Ya, I really wonder what will get the dog to bite.
My belief has been that the current sim environment is one where users are constantly given half-baked products. Nothing is ever finished. I don't watch a TV show before its edited. I don't start a book before its been proofread, and I don't want to commit all my sim racing time to something that provides 1/2 an experience. To iRacing's credit (what little I give it), their goal was to make a robust multiplayer experience with ranked championships, and they delivered. Sure, they're still improving the cars and adding cars, but they gave you what they promised when it was released. And I don't remember a protracted Early Access/Beta period, personally.
rF2 still doesn't have seasons, let alone a career. AMS2 didn't have championships at release. Look at AMS2's Racing USA strategy. Do I buy pt1? Wait till pt2? Why not just wait until part 3 comes out? There's always something to wait for before buying or committing your time. Unless a league you know starts using it, what makes you come back after sampling the latest, hot DLC?!
rFactor 1 succeeded mainly because it was a modder's paradise. But at least it shipped with a basic career mode. It was released in a complete state. We did get more content after, but it was all FREE too. Now rF2 can't do a career mode because they have relied too much on mod content and high-priced DLC. There wouldn't be enough cars/tracks.
For AMS2, I truly believe they should have attacked this so much differently. Right now they have about 70 classes of cars. At release, it was probably closer to 50. And at least 30-40 of those we all already sampled in AMS1. They should not have wasted their time with most of those. Had they focused on their 30 best or most interesting classes (and the '79 Opala would NOT be on this list), they could have had better cars. And they could have put some effort into an experience, something that says "hey look, we've released a game/sim!" Then spend some effort cultivating the community. Instead it was
"hey look, we've been working on this for years. Here's what we have so far. Check in every month and we'll have fixes and maybe more content for you."
Who wants to commit to that? It's more an act of faith to commit not only your money, but your time, which to me, is more precious. I own all the DLC as an early backer, but still spend more time in PC2 and F1 2019. Reiza could have at least released AMS2 as a Stock Car Career Experience, then tacked on the DLC as career add-ons. Hell, probably a fake collector economy would even help.
(sidebar: how's this for an idea: the more you race in-game, the more currency you earn. You can use the currency to buy DLC. Or, just use cash to buy DLC. Reward the faithful. Create the demand that creates the faithful.)
I definitely harp on this too much. But I keep hearing the same questions from the sim community, but nothing ever changes and people wonder why.