How to get new members

[Nicolai Nicholson]

Ok, we might as well continue the discussion here

For those who are relatively new to Presto GP, you might not know that we used to be 2 divisions. That way we had a larger specter of pace and you would have drivers to fight with on track regardless if your pace was close to the fastest guy or 3 seconds slower a lap. The 2 divisions worked as it does in European football, with promotions and relegations at the end of the season.

The type of drivers we are looking for are people who have a genuine and deep wish to be a part of a f1 league and understand the logic behind our rules, regulations and commitment. This is obviously not for all, but for the right people it is perfect.

I do not see the current pace in our league as a big problem. It is only logical that a new driver's first goal is to match (or be close to) the pace of the currently slowest driver and over time work his way from there and as far as his talent allows him to get. I have raced here 9 seasons now (counting the Beta-season) and never won a race. I've been on the podium maybe 4 times. This does not demotivate me at all, rather the opposite. This shows me the realism of the simulator; a person's pace is a combination of his experience and his talent, just like in the real world. I believe that most of the people that get scared away due to the pace probably are not the right people anyway.

I think the most important thing is to keep focusing on quality before quantity, that we do not get tempted to lower the requirements because we need more members.

One solution could be to work closer with Race Department, if we in fact are one of the best f1 leagues around, it might be in both's interest to work together.

 

[Valerio Vinassa]

Im agree with you Nico I know very well our rules 8 season think 1 podium but ... go ahead the question is migrate to RD nothing to say rather reborn Division2 we will change the mod? ask this because on my old PC this mod is weighty and sure Im slow but run like race that I did in Baharain is terrible so if we must change the mod for race in RD no problem for me.Hope that news comer are middle drivers because every new member that come here are speediest driver.
only one thing I like hold ours PrestoGP logo/signature on RD is a sign of respect for OLD and new drivers, are more than 4 years that I stay in PrestoGP is a beauty thing.

 

[Scott Webber]

Nico , i ran the F1 2010 Season with 4 divisions(not that long compared to your 8 seasons hehe), i know it was a long shot and alot of work being put into it (countless hours) iv'e been lurking on this particular forum for the past 9 months now, and you are dealing with everything in the correct way.

Your post above has been put perfect, and to be honest i think this is the ambition and goal of most racing community's.... it's about quality of the drivers not quantity, it's about the right attituide, living for the moment and racing with your buddies/ enemies on track while having that same respect for eachother.

Bringing a virtual league following a real life series is hard enough in itself, lack of motivations etc the list goes on, you are doing a good job and i wish you guys the best of luck, i might join you guys next season.

Scott.

 

[Reik Major]

Thx for this very kind comment Scott!

Must be very encouraging for Nico.

...i might join you guys next season.

Sounds great! Are you already in touch with the MMG F1 2007 mod? Would be cool to meet you on a PrestoGP open server. Unfortunately I don't have much time to practice myself but you might meet other nice guys too.

 

[Scott Webber]

Thx for this very kind comment Scott!

Must be very encouraging for Nico.



Sounds great! Are you already in touch with the MMG F1 2007 mod? Would be cool to meet you on a PrestoGP open server. Unfortunately I don't have much time to practice myself but you might meet other nice guys too.

Yes, i have actually raced on the mod before, i done a good 2 days of practice a few months ago, it's comes second nature to me as im a big open wheeler fan ... i just love the 2007 F1 cars, im currently racing them on rFactor myself right now.

I'll definetely pop by someday if some1 could provide me the details via PM when you guys practice, also do you use teamspeak3 or not?

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

Thanks you Scott for your words. I was a bit afraid I sounded arrogant when I argued that the level was not too high to attract the right kind of people, so it was very nice to see that you agreed and understood what I ment

We do not have any particular practice schedule, but we encurrage everyone to do their practice online, so there are almost always some activity during the evening. I would say weekdays between 7pm-11pm (uk time) is when it is most likely to find one or more online, and the closer we get to a race the more activity. In weekends during daytime can also be a good time, because then the Aussies and the Euro ppl can practice together

As Reik already implied, we would be very excited if you decide to join us, you seem like the right kind of guy judging from your words above

 

[Jonas Lex]

I have actually a lot of thoughts and ideas about this topic but one thought at a time.
First of all Im quite sure this league is one of the high quality leagues out there because of the high league pace even though the cars are very challenging and also because of the long-time members which form the base of this league so I think there is probably a lot of potential to get bigger (without loosing quality).
The average league pace would probably drop if new drivers joined the league but IMO the requirements should be most importantly to be safe and of course respectful, not fast to join the league.

