User blog:ShinnyShin/The Problems with the Fast Lane Update

My fellow players.

Several Updates have passed since I last treated you with a TPW blog, but this one… this one here… there’s a lot to talk about. We haven’t seen an Update garner this (negative) attention since the Munich release. It seems like a lot of crazy and insane ideas were given the green-light by a lot of people who clearly don’t have the best intentions for this game.

All manner of petitions have fallen on deaf ears this time as opposed to the Munich Update. Back then, a lot of things upset and pissed off a lot of players, the players got vocal about it and the developer relented. This time, however, a lot of things upset and pissed off players but the developer frankly didn’t care as much.

Every facet of the game, whether crucial or not, says profit first, gameplay experience second (or maybe even last, with the way things are going). This is evident in the way the most recent Events have been structured. But in the usual strange way, a few good things have come along too, maybe just not enough of them.

Let’s get down to business, shall we?!



 😠  'THAT SURE IS A NICE MASTERY YOU'VE GOT THERE. IT WOULD BE A SHAME IF SOMETHING "HAPPENED" TO IT!'  Nobody saw this coming. But when it did, it came in like a wrecking ball. Gameloft has taken away what was perhaps one of the best and most profitable sources of Credits for a lot of seasoned and new players. This was an especially handy feature for those among us who had already completed most of the Career Races and were looking for other races with similar or better replay payouts.

Mastery Races were also a great way to kill time if one lacked an Internet connection, and practice with certain cars on certain tracks with otherwise restricted availability.

A lot of research by veterans resulted in the compilation of a chart that contains information on the highest-paying Masteries ranked by obtainability and more importantly, affordability. Now, grinding Mastery Races was often a tedious endeavor, but over time, one could build up a collection of several cars to switch every now and then to avoid getting bored.

Not only did we lose one of our biggest sources of income, but we lost a lot of unclaimed Licenses, Tokens, PRO Kit Boxes, Free Upgrades and Boosters.

Just to clarify, Mastery Races are still available. The only problem is that they can only be played ONCE. Just to rub some extra salt in that wound, the base Credit payouts are much lower.

All of this follows the ill-advised move to turn the cheapest Credit-farming cars into Tokens cars. As if it wasn’t enough to shoot newer players in one knee by doing this, they finished the job with the other knee by taking away the use for these cars once the new players were able to get hold of them.

How about a nice pair of cement shoes for us next time, Gameloft?!



<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-2-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fed/1/28/1f620.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😠  'PLAY AWHILE. PLAY FOREVER!!'  <p class="MsoNormal">Now the only viable option to grind Credits with the aforementioned removal of Car Mastery’s replayability, Season 9 has been changed to an always-online feature. Meaning, that you can’t play offline (thus skip the lengthy loading screens to speed things up). So if you want to play offline, you’re outta luck. And since every car now needs more upgrades on both the MAX and PRO levels, it now takes much more time, luck, effort and resources just to get it to the full MAXed level required to play the Season 9 race with the desired car.

<p class="MsoNormal">It’s also a much more limited feature compared to Car Mastery in the sense that it ties only one car to one track, so you can kiss goodbye to experimenting with your different Tunings and Handlings on your choice of track with your choice of car. Season 9 also doesn’t have the variety of rewards that were present in Car Mastery. And for the new players out there, Season 9 will remain locked by default until you collect a certain number of Career Stars.

<p class="MsoNormal">Just when you think you’ve reached the summit of the mountain… you discover that you’re not even half-way there yet!

<p class="MsoNormal">

<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-2-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fed/1/28/1f620.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😠  PREPARE FOR TROUBLE, AND MAKE IT DOUBLE! <p class="MsoNormal">Hoo boy. We’ve got ourselves a double-whammy with this one. It’s like Gameloft realized one of our biggest fears and made it true – but in ways much worse than any of us could’ve imagined.

<p class="MsoNormal">The dreaded Tokens-Only Upgrades (TOUs) have reared their ugly heads once again. I say this with a heavy heart… (and before you say anything, I know that it’s uncharacteristic of me to speak my thoughts in this direct fashion, but please hear me out on this one) … but it seems that TOUs are here to stay, and making themselves right at home. Sadly it appears that all of the petition efforts brought forward by incensed players have fallen on deaf ears at best, and thrown right back in our faces at worst.

