This is honestly the worst approach to take. Completely accepting the very serious issues this game faces just means they will stay. You aren’t showing the developers that this is an issue by telling people they should accept this game’s problems and deal with it or leave and find another racing franchise. That gets us nowhere.
The lack of clean racing in this game is a serious issue, regardless of what kind of racing game this is. Whether it’s a simcade, a full sim, or an arcade racer, this needs to change. Accepting it because “they’re completely expected in this type of game” is, well, stupid.
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No.
Did you miss the playing Devil’s advocate part ? Maybe some of you only read your trigger words because it sure seems like you’re ignoring the fact we’re FOR good driving. Save your vitriol for the game design because that is the root cause. And no, some flowery “new” CoC isn’t going to change a thing, except to drive decent players away.
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So what’s the alternative, then? Because anything that actually solves the problem would mean reworking the game on a fundamental level. You’d need driver training before allowing players to take part in online races. You’d need to implement qualifying sessions and longer races so that players with higher skill can stay out of the fray better. You’d need an actual player rating system to track the worst offenders and relegate them to racing against each other. You’d need any sort of in-race penalties more complicated than a brief slowdown for brushing a wall. Anything less than all of that is a tiny ineffectual band-aid, but if you go that route, then the game arguably isn’t a Horizon game anymore.
See, that’s what it comes down to for me. Horizon is a series where you’re actively encouraged to stick a V8 into a Peel and yeet it a thousand feet off a cliff. Its big showcase events have you racing trains and hovercraft and fighter jets. Its “stories” are all sorts of nonsensical. You say that what happens in online racing is a “serious issue,” but to me, and I’m sure to many other players, that’s very much an afterthought of a game mode. If I did care about any sort of serious head-to-head racing experience, I sure as hell wouldn’t look for it in a Horizon game.
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I would say a simple incident based safety rating affecting the matchmaking should do the job.
Its not that hard to code and could be included at least in FH6.
Safety Rating Accolades and Batches would be also a nice thing to achieve…
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I guess it depends how you treat FH. For me it is a racing game with open world.
Probably for most of the FH playerbase I’m hardcore sweaty racer, where for simracers I would probably be classified as casual. Doing silly things is probably under 1% of my playtime, followed by freeroam driving with not much more %.
Showcases and opening races are most redundant, just waste of resources.
Do I think FH should take step to being more serious? Yes. It doesn’t mean that you can’t do silly stuff, but IMO would create much healtier online environment.
Driving school? Yes
Player ratings? Yes
Player hosted lobbies? Yes
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Just take it into your own hands for now, if you finish well in front of the idiots (likely as most are useless drivers) tell them what you think afterwards, they’ll have no argument whatsoever against it if you’ve just wiped the floor with them despite their ramming + corner bombing attempts.
Despite the fact moderation on this forum think otherwise calling someone what they’re being is not a personal attack or being toxic, you’re simply being blunt but correct.
I have no faith in anything changing or the report system so that’s what I see as the next best option, let these pathetic people know what you think as long as you’ve beaten them so they can’t try playing the sour grapes card like I’m sure many of them would do if they could.
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There is no way to race endgame like that. You can do open but you need 12 and exactly 12 people to ensure that no randoms are in your lobby. The game usually bugs out and kicks someone from your party, plus there are the limitations of open itself: it’s always going to be a no restriction meta-fest and it’s always going to have ghosting, even in a full lobby of racers you trust.
Exhibition races are way too much setup for the amount of actual racing you do, and rule of thumb, that time increases drastically the more people you add into the convoy. Tour has similar issues to open (you need 6 and exactly 6) and even then the AI and the game dictating restrictions at you are there to ruin the fun.
The game, as it exists right now, is anti-convoy. Once you convoy up you quickly realize that there isn’t much to do outside of playlist activities. My friends and I have been playing pen and paper custom championships because that’s what this game has reduced us to.
Convoys are yet another thing that has been sacrificed by PGG on the alter of their open matchmaking live service religion.
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This is first and foremost a racing game. Period. And you’re saying the fact that online racing is filled with ramming, cheating, and reckless driving is NOT a “serious issue”? What?
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Add me… I drive respectful… GT - Wux Kraken7526
I think it’s only a “serious issue” if you treat Open racing as the most important part of the game, whereas for me and I’m sure many other players it’s a bit of side content at best and something to be avoided at worst. I know it’s the thing I least enjoy seeing pop up on the weekly playlist, and that has nothing to do with the dive-bombers…I just don’t find anything fun about putting in some perfunctory laps while a few meta-tune drivers are miles ahead of me. I’ll stick to driving against the AI if possible, because at least they’re stupid in predictable ways that I can exploit for fun and profit.
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Unpredictable, reckless behavior and straight up cheating doesn’t seem like something you can exploit for fun, but to each their own I guess?
