Why Cost is Not a Reason Not to Play R3E

[Paul Jeffrey]

I have recently been made aware of an interesting post from one of our members here on RaceDepartment which I thought would be interesting to share with all of you loyal readers. The post in question addresses RaceRoom Racing Experience and its potentially prohibitive pricing structure for those new to the simulation.

Speaking from first hand experience and as someone who used to run the R3E Racing Club here on RD, I personally think this sim is one of the most impressive overall packages available today for fans of virtual racing cars to enjoy, with wonderfully reproduced sounds and car / track models accompanied by a number of extremely interesting licences for various real world series, which is exclusive to the game.

Arguably one of the most complete all round 'packages' available on the market today, it always jars me somewhat to constantly see the same sort of comments on forums across the internet questioning the pricing model and costs of becoming involved in this sim as a newcomer to the game. Yes, the pricing model isn't ideal and yes it can be annoying, confusing or awkward to navigate to the best deals but this should not be something that puts off those new to the simulation. Having seen this excellent post by RD member Alx^ I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you his findings, in the hope that you too can find a suitable financial solution that helps you join in with one of the most underrated and enjoyable simulations available today.

edited post below:

".... if anyone's on the fence about it because of the way the store works etc, here is what I did... maybe someone could use it as a loose guide, obviously accounting for their own tastes when purchasing I don't know if it's the most optimal way, but it worked well for me. Bare in mind I only ever bought 1 pack at a time, and completed the purchase. That way, the system sees that you already own that content, and applies the relevant discounts to other packs it affects thereafter, as has been covered already at the start of this thread.

I got the 10k vRP voucher from the Raceroom shop. This is €64.99 which is a touch under £46 UKGBP (virtually the same as the AC+DLC 1+2 bundle on steam, fyi). You can find out your own currency conversion by searching in google with "€64.99 in GBP" or whatever your currency happens to be.

Then I bought, in roughly this order:

• ADAC GT Masters Experience 2014 (contains several tracks which discount other packs below)
• ADAC GT Masters 2013 (wanted the cars and liveries, cheaper as you already have the tracks)
• European Track Pack (cheaper than buying the missing tracks separately, cheaper due to ^
• DTM Experience 2015 (cheaper because you have the tracks ^)
• Hillclimb
• Group 5 (cheaper because you own a car already from Hillclimb)
• 1x car from WTCC 2014
• American Track Pack (already had 2 of these from a sale the first time I tried this, but it's cheap anyway)

And I have some vRP left. Buying the Hillclimb pack means you get the track, and also 2 of the cars which are included in the Touring Classics Pack, which I believe is often run alongside DTM 1992, so therefore you would have a choice of 2 cars to race in that. When it comes to completing a pack that you own part of, for example, I have 2 of the cars from the Touring Classics Pack now, it is slightly cheaper to get those missing cars on their own, with only 1 livery each, than it is to buy the now-discounted Pack which you already own part of. The extra cost of the pack seems to be in the multiple liveries you get with it. But it depends on whether you want a choice of livery or not.

I hope that's of use to someone somewhere. Not as expensive as I had thought it was in the past to be honest. It feels better than it did when I first tried it. Maybe that's just me, or maybe their patches have changed things for the better! Have to say, if and when the devs get a rating system into this, and maybe scheduling/calendar of some kind for events... in my opinion it really does have the potential to be an iRacing beater for online stuff. The online-ness of it, web integration, leaderboards and competitions, highlighting the pro's times on the competitions, it's very compelling, and the sound and ffb makes it very immersive..."

Once you have this substantial amount of content you are also more than likely to be able to pick up the missing items you may fancy on one of the many sales offered by RaceRoom, and of course you also have the opportunity to test any of the vehicles available in game for free to help you decide what additional content you may wish to pickup down the line.

To compliment your new purchase(s) RaceDepartment runs a popular online racing club for Premium members to enjoy, featuring various cars and tracks in a friendly environment for you to get your racing kicks alongside your offline play.

I hope this little article helps those of you who are still sat on the fence with R3E, it really is an outstanding sim and deserves to achieve the numbers of users of other more mainstream titles available on the market.