<p class="MsoNormal">This Update alone has seen 2 of the 4 vehicles come with TOUs (one of them having TOUs for all level 5 MAX upgrades), and the preceding Update had 4 out of the 7 vehicles also ship with TOUs. This has been exploited to such an extent that it’s made virtually half the new vehicles almost impossible to acquire, combined with the absurd logic of releasing these vehicles as R&amp;D Events which already do not offer much more than the bare minimum parts needed to even scrape through a win.

<p class="MsoNormal">On top of this, the newer cars now do not offer any complimentary Free Upgrades. Veterans among you might remember R&Ds like those of the Apollo Intensa Emozione or the BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage that offered Free Upgrades at certain points in their Events, and some of the time it took a well-informed approach to using those Upgrades wisely and supplementing them with any other Free Upgrades in your Inventory. Those … those were the days.

<p class="MsoNormal">And now, time for the worst part. What, you thought we were there already? No, not quite yet.

<p class="MsoNormal">The worst part about the TOU resurgence is that now even the PRO Kit Upgrades are now essentially TOUs (although this is limited to a few cars at the moment, specifically the new releases). We observed this through the insanely brutal challenge that was the Lamborghini Centenario LP 770-4’s R&D Event, where basically, the car debuted with a brand new Engine which absolutely nobody had in their possession, and since the R&D only gave so many Engines up to a point, this left the remaining bunch to be acquired by other means (yep, you guessed it – TOKENS!!).

<p class="MsoNormal">Not only that, but it was for all intents and purposes mandatory to get those outstanding Engines to even have a remote chance of winning the car, since R&Ds essentially spit in the face of Multiplayer Tunings and require your car to be as close to MAX+PRO as possible in order to beat the Ultimate AI.

<p class="MsoNormal">Fortunately, this doesn’t hold true for every single R&D, but it’s still a huge issue where this event type is concerned.

<p class="MsoNormal">So there we have it. Both MAX and PRO levels have an element of TOUs applied to them (with the newer cars at the moment). This is a very disturbing trend indeed. It’s the kind of thing that would make the more hardcore players and collectors among you lie awake at night, on top of the having to wake up to play every 3 hours already. But recently we’ve seen that even delivery times for new Key Sets can vary, so watch this space.

<p class="MsoNormal">''Who needs sleep anyway, right? RIGHT??!!''

<p class="MsoNormal">

<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-2-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fed/1/28/1f620.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😠  '<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">LET'S JUST TAKE A MOMENT ' <p class="MsoNormal">Gone are the days when you could just re-play a past Event in the hopes of winning your prize the second (or third) time around.

<p class="MsoNormal">It was becoming a mainstay that players could invest towards a goal Tuning for a certain vehicle, and if they failed to win it, the parts would stay on the vehicle for its return and the players could resume where they left off.

<p class="MsoNormal">Gameloft rather thoughtfully compiled most of these re-boots in a collection of Events called Asphalt Moments. For the first few times these Moments went live, they brought the opportunity to win some rare cars that had only ever appeared once or twice.

<p class="MsoNormal">But as of the Fast Lane Update, even this has gone to the dogs. In certain instances, revived Events now require players to have VIP status. Many free-playing fans have complained of having to fork out money just to participate in some of the Moments. Basically, if you don’t have VIP status, the Event is inaccesible to you and you can’t take part. But shell out some of your hard-earned cash, and THEN you might have a chance to win – if you can get around the huge increase in overall resources needed.

<p class="MsoNormal">Making good on those returns, as always …

<p class="MsoNormal">

<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-2-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fed/1/28/1f620.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😠  '<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">ONLY THE CHOSEN ONES ARE WORTHY ' <p class="MsoNormal">This is yet another underhanded tactic that Gameloft has been doing on the sly. Yes, that point is redundant but it’s more effective that way. Recently, certain cars and bikes have been appearing for sale in the Garage – provided the player has at least the number of Tokens required in their pocket.

