seven as pinnacles of cinema, nor have I seen the argument that Bieber or any other pop performer is the best thing in music because they sold a lot of records.
Big sales figures arguably have an impact on our gaming experience, if only because it means more potential online players, and the increased likelihood of long-term post-release support. But mostly, big sales are important for the companies behind the games, not the players sat in front of them.
Apparently you guys cant seem to understand that someone may enjoy something but see that something isnt quite right with the formula. Cheerleaders hey, got to expect it.
How do you get that conclusion from people saying they like to play
more games?
If your answer is more name-calling, I suggest a rethink.
Here's something I do enjoy about GT6, I enjoy their seasonals, I enjoy the puzzle of tuning the right car to attack that particular racing 'problem'.
It's been a while since I've bothered with Seasonals thanks to the VGT glitch, but are they not still chase-the-rabbit events? What's particularly difficult about that problem?
Other than having to dodge some of the worst AI to grace console racing games, I don't see how that's massively different from Monthly Rivals, if I'm honest. The Wraith at Brands last month fits the definition of your "puzzle". I'll fully admit to finding that challenge frustrating, but I'd be lying if I didn't learn a lot about my driving from it, and even some about tuning.
You know what I still enjoy about GT6? The Photomode. It's still miles better than any other one I've experienced. I like having local leaderboards I can wipe at will. I like the replays more. And I dearly miss being able to have open track days in online rooms instead of forcing a race. But the career, physics, and car selection do not woo me anymore.
No way in the world do I expect Forza to come anywhere close to the nuances of that. That's just too cerebral. I kind of laugh at the brain explosions of forzamotorsport.net trying to attack something that complex which is why it would never happen.
Again, I need to ask: what's nuanced/cerebral/complex about a flawed rolling start, chase-the-rabbit situation? There's the Passing challenges currently in the game. There's the Track Day events. They're broadly similar, so I'm genuinely curious.
Forza right now is all about getting those variety of cars and tracks and again, there's still something missing. This isnt the game that wowed me like Forza 4.
Forza 4 wowed me in a way that Forza 6 hasn't, either. That's because it's coming four years after 4: it can't bring things to the table that are already present.
