Seasonal events - now officially ruined.

[Akira GT]

Maybe they should get a rating system like Forza and a difficulty setting like.....Forza

Agreed, but I have never played Forza motorsport so I dont know if its a good idea. If there was a Easy-Medium-Hard difficulty everyone would get a say.

 

[Greyum]

Winning is winning,

Im one for a very close race but like in real life without restrictions .. People simply go all out...

You ever see any race team detune or say no to mods to give a "more competitive race?

ENFORCE RESTRICTIONS PD THIS IS PATHETIC!!!!!

Actually, enforcing restrictions IS pathetic. Let people play how they want to play. If you haven't got the will power to limit your power and assists, and/or have an issue with other people having an easier ride than you, then you are the one with a problem.

All this nonsense that it's hard to set the challenge yourself...rubbish! Just start low and tweak until you get a challenging race.

 

[PzR Slim]

How about a compromise? PD include what the restrictions should be in terms of tyres, weight and bhp for the level they have set the AI and then it is left upto the individual to choose whether to operate within those restrictions or not. It's the laying down of the challenge by PD that is the most fun for me. 'Can you beat this challenge with this car and this setup?'

 

[strtgng]

Good enough for you?

Actually - yes, it is. I might not agree with all you say, but at least I understand where you are coming from now.

Perhaps the compromise to make it accessible to all is to scale the rewards based on what assists/horsepower is used.

...and some background: I have never played a prior GT game in my life, save a few sessions in GT5P, so I'm not sure that I'm that hardcore. I'm not a good driver - in the NASCAR 'ring event I rarely even SAW the cars in front of me, let alone pass them! I have very little time to actually play the game, so I am exactly the sort of semi-casual user that making these events easier is targeted at. In reality I should be happy that I can easily grab $$ and exp this easy.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the bank, I found the track - I was actually forced to DRIVE and TUNE. I saw that minuscule adjustments to my car could actually make a difference. I didn't need an extra 50 or 100 hp. I could get better lap times by simply changing something like camber or the top speed of the transmission. In the Dodge race at Indy it all came down to dialing in the correct top speed to catch people in the front straight. In the GT-R race it was all about getting the understeer out of the car and learning slow in-fast out to stop hitting walls in the sharper turns. I got to where I could tell by the end of the first lap or so if I even had a chance.

As I was sweating bullets last night at 9:45 pm on the GT-R race trying to get gold I realized how much I loved the challenges. I spent the time trying stuff like mixed tires to see how the car handled and could immediately tell the difference on the track. Had I been given the option to buy my way into victory I would have probably took it. Maybe that is wrong - but at 39 with a wife and kid and life outside of GT5 it would have been much easier to just build a monster car to win, but since I wasn't able to do that I had to spend the small amount of time I had in learning the nuances of the car.

I guess my point is a lot of casual gamers will never get that magic moment where they realize how much this game has to offer (despite all its annoyances) because it has been made too easy for them to bypass learning to race and tune.

Glitching gets cars to build my collection and makes it nice when I want to just take an Enzo for a spin on the 'ring, but the most satisfaction I've gotten from the game is getting gold on all Seasonal Event 1 races the hard way - not the $$ or exp that comes with them.

 

[PzR Slim]

Actually, enforcing restrictions IS pathetic. Let people play how they want to play. If you haven't got the will power to limit your power and assists, and/or have an issue with other people having an easier ride than you, then you are the one with a problem.

All this nonsense that it's hard to set the challenge yourself...rubbish! Just start low and tweak until you get a challenging race.

Then the vast majority of computer games must be pathetic then. Complete this level in this ammount of time. Defeat this dungeon with this ammount of hit points, mana, these spells and this weapon. You've got ten rounds, make sure you hit all ten targets. Computer games are all about the restriction of resources. That's what makes them a challenge and ultimately fun.

 

[Zathra5_]

How about a compromise? PD include what the restrictions should be in terms of tyres, weight and bhp for the level they have set the AI and then it is left upto the individual to choose whether to operate within those restrictions or not. It's the laying down of the challenge by PD that is the most fun for me. 'Can you beat this challenge with this car and this setup?'

I'm fine with that. I'm sure some would want more recognition or money for completing it with the restrictions but I don't care about that.

