Back in the day, i was searching for a no-nonsense driving sim. I found racer, tried it, tried it some more and, with my spirit beaten, gave up on the idea.
A friend of mine got a whiff of racer and while i had given up hope, he continued trying and searching. At some point, he showed me something that according to him was better than racer and it was lfs. I looked at him doing a lap or two and it did not seem groundbreaking to me. Oh well. He liked it and, from what i remember, he told me he bought it. A year later, i was playing nfs. and i thought, what the hell, this is sorta fun, i gotta get myself a wheel... and i bought the momo racing one. Gave up nfs, because the wheel would center while the car was standing still. That was enough reason for me.
I remembered what my friend had shown me and i promptly downloaded and played the demo. I liked it a lot... and i called my buddy and asked him if i could check out the full version. He told me, ok, just don't get online. Fine, fine. He explained to me the whole unlocking deal and it seemed pretty reasonable. He was (and still is) S1 licensed. 5 minutes later, my ears were grinning. some time later i was S2 licensed. not a second thought not a single moment of hesitation. My friend's name is silencer51.