<p class="MsoNormal">Initially, this was perceived as a bug that only affected a select number of players, but it has since been confirmed that these types of sales are geared towards only those who can afford them. It differs from other multi-thousand Tokens Cars such as the Vulcan, which is always there in the Garage regardless of whether you can buy it at the time or not.

<p class="MsoNormal">So in a nutshell, if you don’t have at least the price that’s being asked for, the offered vehicle will be invisible to you. Selective marketing is now the order of the day, it seems. It further supports the idea of Asphalt 8 becoming more of a Pay-to-Play game by the day, a big leap from to Pay-to-Win before that, and Free-to-Play before THAT.

<p class="MsoNormal">As players, we should all give ourselves a pat on the back all around for keeping each other in the loop and sharing our experiences on this issue. Vigilance like this does pay off, big time.

<p class="MsoNormal">And now for our latest magic trick … Exclusive Deals: Visible to you only if you have the Tokens!

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">

<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-2-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fed/1/28/1f620.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😠  '<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">THEY SAY VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE, BUT IS IT? ' <p class="MsoNormal">Over the course of this Update and the one before it, 11 new vehicles have been bestowed upon us. Out of those 11 vehicles, a whopping 8 of them have been introduced as R&Ds. One car has featured in a Championship, another car went on sale straight-up (for Tokens, mind you) and a bike was offered in an EDD.

<p class="MsoNormal">All of this considered (with the smorgasbord of Asphalt Moments in the previous Update) it must be frightening to imagine how many hours of sleep that countless players might have lost. Granted, only 3 of those 9 Moments were R&Ds, but they are generally classed as some of the most difficult to beat, in addition to the 8 in the two Updates.

<p class="MsoNormal">So whether you look at just the offers from the base Updates, or with the Moments taken into consideration, there is still a much higher ratio of R&Ds compared to the other Event types in the series, which diminishes the overall variety.

<p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps Gameloft realized that too many players tend to win something when it isn’t an R&D (Championships tend to be more generous with resources, particularly PRO Kits and Tokens. They also don’t require your vehicle to be as close to MAX+PRO as their R&D counterparts) so they decided to dangle that carrot ever further for all except the most dedicated players.

<p class="MsoNormal">It already takes a lot of time, resources and especially planning to have the slightest chance to come away from an R&D with a win. For the uninitiated, it’s usually the case that the first Lab is a walk in the park and can be done in a few hours. After that, you wait a couple of days for the second Lab to unlock, and at this point it’s recommended to start applying some upgrades. Before you get half-way through Lab 3, it’s time to start planning on whether you might need to open Lab 4 early because time will be increasingly precious.

<p class="MsoNormal">Championships work the same way, but without the constant need to play every 3 hours, (Tires are delivered every 8 to 12 hours) and depending on the difficulty of the Event, a location or two may need to be opened early. They provide a better chance on the whole to secure a win, especially because players are more likely to play the final race while freshly focused rather than tired and worn out from the disrupted sleep cycles that R&Ds tend to cause.

<p class="MsoNormal">And meanwhile, World Tour Mode just sits out there in the cold, alone and forgotten…

<p class="MsoNormal">

<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-2-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fed/1/28/1f620.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😠  MORE  <span style="font-size:11.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA" lang="EN-US">BANG  BUST FOR YOUR BUCK'<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> ' <p class="MsoNormal">As is the order of the day these days, they giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other.

<p class="MsoNormal">The “giveth” being the exponential increase in MAX+ PRO upgrades, and the “taketh” being the removal of Car Mastery’s replay functionality. Not only have the Credit amounts themselves been raised, but the PRO Kit Cards (thus adding onto the Credit amounts) have also been increased.

<p class="MsoNormal">Some of the cheapest cars are now more expensive to upgrade, and the expensive cars are now… even more expensive. Entry-level cars that didn’t even need Engines on their PRO levels now need Engines.

<p class="MsoNormal">In fact, let me drop   on you the most expensive and biggest change that I’ve heard – the PRO Kit requirements for this A-Class beast. As of writing, the car’s 3rd R&D is taking place. The Hommage used to require only 8 of those incredibly rare i6 Engines. Now it demands 80.

<p class="MsoNormal">Yes.

