GT6 ONLINE LOBBIES: On creating the perfect Room and being the perfect Host

[photonrider]

So what does it take to be the perfect host of an Online Lobby?

Before we get into this: the word 'Room' is sometimes used interchangeably by many to mean 'Lobby' - so please keep that in mind. Officially, AFAIK - it's the term 'Lobby'.
Try to resist the rants, and focus on what you think would be the positive aspects of a Lobby - not so much a wishlist for more features, or glitches concerning the server, but (also keeping in mind that people like different 'kinds' of Lobbies, e.g. Drifting, Rally, etc, etc) more on what you like a Lobby to be when you enter it:
What would make it a fun experience for you? What should a Host do to keep you and the entire group happy? Do you like longer breaks between races? Do you like Qualifying first? Do you prefer mics or texting? Do you like 'Clean' or 'Dirty?'

Imagine the Perfect Lobby or even Lobbies that you'd like - and get it down here.

To start off, let me tell you that one of the first things I like about my 'Perfect Lobby' would be that everyone was respectful to each other, and that humour was as important a fuel as electricity. The host would be a very calm person, who could handle problems deftly but with discretion. They would not play favorites even if there were friends and strangers mixed in the group.
I don't mind swearing, but rather texted than in my ears.
I like Lobbies that have Nos off - for the moment anyway. Not a single of my 300 odd cars are equipped with Nos. Maybe one day I'll get that nitro rigged up in the odd car and take it to the races that require it - for now my hands are full with so many other motor-sport disciplines that are reflected in the Lobbies already. So I never have time for Nos-related Lobbies. I don't drift or run drag races so that whole bunch of Lobbies is out for me, too.
I do tend to haunt Free Run Lobbies (especially if it's at the Nurb), Track Days, and 500 - 650 PP races.
I like Lobbies where the Host gives what they promise, and doesn't accede to every demand thrown at them by every new racer to enter the room. I was once hosting continuous 1 Lap races at the Ring every six mins, using only 550 PP cars (didn't matter what car as long as it fell within the PP.) We had been racing for about four hours, and about six to eight of the core group remained in the Lobby (or sometimes left the room to buy a car and return later) but we usually had about 10 - 12 racers for every race as fresh players were entering, racing and leaving after a couple or so races. Clean laps, judicious overtaking, and a lot of banter were the order of the day - we all knew we were there to master the Green Hell. Of a sudden a guy drops in, and immediately requests a track change. LOLs and jeers: "You must be new." Demand denied. The race starts, he spins out in the first 15 seconds, then sits on the track for a bit before vaporising never to be seen again.
The racing continued at the Ring for fours hours longer, with the occasional 'Ring break' taken up by a race at Tokyo or Willow Springs, and had ten racers when I finally left exhausted, leaving the Room in the hands of another player I knew could be trusted to keep things going; I'd been in many of his Lobbies myself, and he was I would term a 'good' Host.
In fact there are Hosts who are familiar enough to me (as 'good'), that I never hesitate joining their lobbies.
I like lobbies where people discuss the cars and tuning, show off great detailing,and where a Host is flexible enough to know when to start a race without disrupting people already on the track. I prefer Lobbies that have the Auto-cycling 'Start Race' function enabled, but with sufficient time in between races to try out a car or tune it, or even just do a hot lap and check out the LeaderBoard. For instance if a lap of the particular course took 1:33, then there should be at least 3 - 4 mins between races, though a 5 min break seems to always work the best - unless the course is longer - as with the Ring, then I like the Room to have at least 8 mins between races so it enables people (at least the average GT player) to run a quick lap or at least a good part of the course.

I'm no Pro, but there's one tip I can give about hosting perfect Lobbies: Don't just quit in the middle of everything and disappear. It leaves the second-in-line disconcerted. And if you're a Fixed Host - let everybody know that they will all be disconnected immediately you leave.

Time now for some words from the Pro Hosts here . . . 👍

 

[NixxxoN]

Dont want to read a book, i'll wait for the movie... Just kidding.


The perfect lobby to me requires:
-A host with an enormous internet bandwidth.
-All the people with good connections, no wireless, and no one using his own bandwidth for anything else.
-Visual damage off (lag)
-Room for 16 players
-All the players from the same country if possible
-All the players are clean but dont necessarily need to be fast, and also they don't get pissed off when not winning (can only win one out of 16)

Thats it. Yes, lots of requirements, but it only needs a bit of effort from everyone.

 

[HuskyGT]

I don't play online, but when I do, I go with what @NixxxoN says. That, plus host and people abstaining of talking trash. If we're playing GT, we talk about cars, not their sexual experiences that no one cares about.

Sorry... based on a true story.

 

[Malcolm Tucker]

Name your lobbies properly! I hate having to enter lobby after lobby to find one that has proper tyre limits. I think lobbies should be labelled something like this:

PP/Tyres/Aids/Track/Notes

eg

500pp SH ABS Brands Clean

or

550pp SS No Aids Nurburg Fair

 

[Johnnypenso]

I wrote an Almost Foolproof Guide to Avoiding the Worst of Open Lobbies for GT5 I find it quite humourous and still relevant for GT6 I got some angry PM's from clowns but they're clowns so who cares?

 

[KiroKai]

Fixed host setting is essential. I play with friends globally all the time and when it's not fixed hosting but rather player to player connected, there's loads of lag issues and people can't see each other on track. The host obviously needs a good connection but I disagree with 'no wireless', I never use wired and I have no speed/ping issues at all.

 

[photonrider]

Dont want to read a book, i'll wait for the movie... Just kidding.


The perfect lobby to me requires:
-A host with an enormous internet bandwidth.
-All the people with good connections, no wireless, and no one using his own bandwidth for anything else.
-Visual damage off (lag)
-Room for 16 players
-All the players from the same country if possible
-All the players are clean but don't necessarily need to be fast, and also they don't get pissed off when not winning (can only win one out of 16)

That's it. Yes, lots of requirements, but it only needs a bit of effort from everyone.

Good stuff! 👍

That was the kind of post I was hoping to see - format and all. Thank You. This tells a would-be Host what to plan for - what other players out there are looking for. I'm also going to take it that when you host these are the features you will offer.
I want to address these features uniquely:

Dont want to read a book, i'll wait for the movie... Just kidding.

The perfect lobby to me requires:
-A host with an enormous internet bandwidth.
-All the people with good connections, no wireless, and no one using his own bandwidth for anything else.

Essential. One should never host without a five-star broadband connection. If your Internet is weak - don't host. Or have some pretty bad experiences that will turn you off the game and peeve a lot of other players, too.

