they should just call it a "season pass" and then everyone would be fine with it

There is fair critisim, and the subcription model is the same one people shat on when nadeo annonced it. But we are just to much inside the game to realise how for someone outside it seems like an awful monitisation when in reality it isnt. My main problem is how the game immediatly shoves the club access on your face. What they should do is to put all the thing that are behind a paywall on a seperate tab. So when they launch the game they dont feel as the content is locked behind the subcription, so they can have a smooth experience with the game until they get more serious and enought hours to then check the other tab and see what the subcription has to offer. There is just so much instances where the game puts that big "No" in your face anytime you click on the wrong things its annoying and just everywhere. Even if it has sooo much free content people will only remember everytime they got jumpscared by the pop up. Its a feeling i had with the game day 1

Firstly the need to download and install the ubisoft client and create another account is something that makes people have a bad first impression of the game even before installing it. Then when they finish that they are presented with a shitty console user interface where every menu is angled and ugly. Then they go into the campaign tracks and training tracks and start playing them. They get some medals and they want to start exploring the other things the game has to offer and that's when they realize they are completely stuck with these tracks because every button they touch makes a giant screen pop up saying they need to pay. And that's frustrating as fuck, even for old trackmania players. The thing is that the subscription model is not expensive and allows you to get lots of content, but the real problem is that trackmania doesn't give new players a good reason to pay. And the game becomes overwhelming really fast to new players because they need to pay to have more fun and at the same time they don't know if they will play it long enough to enjoy it. So they end up going to other games and forget trackmania. So what I recommend nadeo doing is allowing free players to play every campaign, and present that in a way that it seems like there's a lot of content when you get into the game. Almost as a challenge.

I'm a trackmania fan, bought all games. I was sceptical when tm2020 launched regarding the subscription model, but took the 3 years club and yeah pretty happy about it now. Playing almost daily. However, i totally agree with most steam reviews. Ubisoft (as all brands) should listen to their customers if they want good reviews (thus attract more players). People like to understand what they're in for when installing a game. The free user experience is poor and quite bad to get an idea of how good the game is (track of the day is often very difficult for new players). Those reactions were to be expected on steam with such a subscription model. I'm a big fan of steam and do agree competition (to steam) is good. But more and more games are using an external launcher and that's a shame. It brings no value to me and breaks user experience and satisfaction. I'm a bit afraid of what's Ubisoft gonna do next for TM...

The description does mention that they're "Standard/Club access features", but nowhere in the description does it tell the price in any way - it doesn't even mention that they cost something (it's kinda obvious in the context, but anyway). I love Trackmania as much as anyone else here, but the Steam storepage really isn't as clear as it should be. Having content locked behind paywall isn't a nice thing to have as a surprise after starting the game. The subscriptions could and should be listed as optional purchases on the storepage directly to make it clearer that there are free and paid versions available.

I have to agree with a lot of the steam reviews personally... all previous TM games, you could just buy the game out-right, and you had access to everything.... that's what puts me off TM2020 - they are trying to do things to get the community bigger and better, yet cut off the main part of the game that built the community in putting most of it behind subscription.... But then, there's the new stuff - TM was a game you could just pick up, and play - sure it was hard to master, but man you could get somewhere.... with the new one, I have let friends who used to love TM play and they hate it, as soon as they hit a reactor boost "WTF is this shit? no, f-k that, no control, no help in HOW to control or how they work/exactly what they do etc" - and they stop playing... same with Ice tbh... other than making it a Subscription model for most of the 'community' driven aspects, Reactors, and ICE are the two worst additions to TM imho.... :)

IMO as relatively new player the subscription model is a rather confusing and I understand how it can be a bit offputting to new players. It does take a bit of research to know what you are getting and what you are missing out, which probably shouldnt be the case. But a bigger issue I think the game has when trying to attract new players is that it is fairly skill intensive. With a lot of unexplained physics mechanics that are rather frustrating to figure out. So when you have seasoned players and new players playing a lot of the same maps, it is going to be hard to cater to both. One group wants more, while the other has no idea how to deal with some situations. I wouldnt be suprised if a lot of these negative reviews are from players who tried the game, banged into a wall 3-4 times a track, spun out of control on every icy surface and did a couple of summersaults when launched into the air before landing upside down. Then took the mood they got from that and expressed it in the reviews.

I get it people don't like subscriptions, neither do I, but this one is completely reasonable. Trackmania is not a finished single player game, most of the gameplay is online, which means running servers, which is not free. Also the devs are constantly working on improving the game, it's a very different game since the launch in 2020. That's not free either. The price isn't ridiculous either, all playable content is 10 bucks per year. Jnic is right, after I bought the standard access I played (and mostly enjoyed) it for 200 hours until I got tired of it because I was trash, so the money per time enjoyed ratio is amazing. And have I mentioned that it has zero microtransactions?

