Item shop is a huge disappointment

[ReimvomSchleim 166]

Before release, also when playing the Beta and seeing how the Podium Pass works, I was really excited for it for release.

The Challenges + Podium Pass have been quite fun, although I'm already at Level 30 for the PP and got nothing to grind for on that side, I'm sure I'm one of few, so that's not a problem.

But the Item shop is just such a let down...The Weekly Items are great, they are something I always look forward to, always something new.

But then, the Daily items, they are just sad. Almost a month since release and we are still seeing the same items as on Week 1. There has been nothing new ever since. Nothing to look forward to, and the sad thing is, this will continue until Season 2 at least.

Customisation has been improved on all sides this year, apart from the liveries. All the great, simple ones from 2019, nowhere to be seen. Only crazy stuff with 5 colors all over the place.

Thoughts guys?

[Ronei2020 8]

I do not understand very well. After level 30, will we still have other items to win?

[marioho 686]

@Ronei2020 I wager not before the new season comes around. How far is it? 40 days or something?

Anyway seems to be that Codemasters has acknowledged already that they're still balancing the whole Podium Pass experience. Maybe after this first wave of focusing on game bugs and gameplay issues they'll give it a go.

[Rango 171]

Similar thing happened this season with division, I'd completed all 100 levels pretty soon compared to some so just have to wait until the new season. I'm sure cm will have planned ahead in this respect. My concern is I'm at level 16 now and don't have my VIP pass yet due to lack of podium points, really hoping I don't miss out on unlocking the first season's VIP rewards because of this

[RS Phil 214]

I’m at level 30, already in season 1 (play 100% with every practice sessions) and since then nothing changes. Is there something afterwards. Not clear.

[AllenB2609 348]

What a bad and lousy job by Codemasters...

[RS Phil 214]

The problem with CM and yearly games is that every year they need to add more features to sell it. Generally, there are bugs or glitches. Sometimes they fix them, sometimes not (Safety car feature for example, or the simulated times in qualifications, ...).

Rather than fixing those issues, they prefer (but the business model maybe oblige them to do so) to add and concentrate on new features. Who will be buying a game with no extra things (except circuits, drivers and cars)?

You end up with a really good game (don’t get me wrong), especially this year with a very good handling, but unfinished or with bugs coming from previous years. We can all name a broken feature, never fixed since years. And this is totally unacceptable because if you take the SC for example, I paid more than 50€ a year since 2015 for an important feature in F1 games that is not functioning correctly (and I’m very polite by saying this).

I don’t know if CM is responsible of this or the logic behind releasing a game every year. Maybe a solid game foundation and a yearly DLC could be a solution. Just an idea.

Edited August 3 by philappleraily

[Rango 171]

 

5 hours ago, philappleraily said:

Maybe a solid game foundation and a yearly DLC could be a solution. Just an idea.

I've said previously on here that maybe CM should release next season as a DLC update considering the raft of changes they've made this year, which would hopefully give them more time to concentrate on clearing out the gremlins before the 2022 changes come in as the cars will need a complete overhaul. I'd be more than happy with next year's iteration to come in a dlc package and just have updated liveries and drivers etc if it means the core game is fixed. 

Edited August 3 by Rango

[RS Phil 214]

2 minutes ago, Rango said:

 

I've said previously on here that maybe CM should release next season as a DLC update considering the raft of chances they've made this year, which would hopefully give them more time to concentrate on clearing out the gremlins before the 2022 changes come in as the cars will need a complete overhaul. I'd be more than happy with next year's iteration to come in a dlc package and just have updated liveries and drivers etc if it means the core game is fixed. 

The problem is ... less money.

[Rango 171]

For one year, only fair considering the amount of it they've had from this years game (and previous) that doesn't work properly. They won't, I agree, too much $$ at stake. Directors won't go for it. Something needs to change though 

[amazingblaze 112]

If it was priced fairly (say, £25-£30), then at least they'd see some income, and retained brand loyalty. 

 

[ReimvomSchleim 166]

Agree with you guys, I would've already understood had they made 2020 a DLC, particulary with the Covid situation.

But now with the rules pushed back, I think 2021 has to be a DLC, but I still don't think they will do it.

[AllenB2609 348]

**** Fortnite!!

How pathetic is it to have Fortnite influence a racing game... Really shake my head!

