Open Letter to Kunos Simulazioni and the Community

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OverTake.gg

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Dear Kunos Simulazioni,

There is no doubt that what you have managed to achieve over the lifetime of Assetto Corsa, from its early access period to it's current state (v1.1), has been incredibly impressive, especially considering the relative size of your development team (approximately 15 people, we believe). From the humble beginnings of a single track, and a couple of sports cars, Assetto Corsa has become one of the highest selling racing games on steam, and deservedly so, thanks to intelligent investment, ultra-high quality (and popular) content, unparalleled driving physics, and a vast expanse of modding capability. Assetto Corsa easily has the most potential to be something truly great out of all the current simulators on the market today.

However, despite all of these fantastic things, there is still one aspect of Assetto Corsa (that we here at RaceDepartment are especially passionate about) that is detracting from the rest of the game in a significant way: Multiplayer functionality, usability and netcode solidity. In its present state, we feel that the quality of the multiplayer experience is still vastly inadequate in comparison to not only the the rest of Assetto Corsa's competition, but inferior even to that of games seen in the early-mid 2000's. From a users perspective, the way Assetto Corsa handles latency differences and especially collisions, is not exactly what you would call a pretty sight, and this must be addressed if Assetto Corsa is to be taken seriously by online racing communities such as this one.

Having a well-oiled multiplayer machine, so to speak, is essential to the long term sustainability of a simulator to not only remain relevant to the consumer, but to have them coming back for more (iRacing, rFactor 2 and Game Stock Car Extreme are all excellent examples of this, and all of them, incidentally, are your direct competitors in the sim market). Unfortunately at the present moment, we don't feel that Assetto Corsa's multiplayer currently offers the stability and function required to keep the clients coming back for more. As a result, we've seen a distinct trend in our RaceDepartment club races where we have a vast influx of drivers soon after a significant update, and then a significant drop off in participation within a period of a week or so, as the drivers quickly realise that the other competing racing sims still offer more features and enjoyment during multiplayer races.

Properly functioning multiplayer races with fully supported features including sector splits, live timing, broadcast/spectator mode, stable netcode for high ping users, reverse grid features, multiple races, far more numerous number of grid slots (what GT series races with only 24 cars?), pitstop improvements and many many more features are all necessary for a complete and sustainable sim that will not only be profitable for you in the long run, but will also maximize the users enjoyment and will vastly increase the life span of the sim.

If you look at it from a 'man and machine versus the track' perspective, then few other racing sims out there can compete with what Assetto Corsa offers in terms of physics, sound and track immersion, providing what is probably the best hot-lapping and practice simulator available to the consumer ever created. However, looking at it as a 'multiplayer racing sim', then you quickly realise just how far Assetto Corsa seems to be lagging behind the competition.

We completely understand that such things take time to develop, and we are more than willing to be patient and wait for improvements for the multiplayer side of things to progress, however, Assetto Corsa has been in development now for more than enough time to warrant an acceptable standard of multiplayer functionality and stability. Given the huge level of success that Assetto Corsa has experienced, we believe that budgetary constraints might not represent such a big hurdle anymore for the studio, especially in terms of netcode investment.

Whilst it cannot be stressed enough just how amazing the quality of the content (cars and tracks) has been, we here at RaceDepartment feel very strongly that you, Kunos Simulazioni, must shift your attention from implementing new cars and tracks to improving the functionality of the game. If it is not addressed soon, then you'll run a real risk of seeing a significant and rapid decline in the population of the Assetto Corsa user-base.

As the largest SimRacing community in the world, we sincerely hope that the issues highlighted above will be focused on more heavily in future, as we believe that Assetto Corsa has the potential to be one of the top class racing simulators on the market.

In closing, we would like to leave you with one final thought, and that's that; whilst it's a surreal and genuinely spine-tingling experience to be able to drive highly accurate replications of legendary race tracks and cars, what is the point of all of this incredible content, if the limitations of the game's functionality and usability are preventing us from realising its full potential?

Hopefully in the not too distant future, Assetto Corsa will prove to be the amazing racing simulator that we, and everyone else, know it has the potential to be.

Kind Regards,
RaceDepartment.

Cari Kunos Simulazioni,
Non c'è dubbio che quello che siete riusciti a realizzare con Assetto Corsa, dalla sua fase early access alla sua versione corrente (1.1), sia stato incredibilmente notevole, specialmente considerando le dimensioni del team di sviluppo (circa 15 persone, crediamo).
Dai suoi umili inizi con un singolo tracciato e qualche auto sportiva, Assetto Corsa è diventato uno dei racing game più venduti su Steam, meritatamente, per via degli investimenti intelligenti, contenuti di qualità altissima (e popolari), fisica di guida impareggiabile ed un vasto supporto al modding.

