Boost Racing - The bane of online racing.

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Boost racing, who likes it? Certainly not me.

My thoughts on boost racing and why I think it has to be the worst form of racing in online lobbies.

1. Punishes the good driver, Rewards the bad driver.

A typical situation in a boost room goes something a little like this:

Driver A. Drives good, makes no mistakes, runs the near perfect race, comes 2nd.

Driver B. Crashes multiple times a race, keeps flying back to the front where he will crash again, rinse, repeat until end of race. Finishes 1st. Fair?

2. Changes physics of cars depending on race position.

Not only does it punish the guy who has ran the perfect race, it makes the guy who cannot drive at all think he is superman. The way it seems to do this is, if you get into a position of 3rd or behind, the physics of the game seem to change, corners now become possible to fly through without thinking and you suck up to the back of the car in front like it has a huge vacuum pulling you in.
Once bad driver gets back to 2nd or 1st position, physics kick back to normal, bad driver can no longer control his car on the next corner, crashes, starts the process again.

The physics change is also very hard for the good driver, as he has to always be aware where he is in the race, how hard he can push because of position and has to be very careful to change driving style once back into 2nd or 1st position. If you drive the car once at the front of the race like you did when you were trying to catch up, you will not brake fast enough, corner speed diminishes and the car will spin a lot more freely.

In conclusion driver B can crash 10 times in a race and still win it, how is that good racing? The excuse I hear online a lot is that it keeps the racing close. No it doesn't, it makes the racing stink. All it does it gives people who do not want to work at getting better a chance to win a race they should not even deserve to be in the lead of.

This does not make close racing at all, it makes frustrating racing, does anyone else agree with my opinion or care to share another opinion on the matter?

Discuss.
 
I agree. I turn boost off in rooms I run when we're racing for real, however boost is useful when messing around in 'dirty' racing lobbies as you want people bunched up for carmageddon (remember that?) :sly:
 
subsist
Boost racing, who likes it? Certainly not me.

My thoughts on boost racing and why I think it has to be the worst form of racing in online lobbies.

1. Punishes the good driver, Rewards the bad driver.

A typical situation in a boost room goes something a little like this:

Driver A. Drives good, makes no mistakes, runs the near perfect race, comes 2nd.

Driver B. Crashes multiple times a race, keeps flying back to the front where he will crash again, rinse, repeat until end of race. Finishes 1st. Fair?

2. Changes physics of cars depending on race position.

Not only does it punish the guy who has ran the perfect race, it makes the guy who cannot drive at all think he is superman. The way it seems to do this is, if you get into a position of 3rd or behind, the physics of the game seem to change, corners now become possible to fly through without thinking and you suck up to the back of the car in front like it has a huge vacuum pulling you in.
Once bad driver gets back to 2nd or 1st position, physics kick back to normal, bad driver can no longer control his car on the next corner, crashes, starts the process again.

The physics change is also very hard for the good driver, as he has to always be aware where he is in the race, how hard he can push because of position and has to be very careful to change driving style once back into 2nd or 1st position. If you drive the car once at the front of the race like you did when you were trying to catch up, you will not brake fast enough, corner speed diminishes and the car will spin a lot more freely.

In conclusion driver B can crash 10 times in a race and still win it, how is that good racing? The excuse I hear online a lot is that it keeps the racing close. No it doesn't, it makes the racing stink. All it does it gives people who do not want to work at getting better a chance to win a race they should not even deserve to be in the lead of.

This does not make close racing at all, it makes frustrating racing, does anyone else agree with my opinion or care to share another opinion on the matter?

Discuss.
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I turn Boost off on my room.
 
I dont know why people complain so much about this...you joined a lobby without restrictions and then you complain about joining it.

so......dont join lobbies with boost and SRF enabled.

If you cant find "purist" lobbies....then, search the forum for people like yourself, add em as friends and race.
Youll find plenty of people racing without boost and the disease known as aids.
 
stormbringer
I dont know why people complain so much about this...you joined a lobby without restrictions and then you complain about joining it.

so......dont join lobbies with boost and SRF enabled.

If you cant find "purist" lobbies....then, search the forum for people like yourself, add em as friends and race.
Youll find plenty of people racing without boost and the disease known as aids.
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It would be nice if we could see if the lobby has boost enabled before we join it. Sometimes friends are not online all the time and it is a PITA jumping from lobby to lobby looking for a race without lame boost and srf and slipstream strong.
 
In the right room with the right people, it can actually be a lot of fun.

It levels out the disparity in driver's skill across the field, but when you have a group of people who can at least half way drive, actually creates far closer racing in that room than if the boost was off. It's not designed for a serious type of room though, it's much more casual than that and a good opportunity to have a more relaxed, fun time.

