How will the online mode be?

[isamu]

Have Kunos given us any detail about what the online portion of AC is going to be like? If they are hoping to compete with iRa$ing they're gonna need to incorporate a serious online structure into the game, complete with collision and off track penalties. Otherwise it's going to kill any hope of having a decent public arrive and drive environment. Part of the reason why iRacing is so successful is because at the end of the day, once you get past the graphics, physics, the interface and the sound, it's ALL about the thrill of on track competition.

I'm aware of how important leagues are to some people, but a growing part of the sim community are voicing their opinions on how they'd much rather have a straight up arrive and drive at any time during the week structure.A lot of people(including myself) don't have the time to dedicate to a once a week schedule at a certain time that a league requires.

I'm hoping Kunos will take online multiplayer serious enough to consider these things. Because if the online is a no holds barred playground with no rules and people can just jump in and wreck other drivers with no consequence whatsoever, then I'm afraid this sim will not see the success we're hoping it sees.

Thoughts?

 

[Dinca Andrei]

I dont know if its possible,but isnt there a way to make the car invisible transparent if the driver is driving in the rong way for an amout of time (5 sec ) or drivers is stoped in the midle of the track or going backwards.....That will fix 80% of the problem,IF its possible.

 

[Requiem84]

A lot of false interpratations and statements here;

When you race and get a SR penalty, it doesn't really matter. Your SR still goes up if you don't get 20 penalties in a race. I usally go off track a couple of times every race in iRacing, and my SR still is pretty stable.

It's a way of measuring someone's safety, and it works pretty good.

With my proposal, not all servers need to use SR. You could setup your server not to use SR, or maybe not even display it. But there should be an option for servers to only allow drivers with a certain SR. That increases the chances of good pick up racing by a thousand! You can choose a race in iRacing and race with 30 people you don't know, and you can be quite sure not to have a wrecker on board.

When AC will be a commercial hit, we'll see so many wreckers around, that public racing will be horrible. Public online racing needs at least some structure to be succesful.

 

[isamu]

Good points all around but let's face it guys....there's a REASON why iRacing's service is as successful as it is....because the SR system, though unfair and harsh at times.....WORKS! Plain and simple. Whether you agree or not, it DOES keep most of the idiots in line and out of our hair. Yes I've been intentionally wrecked in a race but guess what? I can count maybe 2 or 3 times MAXIMUM that it's happened in my 4 months there. 98% of all my races in iR have been clean and the ones with accidents or yellow flags were all due to unintentional mistakes.

iRacing's SR system CAN be improved, no doubt, but it a MAJOR step in the right direction and I defy you to find another sim where you can simply arrive in a public lobby and have a clean fun race.

 

[nijeat]

I don't think the iracing's rating satisfies everyone but as isamu said, it works anyhow.
And the one reason of what people feel like so is that it's something unfair sometimes for someone, and plus we could think what makes it more so is because of the frank number on the other hand.

In this case then, if we want to be simple remaining some of the benefit couldn't we replace the number with other things? for instance kind of color of icon, or any shape. We all once receive 'ball' icon(or whatever) and the color of the ball represents our rating(safety rating), which is calculated from inside in someway(I'm not saying it should be calculated "how" "when"), with gradations of green to red or with level. Anyway because what you need is a man who can drive stable enough, not which exactly one of spectrum or the number.

 

[Jorge Alves]

I agree nijeat ... plus when people have a good SR number they may become more careless ... without numbers people will never now when they are on the edge and will be carefull all time.

 

[Luke Russell]

I would pay a subscription fee if it was the only way A.C could support an iRacing style championship ladder.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

I also think the pricing structure keeps the idiots away.
It's too expensive just to troll on

But with that said no system or structure will ever be able to keep the morons away.

Best one ive heard on the grid in Grand Am series, "why are there mustangs here?"

 

[nijeat]

"why is Maldonado in F1?"

