My Issues With Online Speedlists and How to Improve Them
Online speedlists are seriously lacking. There are some pretty nasty bugs and some awful design decisions. I’ve done 250+ speedlists since release and I’m currently at Level 6 (Joy Rider 2) on Xbox, so I’ve picked up on quite a few things that need to be fixed/improved. I don’t want the game to die as I believe it has potential, so here are my issues/suggestions to make online speedlists better.
Checkpoint glitch
There is an awful checkpoint glitch that happens very often. You pass through a checkpoint, but the game doesn’t count it. This quite literally causes you to get last place in most cases because you usually won’t notice until you’re maybe 700 yards away. Turning around is impractical. This should be priority #1 as it is game breaking and ruins your race completely.
Ranked Speedlist Quitting
On the loading screen for a race there is a tip that says quitting ranked speedlists will hurt your rank. That’s a lie. It doesn’t. If you leave a ranked speedlist it does not hurt your rank and it does not affect your stats. That needs to be fixed because I know some people that are quitting their way to the top.
Unrealistic Ranking System
The ranking system is ridiculous. For those of you unaware, your rank is updated after each individual race. This is why you can win 4 out of 5 races in a speedlist, get second in one race and go down in rank at the end of a speedlist. It’s harsh and absurd because this happens even when you are only Level 3 (Sunday Driver 2). There are 16 levels overall. As it stands now, getting even remotely close to max rank is impossible. I’m barely (like one point from losing it) into Level 6 and I get 5 points for beating a Level 4 in a race, but I lose 15 points for second in one race. Keep in mind that I don’t see too many people at level 4 and above. Even Level 3’s don’t pop up too often. There is no way I will make it to Level 7 at this rate without quitting every other speedlist which is just stupid at that point. The penalty for getting second in one race is too harsh. Your rank should absolutely be determined based on your final speedlist standings.
The Koenigsegg Regera
Let me be clear. I don’t think the Regera is a good car outside of some key races like Engine Warmer and Cruise Control. I only know one person that can use the Regera exceptionally well and he is level 6 as well. Everyone else I have seen is straight trash with it. In spite of that, my complaints with it primarily come because of the reasons listed in the last section. When Sunday Driver 1 Regera kids get their one time lucky break in a speedlist with an easy race like Engine Warmer, they mess up my rank because I will more than likely get 2nd since my car’s top end can’t compete with it. It’s so fast to the point to where bad players can get the drop on you without too much effort. I don’t expect this car to be nerfed as I’m sure plenty of lawsuits will come about from Koenigsegg if that happens. Instead, I have a few other ideas on how to alleviate the issue of the Regera beating down slower cars on drop dead easy races.
- Let us change our car before each race in a speedlist. If I see Engine Warmer come up, then let me pull out my Regera as well. That will even the playing field.
- Buff the other cars. Most cars that can reach Level 399 top out between 230-235mph. Raise that to 250-255mph. Most tuned Regera’s hit about 260-265 mph. I have seen some even hit 270 mph, but that requires perfect speed cards which most people don’t have, so I’ll consider that as an edge case. The gap is still there in terms of top speed as I don’t think it makes sense to make any of the current cars faster than a Regera (again lawsuits), but the gap will be significantly smaller. I think that can definitely change the game to the point to where bad/decent Regera players can’t easily catch up towards the middle/end of the race like they do now.
- Ban the Regera from Ranked. That’s certainly the least likely of my suggestions to happen, but if it does happen, then I won’t complain.
Collisions
At the start of a race there should be no collision detection between players for a short amount of time. Maybe 15 seconds? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been spun out, taken down, knocked off a cliff or forced to miss a checkpoint at the beginning of a race because of people in front of me. It’s extremely frustrating especially when it’s bad players who DNF every race that get in your way with their Level 176 Honda S2000. Like please, just go back to Campaign. You don’t know how to drive and you’re in the way.
Matchmaking
I’m not sure if it’s because no one is ranked high or the matchmaking system is truly awful or both, but I don’t get paired with people at my rank. I don’t expect full lobbies of Level 6’s at this point, but I do expect to be paired with Level 4’s at least and maybe some Level 3’s here and there. Not Student Drivers and Sunday Driver 1’s. My earlier point about the unrealistic ranking system may be a big factor into this complaint, but I just want to throw it out there that I don’t get paired with high ranks that often. I would put this at a lower priority as I believe if the things I listed above are fixed then this issue should be alleviated to a large extent.
Change Cars in Lobby
We should be able to change our cars in a lobby for obvious reasons. It’s extremely inconvenient to have to leave the entire lobby to change your car.
Event Variety
There should be Drag, Drift and Runner events online. There’s no excuse for not having those events online in some capacity.
Wrap Glitch
This does not affect my racing, but it pisses me off every time. I worked hard on some of my wraps, but I can’t see them online. Fix that ASAP.
Loading Times When Joining and Leaving Lobbies
They have improved since the last patch, but it’s still slow. Keep optimizing that.
That’s all I’ve got for now anyway. I think there are other issues, but these are the biggest ones imo for now. Upvote this if you agree so EA can see it. If I missed anything then PLEASE let me know.