From someone who spends 33/33/33% of their time racing with boost, without boost and all aids/abs off completely.
 
subsist
It would be nice if we could see if the lobby has boost enabled before we join it. Sometimes friends are not online all the time and it is a PITA jumping from lobby to lobby looking for a race without lame boost and srf and slipstream strong.
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I agree that being able to see if a room has boost enabled would be good, but I for one enjoy it.

At the end of the day I enjoy close races, clean, but close. There are some racers who are clean good racers who aren't as quick as others, in which case boost can make the race more enjoyable for all involved. I know this is going to sound like I'm a P.E. teacher, but it's not all about the winning to me. It's about enjoying the actual race. If you lose, but know you're the fastest driver does it really matter if you didn't physically win?
 
subsist
It would be nice if we could see if the lobby has boost enabled before we join it. Sometimes friends are not online all the time and it is a PITA jumping from lobby to lobby looking for a race without lame boost and srf and slipstream strong.
Click to expand...

That's one of the most important, needed online features: show more (all) room settings so you could quickly check PP level, driving aids and other options.
 
NJ72
it's not all about the winning to me. It's about enjoying the actual race. If you lose, but know you're the fastest driver does it really matter if you didn't physically win?
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This is exactly how I feel. If I've pulled a big lead in front of the main pack, I will park to the side or take an unnecessary pitstop so that I can rejoin from near the back. It's all about the racing whatever form it comes in, I don't care if I throw away wins, they are meaningless if I'm not having as much fun as I could be by mixing it up. I'd rather be rubbing door handles and side mirrors than being out all on my own.
 
NJ72
I agree that being able to see if a room has boost enabled would be good, but I for one enjoy it.

At the end of the day I enjoy close races, clean, but close. There are some racers who are clean good racers who aren't as quick as others, in which case boost can make the race more enjoyable for all involved. I know this is going to sound like I'm a P.E. teacher, but it's not all about the winning to me. It's about enjoying the actual race. If you lose, but know you're the fastest driver does it really matter if you didn't physically win?
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It is not all about winning to me either, it is about fair racing, if I lose a fair race, so be it, I actually enjoy middle of the pack and back of the pack racing for minor positions. I find that a lot funner than sling shotting back to the front with little to no effort.
 
YZF
That's one of the most important, needed online features: show more (all) room settings so you could quickly check PP level, driving aids and other options.
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This. And it bears repeating. When PD said they were updating the online experience due to fan feedback, I never realized the fans said, "Oh no, we don't want to see any of the room settings before we join a lobby, nor do we want a whole bunch of good usable sort options for searching" 👎👎
 
subsist
It is not all about winning to me either, it is about fair racing, if I lose a fair race, so be it, I actually enjoy middle of the pack and back of the pack racing for minor positions. I find that a lot funner than sling shotting back to the front with little to no effort.
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Then surely boost will level the field and create more passing and close quarters racing? I don't personally find that it slingshots people to the front unless you're on the straight of Sarthe.

In F1 they do so much to try artificially create 'boost' with DRS and KERS, but when they try to do it in GT6 people complain? :confused:

I think it is like every 'aid' in racing games, when used properly it can make the game more enjoyable, but there are always people who misuse it
 
I personally like the boost concept. I normally do not have it turned on but I do see some appeal in it. In cases where I race with my friends I am often quite a bit faster than they are and find myself slowing down or pulling over to wait on them. Boost allows for a bit more of a race when drivers are of different skill levels.

As for what the OP says about someone crashing 10 times an still winning. Not going to happen unless the race is really really long or the people driving int he race are just not very good.
 
Is boost a problem outside the SRF (=arcade) rooms? I rarely see it on.

Generally 1 guy winning all the time is the worst thing that can happen to a room. Tools to level the grid would be welcome. I agree though boost destroys serious racing and shouldn't be used in serious rooms. But if you just want some easy arcade fun, it's ok.
 
It is an option.
And in my opinion options are mostly always good.

If I race with friends of a diverse skill level it is a good option to get a close race and have fun.
Otherwise one or two would be half a lap in front.

Note, I never race in open lobbies.
 
I was tuning up my GTR '07 online the other night and found several good lobbies with no assists/boost/naffery going on.

I won one race (through luck and staying out of trouble) but otherwise had some nice mid-pack fair racing.

I'd prefer to win them all, obviously, but I'm quite happy with a good race. Side-by-side over several laps with a good driver can be pretty exhilarating, I don't know why anyone would want to add artificial nonsense to it.
 
Z1-AV69
Is boost a problem outside the SRF (=arcade) rooms? I rarely see it on.