My problem with the game is just that it is unclear how the hell to play anything. You install it, click in a couple of places and if every place you clicked is locked behind the paywall you go " nah paywall ubisoft garbage im outta here".

The subscribtion model, is a hard turn off, and it should be. When you buy something, you should have it, not a specefic amount of time to acces it.

I have to agree that the monetization system is a sore spot for a lot of people, however as a live service game it is simply another way to keep money coming in. Trackmania is not built for monetization like a battlepass and would seriously dampen the experience if they tried to shoehorn something like that in. The subscription model DOES make sense, however I feel like there should have been an option for a full-price perpetual license. Paying $90.00 CAD for 3 years did feel a little expensive, but in a game like Trackmania the value prospect for those 3 years is very good with many, many hours of playtime. It's also probably one of the best "Open it for 10 mins while Im waiting for something else"-type game I play. Overall, I think they should boost the features for free players as a goodwill gesture. Especially the creative aspects of the game, in a game where user generated content is king putting that behind a paywall only dampens the experience. Let people make maps (on advanced) AND play them. Let people make all the custom liveries that they want and USE them. It costs them nothing and makes the game WAY more appealing while also boosting the paid users experience. It would be a win-win.

From all the free to play games available, this is way better. You get access to everything! There is no pay2progress model or consumables, and the new content being constantly added is freaking great. And lets not forget, after the club access period you get to keep the official tracks and the daily tracks that came out while you had your subscription. I would have love to see an offline version, so when Ubisoft stops supporting this game and turn their servers off (because of bankruptcy), it's still playable in its current state. Great video man!

The community is the game at this point and ubisoft puts that behind a paywall which makes no sense. Put campaigns behind a paywall, online gaming too if they want too, but how tf do they own community content?

I paid for two years and I just don't want to pay anymore. I know I get value for the money but I don't support the "You own nothing and you'll like it" economy. That said Nadeo has made more campaign maps than they ever have for any of the previous versions of the game. Which are accessible in the free version but only the most current one I think. And that's likely due to the new monetization model. But I just want to pay once and be done with it.

The only thing that matters is custom tracks. That's the only thing that people care about. You can't do that without a subscription.

My biggest gripe is you still need to install uplay which is pure garbage and is basically doing the same job as steam so why bother having the steam bit?

Not wrong, Warframe is a true free to play, Ubishit dong Ubishit things

i remember first getting into trackmania and i was really annoyed by the lack of features in the free version. they have obviously designed it to get people to at least spend money on the standard access. for what its worth, the subscription fees are small. its not like buying a brand new game every year. I honestly wish the game was not free. i wish it was $20 or something so standard access is, well, standard and then if u want club access, thats extra.

Did you know that the only way to keep playing tracks in the game for the free version is to keep restarting the whole game each time you get back to the main menu? This being the case, doesn't make you feel like you have much without paying.

Huh, human beings...

I was there

The guy @ 0:50 never played war thunder before. Then he would see what a pay wall is.

and guess what, now free to play won't have access to the whole campaign.

Subscription model is actually unironically the best for this kind of game and it's sad that people don't realize this. I agree that for single player games it wouldn't make sense, but for this it is perfect. Nadeo/Ubisoft has to keep the servers running for online rooms, MM, COTD, keeps adding new features, new campaign every 3 month, running TMGL, etc. The payment method should reflect that it's a live service. If it was single payment the developers would not have the incentive to keep the game running and adding new features as with time less and less new people will buy it, while if the payment is by subscription the developers have the incentive to make the expirience as good as possible to keep the most players subscribed. You can argue that it's too expensive (I don't think so), but the model itself is great.

0:19 who play royal tf XD (or MM)

When you need a guide to buy the game, then you know the system is stupid. Same with the Hitman Franchise at the moment.

I've been playing it since 2008. Since Ubisoft got ownership of it, it is not the great game it was. Now it's what was a great game, turned into shit, covered in shiny foil to cover the shit, but the shiny foil is used, so you can see plenty of shit through the holes. Long-time players - Tell me that isn't a very accurate description of how this game is?

i got trackmania on steam and it launched a virus. thankfully my computer stopped it does anyone know why this happened?

