Great app turning into a money pit – Virtual Regatta Offshore Review

What started for me as a really great strategic offshore game, turned into an expensive experience. I have been playing this game for 6 months now and ended the last few regattas in the top 2-3%. However, I very quickly found out that in order to be competitive you need the (expensive) features. Without VIP account (almost $10 per month), which gives you more characteristics about the boat and the 7 day wind forecast, you are practically without any chance. Then, per race, in order to be competitive at all, you need to buy additional features, like heavy/light wind sails, foils etc. OK, you get some credit up front, but that gives you only very limited features which still leaves you without any chance. Ending in the top 2% of a particular regatta, gives you credits that only pay for one or two specific features in the next regatta. Then, what becomes really tricky, is that there are some regattas that cost you more credits (=money) for the same features. Long story short, even for a pretty decent virtual sailor like myself, you will be ending up paying close to $40 per month. Keep in mind that sometimes your credits remain stuck for months (for the duration of a regatta) before you even get only a part back following a good result. Alright, a good game/app should cost money. During the last couple of months however, I had too many issues with lost connections, data errors etc. Also the app on my IOS device seems not to visualize the situation on the game’s servers correctly. For example: leaving you thinking that you rounded a mark (even when showing it “green”), but then after some minutes when the screen refreshes, you ended up with short cutting the mark. Then when reaching out to the “High-priority support” desk to report the issue and asking for feedback: crickets..... For $40 per month I expect a better functioning app and a better response. Unfortunately I turned from very enthusiastic virtual sailor into very disappointed one.
Review by Mischa van Berkel on Virtual Regatta Offshore.