As mentioned before one of the problems is that we use a mod.
So as Nico already said if we get attention to the mod and to Presto GP with offering PrestoGP servers that might also get the attention of new league drivers.
We are already doing that but it might help to have a server with 7 ingame tracks going in a loop and the F1 Mod because Im guessing that many have the f1 mod but not the addon track we are using right now.
The server could be called for example "prestoGP.com F1 2007mod" (would fit in the space) to make sure both get some "advertisement".
7 tracks that are probably drivable with F1 cars I thought of could be Monza 07, Macau 07 (bit like Monaco), Istanbul 06, Magny Cours 06, Brno 07, Curitiba 07, Valencia 07
Im guessing that it would make sense to have the forced cockpitview deactivated so that its possible to drive these tracks even if you dont know them perfectly well and also to turn the damage to 30% or something and to allow automatic gearbox
Its really all about getting drivers interested in the mod and PrestoGP IMO, if we choose a server title like above, maybe some will even google F1 2007 mod and download it.
Im not sure if that idea would help at all but I guess its worth a try.
What do you think and would that be possible to do?

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

That could work, just to get the league name out there.

I've been practicing during the day and there has been some traffic in the Monaco server. Couple of guests have joined and complimented on my pace (lol).. I'm so proud to say "i'm the slowest driver in the league" when i'm easily 3 seconds faster at any track.. I've offered always to share the setup and to promote the league, point them to this forum to load setups since most don't have the online setup working. I could share the setup online even more and using the prestogp name in it, that could also bring some attention since the basic setups are so much better than what most people can accomplish: they don't know about the secret settings and most likely use too stiff suspension.. I know that i'm very hesitant to use those limits, ie rarely put front springs to minimum even when it feels the best..

Maybe if everyone posts their setup online, some don't know how to use filters.. If we would get one setup for every "make", then people try them and drop 2 seconds from their pace..

One thing is to post race videos in the Race07 section, video thread.. Hotlaps, race videos (no incident videos of course...). That WILL get attention..

EDIT lol, my local search of keywords "prestogp" and "F1 2007" points to my crew (simracingsuomi) because i've promoted this league there.. Not a single result from european league in RD, mostly just random stuff on veengle.com, one result from Pacific league... That needs to be sorted first... CEO in this Xenforo forum engine is not really compatible with google, i've noticed that with the BTB section too. The old engine was much better in that sense.

Also a lot of people have the wrong version of the track, i've seen in this last hour three guests who are booted for 07Monaco.GDB mismatch,

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

I gave a guest my setup, he dropped exactly two seconds..... Sharing setups at least makes them get the most from the mod.. I just need to remember to put prestogp in the setup name and give a good description...

 

[Jonas Lex]

I think sharing setups is a good idea Kenett the best option would be to use the "online files" option in the setup screen, I think thats what you meant?
I dont know if its just me but that menu doesnt seem to work for a couple of months now it always says connecting without loading any files.
So if its only me than it would be a good way to share setups, maybe some of our aliens like Sean or Reik could post one setup for all 7 tracks and we duplicate and upload the setup for all 11 cars so that in the end there is a "pro setup" for every car on every track, if you see what I mean.

But one step at a time first I would like to know what everyone thinks about the idea in general and if anyone maybe sees a problem

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

How to fix online setup bug:
- backup your steamapps folder
- uninstall Steam, remove all files if some gets left behind (don't know if registry needs to be cleaned too, i did that step also with CCleaner)
- download latest Steam client
- Install Steam
- move steamapps folder back
- Launch Steam
- ???
- Profit

That should fix 99% of the online setup problems. My guess is that setup server IP has changed to Steam cloud and only a clean client install will fix it.. Just uninstall/install doesn't do the job, the whole steam folder needs to be deleted. Backup of steamapps will contain all the files needed so no download is necessary, but most likely you'll get the "Validating Steam cache files" dialog will popping up. Fortunately, unlike TF2, Race07 cache check is a quick procedure.

