I don't think there's a problem with the overtaking rule as a whole, I feel like it is nicely balanced, I actually prefer GT-6 because I think it makes things harder for the leading player, to avoid snowballing issues. That is my opinion.
thematically if you can't move AT ALL in your turn because someone just cut you up then there is a very high risk of crashing. Where is this reflected in the rules?
The dice gears don't really thematically work in any case, because you can cover the same distance of track in different gears. The gears don't necessarily mean speed.
It can be confusing to think of it this way though because the game is turn-based by nature trying to imitate a live theme. I think of the cars as actually moving as I play the game, even if it's someone's else turn. The gears do necessarily mean speed as the word "faster" is equivalent to "of higher gear" as indicated by the rulebook.
If I was allowed to move sideways with a gear dice then I could have passed, but that's not a rule either.
I don't think this is thematic though. it is impossible to turn 90 degrees instantaneously IRL, that's why you can't switch to a lane that is 2 spaces away, because it requires too big of a turn.
but the abusive nature of the rule in how the turns are played ends all the fun for me. I not going to play in the future constantly thinking how best to screw over my opponent, or just how to avoid having this done me.
It could be bit safer with less-players or a lower GT, I feel like that is actually the heart of the game, I don't think there's that much player interaction elsewhere in the game.
'push your luck exciting race' to a 'who can put the screws down on your opponent - GOTCHA'.
I think that the second description, while a bit inaccurate (since, sometimes if you're second and can mess up the first player you could go to being third in a 4p race, so I don't think it is logical to screw your opponent each time you're able to) is more skill-dependent, Because you have to think ahead of all the plays that could happen, while the first description is more luck-based.
You've talked about how it is an abusive rule etc... But can you elaborate on why you think that's annoying/disruptive? If you put yourself in a position that completely loses you the game, then it is your fault, you can go from 1st to 2nd place to avoid such things, you can plan ahead. There are plenty of things you can do I think.
I also think that the solo game fits more your description of "push your luck exciting race". So it could be an option to consider.
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Exactly, with no overtaking-rule you'll be pushing your luck further, making the 3-warning signs rule more potent. And the high valued dice would still be used to move you faster/further as much as you can on each turn.
I disagree on this, if you're in the lead, and the overtake rule doesn't exist, then will be harder for you to lose your lead, so you can play safer.
This could be true if you had infinite dice, but I find that usually you use most of your dice right away, so the boost you get in "pushing your luck" aspect by removing the overtake rule is negligible IMO. And even then, it removes a skill-element to replace it with a luck-based element. I can't see that as being a positive thing for the game.
If you're saying the 3 warning-signs don't do anything, then that also makes redundant crashing, the 0, 00, the tokens pulled from the bag, the markers on the track and pit-stops. And you're telling me this isn't the meat of the game, and the game designer did all of that for what exactly?
In a GT-4/GT-5, I see little risk most of the time to use all my dice in a turn, because, focus tokens exist. If I end up being close to crashing I can just stop. Really, overtaking makes more likely to crash if anything because it encourages the leading player to play in a special way just to avoid it. Like ending a turn at the highest-gear possible at that point.
They do play an important role IMO at the beginning of the game though, because you don't have any focus tokens.
So you're saying if you knew you couldn't be overtaken you would never go from 6-1 and end on a long straight with die 1 ? You'd just stay cruising in gear 6 because that's the fastest.... I don't think so.
If I knew I couldn't be overtaken I wouldn't have to end my turns on a high gear, if I'm at the lead I can just end at a low gear and there's no risk at all of losing my lead as long as I use all my dice. I said that it would make the high-valued dice virtually useless (except for covering more distance)
And you'll still have overtaking even without the over-taking rule, in fact much more so given you can freely overtake and there's still blocking around corners with the gear limiting corners and forcing an outside-line.
The gear limiting corners would not matter, because you would not be limited by a speed constraint having to be faster than your opponent. If the overtaking rule doesn't exist, you can easily plan ahead for those corners.
