Marco Massarutto Responds to Free Porsche Content Criticism

[Paul Jeffrey]

Marco Massarutto, Kunos Simulazioni Licencing Manager and somewhat outspoken unofficial Kunos spokesperson, has responded via his Facebook account to the rather strong criticism from some members of the community following the free Porsche content announcement several days ago.

With feelings running high amongst the community, and many people voicing negative feelings regarding the inclusion of SUV's from the prominent German manufacturer, Massarutto has taken to his personal Facebook profile to respond directly to those vocal critics. As is the usual Massarutto style, no punches have been pulled in the latest statement!

The full Marco Massarutto Facebook statement can be read below:

"Imagine you get into a mall to buy a pair of Lee jeans, and when you go for the check out, the guy at desk tells you "I'm glad to tell you that, since you have purchased this product, you will get this t-shirt for free, offered by Lee".

What do you will answer? Some options:

- I didn't ask for it, just give me my jeans...
- I don't like this t-shirt, I'm not going to wear it
- What are you trying to do? To fill my closet with useless stuff?!
- I've a t-shirt already, I don't need this so-called gift
- Let's do this: give me the jeans for free and keep the t-shirt for you
- If I was interested to a t-shirt, I would have purchased it
- What a waste of time and money, tell Lee to give me a 100$ jacket for free instead
- I'm here for the jeans and you give me a free t-shirt? Shame on you
- So, now Lee gives stuff for free to let me have a taste of it? Shame on them

Sounds weird? Not to some simracers. Sad, but true.

So, about Porsche: few people complain because Assetto Corsa will release - for free, and even if you just own the game but you don't purchase any Porsche DLC - the new Panamera, Cayenne and Macan. Saying the things you can read above. As part of our agreement with Porsche, the Brand asked us to reproduce, for THEIR simulators, ALSO the models included in their current production. For THEIR purposes. Once we worked for months to reproduce those models with the maximum accuracy for Porsche simulators, we believed it would have been a shame do not allow the AC community to enjoy those cars as well. Without charging them. And that's it. Also because we take in consideration that the AC community is so wide today that different people like different cars, something that some blind gamers still don't understand, or accept. On the other side, this kind of agreement allows us to reproduce and make available for Assetto Corsa cars like the one you see in the picture.

So, today lot of people tell me that they want so badly in Assetto Corsa the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Verde . If to get it in the game we would be asked to include also the next Stelvio SUV as free bonus content, would you complain for it? If yes, probably you would need to turn off your PC or console, open the door, leave the house, close your eyes and take a breath; and relax. Because it looks to me that you are not able anymore to enjoy what is supposed to be your passion. BTW, driving the new PanameraTurbo at the Nordschleife in 7'.39" is a blast, and it is not for everyone. Stay tuned. And take it easy, enjoy your life, you live once"​

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What do you think of Massarutto's comments? Let us know below!

 

[JuggernAlz]

I am Italian and my English is far from being perfect but I can say for sure that in this discussion someone did not understand a statement from Marco's post. Let me quote it here:

As part of our agreement with Porsche, the Brand asked us to reproduce, for THEIR simulators, ALSO the models included in their current production. For THEIR purposes. Once we worked for months to reproduce those models with the maximum accuracy for Porsche simulators, we believed it would have been a shame do not allow the AC community to enjoy those cars as well. Without charging them. And that's it.

The cars were ALREADY DONE. Porsche did not asked Kunos to include them in their sim. Kunos simply thought we could enjoy a gift. After all the cars were YET PAID by Porsche, why not?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

 

[aleph]

When someone unexpectedly offers you something for free and you don't fancy it, you just say "No, thanks" and go on with your life. You don't beat the guy up.
On the other hand, I think Kunos is badly in need of PR advice. They could - and should - just let that slide, but they had to have the last word and ended up fueling this bizarre discussion.

 

[RC45]

Now that was funny, as I often sit behind one of these behemoths around Chelsea trying to get home. Agreed, why would anyone want to race virtually on of these rudderless boats.....NO THANK YOU.

Rudderless boats.. sure...

