Need For Speed Payback General Discussion

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It seems a bit weird to me that there are five classes and three performance levels - which hypothetically would allow for fifteen different metagames - but the ranked online gameplay atm only allows for one performance level (the third one) and two classes, race and off-road. I'm not sure what would be done with Runners but I wonder if maybe Ghost planned to have more online stuff and didn't have it done in time? There's plenty that could be coming in patches - we've already got confirmation that some cars that are confirmed otherwise didn't make it into the vanilla build but will be coming later, like the RX-7 and the Volvos.
 
Dairyworker
So far my only real gripe is with the cards and the fact that tbey are only able to e used on the car you won them with. This is a real issue for me cuse in most any car game that you can mod the cars, i would use one car for as long as possible all the while woking on my next car before i ever even drive it. Now i hafta start all over with a slow ass pos after turning my buick into a monster... also, i thought speed points were a thing in tbe game not just as micro transactions
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Is this really correct? I'm asking because I've seen on let's play videos that you can elect to send a speed card back to the garage... the only way that would make sense is if you were going to use it on another vehicle.(?)
 
Yup, unless i have missed something...

You can send it back to the garage but it still only shows for that one car.

I really dont understand this, it is a really bad design choice i think. The races should get harder but modifyin your cars should get easier as you progress through the game. In my opinion there is no progression for us, the player, if we essentially have to start over at the bottom when we decide to do up a new car....
 
^^^ Well I don't doubt you, but it makes absolutely no sense to 'save' a speed card that's already worse than one currently equipped. No one is going to go back to the garage and say "I think I'll swap this level 6 card for this level 4 that I have laying around." Whereas it would make perfect sense if you win a speed card that's worse than one currently equipped, but you have the option to use it on a different car that isn't as upgraded. Wow, what a curious design decision. :crazy:
 
CleanCut
^^^ Well I don't doubt you, but it makes absolutely no sense to 'save' a speed card that's already worse than one currently equipped. No one is going to go back to the garage and say "I think I'll swap this level 6 card for this level 4 that I have laying around." Whereas it would make perfect sense if you win a speed card that's worse than one currently equipped, but you have the option to use it on a different car that isn't as upgraded. Wow, what a curious design decision. :crazy:
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You can trade it in or sell the at the part shop if you don't want it.
 
Yeah, the way this game handles how performance upgrades are obtained is quite concering based on what I’m hearing.



I got the standard edition and won’t be able to play until tomorrow, so I can’t really comment on this first-hand. During the trial though, it didn’t seem so bad, but it sounds like things don’t change later on for the better.
 
MIE1992
It seems a bit weird to me that there are five classes and three performance levels - which hypothetically would allow for fifteen different metagames - but the ranked online gameplay atm only allows for one performance level (the third one) and two classes, race and off-road. I'm not sure what would be done with Runners but I wonder if maybe Ghost planned to have more online stuff and didn't have it done in time? There's plenty that could be coming in patches - we've already got confirmation that some cars that are confirmed otherwise didn't make it into the vanilla build but will be coming later, like the RX-7 and the Volvos.
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That Blows. I wanted the volvo amazon now. Was planning on doing a runner build with the car dressed up as a Mk 2 Jag (one for the UK players of a certain understanding). Oh well! gonna have to wait. Hopefully Ghost don't far about too long and get the missing cars out before Christmas. Also hope for previously undisclosed vehicles if they can get the license for them.

P.S While it ain't going to happen due to realism and what not, It would be wonderful if an easter egg was thrown in in the form of an uprated pic of El Nino.

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honest opinion yes or no for this game? reviews have put me off it. I dont like the idea on grinding to get the cars, grinding doing chores to unlock parts and even worse grinding for cards as you need them to stand a chance in races. wouldnt mind the cards if you can remove them and equip them on other cars but you cant. I dont like the idea that you can swap cars as pretty much you have to stick with the starter cars with cards equipped to progress makes it worthless to get the other cars at least in rivals I can jump in with any car and win any event with it
 
^ You pretty much described Most Wanted 2012 there. Jump into any car then win any events with it and grind less. And if I recall, you still have to kinda grind just to get the cars, pursuit tech, and upgrades in Rivals whether you'd be in the Cop/Racer side.
 
Master Weasel
Yeah, the way this game handles how performance upgrades are obtained is quite concering based on what I’m hearing.



