Help! iRacing resistance breaking down thanks to Week13 fun races

I need a bit of rational perspective from you guys. I'm inside the iFence for
another couple of months (on the half price offer from a while back). But next week
is the Week13 'fun' week, where iRacing stops being a racing concentration camp and
becomes more of a holiday camp instead. (Well, they take off the handcuffs and stop
beating you with the Safety Rating for a while anyway.)

Races on offer... half hourly Late Models at Talladega. Bound to be a disaster with
no safety rating in place, but there's potential for heaps of fun (and abuse from
the seasoned oval drivers, but that's a bonus!)

I used to race Talladega a lot in the Nascar series, and enjoy the big ovals as a
unique form of high speed racing. Well, until I fall off the end of the pack and
can't catch up. :-) It's a tempting format for me to buy into, but I'd need the car
and the track ($35) and probably wouldn't use them much again... though the Late
Model might make a pleasant change when I fancy some left turn racing.

Having said that, I think I'd need to buy about five tracks for a Late Model season,
so I'd hardly ever be able to race without spending more money. And I kind of
object to spending a penny on tracks with so few turns in them anyway. You'd expect
them to be $5, not $20!

Then there's the road racing. This time they're offering Laguna Seca with Solstice,
Riley, and Radical in mixed class races every half hour with up to 46 drivers!
Sounds very tempting indeed. Total chaos, but still tempting. :-)

Except at this stage you have to own all vehicles in order to drive (they're
looking at changing this apparently, eventually). So that means $30's worth of cars
which I probably won't (or can't in the case of the Riley) race after next week.

And of course the other factor is that at the times I drive there's rarely anything
like 46 drivers on the whole of iRacing, so I really shouldn't let that mirage drag
me into spending money.

Mmm... I can feel the enthusiasm leaking out of my fingers even as I type. I must
bottle this lack-of-enthusiasm and save it for the next weak moment.

Of course... if I signed up for a year (to justify renting more cars etc) that'd
give me 60 iDollars to spend on cars & tracks, and the 20% discount kicks in for
six cars or tracks, and... and...

And the iConfusion continues! It's a curse, I tell you, not a hobby. :-)

Andrew McP

I race in 2 rFactor leagues using the 1995 CART mod by iDT. We do a
little pickup racing and my team gets together in our own server and
Team Speak and do setup development. We run a combination of Ovals and
Roadies. We race with our long term friends.

We were thinking about iRacing again but we feel like going to SIM
racing drivers school is not needed because we have already been SIM
Racing for 10 years. And none of us really want to drive low powered
cars. And all the negatives that go along with iRacing just don't add up
to a great experience like we create in our other leagues.

With all the negative post I see from iRacing members, I can't see
getting involved again.

Basically, iRacing doesn't offer the ability to Drive the car I want to
drive and race with my friends when I want to race, in league races we
organize.

I'm trying to figure out what iRacing really has going for it except for
the very small group of the sickening "Come to iRacing Jesus" crowd.

I know John Henry has money to throw away ... but if he was smart, he'd
throw that "SIM Racing school" concept away and let the racers get back
to racing.

I don't need to have arrogant a-holes tell me how good I am, driving
their drastically underdeveloped racing game that they think is a new
sport. Man do they have their head up their arses.

Race2Play blows iRacing away!

Send iRacing a message .... stop subscribing.

These iRacing people are the same dickheads that screwed with everyone
back in 2004. Now they want you to "submit" to their flawed concept.

I'd buy all the tracks and their cars I wanted to drive in one fell
swoop. Just get rid of the "iRacing brain police."

Niles Anders
"Having much more fun then any iRacer."