-All the players from the same country if possible

Also a factor in strengthening one's connection, and preventing lag - an unstable Lobby is distracting, and erodes one's credibility as a Host.
I'm not sure how far a territory we're looking at, though. I find if I'm in a North American Lobby, and there are only Americans and/or Canadians on it, the lobby is rock-solid. However as soon as someone from Europe jumps in things can (though not always) go buggy.

-Room for 16 players

This is debatable. I myself think it is a matter of choice - in terms of the kind of activity taking place. Apart from the fact that I've noticed Lobbies are more stable when there are fewer people in it, I've had a heap of fun in rooms that have had only five or six people in it. Some types of events also do better with a smaller group of racers. Here's an example:

H___ (a Canadian) used to run Lobbies with a limit of 4 players, and I decided to jump in one night and check out the action. H___ was parked in the pits at the Ring, and two others were hot-lapping the course. H___ greeted me right away (no mics; this was all text) and asked me whether I wanted to race. I told him not right then, and that I wanted to do some runs. He told me to go ahead, I circled the track in silence, came back to the pits, one guy parked at the first turn, another chatting with H___ in the pits about some car-related anime. H___ announced a race, race was booted up - and we were off. H___ was good and basically left the three of us chewing grass while he headed off into the sunset. That left the three of us to fight over 2nd, 3rd and 4th bones, and we gnawed, snarled, and howled at each other all the way right up the finish line. Again a long pause in which H___ was at the pits, one or two of us tried out different cars, text chat going on, then another race, and so on. One of the players left and we were three but still raced till the Lobby was full again with a fourth. More races, more hot-laps and pit chat, and the talk had turned furiously to tuning. This went on all night, us trying various cars, stock and tuned, various PPs, but still all at the Ring. Finally H___ and I were left alone, at which point he asked me whether I would like to try another track. I suggested Laguna Seca, and our tuned '09 GT-Rs. Off we teleport to Seca, cars and all, and a couple of furious battles take place. No one else entered the room. He's very good, but Seca is home ground to me, having ground it enough in a GT4 enduro I was addicted to. And my tuned GT-R is the bomb. He won one, I won one. We were satisfied. We parked down at the bottom of the starting straight to admire each other's cars - and more chatting, more tune swapping, until suddenly we realized it was two in the morning. I had to get up at seven so I had to call it off. But now when I see his Lobby up - I know what to expect (he always has the same routines: Limit of 4, 500-600PP Street at the Ring.) and I've been into his Lobbies twice after that.
One thing I seen is that he gets paranoid when he see anyone having even the remotest lag - he'll get them to quit and come back, and if that doesn't work he asks them to quit the room. I've never experienced him boot anyone.
So small rooms work well, too, to give drivers/racers a different experience; as I said it's a matter of what event or activity is taking place.
I would imagine a NASCAR race for instance is best with a full 16 field if the Host's Internet can hold all the players on a stable platform.

-All the players are clean but don't necessarily need to be fast, and also they don't get pissed off when not winning (can only win one out of 16)

This is where the hosting gets tough. There is not only a huge number of choices to consider here, a good host needs to be a policeman, diplomat, and janitor all in one blow.

Things to consider:

1) Kind of Lobby - Pros only? Noobs welcome? General public? Adults only? All these will influence the type of racer attracted to the room. I myself race to drive (instead of the other way around ) - and very rarely win. I just like to dive as fast as possible. I've won a few times - but I'm mostly mid-pack, or struggling along at the back; I insist on using all off, except ABS 1, and TC 1 (where permitted) riding on RHs while the rest may be on RS. No one has ever minded, I don't mind, everybody's happy - except for one time a player demanded the Host tell me to use RS, and the Host refused, giving me the right to use whatever I wanted. (There was no Filter on the Tire selection.)
I could see the other player's point, though: you don't want someone on CS spinning out in front of the pack while everybody else is racing pell-mell through the course on RS.
How does a good Host keep people from getting pissed off when they lose? That's not easy. It's a personality thing. As long as their attitude doesn't extend to disruptive behaviour on the track, or during chat (insults, etc) then it's okay, but when it gets disruptive is when a good Host really pulls no punches, calls the shots, cleans the place up, and hopefully holds the rest of the field together for the next race. I've followed several Hosts who hold regular Lobbies (same title, same type of events, etc) and I've seen people booted - almost always with good cause.
Hosting a public Lobby that has only strangers in it can be gruelling, but if one has a few 'known' players in the Lobby, it's easier to set the 'mood' and most newcomers to the room adopt the same attitudes right away.
Because familiarity not only breeds contempt but security, too, many Hosts only host Lobbies with friends, or 'friends of friends'. A complete stranger dropping in sets them on edge; so when a host has four or five 'regulars' in the room they feel more confidant in managing the Lobby.
As for 'Clean', I've been in 'Clean' 'Super-Clean' and 'Ultra-clean' Lobbies - and most of them have given what they promised - very rarely have I been disappointed - and by trying out so many Lobbies I've come to recognise the good Hosts and have visited the same Host's Lobbies multiple times. (You know who you are out there *waves)

But when 'Dirty' is called for it's a whole other thing. Some Hosts like to host 'Dirty NASCAR' - a whole different hosting procedure.

And then there are those who host 'Track Days' - a whole different Hosting routine.

And I know of at least one 'Race Director' who hosts a really great Lobby that I join in whenever I see his room up. He never races (not that I have seen anyway) but he engineers some really great events, and the group he gathers are marshaled beautifully at all times.

Obviously there are as many different kinds of 'Hosting' as there are events and activities players can imagine, and each one of them has to be approached from a different perspective if one wants to be a successful Host.
The 'perfect' Host is only a matter of comparison- all players will have a different view of their Hosts. I would think that if you leave a Lobby with a smile on your face and a 'Thank You', that Host must have been doing a fairly decent job.

Name your lobbies properly! I hate having to enter lobby after lobby to find one that has proper tyre limits. I think lobbies should be labelled something like this:

PP/Tyres/Aids/Track/Notes

eg

500pp SH ABS Brands Clean

or

550pp SS No Aids Nurburg Fair

Yes. Titles are very, very, very important. I cannot stress the importance of this. However - it must be noted that the space given to Hosts is very small.
If one wants a 'Clean' room, then specify 'clean'
But there is another side to this.
I have a buddy who runs the most insane rooms ever; the title of his Lobby is simple: "Clean Only Please'. His rooms are always busy; I've never seen less than six people on; quite often it's packed. He doesn't run Auto-cycled races. Every race is a surprise, but he gives us time to grab cars, run a bit of a lap or so, then on to Qualifying and the race.
He'll run a one make LMP, then a 20 lapper at Tsukuba in 400 PPs, then a 100% wet Matterhorn track that demands you do 3 laps in 600PP exotics. It's wild, and the rest of the players and me have a huge amount of fun. No one can touch him - he almost always wins. (He once made a mistake in pit strategy and I won a NASCAR race that he threw at the bunch of us.)

