Discussion: Strategy to increase SteamDB numbers

As always, I'm looking forward to the next monthly update. Someone in another thread mentioned that private lobbies don't show up in the lobby list, so it would be very interesting to know the percentage of offline/public lobby/private lobby players in the game on average.

I agree with everything @Kurupt CDN mentioned about multiplayer. I don't think it's too far off now though, as the time trial thing was mentioned a long time ago and in the November update they discussed how they are working with other MP rating systems.

The content creators all seem to like it (for the most part) and the AMS2 threads on RD of all places seem to be somewhat positive. So they need to keep polishing the game and adding in content. As for marketing, I don't know if anyone was involved in WMD for the pcars series, but a user there, JonZ made some incredible movies showcasing PC2:

I don't know the story but I think he fell out with SMS and stopped making movies but something like that for AMS2 would be cool.

 

Other sims are popular because they have popular content. That’s all there is to it unfortunately.

 

I suggested JonZ to Renato a while ago. He is certainly a talented simracing video creator. Reiza is well aware of the need for publicity, but time, resources and budget can make things difficult. Nevertheless, I look forward to seeing a Reiza advert on TV one day!

 

It's a big part, but it's not only that. rF2 has popular content (GT3, GTE, Modding support) but only a handful of people are still playing it. AC wouldn't be where it is today without Content Manager, CSP and SOL, even with all that content.

I think the three pillars are a solid base that holds everything together, well realized popular content so people want to play it and a competent multiplayer so streamers/Youtubers will pick it up and spread the good word. ACC and iRacing are the leading examples here. Everything else like solid single player, niche content and special features are the icing on the cake and the chance to make a game stand out, but it won't make it more popular.

 

So basically, we need the Ferrari GT3 car.

Don't you think we already have most of the popular sim racing content? From looking around online I can see that people like Zolder but other than that, we have the most popular ACC tracks + the Nordschleife!

There's a (very) good chance that the Ferrari license will sell more copies of the game, just look at PC2. However, it probably makes the most sense to release that content only after the solid base is there, as you don't want to bring in lots of new players only to have them complain about issues more than they rave about the experience.

Which isn't too far away, maybe 3 months? The 1.3 patch was a major update and they probably need another month to bring all the content to the current level. Of course in 3 months we'll probably have oval racing introduced, which will (of course) bring with it a bunch of new issues to solve. Once that's all sorted the base will be pretty strong (as it's decent now) and if the player count keeps creeping up maybe Ferrari isn't out of reach?

 

The reason rF2 isn't so popular with the masses is because of its horrible user experience, especially for new users. The UI is a mess, the loading is way too long (even after the last patch), the way content is handled is cumbersome and the fact you can't just pick it up and drive but need to tweak half the game in order to have a satisfactory experience is keeping people away. That and very inconsistent quality in its content.

A Ferrari license would help immensely, yes. Bring in the 488 GT3 and GTE and license a few F1 cars including a modern 2017-2021 F1. You saw how the W12 in iRacing caused a stir and drew in lots of new players. You can sell it separately as a Ferrari DLC pack, it'll sell.

 

I like the idea of a Ferrari DLC, not so much because I care about the 488 GTE/GT3, but for the publicity and new players it might bring, maybe opening them to the other content.
If their was such DLC, I'd like it to have at least 1 historic car.

 

I would describe these as critical

 

I would say before they put a huge step forward in the marketing area they need a 1.4 the tire update that focuses on adding more type compounds across the series e.g. Soft, mediums, hards. While also significantly incrementing tire damage both in types and visuals.

I predict additional significant passes on tc/abs assists, springs and areo in 1.5, 1.6 and 1.7 update passes.

 

It's always interesting talking to other people that are into sim racing but casually. They don't really have a strong voice online since they are generally not on the forums, don't follow YouTubers and probably don't pay attention to release notes, custom ffb files, etc.

I bring this up because I was talking to a few people at work who are into cars and most of them are not into racing at all. That doesn't mean they want arcade games (they all like and still play PC2). They are more into road cars, meaning F1, ACC and iRacing are definitely not appealing to them. Gran Turismo and classic Top Gear are generally what got them into cars and both PC2 and AC have decent road car selections. I give the nod to AC since I have a soft-spot for Japanese cars and their Japanese Car Pack was nearly perfect, too bad they couldn't get Honda.

