RaceRoom Racing Experience: Try Before You Buy

Tom · Feb 15, 2013

Bram Hengeveld submitted a new blog post:

RaceRoom Racing Experience: Try Before You Buy

With RaceRoom Racing Experience having introduced paid content recently the guys from SimBin started to make some cars available for free testing. Each testing session will last for 24 hours, starting at 6pm CET. Right now there are 3 cars available for free testing:

BMW Z4 GT3

Alpina B6 GT3

Chevrolet Corvette C6R GT2

Tomorrow will feature the following cars:

McLaren MP4-12C GT3

Mistral M530 (LMP1)

DMD P21 (LMP2)

Finally, Sunday will...

Continue reading the Original Blog Post

Rupe Wilson · Feb 15, 2013

Well its a step in the right direction..

Von Butters · Feb 15, 2013

I'm living what they are doing with it, so much so, i bought the company.

Erm,

I think i got that wrong, so much so, I've bought nearly everything there is so far. Just 2 prototypes and the retro BMW.

There's nothing i don't like about the sim as of yet, apart from a lack of content, but that is only a matter of time.

I hope!

Terry Evers · Feb 16, 2013

Good move and i personaly appreciate these little extras.

Drove the Z4 in GetReal mode tonight wich was good FREE fun!
I have the rest of the GT3 cars and no intention of purchasing the Z4 but deff appreciate that SimBin would let me have the keys for a few hrs

Kinda sad to see the sh*t storm over at the steam forums though.
This is not free to play booo! to expensive! etc.
Plus kids these days seem to want quantity over quality.

Ill continue to support this title though,
Keep up the good work SimBin!

Omer Said · Feb 16, 2013

Really good move. I hope this will be an example.

Bram Hengeveld · Feb 16, 2013

Terry Evers said:
Kinda sad to see the sh*t storm over at the steam forums though.
This is not free to play booo!

With all the best intentions in the world can you state the opposite then? This title is a good game but not free to play as of now. Can't blame people for not understanding that imo.

Its just as free to play as rFactor 2, Game Stock Car and Assetto Corsa will be with a free trailer/teaser/preview/demo and with paid content in the full version whether that's a one-time payment or via DLC or as SimBin chooses per item.

In my opinion Free2Play is just as an odd word as pre-alpha, skill gaming, new tire model and all those other marketing terms that have popped up in the sim racing industry the last couple of years.

So yes poor wording in most occasions on the Steam forums (didn't expect something else really) but the message they are sending should be taken into account as in the end the customer is always right.

Tom Blackett · Feb 16, 2013

Please just give me multiplayer!

RaceNut · Feb 16, 2013

Bram Hengeveld said:
So yes poor wording in most occasions on the Steam forums (didn't expect something else really) but the message they are sending should be taken into account as in the end the customer is always right.

Being a business owner myself and speaking from experience - the customer may always be right but, in that case - all people may not be customers. Some people will never be satisfied and even "Free" is too much to pay for some. I have had customers that I simply cannot be of service to and have had to turn down their business repeatedly. They expect a very high level of quality but, are not willing to pay for it.

The shear number of people upset at the Steam forums is alarming to me but, with the attitudes being displayed there I have to think that they are mostly those of immature kids that expect something for little or nothing. The name calling and insults are totally uncalled for and only serve to reinforce my point.

Normally, I would like to be of some help there if I could but, I find that forum to be quite hostel and unappreciative and it seems like many of the people there simply have a need to complain about something and the F2P model serves that purpose very well.

Jari Vinnari · Feb 16, 2013

Free to play but expensive to race in the long run if/when you need to buy new tracks and cars.
I have rF2 and im planning to buy AC as well but in not sure about R3E.

Terry Evers · Feb 16, 2013

90% of the F2P games are simply extended demos with microtransaction purchase systems. Everyone should know this..
Yes there are a handfull totaly F2P games out there but quality usually stinks.

Allso does it make the content provided any less enjoyable whether its called Demo or F2P? And isnt this just a little more then youre avarage Demo though? Leaderboard challenges, Competitions, Try Before You Buy etc.