Please let us know in the comments section below if you found this information useful and share your experiences with R3E purchasing and of course enjoying the driving!

 

[daszpz]

Always online. Big nope on that one. That's my primary reason for not throwing any money at Sector3 . Otherwise I would gladly do it.
And the weird thing is that this subject is almost always ignored.

 

[Sean Kenney]

If I knew what I know now starting over, I could have lots of stuff for a good price.

 

[Lino Carreira]

Well if you're talking Singleplayer championship then AI will choose from all of the liveries, not only the one you own.
If you're talking Multiplayer championships, the risk of everyone choosing the same car is very slim, and considering that most (if not all) car packs come with all liveries included I think you'll find that a large majority of online racers own other liveries than the "default" one.
Also, since of recently, when you buy a single car you no longer get a default livery, you get to choose one of the available liveries as the one that comes with the car.

We just had a TCONE championship where 20 drivers chose to go with the CIVIC that had about 3 liveries with 6 names..... now you do the math

 

[Ville-Samuli Mutanen]

I have nothing against the prices but the whole marketplace business model is one very big turn-off. That's the reason why I'm out and will be out in the future too.

 

[Ghoults]

So in other words here is the car and track list you get if you pay DISCOUNTED price of €64.99:

Cars:
1 wtcc car
Zakspeed Capri
Chevrolet Corvette Greenwood 1977
BMW 320 Turbo
Chevrolet Dekon Monza
Fabcar 935
Nissan Skyline 2000RS
Nissan Silvia Turbo
Bmw 635csi
bmw m1 precar
m30 e30 group a
Slk 340 judd
Dtm audi 2015
Dtm bmw 2015
Dtm merc 2015
audi r8 gt3
nissan gtr gt3
merc sls gt3
z4 gt3
camaro gt3
ford gt gt3
corvette gt3
mclaren mp4 gt3

Tracks:
laguna seca
mid ohio
indy
infineon
hillclimb
candvoort
redbullring
lausitz
moscow
hockenheim
nurburgrin gp
norisring
oschersleben
monza
sacsenring
zolder
slovakiaring
hungaroring
brands hatch

Naturally this being cheap means that are willing to compare discounted raceroom price to full price of other sims. But still you can probably get assetto corsa or pcars for 25€ when it is discounted. Rf2 when it gets to steam will be sold at discount as well probably.

So while the track list looks impressive the car list isn't imho. For such high price you are getting not much content. It is expensive.

 

[SexualChocolate]

those group 5 cars are a blast and to me personally make this worthwhile. It IS indeed seriously lacking in U.S. tracks though. I need Road America, I need Road Atlanta, I need Sebring! Tracks tracks and more tracks, for gods sake gimme tracks!

 

[Nox]

Article Summary:
"cost is not a reason not to play...all you have to do is spend money like I did! Only 65 euros (which is more expensive than most AAA titles already!) for a discounted vrp pack (why pay that costly full price!) that'll get you most but not all the content, and then wait for a discount for the rest because its expensive otherwise!"

The game could be the best ever of all time, but that doesn't change the fact it is still expensive. If it wasn't, you wouldn't be waiting for discounts. The fact R3E even needs an article about the cost pretty much says everything.

 

[James Cook]

Don't really understand this thing about raceroom's sounds. Generic, digitalized, make me laugh every time i try to play this hovercraft sim.

rF2 has way better sounds.

If that genuinely is your opinion I would suggest the problem lies with your hearing and/or audio equipment.

 

[Tripokaridos]

Since the latest update the default steering settings for each car are now correct, delete your profile set it to the default one then map your buttons thus creating a new profile.Put the rest of your setting at what you feel best with.

Thanks for your reply, I have delete simbin folder , I have create new profile , I have map the wheel, Every time the game it keeps reseting the Thrustmaster degrees of rotation profile.
This happens only on Raceroom, All my the other games like , Assetto,Dirt 3,Dirt Rally,P.C.,Gird autosport,F1 ,Race 07 , Rfactor 2 , works great they don't change my Thrustmaster profile default 900 degrees of rotation.