Andrew MacPherson wrote:
> I need a bit of rational perspective from you guys. I'm inside the iFence for
> another couple of months (on the half price offer from a while back). But next week
> is the Week13 'fun' week, where iRacing stops being a racing concentration camp and
> becomes more of a holiday camp instead. (Well, they take off the handcuffs and stop
> beating you with the Safety Rating for a while anyway.)
>
> Races on offer... half hourly Late Models at Talladega. Bound to be a disaster with
> no safety rating in place, but there's potential for heaps of fun (and abuse from
> the seasoned oval drivers, but that's a bonus!)
>
> I used to race Talladega a lot in the Nascar series, and enjoy the big ovals as a
> unique form of high speed racing. Well, until I fall off the end of the pack and
> can't catch up. :-) It's a tempting format for me to buy into, but I'd need the car
> and the track ($35) and probably wouldn't use them much again... though the Late
> Model might make a pleasant change when I fancy some left turn racing.
>
> Having said that, I think I'd need to buy about five tracks for a Late Model season,
> so I'd hardly ever be able to race without spending more money. And I kind of
> object to spending a penny on tracks with so few turns in them anyway. You'd expect
> them to be $5, not $20!
>
> Then there's the road racing. This time they're offering Laguna Seca with Solstice,
> Riley, and Radical in mixed class races every half hour with up to 46 drivers!
> Sounds very tempting indeed. Total chaos, but still tempting. :-)
>
> Except at this stage you have to own all vehicles in order to drive (they're
> looking at changing this apparently, eventually). So that means $30's worth of cars
> which I probably won't (or can't in the case of the Riley) race after next week.
>
> And of course the other factor is that at the times I drive there's rarely anything
> like 46 drivers on the whole of iRacing, so I really shouldn't let that mirage drag
> me into spending money.
>
> Mmm... I can feel the enthusiasm leaking out of my fingers even as I type. I must
> bottle this lack-of-enthusiasm and save it for the next weak moment.
>
> Of course... if I signed up for a year (to justify renting more cars etc) that'd
> give me 60 iDollars to spend on cars & tracks, and the 20% discount kicks in for
> six cars or tracks, and... and...
>
> And the iConfusion continues! It's a curse, I tell you, not a hobby. :-)
>
> Andrew McP
>
>
>

(Niles Anders) wrote:

> Send iRacing a message .... stop subscribing.

I have done... twice! But I keep going back because I enjoy the Skip Barber so much.
I've said before that it feels like what I hoped GPL2 would be... except that it's
GPL2 in a very tight, and rather expensive straightjacket. :-)

There continues to be a real divide inside iRacing between those who share the
hardcore iRacing vision, and those who want more flexibility. The recent
announcement of the schedule for next season has put the cat among the pigeons
because they're obviously (to me anyway) trying to cut down on the less popular
series to try and concentrate drivers together. But there are still way too many
series IMO, with way too few drivers to make this model work properly outside a few
peak hours every day.

But there are signs that iRacing is becoming more responsive to the desires of the
community. There's only one problem really, and that's the need for far more people
onboard. And until some real flexibility comes to iRacing, allowing people to race
what they want, when they want (to some extent at least), I'm not sure that'll ever
happen.

In some ways the developing project that is iRacing is more interesting than the
racing. Perhaps that's why I'm drawn back... iRacing is part race sim, part
sociological experiment.

Andrew McP

"Niles Anders" > wrote in message
...
>I race in 2 rFactor leagues using the 1995 CART mod by iDT. We do a little
>pickup racing and my team gets together in our own server and Team Speak
>and do setup development. We run a combination of Ovals and Roadies. We
>race with our long term friends.
>
> We were thinking about iRacing again but we feel like going to SIM racing
> drivers school is not needed because we have already been SIM Racing for
> 10 years.

23-years for me, and I feel the same way you do. I know how not to wreck and
I don't need to pay out a load of money to prove it.

Niles, no offense... All I can say is damn, unless you are the king or the
son of the king, you don't start ANY PLACE on the planet, AT THE TOP... you
work your way up. Sheesh.

You have to give a little to get a little, for Jesus Chryslers sake man. If
that effort is too much for you, then I don't know if I want to race with
you either, you know? While im gone here where I probably crossed the line
there... answer me this: if you were to start a real life racing career
you are telling me you would "start" in formula one? I know, mostly not
just because of money? No, not just money, but also because of Skill. That
is all, fair enough? Not saying you aren't damn fine sim racer, maybe your
real name is Skip Barber, but even he worked his way up. but I haven't
raced you, so how would I know? So you spend a very short 4 weeks showing
us (Iracing and me (ONLY saying and me, because I am a member I can see
your stats as they accumulate)) that you can drive as fast as you talk...
then you move up, no sweat! Some reason you think you should get to skip
all that?

To me, you sound less like you hate iRacing, but more like you hate
competition, earning your way up, and proving yourself. Well IMHO I think
you (if that is right) should avoid iRacing at all costs...

Hell, if you keep your safety rating pegged at the top you can drive a
crapload of cars after the 4 weeks. yes they are promoting rookies over 4.0
every 4 weeks now. I was driving non rookie cars after 4 weeks, plus some
time to re-improve my ratings.

I will rescind your one point. I agree, allow us to drive more cars (plus
the rookie series cars) when you are class d, yet they kinda do try and when
there are more cars, I bet they will. if you have class d and above 4
safety you drive class c cars in events. Right now there aren't that many
vehicles.