 

[InsaneOzzie]

There's a very simple solution for those un-impressed with the offer of free SUV content....."don't drive it"

Personally, I would like to suggest that Kunos create "offroad racing versions" of these SUV's to run on
community made rally stages and hillclimbs, this would open up a new direction for Kunos to pursue, did I hear someone mention "stadium trucks"

 

[Hash_V8]

End of day, it was a few comments on a couple of boards about the SUVS and complete lack of interest in them,Ive seen same argument regarding forza horizon inclusion of "free" music software,yes its free but its not wanted really at all, especially when theres plenty more to get on with,but its a really really minor thing,however Kunos PR really showed poor judgement IMO(again), for something that would off been forgotten about today, they just walked up and tipped gas on the embers, having passion (I say passion cause a lot of the complaints came from AC regulars,not haters) and a opinion about Ac is reserved for Kunos only, everyone else keep ya traps shut, apparently,now who needs to go outside to take a breath.

 

[The Stig™]

Now that was funny, as I often sit behind one of these behemoths around Chelsea trying to get home. Agreed, why would anyone want to race virtually on of these rudderless boats.....NO THANK YOU.

Strange, yet these "rudderless boats" are faster around the ring than the likes of E30 M3's and Toyota GT86's...

Being able to drive a heavy car on street tires quickly takes just as much skill, if not more, than driving a race car on slicks with full downforce. I guess I'm part of the minority that likes that challenge.

 

[Pablo Cortes]

<Snip: OT>

 

[Pablo Cortes]

Don Marco Massarutto I hope this is not a bad time...

but can we maybe have a Poor-shey Volume 1 release date?

 

[Fernando Zart]

Simply put, if it has wheels, I'll race it.
Bring it on.

 

[JoeAMGC63]

As a LONG time admirer of this site, but only first time commenting, I can safely say that we as humans have morphed into some ungrateful people. Yes, AC is marketed as a SIM, however it offers those that may not have the ability to drive on a track the sense of realism in all factors. We paid our dues, whatever dollar amount you paid for the game, we should all expect some form of free content to follow the release of the full game. Put your sticky keyboards aside and go for a walk outdoors. Take in the sights, smells and sounds of the world around you - This should hopefully calm your nerves and bring you back to earth. Devs put in a lot of time and effort into the content we enjoy. You may not agree with what is free or what you have to pay for, but in the end, we can all agree that what keeps us coming back is something that is instilled in us as a child, the ability to use our imagination. Don't take that for granted, it's FREE content that you may or may not ever use, but it's in ADDITION to what follows. Let's all move along and continue to support devs that have our best interest in mind.

 

[RSanchezPaz]

Many people dont even realize they are complaining about Porsche´s... Yes, you can only complain about Porsche just if u are talking about Assetto Corsa... . Anyway, as many said above, they are for free, enjoy it or leave it aside, no big deal...Plus trying to teach Marco Massarutto marketing and branding when he is the only one that got licence of: Ferrari, Porsche, Maserati and Lamborghini, etc. is a bit silly.

 

[P*Funk]

just so long as the product doesn't become an advertising platform via content

I hate to break it to you but all of racing is pretty much this and has been for a very long time.

People have come to expect this and even demand it, but they seem to get a little bent out of shape when they get stuck with the full measure of it. Yes racing is about advertizing for famous marques. Guess what, they're advertizing their whole car lineup too. People have only themselves to blame for this when they started showing to devs through their buying habits that they would throw more money at the devs who licensed cars from corporate entities rather than produce imitations or ones that don't require a license or aren't as marquee ie. those that aren't as fussed about advertizing their shopping and driving kids to soccer options.

I don't much myself like this stuff either. I don't like advertizing in general and I'm pretty cynical about it. I dislike it not because its free but because Kunos is giving us stuff for free that's basically throwaway content to us. Its disappointing because previously we'd received lots of great free cars that have personality and a place in the sim. The free content added to the experience and since we're all most of us paying for DLC the sense of entitlement is a big exaggerated as a criticism because I've already thrown near $100 at Kunos.

This is also why I'm a big Reiza fan. They barely charged me a dime since 2013 and gave me endless swaths of free content. I got a 1995 F1 car for free. I got an open wheel trainer for free. I got a V8 Super car for free. I got lots of great tracks for free. Etc etc. So to me I'm disappointed with the free Kunos content but I'm also quite aware of how people are always always always critical of Reiza for not making more mainstream stuff, stuff that Kunos makes, the stuff that requires paying for licensing, the stuff that would probably come with strings like putting an SUV into the game.

So this is the new normal people. This is what you get when you demand licensed content. You get crappy SUVs. You get advertizing because you're a whore for advertizing, because you go nuts for badges and famous cars and you dismiss things like the goofy unknown Brazilian stuff that Reiza lovingly crafts and then gives you for free.

 

[Keith_G]

You Sir are missing the POINT....

