Community Question | What Stops You From Racing Online?

[BillyBobSenna]

1) No competition, I'm better than all sim racers
2) They don't let you drive in the reverse direction
3) Can't pause the game for a snack break

 

[Cheesenium]

3) Can't pause the game for a snack break

This is such a big thing. You can pause the race and let all the AI wait for you while you go and have a big dump. You can't do that will humans.

 

[dyldo]

Sim racing is arguably at its very best when racing against real people in a tightly fought online battle - yet only a very small percentage of players choose to head into a server and race against their fellow community drivers.

Made up fact time. Around 90% of those who own racing simulations don't venture into an online server on a regular basis (real % figure differs slightly, but not by much). This surprises me, as many different servers exist that cater for a wide variety of skill and experience levels. From public lobby hopping to leagues and club events of various levels of prestige, sim racers can pretty much find a level of quality that suits their individual need - yet still only an incredibly small percentage of the player base choose to race online.

With that said, if you aren't a regular online racer, we'd like to know what it is that keeps you away from joining us on the virtual racetracks?

Let us know in the comments section below!

image credit: James Magill

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availability of servers , life style, and crippling crippling depression and ASD

 

[Deleted member 151827]

Turn one.

 

[Saintbert]

I thought I'd be slow and would keep ruining other people's races, and I had anxiety about that until I ventured into casual online racing. But I think, in actuality, I'm doing well. You can do a lot with consistency and patience. There are a couple of times where I done did a bad thing and just don't want to look at the chat but you have to allow yourself to make mistakes to learn from.

I don't race in leagues or anything like that, because frankly I don't need the schedules and any sort of stress in my life anymore than I already have. What I like about casual random races is that they don't really matter but you can tell when they do, and when you and the other driver are putting your everything into it.

Online racing has a lot of random elements but on the other hand a lot of cars and tracks don't get used online.

 

[MPortnoy]

- No interest in joining random servers to do quick races for no rhyme or reason. I rather run custom championships against AI
- First lap wreckers and divebombers
- No interest in leagues either as I want to race when I want in the car/track I want
- Skill level range in random lobbies is usually too wide. Cars run much closer together in a race against AI.
- Too much unpredictability

 

[James Pendry]

first: my crappy internet is stopping me from taking part in league races or special events. secondly: my pc has a tendency on not wanting to co-operate with me and decides to not work sometimes.

but if those two weren't an issue, mainly the internet, i would love to do more online races

 

[Bob Laycock]

A few reasons why I have never tried online:
I don't know hao to find out when a race is or how to join.
I don't want to spoil other peoples fun by making a mistake.
I don't understand the rules or etiquette in online gaming.
Quite happy racing the AI in most sims.

However I would give it a go if I had some instructions.

 

[schlitty]

Same reason I don't play pretty much any game online; I don't like spending my free time on other people's time. Not to sound like a cranky old curmudgeon or anything but I just don't like to have to schedule my play time to play around others. Sitting in lobbies, waiting for people, etc. I just want to pick my fantasy in the moment, load it, and then quit whenever I please without ruining anybody else's fun by doing so. And that is another reason; I'm simply not good. I don't want to ruin the fun. Hour of meet n greets, practice, and quali just to be a back marker that spends the whole time just trying not to ruin an actual competitors race before finally wrecking around the 6th lap or something? Nah.

TLDR; I suck!

I think Rocket League is the only thing I've played against strangers in the last 5 years. And that's the ultimate drop in, drop out experience.

 

[FridayDriver]

In a controlled environment "Club Races or leagues": I don't think I have the skill to compete or even have a decent race and I'm more worried about getting in the way than I'm actually racing.

In public lobbies: Well T1 is always fun. No seriously people just act like they own the track and that you should not be there "even if you are faster". Even if I'm not even defending and just holding my line I get killed almost every race. Just a lack of respect and race-craft from others.

 

[antirussia81]

A discrimination towards piracy enthusiasts

But seriously, it's mostly my poor driving skills - AI in the games that I play (AC and AMS) is good enough for me. I have tried online racing in AC a few times, don't really feel the need to come back.

 

[FridayDriver]

A few reasons why I have never tried online:
I don't know hao to find out when a race is or how to join.
I don't want to spoil other peoples fun by making a mistake.
I don't understand the rules or etiquette in online gaming.
Quite happy racing the AI in most sims.

However I would give it a go if I had some instructions.

It's a lot of fun you should give it a shot.

https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/racing-club-regulations-2020.10978/

 

[Fat-Alfie]

I don't have the ability to commit to a specific time week-in-week-out, mostly. I have a work, a family and a house to run, so I tend to sit down for a race as and when I get the opportunity. That might be at lunchtime, or in the evening, or at 4am if I can't sleep.

That's the beauty of racing against the AI... flexibility. If I have a spare 30mins, I can have a 30min race at the circuit of my choice, in the car of my choice. Admittedly, the racing is almost certainly inferior to racing against people, but if I didn't race against the AI I don't think I would race at all...

 

[bluey]

I live in remote place only WI FI AVAILABLE..And a very bad ping . so impossible to play online

 

[ATSSHD]

Nothing?!

 

[Mr Deap]

I playing an mmorpg & I'm master 2 in sailing. My boat actually goes sideway. I'm having too much fun than actually playing understeer arcade games.

 

[DrRob]

In my opinion MP is only one aspect of simracing.
It is the part of a game I turn to, when I feel I am ready to compete with other human players.
Vice versa SP is a perfect training ground for me. Understanding the physics and mechanics of a game, learning tracks, getting consistent, etc. And I can just abort a game, pause it and watch the replay to understand what happened, punt the AI , etc.

Now I'm trying to join online racing after some 380 h into ACC. Other games weren't interesting enough to even keep me going to that point.

Good thing about RD is that the staff and other people here care about simracers and want to promote online racing also for the beginners.
I recently joined the ACCSS backmarkers and mid-pack racers community created by @VernWozza . I hope this is the perfect playground to learn and graduate from it and maybe join other leagues.
Come and join! Currently we're doing test races to get familiar with the whole thing.

What is beyond me: People buying a game and heading directly to MP lobbies. Maybe this is why public lobbies feel exactly like that....

 

[blot]

Short attention span, and I am slow ...30 mins races for me personally are to long as I usually race Single Player with usually 3 - 5 lap maximum on any Track, then switch car and Track combo and start again ...quick fire, maximum throughput and highly entertaining for a short burst of Sim Racing ...it's just the way I have done it over the years
Although I do frequent Online in Wreckfest for the above reasons....short laps and different Tracks changed quickly.

As I get older (mid 50s) , my attention span has decreased to the point of.... oh, sorry, I'm back, went to do something else for a minute there.. anyway, where was I?.. Oh yeah, I race when the mood strikes and sometimes even abandon a race half way through because my mood changed and I just cant be bothered.

Add to this the fact that I can't be bothered with setups, accusations, dumb****ery and everything else associated with general online. As for leagues.. nah, they don't suit my "mood schedule".

As for talent?.. oh I am very talented, I just hide it well

These 2 post's sum it up personnally for me, 57 years old and mental health problem's (Anxiety and Panic attacks to name a few! So i'm on med's) I race to wind down and enjoy myself, Getting into a toxic online spat because i made a mistake and ruined someone's race is not my thing!

 

[Robert Mitchell]

I have two problems that keep me from racing online. One, is that most of the road racing that I'd like to participate in takes place at a time when I'm sleeping. Two, I'm just not good enough to stay out of the way of faster drivers.

 

[Ryann]

Because after registering on simracing.gp months ago, there is only silence and an invite to join no where to be seen.