I have to agree with you that the speed of development is far to slow and people are leaving,
Mid way through last year after having 8 open servers for several years, (i pay for them up front for the year) i emailed the devs desperately asking that they did something to help keep interest and to add more content to save our leagues, at the same time asking if i was just wasting my time with servers.
I didnt even get an answer.
I spend much more each year on servers (and others do also) than any of us ever paid for LFS and lets be fair its the servers that allow us to race.
So ConeDodgers now only have 4 servers and we race on Thursday nights using one track (Changes every week) and 3 or 4 sets of cars. Its great fun but we are getting about 8 people, its hopeless.
When i joined LFS it was the best there was but its hardly changed, most of the updates are minor items that online racers dont use or care about.
Our teem have tried GTR Evo and the excitement was over in 2 weeks.
We have 2 servers on nKPro which is a fantastic sim to drive but very few racers around and it has a long way to go.
So we will just have to wait for LFS to be updated and watch the forum fill up with these posts every week.
The devs should be aware that they have a fantastic following that they could lose it for lack of telling us what is going on.
I have said it hundreds of times, regular new content is the only way to keep it fresh.
I was with Tiscali and had similar issues a while ago, i moved to Sky and it was cured for 4 weeks when it started happening between 7:00pm and 9:00pm, I then changed to entanet and its been ok
Check if your router is close to a sky box, that can cause problems as can a cordless phone nearby, they need to be at least 3 mtrs away.
However saying all that i bet its something Mr Gates has some part in
Now to the serious problem
In SparkyDave's case, sorry mate but there is nothing can be done about 3 females in one house. You could try earplugs, getting a garden shed, The UN may be able to help or you could announce you are gay ......... It may work but not for long.
The only other thing you could try is GIVE THEM A CREDIT CARD, you will find that they will all vanish so you can race. But this only helps until you run out of money.
I think this says just how much frustration there is about the lack of real developement. The devs have said what they are doing and why, and everyone understands that, however it has to be possible for them to keep a frustrated forum more informed of how its going.
As it is they seem to be saying that good old classic "The cheque is in the post" and after a while that wears a bit thin.
As to "Go and race other sims" people have.
My old boss used to say, "If someone moans to you, always treat it as a compliment."
What he was saying was those who moan/complain have at least taken the time to say something, that they care about your company or product and want to support it, they will tell others about it.
The customers who say nothing are the ones who never come back and they will say bad things about it in private.
Saying all of that its clear the devs take no notice at all of our frustrations and have made it clear "It will be done when it done"
We have already closed down 4 of our LFS servers and opened up 2 on nKpro while we wait. Leguna Seca, Spa, Silverstone and Snetterton are just great tracks dont you think.......... But it would be great to race LFS again very soon
Racing games seem to hold their own as far as computer games.
Computer games dying, no way, the numbers just dont show that
30 million xbox, 25 million ps3, 51 million Wii and who nows how many pc's sold proves that.
Some of the developers spend millions on developement every year. The LFS team have done well but now the development is slowing because
1) they have been doing it for a long time,
2) what they need to program to make big steps forward is much harder
3) they have more players to satisfy.
One thing is for sure, if you goto one of the servers where you can select a track and all cars and race a rare combo, other racers will join.
There are 100's of servers that run other combos, CD runs 4 that you can select on entry. Whats missing is racers who want to race on them.
For years CD1 was the AS3/GTR server and you may think that its just changed over to AMG when in fact very few of the AMG racers are the old CD1 racers.
Notice how many on you list are Demo, and mark my words on the day Rockinham, the new physics or the VWS come out there will be loads full and they will all be running the new combo
Sorry to say i find it difficult to line up the time with other peoples times so pickup racing is all i can manage at the moment, But thanks for the info
Its strange how this type of post comes up over and over again, its as if people think it will make a difference. Face facts, it will not change a thing. The speed of development is painfully slow and chasing the devs will do nothing to speed it up, but its still the the best game for £ per hour i have ever purchased.
I have run servers (CD) for several years and slowly watch players stop racing, yet the number of players in total stay about the same. Demo players still out numbers Licensed players, and number of servers out number demo and licensed players added together.
Even on this forum many of the active posters never use LFS yet still insist to have thier say.
We all want the old days back, with full grids and great racing, in fact i would like to be 40 years younger but it just "aint gonna happen"
Due to getting bored of waiting i recently purchased v1.1 of nKpro for 19e and its latest physics are better (imo) than LFS but there are 12 servers and the most i have seen on them at one time so far is 7 players, normally its 1.
I have done a few races on nKpro and everyone i have met so far have been LFS players and all they talk about is lack of development on LFS
As to LFS, strange how people dont use it, but would miss it if it was no longer there.
I think the last real update was Dec 2007, it always makes the highest number of forum visitors jump, the patches since have added next to nothing.
One thing is for sure if the devs dont get some NEW CONTENT soon LFS may well be doomed.
I think that a lot of racers are trying other sims and other games.
The CD team has waited for this way overdue update for so long that we (like a lot of others) just dont bother with LFS.
Many are racing Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park and other track on other sims.
I pay for 8 LFS servers that are open to all yet I have not been on them for weeks, these run out in November and i shall not renew them, after all i can use the 500 other empty ones.
Its such a pity that the devs just do not listen to the regulars and those who "want" to use LFS but the fact is they dont, and gamers will only stand being bored for a short time.
I think a regular update, say every 3 months would keep LFS fresh but i am sorry to say its dead at the moment.
I for one would pay for more content.
LFS is by the easiest Sim out there (to use that is) but the content is just so out of date, something i hope will change but i doubt it.
Say what you like, all i want is Franky to do what he says
I have been with him for several years and pay up front (year in advance) so i know all his bad points and his good.
All i have ever asked is for 500Servers to answer my emails or questions when there is a problem, but as they do not i have to post here and involve the whole of LFS in what should be done from supplier to customer and i think thats fair.
If you had 8 servers each with LFSBuddy so 16 with 8 you cant see in the CP and there is an error that we are told will be fixed this morning but its still the same, in the afternoon, please tell me what you would do.
Any new content, car, track etc would cure 90% of the moans.
Well for a few weeks anyway.
Several teams and series have closed recently and this in 99% due to lack of new content and i cant see CD using LFS next year if something does not happen soon.
Great post, i just hope the devs read it as the rate of developement is now past a joke.
We have all said it so many times, numbers jump when there is an update. I think iRacing have got this about right in that they anounce something every few weeks, a track, car, update, or something and this just keeps the buzz alive.
Small and often rather than the long wait. Look at the interest when there is a test patch but this time whats happened
To be fair CD would have already closed years ago if it was just about speed of developement but where do you go as the other sims are just not as good.
One thing that gets to me is all the work Team leaders, leagues organisers, server operators Etc put in but never a word of thanks from LFS
The website is out of date, and maybe LFS is dead but even dead its still the best sim.