.
I could not have said it better than how HLR Moss wrote on the OP, so, a BIG Thank You for the writeup and bring this dialog forward. I have been completely bored with the game after a short period of time, whereas, previous games have really engaged me in the racing element. As we saw in the early stages of Forza 7 where many of the class LBs were not provided, I am hopeful (crossing my fingers) that H4 goes thru a major overhaul as did FM7 in this arena.
Let’s get building…tuning…and RACING…Playground Games (and T10), will you accept the challenge!!!
I was thinking “hoping” that the Route Creator would be the something that would save the game, especially for large clubs and weekly hot lap competitions. But with no way to share or broadcast the event you created to your friends or club and no leader board for the created route it is useless.
As for “Rivals” and “Championships” we now know why there was a lack of information before the release date.
We pre-ordered a racing game and received a dress-up your dancing e-mote kiddy game.
I’ve stated this many times on many different threads, but Forza Horizon 4’s most egregious flaw is (was) Microsoft trying force the Games As A Service (GAAS) model onto a game type (racing game) that relies on what is available at launch to keep players playing… Not what may come down the line three, four months later, paid or not.
I’m referring to tracks (routes, courses), leader boards, championships (game or user-created), and most important in FH4’s case… Game play elements not locked behind DLC paywalls such as cars, or additional routes to flesh out an already sparse release.
Forza Horizon 4 feels like there is less to do in less time because there is. It’s true.
Forza Horizon 3 launched with 140 races + Championships, Class based Rivals, etc. Forza Horizon 4 launched with 70 races, no Championships, no class based Rivals, etc. This is just pure statistical math. Not hyperbole.
However, this brings us back to the GAAS model the entire video games industry has switched to because of the obscene amounts of revenue they can sustain beyond a game’s initial launch via microtransactions and DLC… Which, again, is the exact opposite of what a racing game needs (at launch) to keep players playing.
Assetto Corsa was not technically a GAAS, but it was dire upon release. Yet, it had garnered huge attention since its days of early access.
The competition has been doing GAAS as well, with good results. Most of GT Sport’s “free” DLC is returning cars from past Gran Turismo games, but it’s free and keeps players coming back. I don’t like it, as much as I don’t like seeing Playground waste the Car Pass with returning content, but it works, simply because it keeps the game on the news.
The Car Pass subject is actually one of the things that angers me the most about FH4. Right now it’s as if it’s better to be Game Pass user than Ultimate Edition user! You can live off redeemed codes and play the game for free, only grabbing DLC when it’s on sale. All we got in the UE was really the FD pack, which is useful as a bunch of cheat cars to clear the Drift Zones with and that’s it. Bond Pack is available separately, VIP is available separately… I must say that, upon release, I was wrong when praising the Car Pass: its current content is a fair bit weaker than what we had in FM7’s first couple of packs.