Assetto Corsa ha indubbiamente il maggior potenziale per diventare qualcosa di davvero grandioso tra tutti i simulatori al momento sul mercato.

Ma, nonostante tutte queste fantastiche qualità, c'è ancora un aspetto di Assetto Corsa (a cui noi di RaceDepartment siamo particolarmente appassionati) che detrae dal resto del gioco in maniera significativa: la funzionalità, usabilità e stabilità del netcode in Multiplayer.
Crediamo che la qualità dell'esperienza multiplayer, nel suo stato attuale, sia ancora in gran parte inadeguata se confrontata non solo con i suoi rivali, ma anche con simulatori dei primi anni 2000.

Dal punto di vista dell'utente, il modo in cui Assetto Corsa gestisce le differenze di latenza e specialmente le collisioni non è esattamente ideale, e questo deve essere migliorato se il titolo vuole essere preso sul serio dalle comunità di racing online come la nostra.
Avere un sistema multiplayer ben oliato, per così dire, è essenziale alla sostenibilità a lungo termine di un simulatore - non solo per rimanere rilevante per il consumatore, ma anche per fare in modo che questo ritorni (iRacing, rFactor 2 e Game Stock Car Extreme sono tutti ottimi esempi, e che tra l'altro sono tutti vostri diretti competitori nel mercato dei simulatori).

Sfortunatamente al momento non ci sembra che il multiplayer di Assetto Corsa offra la stabilità e le funzionalità richieste per fare in modo che i clienti ritornino.

Come diretto risultato, abbiamo notato una marcata tendenza nelle corse del nostro RaceDepartment club in cui abbiamo un grande influsso di giocatori immediatamente dopo un aggiornamento importante, per poi vedere una significativa diminuzione nel giro di una settimana circa, man mano che i piloti si rendono conto che gli altri competitori nel mercato dei racing sim offrono più funzionalità per le corse in multiplayer.

Corse in multiplayer propriamente funzionanti con caratteristiche come split per i settori, cronometraggio in tempo reale, modalità spettatore\di trasmissione, netcode stabile per gli utenti con un ping alto, modalità a griglia invertita, corse multiple, un numero molto maggiore di posti sulla griglia (quale corsa GT ha solo 24 auto?), miglioramenti ai pitstop ed altre ancora sono necessarie per un simulatore completo e sostenibile che non solo sarà redditizio per voi, ma massimizzerà anche il divertimento degli utenti e aumenterà sostanzialmente l'arco di vita del vostro titolo.

Guardandolo dalla prospettiva di “uomo e macchina contro il tracciato”, pochi altri simulatori sul mercato possono competere con quello che offre Assetto Corsa in termini di fisica, sonoro ed immersione su pista, creando quella che è probabilmente il miglior simulatore di hot-lapping e pratica mai creato e venduto al consumatore.
Tuttavia, guardandolo come un “simulatore di corse in multiplayer”, ci si rende conto che Assetto Corsa è piuttosto indietro rispetto ai suoi rivali.

Noi capiamo completamente che cose del genere richiedono tempo per essere sviluppate, e siamo più che volenterosi di essere pazienti ed aspettare dei miglioramenti al multiplayer, ma Assetto Corsa è ormai in fase di sviluppo da abbastanza tempo per garantire uno standard accettabile di funzionalità e stabilità nelle modalità online.
Visto l'enorme successo che Assetto Corsa ha avuto, crediamo che i limiti di budget forse non siano più un grande ostacolo per lo studio, particolarmente in termini di investimento sul netcode.

Sebbene la qualità dei contenuti (sia auto che tracciati) sia davvero incredibile, noi di RaceDepartment crediamo fortemente che voi, Kunos Simulazioni, dobbiate spostare la vostra attenzione dall'implementare nuovi contenuti al migliorare la funzionalità del gioco. Se questi problemi non saranno risolti a breve, allora correrete il rischio di vedere un declino rapido e significativo del bacino d'utenza di Assetto Corsa.
Come la più grande community di SimRacing nel mondo, noi crediamo sinceramente che i problemi di cui abbiamo scritto sopra riceveranno più attenzione in futuro, perché crediamo che Assetto Corsa abbia il potenziale per diventare IL simulatore di corse sul mercato.

In chiusura, vorremmo lasciarvi con un ultimo pensiero: mentre essere in grado di guidare repliche incredibilmente accurate di auto e tracciati leggendari è un'esperienza surreale e davvero eccitante, a cosa servono tutti questi contenuti eccezionali se le limitazioni della funzionalità ed usabilità del gioco ci impediscono di realizzare tutto il loro potenziale?