Apart from these 'mystery' type Lobbies, rooms should be clearly labelled if they are what I would call 'serious' rooms - Lobbies geared to players who treat the game as a pure racing experience, and all international rules of racing observed according to the Event being held.

Even Non-racing events should be labelled for ease of quick selection and a hint of what's to come inside.
When I see "Track day - NURB - Track Day Rules" I know what to expect.
When I see "FUUUUUUUU! beat ma 🤬" I also know (somewhat) what to expect.

 

[Z1-AV69]

Very good thread idea, thx!

1. Descriptive room title
The room title should have most if not all defining descriptions in it. At least it should be PP and tyres. For me "clean" and "no SRF" will be assumed as standard. But it might be better to write them anyway.
Except you want people of only 1 language I think it's best to write the title in a language most will understand, like English.

2. Not too many restrictions and the right restrictions
Give the people some room to drive the cars they like. Imo PP and tyre restrictions are enough basically. Don't do additional weight/power restrictions, except to filter out some exotic cars like the Rocket, if they don't fit the others. Don't do weight/power restrictions fitting your car and only your car, except maybe when it shall be some narrow class of racecars like Super GT.
Generally PP restrictions are more common and people will have cars tuned for it. Don't try to make them retune fitting your preferred power/weight.

But I'd advice to basically never mix road- and racecars. They have huge differences between corner- and straightspeeds which will make it much more difficult for people to stay clean. Better keep each to their own and have it easier to manage. This restriction can't be enforced by lobby settings, so it should be in room title and it should be strictly enforced by the host.

Regarding driver aids SRF should be always off for serious racing. ABS off should be stated in room title and will often define the rooms character. Everything else can be on if you want to attract everyone, but it might be best to disallow everything but ABS because drivers wanting those aids will usually struggle with the car control needed for clean racing.

3. Host is enforcing the rules
Usually rooms are best when there is a group of players knowing each other and defining the culture of the room. But still (and even more if there is no such group) the host should enforce the rules of the room, be it clean driving or the type of cars used or whatever. If the host has the energy to do it, it's best practice imho to give 1 warning, the next is a kick. But from my experience people who can't read the rules in the room title 1. can't drive either, 2. won't listen anyway, so if someone breaks a rule written in the title, kick them right away.

Enforcing clean driving is the most difficult, because it's often not as obvious as the victim believes and the host wont see much while he is racing. So regarding clean driving my advice would be to give minimum 1 clear warning (except the move was obviously intentionally dirty, like ramming on a straight). I'd encourage people to talk about happenings on track, be it saying sorry in public or blaming a dirty driver. Only then the host can take action. From the host perspective you always have to take blamings of others with a grain of salt. I usually warn anyway, but might warn more than once before kicking and meanwhile trying to get a view on the general behavior of that player on track.

Generally a good host for me should actively accept the authority given by that function. You make the rules, you enforce the rules, you judge the players. If you think someone should be kicked, kick him, don't discuss, only explain where needed. It should be the duty of the players to actively show they are worth keeping. The host might even give the impression (but only that!) to be very strict, kick happy or so, because it will make the players more careful. Don't be afraid your guests won't like you because of that. Those seeking a clean and nice experience will appreciate it and the others aren't worth your effort anyway.

Given all the connection problems a good host has to take care of this too. If cars don't appear on track, players show as loading in the list etc., enforce them to rejoin and clean their cache. If you see some driving through each other on track (without ghosting), it's the same issue and both should rejoin. If there is bad lag-warping crashing others off during a race, unfortunately the host has to quit and kick asap.

At minimum a good host should make visible he is caring. The players might not follow every decision, but as long as they get the impression the host cares, it will prevent the worst chaos.

4. Room culture
At best a room should feel like some gentlemen driving club. Of course competition plays a big role, but good sportsmanship and general good manners are even more important. This includes both the behavior on track as in chat.

Good culture on track means obviously driving clean. If some accident happens, at least don't take advantage from it (waiting or giving back position) and say sorry after the race.

In chat I don't mind swearing, but very much mind swearing on others, especially racist or otherwise discriminating (You're ga.!) language. As a host it's a reason for me to kick right away. To enjoy it, there should be a general culture of politeness. Behave as if you would like to race with those people the next day too and so on, because that might happen then.

It might be a generally good advice to talk to each other (as always). It can solve conflicts. Only exception: during races. Chat is distracting, don't chat while people are driving, especially don't try to talk to the host.

5. Start timer
Use the automatic race starts, always. It takes forever waiting for everyone, so it's best to let the game predefine a starting time and let it be the duty of the players to make it in time. If someone misses a race, there is always a next one.

If the race will take less than 10 minutes, I'll prefer a 4-5min timer. If more 6-8min will be good. If you don't want to race an unfinished setup, do your setup work at home imho.

6. Realistic settings but not too hard
Generally tougher settings will make the driving more demanding (and fun?) but at the same time will punish mistakes harder. Therefor differences in drivers skill will result in bigger gaps or basically less close races. It needs a balance between those 2 goals. I like real grip reduction, real slipstream but also weak or hard penalties and everything damage off. Visible damage hurts connections and physical damage is just an additional penalty for crashing which is usually not needed and will just make it less close.

Rain will also define the room character away from vanilla.

Imho penalties for starting early never make sense. It just increases the chance for huge crashes at the start.

7. Don't change your restrictions, settings and track
Usually people won't join your open lobby because they want to race with you. They came for the combination of cars, track and settings. Don't destroy the room by changing them. There can be exceptions of course, like shuffle racing or if the room developed into a nice gathering where you could ask to change track.


The above points are a good general advice in my opinion. More personal preferences include:

- no voice chat (I hate it because of excessive experience in the past and will usually mute everyone)
- starting grid in reverse finishing order to give the quick guys a better challenge and to add some random elements. Makes it more important and harder to enforce clean racing though.
- I like nice time/weather settings like a sunny dawn
- international grid; connection issues are the only viable reason to restrict nationalities

 

[ColouredBadger]

For me;

-Good connection
-pleasant people (not necessarily the same nationality)
-Friendly atmosphere (I got called a w**ker for starting a race the other night)
-I prefer to have people on microphone as it's easier to communicate information
-People to race not necessarily 100% clean but to respect each other when racing
-For you to feel welcome in the lobby, I hate being kicked because I'm English or something ridiculous like that.

It's why I have created my own forum for racers who are in a similar mind to me to be completely honest. We race multi-nationality lobbies (Israel, Italy, Denmark, Britain, USA). Everyone speaks English of varying qualities so there's no issue there. It's easy to avoid riff-raff if you create an environment to avoid them. The added bonus of a forum is that we can have race details up weeks in advance and everyone knows what is happening so the lobby title can be called "Spooning Elephants" if you want to because people still know what is happening.
I host races that are over an hour long, up to 90 minutes occasionally with multi-nationality grids, with hardly any disconnections, rarely any lag and we all race properly and respectfully and respect each others cultures.

