Except lots of professional racers are obligated to promote their own game (i.e. I doubt EA/NASCAR is going to allow Dale Earnhardt Jr to promote irental even if he does fully support it).

The more I think about it, the more off-putting it is that I would have to wait weeks or months (and 15-30 extra $s) to race the SR8 Radical if I ever subscribed.

Lastly, I really do have to agree with one of Monty's points, it's 2008 (halfway through no less). Sim racing (as a whole) does not have terribly much to show from the past 3 years. irental promises to bring at least a little of what's been missing for very long, and Hopefully LFS will match and again surpass what irental offers.

Quote from Shotglass :

can you establish a community on a system that makes it near impossible to race with friends?

The developers are currently looking into making the service such that private leagues/races can be setup by individuals. This was one of the most important feature that I thought iRacing didn't have that made LFS and similar sims so much better in terms of community feel.

Sure, in the current system, you'll develop another group of friends, but with so many of the current beta testers coming from several different sim backgrounds, I can't see how the iR devs could leave the private league feature out for very long.

Quote from Mackie The Staggie :

Just a quick question. Regarding the bonus dollars that you get when subscribing to Iraing, is that a one of, or a constant bonus?

IIRC everytime you subscribe/resubscribe you get the iRacing dollars. I was actually trying to test something to see if you could 'manipulate' the system in a way by changing your subscription.

Quote from Shotglass :

can you establish a community on a system that makes it near impossible to race with friends?

I have had no problem racing with friends.

Quote from Intrepid :

That may be the case. But from my experience people don't like to be nannied, and like the freedom to do it their way.

There's nothing inviting about having to pay for a demo of the game. You can't even try before you buy. Any race driver worth his salt would want to try it before investing any money into it. they'll also probably soon get frustrated with having to drive slow cars for however long you have to.

It's structure is there to help noobs, except it will probably have the oppostie effect,

All speculation of course, and at the very least iRacing has produce a decent phsyics model from what I hear. But IMO the market is no where NEAR developed enough,

I hope no one reads your stuff seriously.

Quote from PMD9409 :

I hope no one reads your stuff seriously.

Wow, what a constructive and coherent argument you place there.

Quote from Shotglass :

can you establish a community on a system that makes it near impossible to race with friends?

You even have a friends list in iracing which allocates all friends together in races when possible according to their iracing of course, although I think higher irating drivers can race in lower fields anyway.

Quote from Intrepid :

That may be the case. But from my experience people don't like to be nannied, and like the freedom to do it their way.

If that means doing it your way - judging from what I saw when I last bumped into you online in LFS - I'm all for the nannying.

Kev, please get 5 testicles or GTFO.

Quote from bbman :

And as sinbad said, once you're in, you're stuck with it, either because of the already invested money or the commitment you have to make when you first rent...

A situation also known as vendor lock-in, or "having the customer by the balls".

Quote from wsinda :

A situation also known as vendor lock-in, or "having the customer by the balls".

and their legs, arms, throat... biggest of all access to their wallets

Quote from Shotglass :

can you establish a community on a system that makes it near impossible to race with friends?

I hear that was Montoya's biggest complaint when he switched to NASCAR - he couldn't race with his friends anymore.

Quote from Ball Bearing Turbo :

Kev, please get 5 testicles or GTFO.

You're a christian and you swored! I'm telling mom!

(I considered lying and saying I only have one testicle to make you feel guilty but then realised this is the internet and a dozen others would jump in with photos of Adolf Hitler)

Quote from Monty :

Rfactor with ancient converted tracks that are not accurate, physics that are hit and miss and developed in notepad?

rFactor isn't all converted tracks. It has the first and only publicly available laser scanned track in a racing sim, and unlike the iRacing tracks when they are released it doesn't cost $15. Hate to break it to you but most sim physics are pretty simple with a few variables that can be changed in notepad, although most sims encrypt them so it is very difficult to find them. I'll give it to you though the vast majority of rF content is frankly rubbish, but trends are changing and more mods are being developed which are starting to take advantage of the engine.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

If that means doing it your way - judging from what I saw when I last bumped into you online in LFS - I'm all for the nannying.