Ill be honost though, i wouldent have choosen the F2P tag iether. Should have simply called it GT3 Beta and ppl would have been al over this title.. But i dont really care what they call there business model as long as the gameplay is good.

Karl de-Boorder · Feb 16, 2013

Terry Evers said:
90% of the F2P games are simply extended demos with microtransaction purchase systems. Everyone should know this..
Yes there are a handfull totaly F2P games out there but quality usually stinks.

Allso does it make the content provided any less enjoyable whether its called Demo or F2P? And isnt this just a little more then youre avarage Demo though? Leaderboard challenges, Competitions, Try Before You Buy etc.

Ill be honost though, i wouldent have choosen the F2P tag iether. Should have simply called it GT3 Beta and ppl would have been al over this title.. But i dont really care what they call there business model as long as the gameplay is good.

"90% of the F2P games are simply extended demos with microtransaction purchase systems. Everyone should know this.."

Are you a shill or PR mouth for SimBin? I ask because you talk a great deal of ****.

Senad Subasic · Feb 16, 2013

Great intro post Spookie, congrats.

Tom · Feb 16, 2013

Spookie said:
"90% of the F2P games are simply extended demos with microtransaction purchase systems. Everyone should know this.."

Are you a shill or PR mouth for SimBin? I ask because you talk a great deal of ****.

If you havin' language problems I feel bad for you son. I got 99 problems, but your warning ain't one.

Please keep it civilized, on a more serious note.

Terry Evers · Feb 16, 2013

Good thing we have ignore buttons .. youre the first one added Spookie congratz

Matthousef1 · Feb 16, 2013

@ Tom Endres
If you havin’ language problems I feel bad for you son. I got 99 problems, but your warning ain’t one.

I see you are listening to quality music :-P

People are people, they always want to complain about something that they have to pay for..I think personally that all game companies are going more and more to this F2P model, as they just will make more money and they also will survive ! After all, that's what a company must do: make money. That is also a bonus for us in the end, as we keep on getting more racing games and they will not go bankrupt. Because without money, there would also be no development and that would end in: no racing game for us

Terry Evers · Feb 16, 2013

Ill be a bit more clear.. Take DCUO, so called F2P, but you get limited game access, limited inventory slots etc untill you buy those extras. Same goes for Global Agenda so called F2P but with limited stat boosts unless you pay. Lord of the rings online with its expansions? Startrek Online? World of warcraft.. allso free untill lvl 30 or what ever it is.. Now i could go on but you get my drift. Basicly all of them want you to try the game and give you an extensive Demo. So called F2P, but require payment to unlock the cool stuff. RRRE's model is no diffrent in my opinion.

Bram Hengeveld · Feb 16, 2013

RaceNut, the customer is king part was for the message that f2p is not free. Totally agree that some aggressive people that want everything for free should be ignored as a customer.

Poor wording from my side

Karl de-Boorder · Feb 16, 2013

Senad Subasic said:
Great intro post Spookie, congrats.

Ty!

I did have a much longer post but when his point hinges on a huge amount of hyperbole I thought I'd just go for the jugular. Fact of the matter is Bram had already put together exactly what I was going to say: It's not F2P, it's shareware. F2P implies there is some way to unlock content in exchange for an investment in time. For example Dota 2, TF2, Path of Exile, Tribes (hell they now offer all existing content for £20). I imagine that's most peoples real beef with the system.

Terry Evers · Feb 16, 2013

F2P implies there is some way to unlock content in exchange for an investment in time.

And i couldent agree more.. i allso stated that i wouldent have gone with the F2P tag iether. point still stands that a lot of games use the F2P name to lure ppl in these days and should basicly be seen as demos.. You just named some that offer in game currency to unlock stuff, but a lot of them simply provide it as Demo content with the same tag. Now since the ignore button wasnt working for some reason, idd like you to point out where i displayed a huge amount of hyperbole please. Allso please Forgive me for beeing excited about a product!

Senad Subasic · Feb 16, 2013

It's still in beta, what is it, verion 0.0somethingorother. Perhaps there will be a credit system of sorts once multiplayer comes out.
Or some challenges having those VRP thingies as prizes.