 

[Gaiajohan]

Actually, enforcing restrictions IS pathetic.

Then most racing competitions are pathetic? I mean, let everyone in F1 decide whether they want a huge turbo and comfort hard tyres instead of what is restricted.. Barrichello wants a nice fender bender with Hamilton and Schumacher wants a wheelchair. I mean everyone should race how they like it, everything should be allowed.

 

[JetJaguar2000]

Actually, enforcing restrictions IS pathetic. Let people play how they want to play. If you haven't got the will power to limit your power and assists, and/or have an issue with other people having an easier ride than you, then you are the one with a problem.

All this nonsense that it's hard to set the challenge yourself...rubbish! Just start low and tweak until you get a challenging race.

If there were no restrictions, there would be no game. What's the point of a game that doesn't challenge you in some way. That's what games are about.

And keep in mind that "challenging yourself" is not always about willpower. In theory, the notion is fine. In practice, in GT5, it's a major pain in the ass. I don't have the time or inclination to determine, by process of elimination, what combination of car/upgrades/tires is going to make the event challenging for me. There is no way I'm going to take a stab, realize mid race that it's too easy, quit out, try something else, etc., etc., when it takes 5 minutes of loading events and MENUS to buy a new car, or new tires, or whatever. The menu system for this game is so clunky and slow that it immediately saps my interest in experimenting with different options. Other games do not have this problem.

The real solution is the one game designers have been using since games existed. Easy, medium, hard difficulty levels, configured by the designer. Problem solved.

 

[prymet1me]

Actually - yes, it is. I might not agree with all you say, but at least I understand where you are coming from now.

Much clearer with this post. Remember we all play for different reasons, some get the satisfaction you discovered from the GTR race yet some just like the satisfaction you described from running your Enzo. These races can meet both but many here just want it one way yet ignore the suggestion of using a stock car. I played GT 1,2, and 3 and FM 1, own 2 and 3 and at times man I just want to zone out with fantasy cars instead of stressing out about 1 second on a lap time. Also I thought the GT R race was FANTASTIC mainly because I like that car and the other cars in the race. I would have enjoyed it without the restrictions as well by entering stock first to see what I may need to add, on the other hand I dont get satisfaction from driving hybrids or small fiats, BUT the payout for the racing those slow cars are too much to pass. Quite a complicated situation because I get no joy at all from driving those cars but the payout is more than racing in A spec with faster cars so its

My only complaint about accumulating cars in GT5 would be the level restriction on the cars and races seem imbalanced. Oh and the cars priced 5 mil and up are just dumb in BOTH franchises.

I still think a car rating system, payout percentages and difficulty setting like FM would ease some of these complaints.

 

[atsinged]

But please understand that changing the level of difficulty yourself is a much much different thing than having someone set a bar for you and say: this is possible, now go find a way to do it. I want that kind of challenge in the game. That is the reason that I really liked the first two seasonal events and why I am really disappointed with the last one. I don't care if I'm not able to get gold without srf. Better yet, remove srf and I won't be unhappy that I can't get gold. I'm not that great a driver so I understand if I can't gold on every event.

I agree completely with this, GT5 is my first racer and I struggled with the first seasonal events for over a week (driving line on, ABS1, everything else off), the best I could do was silver, bronze, bronze, gold, silver and I loved every minute of it. It forced me to learn to tune and drive the tracks better.

There is an aspect of gaming that should involve overcoming challenges and a good game should either have difficulty levels or aspects to suit different play styles. Seasonal events with restrictions were a nice offset to being able to smoke the "competition" with a vastly overpowered car in Aspec. I really think they screwed the pooch by adding unrestricted races.

 

[nickg07]

I could live with it if it had a spec points and if you won with 200 you get the full payout and if you enter with 1 point you get a fraction of the prize credits.

And hoe are restrictions pathetic? What decent motorspots operation with no restrictions.

And prymet1me these are like special challenges if you want to swan about for fun why not go online in arcade mode or go toast amatuer class in your veyron? What makes you think season events are the place for this?

 

[INSTG8R]

Actually, enforcing restrictions IS pathetic. Let people play how they want to play. If you haven't got the will power to limit your power and assists, and/or have an issue with other people having an easier ride than you, then you are the one with a problem.

