Question Time: Esports | What Makes a Good Event?

ONE MILLION DOLLARS!
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This almost sounds scripted as if an organization reached to RD for targeted feedback.

I want sim racing esport to become a billion dollar global powerhouse so tons of sponsored cash get funneled toward software/hardware devs.
This creates more investment interest to devs and engineers that would never consider a racing title, and helps established studios which could only positively affect you and I, the player.

I don’t know if there is a particular car/track combo, presentation style or format feature.
It would just have to follow current championships with great commentary at the closest to region specific prime time the organizers could afford.

One feature I’d like to see esport showcase is VR, it’s a piece of hardware that would gather attention for those outside our sim world.
 
In the context of the SRO eSport GT series, I have two requests.

Break up the the categories as per the real series. Pro drivers compete against each other, Silver against each other and AM against each other and take the top driver from each category respectively or at the very most, blend the AMs and Silver.


Secondly, keep the playing field always equal, between all drivers, for all events. The decision to force drivers to drive specific group A cars or group B cars in Nürburgring was a bad decision and hurt the competition, and in turn ACC, especially when the competitors have to invest their personal money to be there.

This :thumbsup:
 
I watched this ACC league race the other day and it was really good:

The field was made of good drivers and it was tight, close racing on a damp track for 90 minutes. Commentators did their job well, the camera views were beautiful, the first place was decided at the very end and influenced by tire strategies.

This goes to show that you don't need huge amounts of money (although it definitely helps..). Certainly you have to put your money on good servers and use the ranking system wisely. I also personally prefer 1h-1h30 races to sprint races as more skills come into play. Changing weather adds more uncertainty. It would be wise to add safety cars to bunch together the pack whenever there is a major crash, this keeps the racing close.

As a spectator of the ACC SRO eSports events hosted by you guys here at RD, I did like your videos. But such a small amount of cars on the track, the relatively short duration of the races and the limited number of events made for a rather sparse show for the online viewers.
 
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For me, this is simple. It's no different to 'real' sports. Whether it's motor racing, football, snooker, whatever.

I need to care who wins.

I need to know who the drivers are, I need to be able to relate to them. I need to understand the rivalries, the histories. There need to be heroes and villains.

Take this season's Renault Clio Cup in the UK. I've never watched that series before. Why did I look forward to it more than anything else on the BTCC programme this season? Because there was a titanic battle for the championship between 2 drivers who were, to me, a hero and a villain, after various incidents through the season. I was invested because I saw the incidents, saw their reactions, heard their opinions on it in post-race interviews.

Another good example - years ago, the Seat Leon Cup where the prize was a BTCC drive. As well as showing the races live, there was a programme on during the week that interviewed the drivers and really exposed their personalities - for better and worse.

I remember really having '**** Head' Shedden down as the villain, something I never quite got over. Every race he competed in, I had him as the villain. As he was actually good, it made it compelling viewing.

If you want people to care, you have to give them something to care about.

That's what the ACC series lacked, in my opinion. I drifted away after a race or two because one or two drivers (who I recognised from this forum) apart, I neither knew nor cared about who they were or how they did.

Bring me the stories. Whether they're from the front of the grid or the back.

Make it human. Make it personal.
 
For me, this is simple. It's no different to 'real' sports. Whether it's motor racing, football, snooker, whatever.

I need to care who wins.

I need to know who the drivers are, I need to be able to relate to them. I need to understand the rivalries, the histories. There need to be heroes and villains.
I think this is what it comes down to with me too.

For years and years I was hoping to see people do sim races for money. Now that it's become reality I haven't got any interest to follow unless it involves my team or me. So.. exactly like it has always been for me.
 
I'd guess you don't watch soccer, ice hockey, football or motorsports either?

The difference being one is a computer game the other real.
So I like sim racing, I even like watching a YT or stream, but once you enter “ESPORT” the make pretend starts to become silly - IMO.

At which point I’d rather spend time watching a real race or play a sim / game myself. Also some games actually suffer because of ESPORT balancing / optimization. Once I read competitive gaming I tend to bypass.

Of course to each his own and I wish ESPORT all the best!
 
I want to watch videogamers that use H-pattern & clutch with car that oversteer. Not some plebs with their assist & paddle with on-off throttle control.
 
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Wow, 100k viewers, ok is not a "sim" and the money thrown into it must be a lot, but certainly there must be something to learn here. They know how to put on a show; the in-game graphics, effects, camera movements, etc are exciting; there is plenty of information provided by the on screen apps.
 
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SIM racing and esport are 2 separate activity, like playing soccer and watching soccer. Of course we can do both but RD caters to people interested in driving the SIMs. Enjoying the simulation of driving a race car does in no way imply an interest in watching other doing it. Actually as it relates with my own experience to more I am involve with my simulator the less I am interested in watching even real life racing. I follow the results and the news about the racing world but I prefer spending time simulating racing on my rig rather than watching someone else race.
As from an esport competitor perspective, I am not part of the very small group of elite driver to even be able to contemplate taking part of the competitions. I have always considered that those participating in online activities, exploiting the particular aspects of a sim to get a speed advantage are into something totally different than me who seeks a simulation of the real thing not caring if the results is a faster or slower lap. Since all sim have their strong and not so strong points in trying to replicate reality, the 2 approach while totally legitimate, also makes us, while using the same software, seek a different pleasure.
At the end of the day, I don’t care who, even if I admire their talent and dedication, exploit F1 2019, GT Sport or ACC the best, it is not what I am into.
The fact that the biggest competition are done on SIM that I am not even interested , except for ACC, in even using, clearly shows the cleavage between enjoying driving ourself or watching esport.
 
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I'd guess you don't watch soccer, ice hockey, football or motorsports either?
You're kidding, right? A real race track, enormous structure, roaring sounds, real drivers instead of unemployed nerds, NASA tech cars, smell of fuel and rubber... In other hand we have a random guy with his face shove in a 20" monitor exploiting the physics flaws of a bad video game.

A single kick in real football ball in a friendly game in my neighbourhood worths 1000 EA Sports FIFA 2019 virtual matches.
 
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