The easiest way to avoid online issues is to find yourself a good group of people and race with them constantly, like I have done with my forum. We all get on well, we have good banter and we race fairly which makes the games much more enjoyable so the ideal lobby for me is one with people in the same mindset as you and everything will go swimmingly every time.


On a side note. I am looking for members to join the forum and race with us as we only have 16 members so far. We race at least twice a week together in planned events and we have a good time online as it is all casual, even the more serious races are a laugh. If you're interested send me a PM and I'll give you some details of the forum and how to join in and try us out.

 

[photonrider]

Very good thread idea, thx!

You're welcome, and Thanks for the appreciation. That was a great post and is precisely the kind of stuff I was hoping will be posted.

Hundred of new players are picking up this game - and many of them, from what I've experienced myself Online don't bother too much with A-Spec; they grab a car, hook up a mic and come Online. I've met many racers who play other racing games as their 'main' game (GTA, F1, NFS, TDU2, etc)but dabble in GT6 - some with only around 50 - 100 cars in their garages, and who are clueless about the more advanced A-Spec events.

They just like to get a car, come online . . . and do their thing.

Beside these folk are the ones who are coming back to GT (maybe they played up to GT4 and stopped for some reason) as well as brand new players to the Series (including much younger folk who may be just getting into racing games and discovering GT) - and all these people are looking for information.
If they google 'GT6/Online/Lobbies/Hosting' this is most probably where they will end up; I made sure as many key-words as possible were tagged in.

Stands to reason that the more people (at least on this side of the language barrier) understand the principles of good hosting, what players want, what players expect when they see what is displayed, and so on, there will be better lobbies, busier lobbies, more lobbies, credible lobbies, and a wider more versatile experience for all players that visit the Online Lobbies.

Your post was very informative, and has some very good feedback.

1. Descriptive room title
The room title should have most if not all defining descriptions in it. At least it should be PP and tyres. For me "clean" and "no SRF" will be assumed as standard. But it might be better to write them anyway.
Except you want people of only 1 language I think it's best to write the title in a language most will understand, like English.

We have to remember that because GT is such a versatile game that there will be rooms with SRF on. To have 'SRF off' as an international standard would be utopian and unenforceable - but, yes, if would be nice when a host is having all aids on to have something like : ALL Aids/720 PP/RS/20 Laps and we can see that the track is Silverstone. A lot of the information about the Lobby is already shown in it's header - as icons on or off, and info also in sidebars.

2. Not too many restrictions and the right restrictions
Give the people some room to drive the cars they like. Imo PP and tyre restrictions are enough basically. Don't do additional weight/power restrictions, except to filter out some exotic cars like the Rocket, if they don't fit the others. Don't do weight/power restrictions fitting your car and only your car, except maybe when it shall be some narrow class of racecars like Super GT.
Generally PP restrictions are more common and people will have cars tuned for it. Don't try to make them retune fitting your preferred power/weight.

Yes. There is a wide choice of configurations that a Lobby can take from Free Runs to Drifting, but keeping it to PP limits (around 500 - 650 PP) and ABS/TC on all others off, I find, is a very popular choice among many Hosts, and it may be no wonder - many of these rooms are always busy. A lot of players won't bother with trying to match up weight limits, HP limits, and PP limits - it's too much of a hassle and life is short.
Truly when most people get online and in search of a Lobby they want to get in quick, have some good races and not have too much 'down-time'.

But I'd advice to basically never mix road- and racecars. They have huge differences between corner- and straightspeeds which will make it much more difficult for people to stay clean. Better keep each to their own and have it easier to manage. This restriction can't be enforced by lobby settings, so it should be in room title and it should be strictly enforced by the host.

Again, it's all about what the Lobby is. Hopefully as time goes on we will have more Filters to work with. For instance, I ran a Lobby called Nissan GT-R Workshop once and it was only GT-Rs that were in attendance; it was a blast to see the various GT-Rs, both street and race. I have found many lobbies with the word 'STREET' (and sometimes 'RACECARS') in the Header - that helps. Examples I've seen: 550 PP Street Only /Clean and 600 PP RACECARS RS - these titles surely say what's happening and give fair warning to browsing players as to what to expect or move on.

3. Host is enforcing the rules
Usually rooms are best when there is a group of players knowing each other and defining the culture of the room. But still (and even more if there is no such group) the host should enforce the rules of the room, be it clean driving or the type of cars used or whatever. If the host has the energy to do it, it's best practice imho to give 1 warning, the next is a kick. But from my experience people who can't read the rules in the room title 1. can't drive either, 2. won't listen anyway, so if someone breaks a rule written in the title, kick them right away.

Here's where much of the tougher part of hosting lies.

Enforcing clean driving is the most difficult, because it's often not as obvious as the victim believes and the host wont see much while he is racing. So regarding clean driving my advice would be to give minimum 1 clear warning (except the move was obviously intentionally dirty, like ramming on a straight). I'd encourage people to talk about happenings on track, be it saying sorry in public or blaming a dirty driver. Only then the host can take action. From the host perspective you always have to take blamings of others with a grain of salt. I usually warn anyway, but might warn more than once before kicking and meanwhile trying to get a view on the general behavior of that player on track.

If I'm running a Lobby for several hours I don't race every race. I sit every other race out so I can observe the other racers on the track and their habits, how they overtake, how they respond to other drivers, etc. This helps me to make a decision when someone complains or reports a player.

Generally a good host for me should actively accept the authority given by that function. You make the rules, you enforce the rules, you judge the players. If you think someone should be kicked, kick him, don't discuss, only explain where needed. It should be the duty of the players to actively show they are worth keeping. The host might even give the impression (but only that!) to be very strict, kick happy or so, because it will make the players more careful. Don't be afraid your guests won't like you because of that. Those seeking a clean and nice experience will appreciate it and the others aren't worth your effort anyway.

It's all a matter of personality sometimes - you can rule by fear, you can rule commanding respect or awe. Or you can rule by the Rules. Make the rules clear - For instance: No Ramming? Make it clear to all the players via a text:
NO Ramming, No Running in the Opposing Direction. No parking on track. Etc. Incoming players should be informed ASAP.

Given all the connection problems a good host has to take care of this too. If cars don't appear on track, players show as loading in the list etc., enforce them to rejoin and clean their cache. If you see some driving through each other on track (without ghosting), it's the same issue and both should rejoin. If there is bad lag-warping crashing others off during a race, unfortunately the host has to quit and kick asap.

A lot of this is beyond our control - in terms of Server issues - but, yes, players with bad connections can ruin a Lobby, and this is one of the headaches that Hosts have to manage - it's one of the downsides of hosting.

At minimum a good host should make visible he is caring. The players might not follow every decision, but as long as they get the impression the host cares, it will prevent the worst chaos.

I cannot stress this enough. When players know you care about the Lobby and the activity that is going on, when players know that you are attentive and focused on what is happening they tend to stay in the room. This is trust that has to be earned. And once earned will no doubt pay off - when players you have hosted before, see your name up in them lights, they know know they are going to have a good time.

4. Room culture
At best a room should feel like some gentlemen driving club. Of course competition plays a big role, but good sportsmanship and general good manners are even more important. This includes both the behavior on track as in chat.

Good culture on track means obviously driving clean. If some accident happens, at least don't take advantage from it (waiting or giving back position) and say sorry after the race.

When racing by the rules, one should do one's best to be courteous; what goes round comes around. An apology can fix an issue quick before it turns into a swear-fest. Most times a driver is mad when he gets spun out because it makes him look a fool at the end of the pack. An apology from the offender boosts the victim's rep back (as in: it was not his fault he's now last - he was run off the track, he'll do better next time.)
Most problems are caused by bad overtaking, or inability to find the brake pedal.

In chat I don't mind swearing, but very much mind swearing on others, especially racist or otherwise discriminating (You're ga.!) language. As a host it's a reason for me to kick right away. To enjoy it, there should be a general culture of politeness. Behave as if you would like to race with those people the next day too and so on, because that might happen then.

It might be a generally good advice to talk to each other (as always). It can solve conflicts. Only exception: during races. Chat is distracting, don't chat while people are driving, especially don't try to talk to the host.

Communication in Lobbies is paramount. Not only to facilitate good hosting, and thereby successful rooms, but to resolve problems, as well as keep everybody on the same page. Swearing is a matter of taste, or lifestyle - some rooms tolerate it, others don't. As players we have to remember that there are other players who may not really need to swear as part of their personality, or need to hear it constantly in their ears like a mantra, either.

5. Start timer
Use the automatic race starts, always. It takes forever waiting for everyone, so it's best to let the game predefine a starting time and let it be the duty of the players to make it in time. If someone misses a race, there is always a next one.

If the race will take less than 10 minutes, I'll prefer a 4-5min timer. If more 6-8min will be good. If you don't want to race an unfinished setup, do your setup work at home imho.

Again, as the norm, this is a good idea. I have quit many a room because I got in, grabbed a car, started a lap, and before I could get through 30 secs of the lap, the host starts the race manually. I'm out of there. And I remember the names of such hosts; I never waste my time with their lobbies.
Having said that - I have raced for hours in Lobbies where the host would start the races manually, but would check with all before they dropped the green flag - which also gave the opportunity for racers who were sitting out the race, or just spectating, a chance to say so.

6. Realistic settings but not too hard
Generally tougher settings will make the driving more demanding (and fun?) but at the same time will punish mistakes harder. Therefor differences in drivers skill will result in bigger gaps or basically less close races. It needs a balance between those 2 goals. I like real grip reduction, real slipstream but also weak or hard penalties and everything damage off. Visible damage hurts connections and physical damage is just an additional penalty for crashing which is usually not needed and will just make it less close.

Rain will also define the room character away from vanilla.

Imho penalties for starting early never make sense. It just increases the chance for huge crashes at the start.

As I said there are different types of Lobbies, so different types of Limits, and therefore different ways of hosting, though all follow the principles of respect and abiding with whatever rules were set down.
Some racers are serious - and their idea of serious is all aids off, boost off, HP filters, CS, stock cars, etc, etc. Most times the host is someone like this - and so is looking for like-minded individuals. Make sure the Lobby is clear about what it is offering, and such racers will join the room.
A Free Run Lobby will have a different view of this altogether.
A Chill/Cruise Lobby may have no Filters at all only demanding that the players in the room respect each other - on and off the track.

Also not everybody is interested in hard-core racing. And not everybody wants to be tied down to a club or league with the obligations that come with it, as well as having to race the same people over and over. Some players (in fact a lot) are there just for the fun of it, to cruise, to chat, to chill out by the pits and swap tunes, to hot-lap with others and check the Leaderboards, to hang out and drag, or make a room for some exhibition drifting, etc, etc.
Social networking requires that one meets new people - or else it really isn't networking; it's holding hands at the picnic

Would you believe I enter a room sometimes just to save a replay with other player's well-put-together cars for photography later? Nice to see my car with theirs.

Different strokes, (sometimes rotary, too ) for different folks. GT delivers.

7. Don't change your restrictions, settings and track
Usually people won't join your open lobby because they want to race with you. They came for the combination of cars, track and settings. Don't destroy the room by changing them. There can be exceptions of course, like shuffle racing or if the room developed into a nice gathering where you could ask to change track.

Vitally important, IMO. You said 'Coke' they came for Coke. Don't switch it to Pepsi the moment they enter. That shows you are not confident about the product you are selling. I don't like the fact that I'd see Laguna Seca, jump in there with the required PP car, and the host changes it right away to Spa (which is a very new track to me.) I'm out of there uninterested.

The above points are a good general advice in my opinion. More personal preferences include:

- no voice chat (I hate it because of excessive experience in the past and will usually mute everyone)
- starting grid in reverse finishing order to give the quick guys a better challenge and to add some random elements. Makes it more important and harder to enforce clean racing though.
- I like nice time/weather settings like a sunny dawn
- international grid; connection issues are the only viable reason to restrict nationalities

👍 :cheers;

 

[Jimmy_Pop]

I try to title my lobby with the max pp and tires. I always like clean races = not intentionally spinning people out. I prefer voice chats.

I don't include track or laps because it shows in the preview.

 

[claudiorz]

...

I concur with everything there but the reverse grid bit, I find way more fun to have a regular grid where the faster ones start up ahead so you can have a competitive race. Reverse grid kills the competition because most of the times the fastest person on track won't be the one winning the race.

 

[Devil240Z]

My rooms are always really successful.
Just a set pp, usually between 450-550.
Limited to SS tires
All Aids available
Vote for track

I only wish you could set a race to a time limit rather than number of laps.

 

[Z1-AV69]

I concur with everything there but the reverse grid bit, I find way more fun to have a regular grid where the faster ones start up ahead so you can have a competitive race. Reverse grid kills the competition because most of the times the fastest person on track won't be the one winning the race.

Thats why I prefer reverse grid. I often race for hours in the same room. It's very boring if always the same guy wins (and be it me). Online Racing is not just about competition, it has social or fun elements too. If people know, they won't stand a chance to win a race, they will be frustrated and leave. I think it's best if everyone can believe in his chance to at least win one race with some luck.
And being often one of the quick guys I also prefer the opportunity to overtake. I can time trial in front all day offline, no need to have others around for that. Therefor, as long as I'm not chasing a time, I will try to game the options to make sure to start from the back. But as I said this is more of a personal preference.

