Should Prize Cars Be Prizes Only?

[RocZX]

Should prize cars be prizes only? Do you think that you should be able to buy prize cars from any of the 3 car dealerships. This came from this thread but I think it needed it own thread. And please don't get in the fact that the cars and how rare they are or prize cars are needed to show you are a better racer.

 

[Tornado]

No. No reason for it in the first place, especially not considering someone at PD thought it was a good idea that you can only win them once.



That being said, they should have returned the special colors that prize cars had in GT3 and GT4.

 

[SkierPS3]

Maybe atleast you can't buy a prize car until after you've earned it. Also I'd like for them to tell you if the 5 million credit car you're about to buy can be won.

 

[cryptomanic]

I replied yes because I think that the prize cars should mean something to those playing the game. Remember GT4 and doing the missions just to win the Delorean. I wanted that car bad and it took me days to complete the mission but afterwards I felt I had something my friends didn't because they didn't have the skill. Remember the stealth cars, and how you had to access the used car dealership at the right time. Those were great cars and I thought it was cool that they were somewhat hidden in the game. PD needs to bring that kind of challenge back.

 

[Korza]

I agree, they need to make the prize cars prizes only but make it so that they can be won more than once.

 

[niky]

Meh. Special colors, special trims, maybe... but if you can only win a car once, no.

Mind you, I actually went through all the missions in GT4 just to get the Tank Car.

But as Gran Turismo is supposed to be an encyclopedia of sorts, it doesn't make sense locking off content from people behind walls too steep for many to climb (the X2010 Vettel challenge comes to mind... especially for those of us using our battered old SixAxxis controllers to get through the game).

There's a fine balance between rewarding the truly dedicated and turning off the casual but serious player. Gran Turismo has always treaded the line, favoring the former over the latter. GT5 has lowered the initial barrier of entry by making the license tests non-mandatory, but the sheer amount of races you have to complete to simply buy some of the cars is a big turn-off for many.

Challenge me? Sure. Make me race seasonals in agonizingly slow cars? Hell yeah! Have me race flat out in go-karts across bumpy tracks? Coolness!

Force me to race for twenty four hours straight to raise the 20 million credits to buy a race car that costs only around five to six million dollars in real life? Errrhhh... Force me to do something difficult with a wheel but near-impossible with a controller to win a unicorn? No thanks.

What? You can regularly shoot perfect three-point shots from the half-court line? Bully for you. But leave my game alone, I just want to play some basketball.

 

[Small_Fryz]

I agree, they need to make the prize cars prizes only but make it so that they can be won more than once.

I agree with this.

Have them be decent cars that can be won more than once.

The general prize car list in GT5 has been the worst in any GT game so far.

 

[BroncosXR8]

I'm one of the minority (so it seems around here) that like the rarity of cars and the virtual value that some players put on them.

Another option might be... that prize cars are a rarer (in real life) model of a car anybody can get. Such as everyone can buy the Mazda RX-7 but pass such and such a licence and you win the RX-7 Bathurst spec.

 

[sniper338]

The past Gran Turismo had a few cars that showed up in the dealership but could only be acquired as a prize car, this made winning some of these fun and gave a sense of pride of ownership. But as it is stated in the weekly "rare cars" thread on here no cars are rare and any car can be acquired without earning it. I like the idea of this thread, I vote yes... that certain cars should only be available as prizes.

I agree, they need to make the prize cars prizes only but make it so that they can be won more than once.

This is one of the bigger drawbacks for me, I would really like to reset a series and be able to win a car again.

There's a fine balance between rewarding the truly dedicated and turning off the casual but serious player. Gran Turismo has always treaded the line, favoring the former over the latter.

I never thought of this before but it makes sense. I think most people want a good challenge, something that makes you work but isn't nearly impossible. The Grand Touring special event is a good example.

 

[Bushby_23]

I'm going to say yes, but on a few conditions. Firstly, not because of any rarity issues, as a car that can be won by anyone isn't rare. What would make a trophy car rare, would be to give it a "pd colour", a colour that can only be obtained by winning a car with that paint, and cannot obtain a paint chip of it. If you wanted the original colours, after winning the car it would unlock in the dealerships in all the original colours.

 

[Exorcet]

Every car should be in your garage at the start of the game.

 

[priesty_lfc]

Anybody who plays the game should be able to get any of the cars in the game, however they should be a actual prize for winning the event.

I really like the idea of the prize cars being in a unique colour (and untradable), that way you will have something that everybody else might not have, if the prize car is a race car you should also be able to pick the number it comes in...............

 

[RocZX]

Yes I agree that you should be able to get the car again even if you have to buy it .

And I not saying that all cars should be won as prize but make it so that you have to do something to earn the cars not just grind the races to earn money to buy them.

 

[Ross]

May I just say that the X2010 Prototype can only be aquired in the Vettel Challenge.

 

[niky]

And I not saying that all cars should be won as prize but make it so that you have to do something to earn the cars not just grind the races to earn money to buy them.