<p class="MsoNormal">You heard right – 80. EIGHTY. EIGHT-ZERO.

<p class="MsoNormal">It needs TEN TIMES the amount for each PRO Kit section. YUP. So if you held off on fully upgrading it, you might have a bigger pill to swallow.

<p class="MsoNormal">And those of you who may have had dreams of upgrading some of your cars before the Fast Lane Update, you were better off doing this before making the jump. But then again, how was anybody to know? It just adds to the head-ache of amassing Rare and Legendary parts and multiplies it ten-fold. Conversely, the Fusion points gained from dumping your unwanted Cards are now less, for like, the second time. First time, they got halved. Now they’ve been halved … again.

<p class="MsoNormal">Then again, you could always solve these problems by shelling out your Tokens and/or cash…

<p class="MsoNormal">When Oliver asked for more, I’m pretty sure this isn’t what he meant … 

<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-2-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fed/1/28/1f620.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😠  '<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">CHANGE PLACES!!  <p class="MsoNormal">A huge number of vehicles spanning from mid C-Class to the upper A-Class have had their ranks changed for some reason (read:' balancing, apparently). This has in turn caused drastic changes in the rank brackets that certain cars can race in, and more importantly, the types of competition they face. In many ways, some cars have lost their edge in Multiplayer, while others have gained an edge. Even a few long-dead favorites have re-appeared.

<p class="MsoNormal">This has been a bone of contention among the fans, and many discussions on this issue can be traced back to one particular car that broke the Multiplayer experience for many (read: non-owners) in a huge range that spanned from the upper D-Class to the low end A-Class. Many fans took to various forums, both official and unofficial, to voice their outrage and discontent. And the general consensus was to request that this certain car nerfed in order to restore balance to Multiplayer.

<p class="MsoNormal">But, in their all-knowing logic and wisdom, Gameloft decided to do one better: nerf and boost a seemingly random selection of cars along with the R8 SE. So now not only is the R8 SE no longer dominant, but most of the Multiplayer-Tuned cars that racers have worked so hard on are now also useless. They’ve either had their ranks increased when they used to shine at lower ranks, and vice-versa.

<p class="MsoNormal">Either way, though, the R8 SE is still a threat if in the hands of skilled drivers, so yeah, that’s worked out pretty well ….not.

<p class="MsoNormal">Word has it that they will be applying more changes to the entirety of the A and S-Classes. The idea is supposedly to get rid of Multiplayer Tunings improve the fairness of Multiplayer, but details are still scarce so we will know more when they introduce the changes. I would advise you not to make any changes to your vehicles until you get more informed on these changes.

<p class="MsoNormal">''One of the most important things in life is BALANCE. You won’t find that in this game though, not by a long shot!''

<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-2-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fed/1/28/1f620.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😠  '<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">ALL YOUR HEATS ARE BELONG TO US ' <p class="MsoNormal">Yet another removed feature is the staple Daily Heat races. Those were yet another way to earn some valuable resources other than through Seasons or Car Mastery. These were very profitable and varied by vehicle Class and track on a daily basis. They were also a very motivating way to try for a personal best time against other racers, and to find and tune up the best vehicle for the Class needed.

<p class="MsoNormal">The new Time-Limited Events (TLEs) that have since taken their place are decent and all, but for the most part seem to be severely lacking in reward types. Though there are these new “Development Cups” that offer nothing but Class-parts Boxes that somewhat mitigate the increase in PRO Kit Card requirements. The Credit rewards are also significantly lower compared to the old system.

<p class="MsoNormal">The tiny glimmer of hope here is that they’re finally making more use of Tag Racing in the TLEs, but these usually require fully upgraded vehicles to get the best prizes.

<p class="MsoNormal">And since grinding is less viable nowadays, it’s more difficult to fulfill these requirements as not everyone will have suped-up rides on hand. In the long term, due to this, players may find themselves doing TLEs less and less simply because they lack the needed cars and the motivation to obtain and upgrade them because of the steep new upgrade prices mentioned earlier in this blog.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Leaderboard still remains, but it’s now more … percentage-based? As in no more Top 25 or Top 100 for example, but Top 5%, Top 50% and such. At least you can still track your rivals in much the same way. And the Top 1000-Player Division Cups do provide some thrills every now and then. Speaking of percentage-based results, is it possible that Gameloft has caught on to our player-conducted experiments and research to see what the lowest percentage of players who play these TLEs is?

