What do you think is the most significant reason AMS2 userbase is so small?

let’s say they really aren’t interested or don’t have the money to make MP correct. The single player Ai is terrible and trying to run a race with them is a nightmare. After 4-5 restart sessions, it’s get old and shut it down. You’d think they’d have that dialed in pretty well, but no.

 

Only Kunos in ACC era and the two console big studios (Polyphony and Turn 10) have money to really make difference in marketing (specially Plph and T10... way ahead from Kunos). Even iRacing practically have no marketing. PC racesim scene was always like that.

Personally, I don't know what they could do and can't say that Reiza is not doing right about it. Just pointed that their marketing is null as if I'm doing a Captain Obvious roleplay, lol

Can't agree about AMS2 AI being anything less than good. It's not the best, but is a TOP2 or 3 with easy. Just a little bunch of car/track combos that need some love.

What I believe is that a game should have a game. There is no engaging offline mode and the MP is considerably primitive. I don't know if Reiza can't or is just not interested in doing it, but in Race Department there is an amazing career app for AMS2 (that is close to what I see as ideal and engaging... way better than GT, Forza and even PCARS2 career modes... that are completely manure, IMHO) called Racing Life. The game will complete three years since 1.0 and still don't have not even a bad career mode and not a merely primitive multiplayer. I think that I'm not asking too much for a professional studio, that isn't in it's first release, to do things that amateurs already aced (considering the RSR online environment for AC and this career app for AMS2).

iRacing physics are bad, the AI from AC is a shame and ACC is not that much better... these three games are some undisputed successes... so, AMS2 can't need some miracle to get there.

 

I'm not saying they should waste development resources on marketing... Not in the slightest...

However you do know exactly what they should be focussed on to get that word of mouth into the mostly positive end of the scale...

One or the other would work brilliantly in moving the needle to the positive...

Although I will say that a up to date MP experience would move the needle the most... Mostly because all of the cars and tracks of a popular series would be needed to move the needle in the SP market enough IMHO...

 

I can tell you the correlation is not true as far as ACC is concerned. The content that Kunos have put out there in GT3 and GT4, different specs of cup cars including the ferrari challenge evo and the Huracan super trofeo, along with best in class laser scanned tracks and a VERY, VERY, VERY well BoP'd GT3 and GT4 class. This is what makes ACC so popular. The content is great, the physics are very true to life with regard to weight loading and steering feel. I can also do multi class endurance racing and save at any point and continue on from where I left off. I can do a Spa 24 hour, in a true 24 hour format. I can do 3 or 4 real life seasons of SRO GT Challenge (sprint or endurance), I can do a European GT4 championship or a British GT championship (mixed grid og GT3 and GT4. So don't come out saying ACC is far worse in content. Quite the opposite, and all AI is balanced across all cars and tracks.
So rather than making these assumptions, let's see what Reiza can learn from Kunos.

For AMS2 to take it to the next level in terms of users, there are a few things that need to be worked on. A more balanced AI to get offline players hooked.
A better BOP across classes, else, what's the point in having classes.
Mid race saves - allows users to get taken in offline in endurance or long format races/race weekends, before going online.
Mid race offline driver swaps for endurance races.

All this being said, I love AMS2 for what it is, a great sim with good quality content that just needs some tweaking. I play all the sims except IR, and at this point in time, ACC just nails everything correctly in its target genre. This single focus on GT racing and cup cars is what has helped it become so refined.
With AMS2, there is such a spread of random cars and classes, which is great for driving and sampling different cars, but is also a large step for Reiza to try balance all of these classes and cars across all tracks.

 

Haven't opened AMS2 since RF2 was added to LFM

 

That is the advantage of a very very very canned physics where you can make the same car do two different things in the same conditions in different tracks. The same car is different by track in ACC. That is not what simulation is about and anyway it is impractical in a sim with hundreds of tracks.
Having very much the same car across the entire sim with some small physics adjustments gives obvious benefits from this point of view.
Also, people tend to confuse "graphics true to life" with physics "true to life": they are not the same thing though humans tend to associate a lot more visuals with truth because vision is undoubtably the strongest of our senses together with touch.
IMHO what ACC does great is the "environment": the track, the car, the hands doing stuff, the sound (although some sounds are clearly edited to make them feel more "glorious"), the re-creation of the "season" and the format of SRO races, the mechanics of this racing (from the two races weekend to the rolling start to some of the color touches like brake discs and pads consumption) and stuff like that.
There are many things there that AMS2 could "rip", but I would also say those things would be more relevant/important in the future when some more of the basics are fixed.
When it comes to physics and FFB IMHO things in ACC are not at all that great, but on the other side Kunos has enjoyed a great deal of money, marketing and advertising by SRO and Fanatec and have invested heavily in streamers and content creators at all levels and that shows how powerful a tool is MP in combination with being in good relations with big content creators.
I also must note that more recently on twitch the amount of ACC streaming/streamers have dropped a lot. Most of the streamers that were on ACC and I was following aren't streaming anymore or aren't streaming ACC anymore. So I believe the hype is going down quite a bit, probably due to lack of variety and people getting bored out of that.

