Now that Online is more or less working for me I’ve finally been able to race a bunch of humans. The trouble is they don’t always feel like humans. Every now and then I get the feeling Im plugging away against people with auto steer on. You really notice this in S class races. I’m not the greatest driver in Forza history but in offline mode I race unbeatable drivatars all the time and do pretty well winning if Im in a well chosen and tuned car. Then I get in an online race and seem to be facing off against people with superhuman precision and lightning fast reactions like all the time. Could we not have a situation where using whatever assists you like groups you in one pool but a certain level of assists being off (Manual/Clutch Manual, no auto steer, auto braking.) groups you in another. I struggle to find the point of racing if the competition has auto braking in an S2 race…
It also might be the case that online is populated by just really good drivers because the less good drivers are too intimidated or are over just getting beaten. I can see how ranked driving led to toxicity that PG would rather leave out but how about some sort of skills based matchmaking. Like in Fortnite (The main game not arena). You are not ranked but you are placed in a lobby against people that have a similar amount of wins kills etc… (Probably a way more complicated algorithm but that kind of thing). So every game you are competing against people with whom if you get your shit together you stand a chance.
I really love this game but an enjoyable well matched online experience would be the cherry on the cake. Surely with 12 million paying players such a development is financially feasible. As one of the people that paid 50% extra to get a game a week before it was released that then didn’t actually work for about a month, I feel like we’ve earned it.
Honestly max assist on you will probably only get and avg of 3rd to 5th place. The assist don’t make you drive the best line or even let you cleaning exit a corner. I’m not saying that it’s really fair to have to race against some with it on and all that but more than likely they aren’t going to get first so if you couldn’t beat them you probably weren’t going to get podium anyway. Although I do think a mild form of sbmm would be nice especially for things like the trial. I don’t really think we need to separate people based on assist. I’m fine with the people that actually need them getting to feel competitive in a race and maybe have those random chances of getting 1st because in general they are gonna be in the middle of the pack not really affecting the out come in a major way.
(Except with BoneShaker I consistently got 1-3 for one open racing section all assist on it is really that OP. Tried it with a random other car and it was middle of the pack.)
Yeah I hear you . I did a test race in S2 with full auto just to see if it was possible and came in third just by holding my finger on the trigger and occasionally tapping the control so it knows I am there and active. First and second were a bit ahead and I think I was just holding the main pack up. We are talking full auto everything. I felt dirty and it me wonder what the game is all about really. I get that its there for people with disabilities and I love that about the game but it kinds of makes online competition a bit of a farce for me. If I was coming in first or second all the time it probably wouldnt but if thats who I have to battle for third or fourth I might as well be facing drivatars.
I’ve got a bit of experience in accessibility online and you have to be very careful you are not excluding people based on a disability, by forcing all players using certain combinations of assists into only one area away from others might be a path that Microsoft cannot allow PG to take. But also Mike Brown of PG has said the perception of old FH4 ranked being toxic (and it was!) is something they wanted to remove, so it may just be a design decision.
Apparently there is skill based matchmaking beneath this new system though so in time you should start to see yourself being matched with more people at your level, I have played a lot online (Open/Games mostly) and have noticed I now more often am in the pack being competitive rather than drastically ahead/behind so I think it is working.
Me personally I’m about the same with it on or off. I’m not gonna come in first I know this and I know what I need practice on if I want to(learning to slow down in corners cuz I’m used to just slamming the wall and speeding off lol) that being said though there are ways to take advantage if you think someone is racing with it. Turn on the drive line and you’ll know exactly where they will be trying to go so you’ll know when you can take them on a corner etc. Though maybe if I was more competitive and racing focused I might care more but I enjoy drifting around or learning how to tune cars more so no assist really help or hurt that.
Also I will add I honestly think the devs have been messing around a bit with the full auto assist since launch. And believe they will probably keep tinkering with it til its full functional to complete a race but not enough the podium constantly.
I imagine in all honesty it could take a month or two to really settle in. Thanks to game pass and rough launch you got 12 mil plus accounts to kinda rank plus not all being active. You might be above 10 mil for example but they only played a hour doesn’t mean you are actually at said skill level. That said I’m not a big fan of sbmm so I hope it doesn’t play a huge role. I’d rather get destroyed but actually get to be playing with people significantly better so I can see what to improve on easier. If I’m constantly at my skill level yes it’s more exciting in the sense of can win ooo so close. But I doubt I’d develop as fast as playing against people alot better. I suppose that’s what leaderboards and rivals are for though.
Assists are overpowered in this version of Horizon. I play co-op with my son almost daily. I race with all assists off except braking line. He races automatic and full line (no abs or tcs). If he starts in the spot behind me in a race he will consistently pass me before the 1st turn on the straights bits at the start. We’re talking same car and same tune. He had me drive one of his cars with abs ans tcs on and it was noticeable how much easier it is to wall/car ride through a race. I understand for pubs you need to offer a variety, but it would be nice to have a place to race for those that want the challenge of turning everything off. Call it ultimate racing and have all assists off. driving line, rewind…everything.
You can drive faster without assists than with them. They’re a crutch that will only serve to slow down someone who knows how to drive without them. There’s no reason to break up the matchmaking pool.