I am shocked

[Mike Bishop]

Racedepartment what has happened. Some time ago I did a few mini fridays and other events and used to weasle and beg my way onto the server due to full grids. Now looking at all your up coming Club races hardly anybody has signed up, and its not due to a shortage of quality from what i can see. Wow I am shocked,have i missed the bus or what. Is Simbin out and other brands in ? :letsgoracing:

 

[Szymon Olizarowicz]

I believe rankings could help a lot. For example we have the Porsche SuperCup starting. We could now give points for people for a good finishing position. The ranking could then be displayed in the thread, where next Porsche event is announced. It would give the ultimate 'goal' which would be outperforming someone in e.g. 3 next races to take their position in the rank. This way people would feel more encouraged to participate in as many events of a particular race club (in this case Porsche) and compete with others. I think it's good also because it gives more of of 'league' feeling. Many people want to participate in leagues but they can't because of strict rules (having to show up every time) or lack of space in the grid. When a good ranking system is used in Porsche or other club it would create more of a league type of competition.

As for excessive aggression I support Dennis's post above. I believe that appropriate rules (and I think RD has very good rules) prevent people from being too aggressive.

 

[Chris Mackenzie]

I believe a "club" with a locked or default car setup (not sure how you would implement this - maybe a MOD with setup modifications removed?) could work...we all want to be competitive - however with the endless setup guru's out there racing for the casual runner is tedious....or even daunting! The casual driver needs to be captured and the only way to do that is have a series that sparks the spirit within.

Tracks should be selected thoughtfully, starting out with easier type tracks and as the season progresses so does the complexity to the circuits.....racing rules need to be simple and not over bearing as the intention of the series should be on fun as well as hopefully close racing.....we sorta need a "PICK UP AND PLAY" club....

Chris

 

[Dennis Phelan]

What's so difficult about sim racing that drivers want to put their toes in the water to test the temps? If you've been racing anywhere, the racing you'll find here is the same. You race, others race, all on the same track, someone will win, most all will lose. Do your best, there is no 110% effort, make mistakes and get better. If you're a natural or have gained skills that others are still working on, you'll look good. There is no magic, no moment that you're fast, there is no secret. As in anything, practice, practice, practice.

If you've been practicing, show us what you got!

Chris, have you really checked us out? We are a pick up and play club! Oh yeah, I hear we do leagues too.

Why wait outside the gates, RD's US race grids are empty, we're lucky to get 2-3 entries and amaybe a one or two from the EU. EU grids are usually far from full, plenty of room for everyone.

 

[Chris Mackenzie]

I think you are missing my point about "pick up and play" many gamers today dont have time to practice practice practice (as you suggest) - I myself am In that position (heck I'm working on a track and it's not getting much done to it due to other real-life commitments) we are in need of a club where you sign up, load the game and race...no need for precisely tweaked setups.....maybe I'm being stupid in thinking that an EVEN playing field is more exciting to be a part of?

It was only a suggestion after all.......
Chris

P.S. I would be a more active racer if work commitments weren't an issue....

 

[Péter Bártfai]

You can always come and race with default setup or a pre-made setup by Simbin. That's what I'm doing nowadays tbh, did I win? No. But I had a lot of fun racing with others.

There's no need for hundreds of hours of practice to enter an event! You just drop your sign-up in it's thread and come! Practice is more important on a longer therm. If you do events, race regularly, you will get better. And when sign-ups get to a higher level, slower drivers will find their opponents too. There is a chance that events will be fun with 5 people, but my experience is, that the most fun races come over 10 people for sprint events, and more for endurance races.

The most important thing is: Sign up! Do races!

 

[Szymon Olizarowicz]

make mistakes and get better

I would like to see your face after someone follows your suggestion and drives into your back in the first corner just because he decided to 'practice' during the event.

I'm not saying that people need a perfect setup or they need tens of hours of training but there is no point in driving on a track you barely know with a car you are not comfortable with. It's not fun to particpate in an event and not being sure if you even make it to the end of the race. Instead of racing you try to survive and it takes the joy away. You have started sim racing years ago and it may take ~30 minutes for you to learn the track and car to a sufficient degree. I started racing at the end of August and learning to drive with the new content (track, car, mods, setups etc) takes a lot more time than that. Of course I could learn during the race BUT trust me - you would not want me to do that.

Most of the time, after the event is announced people have a week to prepare for the race. For someone like me it often means learning the car, track, finding the setup that will not destroy your tires to early making it impossible to finish the race (I literally can't control the car when the car is having problems with traction). It will take 3-5 hours before I get used to the new content. Finding that time during the week is not always possible.

 

[Dennis Phelan]

The most important thing is: Sign up! Do races!

Absolutely!

