I'm one of the silent few who wanted longer races in Motorfest, longer than Liberty Territory and Ultimate Driving Machines, and the Hawaii Grand Tour event delivers on that request.
Here's the problem: It delivers on EXACTLY that request, and nothing else. Other than the length, there's nothing special about it, nor does it have any replay value outside of the leaderboard.
It's a time trial event so not an actual race, there's no Custom Mode for it so it can't be run with different specs, not to mentioned that it's restricted to the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, and other than finishing in less than 58 minutes for a unique title for bragging rights, you won't get any XP, Bucks, or performance parts from it. It'd be one thing if we could've used any ST1 vehicle for the sub 58 min challenge, but no, it's limited to that specific Ferrari.
It would've been better had the event been in sections and each section is for a different spec. The creativity on display with its layout is fun, and it would've been more fun had they used most (if not all) of the specs on offer in Motorfest. Just imagine, you're in a Motorcross section, then you jump up into a Plane/Jet section, falling down into a Powerboat section, then back on land with a Rally Raid section. Ahh, what could've been.
If IVT is still taking feedback for the event, here's my notes:
- Having events outside of playlists is a neat idea, and should be used more to have more race layouts, regardless of length or playlist theming.
- The events having restrictions for its challenge is welcomed. However, once the challenges are 100% completed, it should be opened up for other specs to run it. At the very least, this should be the reward for completing the event 100% and each spec should have its own leaderboard for bragging rights.
- Paying Bucks to play the event is interesting. It should mean that new players from now on need to have some racing experience in Motorfest's game engine to earn the Bucks needed to unlock the event, but why not tie player level to the event instead? Like, have the player be at Legend Level 500 or something. Sure, it'll be a long while before new players would get to play the event, but at least that time would be spent on them learning how the racing and physics feel, so it's not wasted time.
- IVT, you are aware that players grind some events for XP, Bucks, and/or performance parts. You wouldn't be tweaking event rewards after updates if you didn't. As such, not having any rewards for special events is a bad idea. It basically removes any incentive to do the event again after completing it (well except for leaderboard chasers). For Motorfest, every event should reward the player with XP, Bucks, and performance parts.
I sincerely hope that next season, this event is updated with these and other improvements.