I got the standard edition and won’t be able to play until tomorrow, so I can’t really comment on this first-hand. During the trial though, it didn’t seem so bad, but it sounds like things don’t change later on for the better.
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I think the grind to get max stats will be a chore, I've finished the game on medium difficulty using level 320 to 360 cars and the grind to that level is quick or I've been lucky with RNG for the past few days.
 
It is only the first few days, finding my way around more, It is getting better the more I find and do.

The barn find parts, the off road races through hoops etc do actually remind me so much of FH3 and the Crew though! All 3 games now use the same ideas!
 
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Can someone who has the game answer a question for me please?

Did they give the car a shadow when neons are fitted yet? In the trial when neons were fitted the car had no shadow beneath it which made it appear as though it was floating above the road. It was really weird.
 
Master Weasel
Yeah, the way this game handles how performance upgrades are obtained is quite concering based on what I’m hearing.



I got the standard edition and won’t be able to play until tomorrow, so I can’t really comment on this first-hand. During the trial though, it didn’t seem so bad, but it sounds like things don’t change later on for the better.
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Reading more and more about the Speed Cards is really off-putting. Still going to way this one out. The game looks good but 🤬 'em for gearing towards microtransactions.
 
the speed cards are stupid, but i haven't felt like i will need to participate in the evil that is microtransactions. see how it pans out in another week or two though, at this point it feels more like an artificial way of elongating the game, which is not necessary imo, replay value is in the challenges around the world and racing online. not in having to run through all the events again with every car you want to build.

i felt that although they did a good job with the car culture thing in 2015, the gamplay was nothing but frustrating, almost like no gamers actually were involved. this time it is the oppisite, i feel almost bombarded with gameness but the car culture aspect is almost non existant.

also, i am an older gamer, so i am sure thats part of my problem, but i still dont know what is going on after three days. i mean i can follow the "story" but i have no idea why i am being given shipments other than the daily challenges. no idea how i earned a premium one, and i thought we could earn speed points not just buy them with real world cash.

still really enjoying the game both racing and just cruisin around. it is a beautiful world and there is a lot of things to keep you moving about, even if my old ass brain is a little overwhelmed by it all at times.
 
Had a crack at the opener of the game and I'm happy enough at the minute. The controls are fine and the action decent (I'm playing easy at the minute to check the controls and what not. I'll ramp it up later). Listening to other reviews it seems the speed card system isn't essential to completing the story and most of the races against the AI. Uprating the car was always essential, but I've heard wispers in the wind that the speed cards can be saved and the basic upgrades be bought at the tuners. There seems to be a balance, but we'll have to wait for the end game to see how hard EA are pushing the speed cards for the autologgers (and possible online freeroam if they decide to see sense and include one).
 
..yeah, I would want to see some from of "build your own Speed Card" thing being implemented and based on in-game currency, be it actual $ (as I'm sure most would prefer) or Part Tokens (acceptable compromise), even if they were a bit more expensive than their non-tailored counterparts.

For instance, a tier (?) 18 part with no perks goes for $24,300, with an extra $900 for one with a perk. Let's say we double those prices for the custom ones, so the base card will set you back $48,600, $1,800 for the first perk, $3,600 for the second perk and $7,200 for the third. That would put a fully upgraded car at about $360,000, *but*
  • The car would be exactly as you want it
  • The game is generally more than happy to throw $ at your face
  • There's side bets to take advantage of in events
  • Any speed cards you may earn for that car can be converted into money (or the if-this-system-was-in-place-useless Part Tokens)
As far as I'm concerned, that'd be.. well it wouldn't be a "win". A win would be taking a leaf out of the books of (ironically) either GTA V and give you so much you wouldn't know what to do with it or Midnight Club L.A. and decide currency no longer applies, but neither of those are anywhere near likely to ever happen again on this side of an industry crash. Regardless, you'd need to do *some* grinding to get the money, but nowhere near as it is now.

Also, and don't quote me on this just yet, but the working theory I have is that, while completing individual Daily Challenges will earn points towards getting a Base lootbox (which the game is kind enough to keep track of), either completing a full set *or* making it to the "end" of the line will give you a Premium one. I'll have to investigate further, but that's what I'm getting thus far. As it turns out, that's not the case. Would've been a perfectly logical decision, but there we are.
 
