Have Your Say: Career Mode - Must Have or a Distraction?

I think the career mode of F12017 is awesome and a must have and the lack of it made F12015 useless . I see comments on You Tube etc about how career mode is too long winded and convoluted , but thats the beauty of it and how it should be . There are plenty of other modes for people who just want to pick up and race , yet there is still selfishness from some people who want the career mode dumbing down as well even though they have their simple pick up and play modes already . Thats a basic problem of humanity though . They want everything in short versions now . Short snooker matches , shorter tennis matches , they want to reduce the days of test cricket . For me the whole experience of F1 is having all the full length practices , along with all 3 full quali sessions and a 100% race as well as all the trimmings of engine and tyre management and R & D . That should now always remain as an option for those that want to get a long life out of the game . As well as keeping all the time trials , one off races and custom championships etc . During the years the game was dumbed down to a single practice session etc I barely played it . I probably wont finish my career on this game before F12018 comes out but thats my problem and anyway I can leave 17 installed and continue with it even when 18 comes out .
 
I think career mode has the potential to definitely be great for a personal story/RPG style gameplay if it wasn't simply just progress up ranks/complete races. I think that career mode would be more enjoyable if there were stuff like driver changes (in F1 for example) and more interaction

I also think that the R&D feature in F12017 is actually pretty good in making it more immersive as you can see how you and your rivals are developing the car, and it's fun to see teams that are struggling irl (Mclaren) do amazing in a few seasons. It would be enjoyable, if there wasn't the same predictability every time you do a career mode (Mercedes never develops and Ferrari overtake them after the 1st race)
 
Every racing game should have a proper career mode. It's the best way to play offline.

A career mode does not need cutscenes, a story, make-believe like fake emails and tweets, pointless chit-chat from a team engineer, or other frivolous features. It needs substance: goals to strive for, a sense of progression, replay value. Dirt Rally is a good example a career mode done right that adds immense value to a game, and has almost no useless extras.
 
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I can't stand the career mode rubbish. Forcing you to take part in boring events to unlock cars you have paid for.

GPL had it right, training cars you were politely recommended to try before driving the F1 car.

That's about all the dictation I can take from a racing sim.
 
I think for offline players a good career mode is essential... unfortunately most career modes are extremely poorly implemented and unfocused.

Career shouldn't just be a grab bag of everything the sim has to offer walled off behind a bunch of unlock tasks (such as in AC) nor the unfocused task generators of something like PCars. Forza type game style progression is also inappropriate for a sim.

The focus of a simulator is to create a realistic approximation of real life, and so offline sim career modes should similarly focus on creating a believable progression from season to season. It is a difficult thing to get right, but I think a great asset to a sim if they nail it. :)
 
(Probably) unpopular opinion alert!

Personal I hate career modes of any kind, and all that cut scene nonsense and other "fluff" like unlocking cars / earning credits and other such set piece type things.

I'm old school. All I need outside of the physics / graphics / features etc is simply a couple of little things:

Championship creator tool (offline)
Single Race Weekend
Free Practice
Online Servers

Done, dusted and perfect!

Racing for me is just that, racing. One car on one track, taken online can satisfy me for years on end if the track and car are high quality. By the very nature of what a motor race actually is, you will never get the same experience twice, so why bother with all the fancy crap? Just go race and have some fun!
Hmm, sounds like your just trying to cause trouble with this one :) You hate carreer modes, but you like making your own carreer "modes". :) lol I know I fell for it and replied, :)
 
Having made my own troublesome comments, :), I must say, I'm, not a fan of the "fluff" either, but I do really like a carreer mode these days, (and making my own) as I haven't been able to do much multiplayer/Online racing lately. Long story. - But I sure miss it :)
 
Nah, career mode is just embarrassing.

Tier 1: You lost, here's a load of money to upgrade your car....second attempt: first place!
Tier 2: You lost, here's a load of money to upgrade your car....second attempt: first place!
Tier 3: You lost, here's a load of money to upgrade your car....second attempt: first place!

etc.etc.
If you want a storyline, play Tomb Raider or whatever the new thing is.
If you want to drive simulated cars, drive simulated cars.