That review was definitely more of a rant about Ubisoft than a trackmania review, but no I do agree that it's disingenuous to call it a "free-to-play" game. It's nowhere near as bad as Activision's call of duty micro-transaction model, of course, and trackmania pricing is very reasonable imo, but still you can't realistically enjoy the key features of the game online the way it was intended without paying. You'd hear fewer complaints if they lead with the $60/3yo tier as Standard/Full Access, then referred to the $10/mo as "Lite", and then referred to the current base game as a "Demo". Their current model is almost certainly more profitable, though, so they don't care if people feel misled as long as they end up subscribing. I don't care about custom skins, but being able to load WR ghosts, as well as your friends' ghosts via club is really fundamental -- not some exclusive extra

Ubisoft sucks, there's no denying that. A one-time purchase price, unless it was very high, wouldn't be reasonable considering we get 25 new tracks every quarter. I think the pricing scheme is ok as is. If TM2020 could launch directly from Steam I think 90% of these negative reviews wouldn't exist.

@01:54 I mean they never show any reputed audits report from any open organisation on telemetry analysis. Who knows where is it sending all the homing signals.

I’d be willing to guess that the same people that go big frowny face when they see a subscription based game are also the people who buy battle passes every 3 months (for about as much as 1 year club access) and then force themselves to grind for the battle pass stuff they bought kekw. Trackmania’s model is honestly near perfect save for some stuff and it offers way more content than any other battle pass era game without all the timegating.

Please argue the game is free to play still 🤣 please tell me 10 campaign maps is "free to play". No, its a free demo

Trackmania costs less per year than some games cost per month lol some people just like to bitch.

Aside from Trackmania, I'm pretty much an RPG player. I can't imagine buying an RPG and getting less than 50 hours of gameplay out of it (and the best have several hundred hours). But still I think Trackmania is a good deal. I have Standard Access (because Club access doesn't actually give you any more game), and I'll keep it for as long as Nadeo keeps the servers running.

tbh , i don't want to play a ps5 game without platinum trophy ...

online server were locked unless they have updated and unlocked it that was a paid feature under the plans of different types of access in game. so that @00:18 is actually right unless i am unaware of any new update. Besides fully free to play is subjective in understanding as fully might mean all modes unlocked.

I paid trackmania for 3 years 7 months ago, didn't start the game since 5 months, I regret

@00:26 unanimous voting uncontested , no one will disagree to tutorials part xd 🤣

Yeah, I played the free PC version for a few months before I upgraded to standard, and now I have the 3-year club access. For the amount of time I play this game, it's totally worth it. And I don't understand this idea that you lose access to what you've already paid for. Even if I let my club access lapse, I'll still have access to all the campaigns, maps I made during access, etc. Some of these reviews sound like they were made by people who didn't really understand what they get. Edit: The tutorial is garbage, it's not even a tutorial it's a bunch of test tracks that look like they were built by a five year old. NADEO should have fixed that a long time ago.

Its unplayable if everything behind the wall. Everything is literally in asterisk

Honestly, the current state of this game's Free Access is an absolute disaster. I love love LOVE this game, but it deserves the bad reviews. The whole "Games As A Service" part of this industry and especially Ubisoft's way of doing things is killing whatever growth and popularity their games could have had.

My only criticims with this game is that the console track editor is extremely basic and doesn't allow for gridless editing

I do like the deep analysis done by Jnic at the end of the video. For more in depth knowledge don't forget to subscribe him 😁

Most of the negative reviews are just blatant lies or people who legit have less than 5hrs who didn't do their due diligence in reading how the game works. Though I will say I always found "subscription" a bad term for what the access tiers are. They operate more like a pre-order for the upcoming year's worth of content tbh. Basically a seasonal pass. Give it like 6 months and odds are the review score goes back up towards 80%. The value & quality are there, it'll shine through the lies & salt given enough time.

nICe

And since then, the online “free” version has become MUCH worse. I’m looking at getting one of their older games because this game has become SO bad now

Idk why people are acting like $30/yr is an expensive price. The same people probably go to McDonalds and spend like $15 on just their own food. Like, just reduce your McDonalds visits by 2 per year.

The free version is garbage. You're essentially locked out from all community aspects of this game, which is the sole reason why this game is still alive in the first place, and ofc its best. There are many kinds of tracks and styles of playing this game and you never get to see them because you have to subscribe or you're stuck playing the same 25 trash maps(AND you can't even play previous campaigns). And no it's not about prices, but maybe when you fanboys get your heads out of your asses you will understand why tm will never grow with the current model.

If yall cant afford to pay 10$ a year you probably should not be playing video games in the first place big dogs.

in conclusion, this reactionary garbage is embarrassing and makes me think we deserve to get fleeced by the industry

tm is so cheap lol, and it's practically an endless game. monetization is abysmal, there's nothing to buy!

Im a be honest, its srs shit that you cant chat with the f2p version 🥲

sUbscriBtion bAd 💢💢