Will Kunos / AC ever go GAAS

I've always wanted to know if the industry thinks this is a good way to go and I know no-one has a crystal ball (that works) but will all sims end up going GaaS (Game as a Service)?
If the AC community wants "iracing" organised races which requires infrastructure and ongoing costs, if everyone accepts nothing comes for free is this the future?

 

Imo i prefer dedicated servers paid by communities with some extra tools.
AC with minorating was perfect for day to day races.

 

Hopefully Kunos will never go this GaaS way.

 

Everything will probably move that way in the future. I was dead set against it in the beginning, but I'm using photoshop as a service and it's fine, it is a better value product.

I think it's not going to happen soon, my guess is you'd lose a lot of promotional benefits from releasing a new title every few years. You don't really hear a lot of news stories about iRacing because they have an ongoing title with constant updates.

I think Kunos could provide a service to go along with their titles. It could provide all the ranking and online championship services people are looking for while still allowing them to sell normal titles. That way if you want the hardcore stuff you can pay a monthly fee, or pay as you go, if you just want the basics you pay the cost of the game.

 

I hope they don't
Don't like the iracing business model, so I won't pay to play

 

I wouldnt mind the service route if you got access to all the DLC content as part of that monthly fee.

I dont like the idea of paying for DLC content but then only being able to use it if you keep up the monthly subscription.

 

As general rule, I avoid monthly-sub schemes. I get the argument for improved service and updates but, it's certainly not always the end result.

My design software cost over $5000 initially and now they push subscriptions and the service has actually gotten worse, not better. There are lot's of bugs from over 10 years ago that have never been addressed and their standard response is "it's your PC" yet, the same thing happens on multiple PC's across the userbase. The bigger issue is a lack of competing products to choose from and they all have too many bugs so there's not much chance of the grass actually being any greener elsewhere.

Another example for not liking the sub-route is when one only uses the software occasionally but, are paying the same as if you use it on a daily basis for business or maybe you only need one minor aspect of it. "One size fit's all" is not advantageous in some cases. I can understand if they restrict certain features or uses for non-sub customers but, at least offer some sensible options to suit more people.

It's a bit like eating at an expensive buffet when you don't eat much but, people will say "look at all you get". What good is it if you can't get your money's worth(?) The efficiency of the model benefits the business far more than it does the customer in such cases.

 

I personally have no issue with a monthly GaaS fee. I played World of Warcraft and Eve Online for many years, and would play iRacing a lot if there only was the monthly fee without the need to buy content as well.
So if I buy the game, then pay a monthly fee to race online in a structure like iRacing and receive future content for free (in the spirit of keeping everybody on the same level) I'd have no qualms with that.

Of course I'd have even less of a problem with Kunos keeping the AC business model for ACC

 

That would be my bye bye.

 

But how is it any better to pay full whack for a piece of software you might only use sparingly. Take photoshop, that used to be €600 to buy, now you can get it for €19 a month and use it as much or as little as you want. Even if they force you to get a years subscription it's still half the price.

I don't expect to see any GAAS on Kunos stuff any time soon but it probably will happen in some form or another in the future.

 

DP

 

In the case of my design software, the sub price is at least $150 per month but, if I choose the upgrade route, it ends up being much less money every couple of years when they drop support for older versions and the sub-based updates don't address most issues anyway. Sometimes, not embracing the "new" just works better but, as with auto sales and leasing, the "low Monthly payment" seems so affordable to buyers or, as my buddy likes to say - "Only 72 Easy Payments!".

 

Adobe subscription is the worst thing that happened to hobbist photographers. Not everyone use the product on daily basis, sometimes not even every month, yet you still pay the subscription fee and forced to be online.
Plus Lightroom was just what, $150, you can still snatch boxed version, https://www.amazon.com/Adobe-652375...AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=lightroom
Suprisingly no mentioning of that product on Adobe site and no support.
Still holding on my CS6 DVD and LR6.
And btw, upgrade license for CS from older version was just a few hundreds.

 

I never really used lightroom up until it got thrown into the photoshop subscription, I use it all the time now. As far as I know you can get just a months worth of photoshop/lightroom which works out significantly cheaper than €150 if you only want to get a day or two of use out of it..

If you're not going to use photoshop on a daily basis I don't see how paying €500 for it is better than paying (worst case scenario you have to get 12 months) €156. You also don't have to be online to use it, my internet is dropping out all day and it hasn't affected photoshop.

 

Hope not. Perhaps if it would indeed include all content, but charging for DLC cars etc. separately is borderline scamming

 

Boxed version of Lightroom essentially the same as one year of the cheapest Adobe cloud subscription that includes LR CC.
And I am using CS6 since 2012 and LR6 since 2015 without paying one extra penny to Adobe, wherever I want, whenever I want.
But afraid in a few years if new version becomes significantly better there will be no choice but go for CC or look for alternatives.
Before Adobe was trying harder to put improvements and new features into every new version to make people upgrade. Now with annual subscription I don't see this happening, They just lost incentive to innovate and improve the product. Why bother, they are getting money anyway.
Check the history of the new features implemented over years, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Lightroom
I don't see anything after CS6.