My thoughts on the new platform

[Matt Horst]

I thought it was time i shared some feedback and opinions i have had previously and have been forming for the last couple of weeks since the new platform was introduced so here goes.

I must say i never really saw the logic in some aspects of the new format.I think if anything it's made turnout even worse.I do like the first come first serve,no sign up approach and the race log is nice but the same car and track all weak long bores me to death unless it's a car and track i really love.

Furthermore i can't understand why staff don't realize if your going to support all these different sim racing platforms and then have open races all week long for every platform you are going to severely dilute the grid size for every race.

If i can make a race on a particular day i find myself having to choose between two or three events i am interested in,but it seems like often none of them have more than a couple of people on the server at best so i find myself not bothering with it and racing elsewhere or even offline, or i go off and play battlefield 3 or something.

I think some hard choices need to be made for the good of the Race Department community.Sometimes you just can't be all things to all people and it seems like that is what is happening here.I think Race Department needs to settle on no more than three or maybe four platforms at most and schedule races so as to not have any conflicts with each other.You could and should alternate the days each week in witch you host each platform so people who cant race on a particular day will not get left out of there preferred platform all the time.

I think the platforms support should go something like this:

Asseto Corsa
rfactor 2
Rieza Studios (FT & GSC)

I know there is still a number of guys who enjoy GTL & race 07 so i would maybe try to work in something for those games to but in all honesty they are older games and I'm not sure how much longer it's prudent to continue support for these games.Support for rfactor has already been discontinued and it came out at the same time as race 07.

The main thing is just try not to overlap races.I think that's the key to drawing bigger grids. There are enough days in the week (excluding Saturdays for leagues)to run at least one or two events for each platform.And there is no reason all events have to be scheduled at the same start time.If you want to work in more races there is no reason one can't start at 19:00 and the next at 20:30 or something like that especially if they are short sprint races.For example Monday formula truck at 19:00 and stock car V8 at 21:30

 

[Justin Swan]

Race 07 might be an "old" game but it still has one of the biggest grids in club events. It would be foolish to wind things up with an older sim just because of its age. If age was a problem, nobody would play it. I dare say when AC, rf2 and R3E has fully functioning multiplayer platforms then people might start looking at these new sims to feed their habit but not yet.

 

[Matt Horst]

If a platform can still draw a full grid then it should be kept on.I'm not suggesting GTL or race 07 should be terminated right this minute.I suspect rfactor could still draw full grid races as well but it no longer is used here and new mods and updates for mods are still being released.

I just see the three sims i listed as the future of sim racing and i think those should get the most slotted time once they are released and fully ready with all the content needed to satisfy everyone's vices.

All i want is quality racing and i am sure everyone else does also.I would include a full grid in my description of a quality race.what we have here right now imho is lots of quantity but a serious lack of quality,at least on the club racing level.

 

[Rupe Wilson]

All i can suggest is to post when your going to race,
let people know when your on the server you have to build the interest draw people in.
get on t/speak, this is what race 07 and gtl have done over a number of years and you could say they have their own cult following and the guys are happy racing there chosen sim,
It would not be fair just to cancel a popular sim in a hope that they would then race another. They would probably leave to race some where else,
they are as passionate about there sim as you are about yours
We have enough space on the servers to run them all at the present time,
this may change in the future depending on funds, big thumbs up to all premium members

In GTL we use the same system the servers are there to race on 24/7
but as a group we choose to run on a Tuesday and Thursday. you may find guys on there at other times also racing or testing,but they know the 2 night when to find the most action
I like the other sims that i have and try to race these on different nights.
Mondays and Fridays seems popular for Ftrucks. but we do post and invite others to race, and answer the request if we cant make. communication between members is the key to getting this working
I also would like to give GSC and Rfactor 2 more time but im flat out as it is looking after GTL..

Also to remember there is also a slow down in the servers around this time every year
due to the holidays and people wanting to be outside with the families. and then as summer ends the servers fill right up again, this happens most years,
What we have now is a great system in place for when it gets busy..Roll on the dark night and crappy wheather

 

[Rupe Wilson]

At present only Rfactor 2 is shall we say the next gen of sims that is ready to go
AC and Pcars still have top make it to market.

but once they are released they should keep interests high for a number of years, but you will still have guys that want to drive the older sims, Some don't like change, some cant afford change. and some will like the group they race with and until the whole group change, they will stick together.

Lets not forget GSC and Ftrucks as good as they are use the same engine as race07 GTL
rfactor, yes its had every bit of magic squeezed out of it, it looks amazing, and drives so good but. its still old in engine years.

what we will have eventually is a group of sim's to suite all needs and i hope at RD we can cover this

 

[Calum McLure]

Maybe at the start of the week if someone is interested in an event they could say what days they'll most likely be available, then we could add a list to the main thread with peoples names beside the their stated days. Might help organize it a bit more if we could find a common date for when people are available.

Just now you can join a server at race time and not know whether 12 will show up or 2, even after tagging loads of people.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Members can of course always sign up and keep track of their own sign up list.

Just make a list with bulletpoints of 25 names or so and copy the one from the user above you, add your name and let the other driver after you do the same.

As announced we are just testing this platform as we thought that racelog would be a nice addition to the club races.

Nothing wrong with some organizing though

 

[Ho3n3r]

Is anyone else also unable to see all the people who likes a post? All I can see now is 'Likes x6' and so on, but I cannot see the people's names.

 

[Lars Brugman]

It is a feature for Premium members, however, there is another thread to discuss this.

 

[Tom]

It is a feature for Premium members, however, there is another thread to discuss this.

Correct but the thread has been closed, for now.