Generally 1 guy winning all the time is the worst thing that can happen to a room. Tools to level the grid would be welcome. I agree though boost destroys serious racing and shouldn't be used in serious rooms. But if you just want some easy arcade fun, it's ok.
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I agree, and that's also why I rarely go to online races.. it's either me keep losing, or me keep losing :banghead:
 
subsist
It would be nice if we could see if the lobby has boost enabled before we join it. Sometimes friends are not online all the time and it is a PITA jumping from lobby to lobby looking for a race without lame boost and srf and slipstream strong.
Click to expand...
I remember that GT5 allowed you to see those options before joining.
 
I think it keeps the races competitive. There is such a wide range of skill levels. it seems cruel to punish weaker drivers just cause they are less experienced.
My lobbies are accepting of any skill range. I allow all driver assists and the racing is always clean, fun and always exciting.
 
Turning boost on essentially turns GT6 into a game of Mario Kart. The further back in the pack you are, the better power-ups you get. Or in GT6's terms, the more BHP extra you have to get a higher top speed.
 
Devil240Z
I think it keeps the races competitive. There is such a wide range of skill levels. it seems cruel to punish weaker drivers just cause they are less experienced.
My lobbies are accepting of any skill range. I allow all driver assists and the racing is always clean, fun and always exciting.
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It is not about punishing anyone, it's the false inflation of perceived skill and the fact that the more unskilled driver will never get better with boost on if he can just keep believing he is driving good when in reality the driving is atrocious.

Also the fact that boost changes the physics. It is very hard to race properly when you do 2 laps on super glue physics, get to the front of the race and the entire feeling of the car changes. This is what happens in boost, don't believe me? Try this.

Get 4 friends, turn on boost, sit in 4th position and take turn 1 at Mt Panorama, notice which speed and gear you take the corner and how fast you hit by the end of mountain straight before turn 2. Now try it in 1st position, you will lose grip and spin out instantly if you try the same line, speed etc.....

How can anyone learn to drive a car properly and get better if they are relying on boost to get them to the front, then having the car flipped upside down on them as soon as they get there?

How is that fun racing at all? Even if it does "keep the race close".
 
There needs to be better filters for finding a room without all these arcadey driving aids, I spend more time trying to actually find a room or waiting for three people to join a room I created than actually racing online. There are a ton of "real clean racing 500pp RS" rooms, how is anyone actually improving their skill set by driving that way?
 
The best levelling I have seen and used is a pp adjuster based on last race. We've used it in C.R.A.P. fairly regularly in GT5 after I saw it being used in a well organised public lobby full of 15 French drivers and me. Eventually it takes into account peoples skill levels and the cars which can be stock with engine limiting, fully tuned or just have bolt ons added. It's up to the driver as after a few races all cars will become competitive.

It sounds complicated but really works quite simply.

As an example everyone started the last time we did it at 370pp but the car has to be capable of being set to between 350-450pp. People can tune as much as they like and depending on their results they go up and down in pp for the next race. The amount each car changed varies on the number in the room.

If a new person enters the room they start on the lowest pp currently being used. If anyone were to go above 450pp they could change to a car by the same manufacturer but that happens rarely. If the session is a long one then gradually everyone gets over 400pp.

Below are the adjustments after each race. Someone keeps note on a piece of paper and reads out everyone's post race adjustment. Anyone clearly not following the rules get's kicked but we hardly ever have that issue and have run it in public lobbies.

PERFORMANCE POINT ADJUSTMENT

If 8-16 finishers pp penalties and rewards for next race are as follows.

1 -15pp
2 -5pp
3 no change
4 +5pp
5 +10pp
6 +15pp
7 +20pp
8 +25pp
9 +30pp
10 +35pp
11 +40pp
12 +45pp
13 +50pp
14 +55pp
15 +60pp
16 +65pp

If 6-7 finish the race then
1 -10pp
2 -no change
3 +5pp
4 +10pp
5 +15pp
6 +20pp
7 +25pp

If 3-5 finish race
1st -5pp
2nd +5pp
3rd +10pp
4th +15pp
5th +20pp

If only 2 racing
1st +5pp
2nd +15pp

Obviously boost is not used, this is an alternative. Produces close racing. Tyres and fuel wear on fast/very fast. Maximum tyres SH but people can use lower tyres and again after a few races will be competitive.
 
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I hate boost & have never raced with it on, nor would I ever consider it. That said, it's good that we have it as an option for those who like it. The biggest problem regarding Boost in GT6 is that we cannot see whether it's on or off before entering a lobby (we could in GT5). Yet another example of PD's thoughtless game design.
 
Actually, with friends, boost can be good.
I'll explain.
I have some friends that don't play GT6 that regularly. So they are not on my skill level. Usually I ask them what kind of car they have and based on the track I pick my ride to be less powerful than theirs. In most cases they don't know some of the tracks very well so I have to wait for them beside the track.
But if boost is on, I can have my race and whenever I look they will be in my mirrors.
So sometimes you can have a very good time in such a room.
Otherwise ... I'm not a fan of boost.
 

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