tl;dr - Search filters are to vague and the result 'strips' aren't concise.
ONLINE - Does anyone else feel that online is too liberated?
We all know PC's can have a very open structure for games with an online component but I don't think the liberation of online content works particularly well in GT5.
It may be just me but it's a daunting prospect trying to find a lobby that suits my particular preferences at any one given time since the filter options don't really provide concise results. The bottom line is I haven't gravitated to GT5 online in the way I'd hope for because there's too much variance to the search results. The current system kills any enthusiasm I have for competing with like minded gamers; if they are out there I can't seem to find them.
My view is that the current system has too many redundant filter options. Currently we have 6 options:
- Track (pull down menu)
- Race Type (pull down menu)
- Skid Recovery Force (pull down menu)
- Region (pull down menu)
- Show Full Rooms (check box)
- Recommended (check box)
Apart from 'Track' and 'Race Type', who uses the other filter types? I mean why would players want to 'Show Full Rooms'? Why would players want to see lobbies in regions that have bad latency? Why would players use 'Recommended' when it doesn't seem to alter the result in any spectacular fashion. Why is 'Skid Recovery Force' needed when those joining a room can select not to use it anyway? How are these filters at all useful?
Recommendations - Community Input. What would you do?
Personally it would be nice for the system to share results I care about. To accomplish this change the criteria to be more focussed on what the player wants to see:
- Race Type (pull down menu - Race, Drift, Track Day)
- Track (pull down menu - use current selectors)
- Class (pull down menu - use current selectors, add One Make Event)
- Stock (check box)
- BHP (slider - increments of 25 or 'Lock to hosts car')
- Boost (check box)
- Slipstream (check box)
Filters should be dynamic so selecting 'Stock' would render the 'BHP' slider redundant (grayed out) etc... Lobbies that are full should be bypassed i.e. we can't join them anyway so why see them! Lobbies with poor latency...say less than 3 bars...could be disregarded. This doesn't mean international lobbies can't be shown because some of do have low latency. Those with high latency can show to other players where they appear as low latency. After all it's relative and those that would suffer need not see them.
Granted, my recommended filters may produce results significantly less than 100 in a page, however, potentially the quality should mean you are likely to join a higher percentage of those results. It would be interesting to see if this community has any other ideas on how the lobby structure could be adapted to get what they really want.
In addition to filter options, completed result 'strips' seem to be redundant of structure i.e. the important information is hidden away. Currently each strip shows:
- User description
- Game Mode (Normal / Shuffle)
- Connection Quality
- PSN ID
- Track
- Players
- Fixed Room Ownership
- Race Type
- Race Quality
To view core information you need to browse over each 'strip' and read the pop-up box. Should important information - Class, BHP/PP, Tyres, Weight, Laps - be displayed as standard? 'Strips' detailing each lobby could communicate more effectively by showing your search filter options directly.
Take out 'User Description', 'Fixed Room Ownership' and 'Race Quality'. 'User Description' rarely reflects the lobby because from one event to the next it can change. You could select a lobby described as 'Street Cars' and find the criteria has changed as people seldom use the 'Class' selector (what you see in the pop-up). All of a sudden you're in a lobby with F1's, Touring Cars or Karts i.e. not what you wanted! The game should seamlessly migrate host anyway so there should be no reason to see 'Fixed Room Ownership'. Why not have the game tell the next user they are now the host if it does migrate? Lobbies with low 'Race Quality' should also be bypassed. I mean why would you join a lobby with a poor rating anyway?
Recommendation - Community Input. What would you do?
All this information takes up room that could be used to inform the player based on how they completed the search filters. At a glance wouldn't it be better to populate the 'strip' with:
- PSN ID
- Game Mode
- Race Type
- Track
- Class (if it's a One Make Event show the car)
- Stock (check box)
- BHP
- Boost
- Slipstream
- Players
I would do a mock-up of how it could look but I'm not good at that kind of thing (although I can imagine what it would look like in my head).
Essentially, under the current system, there's too much variance in the search results and the information 'strips' don't help communicate what the lobby is really about. I personally think people who really know what they want, someone like me, could benefit from cohesive search filters that are communicated directly in each 'strip'. I'd love to play online more but because there is no structure to the lobbies I really can't find anything suitable.
Because of the archaic nature of the online filter and result process I am, in the main, stuck playing Arcade Mode (stick the A.I. on 10) but I want to play online more.
Am I on my own here? I guess I am
I'd just like to add Matchmaking isn't the answer either although it would be nice if the system asked each player to set a lap-time in a specific car at each track. In matchmaking it would correlate your time to other players that are of the same ability.
