Discussion: Strategy to increase SteamDB numbers

There are dedicated threads for specific issues and suggested features. The purpose of this post is to specifically discuss increasing the SteamDB numbers. There was a recent Race Department article which touched on this topic but they curiously left out Project Cars 2...which is just as popular as both rF2 and RRRE.

If we could swap numbers with PC2 and skim 25% from both RRRE and rF2, that would be around 1200 players, 2000 isn't out of the question if people come over from ACC too.

I think once the average peak count reaches 1000 it will start to grow steadily. I hope the next patch and DLC will provide a permanent boost to the numbers this time. Racin' USA Pt.1 gave us a 6-week boost to nearly 500 peak players before dropping back down to ~350.

Here are the numbers from 11/25/2021 22:00 UTC:


Here is the PC2 leaderboard, AMS2 already most of the popular content (other than Ferrari):
Project CARS 2 PC Leaderboards

If anyone could find something similar for ACC it would be interesting to discuss their most popular content. As AMS2 matures I think that will be the battle to follow.

 

Looking at the online lobbies in ACC it's safe to assume it'll be Ferrari/Aston/Boatley and Monza

So AMS2 would need Ferrari licence (Aston already confirmed in plans) and we'll reach ACC player levels (5k+)

 

I believe if automobalista can focus on historic content niche it will fill in just nicely. While I know it’s supposed to have a sticker book / survey of racing types approach, I can’t help but feel it could play a key role in reviving historic racing from gt legends, gtr/gtr2 FIA GT racing, Grand Prix, etc. bring in and fill out that 1960-1990s range of racing series and championships that are quite under served these days outside of mods.

 

I think next patch + Racing USA DLC Pt2 will give AMS2 a boost.. at least for a while. Next logical step would be to improve MP significantly, with easy to find scheduled races and a rating system.

There also people that exclusively play AMS2 Beta (early backers) that are never counted in the steam numbers, since the beta has a different steam id (ie different game). I do not know how many players that is on average, but it could well be 50-100.

 

Hoping the 1.3 update is the game changer that AMS2 needs.
Reiza's willingness to address key issues (tyres & physics in this case)
should hopefully be rewarded if they get it right...

 

• Release the gameplay features people have been asking all along (MPRS, career mode)
• Provide more support for sim racing influencers on social media (giveaways, promotional events etc.)
• Fix the controller driving and improve the device calibration from its current state
• Release informational material combatting the misinformation about the game
• Broaden the content with free-roam maps and drift cars/tracks
• Stop having the Beta be 1-2 weeks ahead of Release, splitting the player base

 

AMS2 is in a bit of a pickle when it comes to attracting new players as it's always been a bit of a niche in the sim world. The general public wants big brands in popular series on high profile tracks and that's a bit lacking in AMS2 at the moment. Reiza can invest in licensing big brands and high profile tracks, but in order to pay for the licensing people need to buy the DLCs which isn't guaranteed because of AMS2' "niche" image it has.

 

looking at the online lobbies in AC it's Nürburgring Touristenfahren with Road cars. Thats also strong with PCARS2, but there you are usually free to choose any car for that purpose. But only AC has an authetic layout for Touristenfahren.

 

I like the idea about filling the historic niche. I have a feeling that GPLaps is going to love the new DLC and after he makes a video showcasing it I hope it leads to a sizable increase.

Now that AI customization is about to go live, it seems to have given extra motivation to the skin creators. I look forward to downloading skinpacks and custom championships that others have created for the community. This will really benefit the historic cars, as the iconic liveries we all think of are generally 30+ years old.

It looks like at any given time, of the people playing the game, only 20% are playing online. The multiplayer contingent is definitely the loudest though, no question about that and the features they are requesting (mostly admin/host-control related) will probably lure people away from other titles that might not be as easy to setup. When that happens, along with historic Nürburgring (which is going to be incredible), I foresee the historic racing leagues from AC starting to host weekly AMS2 events.

For offline play I think it's all coming together now (AI improvements, custom championships, physics, etc.). I'm sure a future patch next year will add a PC2-style career to the main game, people seemed to like it (so much so that someone on RD created something similar for AC). However, it would be really cool if the Brazilian Champions DLC included a story-driven campaign in addition to new content...

 

AC is a special case compared to all the other games on the list. You can find a group to race with that focuses purely on your specific interest, whatever it may be and there is nothing else like it. Anyone into drifting won't find anything better, same goes for highway cruising, touge and freeroam.

The hardcore GT3/Endurance sim racers probably moved on long ago but the hardcore open wheel fans don't really have anywhere else to go (specifically the leagues that race F1 tracks and the RSS cars).

However, Nürburgring track days will be better in AMS2 once the Street Supercars DLC comes out . Maybe we'll get the Touristenfahren layout too?

For me personally, AMS2+AC check all the boxes and get all my sim time. Eventually BeamNG will add a career and that will be fun to play through. I couldn't get into RF2 or ACC and I don't like RRRE's business model.

 

I think 1.3 did its job

 

The 1.3 patch is really good. Someone in the patch thread mentioned the BT46 on the Nürburgring so I tried that combo and was impressed. I also gave the Formula Vintage cars spin around Monaco and was equally impressed. I did a race online and didn't realize it was mostly AI until the end lol.

Way back in the April update they mentioned that Time Trial of the Week would be returning from AMS1. I think that will give a nice boost to the player count, especially if they tie directly into hosted multiplayer races (that are hopefully coming soon).

 

On the multiplayer side would like to see some popular servers emerge that run sprint races. A few servers that regularly get busy and attract players who want to quickly jump online and play.
I'm thinking session lengths like 10Q/15R or 15Q/20R and car track rotations with a mix of the popular stuff and some variety. Maybe a combo changing each day if that can be done in the dedicated server config.
Today on ACC you'll quickly find 15Q/20R sessions with a lot of players. Raceroom similar story with ranked 8Q/15R sessions that get busy in the evenings at least in Europe region.

 

Yeah, I think 20 minutes max is good for most people (15 sounds even better though), let the leagues handle the longer races.

What would also be cool is a way to pre-qualify so you can just jump in and start the race. If you ran events for a week like SRS does, you could use them in time trial and let that count as qualifying for specific "quick race" servers.

It would be an interesting test to see which servers were more popular, qualifying tied to time trial (otherwise you start at the back) or real qualifying. For the same car/track combo of course.

 

Some suggestions:
-weekly events: weekly time trials with specific car/track combinations, weekly online races where one can simply jump-in in a lobby and be matched against players of similar online rating.
-esports/online championship: having an online championship with races every week and streaming those races could help promote the game.
-achievements: I know some people don't care about these but for offline players having achievements that work properly can be a good reason to keep playing the game.
-career mode: this is supposed to be implemented at some point, if done properly it will definitely attract more players.

 

Well well well
We may be up to something tonight!