 

[CCL71]

I thoroughly enjoy RRE. It sounds amazing to me, the physics are decent, the FFB feels good on my T300 and the AI is tolerable. That's all I can really ask of a sim. I'm not a huge modding person so not having mods isn't a deal breaker for me. Having them is cool, but I haven't found a modded track that has decent AI and all modded cars aren't created equally so you take your chances with installing modded content.
I don't care for the business model BUT I have purchased most of the content with the exception of duplicates...i.e., different iterations of DTM, ADAC and WTCC. I can't see paying for DTM 2015 just to get new liveries and a few more pit options. I might even consider it if they had made 2015 an update that replaced 2014 if you own it, but to have both makes me feel like I've paid for the same content twice, but I digress since I'm sure that I'm in the minority. 2014 works fine for me so I'm good not purchasing 2015. To me their business model (not cost) is the biggest con.. It's confusing to say the least and because of that, I think it puts a lot of people off. I have friends that won't play RRE because they don't want to pay for "everything" but they will buy new content on Iracnig and pay the subscription fees so that tells me that it's not about the costs but the perception of costs. When you look at the different series/packs and see the exact same cars and tracks, it leads any sane person to ask why in the hell would I pay for that when I already own it? To me that's bad marketing and modeling. If RRE had a clearer and more concise plan, I think more people would gravitate towards them.
I agee with @Patrick Moore in that we spend a lot of money on other things but complain about the hobby of sim racing. I say hobby because buying a wheel set, pc and monitor and participating in forum discussions is an investment in something that interests you. If it weren't serious to you then you'd buy a console and play Need For Speed with a controller . To me it's like buying a track car then complaining about the costs of tracks days....

But this is just my opinion.

 

[Alberto Casado]

Clearly a next-gen game.

 

[formidable]

It's very expensive, and this game needs modding, like the GTR Saga.

And the FFB, with my new Logitech DFGT, is very good.

 

[Alx^]

So in other words here is the car and track list you get if you pay DISCOUNTED price of €64.99:

Cars:
1 wtcc car
Zakspeed Capri
Chevrolet Corvette Greenwood 1977
BMW 320 Turbo
Chevrolet Dekon Monza
Fabcar 935
Nissan Skyline 2000RS
Nissan Silvia Turbo
Bmw 635csi
bmw m1 precar
m30 e30 group a
Slk 340 judd
Dtm audi 2015
Dtm bmw 2015
Dtm merc 2015
audi r8 gt3
nissan gtr gt3
merc sls gt3
z4 gt3
camaro gt3
ford gt gt3
corvette gt3
mclaren mp4 gt3

Tracks:
laguna seca
mid ohio
indy
infineon
hillclimb
candvoort
redbullring
lausitz
moscow
hockenheim
nurburgrin gp
norisring
oschersleben
monza
sacsenring
zolder
slovakiaring
hungaroring
brands hatch

Naturally this being cheap means that are willing to compare discounted raceroom price to full price of other sims. But still you can probably get assetto corsa or pcars for 25€ when it is discounted. Rf2 when it gets to steam will be sold at discount as well probably.

So while the track list looks impressive the car list isn't imho. For such high price you are getting not much content. It is expensive.

If I was buying into AC today, £45 on steam for the bundle with both dlc's. £1 shy of what I paid for R3E. There are 1120 car/track combinations in AC+DLC, and I have about 920 in R3E with vRP left to spend. If I were to be finickity enough I reckon I could get 1100 combos out of R3E too, especially if a sale hits. With AC if I want to play online, judging by the servers out there I would have to buy every DLC they release whether I want it or not, on release day at full price, to keep up with the servers, else I wouldn't even be able to connect. Obviously single player is not a problem. Now I like AC as much as anyone, but in the long term it's not particularly cheap either. So yeah. I was willing to compare

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

There are 1120 car/track combinations in AC+DLC

How many of these 1120 combinations are a Lotus + track?

 

[Cote Dazur]

Very good article! thanks for sharing!

