Player rankings and licensing - what would you like, what does S3 have planned?

I think it is a bit too early to be speculating what the end result is going to be

I sincerely doubt it will be iRacing 2.0. RaceRoom already has it's own design (single player, AI, licensed series, leaderboards, comps, etc.) and it isnt iRacing. Expecting so much, will likely see you quite disappointed.

It very well could turn out to be a mix of what Reiza does with AMS, where they have a set schedule for their official servers, and they rotate them daily... in combination with something like MinoRating in AC where you get a hidden rating and then can race with similar rated players. That in and of itself would be 1) structure and 2) good competition.

Debating about what may or may not come is what the internet is for but as @CheerfullyInsane mentioned, it is quite analogous to talking about liveries that havent even been released yet. You just wont know what it is like until detailed official info is shared, or it releases. Apparently though, this has been in the works a long time. But I really dont know what to expect.

 

Alx^
I play iRacing, and although definitely NOT a noob (Thousands of hours behind a sim racing wheel), I am still pretty rubbish! (Realistically,on a 1-10 scale, I might manage a 3!)

And yet I completed over 250 races last year (I hardly ever DNF). Yes, I have caused a few accidents. I apologise and move on. Most people accept that. There are almost NO deliberate wreckers in iRacing - I have filed maybe 6 protests in the last year (all sucessful).

But iRacing have had it all their own way for too long, and I am very excited about the future direction of R3E. If all they manage is to carbon-copy the iRacing system, then I will be happy. But I seriously don't think the devs at R3E want to just copy someone else's work. I bet they have accounts with iRacing and follow the forums over there, but with an eye to improvements. You might even say Development.

If all I have for the moment is speculation and debate, I'll take it. The more these forums are used and populated, the more alive the game will seem to newcomers. And we need newcomers. (Especially if they are rubbish!)

This could be the RaceRoom Experience I was expecting back in 2013 when I first tried it. And uninstalled it shortly afterwards.

The Devs are working on the system - we can work on the enthusiasm.


Edit : Nate's post above didn't show when I started typing!!!
In response to what he wrote: I hope the driver rating is NOT hidden. As already admitted, mine is embarassingly low, but it is MINE. I like to watch it change. It encourages me to try harder, to never DNF. I do have a fetish for statistics though, so maybe it's just me.......

 

I actually do wonder why nearly all sims out there don’t implement a system similar to Iracing to guarantee clean multiplayer racing and it’s good to see that R3E now tries something in this direction. Although I doubt it will be something like Irating or an incident system.

 

I'm gonna take a few guesses. If more than three seem reasonable, then we should all appreciate R3E for attempting it.

It's expensive. Code monkeys don't come cheap.

They have to provide the servers to ensure no cheating. Not cheap.

Even when a company does provide it, there are a thousand experts telling them where they got it wrong. Then they have to employ a PR guy to keep the fires manageable. Not Cheap.

Mods. As soon as a game allows this, it can cause headaches (see ban list of GTA V players.) Better employ someone to answer protests. (unless you are Rockstar, then an automated FU will do - please note, I have never been banned by Rockstar; this is not sour cream and chives.) Not cheap.

Net code issues. iRacing has a system that 'guesses' a players inputs when there is sufficient lag detected; it seems to work really well most of the time. I can't even begin to guess how complex the code is for this....or how expensive!

It doesn't "guarantee" clean racing; it merely (hah, merely!) promotes it. When it goes wrong, people cry, sulk, rant, and throw things, then threaten to leave the service, upsetting other users in the process....cost unknown.

The forums need to be expanded to allow for the thousands of hours of YouTube videos* uploaded under the pretence of "trying to get an opinion..." but in reality just bitching about somebody punting them off track during a questionable manoeuvre. Probably quite cheap.

*yeah, it's mostly just a hyperlink, but get enough of them.....

People start taking it way too seriously, forcing me to employ my 'particular skill set' (Sarcasm, Cyniscm, Sardonicism (?!), Understatement, Mis-direction, and general wordiness. Occasional Wolfie Smith Memes.)
This is FREE. I like to work Pro Bono.

Please feel free to add to the list, or in practise for the change in tone of the forums once organised multi-player becomes a 'thing', shoot me down in flames!

 

Certainly not if you insist on calling them code-monkeys.

 

You have a far too realistic point of view for my taste.
However I guess you’re right. Moneymoneymoney.

 

Better ask the organ grinder about the Code monkeys
Couldnt resist.

Already in place by all accounts, maybe needing a little reconfiguring and tweaking, i read someones post, i think Nates saying that the physics files were kept serverside to prevent modification and cheating, this will never stop people with the right knowledge or tools from finding a way, memory edits\hacks n shit.

No, not with the civilised bunch that are RR drivers

The game is closed to mods FULL STOP, never going to happen so will never be an issue.

Surely for everyday joe this is only going to be an issue should there be a lag based incident, netcode in RR seems to hold up quite well from my perspective, how it holds up when there is a rating system behind and reliant on it is a different matter.

Got to say, even the paid for public servers are pretty decent and responsible compared to some games ive played over the years.

https://forum.sector3studios.com/index.php?threads/post-your-r3e-videos.39/page-74#post-102623

 

Not Lifting Off : Can't argue with anything you said. (Damn - I love arguing!)

The whole post was in answer to :"I actually do wonder why nearly all sims out there don’t implement a system........."