All this nonsense that it's hard to set the challenge yourself...rubbish! Just start low and tweak until you get a challenging race.

Arcade is for "playing the way you want to play"

I think it was too many people complaining about buying a car, changing the oil and realizing they overpowered their car.

I don't know why anyone would go for an oil change anyway. Does anyone know how much it's going to increase the HP on a particular car? Anyone?
That to me was just foolishness on anyones part...

If anything PD could have just adjusted the restrictions so that an oil change would have fit within the HP limit not drop it all together...

 

[Gaiajohan]

Arcade is for "playing the way you want to play"

I think it was too many people complaining about buying a car, changing the oil and realizing they overpowered their car.

I don't know why anyone would go for an oil change anyway. Does anyone know how much it's going to increase the HP on a particular car? Anyone?
That to me was just foolishness on anyones part...

If anything PD could have just adjusted the restrictions so that an oil change would have fit within the HP limit not drop it all together...

On the NASCAR the oil change about 35bhp at the start, and after a couple of miles it will help up to 60bhp.....

 

[FLIGHT50]

I reckon theres more people who were after easy money and XP (Casuals) then people who wanted a challenge (Hardcore)

I agree here. I think they were to hard for most people. Although I was able to gold all the first batch after 1.5 weeks of trying, the second one is tougher. NASCAR was the worst. Too hard for most. I got 2 gold,2 silver and a 6 place with the second round. I already golded the Prius and the Lotus on the first try with the 3rd batch.

This last round is a bit too easy but we can make the restrictions ourselves you know. If PD puts on the restrictions, most will never past them. They can't please everyone. Remember we don't have to race them if they are too easy. For you hardcore guys, take off all aids, and change your driving method to professional or whatever the hardest level is. For instance, there may 10k hardcore guys and 100k casual or newcomers. Which crowd do you think they have to please?

 

[C_Raccoon23]

Arcade is for "playing the way you want to play"

I think it was too many people complaining about buying a car, changing the oil and realizing they overpowered their car.

I don't know why anyone would go for an oil change anyway. Does anyone know how much it's going to increase the HP on a particular car? Anyone?
That to me was just foolishness on anyones part...

If anything PD could have just adjusted the restrictions so that an oil change would have fit within the HP limit not drop it all together...

This is what I think as well.

Also, now we no longer have to buy a brand new car to enter an event. We can just use the one we have in our garage already. I know this isn't a big deal for some of events, since the payout is huge compared to the money you spent buying the car, but take into account the Nürburing NASCAR event. I had two NASCAR cars, but I couldn't enter them before because they were too powerful due to engine break-in/oil change. I'm sure I wasn't the only one in this situation. This made it better for us since we didn't have to buy a brand new NASCAR car for just one event.

 

[nickg07]

They could have just eased the restrictions though not drop them altogether though?

So if they assume everyone changed oil increased the bhp cap to account for that. Problem solved
Instead we get this.

 

[INSTG8R]

Actually - yes, it is. I might not agree with all you say, but at least I understand where you are coming from now.

Perhaps the compromise to make it accessible to all is to scale the rewards based on what assists/horsepower is used.

...and some background: I have never played a prior GT game in my life, save a few sessions in GT5P, so I'm not sure that I'm that hardcore. I'm not a good driver - in the NASCAR 'ring event I rarely even SAW the cars in front of me, let alone pass them! I have very little time to actually play the game, so I am exactly the sort of semi-casual user that making these events easier is targeted at. In reality I should be happy that I can easily grab $$ and exp this easy.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the bank, I found the track - I was actually forced to DRIVE and TUNE. I saw that minuscule adjustments to my car could actually make a difference. I didn't need an extra 50 or 100 hp. I could get better lap times by simply changing something like camber or the top speed of the transmission. In the Dodge race at Indy it all came down to dialing in the correct top speed to catch people in the front straight. In the GT-R race it was all about getting the understeer out of the car and learning slow in-fast out to stop hitting walls in the sharper turns. I got to where I could tell by the end of the first lap or so if I even had a chance.

