I just bought a one month subscription. Won't have time to try it tonight, but i'll report back! 
I don't think so.
I don't think it's right to have an opinion on something you know nothing about... hearsay is not a valid basis of opinion...
Neither is telling people to not participate in a forum. This is an LFS forum and this thread discusses iRacing. I think forum subject is greater than thread subject. Granted, people who have played iRacing more are probably better at actually contributing, but then again, most of us can't afford £232324354 a month to play a game.
Seems like a poor grasp of the concept of discussion that you have there.
I have a well-developed opinion of what iRacing means to me. It's well-qualified because it's my own opinion of iRacing, and nobody knows my opinion about iRacing better than me. If I choose to share that opinion then I will do so, most especially here on the LFS forum.
Accurate price quoting yet again
Seriously though, the 'price hung up' will always be there for people and thats something I've come to accept tbh, however I do think it's value for money and I can see the bigger potential with this sim. It has all the potential to be a great sim, but needs all the little thing around it for it to work, and like LFS it's an ongoing project.
For the record, I would play Iracing, but my pc is so feeble that I don't get any joy out of it. Give me a decent PC and I'll be on it all day with full content.
But the real life feel of steering offers little in terms of feedback, such as if the tires are at the limits, so typically games compromise realism in steering and audio feedback to compensate for the lack of forces felt in a real car.
We can read what others have posted else where such as the newsgroups.
Except that iRacing has choosen not to allow public access to their forums (somewhat unusual) so for non iRacing renters, public forums like LFS and newgroups like RAS (rec.autos.simulators) are the only viable alternatives. Hopefully someone at iRacing monitors the external stuff.
A lot of the discussions in this thread have been around some aspects of IRacing like, their price, their subscription model, their racing system, their different aproach to simracing in general and not about the software itself. Most of the information is available for anyone who wants to form an opinion about IRacing without having to try it. Besides that, I think that the discussion has been carried out in a civil way and with respect for the different views stated here... The fact that we can have this kind of discussion about IRacing in the LFS forum should be praised and not closed to only one side of the arguments or it would be better to close it here and let Iracing users and supporters carry on this thread in their own foruns.
True as far as audio compensation goes, but I don't think the more realistic games compensate in terms of FFB. I could be wrong there, of course. However, at least as far as I remember for example the iRacing Solstice feels very numb compared to all the other cars largely because of power steering.
It's a bit unfortunate that there's no public access, but identification and using real names has its benefits. I think Tim Wheatley from the iRacing staff has monitored and posted on external forums, probably as part of his job there.
I am still following this thread closely, out of interest for the adventure the iracing team has started.
When I log in here I am looking for the opinion of people who race or used to race in LFS and have rented iracing, and thus can bring forward a valid comparison between the 2 sims.
I am also looking for the posts of LFSers who have not even set a wheel into iracing, because a good percentage of the LFS community is composed of individuals with interesting views on racing sims, and a rare to find open-mindness, all that combined with the capacity to write proper English.
I am interested in what iracing will achieve and also a bit scared that if they succeed they may create a new trend. I still wish them good luck in the process, and without having tried the game I can say here on LFS forum that I disagree with the pricing policy and marketing show iracing created.
When I log in here I am looking for the opinion of people who race or used to race in LFS and have rented iracing, and thus can bring forward a valid comparison between the 2 sims.
I am also looking for the posts of LFSers who have not even set a wheel into iracing, because a good percentage of the LFS community is composed of individuals with interesting views on racing sims, and a rare to find open-mindness, all that combined with the capacity to write proper English.
I am interested in what iracing will achieve and also a bit scared that if they succeed they may create a new trend. I still wish them good luck in the process, and without having tried the game I can say here on LFS forum that I disagree with the pricing policy and marketing show iracing created.
Mille, you've entered dangerous waters here. Best watch from the shore.
iRacing said, for a year or more on their website before launch, that their pricing would appeal only to sim racers who were serious about the hobby. I think they've achieved that successfully. I wonder if they should have been more careful about what they wished for, though, because a lot of us who are serious about sim racing are not "iRacing-serious", when push comes to shove.
