iRacing

[nea]

Any iRacers in here?

I subscribed back in Jan and I haven't looked back. Yea, it's a bit pricey which is holding back my license progression, but it is well worth it.

The tracks are spectacular, the cars awesome to drive and the racing, for the most part, is clean.

[marcel82]

I'm started playing it in June. started of on the ovals, but the late model tour has set my SR back. So I switched to the Road license. I'm now doing my first D-class races with the Mustang.

and I agree, the online racing is amazing. you get a good matchmaking system, which gives good racing, without having to commit to a schedule a league has set for you (which I can't anyway with my job)

[nea]

Yea same, shift work sucks.

I'm currently doing Star Mazda, just need some more tracks so I can partake in more races. Hopefully I get some more hours at work and the car passes it's MoT...

[nivag71]

I've had iRacing for over 2 years now....Very much an addiction...

[Andy Roberts]

Another iRacer here. Been on it for several months now and totally love it. Dont get as much time to play it as I would like but overall I personally think its by far and away the best sim out there.

Sure you get some muppets on there still, last weeks week 13 was a prime example, but overall the racing is great.

Tried late models yesterday for the first time and found myself in a practice session with Dale Earnhardt Jr!!! I pushed him down low at one point (getting nervous) so I apologized and he was totally cool with it, and told me what I was doing wrong which was great!

[chunder]

Simply too expensive for me. It can end up costing you hundreds of pounds which for a game is really rather ridiculous.

Fair play to the people involved they are raping a very sparse market and also the fact that most racing game online servers are full of idiots. So you do get cleaner racing.

But I don't think it's quite so necesary to charge as much as they do, after all you can get pretty much the same things on any Rfactor server? OK the game is nothing like the same quality and the actual physics arent as good, but its free!!

I tried it, enjoyed it and thought it was good, but it was a bit too geeky and very much overpriced.

And I am not American so prefer a few corners!! lol

[Andy Roberts]

Originally Posted by chunder

And I am not American so prefer a few corners!! lol

The oval racing on iRacing is awesome though. Was racing the Indycar at IMS last week, 21 cars in it and we all finished within 9 seconds after 50 laps and no one's fastest lap was less than 0.2secs of the quickest (me hehe)

I went the other way, started with rFactor and moved to iRacing. rFactor is good, but found it to arcady at times and came across way to many muppets which just ruined the races. You still get the odd one on iRacing too, but by and large the racing is much much better on iRacing so for me its worth the $99 a year, especially as I would spend that on 2 xbox games which probably only last me 20-30hrs total.

[nea]

Yea, and they've just lowered subscription costs again, which is always good. Just need to get me some more content. Bought me the Chevy Monte Carlo last night, fancied trying to get my oval license up from D. I've not dared enter a race with it yet though.

Just got my Road B license for this season, not B car to drive though!

[jiminee]

Originally Posted by chunder

Simply too expensive for me. It can end up costing you hundreds of pounds which for a game is really rather ridiculous.

But I don't think it's quite so necesary to charge as much as they do, after all you can get pretty much the same things on any Rfactor server? OK the game is nothing like the same quality and the actual physics arent as good, but its free!!

One thing to remember, there was $20 mill in development spent before it went on line, let alone the ongoing development and running costs and there is only one way to get that back, even with 10,000 subscribers, thats still going to take a while. I don't think iRacing is a license to print money yet nor will be for some time to come.

[sime1070]

G'day,
Been looking at getting involved for a little while and just interested in some feedback on neccessary hardware. The site mentions the Logitech wheels but I was wondering if there were any cheaper options that are the equal of these as it is not a cheap item - having said that is it worth going for the best wheel there is? Any other info on the do's and don'ts before I go and buy a wheel or anything else would be appreaciated.
Cheers,
Simon

[Hepatic]

Originally Posted by jiminee

One thing to remember, there was $20 mill in development spent before it went on line, ...

But something like GTA4 that cost a upwards of $70M still only costs about $50 per unit. I think they'd pull more people in if they just dropped the subs a little and the cars / tracks by 25%. I used to go online and have about 1 car to compete with, simply because i'm in the UK and the selection of tracks / cars (especially early ones) is too US-based so no one wanted to race.

RE: wheels, IMHO you get what you pay for. If you can't afford the Logitech wheels then you can't expect to get the same feel / build quality with cheaper wheels, but there are some good bargains to be had.