Speriamo che in un futuro non troppo lontano Assetto Corsa dimostrerà di essere l'incredibile simulatore di corse che noi, così come chiunque altro, sappiamo che può diventare.

Cordiali saluti,
RaceDepartment.
 
and for those that believe Kunos should fix the MP immediately because it's not the same as title X, and not up to their desired standards, tough ****, like me & everyone else, you'll have to wait.

RD didn't demand they fix it immediately or suggest it should be up to the standards of another game? Maybe you read a different letter than I did? They just made a few suggestions and Kunos said they're working on it, done deal. Now we wait patiently and go back to hot lapping.
 
I'm glad that i only play these games for fun. Some of you guys take this way to seriously. lol
The fun is, if you can drive door to door without being afraid of sudden collisions... It is just brilliant, if you can do a bit of rubbing without dying :D

Here a good example from a club race. All the drivers knew each other and we gave ourselfs a very hard time just for the fun of it. There are several small(ish) contacts and the reactions of the cars where fine.

P.S. Don't give me any that sim, this sim hate. Just wanted to show what I guess most expect from multiplayer racing and why RD wrote that letter, because they want to do this in AC
 
Going through our staff archive:
  • Incident reports submitted by Hornbuckle vs other drivers: zero
  • Hornbuckle freaking out on teamspeak cursing and swearing towards other drivers: too many.
You should stay in public servers Michael they fit you a lot better. You obviously don't wish to deal with incidents to improve the overall driving level, you just want to curse and shout and complain about it.

From Michael's profile page here on RD:
"Occupation: Gentleman Sim Racer" :D :D

By the way, this interesting post has turned into a "Hornbuckle vs the world" thing (again). Is this really needed? I think that arrived at this point it should be better to close this thread to further replies if that's the overall trend, because this "war" is futile and useless. Moreover if everytime a thread with constructive criticism inside turns into this mess (here or on the official forum, almost always thanks to the same person) we are sure to lose Kunos attention. Divide et Impera.
Ignore the fanboys, they do not realize that they do nothing but damage what they try to protect. We do a better service to Kunos because we help them grow fortifying their weak points, as long as we are constructive and polite of course.
 
Found on AC official Forum about the letter :


I think that Kunos would be well-advised to simply fold over all this community-driven madness - or may I say unthankfulness - and exclusively do what their sales numbers advises them to do, not caring for what "communities" say, since these always are only a noisy minority. Nothing beats the innocence of statistics, if they are well done and indeed representative, and this board here IS NOT representative. So far Kunos seems to have given away money to customers with all those price-reductions and sales-events, maybe they should become less idealistic, and more money-oriented (of which they are getting accused anyway by a growing number of people who are unable top appreciate the quality and value they have been given for a hilariously low price). I do not like the way things and general tone in Kunos forum community have shifted, and I am close to leave the place behind. I agree with the criticism by MH, that letter by RD to me as well has the taste of a self-interested agenda behind the proclaimed agenda. Which is somewhat underhanded if coming dressed as "speaking for the community". That claim is rich, considering that multiplayers are a minority. And even in that minority not all share the authors' rightous attitude and view.

Seriously I cannot even start to understand how someone can be so full of it. I asked him if he also asked his banker to charge him more

This forum police of good thinking is driving me mad
 
That one is really funny. I am not really often in the AC forum, but you have a lot of critisim in the isi forum as well.

They should care about leauges and communities as they provide a great deal of advertising by running well organized leauges with broadcasts, highlights etc. I think RD has something like half a million unique page hits per month on the landing page. I think @Bram can correct me there.
So being in the news there with leauges and broadcasts is a lot of advertising they are getting for free. If you are on diffrent sites, most of them send you to RD for anything AC related.

If RD would ban everything AC releated it would be a much bigger loss for AC than RD as they save server and storage costs.
 
Found on AC official Forum about the letter :


I think that Kunos would be well-advised to simply fold over all this community-driven madness - or may I say unthankfulness - and exclusively do what their sales numbers advises them to do, not caring for what "communities" say, since these always are only a noisy minority. Nothing beats the innocence of statistics, if they are well done and indeed representative, and this board here IS NOT representative. So far Kunos seems to have given away money to customers with all those price-reductions and sales-events, maybe they should become less idealistic, and more money-oriented (of which they are getting accused anyway by a growing number of people who are unable top appreciate the quality and value they have been given for a hilariously low price). I do not like the way things and general tone in Kunos forum community have shifted, and I am close to leave the place behind. I agree with the criticism by MH, that letter by RD to me as well has the taste of a self-interested agenda behind the proclaimed agenda. Which is somewhat underhanded if coming dressed as "speaking for the community". That claim is rich, considering that multiplayers are a minority. And even in that minority not all share the authors' rightous attitude and view.

