iRacing's New Sim

[JediMaster 451]

I just read the preview of iRacing's "big racing sim" on SimHQ. Sorry, not for me, and my guess is not for most people.

Everything is money, money for very little return. Ok, so maybe it's the most accurate representation of such-and-such track ever, and maybe it's the most accurate handling representation of such-and-such car ever.

 

No AI at all?

No control over what track is being raced online?

Pay for monthly online access (with no AI, there's nothing to do if you don't!)

Pay for every extra track (like $30?)

Pay for every extra car (like $20?)

Graphics not quite as good as any of the modern racing sims, let alone better?

 

They claim it's designed for professional racers to use as practice for real races. Um, ok, fine, just how many professional racers are there out there? Eliminate drag racers and motorcycle racers. How many of them want to practice racing on a PC instead of their own car?

Did they notice that drivers like Dale Jr were using NR 2003 for extra practice help and get delusions of grandeur, thinking there was a big market for this?

 

They did this with a flight sim once, called Back to Baghdad. Best F-16 sim ever, if all you care about is the plane's systems and handling. Gameplay was poor, graphics for terrain was poor, cost $100 (over 10 years ago). Totally tanked.

Games like Aces High and Warbirds and such did well enough with the subscription model, but they didn't nickel and dime you for every plane or terrain map you flew.

 

Alternatively, for $40 you can get rfactor, with AI, free MP, and literally hundreds of cars and tracks to race. Not to the same level of fidelity, but pretty good nonetheless.

 

I could think of half a dozen different ways for them to price this, all of which would have lower revenue per customer but would guarantee more customers. You almost get the impression they think people will line up for this no matter the cost because it's so accurate. Maybe they didn't notice the current economic situation...

[Weasel Keeper 0]

I agree. I was offered an invite but would have still had to pay. I believe what they're doing with the track geometry with actually visiting tracks and laser scanning them to be perfect is awesome...but I'm not about to pay for each track when I have access to hundreds of free ones with rFactor or GTR2. iRacing is trying to emulate real racing by making it almost as expensive as real racing.

[=Envy= 0]

i've said it before. Too rich for my blood. And I agree with what Weasy says, with rfactor atleast you get some decent tracks and some pretty nice mods to play around with for free. spam.gif

[JediMaster 451]

This is that asymptotic curve that people always talk about with simulation. You can get 50% there dirt cheap. You can get 75% there for reasonable cost. You can get 90% there for high cost, and to get the last 10% will cost you an astronomical amount.

 

If this is the 90%, I'll stick with my rfactor at 75%.

[=Envy= 0]

This is that asymptotic curve that people always talk about with simulation. You can get 50% there dirt cheap. You can get 75% there for reasonable cost. You can get 90% there for high cost, and to get the last 10% will cost you an astronomical amount.

 

If this is the 90%, I'll stick with my rfactor at 75%.

 

I have yet to see you race tho....*nudge*

[Weasel Keeper 0]

Okay, Jedi mentioned in the first post that there wouldn't be many real racers driving this.

 

I got an email from the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) that I drive in for real and they offered me a free month and a free bonus car worth $15. The same email and offer went out to every licensed SCCA driver, and there is an SCCA series for the members.

 

Sooo...I put in the promotion code and downloaded it. It actually is like real racing where they make you race clean or your stats will show. The Solstice feels pretty good and the tracks included are very nice. I ran a race at Lime Rock and had a good time. Voice comms is built in and everyone was pretty friendly and said "thanks" when you'd let them pass cleanly.

 

I doubt I'll renew after my month is up but I'll have some fun with it for now.

[JediMaster 451]

My point wasn't really that there wouldn't be that many real drivers in it as there aren't that many real drivers in the first place.

 

Take the total number of race drivers.

Take it down to the number with PCs capable of gaming that have broadband.

Take that down to those with a steering wheel or willing to get one.

Take that down to those willing to spend their time doing that when they drive the real ones!

Take that down to those willing to spend that much money on iRacing when they could be just using rFactor or one of the other one-time-pay-only ones (ie those who aren't cheap ).

 

Is that enough for them to base a business on? Obviously not, so they need people who are NOT race drivers as well. This model isn't appealing enough for them, hence I think the model is flawed.

[Weasel Keeper 0]

Yeah Tom, the free month was kind of fun, but I didn't renew the subscription. It was okay but to me not worth having to pay a monthly fee and purchase different cars and tracks.

[JediMaster 451]

According to Andy Mahood in PCG, he's raced against Dale Earnhardt Jr in a race or two. The REAL one. I can see the appeal of that, and if you're a diehard MP racer it may well be worth it to you. As someone who puts in maybe 15 hrs/month tops into racing all my sims combined, it's not for me.