Online opponents quiting for phone calls

[Moot]

I regularly see mid race online opponents stopping or exiting, and then write up after saying "sorry phone call" or something of that nature.
I'm not saying i'm particularly bothered but it shows the big divide between online sports play and real life play.
I play doubles tennis and if my phone rang while playing I would not just walk away and answer it. In fact I turn it off. I have actually been in a tennis game and one bloke did go off to answer his phone, and I was just thinking why is he so important he can just leave the 3 of us waiting. I suppose in GT5 we don't have to wait for them to return but an opponent drop out in a "real race" section of GT5 online play does diminish the race "value".

At Silverstone in GT Academy simulator racing round you wouldn't get one person step out of their seat mid race and say sorry I just wanted to check a text message.
It makes me think there is not enough value attached to online racing, which is optionally menu set to "real" and important.
Instead of not just earning credits and xp, exiting mid race should deduct credits and xp from your A spec level account. And their perhaps should be some kind of on-line levelling reward system for GT5. It would add more fun to races by making them more important and committed to with interest.

 

[Nightingale]

Eh, I don't think anyone really attempts to differentiate between "race for fun" or "race for real" lobbies when they make or join them. I certainly pay no attention to it, although I always set it to "race for real".

But it is frustrating when you start with a grid of 10 cars, and by lap 2, only 6 remain because everyone else doesn't want to participate in a race they know they can't win. This is a problem in most online games, but it is particularly bad in the case of racing games because the quality of your experience is completely dependent on the competency of your opponents. The best solution I can think of to this is to have a "aborts-per-race ratio" that the game keeps track of, and to have hosts be able to prevent players with certain ratios from entering. Alternatively, your prize money may decrease as your APR ratio increases.

I don't know if this is generally true, but my experience has led me to conclude that Japanese developers tend to be poor at devising effective online systems that encourage "proper" play... would anyone agree with this? or am I just over-analyzing?

 

[ucwepn]

I've quit races for phone calls on occasion. If you got a phonecall that a relative had been in a car accident (or other similar tragedy or something) and was in hospital and you ignored the phone when it rang for a videogame then i think there would be some guilty feelings on the way (I'd feel horrible).

But i guess it could also be some telemarketer trying to sell you something LOL. WTF dude I was racing!!?? so you never know

 

[Moot]

You can not quit for a call just in case it might be important. You just quit because you want to. It's a determined decision.
Nightingale I don't think it is wrong to over analyse something. PD are known for their attention to detail about GT, they have their own online department in Japan, they should look at how to make each online race potentially important and worthy of being part of. As it is, it's fair to be indifferent about it as that's how it generally is, but it doesn't have to be the way it is.
The race for real section could be made more different by having a unique prize structure, it's own ranking system. PD staff could be present in this area and race themselves and issue special item awards. I'm sure there are many ideas that could tailor races to be more incentive to the racer.

 

[mikekhel30]

I regular see mid race online opponents stopping or exiting, and then write up after saying "sorry phone call" or something of that nature.
I'm not saying i'm particularly bothered but it shows the big divide between online sports play and real life play.
I play doubles tennis and if my phone rang while playing I would not just walk away and answer it. In fact I turn it off. I have actually been in a tennis game and one bloke did go off to answer his phone, and I was just thinking why is he so important he can just leave the 3 of us waiting. I suppose in GT5 we don't have to wait for them to return but an opponent drop out in a "real race" section of GT5 online play does diminish the race "value".

At Silverstone in GT Academy simulator racing round you wouldn't get one person step out of their seat mid race and say sorry I just wanted to check a text message.
It makes me think there is not enough value attached to online racing, which is optionally menu set to "real" and important.
Instead of not just earning credits and xp, exiting mid race should deduct credits and xp from your A spec level account. And their perhaps should be some kind of on-line levelling reward system for GT5. It would add more fun to races by making them more important and committed to with interest.

I can't believe you took the GT Academy as an example. If the normal races has a value of let's say, money or a chance to win something, then you won't see people leave because of a phone call unless it is an emergency.

