I thought I’d present an in-depth analysis why the Car Leveling, and Car XP Upgrade unlock system in Forza Motorsport is so bad, and why it’s current iteration is driving both veteran players and possibly new players away from the game.
The underlying reason the current car leveling & upgrade unlock system is so boring, tedious and not fun is because it’s both unrewarding and unbalanced. Period. It also provides no true progression, either.
If something is not rewarding in a video game, it will fail to motivate players to engage with it, prompt them to find ways to avoid it, or work around it like AFK leveling cars.
Turn10 took the fun and natural grind that was present in previous FM games and made it a mandatory chore in Forza Motorsport.
T10 took the inherent and self-perpetuating game play loop of the previous games…
Race car–>Earn credits–>Buy upgrade parts–>Tune car–>Race tuned car to get more credits–>Buy a new car to race–>Rinse & repeat
…And locked it behind a tedious, boring slow grind that doesn’t reward players for anything other than driving. Period. Players are forced to drive just to drive… Even if they’re leveling cars AFK.
Driver level is just a number of time spent in the game. Nothing more, nothing less. This is why it feels so unrewarding, and like players are making no progress whatsoever. Because they aren’t, compared to other systems in other games that reward and respect a player’s time invested by improving their character’s abilities, or equipment.
In RPGs, players are awarded skill points they can use to make their fighter, wizard, or rogue a better version as it levels up. Players also receive better equipment and weapons as they’re grinding toward max level as well. All of these things represent a true sense of progression from where the player started to where they end up by the end of the campaign.
In previous Motorsport games (and Horizon), players were rewarded every time they leveled up their Driver Level. They earned cars, credits and in FM7, cosmetics. The only time they are rewarded anything outside of credits for races in FM is when they complete one of the single player series (Builder’s Cup) and they get a car.
That’s it. Period.
The system is designed to force players to grind vs. make them want to grind because it’s fun and actually rewards them in ways they might not be consciously aware of, but still motivate them to “grind” on their own.
There are two unbalances within the current system that make the core game play loop feel tedious and unrewarding as well:
-
Car Levels needed to unlock upgrade parts.
-
Car XP needed to purchase the upgrade parts.
The rate at which players earn them are severely reduced in relation to the other.
As a general rule of game design, certain reward systems can be unbalanced if everything else surrounding them is rewarding… Such as having a diverse offering of content aka Tracks, MP races, Single Player events, etc. But a game can’t have everything be unrewarding at the same time. That’s the quickest way to make players not want to engage in the core game play loop. This is where we are currently at with Forza Motorsport.
The first place players encounter an unbalanced reward loop is the single player “career” aka The Builder’s Cup.
Ideally, each series would take a car from “Zero to Hero” - Level 1 to Level 50 - With enough Car Levels to reach 50, and enough Car XP earned to fulfill the required amount needed to fully unlock all the upgrades at the end of a series. This doesn’t happen because of the amount of races in each series aren’t enough to level a car to 50, and the player cannot earn enough Car XP to fully unlock all of the upgrade parts by the time the series ends.
On top of this, players have to start over and level every car they want to tune no matter what post-career activity they want to participate in (Rivals, MP, Free Play).
Imagine having to continuously re-level the main character, or NPC party members in a RPG after the story ended to participate in endgame activities? It sounds absurd, doesn’t it? But this is exactly what FM is forcing players do to because of how the current system is setup.
This is why there is no true progression in FM’s current leveling system. There is no “max level” where a car has reached the top of an arbitrary power curve and is “the best of the best” like in traditional RPGs. It’s doesn’t exist.
Those wanting to argue in favor of the current unlock system being similar to Call of Duty’s unlock system, or other systems that provide actual progression are misinformed because Forza Motorsport doesn’t reward players with anything other than Car XP, and from limited sources.
CoD allows players to unlock passive perks as well as kill (score) streaks outside of just leveling up their weapons to unlock attachments aka upgrades. This system rewards players for participating, and gives them access to things they can use that improve their overall game play experience while simultaneously leveling up their guns. Forza Motorsport offers none of these additional perks, and why this system is not similar at all.
The other imbalance is the rate at which players earn Car XP in general. The only way to earn Car XP during races is very limited. It’s limited to sectors and overtakes. And that’s it.
There needs to be more ways for players to earn additional Car XP on top of what is currently offered such as…
-Car XP for clean driving (no contact; staying on track every lap)
-Car XP for drafting
-Car XP for maintaining consistent speed for X amount of time
-Car XP for keeping a certain lead distance on the pack
-Car XP for when you take the lead over someone in close proximity (Sling Shot)
-Car XP for using no assists + Sim Steering
-Car XP for using Manual Shifting (w/wo Clutch)
-Car XP for driving at night / in the rain / in fog / low visibility, etc.
If some of these seem familiar… They are.
Some of these are from the Mod system in FM7, that rewarded you with more XP and credits if you chose to use them. Some of them, like using no assists, were also in previous Motorsport games, and also granted you more XP and credits because it was considered another difficulty setting separate from AI difficulty.
Forza Horizon also includes individual skill points… Similar to actual RPGs… Players can earn and apply to each individual car that might grant increased XP gains and other passive perks while driving, or engaging in activities outside of races (FM doesn’t have this, but it could be adapted).
If the rate Car XP is earned is increased, it would help alleviate the grind and reward players for their time.
The added benefit is most of these things players do naturally while racing. Some of these would even reward players for being better drivers in both SP and MP. Two birds, one stone.
To recap, the current Car Leveling and Car XP Unlock system in Forza Motorsport is unrewarding, unbalanced and offers no true progression. This is why it’s driving veteran players away and causing new players to avoid the game up as well.
It’s a tedious, mobile game mechanic that forces players to waste their most valuable resource… Time… For no other reason than to prolong the inevitable due to a lack of content, and to increase player retention numbers for Game Pass. The irony is it’s doing the exact opposite.
The sparse statistical data that can be found points to Forza Motorsport being the worst performing entry in the entire series… Ever… And having the least player retention numbers post-launch of any Forza game, Horizon or Motorsport, as well.
If something is not done soon, I fear MS/Xbox will abandon not only FM, but the entire series moving forward. It would be deserved, but only because of their own arrogance and corporate mandated design choices and not because fans lost interest in the game, or series itself.