It's insane that racing lines are often on by default in arcade-y racing games
Other than exploding cars, racing lines are the most representative of my growing separation from the racing game genre. Having a line on the track telling you where your car should be and when you should brake is the opposite of what games should be to me.
Yes, the lines are optional. Yes, they can be a good feature to optimize gameplay. But to me the picture they paint by being on by default says all the wrong things to the player from the get-go.
This is the correct way to "play"
Having a colorful line telling you what you should be doing at all times is incredibly disruptive to actually playing. There's a line right there telling you what the best thing to do is, of course you will follow it and that isn't playing, it's executing. Playing is about trying out new stuff, seeing what works and what doesn't, testing the limits of the system. Racing lines don't want you to do that.
A game should be about setting rules and letting players forge their path within them. Setting the rules and immediately telling you how to use them is robbing the player from what I consider to be the actual playing.
I see you coming with your "it's optional, who cares?". I care. As I said, it's about what the line says about the game. The line tells you the game is solved. Don't go looking for a best way to play, don't go experimenting. This, right here, is the best way to play.
Not even teaching the fun stuff
I refuse to believe that people think the fun in a racing game is following a line. The fun comes from improvising in different situations, taking risks, or you know... fucking slamming into other players. The line just doesn't show all that.
If a game was going to give me a constant reminder of what to do, at least make it something fun.
The fact that a line is possible at all is boring
I'm talking arcade racers here, there should be more to the game than a golden path. Shortcuts, drifting, jumps, boosts, drafting, tricks, crashing into others ... There should be enough ways to play for racing lines to not even be considered a possible solution to the problem.
Hand-holding much?
I'm not the biggest detractor of hand-holding in games, but I am surprised that with all the push-back there's been against it, racing lines has somehow made it to the other side unscathed. It's the most "you should be doing this" feature ever, more so than any objective marker or talkative character, yet it's completely accepted.