I can totally understand some the method of the madness and I can also see how its totally worth the costs for some people. I'm not gonna call it a scam or say people shouldn't try it because everybody values things differently, but its just yea, a pretty substantial investment is necessary if you want to really join in properly. The initial subscription cost is really just bait, a seemingly good value but you cant do much unless you buy at least 4-5 others tracks and a car or two.Just to add to your other observations about iRacing, I think it asks for a different approach with regards to variety. You can spend a lot of money for an interesting selection of cars, but for most members this isn't what they come for - you'll find plenty of drivers who only drive a single car, and have done so for years. I'm into my third year on the service, and I still only drive the MX-5, SRF and Skippy, and even then I only take the Skip championship seriously. It's a testament to the depth of the physics engine that I am still learning the car after four full seasons. I can almost drive it with my eyes closed at this point, but there is still so much to learn in race situations. It is very much about racecraft rather than vehicle variety. You also need to be a special kind of alien to be able to compete at a high level in a large number of cars. I did a fair amount of testing in a few different cars at the start of this season, and it took me about an hour to get comfortable in the Skippy again - it really messes me up!
This relates to only driving one track per week. This is also a positive in my book. Being on the same combo for a week means that everyone knows it like the back of their hand, allowing the racing to take centre stage. You don't get people treating a race as a practice session, learning the combo as they go (well, you do in rookies, but even that is frowned upon). Particularly by the end of the week, the standard is incredibly high - this wouldn't be the case if the tracks swapped more regularly (this can be seen in full effect during the amusing Week 13 races, with track swaps each day - disaster!). Imagine it like real club racing - it's the norm to race on the same track during a week, in fact many clubs just race at their local track all year round.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is method to their madness, and what seem like limitations actually start to make sense after a while. I don't think they do everything quite right regarding purchases - they should allow you to test the cars in a private session before committing to buying them for example - but mostly it's understandable. There's no getting around the fact that it requires a higher initial investment than any other driving sim if you are looking to go beyond the rookie series, but there's nothing else like it, and once you're on board the fees really don't seem that bad if you're an active member and buy the content methodically. Admittedly at this point, I've bought a large number of cars and tracks, but spread over the years it hasn't felt excessive for what is essentially my main hobby. For me it's worth it, knowing that I can get on at any time and be almost guaranteed a clean race, against people perfectly matched to my pace (and in the case of the Skippy, people I'm now so familiar with I recognise their driving styles) - you simply don't get that anywhere else outside of the real world. It's all according to keikaku of course, once you're in you'll not want to leave, so get out while you still can!
And for me, I really like variety. I get that running the same car/track combo leads to everybody being more competitive and cleaner, but I'm getting bored of it already and I've only done 4 races between yesterday and today. Not quite sure why they cant just have different tracks at different times. Like have Okayama at 1:00, Laguna Seca at 2:00, etc and kind of keep some rotation going. You'll still have a lot of repetition for increasing familiarity(especially if people are used to driving the same car for a long period of time) but people can also enjoy a different experience on any given day. The way it is right now just isn't ideal for me.
I will admit the racing so far has been very good and the netcode and server stability seems pretty much flawless(even racing against people from Australia/NZ), so that is a huge plus and the main reason I've still got 20%(its gone up a bit since playing with it again recently) of my brain saying it would be worth it. I had a few multiplayer races in Assetto Corsa and while I know its in alpha state, its got a long way to go and it really whetted my appetite for multiplayer, which is what brought me to give iRacing a try. I really enjoy sim racing too, but man, I really like playing guitar(also expensive), regular video games(not cheap) and reading quite a bit as well, so I'm having a hard time prioritizing my time and money between all this and I'm unsure whether iRacing is really something I should invest more in. I'm tempted, but I've gotta really figure out my priorites, I guess. We'll see.
Anyways, I won my first race today. Doesn't seem like the class somebody is in means a whole lot because there were C and A class racers and I started 9th and didn't have a whole lot of trouble winning still. Worked my way up to 2nd after a few laps and then basically just pressured the lead driver until he finally messed up. Was fun, though. I think I just need 0.03 more driver rating to get out of the rookie class. I'd already be there but my first race was catastrophic. I joined the grid and was ready to go, quite excited about my first race, but then my wheel decided to reset/recalibrate itself *right* before the start. I don't know what the fuck happened, but it meant I got rammed from behind at the start, yelled at and got penalty points for the contact and getting knocked off-track. The recalibration messed up my steering so I quit, reset my computer and actually rejoined the race, having missed about 4 laps together with the tow/pitstop work.
