It’s pretty surprising to me that for a franchise which has reached the level of Forza Horizon, there is still such a considerable amount of division among the player base when it comes to the content, issues, deployment & design of the game. The amount of response to a recent closed thread, which rather directly attempted to address some of these concerns, is pretty clear evidence of that.
Despite that, it’s also pretty clear that the Forza player community is one of the largest, cohesive groups in the gaming community, despite the frustrations. Let’s face it, if the core player base wasn’t so passionate about the game, it would not receive the level of focus that it does, good or bad.
The continuing decline in the overall player base & engagement in the game is of course disheartening. I’ve suffered from the same frustrations that have had me at the minimal play time in recent weeks, but I always find myself coming back. I’m looking forward to the new DLC & hopeful it will help breathe some new life back into the game.
Part of my habitual “Forza fix”, is keeping up with the community here in the forum. The recent closure of the above mentioned thread seems to have triggered some resentment, which made me think about what the underlying issue really is & to me, I think it’s just that feeling of being heard, with feedback & support from fellow community members, as a bit of “group therapy” (keeping it respectful of course).
Along this line, I thought back to the nostalgia of the anniversary series with the question being asked to Scotty about what Horizon meant to him. Despite the fictional context & strain toward a trite storyline, I think this is also a fundamental question particularly applicable to the long term, dedicated player base.
For me, Horizon means: car culture, period. I feel like the quantity of available vehicles, available upgrades, design tools & available activities are, in a macro view, unmatched & really a “celebration” of all things cars. This allows access & insight into vehicles I’ll never even see IRL, let alone drive
So fully realizing this is opening the door to a lot of potential cynicism (please keep it respectful) here’s your opportunity to share. (If you read this far, thanks for sticking with it & sorry for the potential TLDNR length).