 

[photonrider]

I try to title my lobby with the max pp and tires. I always like clean races = not intentionally spinning people out. I prefer voice chats.

I don't include track or laps because it shows in the preview.

There's a lot that shows in the preview - unfortunately a lot of players are either still not familiar with all the highlights in the preview (Restrictions, mic on/off, etc) or are not looking hard enough. We once had a guy in a Corvette Race car join a room that was specifically slated as 'Street'. He left after he was informed of his error. As one of the members here stated: If they find out it's not what they came for rarely will they change the car they want to race.

There may be also some confusion in the minds of more casual players ('Hey! It's a Chevy Corvette! It's a Street car!') Hosting can be hard work; this is where there should be that constant flow of info between Host and Players.

For me;

-Good connection
-pleasant people (not necessarily the same nationality)

I agree. Nationality doesn't matter. In any case what really does the location flag mean? More often than not just the location of the player, not what he eats or looks like or whether they sleep with the Kama Sutra under their pillow. I've played with dozens of nationalities.

We shouldn't ignore some facts, though:
People can be racist. They can be hyper-sexual, scatological, silent, 'strange' - or 'racing maniacs' because the particular culture they were bred in influenced the imprinting of these characteristics. These are labels we give people so that we can make some sense of the disorder around us. And of course we have to constantly fight the notion of archetypes, stereotypes, and other types of bigotry and mental programming.

This is why we naturally gravitate towards cultures that are somewhat alike - I see very successful rooms of USA/CANADA/UK combinations that I have raced in for hours - but we've had the occasional driver from Finland, Portugal, even Tunisia, who melded successfully into the group, raced and left. There are many times I've seen the German flag pop up in a USA/Canada room, and it's usually is someone polite. And a good racer!

We have to understand as Hosts, that if someone cares to join a North American Lobby (after possibly looking at his home base first) from Europe or other 'further-away'- countries, then they must be racers looking to match their skills against international players. I've found many of these 'roamers' to be great racers.

-Friendly atmosphere (I got called a w**ker for starting a race the other night)

Did they leave right away or did you bounce them?

As I mentioned before - starting a race is crucial and should not be taken lightly. Either have it on Auto-cylce or make sure everybody knows. At least a two-minute Text warning - for players who enter the Lobby just when you're ready to drop the flag.
And never ever give in to people who demand you start a race in a room titled 'Free Run'. People take 'Free Run to be a mode they can enjoy their cars in modes other than racing.
The new update fixes some of these problems.

-I prefer to have people on microphone as it's easier to communicate information

Mics on or mics off? That is a whole topic in itself. Someone take a poll . . . .

I mentioned a player who plays 'Race Director'; he's on mic and uses it to marshal the players. He's very polite, doesn't talk unless absolutely necessary, and most of the times I've raced in his room, it's only one or two others that are miked (I was - so I was chatting with him now and then - questions about limits, cars, etc, and also to confirm that I was ready to race or sitting it out.)
The rest of the players answered through text. It worked out.

It's why I have created my own forum for racers who are in a similar mind to me to be completely honest. We race multi-nationality lobbies (Israel, Italy, Denmark, Britain, USA). Everyone speaks English of varying qualities so there's no issue there. It's easy to avoid riff-raff if you create an environment to avoid them. The added bonus of a forum is that we can have race details up weeks in advance and everyone knows what is happening so the lobby title can be called "Spooning Elephants" if you want to because people still know what is happening.
I host races that are over an hour long, up to 90 minutes occasionally with multi-nationality grids, with hardly any disconnections, rarely any lag and we all race properly and respectfully and respect each others cultures.

Rooms can be either 'Public' (which means any and everybody can drop in) - or 'Friends' (which of course means one's PSN friends.)

If it's 'Friends' - okay, no problem. You're doing your thing, it can be anything, you're among 'friends' - if everybody is miked, then you're good to go for just about anything. The Title of the Room can be anything you want - since it's actually a 'code' that let's you know that that is the Lobby. Also would show when you check the 'Show Friend's Rooms' Box.

As soon as a Lobby is Public it doesn't matter what is on the Title Bar - people will stick their noses in. It's an Open Room. If the Room was made by a bunch of people who were not on each other's Friends lists, and yet wanted to congregate in a Public Room, there will be strangers dropping in . . . . and kicked? It's tough to try and run a Room like that. The only way that kind of Lobby succeeds is if the host manages to synch the new 'strangers' in, and they become part of the regular pack that visits that particular Lobby all the time.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Here's a few more tips that came to mind:

If you're running a Track day, say at the Nurb or Silverstone, study the Track Day Rules (widely available on the Internet) and enforce them. Many drivers use this as a simulator - a 'role-playing' game, if you wish, that permits them to practise Track Day behaviour before they go ahead and do the real thing.

Free Run?
Specify the rules and make it known to newcomers if they are confused. Where can they park? Can they run in reverse? Is there a Convoy? Etc.....

That's why I prefer reverse grid. I often race for hours in the same room. It's very boring if always the same guy wins (and be it me).

I agree - reverse grid shouldn't really bother a faster driver - there is more of a challenge, and more satisfaction to be achieved in cleanly overtaking the slower drivers and keeping out of their way when they spin out. As well - faster drivers are usually better drivers - and know where the brake pedal is. I would rather have an experienced driver chase me, than an amateur. You won't believe the amount of times I've been rammed by some tenderfoot behind me with a lead foot and no concept of 'corner-entry' speed. Experienced drivers chase me down, stalk me, and pass me cleanly when they can. Because they can.

Online Racing is not just about competition, it has social or fun elements too.

Gran Turismo is definitely not just about racing. That's at the core - but around that core is wrapped many layers of activity - and Online activity that has nothing to do with pure racing but much ado about everything else Automotive - collecting, detailing, photographing, tuning, driving for pleasure, and of course (hopefully soon to come) trading. We like to share stuff - and socially, online, there is a lot of sharing . . . and such particular Lobbies will be hosted by players that share that view - and there may be no racing taking place at all in the room.

The new update - Ver. 1.05 - has further tweaks for Hosts. Welcome additions, I would think. We Hosts can never have too many filters.

 

[Dimse91]

Perfect lobby for me :

- Clean and super friendly players.
- Host that rather watch other drivers clean racing than participate by his own ( not always ofcourse)
- All cars would be the same ( Prohibited tuning)
- let people know from when till when lobby will be opened.
- Make practise and qualifying.

I think most importat is other players understading of "Clear" racing and be friendly and respectfull to other drivers!!!

