I don't really understand why people have to defend their decision of subscribing to iRacing. For me it's definately worth the money and it even managed to make me fall in love with ovals.
You could make same comparison saying that G25 is overpriced when DFP has almost the same features. It's just about how much are you willing to interest in your hobby.
There is no right or wrong decision, it's up to the individual to decide if its overpriced or not.
I spent £200 on a GPS watch, and I think it's good value, my missus however, doesn't, but she doesn't flinch at spending £50 on a handbag, which I think is mental.
Garmin 405? Bought that too and really helped with motivation atleast, doubled my weekly mileage since i bought it. Good job in the latest 10k race btw!
Looks like iRacing added an additional bonus if you take the whole 1 year subscription, so the total bonus is 60$+15$. Not much anymore.
Back on topic, I think if you have time in your life for lots of sim racing, then iRacing is good value, I have said it before, I think we are spoilt with LFS.
If I had the time to commit to iR, then I would pay for it, but I don't, I maybe get 2 hours a week to play racing sims, so it wouldn't be good value for me.
After playing iRacing for 2 months, i have to say that has a lot of better FFB than LFS, a lot of better tracks and surface
But physics are like and rFactor very improved, but worse than LFS physics. Only problem with LFS physics is the slide in tires, the rest is the best in simulation games.
I want to shell it, my anual subscription cars and tracks
I think it was great. The simulation and physics were really really good, close/equal/better then LFS, i cant choose.
But i just did not like the system. Its too RL. LFS is still my number one to play. Quick, Simple and physics wise, realistic. iR just goes a bit too far.
TBH paying for 3 people to watch a movie (with refreshments) is in no way comparable to paying out month after month for a rent a sim. The only true comparison can be made against other sims. i.e. like for like.
So if iracing is $90 for 6 months & you play it for 3 years thats gona set you back, ooh well over $400.
LFS over the same period = $45
Rfactor over the same period = $47
The question is?, Is iRacing really Ten times better than any other sim on the market?? Sim racers, You decide.
It's just a matter of how much do you want to spend on your hobby. Sure, it's not cheap but for me it's simply the best all-around package and why should I go for something less that I won't enjoy as much. I just don't have the time and patience to search for LFS or rFactor leagues that could get me into some good racing while I can have that any time I want in iRacing while rating system makes sure that I'm racing against people of my level.
If price is your main criteria, it's not for you. Simple as that.
What matters is not whether or not this is the case, but whether the value of the experience you get from iRacing exceeds the price you pay to obtain that experience, and it does for me. What that basically means is "yes, it's worth it".
iRacing is not 10x better than LFS, or rFactor or whatever. It's just really good, and regardless of the price, it still gives surplus value. The pricing is just not for everybody - it practically requires a great deal of dedication, devotion and time. If you're the kinda guy that just wants to have some fun racing online every once in a while there's no point to iRacing. If you want to have high-quality racing in a competitive setting which matches you with drivers of similar skill (no lapping people twenty times in a race because they can't control their cars) and generally love to compete - it's just excellent value for money!
The races in the higher levels are just like that: super-clean and 95% of the people are generally very considerate. I know I can get a fairly similar experience in leagues, but these are the type of races we get every day - almost whenever we want. That combined with the integrated league system is what makes it worth the €95 I paid (for a year)