 

Op
What do you think is the most significant reason AMS2 userbase is so small?

They have not tried it lately and seen the light.
+ Update to come will shed more light to be seen.

 

Can we have some spoilers please?

 

I don't buy this idea.

I believe new people try the game all the time, but AMS2 doesn't have the hook factor as I explained before. Neither SP nor MP are in a good state, which means very few people want to invest time in the game.

After all, in a racing game people usually want to race, be it offline or online.

If we look at the competition, at least they provide a good MP, so people can just ignore their poor AI. With AMS2 it is not possible, as MP is far too unreliable, and AI is far too inconsistent.

Yes, AMS2 AI is better than the rest (maybe not iRacing's? idk, never tried too much), but that doesn't mean it is a marvel as some seem to so strongly defend throughout this forum.

Again, it is not my opinion, but a fact: just take a sneak peek at the AI feedback thread.

 

I’m no iracing fan boy but their Ai is much better. You can also adjust each Ai individually. He we had a # not it’s low med high, and isn’t as good as it was. I run from 105 to 110 and I’ve tried low high and med and all seem to be driving with a patch over my eye and a Coke bottle thickness on the other. Someone posted a voice the Ai is one of the better ones, what are you comparing too, simcade “games”

 

No problem I did not expect you to.

Correct. If this was not possible in the current state then Ams2 would have zero players. Clearly not the case.

' I don't by this' either.

Both: I defend as you put it, when warranted and also Critic in the Ai thread, to which I could easily add to from last night's test with ai crashing at T1 Spa Historic 1970. However You know as well as I do that work is continuous in both Ai and Mp and strides have been made forward. Though not yet to the highest achievable standard, or high enough for some.
Players are coming back #1, & players are purchasing and enjoying, as for Op and my post. I stand by my comments, also borne out.
Personally I believe the balance of good vs bad has shifted.
There are also many other reason players may not play this or any other sim online or off.
Glass half full or half empty.

 

ACC have Copa Truck? Aus V8? F1 cars? Indy cars? Group C? Tourism (retro and current)? Classic GT? GT5? GTE? Kart? Etc? Yeah... "goooooddd" gamie, son

 

ACC is a one horse, well 2 horse show. GT3 will be burnt out soon. They need a lot more content

 

Probably those are out of Reiza's reach, so nothing that can be done... If we unravel that thread of thought we will start discussing the Theory of Consumer's Preference, which I only have a very thin surface level knowledge about.

Slow but steady progress is being made for sure, but it hasn't reached a level where the game (I repeat myself here) can hook up more users to its base.

I think it is simple as that.

 

Unless they have brought the MP out of the dark ages and into 2022 than the light switch will remain off for the majority...

The other possibility that will make people who don't like AMS2 currently care about this update is a career mode with all the cars and tracks of a popular series like WEC...

Otherwise the torch has no batteries and a very small minority will care to find batteries...

 

why people that dont race MP care about popularity?

 

Yes, just like real life, the BOP differs from track to track. Seriously, research a little before shooting down what someone else says.
And I said already, I play AMS2 as well. It does give variety of other cars and tracks. But the ACC hate on here is just blinkered fanboyism.
Give credit where its due. ACC nails what it does quite well. Each car running its own aero map, BOP, per track and per season. And the ffb is very informative, AMS2 is very informative too BTW.

 

The more people are buying AMS2 the more resources for REIZA to develope the game furter and further...

 

No ACC doesn't have these. I don't know why your being toxic here.
I could ask you does AMS2 have 4 seasons of sro?
GT4
British GT?
Ferrari Challenge?
Super Trofeo?
etc etc.

If you can't acknowledge the good points of any given sim, how can you give unbiased feedback?

I play all racing sims, and they all have their pros and cons....all of them.

 

Fully agree, they are doing a fantastic job, however I think RF2 going the LFM route will hit sales. Although, RF2 is very hit and miss with its content. Some is good, some is bad, and the FFB needs a lot of dialling in per car in my experience.