 

[boshuter]

If you are "not particularly bothered", then why the useless thread.

 

[Crispy]

It depends on the phone call. If its a tragedy, I'm going to take it. If a friend needs something or its work, I take it. If its a friend calling to rant about their day, or rave about it, or a telemarketer, I'm going to leave it.

 

[Exorcet]

Instead of not just earning credits and xp, exiting mid race should deduct credits and xp from your A spec level account. And their perhaps should be some kind of on-line levelling reward system for GT5. It would add more fun to races by making them more important and committed to with interest.

Leveling and XP is stupid and should be removed from the game, and probably all online games.

On the topic at hand, I'm not going to shut off my phone and miss my boss calling me telling me that I need to come to work early tomorrow to fill in for someone just because I'm playing GT5.

It's a sim, but it's not real. Reality takes priority, it has to. There is nothing wrong with getting the phone, if it's important.

 

[Moot]

If you are "not particularly bothered", then why the useless thread.

Because people like yourselves add to it. In a not particularly interesting way in your case. But it's an avenue of thought for game improvement. Have you any ideas? Or perhaps you're not bothered.

.............
I'll say it again you don't know a call is important unless you take it, so why presume it is important. You can check for messages or voice-mail when you have finished your race.
People do thousands of various activities where for one moment they wound not consider answering a phone to distract from their social event, I'm raising the point that online is so isolationist and unreal that nothing matters, when actually it is real interacting with other real people. The distance creates a barrier of non care, when if there was a care, more could be gained.

Stop saying about if a call is important..
When people go to the cinema they turn the phones off/silent. They do not leave them on so if there was an emergency they could answer the phone. I say to people playing GT5 if your are having an online race, turn your phone off, then you won't know you have a call, even if your family have all died in a plane crash and you miss the call. sigh....

It's a discussion. What I do personally is not the most important factor. I might answer the phone I might not. It's the concept i'm interested in and what it means, and how things could change, what could be good, what could be bad etc.

 

[BubbleBelly542]

At Silverstone in GT Academy simulator racing round you wouldn't get one person step out of their seat mid race and say sorry I just wanted to check a text message.
It makes me think there is not enough value attached to online racing...

At Silverstone there was something of value at the end of the race. Online, there's just some XP and fake money that you can spend on little electrons that look like cars. Of course you wouldn't step out of GT Academy for a text, winning results in real things.

Instead of not just earning credits and xp, exiting mid race should deduct credits and xp from your A spec level

That just may have been the dumbest idea I've seen in a year. Some people have legit reasons to leave a race. Like what if one of their family members are in the hospital and they need to answer their phones because they might get news about that person. You want someone to possibly miss getting the hospital in time to possible see them alive for a last time for a video game? You and I have different priorities. So you want someone who has to leave for a legit reason be penalized.
Now of course that is an extreme example to use but it could happen.

 

[BubbleBelly542]

I can't believe you took the GT Academy as an example. If the normal races has a value of let's say, money or a chance to win something, then you won't see people leave because of a phone call unless it is an emergency.

Thank you. You have common sense unlike OP.

 

[BubbleBelly542]

At Silverstone there was something of value at the end of the race. Online, there's just some XP and fake money that you can spend on little electrons that look like cars. Of course you wouldn't step out of GT Academy for a text, winning results in real things.

That just may have been the dumbest idea I've seen in a year. Some people have legit reasons to leave a race. Like what if one of their family members are in the hospital and they need to answer their phones because they might get news about that person. You want someone to possibly miss getting the hospital in time to possible see them alive for a last time for a video game? You and I have different priorities. So you want someone who has to leave for a legit reason be penalized.
Now of course that is an extreme example to use but it could happen.

Mostly I'm saying is if you are expecting an important call, take it. But you never know so...

 

[Mubble]

A phone call is more important than a computer game.

 

[BZSIN]

It depends on the phone call. If its a tragedy, I'm going to take it. If a friend needs something or its work, I take it. If its a friend calling to rant about their day, or rave about it, or a telemarketer, I'm going to leave it.