Servers already in place............? That sounds like good news to me.
Net Code already working well............? That sounds like good news to me. (haven't played online yet.)
....public servers are pretty decent and responsible...........See above.
No Mods..................? I was always more of a rocker anyway. (Love The Who though.)

Implementing a ranking and safety system can't be easy (or cheap), and I applaud R3E for the attempt. Looking forward to seeing the results.....


Edit : judging from some responses, I am guessing it's likely to be my organ the monkeys are going to be looking to grind.

 

And as usual for me, didnt read the post nor thread properly so missed the in answer to
My bad.

 

Mods versus rockers FTW!

 

You know you've been sim racing too long when.......you think rockers are something you adjust in the garage.

 

One thing that came to mind over the weekend, was to not remove the "Drop In" factor for races. I like that in R3E i can just log on and join a race thats gathering, vs when i tried iracing i was often just waiting for an event to start.

As a guy who doesnt get much plannable gaming time, or just logs on when the mood strikes, this is a big draw for me. Scheduled races have lots of benefits, just make sure we can still easily log on and get racing without planning a day or week in advance

 

Interestingly, I never find myself waiting around all that much with iRacing -- their as-advertised "24/7 race anytime" business model means that there's usually a race due to start in some series almost all the time, and with the very popular series like the Rookie-class MX-5 Cup and the D-Class Skip Barber Formula 2000 series, there are races going off every hour, so I usually register to race, join an open practice server to do laps with others while I wait, and then when the race is due to go off I get the notification to join the race to qualify. It hasn't always been like this at iRacing, but it has gotten better in the past year or so, with practice sessions being tied to the scheduled races. It was iRacing's "24/7 race anytime" aspect that drew me in -- I was tired of once a week league races at Race2Play or with independent leagues, and iRacing made it possible to just do pickup races as I saw fit.

I completely agree on this part -- I have a lot going on, so when I CAN race, I like being able to just jump in and find a race. As I said above, this is the one aspect of iRacing that I like, versus joining dedicated once-a-week leagues and such, and I hope R3E continues to offer this same level of "drop-in" pickup racing.

 

lol.. I hope people will race the full race for ones.?
So when grid of 20 people 18 will finish. Thats a beginning i guess?

 

Totally agree.

In iRacing, if you don't finish a race, your iRating will take a hit. Even in the lower tiers, more than 25% dropout is unusual. Also, the way Safety Rating works (and people obsess over it) you might just as well cruise around and get a few 'free' corners to bump your rating up; it's 3 times more efficient than doing time trials.
Don't get into the habit and do it in real life - my wife still doesn't believe me about that incident.....

Having played a few race games online, it was those people who crashed on corner one then dropped out who annoyed me the most.

I would love to see R3E 'pad-out' the grid with AI cars, but even I know when I'm being greedy!

 

Since community has been brought up in this thread I'll ask here rather than start a new thread.. has anyone seen the obligatory 'add me as a friend/list of usernames' type of forum thread lurking around here? Can't find anything when searching, which surprises me! Unless it's just my weak abilities to search properly heh.

 

The follow button seems to be the only thing which comes close.

Right back to topic, a mix between the new PCARS 2 and IRacing multiplayer system would be good for R3E. The online racing isn't bad in this game. (Had some great races) Although I do like the idea of a rank based system.

The TCR series would be a good fit for Raceroom and is a series which seems to be growing in popularity. A few new tracks would be required to incorporate it correctly though, as the TCR series uses mostly F1 tracks.

 

For me, the main thing it needs is some sane way to encourage players to finish races. The grid sizes are often good but when only 3 or 4 drivers finish a race it's really disappointing. I'm also guilty of dropping out early - there's needs to be some benefit to sticking it out, or some cost to retiring. Love 'em or loath 'em, iRacing's dreaded rating systems have done an excellent job here.

 

Getting more players in general would be good. In some of the bigger races you can see 25+ drivers however, there are mostly 10-15 players in a "general" session. At least the ones I have been in any way.

 

I think the playerbaseproblem will solve itself when S3 implement a good MP-System compareable to the iRacing System. I think there are man Players out who want to play iracing, but think its too expansive for what its offer (i think this way).
What could R3E offer to be the better alternative?
- using the F2P-System (the good Part of it). Offer more free content. Like when you sub as a New Player select 3 Tracks and cars for free. It a plus for R3E that you only need one car of a group to join MP. Other F2P-games Show when you getting sticked to the game, you will purchase more anyway. But the stuff what is now free is not an eyecatcher (old pysics, fantasytrack etc. U know what i mean)
- bring stuff other games don't have, big TCR-class or more VLN-classes with more than one car in it (AC as a bad example). At least fill the current classes. Touring classics is a good example, there are so many cars which would fit in there. I prefer good filled classes over "onevehicleclasses" (not cup like TT or KTM).
- use the partnership with simbin for getting UE4 with night/Day and weather to realise enduranceraces with driverswaps in MP (that would be the thing. Imagine a proper VLN-grid on NOS)
- Immersion! R3E is good at it. Use this potential. Get a receweekend as real as possible. Trackguards waving flags (first we need flags) like in GTR 2. Safety-car. Spotter (crewchief for everyone in game, its the Best spotter you can get already) and even Gridgirls. No sim has well Animated gridgirls
- some tutorial/starthelp for New players, so they get less frustrated when they are at first 5+sec of the pace

I think that are some points to get more players in the game. And the First points is the Most important, because money talks. Sadly for both sides - players and developers.