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I've defeated one of the street leagues and obtained my first derelict and I'm happy with the game so far. The performance upgrade is needlessly complicated but I have got a grasp of how it works now, but time will tell if my enjoyment will be limited by the difficulty of obtaining more advanced parts. The open world is quite substantial and unlike most Need For Speed games of the past, actually feels alive. I don't doubt games like The Crew and Forza Horizon convinced Ghost Games to step up the liveliness of the open world, the activities are a great way to keep you occupied as you drive to various destinations outside races.

The physics are a massive improvement over 2015 since the car goes in the direction you expect it to this time! :P From the brief encounter I have had with police at the beginning of the game, their aggressiveness has certainly been stepped up a gear. Though after the intro, the presence of police is very scarce, it really feels like a Horizon game minus the festival setting (not entirely a bad thing).

In short, Payback is shaping up to deliver the ideal experience I would expect from a Need For Speed game, although it would be a shame if prospect was hindered by microtransactions and I do want to see an increase police presence later down the line.
 
So just picked this up and installing now.

17.81GB off disc. Please tell me there’s no massive day one patch like Forza 7 had.
 
Also I noticed the na miata doesn't have a roof option like it did in 2015, are the working on that or does anyone know?
 
So installed the game downloaded the update, installed the platinum car pack, played the game for an hour or two. Exited the game as I had stuff to do. Came back several hours later had difficulty getting the game load on my Xbox, finally it loaded and now the game is saying that the Platinum car pack isnt installed-but it very well is when I try to take my Platinum Golf Gti out of the garage.

Im on the fence about whether to get rid of this tomorrow and little things like this are not helping the game in this way
 
M60secondhits
Yes this is definitely a micro transaction game to the core
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There are a lot of quirks to this game that have me concerned and the biggest is the speed points system. I still feel there is a way to coerce the game to your advantage, but in an underhanded manner EA has rigged the game (seems Lina Navarro was telling the truth. The house always wins). I'll push on for now, but if the clipping issues remain, Ghost fail to release new and missing content before January, the user interface on the map isn't tided up and amendments aren't made to nerf the need of speed points (stop the random selections in tuner shops and have a list of parts from each brand at a fixed price. The random card at the end of each race is a nice touch though). Also allow us to increase the size of side bet in races.
 
^ i agree 100%

i am not a fan of this system (i think i have made that clear) but the more i play the less it bothers me, and i see some neat things inside the system, still would rather be able to just buy the parts or whatever. i think many of us have simply become very skeptical and cynical of any system that includes micro-transactions. i also see how impatient and/or overly competitive people and of course kids could drop lots of real cash.

Edited to add, that i think the vanity items is where the real evil lies. the shipment system is what we should all be mad at, although it doesn't bother too much as i am not that big on the types of items in the vanity section. the only way to get the vanity items is through the shipments and they are not exactly plentiful. they also are completely random, so they say. at this point i have collected a decent number of smoke, nos flame and neon colours i will never use, a stupid amount of horns i would possibly use a few of (if i could hear them before they were installed) but not one set of air bags which is obviously the thing the most people would want the most sets of. and this is where i see especially the younger audience spending a lot of money and still not getting what they want.

i have just beaten the fem? (the send level off road club) and am having way more fun than i really expect to be honest. it really does remind me of most wanted 2012, my favorite modern nfs title. i had the day off yesterday with lots of time to play, so maybe it would have been two or three evening sessions of two hours or less. in that time i re ran all the first level races with each car class to get some cash and cards, and had FUN while i did it. then i decided i wanted the c-10 for my off road racer, so i went around and collected the parts. i had a great time just driving casually around the map, my god is it beautiful at times. i then went to work on running the off road races available to me and visiting the tune shop in between if it had been updated. it was not as long as i thought it might be before i had my c-10 ready to take on the level 2 off road club. which i did this morning (early riser) and now the truck is over 280 and a blast to drive.

i know a lot of people consider any type of repetitive gameplay to be "grinding" but in my opinion it is a racing game, go race, and in time you will have a sexy stable of beautiful machines. i am not a online competitive player so i cant say how the design choices affect that community, i play for me, for fun, and this game is handing it to me in buckets so far.

short version: although i have been a bit critical of some aspects of the game. i am having a great time playing it, and that's what matters
 
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