Road cars are tough to add since there are so many compared to race cars. However, given that we are currently in the era of electrification, (imho) old road cars are better than new road cars for sim racing, meaning Reiza can rely on hindsight (and nostalgia) to please the fans. Every age group from every region has a list of hero cars, which if you make a list end up numbering in the hundreds lol (everyone loves wishlists).

The people I mentioned above were looking forward to PC3 because of the road car tuning aspect they added but they were disappointed by everything else (compared to PC2) and avoided it. Their favorite activity in PC2 is road cars on the Nordschliefe.

 

If anyone is wondering why they don't stick to Gran Turismo, they stick to PC2 because of the following:
not a huge interest in multiplayer (so leave out GT Sport)
qualifying in single player (you don't have to drive like a maniac from the back)
better sounds (cars don't sound like bathtubs when they collide)
better graphics
customizable weather
more tracks
etc.

 

Well the good news is that I think road cars are on the agenda for AMS2, the VW virtus/polo and the vintage-touring class 1 were good starts and the street supercars is scheduled for next year

 

Yeah definitely, the vintage classes are always great as even though some are racecars they are close enough to street cars, unlike modern racecars which are nothing like their roadgoing equivalent. Most people probably run slicks/semi-slicks on roadcars in GT, Forza and AC anyway so vintage touring (and GT4 to an extent) is good fun for roadcar fans.

 

A few thing required before the masses flock to the game (IMHO), now that some of the major physics issues have been rectified.
1. Driver swap in multiplayer. To allow for endurance racing.
2. Additional Cars for GT3 (Ferrari, Bentley, Audi, Lambo. Plus Lexus & Acura (Honda), would
be nice points of difference to every other GT3 sim.
3. Another big series. Either TCR or LeMans, would attract a big audience.
(Personally, I would like to see Reiza get a licence for the Australian (& NZ) Supercars Series).
4. A few more well known circuits: e.g. Le Mans, Fuji, Bahrain, Phillip Island, Baku, Sepang, and say Sebring.
5. An array of classic 60s/70's sportscars/formula cars. There are a few, but if those were expanded on, I think the classic racers would love it.
I'm sure there are a few other things that would help, but that would increase participation rates no end.

 

1. Agreed. Also, add mid-race saves (singleplayer) while they're at it.
2. We should be getting more GT3 cars soon. I hope the Senna connection will get Honda on-board and hopefully the Brazilian Stock Car connection will help with Toyota/Lexus.
3. TCR South America would fit perfectly...
4. I really hope Le Mans is the 6th track. After that though, I don't think we will get any more road courses as they don't fit the remaining DLCs.
5. One can dream...this is also why I hope the 6th track is Le Mans, as that would justify adding vintage sportscars. I think they'll continue to expand the vintage formula cars, as the historic track packs present a good opportunity to bring more vintage content into the game.

 

I’d focus more on GTE instead of GT3, as ACC has those pretty much nailed down.

AMS2 has more polish, better FFB (opinion) and better official content than rF2 except for the Le Mans and Sebring tracks and with the snail pace development of rF2 Reiza has all the tools to attract rF2 players to AMS2. It just needs some more big name brands and tracks (Le Mans and Ferrari must haves).

 

Modern and historic Le Mans in AMS2? Where do I pay?

 

And the online experience in RF2 is a disaster

 

Reiza's marketing is null and it's not their fault, just a small studio limitation.

A game as Halo Infinity have at least 50% of it's budget used to marketing. More popular mobile games use even more (usually more than 90%). Reiza uses it's own playerbase in a niche stile (simulation) inside a niche genre (racing).

They may try to chase the tendencies, like multiplayer, big open road maps (as part of the game, not it's focus), try to help mod community and stuff like that. But the easier way, IMHO, is to simple boost their community, as ACC did. I don't know about this VW/Acelerados e-sport partnership, but they can both earn some money and boost AMS2 popularity if they divebomb into e-sports. Apparently they are going in this direction and fells good.