Edited August 3 by AllenB2609

[KNT2011 214]

It likely not come down to what Codemasters want but simply what they're contracted to provide under license. 

This has been a frequent topic on yearly sports titles, oh, often recently but it goes back a long long way, frankly it's all bottom line, will the same amount of people buy a DLC for their current game for what are roster updates than will buy a brand new bells and whistles game with new features, no matter how rushed? And remembering of course a DLC couldn't be full price as a full title to begin with and you have a capitalism problem unfortunately. 

I don't see it happening, but it may come down to one of these titles taking the plunge one year and it being a success to set a new trend, but it would need to be agreed with the property they're licensing so it still feels to me, we will continue to get yearly updates for a considerable time going forward. 

[BarryBL 4,314]

8 hours ago, marioho said:

@Ronei2020 I wager not before the new season comes around. How far is it? 40 days or something?

Anyway seems to be that Codemasters has acknowledged already that they're still balancing the whole Podium Pass experience. Maybe after this first wave of focusing on game bugs and gameplay issues they'll give it a go.

This is pretty right to be honest.

We are looking to add more and more to the VIP pass/item shop, and is something we have regularly discussed internally. We want to bring more customisation out to users, but also we aim to balance the difficulty in completing the pass. This is because:

•  We want Level 30 to be achievable for most players
•  The design of the pass is so if users get to the end of the pass, they can use the coins earned from Season 1 to buy Season 2 for example. 
•  If a user is dedicated enough to get to Level 30 of a pass that we designed every season, I believe that they should have next season's pass for no financial cost..

Our main aim so far is to get users engaged with the pass, and to be as clear as possible in the reward for completing it in getting Season 2 at no financial cost, as you've earned the coins in Season 1 (much like you can in Fortnite, just ours is a little easier IMO). But, fair comment. We will be adding more and more content to the Season Pass/item shops throughout the year, and are still learning alongside you as to what you would like to see/be able to unlock and how we can make these features better.

[marioho 686]

5 hours ago, BarryBL said:

This is pretty right to be honest.

We are looking to add more and more to the VIP pass/item shop, and is something we have regularly discussed internally. We want to bring more customisation out to users, but also we aim to balance the difficulty in completing the pass.

This level of openness and honesty is one of the main reasons I stuck around after discovering the community.  You don’t get that often on your ordinary official subreddit, even in the good ones like the Rainbow Six Siege one. 

Quote

• We want Level 30 to be achievable for most players
•  The design of the pass is so if users get to the end of the pass, they can use the coins earned from Season 1 to buy Season 2 for example. 
•  If a user is dedicated enough to get to Level 30 of a pass that we designed every season, I believe that they should have next season's pass for no financial cost..

Our main aim so far is to get users engaged with the pass, and to be as clear as possible in the reward for completing it in getting Season 2 at no financial cost, as you've earned the coins in Season 1 (much like you can in Fortnite, just ours is a little easier IMO). But, fair comment. We will be adding more and more content to the Season Pass/item shops throughout the year, and are still learning alongside you as to what you would like to see/be able to unlock and how we can make these features better.

1. Can attest to that. I’m on Level 27 or 28 already accomplishing that only by playing My Team extensively for a 16 rd first season. I’m now on the third GP of season two.

3. That would be the most genial thing I've ever seen a company do on a MTX model. If we were to receive a personal signed thank you letter by Barry himself to go along with it I'd not be surprised.

In overall this comment just ratifies what I thought. CM is committed to getting it right and we can all expect improvements to be made on the coming weeks as soon as they get the more pressing issues sorted out. 

[DrDraken 481]

6 hours ago, BarryBL said:

This is pretty right to be honest.

We are looking to add more and more to the VIP pass/item shop, and is something we have regularly discussed internally. We want to bring more customisation out to users, but also we aim to balance the difficulty in completing the pass. This is because:

•  We want Level 30 to be achievable for most players
•  The design of the pass is so if users get to the end of the pass, they can use the coins earned from Season 1 to buy Season 2 for example. 
•  If a user is dedicated enough to get to Level 30 of a pass that we designed every season, I believe that they should have next season's pass for no financial cost..

Our main aim so far is to get users engaged with the pass, and to be as clear as possible in the reward for completing it in getting Season 2 at no financial cost, as you've earned the coins in Season 1 (much like you can in Fortnite, just ours is a little easier IMO). But, fair comment. We will be adding more and more content to the Season Pass/item shops throughout the year, and are still learning alongside you as to what you would like to see/be able to unlock and how we can make these features better.

