Matchmaker Subscription?

The following is a quote from the ISI interview with rFactornews.com

Unless there has been some re-badging going on with the services, Matchmaker is the server we all connect to to get the list of available servers. The way I understand the above quote is that after a year we are going to have to pay to connect to the multiplayer servers. Is this going to affect connecting by IP address as well? This seems like a strange plan for a company\program developed around community participation.

 

Can you expand why it's strange for a company to charge? I don't fully understand what community participation has to do with the pricing. I'm not being sarcastic, etc, just honestly wondering why that makes a difference considering everything.

You are reading it correct, but you're misplacing the words "have to" in there. You don't "have to", but if you want to continue to do some of the online stuff automatically, yes, you do. If you don't, you don't. There are ongoing costs after the initial release and this helps to offset them. Sometimes businesses need to so businessey things.

 

It confuses me because it is counter productive to the stated goal to be modder friendly. Modders build things, with no expectation ever see anything come of it other than the fun and enjoyment had by others. To fully see that fun and enjoyment a multiplayer environment is needed. A far superior number of your users use the matchmaking service to find and participate in events using the efforts of the modders than any of the other methods of finding an event.

That being said, anything released after the first year is going to be stunted. Without access to Matchmaker people are not A. going to be able to see a server running something new and B. Depending on their news sources and language, may not even know that something has even been released. Not to even mention the complete decimation of pick-up racing, abandonment of the less than technical savvy individuals among us and the alinement with a principle that has many of us using the original version.

With the lines already in the current rF code and the resiliency of the community at large, my guess is it'll last for a year, get backward engineered and have a rouge Matchmaking server akin to what the original rFactorCental did for mods. Or at the very least, a huge list of IP addresses.

 

Well, it kinda depends on how affordable it is.

Tim, please reply this one. Is feature carried over to rF2 at all? In rF1 leagues rely on it a lot.

 

Could you further explain the items in rfactor that now fall under the category "things we do online automatically" that will require a subscription after 1 year in rfactor2?

When I first read this, my initial impression was that it was 1 year of racecast included with rf. Seems fine, didn't really use it anyway. But Racecast and Matchmaker I see are NOT being used interchangably, and that is concerning.

Why was this system implemented, specifically? What caused it to change?

 

Come on ISI, don't pull a Netflix on us! You have a huge fan base eagerly awaiting the new game -- don't destroy all that goodwill with a scheme like this.

 

For me it is an excellent decision, the game keeps an economic cost and the company has a motivation to further develop.
P.S. thanks for the Q&A Tim.

 

Compared to some of the other systems out there, I can't see the ISI model as anything more than a sensible business decision. Development isn't cheap and neither is on-going support over time, it requires a commitment by the developers so why shouldn't they see some return for that effort? I work in transport/logistics and we sure don't do stuff for free...

 

It doesn't mean that you will not be able to play online while not pay monthly subscription.
It means you will not be able to use public lobby, search and connect to shared servers. But you still be able to connect to your league server using IP.

It is how I understand this issue.

 

And what % of total cost would be development VS on-going support? The way I see it, the on-going support will be much less. Like 5$ for 12 month in order for it to be fair. So make the game 20$ more expensive and get rid of this nonsense (the graphics engine does not last for 3yrs I predict). Blizzard does it with SC2 very well.

Well, the point of the game is online play. And I should not have to pay, if I already bought the game.

 

My immediate reaction was concern .... and now having reread, my follow on reaction is I need more information to better understand with confidence what appears to be a perfectly OK business decision .....

I did not read that rF2 will become a subscription service [with a sub periodicity of 12 months] ...
In other words, I understand and expect that I will be able to drive in rF2 even if I do not maintain my online account subscription after 12 months. I understand also that by subscribing, I will have additional access to matchmaker, updater and news.

The IP question has been asked clearly ..... Post #1 and #4 and this question needs a clear answer.


My only questions are:
1) Is my above understanding correct?
2) What prices [product purchase and yearly subscription] are well talking about?
3) Will I be able to enter a server IP manually and successfully drive on that server [online] without an online account sub?

