Dude, you just have to try it. It does not equal the thrills of outdoor bike racing or hard training, but I was a doubter as well yet I was amazed at how fun it was, and more importantly at how hard I work in every single Zwift race I enter, even if I'm planning to not put up an A effort. I don't even go that hard in outdoor riding, ever! It takes an activity that can really be a soul-sucking endeavour, and makes the deep suffering almost enjoyable. Almost, but not quite!

So Zwift has time trials too, where you are on the same course as others, phased set off and drafting disabled.

What I've found is the drafting races are great fun and keep you extremely focused. The time flies by as you are absorbed in the race and the tactical element is fun. Also if you are in a competitive race whilst lasts dead on 20 minutes I almost guarantee you'll annihalate you FTP. I can punish myself on my own, but can't get near the power I can put down in a competitive scenario.

Fully agree. I don't know how, but I turn myself inside out as much, if not more, in a Zwift race as I do in the real world.
Thinking about strategy, testing the other riders, looking for the next opportunity all make the time go by pretty quickly. It's significantly more fun than riding base miles.

My "there's always someone faster" story:

I was heading out for a afternoon climbing workout of 3x15 minutes.
Neighbor is relaxing on his porch, see's me kitted up, asks if he can come along.
We roll over to the climb, I hit lap on the computer and bring the effort up.
Now, because I'm trying to impress him, I go a bit harder than I intended: 330w instead of my planned 310w
After a minute or two he asks "Have we started yet?" as he begins to accelerate.
I lifted the pace, trying to maintain my dignity, but cracked after a couple minutes as he rode off, besting my PR by minutes...

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Our local cycling club does a Segment of the Week challenge. Our first week back in town after moving I jumped in and did the segment with less than 24 hours left for the week. Took the KOM by about 20 seconds on a 361w 11 minute effort. This is in full race kit down to the calf sleeves and everything. Figured that one was pretty well locked in the bag. Less than 18 hours later, I wasn't even the fastest Ben on the segment. Turns out Ben King decided to hop into the challenge that week as well. Pretty cool getting to "compete" against him in these segments.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
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Man I'm pressing right up against that and I don't feel that fast, even at 70kg ha. I don't get passed very often at all while just riding around, but I don't consider myself on the pointy end either.

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JustinDoesTriathlon

Owner, FuelRodz Endurance.

How heavy are you?

99lbs on Zwift?

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

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Have you tried on a TT bike with double draft on?

lol, that's just a recipe for pain :)

Haha - not quite - 92KG, 192CM and very broad (this sounds a bit too much like a dating app description)

So that puts me at the sharp end of B for most zwift races at a 4.02 w/kg (B based on Zwift power)

I know the algorithm will hit me hard on hills but I think it is plain wrong on flat races - I often end up putting in 100W extra than others on pan flat courses just to stay in the front group, it might be zwift skills, but it seems very off to me.

I've tried racing only once really. And even though I was a beta tester, I had never bothered with the racing part. So had no idea what it meant.
I also had no idea why I had several comments along the lines of "TT bike uh? You want to hurt?" I thought it was a dig at triathletes.
Live and learn ;-)