ONLINE - Does anyone else feel that online is too liberated?
We all know PC's can have a very open structure for games with an online component but I don't think the liberation of online content works particularly well in GT5.
It may be just me but it's a daunting prospect trying to find a lobby that suits my particular preferences at any one given time since the filter options don't really provide concise results. The bottom line is I haven't gravitated to GT5 online in the way I'd hope for because there's too much variance to the search results. The current system kills any enthusiasm I have for competing with like minded gamers; if they are out there I can't seem to find them.
My view is that the current system has too many redundant filter options. Currently we have 6 options:
- Track (pull down menu)
- Race Type (pull down menu)
- Skid Recovery Force (pull down menu)
- Region (pull down menu)
- Show Full Rooms (check box)
- Recommended (check box)
Apart from 'Track' and 'Race Type', who uses the other filter types? I mean why would players want to 'Show Full Rooms'? Why would players want to see lobbies in regions that have bad latency? Why would players use 'Recommended' when it doesn't seem to alter the result in any spectacular fashion. Why is 'Skid Recovery Force' needed when those joining a room can select not to use it anyway? How are these filters at all useful?
Recommendations - Community Input. What would you do?
Personally it would be nice for the system to share results I care about. To accomplish this change the criteria to be more focussed on what the player wants to see:
- Race Type (pull down menu - Race, Drift, Track Day)
- Track (pull down menu - use current selectors)
- Class (pull down menu - use current selectors, add One Make Event)
- Stock (check box)
- BHP (slider - increments of 25 or 'Lock to hosts car')
- Boost (check box)
- Slipstream (check box)
Filters should be dynamic so selecting 'Stock' would render the 'BHP' slider redundant (grayed out) etc... Lobbies that are full should be bypassed i.e. we can't join them anyway so why see them! Lobbies with poor latency...say less than 3 bars...could be disregarded. This doesn't mean international lobbies can't be shown because some of do have low latency. Those with high latency can show to other players where they appear as low latency. After all it's relative and those that would suffer need not see them.
Granted, my recommended filters may produce results significantly less than 100 in a page, however, potentially the quality should mean you are likely to join a higher percentage of those results. It would be interesting to see if this community has any other ideas on how the lobby structure could be adapted to get what they really want.
In addition to filter options, completed result 'strips' seem to be redundant of structure i.e. the important information is hidden away. Currently each strip shows:
- User description
- Game Mode (Normal / Shuffle)
- Connection Quality
- PSN ID
- Track
- Players
- Fixed Room Ownership
- Race Type
- Race Quality
To view core information you need to browse over each 'strip' and read the pop-up box. Should important information - Class, BHP/PP, Tyres, Weight, Laps - be displayed as standard? 'Strips' detailing each lobby could communicate more effectively by showing your search filter options directly.
Take out 'User Description', 'Fixed Room Ownership' and 'Race Quality'. 'User Description' rarely reflects the lobby because from one event to the next it can change. You could select a lobby described as 'Street Cars' and find the criteria has changed as people seldom use the 'Class' selector (what you see in the pop-up). All of a sudden you're in a lobby with F1's, Touring Cars or Karts i.e. not what you wanted! The game should seamlessly migrate host anyway so there should be no reason to see 'Fixed Room Ownership'. Why not have the game tell the next user they are now the host if it does migrate? Lobbies with low 'Race Quality' should also be bypassed. I mean why would you join a lobby with a poor rating anyway?
Recommendation - Community Input. What would you do?
All this information takes up room that could be used to inform the player based on how they completed the search filters. At a glance wouldn't it be better to populate the 'strip' with:
- PSN ID
- Game Mode
- Race Type
- Track
- Class (if it's a One Make Event show the car)
- Stock (check box)
- BHP
- Boost
- Slipstream
- Players
I would do a mock-up of how it could look but I'm not good at that kind of thing (although I can imagine what it would look like in my head).
Essentially, under the current system, there's too much variance in the search results and the information 'strips' don't help communicate what the lobby is really about. I personally think people who really know what they want, someone like me, could benefit from cohesive search filters that are communicated directly in each 'strip'. I'd love to play online more but because there is no structure to the lobbies I really can't find anything suitable.
Because of the archaic nature of the online filter and result process I am, in the main, stuck playing Arcade Mode (stick the A.I. on 10) but I want to play online more.
Am I on my own here? I guess I am
I'd just like to add Matchmaking isn't the answer either although it would be nice if the system asked each player to set a lap-time in a specific car at each track. In matchmaking it would correlate your time to other players that are of the same ability.
Last edited:
