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Guess the correct date that iRacing will go under and I will send you a
free copy of Xcom.

lid (Grunty) wrote:

> Guess the correct date that iRacing will go under

The neverty first of never, two thousand and never. I will, however, put
money on the service being considerably different (or at the very least
diversified) by this date next year.

Not much money though. My savings are deflating fast enough as it is,
without throwing money down the opinion drain.

Andrew McP

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:33 +0100 (BST),
(Andrew MacPherson) wrote:

> I will, however, put
>money on the service being considerably different (or at the very least
>diversified) by this date next year.

Yeah, I agree with that. Physics, graphics, sound and netcode, that's
all great. But they forgot the fun part...

Cheers!

Remco

no@email (Remco Moedt) wrote:

> But they forgot the fun part...

Fun is for gamers. iRacing is for grownups! And a handful of bored
profession racers who fancy a laugh at the wannabes. ;-)

I shouldn't take the p*ss, because I really do want it to succeed, and as
soon as I sort my triplehead setup out I'm going to have buy in for
another month. I think racing on ovals with decent peripheral vision
might be quite entertaining. For a while anyway.

Andrew McP

PS Actually I nearly cracked & rejoined earlier today when I discovered
the Skip Barber's at Infineon again. I was just starting to love that
track when the tracks switched last time.

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:58:23 GMT, Grunty > wrote:

>Guess the correct date that iRacing will go under and I will send you a
>free copy of Xcom.

20/12/2539

Please Remco,

Expand on that thought... I kinda see your point, feel the same but at
times I have so much fun on there... so I cant decide. would like to read
your opinion though. PS you don't think the Skip Barber series is about
spot on to the F3 <was called trainer?> races we ran on the end of the
heydays of Vrock?

personally I think it kinda feels like it is but again it has been quite a
while since I did the GPL thing... but getting safety ratings/license
disabling penalties for 2 tire barely off the track, on this dang thing
(iRacing) on a road course, ****es me off intensely... yet I can scrub the
wall slightly and not get a penalty. I mean it is so bad, that as if you
don't get a penalty enough trying to get out of someone's way, and barely go
off track because there might be a race going on behind you (faster racers)
and you try to give em room without getting your lap screwed (i.e. coming to
a stop in the pits to let them by or something), you get penalized even if
you don't cut to gain time, nor lose control of the car? to me that is
BULLCRAP.


"Remco Moedt" <no@email> wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:33 +0100 (BST),
> (Andrew MacPherson) wrote:
>
>> I will, however, put
>>money on the service being considerably different (or at the very least
>>diversified) by this date next year.
>
> Yeah, I agree with that. Physics, graphics, sound and netcode, that's
> all great. But they forgot the fun part...
>
> Cheers!
>
> Remco
>
>

vigi > wrote in :

>
> 20/12/2539
>

I can't send anyone a *free* copy of Xcom if you don't post realsitic
dates.

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:34:36 -0500, "PlowBoy," > wrote:

>Please Remco,
>
> Expand on that thought... I kinda see your point, feel the same but at
>times I have so much fun on there... so I cant decide. would like to read
>your opinion though. PS you don't think the Skip Barber series is about
>spot on to the F3 <was called trainer?> races we ran on the end of the
>heydays of Vrock?

There is nothing wrong with the cars and tracks, I could even race the
Solstice for a bit...if there was a race...the physics do feel much
more realistic as with GPL.


>personally I think it kinda feels like it is but again it has been quite a
>while since I did the GPL thing... but getting safety ratings/license
>disabling penalties for 2 tire barely off the track, on this dang thing
>(iRacing) on a road course, ****es me off intensely... yet I can scrub the
>wall slightly and not get a penalty. I mean it is so bad, that as if you
>don't get a penalty enough trying to get out of someone's way, and barely go
>off track because there might be a race going on behind you (faster racers)
>and you try to give em room without getting your lap screwed (i.e. coming to
>a stop in the pits to let them by or something), you get penalized even if
>you don't cut to gain time, nor lose control of the car? to me that is
>BULLCRAP.

I agree completely with this. I understand why they've implemented the
SR system, but it's overdone IMO.

The reality for me is, I fire up iRacing, and since I'm still a Rookie
with a SR of 2.90, I've to drive the Solstice series. But there is
noone in a race, if there is a race... I do feel lonely, there isn't
even someone in chat. Ok, so I do a timetrial. I manage to drive 4
laps without an incident., up to the corner before the last
corner....there I go a bit too wide.....no score, and a SR
improvement of 0.01. And I didn't even gain time because of that
mistake!

I don't understand what the timetrial is for, anyway. But at this
rate, I've to do at least 55 incident free laps to get a score above
3.00, so I can race the Advanced Solstice. Since I've no clue if there
are races for that class, I can't find a way to see races where I'm
not allowed, I'm not too motivated to do these 55 laps. I might have
to do a lot of timetrials in the Advanced Solstice aswell to get a SR
above 4.00, so that I finally can get to race the Skip Barber. I don't
have the free time nor motivation to do that, I just want to do a race
the moment I fire up iRacing. Now I've more fun starting Race07 and
race the Radical.



Cheers!

Remco

no@email (Remco Moedt) wrote:

> I understand why they've implemented the SR system, but it's
> overdone IMO.

I think the SR system is perfect for its intended use... the training of
serious virtual racers. iRacing is not really interested -- yet -- in
those of us with a more relaxed approach. In order to bring about a
change we only really have two options...

1) Keep subscribing and take every vocal opportunity to lobby iRacing to
offer a more relaxed version of the existing setup. They could do it
easily enough, because it only really requires an alteration to the
practice servers.

2) Having tried the service, make our feeling felt in the forums and then
leave. That was the route I chose, but -- as has been widely documented --
I'm finding it hard to stay away. The trouble is, I know nothing has
changed and I'll meet the same frustrations (and occasionally rewards!) I
met before. Damned if I do rejoin... .damned if I don't!

> The reality for me is, I fire up iRacing, and since I'm still
> a Rookie with a SR of 2.90, I've to drive the Solstice series.
> But there is noone in a race, if there is a race...

Unless you can race at peak times (and that varies depending where you
live) iRacing can be a very lonely place, and obviously nothing much has
changed since I semi-retired. Again we return to iRacing's stated policy
of growing slowly which, almost inevitably, means retaining only those
who are fast enough to regularly find competitive racing. The rest are
bound to fall by the wayside.

> I do feel lonely, there isn't even someone in chat.

In my month only ever found two others in a chatroom on one occasion, and
they were chatting about real world engines... something I have no
knowledge about whatsoever. iRacing has yet to develop a functioning
VROC-style racing community (the forums don't count). You could even
argue that the way the seasons and divisions are constructed they'll
never manage it. Human beings are psychologically geared towards
relatively small groups... 30-40.

> Ok, so I do a timetrial. I manage to drive 4 laps without an
> incident., up to the corner before the last corner....there
> I go a bit too wide.....no score

I found TTs very boring, but I did do a few when I couldn't find anyone
to race, or there was a looooong gap (they're every 2 hours) to the next
Skip Barber. I had a policy of putting on the radio to stop me getting
bored, and driving 8 really unimaginative laps (or however many were
required for that track), then slowly cranking up the speed. That way I
always got a rating, even if I only ended up with nine laps before
putting two wheels on the grass and getting stuffed.

Oval TTs are a lot easier and quicker to build up to and recover from
mistakes. But then that's because our American friends have a shorter
attention span. ;-) <fx:ducks>

> I don't understand what the timetrial is for, anyway.

Ultimately, neither do I, other than a measure of people's hotlapping
ability. I suppose it's the iRacing equivalent of GPLrank? There's
probably a chapter about it in the Sporting Code. But it's been nearly
three weeks since I had to look at that bloated monstrosity, and -- like
women and childbirth -- my brain has conveniently forgotten the pain
involved.

> But at this rate, I've to do at least 55 incident free laps to get
> a score above 3.00, so I can race the Advanced Solstice.

I really do think you should do your best to run a race a day at the back
of the field. Don't push hard, just concentrate on getting round the
track. If you have a totally clean race your SR goes up in quite
satisfying chunks. While this can be very boring, it's the only way of
getting into a Skip Barber. It really is a completely different
experience.

Personally I found the advanced Solstice just as dull a ride as the basic
model.

> Since I've no clue if there are races for that class

There are; they run at similar intervals to the ordinary Solstice races.

> I might have to do a lot of timetrials in the Advanced Solstice as
> well to get a SR above 4.00

I stuck with the basic Solstice and my 'back of the field' race tactic. I
even raced on my own once and my SR still went up more than it would've
done in a TT. That was a *really* boring time though! 17 laps or so on
your own is not recommended. :-)

> I just want to do a race the moment I fire up iRacing.

In your dreams! You have to hang around in the forums for a while,
posting about the cars and tracks you'd like added in order to dilute the
racing pool even more! ;-)

> Now I've more fun starting Race07 and race the Radical.

I've been having some fun in Mini races at the Ring. But I still long for
something as satisfying as the Skip Barber to drive. It's a real sod that
I can't find a sim I enjoy fully any more. iRacing has the vehicles I
want to drive, but not the freedom. Race07/Evo has the main track I want &
overall gaming polish. GTR2 has the engine sounds. And I have a headache
trying to decide whether to just throw my games PC in the bin and forget
about racing altogether. I was *so* close to that until recently. Now
look at the mess I'm in!

I blame it all on Kaemmer. He should've retired to the mountains after
selling Papyrus, instead of hanging around creating tempting but
frustratingly flawed software. :-)

Andrew McP... feeling like Odysseus, tied to the mast listening to
iRacing's Siren song! ;-)

On Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:25:16 GMT, Grunty > wrote:

>> 20/12/2539
>
>I can't send anyone a *free* copy of Xcom if you don't post realsitic
>dates.

20/12/4912