I was once like this, thinking that the game was becoming dissapointing. That was about a month after the game released and I had earned my X2010. I spent ages hoping for DLC and new tracks.
However, at that time, I didn't play online. Just offline by myself. Then my friend got the game for christmas and I went off to play Black Ops and AC:Brotherhood while he earned cars. Then when we both had a largish amount of cars we were both satisified with, we played online together for a month or so. We didn't race. Just had fun. We drag raced. We drifted. We crashed but most importantly, we had fun. We didn't focus on earning as many credits as possible.
Then I did get completely bored of the game (there are only so many times you can drive an X2010 into a fiat 500 and see how high it flys) so I went off the game again to play other games. Then I did the best thing I have ever done... I joined a GTP race series. This is what GT5 is all about for me. The offline is neccesary to get the cars for the series you are in but then all the fun in the game comes from racing and hopefully winning. If any DLC comes out, it will just add to a great experience. People think PD have failed with GT5. These people obviously have just missed the button letting you go online.
Oh and maybe PD realise there are people like me and my friends who play the game to race each other and instead of making the games life span a few months by bringing out lots of DLC 2 months after release date, they are waiting long term to bring out DLC that is better than we are even epecting. You just have to be patient and wait for the chance to come.... much like racing
In real life, racing drivers don't race for the many and the errr experience points. They race to win. If yo play a racing game with the main intention of making money and driving new tracks, then yes, the game has a limited life span. But if you play the game online, racing against your friends for glory, then the game will never grow old. I mean it is the game I play most.... by alot. And I can't find a single noticeable flaw when I'm racing and having fun.
Good post, i was afraid nobody would think / experience the game this way
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I bought GT5 with one reason only and intended to play it in one way and one way only.... to race and have fun.
I have the game from day 1 and play online a lot, yet i'm still level 23 or so i believe due to just playing and driving without worrying about my levels (i don't even think about the level system).
The only reason i play this game is to put better lap times and challenge myself. The reason i do it online a lot is to compare my laptimes with other drivers and to win races by playing fair and clean (i play a lot of open lobbies and although some people crashe and play unfair, it still is very nice to play fair/clean and OVERTAKE others despite them playing 'dirty').
I like buying cars i don't have and then drive around tracks, discovering how some cars drive and finding out which cars drive good and which don't. I also like it to try different driving styles on the same or different tracks, to see how i can improve on my laptimes.
And most important, i just like driving with the DFGT and feeling the roadbumps, feeling the steering get's very light when the front tires slip, when driving at high speed over a steep hill which then immediately goes downhill and in the meantime you take a turn while at the top point, then the moment the natural force and gravitational force are equal but in opposite direction (just like in real life), then you litterally feel the steering gets very light due to the front wheels slightly coming off of the ground.....that really is just crazy, amazing and extremely well done by PD.
I really advice anybody that truly loves GT-series to play this game with a good steering wheel that supports force feedback and use pedals for gas and braking. Now taking the same turn for the 1000th time still is fun!
It truly does take the game to a level not known and unreachable when played by the DS3-controller.
And for the people with steering wheels or if you decide to buy a wheel+pedals....please, please turn ALL aids off,
including ABS.
I know it is very, very hard to start driving without ABS (if you keep playing with controller, then by all means keep ABS on) despite the fact you have pedals under your feet......but please give it time (it took me 2 months to learn to effectively brake without ABS) and once you are used to no-ABS and can play the game as smooth as you used to be able to, then I guarantee you you take back ANY negative thing or any doubts you once had about GT5. It is all about discipline and how strong your will is. If you want to truly enjoy GT5 then i highly suggest to use a steering wheel and turn all aids + ABS off, from that moment, you can see how strong your discipline is. Once you reach your goal (playing without any aids), then you will be rewarded a very very fun experience everytime you play the game.
The game truly is a great game and you just need the right tool and right settings to realize that. Everytime i experience the game the way i play it, it gives me goosebumps and makes me realize how well done the driving part of the game is. I don't care about some standars looking worse then premiums and some other (minor) flaws in the game, because all these are NOTHING compared to the great driving experience you can get when you play the game by using your own expertise (which is not using ANY aids and playing with a wheel+pedals). It really gives a very rewarding feeling!
I applaud to PD and am glad i have spend my money on this product!
*** I wanted to end this post since i keep brabbling, but i just can't stop and have to share this with you:
Just recently i decided to take on the monza circuit and learn that circuit better, because at first i somehow had no special interest of connection with the track (i already knew the circuit, but I want to perfection my driving on it and discover whether i love the track or not*). I decided to challenge myself by using a car which i find hard to drive, even with wheel (i will not take aids into consideration here, since those are all set to off by default whenever i play this game, no matter if it's online or offline, and no matter how hard to handle some cars are).
The car i'm talking about is the Lotus Elise 111x (where x is R or S, i don't remember, but i bought the car from the UCD). Anyway, i started playing the track with that car and the first few rounds were awefull since i couldn't control the car. Then i bought sports hard tires and upgraded the suspension to sports suspension.
Then i played, tweaked, then played some more, then tweaked the suspension some more, and played, and tweaked, and played...and...etc. etc. etc.
Before i knew it, i knew the track much better then before and i was putting decent laps with the car i used to have a lot of trouble with. When i realized this, i was taking a corner and suddenly got some heavy goosebumps when the feeling of achievement, proud and joy kicked in!
I then quit, made another few laps and watched the whole replay.....
All this was during practice in GT-mode, over a period of about 3 hours. Now, the car has a permament place in my game-garage and whenever i choose any car to race with online and i come across the lotus, i remember the whole Monza situation and i feel the same joy i had when learning the car and track.
BTW, i play since GT1, i'm in no aspect considered a gamer since i actually don't have time or interest to play any other games, neither do i considered myself a 'fanboy or anything'. I just like cars and the racing world, and Gran Turismo gives me the feeling of racing and for that, i love the game.
PS: * -> i realized i love the track
