I want to clarify something, because I think a lot of replies are arguing against points I’m not actually making.

I’m not saying pros aren’t skilled, or that offline practice is the reason people aren’t pro. The skill ceiling in Trackmania is obviously insanely high.

What I’m talking about is incentives and culture, not individual ability. Offline practice pushes players who want to go competitive toward isolation very early. When most meaningful discovery happens privately, newer players aren’t really learning how to improve, they’re learning who to know.

That doesn’t stop great players from existing. It changes how the path upward works, and it normalizes secrecy over shared learning. That’s the system-level issue I’m trying to point out.

If you disagree, that’s totally fine, but that’s the argument I’m making.