Polyphony Digital have responded to the strong criticism that Gran Turismo 7 has faced over the past week, in the wake of the ill-fated version 1.07 update. With players dissatisfied with both the fact that the game was effectively unplayable for 30 hours, and this update actively nerfing some of the event rewards that players were leaning on, Polyphony has promised serious changes and increases to rewards in an early April update.
Following the rather uninformative statement he made last week, series creator Kazunori Yamauchi writes on the PlayStation Blog:
I would like to apologize for the frustration and confusion caused last week with our patch updates which resulted in, not only a server outage but also adjustments to the in-game economy which were made without a clear explanation to our community.
So here’s how Polyphony are going to fix things.
First things first, all Gran Turismo 7 players will receive 1 million Cr. for free, as goodwill gesture for both the 30 hours of downtime that the game endured last week and to paper over the cracks that are still being felt in the game now. You must have already played Gran Turismo 7 to be elligible and log in before 8AM GMT on 25th April in order to receive the free credit pack.
Further to this, Polyphony has committed to making significant changes to the amount that you can earn in-game, “to re-establish the intended equilibrium and provide more accurate rewards based on time investment and completion.” A patch will be rolling out in the beginning of April that increases the number of events in the game, bumps up rewards, and increases the number of cars available to buy at any time.
This will include:
- Increase rewards in the events in the latter half of the World Circuits by approximately 100% on average.
- Addition of high rewards for clearing the Circuit Experience in all Gold/All Bronze results.
- Increase of rewards in Online Races.
- Include a total of eight new one-hour Endurance Race events to Missions. These will also have higher reward settings.
- Increase the upper limit of non-paid credits in player wallets from 20M Cr. to 100M Cr.
- Increase the quantity of Used and Legend cars on offer at any given time.
While there’s no specifics on a roadmap – something that’s practically essential for setting a baseline of expectations within a gaming community these days – Polyphony has also explained more about what they will be adding to the game in the coming weeks and months. Through April there will also be an update that adds new cars and track layouts to the game, while players can also expect future updates to include the following.
- Increase the payout value of limited time rewards as we develop as a live service.
- Further World Circuit event additions.
- Addition of Endurance Races to Missions including 24-hour races.
- Addition of Online Time Trials and awarding of rewards according to the player’s difference with the top ranked time.
- Make it so cars can be sold.
All of this should go quite a long way to addressing the grievances players have had with the game’s economy and set it up for its future as a live service.
Economy aside, when you actually get stuck in and play it, Gran Turismo 7 is great. In our review, I wrote:
“Gran Turismo 7 takes everything that was excellent about GT Sport’s fantastic multiplayer, high fidelity cars and circuits and innovative Scapes mode, and builds up a more traditional GT experience around it. It’s got its own quirky new ideas which will likely be passing diversions to most, but at its core, this is the Gran Turismo you know and love. Broad and accessible, but with depth, nuance and competitive racing for those keen to find it.”
Source: PlayStation Blog
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camdaz
I was wondering what happened to the endurance races!
I haven’t taken much notice of the credits available as I’m just enjoying driving different cars and tracks. Anyone using the cockpit view should try it with the Wobbling set to Type 2, it’s more realistic than the default Type 1.
Stefan L
Yeah, I’m not sure endurance events would have been the right choice to build into the Cafe missions, since that’s very focussed on newcomers to racing games, but good to see them return as Missions (even if you could just create a custom endurance race, right?). The one problem there, of course, is that this will mean they will only pay out once…
MrYd
Have you not seen menu book 39? Ok, it’s not a single endurance race, but it’s still 5 events. 120 miles. Longer than an hour long endurance race.
And a bit stupid when you’ve done 4 of the 5 events and you’re more than 12 points ahead so you can’t lose and still have to do 2 Nordschleife laps.
Stefan L
True, but you’re not dealing with changeable weather conditions, tyre deg or fuel consumption, and it’s GT’s usual style of AI and ‘win from last’ format. Being five distinct races breaks things up into 15 minute chunks, and you can still over-spec for the races by going for 800PP instead of sticking with a comparable GT3.
MrYd
Don’t mention the AI!
It’s terrible. The cars just seems to stick perfectly to the racing line, and if anyone else gets in the way, tough. Cars bashing into you from the side, behind, slamming brakes on in front of you.
Good job I was so far ahead on that last menu book, otherwise I’d have been a bit pissed off. Two laps on that stupidly long Nordschleife, doing well, get to the second lap, and someone takes me from behind on the carousel. Which reminds me of a very NSFW story I won’t go into right now.
Can you make your car too good for any of the races? If it gives a recommended or maximum PP, that seems to be what you need to win. At least the recommended level, or as close to maximum as you can get.
Or maybe I’m just rubbish at driving and spend most of my time crashing into stuff and covering my cars in shiny rainbows?
Stefan L
I think the biggest issue with the AI is that it’s pegged back to a speed so you can catch it, and then can turn up the pace once you’ve got to the front, because of Polyphony’s staid chase style of races. The chilli icon races have pacier AI from the off. I’d also say that the maximum PP is generally the “too fast” level. I preferred sticking to a standard GT3 car and battling for 2nd/1st on the final lap than cruising through.
camdaz
I have seen a few AI drivers spin out in front of me, it seems they are more likely to make a mistake when you are right behind them for a while.
Here’s hoping GT Sophie arrives sooner rather than later!
stigdu
This is such a good game. I’m playing it almost daily. The biggest thing that bugs me is the (lack of) damage modelling and (lack of) effect it has on the driveability of the car. But it’s stunning to look at and plays brilliantly.