Well, it may not be Done- but it seems pretty Dead!

[Keith_G]

I've put off writing this just hoping that something good would happen but I have no idea what the deal is. I put my faith in SimBin that you would produce a good game and keep it moving forward but my patience has been sorely tested. I believe in supporting the devs by buying their wares so that they can continue to create but after spending much over $100 on this game I have been stuck with hot
lapping for over 9 months. To add insult to injury everything I have bought with full price VRP has been put on sale time and again, just so I'm made sure to look like a fool for buying it early on.

Then you virtually finish another game that has much of what I would love to see in R3E but of course I would have to pay another $55 (40 euro) to get it even though it is highly advertised in the game that I can only hotlap with a few other cars. So obviously you know how to create AI and races but haven't bothered to add even a rudimentary level of it to the game I have already invested a great deal of money in.

I think it is time you apologize to your loyal customers and give us some hope that we haven't been as stupid as we seem! Sure you have contest with nice prizes, but the same 20-30 guys win those every time so they really are only contest between a few very good racers. I don't have a problem with that, and I do have fun racing them but I do have a problem with the way I have been treated. How about it SimBin - step up to the plate and let us know what is happening and give the loyal customers who have purchased much or all of your content a reason to remain loyal!

I do thank Jay for spending time on this forum and trying to respond to some hard questions, but I think it is time that the owners of the company respond to their customers.

 

[Tobias Liesaus]

exactly how i feel about this game.

 

[Sean Lander]

Couldn't agree more.

 

[Jebus]

This most certainly doesn't make Simbin to look good. And this silence from them makes it even worse. There was a time when I was almost a Simbin fanboy, but sadly that has gone now. But again, luckily we have very good (much better) options out there.

 

[Peter]

They came up with a new dev blog, exploding corner marker and the promise to share more info.
I wouldn't call them silent now.

 

[Marcus Jaeger]

Fair post here, Keith. I'll try to address some of your concerns. Although I'm not an owner, I do have an interest in the future of this game. As does everyone in the studio.

The new year has brought some fairly big changes. I can't really go into detail, but soon enough we'll be cluing you in on the studio's inner workings and explaining why some things unfolded as they have. Sonat has already begun to this by sharing topics that we were previously silent on and you can read his words on the Insider. You can also expect more frequent updates from here on out, from Sonat and the rest of us.

We want single and multiplayer as badly as you do. We'll soon be sharing looks at the development of these game modes as well as other new features coming to the platform.

We're also working on ways to balance competitions and spread rewards to drivers of all abilities. Leaderboard divisions are coming and we're planning for a championship system, among other things. It's still a little early to talk about, but I thought it worth mentioning.

A new more vocal approach to development is a high priority for us this year as we strive to bring R3E up to the level you all expect. We'll keep you in the loop along the way.

 

[Keith_G]

They came up with a new dev blog, exploding corner marker and the promise to share more info.
I wouldn't call them silent now.

Agreed they have given us new information and hopefully put to rest the corner marker discussion but the post that you now disagree with was written a month ago. Things change and I appreciate that Marcus has answered and that they are being more responsive. A "new more vocal approach" is welcome but the proof is in the pudding.

However, communication wasn't my main concern. Advancement of the game play in R3E after having spent $150+ is my main concern. I enjoy the game, know they have the skills to make it happen and would like to see the game succeed. That is why I blew off some steam here and also why I want to make sure that R3E doesn't take a back seat to special event development that is completely separate and incompatible for game play, regardless of the reason (ie. licensing).

Meanwhile, Thanks for keeping us in the loop Marcus - Keith

 

[Peter]

I know it was old, but it was a reaction to my always positive friend Jebus.

 

[Jebus]

I know it was old, but it was a reaction to my always positive friend Jebus.

Yeah I'm sure you would love if there was only flowers and rainbows when talking about your beloved game. Fanboys, pffft.

 

[Peter]

That's a compliment, thx.
The other Simbin testers call me Mr. Negative.

 

[Jebus]

That's a compliment, thx.

You're welcome. Not trying to insult you btw, just stating the fact.

 

[Jay Ekkel]

I (and pretty sure I could say we) agree with most of the OP, and I am 100% behind what Marcus is saying.

You can surely say that 2013 wasn't exactly a role model year with regards to communication, and we are fully aware of that. It up to us to us to change the silent SimBin and show that we mean business.

FYI, R3E is very far from dead sadly enough is hard to see that for the outside world when currently all you can do is hot lap on your own. We will change that by phasing in the much requested game features to the game, and be (a whole lot) more open in our development and ability to answer questions. "Secrets" will always remain though, but thats is just part of the business.

 

[Tom Stanger]

I stopped chasing this carrot over a year ago.

 

[Keith_G]

I stopped chasing this carrot over a year ago.

I have a lot of stamina when it comes to chasing carrots The string is getting shorter I think - keeping the faith and chasing GT cars with a lotus T125 s1 for entertainment!

 

[Jay Ekkel]

Why choose when you can race them all!

One could say we are chasing our own carrot, the eagerness of getting the MP out is bigger inside our studio then outside, and we are closing in on the carrot every day!

 

[Connor Caple]

I'm guessing that the new single player DTM that released on Steam yesterday is not suddenly going to turn into the missing multiplayer online which I thought RRE was going to be?

http://store.steampowered.com/app/272770/

 

[Craig Stevenson]

You guessed correct, despite the recent MP teaser I still don't believe we will see MP for R3E\DTM:E before we see DTM:E 2014 which will be towards the end of Q3 or early Q4.

 

[Botond Nagy]

Agree with Keith, agree x 1000!!!

 

[Sk3ptik0n]

I agree with the OP. When the game came out, I spend about $70 buying cars and tracks feeling pretty confident that soon I would be able to race them against the AI and in Multiplayer.