[jiminee]

Originally Posted by Hepatic

But something like GTA4 that cost a upwards of $70M still only costs about $50 per unit. I think they'd pull more people in if they just dropped the subs a little and the cars / tracks by 25%. I used to go online and have about 1 car to compete with, simply because i'm in the UK and the selection of tracks / cars (especially early ones) is too US-based so no one wanted to race.

RE: wheels, IMHO you get what you pay for. If you can't afford the Logitech wheels then you can't expect to get the same feel / build quality with cheaper wheels, but there are some good bargains to be had.

That's a completely invalid argument, GTA4 can count on thousands and thousands more sales and once its out the door, as far as the developer is concerned, that's it, no ongoing costs, there will be a GTA5, sure, but that will come with another price tag.
iRacing has its own severs, HUGE regular updates and developments, new content plus it was all new where as GTA4 was an almost guaranteed best seller. The prices are coming down as the numbers increase, I don't think we can ask for more than that.

As for wheels, with the new transmission model, having a clutch is not mandatory, but it is much better if you do, relying on auto clutch is slower and not sure how good a button clutch works so a G25 is the way to go, the G27 does not have a sequential stick shifter which is much nicer for the V8, Vette etc

[Gil Abobeleira]

Originally Posted by Hepatic

RE: wheels, IMHO you get what you pay for. If you can't afford the Logitech wheels then you can't expect to get the same feel / build quality with cheaper wheels, but there are some good bargains to be had.

It's the same with iRacing, you get what you've paid for!

I've been iRacing for 2 years now and since I got the hang out of the Radical and the Lotus, I've never looked back on rFactor! The driving just feels more natural, because of the great FFb and the milimetric precision of the track surfaces.

Mind you, there are lots of things that must be improved (well, the new transmission model is out, so one of those things is now fixed eheheh).

[Hepatic]

at what point did i say iRacing was a rubbish sim?

it really isn't that much different to rFactor, its just iRacing mods are done by them alone whereas ISI decided to go with an open platform and actively encourage people to mod for it. The time spent on the physics engines etc i dont see being much different other than ISI stopped work on it when they decided to go with an rF2.

GTA4 still have to support their servers, just as iRacing does. So does Forza 3, so in fact that argument falls on its face cos they don't get any subscription to help them provide that service whereas iRacing does, as well as content.

I'd say the commercial "failure" (its too strong a word but i can't think of the right one atm) of iRacing is the basic, first time user package doesn't have the hook of choice that Forza 3, GT5 or rFactor does. If you can spend the time to progress and have the cash to afford all the required tracks / cars its a fantastic platform. For most people tho being forced to run a legend on an oval or the solstice at lime Rock over & over again just puts them off bothering to spend the time with it. Just the ability to run the legend on a circuit would have helped...

It just feels like they have failed to unlock the full potential of their business by being a little too selective in the way the license progression works.

[Gil Abobeleira]

We can spend the all year arguing about the price of iRacing. We are not going to change our opinion on that, neither will you change our opinion.

Some people are willing to spend their money in it, some aren't (the same can be said for those willing to spend money on a Logitech wheel and those which don't want to spend the money on a wheel and drive with a joypad). Horse for courses, right?

[jiminee]

Originally Posted by Hepatic

GTA4 still have to support their servers, just as iRacing does. So does Forza 3, so in fact that argument falls on its face cos they don't get any subscription to help them provide that service whereas iRacing does, as well as content.

I would think the yearly subscription fee to xbox live covers the servers rather than the developers.

[JAG]

I guess the name says it all but it seems to me iRacing is more about the competition rather than the pleasure/relaxation you get from simply driving a performance car.

I like to choose a favourite car and hot lap it on a great track whereas other sim racers are happy to race something like a Formula Ford on any circuit.

[Andy Roberts]

Is anyone else having a blast trying to lug the Skippy round VIR at the moment? Only previous driven the iRacing Skippy at Laguna/Road America, but VIR is another kettle of fish! Great fun, but dam frustrating trying to get my times down so I can get in a race this week.

[Gil Abobeleira]

Originally Posted by Andy Roberts

Is anyone else having a blast trying to lug the Skippy round VIR at the moment? Only previous driven the iRacing Skippy at Laguna/Road America, but VIR is another kettle of fish! Great fun, but dam frustrating trying to get my times down so I can get in a race this week.

I hate the Skip, so no fun for me at VIR (mind you, I've had there some of my best races with the Radical!)

For me this week is all about Watkins Glen and the Lotus 79. What a brilliant combo!

[Hepatic]

Originally Posted by Gil Abobeleira

We can spend the all year arguing about the price of iRacing. We are not going to change our opinion on that, neither will you change our opinion.