 

[Dennis Phelan]

My "first" race was a long time ago, before the PC. It was a real race on a real track. I was lucky enough to have seen the track from the outside a year before but I had only one live practice session before the race on a machine I had never been on. Everyone did that and many still do the same thing, race. For two years all I saw were "new" tracks though I did get a more practice before race time. It's a real heart throbbing experience....just like so many starts I've had and still have in sim racing!

Practicing on track during events:
There are times when racing that you "drive by the numbers" but if you do that often the fun goes arway. Every turn of the wheel, every application of the throttle or brake is a search to do it better than before, to string together enough "I did that right's" together to put down a lap faster than before or to just get closer to the driver in front. That's what I meant by practice, practice, practice. Yup, been a sim racer for a while and still not very good and yup, I get "bumped" from behind by drivers on the track practicing as hard as they can, gotta love it as I do it once in a while too.

Sorry, another edit: Geez, you got me thinking! There were a number of tracks that I got to do over and over again so I knew them quite intimately. During National events riders from across the country would show up to race at one or two and I found I never had a home field advantage, they learned the tracks very quickly!

 

[Chris Mackenzie]

1 - I'm not saying that people need a perfect setup or they need tens of hours of training but there is no point in driving on a track you barely know with a car you are not comfortable with.

2 - It's not fun to particpate in an event and not being sure if you even make it to the end of the race. Instead of racing you try to survive and it takes the joy away.

Point 1, and that my friend is the reason I generally don't bother taking part in club races - if i'm not comfortable on a track due to not being able to find time to practice practice practice I dont bother registering - I wouldn't want to get in the way of the "professional racers with thier super-quick setups!" or heaven forbid, knock them off thier hallowed turf! :wink: Granted you shouldnt go into a race "blind" when it comes to a track...there's probably a great proportion of racers who "know" tracks enough to get around them, but will NEVER feel comfortable enough to be competitive....

Point 2, I dissagree - I have been in a few races where I havent even cut the pace (ok all of them! ) other racers are miles ahead and I'm no challenge to...well anything but the hotrod snail on the poleline, when that happens it's purely a case of finding some way to make the race enjoyable - so survival to the end becomes the challenge - actually on that I've noted that many (and usually the front runners) often "drop out" if they have a small off and become un-competitive...almost like a sourgrapes reaction. Usually I will push to improve my laptime or something like that - all the time being aware that others are racing, and getting out of their way when required.

BTW - where can I find a time conterter - so I can look into the possibility of joining a few events - need to know how New Zealand time compares to others...

Chris

 

[Dennis Phelan]

Chris,
On both points, I don't think you're wrong at all, you're right but your complaints are overstated a bit and maybe just for the sake of a discussion maybe. This last post clearly indicates to me that you would like driving with us. Everything that you've related/describes will probably happen, it's a good thing!

 

[Warren Dawes]

BTW - where can I find a time conterter - so I can look into the possibility of joining a few events - need to know how New Zealand time compares to others...

I always use this one, it has never let me down yet. It takes into account all of the various DST offsets too.

http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc

 

[Marco Bijl]

My experience is that, when you start a race, there is almost always someone around who has about the same pace as you do, which makes so much racing fun!

I mean, I am NOT quick at all. Usually am at the back of the pack. However, I still have fun and thats why I race. Yeah, sure, there are times that I want to make a move on somebody, and decide not to because I am afraid I will knock him out of the track, but that teaches you to be patient, and to wait for the right time to overtake someone.

Let's face it. We are all smart enough to know what we can and what we can't do during a race. The only thing that you have to do, is turn off that instinct which pushes you to win all the time! If you manage to do that, everybody can race online. No matter how good, fast or experienced you are.

 

[Jempy]

Even though I'm not busy here for the moment, as I were often at the back in Racing Clubs, I confirm what Marco says:

Fast or slow, there's always someone to have racing pleasure with if both are clean and want to have fun.


A good setup is a plus point but I recently discovered even important points: a good FFB helps a lot and of course a bit of practice for taking a good line in the curves.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

I don't understand why people are worried if they are slow. In every race whether thats real or virtual you need people in the front of the field and people in the back.

There is always someone to fight with and that is the most important thing in a club race: learn and enjoy. Its not about winning at all.

Personally I couldn't care less if i finish 1st or 25th as long as I have a nice race with other drivers.

 

[Dennis Phelan]

I think Chris is hooked.

 

[Chris Mackenzie]

I think Chris is hooked.

Ha Dennis...not hooked, just simply trying to help the Race community get itself into gear. I never realised before that there was two chances for me to run on my day off (Euro in the morning and US in the arvo) unfortunately due to times etc they are more than likely the only sessions I can take part in......alot of that will also come down to "when time permits" - the other day I had nothing on my "list of things to do" so was able to take part in both.

One thing I have found funny is that many of the people who have made comments about the lack of racers in the Race servers, are also the ones who dont seem to be in servers themselves (the thursday ones anyway)

Ooops! I was one of those - so had to put an appearance in somewhere....

how we can further entice racers is anyones guess....

Chris