>>> Open forums would at least make me feel like I'm not hibernating
>>> from the real world outside.

> I think you are fooling yourself that people "not involved in any way shape of form, should somehow have a voice?

Out of all the reasons people are not iRenters, the private forum would
be the bottom of that list.

> elitist

The only elitist part of iRacing is the rental fee. No talent required,
just drive safely and regardless of how pathetically slow you are, they'll
advance you to the next class. Like any sim-oriented racing game, about 10%
of the players are competive, and the rest are just there for fun runs,
sort of the equivalent of filler backmarkers at real races.

If there's any point to this thread, it's that iRacing over-estimated
the number of subscribers. How that affect the service in the long run,
and/or affects the release of a boxed game, remains to be seen. They've
already lowered prices and now offer hosted racing, a drastic change
from what appears to be the original plan.