Part2...

Of course using our fastest drivers setup would be nice.. But i think they need to be tweaked just a bit, finetuning some values to make them just little easier to handle.. Not sure if that's a good idea, that would also give those who put their name attached to public setups give false impression, ie slower setup than what is possible (other top drivers may look at them closer and find couple of tenths, then think that our drivers don't know how to do setup...) Maybe decreasing engine/brake mapping by 1-2 clicks, possibly even one level higher downforce on twisty tracks or decrease rear suspension. Something that won't affect laptimes a lot but give more marginals, going straight to hardest/fastest setup could be too much to handle..

I didn't think the setup i got for the very first time here was too hard. It's was very different and took time to get used to it. My laptimes dropped anyway by 2 seconds. But it was very sensitive to any mistakes, doing those tweaks i suggested is necessary for me. . Being a new member, i have some experience for joining.

Other newcomers, please give feedback, you're input is now very important. Or older members, try to remember how it was when you joined.

I don't know if it's in somewhere but trying to get a message that if potential candidate isn't fast/safe enough, he can still train with us. Mentoring would get some people interested, i think everyone here is qualified to give lessons and tips.. It's so much easier to coach someone than to actually do it, own mistakes are a lot harder to find.. For me, there's just too much of feeling involved in every corner, i feel like it's going great and it clouds my judgement leading me to wrong conclusion: " that corner can't be taken any faster".. The Race07 forum has threads like "can you help me" "teacher wanted", some even offer to pay for it..Really. Online game coaching is a career now folks (BTW, MMORPG bodyguards salary is up to 30€/h or more, mostly it's just 5-10€/h. You just show noobs what to do, stop them from dying, protect them with your own life, give them all the loot etc.. I'm not kidding, google it up. ) We live in a very different world now..

There would be even more of those requests, it's just that there are not many who think they are qualified for the job. I've considered it (racing coach, pro bono of course..) but i don't have enough credit to start boasting anything, maybe i even lack the skill to do it, haven't tried yet.

 

[Nicolai Nicholson]

I'm at work now and don't have much time, but I will reply later. In the meantime I will open a server

 

[Reik Major]

thx Nico!

@ Kennett:
Your procedure to make online setups working again sounds a bit tricky (risky) to me (I know I'm a pussy ). In the past I also uploaded setups for new drivers there.

As soon as I find the time I'll open a thread including my best setups for all the tracks we raced on so far (maybe with some tips and tricks, maybe including hotlaps or replay files). If we have such a sticky "setup archive thread" and a server with rotating standard tracks it should be easy for each member to point new drivers to this thread.

In such a thread each member (who likes to ) could have one post and update it from time to time if setups improve. But at first I'll open this thread. (hopefully soon )

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Reik, the only other alternative is full clean install and download gigs of stuff...

I also noticed that in the PrestoGP.com there are no links to this forum...

 

[Anthony Ishak]

As soon as I find the time I'll open a thread including my best setups for all the tracks we raced on so far (maybe with some tips and tricks, maybe including hotlaps or replay files). If we have such a sticky "setup archive thread" and a server with rotating standard tracks it should be easy for each member to point new drivers to this thread.

In such a thread each member (who likes to ) could have one post and update it from time to time if setups improve. But at first I'll open this thread. (hopefully soon )

Good idea Reik, a sticky thread with a title that is tempting every new visitor to click on it and get all the help needed to start racing with us like a pro ..

Thx Kennet and Jonas .

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

It just occurred to me.. Online setups, i (or someone else) creates profile named PrestoGP.com and we'll upload the setups using that name. Thus we avoid of using a driver name and possible reputation tarnish. Then when ever a guest walks in, it's easy to point them to online setups where every make has it's own PrestoGP setup. We save some characterspace and possibly use that extra space for putting the fastest laptime achived using that setup (or an estimate, no need to drive extra laps.) The setup creator can be credited in the description, it shows when you click on the downloaded setup.