Yes, it seems that iRacing and RRRE are the poster child for the "sour grapes" crowd complaints about pricing. As you article mentions the cost is not that high to enjoy a lot of RRRE content.

i made this meme for iracing but it can also apply to rrre!

Patrick, funny meme but you are missing the point.
The point is not that we cannot afford it, it is more like would you prefer to buy Redbull at 10$ or would you prefer the Redbull to be 12$ but on special at 10$ but only between 2PM and 3 PM on Thursdays.
The first offer is straight forward, it is for you to decide if it is a good deal.
The second offer is trying to make you believe it is worth more but you are getting a special, in reality you are not and it is complicated for nothing.
We are saying that R3e should offer his product straight forward, we would feel more comfortable with it.
We want R3E, for it owns good, to be priced competitively and in a way that you feel you get a good deal for your money. The way it is today is counterproductive, compare to the way competitive SIM are priced.

 

[Alex Franchini]

The completely screwed up FFB / steering input (floating car) is the only reason to not play R3E.
Especially with the G27 and the Logitech profiler R3E can be a real pain.

Content-wise the packs offer good value for the money and it's great that they offer complete racing series instead of just single cars like for example AC does.

This, 100%. Sector3 has made HUGE improvements to the game, and that's great. However, I just can't jive with it - wheel or gamepad, it always feels floaty for some reason. I think it's just a matter of taste\personal feeling at this point.

 

[Hash_V8]

For those complaining about the "floating" feeling in rre, is common with g27\DFGT etc, there is a setting thats the same as "min steering force" in rf2, if play that and used this setting that's now in rf2 option you'll know what a massive difference it makes, go to
C:\Users\Hash\Documents\My Games\SimBin\RaceRoom Racing Experience Install 2\UserData\ControlSet
and look for the line....
FFB steer force exponent
adjust teh value till the wheel in game will very slightly oscillate when not touching, if it oscillating too much you gone to far, if not at all oscillating too again wrong, oscillating is just teh FFB activating so there is no FFB "deadzone" at least this is what it feels like to me.

PS im 95 per cent thats teh line, been while since done, just save a backup of file just incase.

 

[thewarmer]

Had it on my Hd since the first days but found the pricing at the start a bit steep.
That changed with the events of Sector 3 .
Dipped my toes in the water with the free testing & then dived into with the ADAC pack after having some money left over after buying AC .
Then not long after that I picked up the DTM 1992 pack , these sorts of cars i like more than the newer ones.
92 DTM cars with R3E sounds leads one hell of big grin on your face Fave car sound for now is the 190 evo monster sounds.
I have a que of wanted packs including the 2015 DTM , WTTC 2014 , Hillclimb cars & the DRM .
& much more.

FFB on 27 I have no issue I never use Logi tech profiler in R3E as it never work very well.
I am sure it will get even better with time & it for me as seen the biggest improvments over the last few months out of any of the current sims on the PC.

 

[TobiasR]

My only major gripe with the game is the poor performance on my system, while all other titles run without problems.

 

[Ghoults]

If I was buying into AC today, £45 on steam for the bundle with both dlc's. £1 shy of what I paid for R3E. There are 1120 car/track combinations in AC+DLC, and I have about 920 in R3E with vRP left to spend. If I were to be finickity enough I reckon I could get 1100 combos out of R3E too, especially if a sale hits. With AC if I want to play online, judging by the servers out there I would have to buy every DLC they release whether I want it or not, on release day at full price, to keep up with the servers, else I wouldn't even be able to connect. Obviously single player is not a problem. Now I like AC as much as anyone, but in the long term it's not particularly cheap either. So yeah. I was willing to compare

But you are comparing discounted raceroom price to the full price of other game. Obviously that skews a things a lot. If you think buying raceroom packages at discounted prices is a good deal then ac with discounted prices should be much better if we simply look at amount of content.

Also if you want to count combos you want to remember that ac for example has modding which more than doubles the amount of combos.

As for the dlc model of ac I agree. They are shooting themselves to the foot by the way the dlcs are handled.