I think it's fair to glean from the radical changes that are being introduced to iRacing (and the popularity of the open racing that's been seen so far) that iRacing may have over-estimated peoples' willingness to rent content in order to participate in the system as they designed it.
Either the cost of content (purchase to rent), the rental (no pay, no play) structure or the core iRacing competition structure must be reviewed. Obviously with the introduction of open servers, they're opting for system structure changes to see if they'll get the people into iRacing before they'll consider revising the pricing structure. Perhaps we'll be waiting a long time before they catch on to the fact that the rental scheme they have is the single-most unattractive aspect of their product.
I'd love to race their tracks, I'd love to spend time checking out their cars. By ALL accounts, these are amazing. At the end of the day, though, these are not the reason that I'm not renting the product.
I think it's fair to glean from the radical changes that are being introduced to iRacing (and the popularity of the open racing that's been seen so far) that iRacing may have over-estimated peoples' willingness to rent content in order to participate in the system as they designed it.
Either the cost of content (purchase to rent), the rental (no pay, no play) structure or the core iRacing competition structure must be reviewed. Obviously with the introduction of open servers, they're opting for system structure changes to see if they'll get the people into iRacing before they'll consider revising the pricing structure. Perhaps we'll be waiting a long time before they catch on to the fact that the rental scheme they have is the single-most unattractive aspect of their product.
I'd love to race their tracks, I'd love to spend time checking out their cars. By ALL accounts, these are amazing. At the end of the day, though, these are not the reason that I'm not renting the product.
it is beta after all 
Indeed, but diversifying from the iRacing competition structure is a radical departure from the original product concept. It's not a stage of development, it's a change in direction.
as you see it... it's an expansion of the service to me!
Aside from the CTRA server (good job there, i must say), I can't think of more than a handful of races that haven't had a huge T1, or at least L1 wreck.
Also, people try harder I think in iRacing. It's an investment mentality... if you're putting something into the system, you want to get as much out as you can.
Also, while prices may rise/fall a little, the subscription model will never change. That comes from John Henry and Dave Kaemer themselves. Your subscription to the service is as much "dues" to the sanctioning body as it is payment for the game.
Also, people try harder I think in iRacing. It's an investment mentality... if you're putting something into the system, you want to get as much out as you can.
Also, while prices may rise/fall a little, the subscription model will never change. That comes from John Henry and Dave Kaemer themselves. Your subscription to the service is as much "dues" to the sanctioning body as it is payment for the game.
I've had PLENTY of races without big wrecks and restart-fests... If the quality of racing didn't decline greatly over this year I can't follow you... On the other hand: I've had quite some issues with CTRA back when I visited them with hot-headed people who desperately tried to win to gain points - and those haven't invested a single dime nor had they any form of prize (money) to strive for...
Just today I had a couple of good starts at [R-R], hell, I even did two demo races without incidents \o Maybe it's just bad luck. Full servers usually have a higher rate of drama than the slightly less populated ones, so they might be a place to look for clean races.
This is exactly what I'm talking about. Those first two sentences say it all. Why be so proud of the fact that you/they/people are falling right into the marketing trap, so proud of a system that guilts a user into trying harder to get value.
"Dues" to the sanctioning body? That's preposterous. Real life requires sanctioning bodies because there are legal, organizational, money matters to attend to. And why did you bring up "John Henry" and "Dave Kaemer"? Why recite their names? The pricing structure is the way it is because those two said so, and therefore need no justification? iRacing is just a game... a business and a piece of software. Honestly you (and many other defenders at RSC) are spouting iRacing gospel like a religious zealot, and it's very unattractive.
I'm not spouting anything. I've said it before, if it's not for you, its not for you....
Don't forget, iRacing was a $20,000,000 investment from the beginning. The "dues" recoup real life costs of continued development, of servers, of staff.