I understand your point and if that is how you feel, fine. However, I think the real point is that they would not have gotten the license to include Porsche cars if they didn't do a bit of work that Porsche wanted in exchange for that privilege. For me that is a fair trade, since I am excited to have the Porsche race cars in the game. I also happen to own a Porsche road car and so it will be interesting for me to have road cars available to compare game to IRL. Prefer race cars to drive in the game but it won't really be a problem to have a few road cars to play with to.

 

[aleph]

When a large mall chain opened a few years ago in São Paulo, they were offering stuff below the factory price. Since they never advertised, I didn't learn it from them, but from news items with complaints from their competitors and threats to have them taken down by anti-thrust authorities. This went on for quite some time, with interviews by all interested parties, including market experts and consumers, and eventually led to a very publicized court dispute.

Which was when we learned that this actually had been a very successful advertising campaign. Instead of throwing piles of money at the media, they invested these amounts in a few chosen products to be sold ridiculously cheap (and on a good legal department) and had them advertised for free by the competition. Consumers, of course, didn't care where the goods came from, they only cared about the best price, and who could more reliably say that than their competitors?

I said earlier that Kunos was sorely in need of PR advice. It has just occurred to me, given the absurdity of it all - they offer to give us precision-crafted models that were developed to be used by Porsche in its own simulators, some people seem outraged by that, Massarutto enters the fray with guns blazing, passionate discussion ensues - that this could actually be the advertising campaign for the Porsche pack. If so, it is brilliant.

 

[natedogg1867]

This is also why I'm a big Reiza fan. They barely charged me a dime since 2013 and gave me endless swaths of free content. I got a 1995 F1 car for free. I got an open wheel trainer for free. I got a V8 Super car for free. I got lots of great tracks for free. Etc etc. So to me I'm disappointed with the free Kunos content but I'm also quite aware of how people are always always always critical of Reiza for not making more mainstream stuff, stuff that Kunos makes, the stuff that requires paying for licensing, the stuff that would probably come with strings like putting an SUV into the game.

This is a bit disingenuous. Reiza did have a crowd funding campaign last year where they raised ~120k. And without that, surely you wouldnt have gotten much of what has been released in the past year, let alone a whole new game (AMS). They are also charging for dlc moving forward...

Im sure if Kunos or Sector3, or ISI raised that much money from a small amount of people, they too could give away a lot of 'free' stuff.

Its disappointing because previously we'd received lots of great free cars that have personality and a place in the sim. The free content added to the experience and since we're all most of us paying for DLC the sense of entitlement is a big exaggerated as a criticism because I've already thrown near $100 at Kunos.

I mean, we are gonna get some nice free cars in the future too... It's not like we are gonna get garbage from now on.

I get the sentiment about advertising though. It really is a part of racing. And every single game has specific sponsors that appear. Reiza has Pirelli, Petrobas, Cockpit Extreme plastered everywhere... R3E has a lot of KW Suspension brands in their game (since KW = RaceRoom)... Others have McDonalds... Even iR has a KFC at Le Mans!

 

[RC45]

I was very upset the day I learned that Porsche would be making an SUV - I was an insider of a web forum waaaaaaaay back in 2002 - and back in those days we had a board member that was an inside engineering contact at Porsche.

He laughed at me and other folks who didn't understand then how important the Cayenne would be to the long term survival of the brand. He shared with us insiders the then secret progress of the Carrera GT and told us without the money a Cayenne type car could bring there would be no more ultimate cars like the CGT as pure sports car sales could not carry the brand for ever.

He was right and we were wrong - and as such I came to appreciate the Cayenne and then after getting to drive it actually like the truck.

So in the grand scheme of things I am trying to understand why the anger and hate towards the truck that pretty much saved a brand.... remember Porsche sells 2 Cayenne/Panamera/Macans for every 911/Boxster/Cayman.

 

[AngeloBonito]

ZZZZZZ...is free but don't......because the'll have free propaganda!!!...but OK!!..It is FREE!!...... I'll try!!

 

[Deleted member 130869]

I'd love to get a free plain white t-shirt when buying jeans.

 

[kmanitou81]

Already looking like it's best to close the thread. Unfortunate that too many of these AC discussion threads tend to derail due to petty arguments. All of this over 3 free cars. Unbelievable.

I guess Kunos will never learn. They love the drama too much to become true professionals.

 

[Christian Moreau]

I'd love to get a free plain white t-shirt when buying jeans.

Hey, you can never have enough white t-shirts right?