Some people are willing to spend their money in it, some aren't (the same can be said for those willing to spend money on a Logitech wheel and those which don't want to spend the money on a wheel and drive with a joypad). Horse for courses, right?

Absolutely

Originally Posted by jiminee

I would think the yearly subscription fee to xbox live covers the servers rather than the developers.

Not even close. £40 a year probably covers microsoft for all the live stuff they provide but i doubt it gets close to covering the hardware / bandwidth / support costs of the games. Hell it only covers my ISP costs for 2 months

[PabloTeK]

Just started on the Leg Ends, had an ok first race, spun twice in my second and then wrecked in my third (my car pulled so far left it was hilarious) after some lapped IDIOT caused a massive crash at Lanier turn 4! Was one I couldn't avoid and ended up getting black flagged after having to pull in early to prevent myself causing a pileup...

[Andy Roberts]

Originally Posted by PabloTeK

Just started on the Leg Ends, had an ok first race, spun twice in my second and then wrecked in my third (my car pulled so far left it was hilarious) after some lapped IDIOT caused a massive crash at Lanier turn 4! Was one I couldn't avoid and ended up getting black flagged after having to pull in early to prevent myself causing a pileup...

The SR system on iRacing is brilliant as it encourages clean racing, but it can also backfire big time!

Last couple of races I've done I've been taken out by people, yet I've got a 4x for contact so my SR rating has took a hammering. Worst was last week in the Skippy at Lime Rock. 3rd corner in to the race some guy banzaies up behind me and punts me off, cue a 4x. I get a tow, rejoin and get 15 solid laps to catch up with the pack setting fastest lap of the race. I get past 5 of them when I then start passing a guy into turn one and he squeezes me over the track. I got next to the grass, dropped a wheel (1x off course) then he punts me, cue a 4x contact for me, so I go spinning down the track and collect another guy (another 4x for me) befor hitting the barrier (2x 2x for loss of control!)!

Not happy.

[PabloTeK]

Yeah the SR needs working on, surely it could use some form of algorithm to work out who was at fault by looking at the lines up to the accident? I don't fancy getting a 4x because someone Bainzai'd me when I was avoiding having another shunt!

[Spudgun]

I have investigated iRacing, but it is the cost model which put me off. The monthly subscription is okay, I've played subscription-based MMOs on and off over the past 5 years so that wouldn't bother me in the slightest. The bit I can't deal with is on top of that you have to buy additional cars and tracks as individual items. Again these micro transactions are not a problem in themselves, but $11.95 to buy one car? All that is just a little steep for me.

Don't get me wrong, it seems to be awesome sim from what I have read and seen on the likes of Youtube and given the opportunity I'm sure I would fall in love with it. Anything with David Kaemmer involved is going to be good. Its just a shame I can't justify the cost.

[Gil Abobeleira]

Originally Posted by Spudgun

I have investigated iRacing, but it is the cost model which put me off. The monthly subscription is okay, I've played subscription-based MMOs on and off over the past 5 years so that wouldn't bother me in the slightest. The bit I can't deal with is on top of that you have to buy additional cars and tracks as individual items. Again these micro transactions are not a problem in themselves, but $11.95 to buy one car? All that is just a little steep for me.

Yes, and nowadays it's even worse for the guys starting at iRacing.

Even though it was more expensive to buy cars and tracks at the beginning, since there were fewer cars and tracks, it was actually cheaper in the short term.

Mind you, you don't have to own every car. Heck, I bought some cars that I really don't drive (Skip Barber, Ford Falcon V8). Buy 3 or 4 cars (the Lotus is a must, if you have balls to drive it ) and it's more than enough to occupy you for one or two years.

But it's not the cars that are expensive, it's the tracks. With the current amount of road courses (I hardly turn left ), it's may seem really expensive to buy them at once. And it will only get uglier on the long term with more road courses (Spa, Oulton Park, Zolder, Oran Park, etc).

And here is an advice when starting in iRacing:

Buy 6 items at once (to get a 20% discount)
Buy 6 items at once (to get a 20% discount)
Buy 6 items at once (to get a 20% discount)
Buy 6 items at once (to get a 20% discount)
Buy 6 items at once (to get a 20% discount)
Buy 6 items at once (to get a 20% discount)
Buy 6 items at once (to get a 20% discount)
Buy 6 items at once (to get a 20% discount)
Buy 6 items at once (to get a 20% discount)

....

After writing it on the blackboard a hundred times (Bart Simpson style ) you may start iRacing