Ok folks, grab your clubs and pitchforks because you're going to want to come after me.... but I want to make a heretical case that RR3 actually DOES have a decent balance between gameplay and gold.

As an introductory word, I'd like to say that I am deeply aware that many of you have been screwed by FM/EA.  Not just frustrated or annoyed, but actually screwed out of actual, hard earned, real-life money.  I, too, remain livid with the Monkeys for taking players money and then suddenly changing the rules.  My heart weeps for you.  Ok, my heart doesn't actually weep for you, but I do sympathize with those who have been banned or spent money, or were Monkeyed with.  The numerous long term, faithful players that have been screwed over have every right to be upset with the monkeys, and I fully support your continued battle against FM/EA.  With that said, here is the result of my months-long experiment.

Back in the day we used to earn 3 gold for every level, right?  Then, suddenly, they changed to the progressive scale that everyone had been calling for.  Because most of us were level 150 or higher, and had progressed through almost all of the game, this was an interesting addition but not revolutionary. At the time, some pointed out that all of our previous leveling up was not honored in this change, but none of us seemed to complain too hard.  However, as I continued to play I realized that I had missed out on literally thousands of GC because I played before this change.   I thought of my countless hours circling Melbourne, and all my work for Kotter.  "Just how drastic is this change? "I asked myself.  After some contemplation I made a new gamecenter ID and started over.

I started from scratch, managed my gold as perfectly as I could, and never purchased any from the Monkeys.  I didn't use any of the tricks or bugs to pad my coffers; I lived off of only what the game gave me. My question was, how has this new leveling up policy affected the parity of the game for a brand new player?  It certainly didn't help the long time players, but we have noted here that the monkeys don't give a flying poo about them.

Anyway, after a few months of playing I have reached, essentially, the plateau for a new player who refuses to spend actual money. The results were quite surprising. I thought the game would stop somewhere around Open Sky; my most generous estimate was maybe all the way to the LFA.  I was shocked to find out that I could actually complete 98% of the game! I only lack two cars: the Lamborghini Veneno and the Toyota LMP (well, and the Muira, but I don't consider that one because I am joining the boycott against it).  I still have a small pile of gold that I am saving for future updates.  I did not unlock Endurance Kings until after the fame reduction.  Therefore, the majority of my farming was with my F40 around Lemans.  It was a good bit of work, but I put WAY more time into farming around the Melbourne time trial back in the day.

It seems that, In the new game economy, a casual player can complete almost the entire game without spending money. A few bucks here or there might speed up progress by providing more upgrades, but it would not cost as much as a real car. Of course 100% completion is still unachievable, but hours and hours of good entertainment can be had for free. It turns out that this game is actually well balanced for brand-new players. It seems they just really wanted to give a hard screw-over to their most loyal, long-term fans who had been doing the most to promote and celebrate the game.

Thoughts ?  Question?  Comments?  Flaming projectiles?

Here are just a couple of screenshots of my progress.