PlowBoy, wrote:

First off let me say that I love the physics and the scanning concept.
Also I like the fact they are using a tire dyno to recon info.

> Niles, no offense... All I can say is damn, unless you are the king or the
> son of the king, you don't start ANY PLACE on the planet, AT THE TOP... you
> work your way up. Sheesh.

I'm 56 years old and have already been to school ... even SIM Racing
school, I've been SIM Racing for 11 years. I want to race the cars I'm
driving now and I don't need to have a faux career to know I can SIM
race or get to a car I already know how to drive. That's the game part
of iRacing that turns me off. iRacing says it's more SIM but it's really
more game. rFactor has a career mode built into it and I don't know one
person that's done it ... mostly because they already know how to race
.... at least the people I race with.
>
> You have to give a little to get a little, for Jesus Chryslers sake man. If
> that effort is too much for you, then I don't know if I want to race with
> you either, you know?

I'd beat you anyway. I put in a lot of effort on my 1995 IndyCar
leagues ... you don't even know me and you think because it's not
iRacing that it doesn't count ... and your holier than thou attitude
typifies so many iRacing zealots and that is a main reason why I can't
do it. Not only that, iRacing doesn't offer a series type or a car I'm
interested in. And if you feel like you need to be validated by
progressing through a career, more power to you. But if you feel like
the only qualifier for you racing with me is that I have to play that
little game that iRacing offers up, rather then judging me on my racing
ability ... I don't want to race with you either. And that's exactly why
I find so many iRacing zealots arrogant and offensive. And the arrogant
divisiveness that iRacing has created, has done more harm to SIM Racing
overall then good and all you have to do is look at how many members
that have come, then gone, to know they have turned people off. It ain't
good. Their megalomaniacal management is flawed. Half the members that
have stayed don't like it.

People come back to our leagues saying definitively they will not be
doing any more iRacing. They have been alienated. It's not just the game
that turns people off, it's the arrogance of "We're in iRacing and
you're not!" that keep people from going.

While im gone here where I probably crossed the line
> there... answer me this: if you were to start a real life racing career
> you are telling me you would "start" in formula one? I know, mostly not
> just because of money? No, not just money, but also because of Skill. That
> is all, fair enough?

I started in Viper Racing. Then GPL then a dozen other SIM's. But now
because iRacing's here, I don't know how to race? "Come to iRacing
Jesus. It's the only path to SIM enlightenment."


Not saying you aren't damn fine sim racer, maybe your
> real name is Skip Barber, but even he worked his way up.

Done worked my way up, son.

but I haven't
> raced you, so how would I know? So you spend a very short 4 weeks showing
> us (Iracing and me (ONLY saying and me, because I am a member I can see
> your stats as they accumulate)) that you can drive as fast as you talk...
> then you move up, no sweat! Some reason you think you should get to skip
> all that?

I have done iRacing and it takes more then 4 weeks, plus as I said above
they don't offer the car I want to drive. Plus I want to race the car I
want to race, when I want to race and with whom I want to race. And
there is a group of guys over there, that are in control that alienated
me and a large group of SIM racers in 2004 and now they want me to pay
there wages while being in a format of high restrictions ..... No.

I have heard this same argument from a dozen people and I've heard a
dozen more have my argument. But all you have to do is look at how many
people are subscribed and you have your answer. It's a loser. There is
no way that John Henry will continue to back this loser unless they get
some more paying members. When I say loser I mean financial loser. Take
there employees and estimate their salaries and expenses (office, IT,
.....) and then estimate iRacing income and you will see that there is a
big hole over there that John Henry's throwing money down and it has no
bottom.
>
> To me, you sound less like you hate iRacing, but more like you hate
> competition, earning your way up, and proving yourself. Well IMHO I think
> you (if that is right) should avoid iRacing at all costs...

Again, your holier than thou attitude. You are what's wrong with
iRacing. You and your type.

