(DriveTribe, 24th January 2019)
iracing proves that you don't need the latest shiny and pristine graphical technology to have phenomenal racing...but to gain access to this doorhandle-to-doorhandle excitement, there's a small fee to pay.
The game is a subscription based game, which means you (automatically or manually) pay a certain amount of money every month or every year. This is not for you to "pay for the simulator itself" but more to pay for the licences (Cars and tracks)
Iracing is the first known racing game to have gone down this path. But was it the right choice?
The fact that you have to regularly pay money towards the game, adds realism (race entry fees, petrol etc.) and puts off those who are less "committed" to racing (trolls etc.) in one of the highest-tier sims around which racing drivers like Max Verstappen, Lando Norris or Dale Earnhardt Jr. use to train and practice to get even better.
With a incredibly detailed, advanced and effective "Irating" and "Safety Rating" - which rates you on how safely you drive and matches you with other drivers with the same skill and safety level as you, you are guaranteed to have some very good races.
Do not worry if you have one "dodgy" race where you are being a little bit clumsy, as the Irating rates you as a whole, not on a race-to-race basis. This means, if you have enough single clean races, not too far apart, you can progress from the "rookie rating" into the "D-Class" rating, which gives you access to even more cars and more racing series, allowing you to slowly, but realistically move up the ranks, move up the order, improve your skill, race better drivers and eventually make it into the Motorsport you wish.
Not only this, but with "Iracing Live" (only for important races in higher rankings) you get your race broadcast or shown live on Iracing.com and YouTube!
This isn't the only thing you can pay for however!
TradingPaints allows users to put custom liveries on their own cars - for free you can get countless high-quality pre-made schemes (both custom and replicas of real life) but if you are willing to pay - there are incredibly skilled artists on the forums and on facebook who are willing to pay your ideal livery, all the way down to the pixel!
But are the prices too high?
Despite getting quite a nice round "starter pack" when you first buy the game which includes a decent variety of cars and tracks, you will want to progress up the ranks and with singe cars and tracks costing upwards of $10....should Iracing lower the price?
I am unsure if this is to keep the quality of the racing higher than the rookies, or just because Iracing need considerably higher funds to run their programs, but compared to Euro Truck Simulator 2, in which you get a whole entire map extension to explore (a whole area or country), with Iracing you get a singular track.
However, the price of the track does not link with the size or quality....the majority of the tracks are sit around either the $11.95 or $14.95 mark, and if you have an income of more than $13.00 a month, and you are spending a large majority of that on essentials like food, water, electricity, bills and other necessities, surely you have enough to buy a track...remember, races aren't held day-ly, and some aren't even held weekly.
So, to conclude, even though the prices may be stretching the wallet a little, Iracing is not a pay-to-win, and neither does it shove advertising for costly tracks down your throat (although the Nordschleife should be free). If you want to progress, then do so, but if you want to stay with the base content, that is totally fine as well, MX-5 races around the free circuits given are absolutely amazing.
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