<p class="MsoNormal">…or maybe, it’s mere coincidence?

<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-2-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fed/1/28/1f620.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😠   <span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">IF YOU LIKE YOUR BOX, YOU CAN KEEP YOUR BOX (OR NOT)  <p class="MsoNormal">This one is another feature too valuable to overlook. The dearly-departed Super Racer Kit Box, which was available every 8 hours for 18,000 Credits. For the keen players, it was possible to get almost 3 of these Boxes per day. It was the cheapest option next to the other Boxes that sold for hundreds if not thousands of Tokens, and dropped 8 random Cards per Box. That would equate to 24 Cards a day.

<p class="MsoNormal">Now this has been replaced by the Daily Kit Box, which is exactly that. A DAILY Box that’s available once every 24 hours. And to top it off, it only drops 10 random Cards each time. This is a net loss of 14 Cards per day. At least the Daily Kit Box is free, so that … kinda makes up for it in the grand scheme of things … whatever that may be at the moment.

<p class="MsoNormal">Just because something’s free, doesn’t always mean it’s good!

<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-2-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fed/1/28/1f620.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😠  '<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">TO THE WINDOW, TO THE WALL, TILL THE RATING DROPS DOWN THE LEAGUE ' <p class="MsoNormal">Many players faced this problem at the start of the Spring Fling Season, though the severity of the issue varied with players. The worst-affected were those in the upper to mid Champion League, reporting losses of more than 400 points in some instances. Those in the mid Pro League or below experienced deductions of 250 points or more.

<p class="MsoNormal">These are record losses not seen since the 5th Anniversary Update. Some players have mentioned reporting this to Customer Care, but it remains to be seen whether they got their missing Rating points back.

<p class="MsoNormal">On another note, players also lost huge amounts of Rating due to holding back on updating the game during the 7-day grace period that Gameloft allowed for said players to complete their Car Masteries and claim their rewards. During the grace period, however, Multiplayer and some TLEs were not playable.

<p class="MsoNormal">This was a major disservice on the developer’s part, because knowing full well that the 7-day inactivity penalty (for not playing Multiplayer) could kick in, the very least they could done was freeze players’ Ratings until they were ready to update. To make matters worse, some racers got served with the penalty while only 6 days or even less into the grace period.

<p class="MsoNormal">''You lose Rating! And you lose Rating! And also you! EVERYONE loses Rating!''

<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-2-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fed/1/28/1f620.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😠  '<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">UH-OH. IT LOOKS LIKE THE GAME HAS CRASHED ' <p class="MsoNormal">It’s hard to believe that this is still a thing, nearly 6 years into the game’s life-span. Now to give some benefit of the doubt, it doesn’t seem like an easy job to optimize a single game to a one-size-fits-all affair, but you’d think after all this time they’d have found a way to minimize the constant crashes.

<p class="MsoNormal">It becomes downright inexcusable when you consider how much effort they’ve put into giving iOS players the smoothest, flashiest, shiniest experience over the years. For Windows players, they already play on powerful machines so it goes without saying. But for Android users … there’s no end in sight to the persistent crashes.

<p class="MsoNormal">The developer has at least optimized the game to run a little more smoothly at the cost of rich textures and graphics for those on less-powerful devices, but the problem of the game disconnecting at the worst possible times (i.e. during Multiplayer races) on an otherwise good Wi-Fi connection still persists.

<p class="MsoNormal">All of this, coupled with the huge gaps between Season rewards in Multiplayer, leads to massive losses especially if it happens often. The rate at which you gain enough points to claim a reward gets increasingly glacial as the Season progresses, and it resets each time you quit a race or get disconnected. So it’s a race against time as well as opponents. Go figure.

<p class="MsoNormal">Now even basically playing the game has become a gamble in itself!