Seriously I cannot even start to understand how someone can be so full of it. I asked him if he also asked his banker to charge him more

This forum police of good thinking is driving me mad

Any chance can PM the link to that please?
 
I agree with the criticism by MH, that letter by RD to me as well has the taste of a self-interested agenda behind the proclaimed agenda. Which is somewhat underhanded if coming dressed as "speaking for the community".
I can't understand this line of thinking. It's not well thought out and is just assuming the content of the letter is purely negative based on Michael Hornbuckle's incredibly short sighted and 'too-immediate-to-have-even-read-the-article-properly' response.

RaceDepartment has been in the simracing industry for long enough to know which types of games lead long and fulfilling lives, and which games fall flat on their faces. We want nothing more than Assetto Corsa to live prosperously as a popular racing title for many years to come. People are free to (ignorantly) assume that we're purely in it for the money, but they couldn't be more wrong. 100% of the money we receive from premium memberships all goes to the running costs of the servers. We get nothing out of it other than the enjoyment of racing wheel to wheel against our community members.

I agree that Kunos are most likely well aware of the current issues with the MP system, but that doesn't mean that the community are not allowed to provide feedback for what they feel will help the game succeed, and from our experience with a vast array of racing games, we know that games that develop their multiplayer Netcode and general functionality more heavily will succeed over a longer period of time, that's just a fact.

That claim is rich
Again, he's the one making that claim. No where in the letter does it even remotely imply anything of the sort.
 
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we here at RaceDepartment feel very strongly that you, Kunos Simulazioni, must shift your attention from implementing new cars and tracks to improving the functionality of the game.

I've got a friend that manages a pizza restaurant. I visited him the other night and I told him that the last time I ordered a pizza it took longer for it to be made and delivered to me than I liked. I told him that it seemed that his business was successful, and I asked him if he could hire some more staff and he told me there was no money in the budged for that. I then told him that he should simply take the money he was going to use for his next months food and supplies order and use that to hire somebody. He looked at me like I was crazy. I bet Stefano gets that same look whenever he sees quotes such as the one above telling him how to run his business.

And what is up with there now being 13 pages of replies, yet none of them are from anybody that works for Kunos. Hmmmmm.
 
Yeah I saw you post that a few pages back before you edited it.
  1. It's a poor analogy, and doesn't fit the situation at all.
  2. We are not telling Kunos how to run their business.
 
My opinion is that AC already managed to promote sim racing to wider markets than the older niche of sim racing. While rf2 and other similar games have better tools and organization for online multiplayer, but the "masses" aren't there to use it, at least as much as in iracing; Assetto could use the already gained market for a better fidelity with the customers, in this particular topic of better public and league online multiplayer.
For public, a simple tool such as an easy way of creating a server for buddies is helpful, and stuff like track rotation and view of assists allowed are helpful tools for public racing.

Since AC appealed to many "casuals" to sim racing, they can also go away fast. What can sustain casuals for longer is the type of a better system and tools for the more advanced racers. If you can hold on to advanced racers, casuals will stick with the game too. But only casuals, they come and go. Then there's also the example of more niche sim racing games, which is basically just used by advanced racers, and doesn't attract the more casual players or casual sim racers.
So I think AC could use this. I am tired of seeing facebook and steam comments that you charge this and you release dlc for an unfinished game.. grinds my gears every time :p
 
Racedepartment did nothing more than what the most users want and are complaining (me included) for a long time ago. I think it has reached a critical point and Kunos didn't realised that the game is hanging on millions of shelves around the world waiting for the MP part of it to be worked...
 
What I still don't understand here is why this RickyBobby MH chap and others are still insinuating that their is an ulterior motive behind RD's letter to Kunos. If I were RD I'd be pretty mad at this insinuation. It is plainly obvious to the whole sensible sim world that the letter is a plea to Kunos to make a few changes to enable better MP and get the sim upto league standard requirements for us here at RD and for other leagues setup elsewehere. That's all it is. Just what is with the constant trolling and stirring here and obviously on the AC forums too.
This incessant trolling is getting pathetic. The claims that RD are doing it to inevitably make a profit are ludicrous.
And I still don't know why we take any notice at all from a non contributing member who in my opinion still gets a lot of things for free from RD, who also likes it here because he still comes here and presumably takes mods, files and information benefits. :mad:
 
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