How do you know which one it's going to be without answering the phone?

 

[Moot]

At Silverstone there was something of value at the end of the race. Online, there's just some XP and fake money that you can spend on little electrons that look like cars. Of course you wouldn't step out of GT Academy for a text, winning results in real things.



That just may have been the dumbest idea I've seen in a year. Some people have legit reasons to leave a race. Like what if one of their family members are in the hospital and they need to answer their phones because they might get news about that person. You want someone to possibly miss getting the hospital in time to possible see them alive for a last time for a video game? You and I have different priorities. So you want someone who has to leave for a legit reason be penalized.
Now of course that is an extreme example to use but it could happen.

Seems like I need to explain things even more.
If you are needed some time on the phone because of an issue like you mention you do not play the "race for real" section of GT5, you race for "fun".
Is that too hard to understand?
I just wish everyone had their family already dead so they don't need to answer the phone ever. That's common sense for you.
And as it happens that's what really occurs in real life for certain jobs, especially for the government...

 

[Exorcet]

Because people like yourselves add to it. In a not particularly interesting way in your case. But it's an avenue of thought for game improvement. Have you any ideas? Or perhaps you're not bothered.

.............
I'll say it again you don't know a call is important unless you take it, so why presume it is important. You can check for messages or voice-mail when you have finished your race.

The phone is next to me when I'm racing. I know who's calling 90% of the time. I'll either ignore it or answer it.

I don't know about other people, but "not caring" is not what I when racing online. When you're racing online, you are interacting with other people. I try not to waste people's time because I don't like mine wasted. However GT5 is not as high a priority as real life. My phone is off (or set to silent) in the theater, yes, but only because it has to be. It ringing won't bother anyone when I'm playing online though.

 

[Moot]

It ringing won't bother anyone when I'm playing online though.

Ah that's the interesting point. Which is so easy to miss due to our current society and thousands of years of habit. You say you would not let the phone ring because it would annoy people in the theatre, but you would let the phone ring when it would annoy people that can't see you and you can't see them. In fact it's more annoying to have a whole race effected by drop out than for just a few seconds off someone having a ringing phone in a theatre and walking outside to carry on talking. It's just we don't see it that way, because we don't see the people online as being real, not in the part of the brain that matters in this respect. Of course we know they are real people far away, but our brain of thousands of years social bonding and heritage doesn't get it. We are not really to blame, yet.. In the future it might be very different, 10 online people may become much more important than 5 people sitting right next to you in the same room.

 

[dodgerbulls]

Have you gone outside ever? Let me remind you that playing an online game at home with no catch at all is just for recreation despite what the server says "race for real." What does racing for real really means to you? Does it mean that you "race for real" with the intention of having fun, or "race for real" as something you really intend to race with the intention of having to finish the race even when the real life is calling you. What it seems like to me is that you view "racing for real" means you disregard the life of other people. If you leave someone in the other room and you hear them screaming/crying, does that mean that you won't leave the race? Because a phone call can basically the same thing. You don't know what the call for, both the screaming/crying/phone call until you check up on it.

 

[Exorcet]

Ah that's the interesting point. Which is so easy to miss due to our current society and thousands of years of habit. You say you would not let the phone ring because it would annoy people in the theatre, but you would let the phone ring when it would annoy people that can't see you and you can't see them.

I don't think that really applies.

The phone ringing isn't going to bother anyone when I'm racing online.

Someone might be bothered if I go to pick up, though probably not. Most races involve more than two people, and it's not everyone running neck and neck the whole time.

People I can't see are no less real, but interacting with them is different from interacting with people in person. I'm not going to just go answer my phone as soon as I hear it ringing when driving online. In fact, the vast majority of the time it goes unanswered. However, GT isn't important enough for me to shut off my phone. If the 1 out of 10000 phone call comes up, and I need to answer it, being in a race won't stop me from doing so.

 

[Moot]

I don't think that really applies.

The phone ringing isn't going to bother anyone when I'm racing online.