Your "marketing trap" comment sums you up. You have a dislike of the service already, so you aren't going to be too kind to it in your opinions. I didn't fall for a a damned thing. I know what I pay, and I know what I get out of it. I feel that the value in return is higher than the value invested, so it works for me. LFS was the only sim I ran for a LONG time once my nr2k3 serial got lost... and I have nothing but love for LFS, even though i don't play it anymore. I just don't play it because the differences make it difficult to jump back and forth. Add to that the 10 or so people I got on board with me in LFS... most of which went to iRacing with me... and I'm not some zealot.
You're automatically assuming that liking something and praising it is the same as zealotry. If your logic is true, then basing something because you like the competition better just makes you a sad fanboy...
Neither of those are true.
We both just have differing opinions. While I do feel it wrong that you have an opinion of something you haven't used... I'm not going to try to insult you in return.
As for mentioning JH and DK... in a word, yes. It's a busines, not a democracy. They don't have to justify the cost at all. Thats for the user to do. I mentioned them because they are both at the helm, and if they say it isn't going to change, it's not likely going to change.
You seem to have a lot of disdain for iRacing... which is sad. Prejudgment is rarely correct...
I like iRacing.
[runs for cover]
[runs for cover]
I think it's great also. you are welcome to hide with me behind the sofa Titan as long as you bring beer
:hidesbehi
It's impossible to say what their exact plans were before the public launch and how much they've changed since. As far as diversifying the system goes, even before sending the first invites they had the line in their FAQ that says "One of our highest priorities is to develop ways to fulfill requests for individual races and leagues."
I don't think the open practice servers are a much of a change in direction, as you can still only practice with others on the weekly scheduled tracks. The weekly fun races, on the other, could well have been.
As long as they can sustain the number of weekly active racers at least in the 2500-3000 range, I don't think they'll be reviewing their pricing policy until they have all the elements in place for the "Pro" series, as well as possibly some kind of a league support.
Lots of different opinions in here, some reasonable and some questionable. The marketing trap thing is questionable IMO. You have to think for a minute, if someone is willing to pay 156$ a year for a sim, they are going to want to get what they pay for. Since that is a steep amount compared to the norm (same price as LFS and a full slot/year server from 500servers), people are going to want to get much more from it. Another thing is RSC, we shouldn't even have to bring up that place into the conversation because it's known for having some ridiculous posts on there (for any sim/game).
Next thing that comes to mind is how you guys talk about how most updates that have come to iRacing has come after its release on purpose. Well content of course, because that's just an obvious reason why they would do that (bring in teh moneyz). But to me content isn't as important as small updates that they bring, in either updating a track/car's bug/feature, the interface, or some other option that helps out the community. Many of small updates were asked for in beta, and were released in beta, that many people didn't know about. Now, after releasing to the general public they still do helpful small patches like this. LFS, however, hasn't really done this.
Then you have the iRacing forum. Private yes, snobby no. I honestly haven't met any snobbish people on there yet (forum or in-game), if anyone else who has iRacing can send me a link to something in the forum that is snobby then please do so.
But yeah guys, keep posting your opinions, keeps me occupied when I am surfing the web bored.
I don't think a driver base of <5000 can possibly be enough to fund an employment base like iRacing's. Even if you throw away the $20M in development over the last 5 years as a write-off, that size of userbase is simply nowhere near enough to pay salaries and overheads. Even if all the 5000 subscribers were paying per month rather than annually, you're looking at $100K/month. FTR, that isn't enough.
There are actually Australians and Americans from the Deep South as well as Welshman, Northern Englishmen and yes even someone from Norfolk posting in the iRacing forums, now come on no matter what the forums cannot be regarded as snobby I can assure you. It is actually a surprise just to see so many people able to write that are from areas where certain exploits with a sheep are still legal.
Us Scots keep it real ofcourse with our drunken rants, skirt wearing and having to be at least married to said sheep before the inevitable.
This thread is closed
iRacing
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