I started Simracing with GTR2 and I still race it consistently. I was disappointed that Simbin turned the promised GTR3 into a "free to race" game, but I was willing to give them a chance.

I was wrong and if I could go back in time I would have never bought those cars (they all seem to drive the same anyway) and I would have kept the free version solely for the hiilclimnb and the BMW, which are to date the only thing I still do on the platform.

Is that track/car combo worth $70 considering that I could have had it for free?

But that's beside the point. The release of DTM was a slap on the face for me and told me that the beancounters are in charge at Simbin. The passionate guys are either asleep or they have been overruled.

I will never blame a company for wanting to make a profit. Never. But I will blame them for doing it on the back of their more ardent followers. That's what Simbin did.

I own every game and DLC they have ever made, save for DTM, and I feel that Simbin took advantage of the good name they created for themselves in the pas.

They will need to do something very radical for me to come back to the fold. I will need to see much more than the platitudes I have read so far.

For instance, it would be easy for Simbin to go to Steam and take a look at who owns all of their games. Ask them if they want to become beta testers. We actually enjoy working for free if we think we are contributing to making a better game.

Release a decent AI. If it's available for DTM it should be on R3E.
Get rid of the premium liveries and open that to the users. The community loves to make liveries. Making money there is a bad move. Especially when the offerings are so poor.

Communicate more and answer questions promptly. I thought it was a good move to finally make the horrible brake markers optional, but it was at least a year too late to create much goodwill.

Above all, nominate somebody for community relation and start listening to the community. Go back to the beancounters and tell them that whatever money they think they will make with a given strategy is not worth it in the long run when your base abandons you.

Take my example: I never bought DTM and I stopped buying cars and tracks. This new Audi that's coming up is very tempting, but I won't buy it unless I see some real changes in the corporate culture at Simbin.

 

[Jay Ekkel]

I agree with the OP. When the game came out, I spend about $70 buying cars and tracks feeling pretty confident that soon I would be able to race them against the AI and in Multiplayer.

I started Simracing with GTR2 and I still race it consistently. I was disappointed that Simbin turned the promised GTR3 into a "free to race" game, but I was willing to give them a chance.

I was wrong and if I could go back in time I would have never bought those cars (they all seem to drive the same anyway) and I would have kept the free version solely for the hiilclimnb and the BMW, which are to date the only thing I still do on the platform.

Is that track/car combo worth $70 considering that I could have had it for free?

But that's beside the point. The release of DTM was a slap on the face for me and told me that the beancounters are in charge at Simbin. The passionate guys are either asleep or they have been overruled.

I will never blame a company for wanting to make a profit. Never. But I will blame them for doing it on the back of their more ardent followers. That's what Simbin did.

I own every game and DLC they have ever made, save for DTM, and I feel that Simbin took advantage of the good name they created for themselves in the pas.

They will need to do something very radical for me to come back to the fold. I will need to see much more than the platitudes I have read so far.

For instance, it would be easy for Simbin to go to Steam and take a look at who owns all of their games. Ask them if they want to become beta testers. We actually enjoy working for free if we think we are contributing to making a better game.

Release a decent AI. If it's available for DTM it should be on R3E.
Get rid of the premium liveries and open that to the users. The community loves to make liveries. Making money there is a bad move. Especially when the offerings are so poor.

Communicate more and answer questions promptly. I thought it was a good move to finally make the horrible brake markers optional, but it was at least a year too late to create much goodwill.

Above all, nominate somebody for community relation and start listening to the community. Go back to the beancounters and tell them that whatever money they think they will make with a given strategy is not worth it in the long run when your base abandons you.

Take my example: I never bought DTM and I stopped buying cars and tracks. This new Audi that's coming up is very tempting, but I won't buy it unless I see some real changes in the corporate culture at Simbin.

Thanks Corrado for your feedback, much appreciated to receive clear feedback about your thoughts and ideas!Just to quickly comment on your ideas

For instance, it would be easy for Simbin to go to Steam and take a look at who owns all of their games. Ask them if they want to become beta testers. We actually enjoy working for free if we think we are contributing to making a better game.

This is already done, our interna;/external beta testers exist out of a larger group of sim racers, with a small blend of more casual racers (but still serious) and casual gamers. We appreciate their hard and sometimes mind numbing work as they are invaluable to the development of the games.

Release a decent AI. If it's available for DTM it should be on R3E.

This is in the planning but as many many things in game development this takes time. The AI released with DTM was specifically tailored to the DTM cars, and to make it work with the other cars it will require quite a bit on that and not to mention the updating of the track to work with new ai.

Get rid of the premium liveries and open that to the users. The community loves to make liveries. Making money there is a bad move. Especially when the offerings are so poor.

On a personal note I agree, but there are decisions that are made higher up. Having said that we have indicated in the past that having a livery editor has been on our wish list but other things take priority at the moment (like MP & SP). I can't wait for the day we open up for some livery modding but in a way that makes it easy and accessible to use for everyone, not just the few from the sim community.

Communicate more and answer questions promptly. I thought it was a good move to finally make the horrible brake markers optional, but it was at least a year too late to create much goodwill.

I am here most of the time, if not me, then one of the other guys like Marcus, Sonat and from time to time JF. We will answer where we can, but please also understand that sometimes we can't answer a question for various reasons.

[/quote]Above all, nominate somebody for community relation and start listening to the community. Go back to the beancounters and tell them that whatever money they think they will make with a given strategy is not worth it in the long run when your base abandons you.[/quote]IMO we don't need a special person, as mentioned just above we are here with 4 guys, we have a support desk which as far as I know is very responsive and we try and keep up with all the questions we receive on our social platform. Thank you once more for your thoughts, please keep it coming!