Race against DLC you don't own in rFactor 2

pz666 said:

Trying to get out of their EA sports image...

However if the smallest companies can do it (both cars and tracks), it's not really anything groundbreaking in the sim racing world... And given MSGS's situation over the past few months does give off an air of desperation...

But overall a positive move, so kudos to them...

Click to expand...

This has nothing to do with image cleaning or MSG being desperate. MSG/S397 made a survey early last year to ask customers how they would like to see the online experience improved. That happened long before we saw the sh*tstorm of recent months. For me as a rF2 fan the excperience with the progress of the sim during the last twelve months and the interaction with the studio has been very positive and it puzzles me how anyone can find anything bad about this. It's not a god given right to get product support for over ten years, let alone to get the chance to make a survey that even shows some result. And as it's often said, size doesn't matter. S397 isn't a huge team either and the integration of certain features can be very easy or very complex given the technical differences of the diffrerent engine frameworks. Just because it works for game A doesn't mean that it has to work for product B.

But it seems that this doesn't count anymore ...

You should certainly expect product support for 10 years if A) they are still selling the product and B) they are still selling DLC for the product. It matters little how old it is when it is still a current title that they will sell to you today.

I certainly think that rf2 has been brought to life a bit lately from the gain its got from LFM and youtubers streaming it outside of their other sims. That has really brought pressure on to the issue they have where you have to own everything - for no good reason other than what i was told again and again which was technically they can't.

So it seems they could and they see that removing barriers is a good thing at this point, it always was of course.

metalnwood said:

You should certainly expect product support for 10 years if A) they are still selling the product and B) they are still selling DLC for the product. It matters little how old it is when it is still a current title that they will sell to you today.

I certainly think that rf2 has been brought to life a bit lately from the gain its got from LFM and youtubers streaming it outside of their other sims. That has really brought pressure on to the issue they have where you have to own everything - for no good reason other than what i was told again and again which was technically they can't.

So it seems they could and they see that removing barriers is a good thing at this point, it always was of course.

Click to expand...

at this moment :
- rF2 has the best graphics, crips render, 4K ultra is the best
- rF2 has the best physics
-rF2 has probably the best FFB

And there is no game like that, so if rF2 is late, all the others are outdated.

davehenrie said:

Funny, one of the most requested changes to rF2 this past decade and since this announcement there has been as much or more complaining than praising.

Click to expand...

+1 dh
What about totally unique feature to rF2 that gets no praise whatsoever and is 100% relevant to this update news ?

rF2 online you can swap cars while in garage, no reboot, leaving or re-joining required as in every other sim.

But that is not all, not only can you do this online but offline too, what ! , how ?
Make a rfmod of cars you want, run private dedicated server and join room, you do on 1 PC and don't need to forward any ports .

So if you want to test offline 6 cars on 6 tracks it's only 6 reloads not 36 as other sims would be ( or how you do it on rF2 ATM without realizing which would be 99% of you lol )

BTW: Like online offline will record all your best laps for every car you drive, anytime you get in car you already drove your best laps will change
Of course if you insist on reloading room every time you lose all that don't you.

Redacted

metalnwood said:

You should certainly expect product support for 10 years if A) they are still selling the product and B) they are still selling DLC for the product. It matters little how old it is when it is still a current title that they will sell to you today.

Click to expand...

Huh, so every game you can buy in an online storefront nowadays should still be supported by the devs? In other words, every game which starts to not receive regular updates anymore should be taken off sale?

If you mean that like I understood it, then you want every video game to be live-service. And to me, someone who really enjoys playing single-player RPG's, that statement sounds like it was made from the devils running specific AAA publishers. So please help me to understamd your sentiment.

In your opinion, should games like Project Cars 1&2, Automobilista 1, rFactor 1, Assetto Corsa and so on be taken off of digital storefronts, just because the developers don't actively support the games anymore?

Julian Strasser said:

Huh, so every game you can buy in an online storefront nowadays should still be supported by the devs? In other words, every game which starts to not receive regular updates anymore should be taken off sale?

If you mean that like I understood it, then you want every video game to be live-service. And to me, someone who really enjoys playing single-player RPG's, that statement sounds like it was made from the devils running specific AAA publishers. So please help me to understamd your sentiment.

In your opinion, should games like Project Cars 1&2, Automobilista 1, rFactor 1, Assetto Corsa and so on be taken off of digital storefronts, just because the developers don't actively support the games anymore?

Click to expand...

No, you didn't read it right but I don't blame you as when I re-read it, it is a bit ambiguous.

There are of course many titles you can buy that no longer receive updates and that is fine in my view (though they may make this somewhat obvious, I don't know).

When I rolled out my short list it was based on the fact that rfactor2 is their current title, no matter when it was rolled out. They sell it, they add new DLC and charge for that. All that is fine.

My comment was really to the one I replied to which said 'It's not a god given right to get product support for over ten years,' When for rfactor it is obviously a current sim that I do expect support for, why wouldnt you?

Edit, just to add for clarity on my point - this is not rfactor 1, AMS1, pcars1, this is rfactor2, there is no rfactor 3, or 4. Its their current sim

Durge Driven said:

+1 dh
What about totally unique feature to rF2 that gets no praise whatsoever and is 100% relevant to this update news ?

rF2 online you can swap cars while in garage, no reboot, leaving or re-joining required as in every other sim.

But that is not all, not only can you do this online but offline too, what ! , how ?
Make a rfmod of cars you want, run private dedicated server and join room, you do on 1 PC and don't need to forward any ports .