PS: I am 41.
PPS: I don't like nightclubs.
PPPS: I didn't like nightclubs when I was 19.
 
Career mode with an in-game economy and based on a car collect-a-thon gated by a grind, is a no go for me (Hi Turn 10 !).

Other than that, a career mode that gives a sense of progression is always a good thing to have. It it can go further than that and capture the motorsport it simulates for better immesrsion (such as in F1 2016/17), even better.
 
I like it in some games. In games like rFactor 2 or iRacing i don't need it, but games like F1 2017 becomes better with a proper story. Kinda like any game, some can do completely without story (Euro Trucksim or Don't Starve) and some needs it (The Witcher or Metro 2033).

EDIT: also, every car and track should be playable from start, the career mode should just lock the cars for the career, they should be available for online/freeplay/offline championship etc.
 
Distraction and here's why:
  1. Experience gained won't translate to playing online
  2. pointless storytelling that does nothing to the game
  3. All story mode in driving have always had lame storytelling and plot (even worse than 1980s arcade fighting game)
  4. If you want career mode then I suggest you go play Forza
  5. Do you want to waste time trying to unlock [xx car] when you have a busy life
 
Career mode in racing titles, are they really a must have feature or do the serve as a distraction that takes away from the main thrust of the game in question - racing.

There is room for both and all types. Why not have the choice?
 
There is room for both and all types. Why not have the choice?

totally agree, For me the best "Career" I've played is in MGP 15 were I can go from moto3 rider all the way to MGP. Realistic goals are set and I can move from team to team moving up or across if I desire.

Not sure where people are getting all this cutscene nonsense from , that was one game iirc and I don't think (could be wrong) any other game has done that?

I would say I do NOT want the style of career found in Forza and GT, no practise? No quali? No thanks.

PCars 1+2 gets close but spoils it with the weather being scripted......WHY?!!.......Yes and the Ai issues (that's why I'm mainly hotlapping, getting setups tweaked and saved, whilst waiting for a patch or two)
 
I just want straight out of the box driving with my choice of track and car I play to relax not to stress and career mode would just stress me easy or complex I never go there.
 
The replies to this post are the perfect example of why this genre has stagnated into a bunch of endless science projects devoid of any coherent direction or vision. No wonder why we have PRC when this many people actively enjoy regression.
 
I like career mode too, and think it is a must in every game. Some people don't want to race online with all the yahoo's that just like to shunt in public lobbies. PC is different I'm sure as people who race on PC are generally more serious about racing. But I would like to see a way in future titles to start your career in various stages of your life. As @BenCollins said, he's too old to do Career. Well so am I for that matter, I don't want to start as a 18-19 yr old rookie in Karts or some low powered entry level car. I'm 41 years old, my Career is nearing the Peak or past the Peak depending on how you look at it. Perhaps Games should offer some sort of Established career option for Older players instead of starting you out as some wide-eyed teenage phenom every time the Game is released Year after Year after Year.. Or at the very least allow you to transfer your Career to the next title within reason.
 
Don't care for it at all. These games should have all cars and tracks and race types unlocked. I'll race what I want, when I want. There's no longer time in life to grind through an entire career mode where you have to do countless races. I don't need to do high number of races that career modes usually offer. I need good and satisfying races when I do them.

But that's just my position. A good career mode should be there for those who can and want to give it more time and want to improve through more experience.

I only ever finished just a handful of career modes. Guess I never really cared about it.

So, I myself don't care for career modes but I think it should be there as a choice. But I'd say to people who play a career modes to not make buying decisions based on it's availability.
 
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I like a hard career mode, like forza 2 where you start with a wreck and no money and every upgrade is long thought about and you can feel the difference in the circuit. The new forza even your first car is upgraded. Pity.

I also liked the license system of the gran Tourismo series.
 

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