As I was sweating bullets last night at 9:45 pm on the GT-R race trying to get gold I realized how much I loved the challenges. I spent the time trying stuff like mixed tires to see how the car handled and could immediately tell the difference on the track. Had I been given the option to buy my way into victory I would have probably took it. Maybe that is wrong - but at 39 with a wife and kid and life outside of GT5 it would have been much easier to just build a monster car to win, but since I wasn't able to do that I had to spend the small amount of time I had in learning the nuances of the car.

I guess my point is a lot of casual gamers will never get that magic moment where they realize how much this game has to offer (despite all its annoyances) because it has been made too easy for them to bypass learning to race and tune.

Glitching gets cars to build my collection and makes it nice when I want to just take an Enzo for a spin on the 'ring, but the most satisfaction I've gotten from the game is getting gold on all Seasonal Event 1 races the hard way - not the $$ or exp that comes with them.

See now that's great post and totally what this game should be about. That is why the Seasonal events were so great.

 

[PzR Slim]

I agree here. I think they were to hard for most people. Although I was able to gold all the first batch after 1.5 weeks of trying, the second one is tougher. NASCAR was the worst. Too hard for most. I got 2 gold,2 silver and a 6 place with the second round. I already golded the Prius and the Lotus on the first try with the 3rd batch.

This last round is a bit too easy but we can make the restrictions ourselves you know. If PD puts on the restrictions, most will never past them. They can't please everyone. Remember we don't have to race them if they are too easy. For you hardcore guys, take off all aids, and change your driving method to professional or whatever the hardest level is. For instance, there may 10k hardcore guys and 100k casual or newcomers. Which crowd do you think they have to please?

What is the problem with coming 2nd or 3rd though? If the challenge is tough enough then surely there is no shame in coming in outside 1st place? Games have always had difficulty levels and only the best at the game can beat the game on the highest difficulty level. Why is it suddenly necessary to have a game where everybody can achieve first place?

 

[RacingManiac]

One thing I both like and hate about all the seasonals are the fact that I have buy some cars that I'd not normally buy....forces you to expand your garage but at the same time kinda expand your experience with the cars in game....

I would not have known Prius is that crappy in game without it....man what a POS...

 

[lukey2985]

my thoughts are
go hard or go home

 

[Gaiajohan]

I don't understand why it's not a problem in for example fps-games to have a difficulty setting that's unachievable for me and many others, but in GT5 all events must be possible for everybody and thus too easy for me and several others. I cannot achieve a platinum trophy in some fps's because I can't finish the game at highest difficulty, so why should a casual racer be able to achieve the platinum trophy or gold everything in GT5?!

 

[prymet1me]

See now that's great post and totally what this game should be about. That is why the Seasonal events were so great.

Indeed it was. I think they are just trying to find a sweet spot for the events.

 

[PzR Slim]

Indeed it was. I think they are just trying to find a sweet spot for the events.

They had the sweet spot man. You got rewarded for how good you are at the game.

 

[danjama]

When do the new events expire because my PS3 is dead right now.

 

[prymet1me]

They had the sweet spot man. You got rewarded for how good you are at the game.

That didn't change.

 

[Gaiajohan]

That didn't change.

It did. The reward is the same for those using heaps of upgrades and those running stock. Before the ones who couldn't drive just couldn't get in 1st position..

 

[prymet1me]

It did. The reward is the same for those using heaps of upgrades and those running stock. Before the ones who couldn't drive just couldn't get in 1st position..

And that affects you how? Does it detract from some sort of internal fulfillment that you are not the only one with gold in those events? Some sort of entitlement?

 

[PzR Slim]

That didn't change.

Yes it did. You can now get the rewards no matter how good/bad you are at the game.

 

[RacingManiac]

I am not a huge fan of that GTR race, I gold it, I like the car I used in it, but it was all about that car. I bought a R32 and it was impossible for me to get even remotely close to winning. Tried the R35 V-Spec, then magically the car is 5 sec a lap faster than the R32....I suppose that's progress for you....To me that was almost like the fact that you have to turn ABS off in the NASCAR oval race because the game is using it as ASM on that setting and it slows you down. Its a "secret" to winning, not really any real work on my part.

 

[prymet1me]

Yes it did. You can now get the rewards no matter how good/bad you are at the game.

Soo...this is bad how? There is still GT Academy, playing online and many other options if you need a self fulfilling challenge. Or does it take away that many others out there will have money and cars?