In real life if you are hit by another car you would get a penalty (either put out of the race or at least have some expensive body damage). I don't see it as unreasonable that you are expected to stay out of the other racer's way, try cutting someone off in a real race and see how long it is before you are black flagged for a little talk...
That said, however, the real problem is the single mindedness of the AI. They WILL take the racing line no matter what is there, if it is you you get a penalty. If the AI had some avoidance skills it would be a lot better.
In real life if you are hit by another car you would get a penalty (either put out of the race or at least have some expensive body damage). I don't see it as unreasonable that you are expected to stay out of the other racer's way, try cutting someone off in a real race and see how long it is before you are black flagged for a little talk...
That said, however, the real problem is the single mindedness of the AI. They WILL take the racing line no matter what is there, if it is you you get a penalty. If the AI had some avoidance skills it would be a lot better.
Real life racing is anything but boring, you just have to go as fast as you can while being carfull not to hit things. If the rules in the video game were the same as RL the way you approach the game might be different, but it would not necessarly be boring... My point was, however, that the 5 second penalty, if properly applied, would be fairly realistic without ruining the whole game. The problem is it IS NOT applied correctly. Hard core would be if you hit something or get hit by something, you are out of the race... That is real life but would be a frustrating video game.
I don't have a problem with the penalties at all. The game is basically so easy that anything that adds to the challenge is welcome.
I really wouldn't mind if the 5-second wall-smacking penalty was implemented in all of GT mode. The idea that you can crash around madly with just a slight little momentary speed reduction is silly.
And as far as the penalty being assessed when the AI cars ram you, well, just stay aware of where they are and stay out of their way. Its just another little wrinkle that keeps you on your toes. Its no big deal.
I still think the 5 second penalty was a joke. Like when your on the last lap of a rally going around the final turn in the lead, get slammed from behind, jam into a wall then YOU get the penalty plus you lose. Oh well just a rant