Why should I have to "unlock" cars?

There are two schools of thought in racing games. One approaches it as an RPG type videogame, where you level up, earn new levels, unlock new events, etcetera. This is the "earn-it" / "I've got tons of gaming time" philosophy of gaming.

The other sees it purely as a racing game. Where you log in, pick a car, and race. That's how most PC Sims are, and that's where the more serious drivers gravitate to, partially for that reason. If I had a good PC, that's where I'd be, too, as most of my real-life racing acquaintances are there.

GT5 is somewhat between the two. Too close to the first, for my taste. I'd prefer it to be closer to the latter. You log in, all events are available to you. But since you have to "buy" a car, you can't race them all, yet. Race, win a car, win cash. Race the next event you can race with the car you've won or pay cash to race another event with another car. Leave it open-ended. Better yet, let anyone play with any car they want at any time. Then they can "win" those cars in events to use online or to customize or whatever.

Simple, non-controversial, non-messy. Not like the ungodly amalgamation of Pokemon and World of Warcraft we have now, with car-farming and that "gotta-catch-them-all" mentality...

Me, I'm an amateur racer. I hold two different jobs and I write in my spare time. I don't have the time to find sponsors in real life and level up to drive what I want (yeah, T6s, M3s and STis are fun, but I want to drive racing cars without paying through the nose). GT5 is my escape. And while GT3 and GT4 let me pick my level of commitment to match my available time, GT5 requires too much grinding and/or jumping through hoops to make it worth my while to collect and test-drive everything, not like in GT4, where I could simply win what was too expensive to buy without having to buy a thousand dollar racing wheel.

 

[Vitzio]

Maybe atleast you can't buy a prize car until after you've earned it. Also I'd like for them to tell you if the 5 million credit car you're about to buy can be won.

This. 👍👍 A prize car should be able to win once from a race, then it would become "unlocked" and will start appearing in the UCD.

 

[ghsnu]

Meh. Special colors, special trims, maybe... but if you can only win a car once, no.

Mind you, I actually went through all the missions in GT4 just to get the Tank Car.

But as Gran Turismo is supposed to be an encyclopedia of sorts, it doesn't make sense locking off content from people behind walls too steep for many to climb (the X2010 Vettel challenge comes to mind... especially for those of us using our battered old SixAxxis controllers to get through the game).

There's a fine balance between rewarding the truly dedicated and turning off the casual but serious player. Gran Turismo has always treaded the line, favoring the former over the latter. GT5 has lowered the initial barrier of entry by making the license tests non-mandatory, but the sheer amount of races you have to complete to simply buy some of the cars is a big turn-off for many.

Challenge me? Sure. Make me race seasonals in agonizingly slow cars? Hell yeah! Have me race flat out in go-karts across bumpy tracks? Coolness!

Force me to race for twenty four hours straight to raise the 20 million credits to buy a race car that costs only around five to six million dollars in real life? Errrhhh... Force me to do something difficult with a wheel but near-impossible with a controller to win a unicorn? No thanks.

What? You can regularly shoot perfect three-point shots from the half-court line? Bully for you. But leave my game alone, I just want to play some basketball.

Pretty much this.

As much as I sort of like the idea of having "exclusive prize cars" that can only be won...look at the special events: obtaining a CLK-GTR would be near impossible for that average Joe who uses a DS3 (like me), and I'm sure that coming home from work/school every day and still trying to earn the car would only piss the consumer off to the point he/she ether snaps the disk or moves onto the other series.

Now, if we're talking about "easy mode" (the A-specs/B-spec events, excluding the NASCAR and FGT races), then I wouldn't mind. Everyone could barge the event or create a challenge for themselves if they wanted to. This would give the average Joe confidence that he can get the car he wants rather quickly.

On the talk of difficulty though, I think Forza 3 has it just about right. If PD just looked at how all the events are, I'm sure they could've improved GT5. In Forza, it's restricted (like how all the race pro's with their wheels want it to be) but not too restricted. If only GT5 had a proper power-level system (PP are just whack, PI in Forza seems to be working well).

All I'm saying is: Factor in the average Bob who only has maybe 6-10 hours a week to play. I'm certain that most of these Bob's will not like the idea of constantly doing races with the difficulty of the AMG events, only to end up with bronze or silver each time without a $500 wheel. Yes, I do like a challenge, but nothing like the AMG events or the Vettel challenge. A close race is fine, as long as it's not an impossible race without a wheel. I believe GT5 has a good balance of "noob-friendliness" and "hardcore love" (yes, that's all that came to mind...STFU); not too hard when it comes to the actual races, but gave the wheel-ers a group of challenges they can be proud of. Without the OCD, UCD, and general ability to buy cars, I'm sure that GT5 would probably be near-dead by now. Racing is fun, but having to race and win that car you want to drive is just stupid unless the race can be won rather easily.

 

[Smuttysy]

I voted no, as the prize cars are no different to the ones you can buy. If the prize cars had a different livery though, that would be a different matter, and I would have voted yes.