While tuning my new bought car, I got bored, went to do a bit of races and rivals, somehow ended queuing for a trial.
Drivatars flying all over the place and humans pushing me around in first race, in second again starting dead last and passing at least 7 cars before first corner, just to be bombed by human, so I could repeat whole process again.
Stupid me for queuing.
Appreciated so much more what I was doing before.
I’ll take unpredictable, reckless behavior and cheating drivatars over unpredictable, reckless and every corner bombing by humans, thank you very much.
Have a feeling all this new CoC and all is almost like saying You can’t teach old dog new tricks, it went for so long without any reaction, the harm is done.
Sorry for off
PS
Nice driving there 
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The AI is very predictable in solo races, particularly in slavishly following the braking line in spots where they don’t have to, so if you know the track well enough you can maintain your speed and blow by them. Or when one of the little jerks does cheat their way into a huge lead, and you chip away at it throughout the race, and then in one of the last few corners you absolutely send it on them and smash them out of the way so you can steal the win. Never gets old.
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Can’t say you’re wrong, exactly 
though in both cases the “unpredictable” nature of AI and “human” alike are somewhat predictable. And exploitable. I’ve often used tail and dodge tactics to good effect on both.
If you know they’re weaving all over the road to block you passing there will be chances where they second guess wrong and you can sail by, and if you make them guess wrong in the right place they’ll take themselves out by hitting a wall or missing a checkpoint.
If the race has a messy corner you just know will be dog-pile corner bomber nirvana, hang back and let them have at it and avoid the mess. Smile at the rear view mirror and the carnage slipping behind you.
If someone is hard on you (almost always a “human”) trying to pit you (not just racing and passing, but deliberately trying to take you out), give them an opening and then slam on the brakes, watch them sail cleanly past your front end and off the track, wave bye if you’re feeling friendly. Especially gratifying if you can do it so they go off a cliff or miss a checkpoint.
No doubt those are exactly the types that would be reporting me for doing it under the “new” CoC because I’ve spoiled their “fun” and I trust the system to actually investigate it about as far as I can throw a full size car. So, yeah, never mind, don’t do that, it’ll probably get you banned now.
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Thank you, been there for FH4 and start of FH5, thats why I was away for more then a year now.
Sadly nothing changed in online part, only good part is I now have plenty cars to collect and maybe tune.
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I also don’t like Open because it’s “anything goes” and people way to often bring “meta cars” to get first at all cost just to show off. But it’s all players “battling” for the win there and you get at least a half-way decent results screen at the end of races showing best laptimes and such. So, it’s somehow understandable that people act like they do in there even if I don’t condone it. That’s why the ghosting and wall penalty has to be in there as otherwise it would be maximum carnage. But it’s a two edged sword because at least the ghosting keeps players from actually having to drive properly and learn to race with other cars around.
With Tours and Trials it’s different and it’s all about the players beating the AI in a team effort. And that’s why I don’t get why people act like they do in there. The only thing you get in there is maybe a win listed on the respective history card of a car and one more for the stats that nobody except yourself can see anyway. It simply doesn’t makes sense to go full tilt in there.
I get much more fun out of racing properly and placing sixth than I’d get from winning at all cost. I guess it’s a mindset thing and presumably also has to do with actually liking and caring for motorsports plus coming from the simracing corner where such bad behaviour simply doesn’t flies.
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Yeah, everything I said earlier aside, I’ll never understand why people drive like total maniacs in Trials, because as you said there’s absolutely nothing to be gained by it. If I’m clear of the AI and behind someone who’s driving a bit erratically that I could most likely pass, I’ll almost always try to hang back a bit if I can, since there’s no reason to force the issue. Likewise, if I know there are higher-tuned cars on my team, I’ll try to move off to the side at the start of the race to make sure they get through cleanly and can start picking off the AI. It’s not exactly rocket science.
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I actually take it a bit further, if one of my teammates is driving recklessly and unpredictably behind me, I will move to the side and let them through. If I’m in front, there’s a higher risk of a huge inter-team crash when they inevitably lose control and hit me as I go through a corner. Or when they make a sloppy move to overtake me and end up crashing.
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Ok, blocking drivatars … everybody feel free to judge me all you want, but I’m not blocking them ever again in randoms race/trial.
Why, well because team usually still manges to lose, even though most of the team got past at one point, or better still somebody from behind plows into the lot, just to cause every human player to scramble to find their bearings, while drivatars escape. Cherry on top being, pushing me out, after they pass drivatars.
Ow yeah, we lose every time.
So no blocking drivatars again, I’m done doing that. Now more then ever, as trial and tour arn’t mandatory to get all playlist cars.
Tour really isn’t the best choice for clean racing. I mean I love it, and i do it because I don’t like the Open rules, but I definitely expect all kinds of wild stuff.