Bottom line .... if rF2 was to become a sub service like iRacing to mention the genre example or similar to lots of existing subs service Massive MultiPplayer [MMP] games in general, then I would be sad and disappointed and well what more can I say.

If this online account 12 month subscription service does not interfere with my playing the game [offline or online], then it's an extra that can be marketed and made to be a worthwhile optional extra ... then cool.

If this is a gentle opening gambit to turning rF2 into a subs service, then my concern opens up again. [I don't think it is genuinely but this is that way the human collective mind will think so it's important to be clear]

Quell the fears ISI please before they grow.

I'm very sensitive to subs services online ....

Like I said, this sounds like a perfectly OK business decision ... just make it clear what is it and what is it not .... [two lists!!!!]

 

But who is hosting the race stats, safety rating type stuff? ISI must. YOU can run the server but ISI have to be in-charge of database-ing the user info and all the info must be linked to a permanent account that costs the user to maintain. Way I picture it is if you set up a server with matchmaking you will be able to specify who gets in and who doesn't via connecting to an ISI mainframe. User2039023 comes in and wants to join YOUR server.. YOUR server connects to ISI and asks.. "hey, is User2039023 at least a level 3 drift master and has a minimum of 20 laps on RidgeHill Race circuit?" Yes or No is sent back.. User 2039023 is either accepted to enter or booted.

Actually. Let Tim describe what this service will actually do. I don't want to guess, but here is a guess. All I can think is that iRacing has one big advantage over rFactor currently and it came up in the wishlist thread a bunch. Their driver stat tracking and talent matching services that keep noob players out of racing with the big boys and vice versa. Safety ratings and alien detection. Nobody likes using a server that one person is INSANELY faster than everyone else and nobody likes being in a server with 19 dedicated racers and 1 A$$hole looking to cause a pile-up. Hopefully that is what this system is working to prevent. Getting racers to races.

I'm guessing $20 a year. Any less doesn't seem worth it. Any more better include free t-shirts.

 

I understand ISI here they not wanna do as iracing host own servers it cost isi electric bills and maybe need to rent servers with megafast upload speed so instead they do it this way.
It makes sense in some way so they get some income after sell rfactor 2 game.

Some say let us pay a higher prize for the game a one single time and then it shall not cost more.
I say that shall it be a good solution i prefer that instead of have to pay for a "online" account every month or year.

Not mess up rfactor community please we not play iracing because we must pay for everything cars tracks and to drive on iracing servers same thing as with wow.

Let us see how rfactor 2 comes out a download or DVD and one time pay ,or a online account fee per month or by year.

Then i can decide if i wanna have rfactor 2 or not, it is so much roumours we are not there yet that rfactor 2 is out !

 

Tim has already stated you dont have to use it if you dont want to...it wont shut your game down like others...theres no point whinging or comparing likeness to other games

 

the problem is to know if players will HAVE TO pay to get access on all servers or to have some extra contents.

i don't read correctly or it's not clear at this moment ?

 

This needs to be answered clearly. If you can connect to IP address after 12 months then it's fine, no problem at all. But if not, then you basically buy rF2 for 12 months.

 

correct

 

Double post... laaaaaaag

 

So, what, people who played rFactor for 6 years for $50 are now saying they don't want to pay even a little more for rF2? How insanely cheap has rFactor been, and how cheap will rF2 still be even with a $5-20 yearly cost to use matchmaker and any related services?

Read that line again. You're not being locked out if you decide not to pay for it, you'll probably be able to connect to league servers directly as often as you want if you can't afford to part with some pocket money once a year.

And in the meantime, go and spend your $90 on some arcade shooter you'll put down after 3 weeks...

 

Until I see more info on this I'm not going to judge.

I shouldn't be, but I am amazed by the reaction. plenty of people voiced their desire for a rating system on public servers, because they want to make sure they don't get smashed online by numpty drivers who do nothing but crash and bash. However, when an attempt appears to be made to implement such a system.....additional to buying RF2......there is a lot of noise about free online play.

Do those same people donate to the communities they race at, or have iRacing accounts, or have Race2Play paid accounts, or NFS World, or any other form of pay per play online racing?

It seems people are getting ahead of themselves.....and ISI....without thinking it through.