I read somewhere that people who purchased the fancy edition would get enough coins to get the VIP pass each season.  It didn't specifically state that the coins were those that are earned during the season.  So, if that's the case, then we need to make sure we save 9,000 coins each season in order to be able to get the next one?

[BarryBL 4,314]

7 minutes ago, DrDraken said:

I read somewhere that people who purchased the fancy edition would get enough coins to get the VIP pass each season.  It didn't specifically state that the coins were those that are earned during the season.  So, if that's the case, then we need to make sure we save 9,000 coins each season in order to be able to get the next one? 

The link may have been worded incorrectly. You would have been assigned enough coin to buy Season 1 of the pass, and then, if you earn to Level 30, you will have been given 10,000 Pitcoins from the pass, giving you the 9000 coins for Season 2 upon launch and 1000 spare for you to use. You would have to resist spending them as soon as you got them though, and plan to have 9000 Pitcoins for the start of Season 2, ready to redeem.

[Ultra3142 384]

59 minutes ago, BarryBL said:

The link may have been worded incorrectly. You would have been assigned enough coin to buy Season 1 of the pass, and then, if you earn to Level 30, you will have been given 10,000 Pitcoins from the pass, giving you the 9000 coins for Season 2 upon launch and 1000 spare for you to use. You would have to resist spending them as soon as you got them though, and plan to have 9000 Pitcoins for the start of Season 2, ready to redeem.

Unless I'm mistaken I believe this thread is the first place anyone will have seen the notion of a Season 2 requiring the coins from Season 1 to gain access to, with the obvious flaw therefore being that people won't have known to save their coins for this and so may have spent them of items from the shop. It certainly wasn't remotely obvious to me that this was the directions of travel, although I also haven't spent any coins I've earned thankfully.

Edited August 3 by Ultra3142

[Ultra3142 384]

Also, what happens if someone is yet to complete Season 1 before Season 2 goes live?

[marioho 686]

37 minutes ago, Ultra3142 said:

Unless I'm mistaken I believe this thread is the first place anyone will have seen the notion of a Season 2 requiring the coins from Season 1 to gain access to, with the obvious flaw therefore being that people won't have known to save their coins for this and so may have spent them of items from the shop. It certainly wasn't remotely obvious to me that this was the directions of travel, although I also haven't spent any coins I've earned thankfully.

It was posted here before by Barry himself. Probably as early as that "Seriously Codemasters..." mammoth thread from the week the game came out, I'm not sure.

[Ultra3142 384]

8 minutes ago, marioho said:

It was posted here before by Barry himself. Probably as early as that "Seriously Codemasters..." mammoth thread from the week the game came out, I'm not sure.

Ah, OK. Still, the vast majority of people who own the game won't know the progression plan Codemasters had in mind. From a purely commercial perspective this sort of makes sense as it's likely to lead to more people spending extra real money on pitcoins. If however there was genuinely an aim by Codemasters for this to be self-funding via earned pitcoins then I fear it will have failed to do so for many.

Some in-game indication of what is to come would be helpful I think.

[Ultra3142 384]

18 minutes ago, marioho said:

It was posted here before by Barry himself. Probably as early as that "Seriously Codemasters..." mammoth thread from the week the game came out, I'm not sure.

I'll add that I do remember Barry explaining that the 9,000 pitcoins spent to open up the VIP section would be earned back, but not the idea of these then being used to pay for a Season 2. I could easily have missed this though.

[Ultra3142 384]

1 hour ago, Ultra3142 said:

Some in-game indication of what is to come would be helpful I think.

Opening up the Podium Pass I'll admit I'd not noticed the bit at the top saying 'Series 1 28d' before! This still doesn't give anyone a clue they need to save pitcoins though.

[Aef251 92]

5 hours ago, BarryBL said:

The link may have been worded incorrectly. You would have been assigned enough coin to buy Season 1 of the pass, and then, if you earn to Level 30, you will have been given 10,000 Pitcoins from the pass, giving you the 9000 coins for Season 2 upon launch and 1000 spare for you to use. You would have to resist spending them as soon as you got them though, and plan to have 9000 Pitcoins for the start of Season 2, ready to redeem.

of course we need to receive those coins. We finished all the levels and have 2500 coins because the pre-order coins still have not been distributed.