 

[steiner]

when I host:

- fixed host (gives better stability in lobbys)
- 16 players
- race quality very high
- voice quality standard
- comment is ususaly the type of class or PP limit we are driving.
- Races dont get held automatically. after some minutes which i feel is fair for everyone to adjust to the track or try different cars I ask the lobby if everyones ready (by typing "rdy?" in the chat). If sufficient people write yes or ready and noone says otherwise I start the races.
- Races are either with qualifier (just enough time to do one fast lap) or are reverse grid according to last race result.
- false start is on
- Aids are all turned off (ABS on). By request I will enable TC and Driving line for people who want it (I feel those are legit aids, they are only turned off nortmally becasue most people dont use them and that way will remind people to turn TC of when driving a new car). SRF and Active Steering will stay off regardless.
- I ask the lobby which track they want or do a vote (although i dont like vote as some douchebag will vote some stupid **** like charmoni when we are racing super GT class - garantueed. so I rather ask).
-races are clean.
They are not super clean. When you hit someone, you hit someone, you will not bekicked immediatly. Say sorry after the race and be polite and its fine. As long as you try your best to avoid crashes you are wellcome. IF a crash happens it happens. Its racing after all.
- good racecraft is encouraged. Dont defend or attack with a knife between you teeth.
- I will let the lobby know that the lobby will close soon and usually hold one last race.
- there are occasions where tuning is prohibited
- there would be way more occasions of one make races if the selection would be bigger
- there would be shuiffle races if they would exist..
- my lobbys are always racing. never drag or cop or trackday or drift. Its racing I offer its racing you get.
- good humor is wellcome, a little banter and chit chat is fine.
- nationality is not important. Im from europe and had lag free races with americans and even brazilian guys.
- im german and so are most of my buddys. means voice chat is mostly german. but english is fine.

 

[donpost]

It's a short list from me - I must be easy to please lol. I like to see:

• SRF disallowed
• Driving line and ABS 1 allowed
• Drivers who at least attempt to race clean.
• NO BLOODY NORDSCHLIEFFE!!!!!!

 

[Johnnypenso]

I ask the lobby which track they want or do a vote (although i dont like vote as some douchebag will vote some stupid **** like charmoni when we are racing super GT class - garantueed. so I rather ask).

When I host I usually type in the chat bar a comment similar to his before a track vote:

Do not vote for rally or random tracks. It may get you kicked.

If I notice someone votes for random or rally more than once, I will usually kick them and then type in the chat box...

Player X kicked for voting random more than once...fair warning.

You'll usually have little trouble with track votes after this, but you have to keep warning the new guys of course.

 

[baldgye]

Microphones disabled.
Dispite everything I wish online racing to be the microphone seems to be the most commonly abused system. It dsnt matter if your in a racing league or public lobby someone at some point is bound to either run there mouth off or broadcast something they shouldn't be.

 

[ColouredBadger]

I agree. Nationality doesn't matter. In any case what really does the location flag mean? More often than not just the location of the player, not what he eats or looks like or whether they sleep with the Kama Sutra under their pillow. I've played with dozens of nationalities.

(1) We shouldn't ignore some facts, though:
People can be racist. They can be hyper-sexual, scatological, silent, 'strange' - or 'racing maniacs' because the particular culture they were bred in influenced the imprinting of these characteristics. These are labels we give people so that we can make some sense of the disorder around us. And of course we have to constantly fight the notion of archetypes, stereotypes, and other types of bigotry and mental programming.

(2) This is why we naturally gravitate towards cultures that are somewhat alike - I see very successful rooms of USA/CANADA/UK combinations that I have raced in for hours - but we've had the occasional driver from Finland, Portugal, even Tunisia, who melded successfully into the group, raced and left. There are many times I've seen the German flag pop up in a USA/Canada room, and it's usually is someone polite. And a good racer!

(3) We have to understand as Hosts, that if someone cares to join a North American Lobby (after possibly looking at his home base first) from Europe or other 'further-away'- countries, then they must be racers looking to match their skills against international players. I've found many of these 'roamers' to be great racers.


(4) Did they leave right away or did you bounce them?

(5) As I mentioned before - starting a race is crucial and should not be taken lightly. Either have it on Auto-cylce or make sure everybody knows. At least a two-minute Text warning - for players who enter the Lobby just when you're ready to drop the flag.
And never ever give in to people who demand you start a race in a room titled 'Free Run'. People take 'Free Run to be a mode they can enjoy their cars in modes other than racing.
The new update fixes some of these problems.


(6) Mics on or mics off? That is a whole topic in itself. Someone take a poll . . . .

I mentioned a player who plays 'Race Director'; he's on mic and uses it to marshal the players. He's very polite, doesn't talk unless absolutely necessary, and most of the times I've raced in his room, it's only one or two others that are miked (I was - so I was chatting with him now and then - questions about limits, cars, etc, and also to confirm that I was ready to race or sitting it out.)
The rest of the players answered through text. It worked out.


(7) Rooms can be either 'Public' (which means any and everybody can drop in) - or 'Friends' (which of course means one's PSN friends.)

If it's 'Friends' - okay, no problem. You're doing your thing, it can be anything, you're among 'friends' - if everybody is miked, then you're good to go for just about anything. The Title of the Room can be anything you want - since it's actually a 'code' that let's you know that that is the Lobby. Also would show when you check the 'Show Friend's Rooms' Box.

As soon as a Lobby is Public it doesn't matter what is on the Title Bar - people will stick their noses in. It's an Open Room. If the Room was made by a bunch of people who were not on each other's Friends lists, and yet wanted to congregate in a Public Room, there will be strangers dropping in . . . . and kicked? It's tough to try and run a Room like that. The only way that kind of Lobby succeeds is if the host manages to synch the new 'strangers' in, and they become part of the regular pack that visits that particular Lobby all the time.
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/bayvroom/media/Forum Posts 2014 -1/IMG_0061_zpsaf37fc1d.jpg.html

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/bayvroom/media/Forum Posts 2014 -1/IMG_0061_zpsaf37fc1d.jpg.html


I have added (number) points to your quote and I shall answer each point.

(1) - That is true, it's why when I host I don't stand for any bad mouthing or disrespectful behaviour towards anyone and if they start being a hassle they're soon gone.

(2) - My friends list is made up of people from Italy, Denmark, Norway, Portuguese and a few others I can't remember. All speak English to varying degrees but all of them are joining for one reason and that's the racing and having fun. It's why I don't kick anyone based on Nationality alone. They have to misbehave or ignore instruction for that to happen.

(3) - I agree. As my forum doesn't have too many members as of yet (been going about 2 months) I host public sessions and invite the best ones, not necessarily fastest but the most polite, friendly and clean ones, to join the forum and it is then at their discretion to if they want to or not. It helps them to get a guaranteed race at planned times with like-minded people instead of lobby surfing for hours trying to find a good one.

