Originally Posted by: Vaporisor 
Unfortunately Gamer, this is a point in the discussion where "you cannot please all of the people all of the time" comes into play. A core multiplayer aspect is vital to be competitive in a modern gaming environment as is an evolving play through the "game as a service". The service model does offer more longevity to the game as well. Properly executed, it offers more than just box and go.
So now conflict. Why do those that excel in multiplayer not have the option to earn good stuff? People dont like drivertars so just race other players. "Give horns and hats". Why is that okay? Because people dont like them or place value? Then why would that be a good grandmaster prize? And having it in both single and multiplayer? Unfortunately how can one have a multiplayer exclusive when it is single player unlimited supply?
So already we are at an impasse. There is no way to expand to the need for modern games to have a solid multiplayer experience while also having same catering to single player only. For hybrid events like this, the only way to bias one side or the other is to bring skill in. They have said that nothing is one time only and all will come back in a differently obtainable way.
Inevitably, all things end. So not hard for them to patch in the closing season an unlock all for sale. It is unfortunate if during active period there are parts that are not suited to a persons play.
With the playlist, the big picture isnt that there is multiplayer. That is modern gaming which done right is a benefit on the whole to the game. It isnt possible to meet the needs of everybody, it is a cold reality. The flaws with it do not lie in concept, just implementation. Suggestions have been made to make it more accomidating, but atsome point there has to be a barrier to make the reward have value.
Yes, I'm aware of that axiom, and a related one is that is that if you try to please everyone, you'll end up pleasing no one. Which is kind of the situation we're in now with broken multiplayer annoying those who enjoy online play, while at the same time players who would rather enjoy the game singleplayer are being coerced to play online to get all the content so now you've ticked everyone off. Executed properly, yes good multiplayer and even theoretically games as a service can extend the life of a game, but how many hybrid titles have done this properly? The only ones I can think of had weakly linked separate singleplayer and multiplayer modes like Mass Effect 3 where multiplayer made it easier to get the good ending, but it was still entirely possible to get it without touching multiplayer, with no exclusive content involved.
How do players who excel in multiplayer no longer have options to earn good stuff? I never said they couldn't earn good rewards, just that those rewards should not be exclusive to multiplayer. If you want to hand out 10 mil cars for doing well in multiplayer that's fine, I can still earn 10 mil credits offline and buy the car. Multiplayer rewards from what I've observed are more about showing off your rank, so having high-ranking cosmetics as exclusives still lets that player show off. If you provide more tangible exclusive rewards in multiplayer like an OP car, then you run into the problem where the elite players get an even bigger bonus on top of their skill over those trying to earn those same rewards, which introduces its own host of problems.
I don't have the same trust in the devs as you regarding what they've said about bringing content back. If FH3 and FH4 are any indication, if any of these vehicles do come back around there won't be any rhyme or reason to it so players won't be able to even plan ahead so they can have time to grab the exclusive content while it's available. Some cars in FH3 were available many times, others only twice (I don't think anything was only ever available once). Now the devs have zero plans for making them available again in FH3, so even if it's an easy patch there's no desire for the developers to do anything about it, which undermines the whole idea they're really committed to making these available long-term.
Modern gaming to me has largely negative connotations of shoehorning online features into games that don't really need them under the guise of improving gameplay, with the real purpose being to datamine players, combat piracy, and introduce these games as a service hooks to coerce players into logging in constantly whether they really want to or not. Could it be done in a way that's wholly beneficial to the game and the players? Probably, but all I've seen from "modern" game design is a decline in overall game quality.
I'm not disputing that there needs to be a barrier or challenge of some sort to make rewards feel valuable, but that challenge doesn't need to tie into the online aspects of the game so players are free to pursue it on their own time at their own pace.
At the end of the day, we play games to have fun. For me, forced online, multiplayer and time gates are not generally fun, regardless of how well implemented they are. If this is the new future of the franchise, then I'm no longer interested in Forza.