<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-2-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/fed/1/28/1f620.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😠  '<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">HERE, WE CALL OUR FAVORITE DANCE MOVE "THE GRIND" ' <p class="MsoNormal">As is fast becoming tradition these days, this Update brings with itself a Festival. An opportunity to earn some much-coveted prizes and other goodies, just like all the other Festivals before it. And an opportunity to do some endless grinding in order to get those much-coveted prizes and other goodies, just like all the other Festivals before it.

<p class="MsoNormal">Only this time, they managed to de-value the gains from here too. No Blueprints this time??

<p class="MsoNormal">Then what are the players supposed to be working towards, in a grind-fest that is supposed to –quote- “reward you (the player)”?

<p class="MsoNormal">The 3 milestone Boxes are out of reach for the casual player, so aside from the many smaller consolation prizes, what really is there to gain from this? Well, aside from potentially 1,500 Tokens? Your average player might just scrape through and get 500 on a good day, but that’s before they even get to the first milestone Box – which, in itself, seems to demand a lot from players as it is.

<p class="MsoNormal">In the simplest terms, getting the first milestone Box means playing with 100% effort and 100% success rate from day 1 (there are many Career races, MP races, Moto Blitz runs, etc. to get through, and you MUST collect every single Coin you come across).

<p class="MsoNormal">So god help you if you’re doing a 1-Lap MP race and the Coins are in inaccessible places.

<p class="MsoNormal">''Festivals are for dancing! But not according to Gameloft!''

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<p class="MsoNormal">Now for the middle of the road stuff…

== <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-3-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/f4e/1/28/1f610.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😐    '<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">MORE TOKENS? DON'T MIND IF I DO! ' == <p class="MsoNormal">The Multiplayer League Seasons have changed time and time again, and often times offered somewhat decent prizes.

<p class="MsoNormal">As of the last couple of Seasons, the rewards have been reduced in terms of variety. Back then we used to have a selection of Tokens, Credits, Boosters, Decals, Pro Boxes and much more. Now, these prizes consist of just Tokens, Credits and Pro Boxes. The gaps between each prize are also much larger, which makes collecting points even more risky and unforgiving.

<p class="MsoNormal">It seems structured to favor semi-professional players at the very least, given the guaranteed prizes for each League. Amateurs only get a Pro Kit Box, for example. Not even Credits or Tokens. So the casual racers are being left by the wayside, before they even start. You almost need to have above-average skills just to survive.

<p class="MsoNormal">To add, the Tokens come in batches of 250 each time, and it costs 200 each time to recover your streak if you lose. So you can work out how feasible your experience is if you’re one of those players who keeps getting random disconnects or game crashes. And with the seemingly unpredictable match-making we’re now seeing these days, Multiplayer should be approached with caution. Extreme caution.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt">Adding to the abovementioned, Tickets were among the plethora of goodies up for grabs during Seasons. They were a great way to re-stock after a heavy session, and would a good way to ensure that moving up the Leaderboard was possible. They have since been removed, and Tickets can only now be collected by watching ads.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt">Ye gods, Gameloft have found a way to make ad-watching mandatory. The last time this happened, there were ads between each and every race (during the loading screens, for example).

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt">They usually say that less is more, but this probably isn’t what they meant …

<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-3-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/f4e/1/28/1f610.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😐  EXCLUSIVELY "EXCLUSIVE" DEALS <p class="MsoNormal">Again, “give with one hand and take away with the other” seems to be Gameloft’s motto these days.

<p class="MsoNormal">For as of yet unknown reasons, the number of Exclusive Deals has been reduced from 8 to 6. The variety of offers is also now less as a result, but there are a couple of major differences.

<p class="MsoNormal">One is the new Legendary Engine Deals: 50 in a pack! Granted they demand 5,000 Tokens a pop, but they are the best way to get a decent number of Engines to upgrade your ride – all at once. Ticket Packs aren’t available from this feature anymore, and Blueprints, if they do appear, are now only on offer for Tokens.

<p class="MsoNormal">If you were relying on this feature to collect Blueprints to assemble your car or bike, you might wanna start looking for other ways to get them. They taunt you with captions like “Recommended” and “Complete Vehicle”, but really, that’s just a marketing ploy.