(4) - They left before the countdown had started else he would have been booted

(5) and (7) - I use strict time frames when using public lobbies. Generally speaking my races are between 15 and 20 minutes long and are raced on the half hour every half hour and people are made aware of this. So if a race was to start at 9pm there will be a race every 30 minutes after that point until 11:30pm or Midnight. And no, I tend to ask people to leave if they want races in Free Run lobbies but I rarely host them now.
Forum based races will always be Friends Only and that keeps us separate from wanderers and allows us to race our events free from explanation.
I do host the occasional Public Room for recruiting or any other reason and I am as friendly as possible and if people join and respect the rules and be polite then I have no problem with them, no matter what the nationality. I will however ask people to leave if their connection is really bad and by that I explain clearly that they are ruining the race with their connection and ask if they could sort it out or to leave. I don't like kicking people unless they deserve it.

(6) - Mic's on. The forum is all about having fun and good banter aids to that. The other night we ended up crashing because we were all laughing so much about something that had happened and no body cared that we all crashed because it's all for fun, no matter what the racing is. We don't tend to use the marshal feature as such because everyone is of the same mentality and know what is right and wrong. Races tend to be self-governing because of the universal rules we have.

______________

My original point remains. If anyone would be interested in joining our forum with like-minded people who race cleanly, fairly and respectfully whilst having a real good laugh then you are welcome to come along to one of the public races to see what things are like or to send me a Personal Message me on here saying you are interested and I shall get you onto the forum or send a friend request so you can join one of the events and see if it's to your taste.

 

[mr_lab_rat]

just tire limitation in the name is enough for me

 

[photonrider]

What kind of room would you label as 'CAFE'?



This came in with 1.06 - and is pause for thought. Why would PD give us these categories?
Which Lobbies would have racing, and which would not? Obviously it's up to the Host. Bait and Switch?
I see a drive towards developing more the social aspect of the game, than pure racing.

This doesn't relate to the filters in any way, AFAIK (if someone out there discovers different - let us know.)

Set Race Type

This setting does not change how the game works - it is merely intended to help players decide which room to use. As such, it is recommended that it accurately describes the room, and the type of races you wish to hold.

 

[cjr3559]

I envision a cafe room being a bunch of people talking with no racing. Sounds silly, but maybe there's a demand for B-Spec racers to congregate. I often think translation is lost from Japanese to English. Maybe 'cafe' means something totally different, defined and understood in the Japan market.

 

[SVPSkins]

my prefect room...sorry lobby...just JKing =)

-First and for most the host must be fun and cheerful and know how to keep the players entertained but not taking the game to serious. Nothing worse then having an ignorant cocky host taking things seriously and stooping to the levels of threatening to kick you/ throwing abuse because things are not going his/her way, as i experienced yesterday morning thanks to curtain young cocky Yorkshire lad.

-Everyone having a wired connection as i do

-Everyone must be roughly in the same age group (as young kids do my tree in and there attitude seems to be sort of rubbing off on me of late which im not proud of)

-Room...coughs..Lobby must be set to one type. (i cant stand lobby's that's change hosts then they change what type the the lobby is)

-Players must race cleanly (hate anything more then having at least one person who thinks its funny to wreck other peoples fun because there "bored" or annoyed at something)

-room...sorry..lobby must be set to text, for me mic is very distracting eg: people coughing...ewwww

- lastly everyone must have a good understanding of sportsmanship.

 

[NixxxoN]

-Everyone must be roughly in the same age group (as young kids do my tree in and there attitude seems to be sort of rubbing off on me of late which im not proud of)

-room...sorry..lobby must be set to text, for me mic is very distracting eg: people coughing...ewwww

Agree about what you said except for those two. Same age? Older than 18 maybe yes, but i dont see any problem with people of 20, 30, 40 or whatever racing together.
And Im a big fan of microphone talking, for me its not distracting at all, and it makes the thing improve a lot, its much better to talk with other people while playing, rather than staying silent, and the typing system in the ps3 is such a pain.

 

[Nish]

My perfect lobby would consist of...
- Fairly lengthy races (40ish minutes), with heavy damage
- Clean racers with a sense of humor or the ability to speak up if they don't like a topic
- People to speak up if there is a driver causing problems
- Drivers to read the title and room settings before they join
- Drivers who do not fall behind so they pull over and park
- Good race craft is a must.
-- Pass only if you can pass cleanly.
-- If you err and wreck someone, wait until they recover and get ahead of you
-- If you go off track do not drive back out onto the track until you know it's clear

There is more but I haven't had a full wake up yet this morning.

Usually in the rooms I host or frequent. I don't like to kick people, if they are a different nationality and possibly don't know english I use a translator. If I get reports of a driver lagging I ask them to go clean their cache, if it persists then I ask them to leave.

The main group that usually races in our lobbies is very multicultural (China, Canada, USA, Britain, Australia and Japan are most common) and varies heavily in driver talent. From new drivers and amateur tuners to GT-Academy competitors and people that have tuning and racing experience in real life. It also varies heavily in age (currently from 15 - 69). If someone needs help with a part of track or tuning there is almost always 2 or 3 people in the lobby that will help. Mics are for the best as typing distracts some drivers and can't be done during a race. Our rooms are serious racing / tuning for the most part but the banter is usually anything but.

A clean competitive lobby with a lot to learn/teach and a lot of fun talking in between is my ideal room.

 

[DeriaHanuj]

Doesn't matter how good a lobby is, I always get disconnected anyways. #SwedishInternetProblems (0.70 mb/s)

 

[MidFieldMaven]

A perfect host doesn't kick somebody for not being on the track or being paused on the side of the track. Simply being in the room isn't causing anyone any problems, so I have to assume hosts only kick non-participants because they can. Maybe it makes them feel good.

I like being able to remain in a lobby while running an errand or eating a meal and coming back on the track rather than having to find a new room.

 

[SkylineObsession]

I usually only host 'open track day' type lobbies on variations of the Nordschleife.

Settings usually are something like this on that track;

- 'Open Track Day, no race cars' (or something along those lines)
- No fixed host
- 16 players
- race quality high
- voice off (not sure why, but no-one has said anything about it yet)
- Races don't get held
- All aids other than ABS are all turned off
- Racing has to be clean (don't usually have to tell anyone either)
- Nationality isn't an issue
- Time of day is usually early morning when the sun is rising (6-7-8am)
- No visual damage
- No mechanical damage
- No pp, tyre etc limits
Etcetera

I quite like the Ring and other tracks where there is a place for everyone to just park up if they want to (off the track, so those who are lapping don't get disrupted) and then sometimes head off for a lap as a group. Brings a sense of realism to it.