"Andrew MacPherson" > wrote in message
...
>I need a bit of rational perspective from you guys. I'm inside the iFence
>for
> another couple of months (on the half price offer from a while back). But
> next week
> is the Week13 'fun' week, where iRacing stops being a racing concentration
> camp and
> becomes more of a holiday camp instead. (Well, they take off the handcuffs
> and stop
> beating you with the Safety Rating for a while anyway.)
>
> Races on offer... half hourly Late Models at Talladega. Bound to be a
> disaster with
> no safety rating in place, but there's potential for heaps of fun (and
> abuse from
> the seasoned oval drivers, but that's a bonus!)
>
> I used to race Talladega a lot in the Nascar series, and enjoy the big
> ovals as a
> unique form of high speed racing. Well, until I fall off the end of the
> pack and
> can't catch up. :-) It's a tempting format for me to buy into, but I'd
> need the car
> and the track ($35) and probably wouldn't use them much again... though
> the Late
> Model might make a pleasant change when I fancy some left turn racing.
>
> Having said that, I think I'd need to buy about five tracks for a Late
> Model season,
> so I'd hardly ever be able to race without spending more money. And I kind
> of
> object to spending a penny on tracks with so few turns in them anyway.
> You'd expect
> them to be $5, not $20!
>
> Then there's the road racing. This time they're offering Laguna Seca with
> Solstice,
> Riley, and Radical in mixed class races every half hour with up to 46
> drivers!
> Sounds very tempting indeed. Total chaos, but still tempting. :-)
>
> Except at this stage you have to own all vehicles in order to drive
> (they're
> looking at changing this apparently, eventually). So that means $30's
> worth of cars
> which I probably won't (or can't in the case of the Riley) race after next
> week.
>
> And of course the other factor is that at the times I drive there's rarely
> anything
> like 46 drivers on the whole of iRacing, so I really shouldn't let that
> mirage drag
> me into spending money.
>
> Mmm... I can feel the enthusiasm leaking out of my fingers even as I type.
> I must
> bottle this lack-of-enthusiasm and save it for the next weak moment.
>
> Of course... if I signed up for a year (to justify renting more cars etc)
> that'd
> give me 60 iDollars to spend on cars & tracks, and the 20% discount kicks
> in for
> six cars or tracks, and... and...
>
> And the iConfusion continues! It's a curse, I tell you, not a hobby. :-)
>
> Andrew McP
>

The "Talledega Nights" fun week is with the Impala SS (COT) not the Late
Model just so you don't get the wrong car......:-).

Ed

(Ed Medlin) wrote:

> The "Talledega Nights" fun week is with the Impala SS (COT) not the
> Late Model just so you don't get the wrong car......:-).

Oh, how embarrassing! Thanks Ed.... the whole Nascar-family 'same shape, different
name' thing is still a bit of a mystery to me! That settles it then, there's no
point buying a car I'll definitely never use again outside of fun weeks.

In fact now I've calmed down and put homo sapiens back in charge instead of homo
iRectus, it's daft to even contemplate spending money on cars I'll get very little
use from.

Of course it is a nine day week this time, and once I start reading about 46 car
mixed class races I may get all over-excited again. :-)

Andrew McP

"Andrew MacPherson" > wrote in message
...
> (Ed Medlin) wrote:
>
>> The "Talledega Nights" fun week is with the Impala SS (COT) not the
>> Late Model just so you don't get the wrong car......:-).
>
> Oh, how embarrassing! Thanks Ed.... the whole Nascar-family 'same shape,
> different
> name' thing is still a bit of a mystery to me! That settles it then,
> there's no
> point buying a car I'll definitely never use again outside of fun weeks.
>
> In fact now I've calmed down and put homo sapiens back in charge instead
> of homo
> iRectus, it's daft to even contemplate spending money on cars I'll get
> very little
> use from.
>
> Of course it is a nine day week this time, and once I start reading about
> 46 car
> mixed class races I may get all over-excited again. :-)
>
> Andrew McP

Something you may or may not get over-excited about is the Spec racer Ford .
Free and , what with the imminent death of Pontiac, probably replacing the
Solstice. It is replacing it as the rookie advanced road racer. Should be
arriving in the updater next Tuesday.

DavErb (still having a great time)

(DavErb) wrote:

> Something you may or may not get over-excited about is the
> Spec racer Ford.

I'm *far* more excited about it as a very much needed boost to the format for new
subscribers. They may not be able to drive it at first, but it won't take long to
qualify for races, and in the mean time they can at least test it and discover (I
hope, having never driven it) what potential iRacing has. The Solstice was never
cut out to be an advert for anything other than scrap metal dealerships!

Hopefully there will be big fields in these races though (a combination of
enthusiasts and rookies) then I might get dragged out of my Skip Barber for a while.
:-)

In the mean time initial race reports form the mixed class races are somewhat
glowing.

http://www.wegame.com/watch/Mixed_Class_Racing/

Looks like suicide for Solstices though!

Andrew McP (facing a week in rookie Solstice/Legends races or nothing at all! So
not particularly enjoying being deprived of Skip races. ;-)

PS It occurs to me that SRF and Skip mixed races might be rather special,
especially if the faster drivers chose the slower car.