My goal here is to create a library of online setups that people start to use as default setups for any given F1 track. Once they found those 2 secs, they'll start to look them up more.. When all is collected, i can create an installer package that automatically places all the setups in the correct track directory and host the installer too. As this was my idea, i offer to do all the work. I can test them using my unique "noob-mode"

Just a reminder, as i've written so much lately, PrestoGP.com frontpage should have this forum at the navigation row. Now there's 'Garage', 'Lap Times', 'Tracks' and 'League'. With that link in there, it's much easier for guests to find our hangout. Now it's a bit too complicated, google Racedepartment -> locate the Race07- > Leagues -> PrestoGP -> European Series. Just pointing them to "PrestoGP.com forum" is easier.

PS: off-topic but here's one example of paid game coaching.. They go for ~30€/h.. http://www.gamercoach.com/faq/

 

[Jonas Lex]

Thanks Kennett I will give that a try and thx Nico

Good idea Reik, a sticky thread with a title that is tempting every new visitor to click on it and get all the help needed to start racing with us like a pro ..

Thx Kennet and Jonas .

good idea Anthony, its funny because I had exactly that in mind as well, a thread where beginners can get instructions on how to install the mod, set up FFB, where to find setups, tracks so that new drivers have about the same conditions as our pro drivers.
Tomorrow I have an exam (which pretty much decides what I'll be doing the next 3 years)
but after tomorrow I could spend some time creating such a thread.

 

[Reik Major]

...I had exactly that in mind as well, a thread where beginners can get instructions on how to install the mod, set up FFB, where to find setups, tracks so that new drivers have about the same conditions as our pro drivers.

I'd like to have a setups thread for its own, because setups are such an essential thing to run the car well and what drivers are looking for. And this way the thread would immediately jump into the eyes of each visitor. I think those visitors who find our forum on another way wouldn't expect a league to share their setups...

Tomorrow I have an exam (which pretty much decides what I'll be doing the next 3 years) but after tomorrow I could spend some time creating such a thread.

Fingers crossed mate! Didn't know that you can fall back 3 classes in school if you fail in one class.

 

[Jonas Lex]

Thank you Reik
Fortunately I dont have to repeat years if I fail its actually an entrance exam to get to another institute where I can become translator/interpreter and get my bachelors degree.
If I dont make it then I have to think of something else to do for the next years, maybe become a professional simracer haha

About the thread thing, I overlooked your post a bit it actually seems llike the best solution to have one thread only for setups as you described it, a thread which is "chat-free" where every member gets one post and then a thread which helps setting up everything and points to the setup thread

 

[Sean Greenlaw]

These are all great ideas guys , it would be nice if somehow people who were on server were directed to this forum and the prestogp.com site, maybe simply putting it into the name of the server ? then they would maybe checkout website and forums if on server if none of us there.
very nice Scott i hope you do join If you or anyone wants my steam name just drop me a pm, much better practicing with someone else, i usually practice the times Nico said but sometimes till later
The thing i think the most that has improved my pace was practice 1st then Reiks setups, then watching others faster laps and trying things they do mostly Reik most of the time in a lap is being on the right line at the correct speed and being nice and smooth through a lap you will always know when you hit all the apex's correctly your on a good lap.
I would recomend to everyone to give Reiks setups a good trial with a fair amount of practise putting the laps in and change only small amounts if not suiting you and then noticing the differences they make for better or worse to suit your driving style. I tend to like a slightly oversteery car with me having to balance the throttle more during a lap, I only adjust Reiks very slightly if at all most times. Adjustments i would look if needed to get the correct feel for me would be brake pressure/bias, coast, rear cambers/psi, caster, arbs and maybe a click or 2 less rear wing at times.
At the end off the day i have practiced this mod so much now i feel really comfortable with the car now to, so best thing to improve is just putting the laps in, the pace and consistancy will come. I wasnt fastest or consistant at all when started in presto and still now think ive only had 1 or 2 races when i havent made atleast a small mistake during a race.
A sticky thread for setups that had all the threads for track setups would be ideal so 1st seen and then all comments and videos etc all contained in there
P.S good luck Jonus