So if you want to test offline 6 cars on 6 tracks it's only 6 reloads not 36 as other sims would be ( or how you do it on rF2 ATM without realizing which would be 99% of you lol )

BTW: Like online offline will record all your best laps for every car you drive, anytime you get in car you already drove your best laps will change
Of course if you insist on reloading room every time you lose all that don't you.

Click to expand...

Cool features that can be useful esp. for testing content. But maybe these features should be easily accessible or at least the users could be informed about them in-game? That's why 99% of us has no clue.

I like to use the phrase "I don't know what I don't know about".

eg01st said:

Was it like that before? Must have been awful. I only play iRacing a few months and I only need 1 car per class to have a chance to race, so 1 GT3 (Ferrari is 2 birds/1 stone with Challenge series), GT4, Touring cars.

In current rF2 system more annoying is the lack of server content list feature. You can't see what mods exactly are used on server. Even with owning every DLC, server can start a random download.

Click to expand...

No, it wasn't like that before. It is just like it is now. You pay for the car you drive and the track unless its base content. Then as long as you have an active subscription you can race. Just as was explained to all the customers, just like you, me and our angry friend over there. It works like that online and offline against AI.

Back on topic.... if rF2 allowed me to buy race offline against all the cars and only pay for what I drive I'd be more likely to buy DLC. I'm not inclined to pay for a whole car pack when I'm not going to drive them all and they are just field fillers to me really, just to try out a series I have a passing interest in like BTCC. If I could buy 1 or 2, I would, as it is, I've bought zero.

iRacing AI really is proving tough competition for rF2 in this space. I can buy 1 car, download a carset off google drive or trading paints and have a full roster and be up and running with a proper grid without ugly fake liveries and no mod tools in minutes. I don't need to buy 8 cars just to race a proper grid, or make rfcmps or mods or mas or whatever it is I'm supposed to do to pick and choose opponents by skin.

EDIT - When I say I've bought zero DLC, that's to say zero BTCC, I have all the GT3 and most of the tracks...... and the Endurance cars.... and too much other stuff but I've had enough at this point...

This was 1 of a couple major things for me personally that caused me stopping from having fun in rF2. It took them a very long time but it's finally here. Cool

Sometimes they do something useful, it was about time too.

If I were MSG, or even S397 for that matter, and see RF2's absurdly low usage figures, I indeed would also look for ways to expand the player base. IMHO this 'DLC you don't own' story is a call for help, not a feature

I think lot of this companies and the managers know that most online games (sim's) had they peek around 2019-2020 (Covid lockdown) and now people have they RL back and so no more interest wasting precious time to sim's.

This is great news. I'd love to jump in some RD Club BTCC races but didn't have all the content needed, this changes everything.

Does anyone know if this applies to mod cars as well?

Julian Strasser said:

Also: 24/7 Track Day Nordschleife will get interesting now

Click to expand...

This is fecking awsome!!! This is what I dreamed about more than two years ago now when I made this trackday server with every free car in RF2 plus free mods.
Always wanted to do it with paid DLC but never did due to the fact most folks who did'nt own all the content could not join. Now I'll be able to! Oh man I can't wait for this, long time coming!!!

I think it will be really great for RF2! They might even sell more cars due to it, as if folks keep seeing a certain car they don't own on track with them, like the way it moves, looks like a good drive, they might get curious and go and buy it! This is win win!

Botmeister said:

If I were MSG, or even S397 for that matter, and see RF2's absurdly low usage figures, I indeed would also look for ways to expand the player base. IMHO this 'DLC you don't own' story is a call for help, not a feature

Click to expand...

Sim racing is a very, very niche genre of gaming. Even the 4000 users in AC aren't in the percent region of what you see in other genres like FPS games. Games like Forza or Gran Tourismo are where the money is, especialy on consoles.

And in that regard rF2 has been doing pretty fine compared to other products that allready have the feature. Raceroom and AMS2 player numbers aren't any higher. Interestingly the most successfull product of the sims you posted doesn't have such a feature. But it isn't developed anymore and all the content is extremely cheap, if you get the Ultimate Edition during a sale. In that regard MSG and 397 would do good if they offered a full pack at extremely high discounts once in a while - I've never seen such a thing. The number of average players for AC is still growing wich shows that this seems to work. I guess, when S397 offered an ultimate edition for 10 or 20 Euro during the big sales, it might be a nobrainer. Maybe they should just give it a try and see if it works. At the end that feature is just one piece of a puzzle that helps to make your product more accessible and it's pretty much a genre standard by now.

Emery said:

People seem to forget that because rF2 is moddable and most servers are run by random people on the internet, DLC content may be mixed with third party (e.g. something from the Steam Workshop). If you don't have that mod, then yes, a download will start.

Click to expand...

See, it doesn't matter if it's official content or mods. The game itslef lacks a feature that shows what content is being used on server. Of course developers can't force users to put car class/mod name in server name. But a few public lines of "code" and UI elements could do it automatically for everything. Is system that flawed that it can't be done, or developers so stupid/lazy that they didn't think it's needed?
Why not add another small window with file list, next to those Drive/Spectate buttons?

eg01st said:

See, it doesn't matter if it's official content or mods. The game itslef lacks a feature that shows what content is being used on server. Of course developers can't force users to put car class/mod name in server name. But a few public lines of "code" and UI elements could do it automatically for everything. Is system that flawed that it can't be done, or developers so stupid/lazy that they didn't think it's needed?
Why not add another small window with file list, next to those Drive/Spectate buttons?

Click to expand...

I dont think calling people stupid just because they dare to work on other things is a valid response

justwannadl said:

Does anyone know if this applies to mod cars as well?

Click to expand...

Hmm? In what way?