Just played iRacing

[Danny Asbury]

Well, I decided to spend about 15 bucks today on iracing, just to see what it's like. I started with the Solstice, but that was SOOOO boring. For the life of me, I can't drive slow cars. But then I decided to just buy the indycar. MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That thing is the best car I've ever drove in any video game, totally worth the money.

And the graphics are top quality on iracing, I had no idea. It's the perfect fusion of both graphics and physics, simply breath taking. Driving the Indycar was pure fun, even if I couldn't complete a clean lap. :tongue:

Race 07 may have to sit on the shelf for a while as I play more iracing. The only thing that sucks is that I don't think I'll be able to race my Indycar until I get this rank thing up... booo!!!

 

[Kevin Watts]

If you have the cash buy the Skip Barber, its the closest thing you'll find to a modern day Grand Prix Legends IMHO. Amazing fun to drive!

 

[Roy Stevens]

Get into ovals ..get the truck

 

[Emmanuel Baako]

Yea, that ranking system can be a PITA... I'm terrible at low horsepower cars too, simply because I still can't carry maximum speed through most turns, but I excel at fbmw and wish I could do that on iracing... or the skip barber. I'm going down instead of moving up... that part sucks.

 

[Danny Asbury]

Well, after struggling in the car for a day, I got fast enough to get my rookie 3.00 rating. So I'm moving to Spec racing tonight. So the Skip Barber is a good machine to try when I get the rookie 4.00? Okay, I'll go with that. How is the Jetta?

And Emmanuel, I have the same trouble with the momentum. But my biggest problem is staying awake between the corners. lol :tongue:

 

[Kevin Ascher]

The new build for 2010 season 2 will released tomorrow morning and the V8 and PI will follow a few hours later!!

 

[Steve Emmons]

Yep, the Skip Barber car is really a blast to drive. It handles like the real thing. I've heard good things about the Jetta, but haven't tried it. I think there are skippy races every 2 hours 7 days a week, but the jetta is only 4 days a week. May not be a big deal, but something to consider...

 

[Mark A Warmington]

Get the Skippy. With that you get loads of races, wheel to wheel action and it will help you get used to taking speed through the turns. Don't worry about the licence either. If you take care of your MPR you will find that it isn't that difficult to get up to your C licence.

I am up to my B in road and am still getting tempted to work on my oval rating every damned time I see that Impala in a YouTube video (and the trucks.. ooh, nice).

For now - me and my C6R are getting to know each other .

 

[Ant Collett]

far to expensive sim software for most & all you do is keep paying & spending

 

[Kevin Ascher]

Yeah, sure every hobby can cost thousands of bucks a year but just simracing can't because you do it at the pc, sure.

 

[Ant Collett]

Thats not the point Kevin. iRacing is unlike other hobbies as in the money you spend on the software is lost once your sub expires.
If i took up rock climbing & went out & bought some gear then 6 months later decided it wasn't for me i could sell my gear & recoup some of the cash.
If i start buying data from iRacing it has no residual value, only i can use it & only if i am subscribed. As it stands i currently own about $95 worth of iRacing content that is completely useless to me?
My standpoint is

"if i bought it & payed for it, why cant i use it?"

. I think iRacings policies are unfair & will carry on racing other sims until something changes for the better.

 

[James Yates]

Thats not the point Kevin. iRacing is unlike other hobbies as in the money you spend on the software is lost once your sub expires.
If i took up rock climbing & went out & bought some gear then 6 months later decided it wasn't for me i could sell my gear & recoup some of the cash.
If i start buying data from iRacing it has no residual value, only i can use it & only if i am subscribed. As it stands i currently own about $95 worth of iRacing content that is completely useless to me?
My standpoint is . I think iRacings policies are unfair & will carry on racing other sims until something changes for the better.

It wont change, that's their business model and its worked for them for the last 2 years fine. Also you say "if i bought it & payed for it, why cant i use it?" , well you cant use it as you aren't paying for it. Same as any other subscription - if you bought 1 month of sky and a sky box then you could only watch it for a month, same goes for iRacing. Only reason the content is useless to you is because you wont pay for the subscription, which isn't exactly expensive. The other point is, if you don't like the subscription charges, why did you buy a load of content?

 

[Mark A Warmington]

I didn't like the iRacing model when I first subscribed in 2008. I also couldn't justify the expense based on my budget at the time. Now, with different circumstances, the budget is better and all of a sudden I have no issues with the iRacing model. So I guess it just depends on personal circumstances.

