This game is well expensive, what do you get in return?
You get less money in your bank account. :->
As someone who balances a relatively low wage with relatively extreme tight-fistedness, I started out completely horrified by the costs. But after a year in & out -- during which time I slowly became used to both the costs and the racing culture -- I've found it harder & harder to enjoy other sims.
NFS:Shift makes me grin as I'm thrashing round the Ring, but that's about the only other sim/game which gets fired up on my triple-screen racing machine now.
If you're not into racing in a fairly big way then iRacing has nothing to offer you. And even if you *are* into racing sims, iRacing is still a very expensive hobby by PC standards, and hard to justify. But if you can swallow the ongoing costs (for both one-off content and the subscription) there really is no better simulation code to be found on the PC. Or anywhere else probably. The online racing is almost a bonus... a somewhat frustrating bonus at times, but then that's racing against people for you. Sometimes frustrating, and sometimes -- as last week in the Late Models at Lime Rock -- stunningly satisfying.
The $75 deal (about £1 a week) even got me to sign up for a full year, and I intend earning the full participation bonus, which knocks $40 off next year's subscription. Whether or not we'll see another offer this low or not will depend on many factors. I suspect by the time next year the service may be even cheaper, and more flexible, because while numbers are up nicely, there is no apparent mad rush to join despite the lower prices. They are still low*er* rather than low enough to encourage the mass participation iRacing really needs to function well.
Having said that, if you race at peak times iRacing does function pretty well.
Anyway, the bottom line for me is despite my early love/hate relationship with iRacing, I'm glad it exists and that Dave Kaemmer is still employed doing what he does best. The sim world would be a poorer place without him in the business, and I'm happy to be contributing even if I think there's plenty more evolving for this project to do. Others will have much better things to do with their money.
Andrew McP
PS $5 trial month here...
http://www.inracingnews.com/