<p class="MsoNormal">It’s especially painful if the car or bike you’re building consists of Rare or Legendary Cards, and Gameloft seems to be either perpetually putting any Events for those vehicles on hold, or releasing them as unattainable Elite League prizes.

<p class="MsoNormal">Unless you’re wealthy enough to spend your supplies on this underhanded selling tactic, you might want to start reconsidering the worth of your unassembled vehicles.

<p class="MsoNormal">Seriously though, what’s the Deal?

<p class="MsoNormal">And here’s where they did it right …

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<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-0-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/f30/1/28/1f601.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😁   FINISHING OFF WITH A BOX OF GOODIES <p class="MsoNormal">It’s nice to have an incentive for just finishing a race, amidst all the things that they’ve been steadily taking out of the game.

<p class="MsoNormal">These particular Boxes seem to dish out some worthwhile contents, ranging from Rare bike parts to Legendary Engines. And best of all, you don’t even need a podium finish to receive them. All you have to do is finish your race, and there are 3 to collect daily. And they do look kinda cool.

<p class="MsoNormal">Real winners finish last!

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<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-0-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/f30/1/28/1f601.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">😁 '  OOH! WHAT DOES THIS BUTTON DO?!' <p class="MsoNormal">Some of the veteran players among us will remember the times when the Main Menu screen was full of clunky buttons.

<p class="MsoNormal">You could only see your car in like, 40% of the screen space. They’ve since re-vamped it time and time again, and now it’s more intuitive than ever. More spacious. More … minimalistic. There’s even a handy Inventory and Home button on the bar at the very top of the screen.

<p class="MsoNormal">Previously, you either had to access your Inventory by selecting your vehicle and hitting the button at the bottom of the screen, or accessing an Event’s Menu screen and selecting the Upgrade option from there.

<p class="MsoNormal">Now, it takes just one button, right from the get-go. That’s a big improvement on the game’s design.

<p class="MsoNormal">''Space… space space space. SPAAAAACCCCCEEEEEEEE''

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<p class="MsoNormal">And now for some other things.

<h2 class="MsoNormal"> <span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" data-offset-key="2md2h-3-0" size="28" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v9/f15/1/28/1f914.png"); background-size: 28px 28px; height: 28px; width: 28px;">🤔 WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? <p class="MsoNormal">Phew! This was a long one.

<p class="MsoNormal">There was so much to say about the Fast Lane Update and I hope we’ve covered everything. In some ways, it’s quite discouraging, if not downright heartbreaking to find so many things wrong with this beautiful game.

<p class="MsoNormal">On the other hand, no game is perfect and every game, no matter how famous or highly rated, is flawed in some way. And I suppose I like the challenge of finding the little (and big) flaws that others may not have spotted, and bringing them forward. It’s through doing this, that some of the time, games and other digital content in general like software actually gets improved upon.

<p class="MsoNormal">But this is primarily the work of beta-testers and quality check teams, not casual bloggers like yours truly.

<p class="MsoNormal">This Update has been quite the polarizing one, and since Gameloft appears to be on a, dare I say, suicidal path where listening to their customers, players and fans seems to be taking more and more of a back seat with each season. Hell, we’re so far on the back seat that we’ve practically been locked in the trunk. And their constant ignoring of our feedback essentially equates to being tied up and gagged.

<p class="MsoNormal">Either physically or metaphorically, it’s not a pleasant experience (unless you're into that sorta thing, but that's a whole other thing right there).

<p class="MsoNormal">A lot of casual players have reported being gun-shy about getting new vehicles, and given the structure of the game’s most recent Events, it’s not surprising. The huge increase in this game’s demands does risk putting scores of racers off the game altogether. Not only that, but the in-game Asphalt 9 billboards are now a permanent fixture on most of the tracks.

<p class="MsoNormal">Now I cannot tell you for certain if this is one of Gameloft’s ways of slowly killing the game, after all, they did say they’d support it for as long as we keep playing it. What they didn’t say, is that they will work on ways to force money out of us while we keep playing.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Spring Update should be arriving soon, but will there be much to look forward to, or will it be more of the same?

<p class="MsoNormal">Share your thoughts and experiences, and even things I might have missed!

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<p class="MsoNormal">- ShinnyShin

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