You said it

but by that time you've ended your subscription you have already paid double, maybe triple the cost of any other sim!

Quote from Whitmore :

With a standard game/sim once you've paid - that's it (except perhaps when it comes to buying the next title). But with iRacing if they don't deliver then you just end your subscription.

Then iRacing at least got a month of subscription fee. With a standard sim, if it doesn't deliver the customer will only download the free demo, so the developer gets no money at all.

Whitmore - Well, yes and no. If LFS development were to stop, I'd still be able to play in three years time and that wouldn't cost me any more than what I've already paid. I've already had my fun from LFS so I've got nothing to lose.

Quote from Intrepid :

but by that time you've ended your subscription you have already paid double, maybe triple the cost of any other sim!

One month trial $20 (highly unlikely that you'll need to get extra content)

$20 at current exchange rate is £10.13(ish). Which is equal to a couple of pints less at the pub, or ignoring a takeout from the local Curryhouse.

Sure it's not a free demo, but in this throwaway society, £10 for a months trial is not that much when you have people spending £40+ on Sky a month, or spending £50 on a night out getting p****d and running risk of getting jumped.

BTW beer is not,and never is, essential, unless you have my former gf, then I will send you the supply I never used.

Quote from Bob Smith :

Whitmore - Well, yes and no. If LFS development were to stop, I'd still be able to play in three years time and that wouldn't cost me any more than what I've already paid. I've already had my fun from LFS so I've got nothing to lose.

Not 100% true

It would require the devs to add and take away some of the features to make LFS work without teh master server

Quote from Hyperactive :

EDIT: btw, is the SK modified of any use on road tracks?

Quote from banshee56 :

Nope, the SK Modifed is a purpose built oval racer. Very low CG, chassis is offset to the left, huge horsepower and very wide rubber. Some of the early modifieds had the engine mounted offset to the left also, but the SK is modeled after modern modifieds.

Have you tried it? I mean, is it just bad or what. The car itself has some nice properties although the oval pureness of it might make it unsable on road tracks as you say

Quote from Mackie The Staggie :

$20 at current exchange rate is £10.13(ish). Which is equal to a couple of pints less at the pub, or ignoring a takeout from the local Curryhouse.

well yes... but its also almost enough to pay for a s1 licence

also youre ignoring that what you get for that money is the amazing opportunity to testdrive a solstice for 1 month... or to put it more bluntly you get jack excrements unless you fork out another 15$ for a radical which youre then allowed to drive on your own unless you pay another ~60$ for 3 more months and another 50-100 for the 2 formulas and tracks you need to compete on to even be able to go online with the radical
with that kind of money you could buy an s2 licence a nkp license rfactor rbr and just about everything simbin and blimey ever did... and all that without somebody telling you when and how to enjoy your purchase

i really cant understand why people are happy to put up with their system... in terms of other subscription based games its like only being allowed to kill boars for the next week... the only positive is that sooner or later it will be baby seal poaching week

I can fully understand why people are willing to pay for iRacing.

People are still looking legitimise sim racing, and somehow spending x amount of dollars a month will go someway to prove to themselves they aren't wasting their time on a computer game. So when someone asks about sim racing they can boast about how it's isn't a game because 'actually you have to pay quite a lot to race in a top sim it's really quite serious'

Also, it's exclusivity. The idea your in your own clan of like minded people, dedicated to sim racing racing and all that....

Whether the sim is any good or not really doesn't matter as much as people are making out. Let them waste their cash trying to convince themselves they are doing something 'serious', while we can chill and enjoy our sims without having to watch -££ on paypal every moneth

I imagine a lot of them are paying for it because it's got the best driving physics out there.

I am sure that's what a lot of people are telling themselves!

Possibly, or maybe you are telling yourself the opposite.

I don't mind paying for tracks. in rFactor I have quite often sent a donation to the track builder as a contribution for their hard work. To me that's fair!

Quote from Mackie The Staggie :

Just a quick question. Regarding the bonus dollars that you get when subscribing to Iraing, is that a one of, or a constant bonus?

You get the bonus every time you renew your subscription, not just the first time.