The point James makes reminds me of another though. iRacing didn't change their model after people subscribed, like some sort of confidence trick. They were upfront and let people know how it would be before they invested in it. Once you accept the terms and conditions you really aren't in a position to then complain about them.

My last statement is not directed towards anyone, there is no person implied in the 'you', it is just a generic 'you' . Please don't anyone take offence - please .

There are also loads of other analogies for buying something you can no longer use if you don't continue paying. Cars can't be driven without paid up road tax and insurance. Well they can, but don't be surprised to see flashing blue lights etc.

The good thing about iRacing is that I believe your purchased content is still available to use if you re-activate your account (I believe). So you won't have lost anything. If you have to purchase it all again, then yes that wouldn't be right.

 

[Kevin Watts]

There are not many subscription based games that allow you to play once your subscription runs out. I was a big critic of their pricing model when it was first announced and that was despite the fact that I've played subscription based flight sims for years, in fact I played one when it cost $2 an hour to play + long distance phone calls so iRacing is cheap compared to that. Thats not to say iRacing is cheap but you get what you pay for. If you've found another sim that fills that gap then great but you're complaining about a pricing model that was known about long before iRacing opened to the public, its not something they suddenly sprung on people.

 

[Steve Emmons]

Though iRacing is somewhat expensive compared to other sim racing products, for me at least it's providing great value. Licensing rather than owning the content isn't an issue for me because the residual value of most "digital content" isn't that high anyway, and playing offline isn't nearly as attractive as racing with other people. If I decide to take a break and let my subscription lapse my content will still be there when I return.

 

[Ant Collett]

I think it comes down to justifying the expense. If it was just subscription based or just content based i would be fine with it, but the fact they want you to subscribe & buy content is just a bit greedy tbh. I was ever so tempted to re sub to try out the new V8 & P.I. but @ $30 with restrictions on use i just couldn't see the value/sense. I guess i will sitting on the fence until the next price reductions.

 

[Ingemar Petersson]

Just scored my first win in iracing , truck race at Daytona 50 laps of some good racing , pole and lead 32 laps , sweet taste victory ...

 

[Mark A Warmington]

Congrats... It is a sweet feeling indeed! Love the way it keeps track of your career results and tags the replay file to them if you saved one.

 

[Steve Emmons]

Great job! It really get's in your blood doesn't it?
I haven't done any oval racing, but the trucks sure look like fun...

 

[Jack B]

far to expensive sim software for most & all you do is keep paying & spending

Yes, that's what I say about Madden, Gran Turismo, Forza etc. They just keep coming out with new versions and they have the audacity to charge money for those.

I think you're wrapped around the axle on the business model, but you don't realize it's different for sim racing, but it shouldn't matter. It's either a value for the price or it isn't. You don't "OWN" any content in iRacing. You "license" it. You're thinking you actually "own" it, that's where part of your problem comes from...

Think about these things you "rent", "lease" or "license". We don't own this stuff either, that doesn't make it bad.

Should we stop paying for cable tv, because all I do is watch cable and they keep charging me.?

AT&T keeps charging me every frickin' month for my cell phone coverage. Does that make it "bad"?

And I just realized I went to Starbucks today. I bought a coffee and a sandwich and they charged me $10. It just now dawned on me all I got to keep was the empty cup and the wrapper for the sandwich. I'm left with nothing, but my memories of the coffee and sandwich. Does that make it "bad". Nothing to show for the food, but some enjoyment and energy even though we "bought" the food.

I pay $12 to get in to see the movie and the next time I show up they want to charge me again. And that's for the the same movie! I mean it's the same frickin' movie. I already paid to see it once. They didn't let me take it home and now when I come back they won't let me in! WTF! ;-)

See. iRacing may be more money that you want to spend, but get over the business model. It's not unusual. It's just different than boxed sims. Heck, even World of Warcraft is now charging money to "license" special mounts and weapons etc. And don't forget Xbox Live, PSN and even Nintendo and micro transactions. Microtransactions were hammered when they first came out like they would destroy the world, but it never happened and it's not even a topic of conversation anymore.

I'd let go of the business model as a reason. Too much money is a reason, but not the business model. It's front end loaded. That's a reason, but in the end you have to decide if it's too much money for too little value.

After 2 years, it's hard to actually spend money on iRacing. I have too much stuff and they don't release enough content for me to spend a bunch of money.