 

[Stefan Mizzi]

....there's a REASON why iRacing's service is as successful as it is....because the SR system, though unfair and harsh at times.....WORKS! Plain and simple. Whether you agree or not, it DOES keep most of the idiots in line and out of our hair. Yes I've been intentionally wrecked in a race but guess what? I can count maybe 2 or 3 times MAXIMUM that it's happened in my 4 months there. 98% of all my races in iR have been clean and the ones with accidents or yellow flags were all due to unintentional mistakes.

iRacing's SR system CAN be improved, no doubt, but it a MAJOR step in the right direction and I defy you to find another sim where you can simply arrive in a public lobby and have a clean fun race.

It's true that the iRacing SR system and price keeps most wreckers away...but I have to be honest and say that I find the SR system very frustrating on the other hand. In fact, it bothers me so much that I don't play iRacing much anymore apart that I started hating its physics as well....

Why? I loose points because other ram me from the back or the side!!!??? Totally NOT my fault and I loose points! And every time I push hard and touch a bit of grass I loose points! Or, if I push hard and loose it in a corner I loose points!

Oh come on! Idea is great, but for me its not working, too unfair...

 

[nijeat]

In case of starcraft 2 last year they removed loss counts for user below top league in their system.
Why? The players were going crazy in their resaults everyday. Numbers for resault sometimes make people obsessional and nervous.

 

[Requiem84]

It's true that the iRacing SR system and price keeps most wreckers away...but I have to be honest and say that I find the SR system very frustrating on the other hand. In fact, it bothers me so much that I don't play iRacing much anymore apart that I started hating its physics as well....

Why? I loose points because other ram me from the back or the side!!!??? Totally NOT my fault and I loose points! And every time I push hard and touch a bit of grass I loose points! Or, if I push hard and loose it in a corner I loose points!

Oh come on! Idea is great, but for me its not working, too unfair...

That's how racing goes. In the long run, getting hit from behind once every 5 or 10 races, doesn't bother your SR too much. If you aim to race clean and don't make mistakes every lap, your SR will be fine.

On top of this... AC could make a SR system that works better than iRacing's. It could give someone who hits the guy from behind a 4x, while the guy in front would just get a 2x for example...

What's most important to me is simply having clean pick-up racing. If AC get's too populair, pick-up racing will be a wreckfest without some form of control. I don't say iRacing's way is the only way to have good pick-up racing, but right now, I don't see a better alternative.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

The problem I see with SR systems is they dont take human error into account. If, for example, your in a race your 2 or 3 seconds behind the next guy and you know you can catch him, because your lapping 1/2 a second quicker, so you push a little harder and in doing so you get a little oversteer out of a corner and put two wheels on the grass, because your pushing harder, why should you be punished for doing what you came to do, RACE!!

Theres to much GREY area with SR systems and IMO the only way to be fair is to make the SR system extremely detailed in its judgement of racing errors.
So when mr wrecker flies down the back straight, and without braking at all, slams into another opponent the system can judge that his actions were deliberate, he is then DQ and booted to the pits and not permitted to leave the server till the race is complete, this would be somewhat of a deterent, one would hope!!
On the other hand, if the SR knew were the braking point started and a driver simply made a braking error and out braked himself it could judge that he's made a braking error, so then if he impacted another driver he would then be penalised with a 10 second penalty, applied at the end of the race.
But there should be no penalty for the driver who he hit, because they will be disadvantaged by being wrecked or contacted, and probably be unable to finish the race, depending on damage sustained by the wrecker/contact.
If the contact was due to a driver deliberately braking harder than necassary, in which the driver behind impacts him, then the system should be able to determine that action as a deliberate/careless act and he would be penalised, the driver who hit him should not be penalised if he attempted to avoid the impact but couldnt. The system could make these judgements if it was coded to monitor brake pressure of each car and the braking points around the track, just an example of SR systems potential.

I believe that SR systems are needed, but they need to be alot more foregiving of minor (human) errors, and much more detailed in how that judgement is decided, this type of system would need a very complex and detailed SR code, but not impossible to do.