Someone might be bothered if I go to pick up, though probably not. Most races involve more than two people, and it's not everyone running neck and neck the whole time.

People I can't see are no less real, but interacting with them is different from interacting with people in person. I'm not going to just go answer my phone as soon as I hear it ringing when driving online. In fact, the vast majority of the time it goes unanswered. However, GT isn't important enough for me to shut off my phone. If the 1 out of 10000 phone call comes up, and I need to answer it, being in a race won't stop me from doing so.

True. Good point. I imagined your phone ringing then answering, but it could be left unanswered. So it depends on the importance of the online game at hand, what I think that happens is people will tend to by habit answer any phone that rings no matter who it is. This is what needs to be reduced. And I am using the phone as a scape goat here, I am meaning anything in general that is an excuse for a player to quit an active game. I suppose much more important is the player just quitting because they have no chance of winning, this to me seems a flaw in online play. I think some good solutions could be made for this.
Though I can't quite think of any just yet, I suppose it has to be based on some kind reward for staying or some achievement that a crashed player can still attain. For a quick driver/car it could be a big prize for fastest lap. But what could a slow driver hope to achieve? Maybe if there was a handicap system a slow driver could gain a lot even when finishing last.

 

[Felix]

I have voice mail for a reason , unless there is smoke filling my room or a noise of an aircraft comming directly towards me I'm staying put!

 

[Devedander]

Both sides have legitimate points but are taking it all too much in absolutes.

Sure you would feel horrible if a family member got in an accident and was dying and you didn't answer the call to finish a race... but you would also feel bad if you were in the bathroom taking a dump and didn't grab the phone or watching a movie and silenced your ringer... but how many of you run out of the bathroom mid dump or never watch movies for fear you will have to endure the guilt of a dying relatives missed phone call?

These are not reaons, these are irrational rationalizations.

Simlarly real life will usually trump online play for most people largely because that word right there "play". To many that signifies a non serious, non comital sitaution. Something that's not a big deal to drop out of, especially if your dropping out doesn't stop someone else from continuing to do what they do.

I guess in a head to head race it kind of does stop them, but reducing a pack from 10 to 9 is hardly a big deal (yes I kow it easily drops from 10 - 6 but you can't blame any one person for the repurcussinos of the overall).

The problem is that every person has different priorities and priorities are what govern what decisions someone will make. You may look at GT online as nothing more engaging than a quick game of tic tac toe in which what happens really doesn't matter. Or you may be one of those guys who has spent all his money building his entire basement into a perfect replica racetrack environment and LIVES to race online. The former would probably drop a game if someone tossed him a cheeto and the latter would probably finish the race if his house was on fire but it was a slow fire and he had insurance.

In order to make the most people happy, the game has to offer options to segregate those groups.


The OPs idea of taking away credits and levels isn't great if you ask me but it's actulaly got some merit if it's just altered a bit.

Make races that carry more weight than just not getting Cr... make races where people have to put up Cr to enter tournament style or race for slips or something... that makes it interesting and you can be more assured that those participating will stick around.

But choice is the important part and a place where GT5 doesn't do so well... despite so many choices being offered, none of them properly segregate the more devoted players.

If they implimented something like this it would go a long way in my book:

Casual lobbies. Basically what we have now.

Pay to race lobbies - you put up money each race towards the pot bottom half of the bracket gets no payout with a range of buy ins. This allows everyone to get in on the action whether you have 1000Cr and play slow or have 15Mil and friends who send you 250kCr cars as gifts every day.

Tournament lobbies - pay to race but over a set of races with points deciding payout.

Race for slips. HU or even multi player races where you bet your car.

An optional setting for any lobby - timeout race. If you are there when the race starts you cannot quit that lobby or join another until that race is over. This means if you are going to join a 10+ lap race, you better be serious about it and not take it lightly or else you won't be able to join another lobby for possibly 10+ minutes.

And of course rankings - rankings are something GT5 needs on so many levels. Both in terms of skill and racing but also in terms of how you play... if you tend to drop races a lot when you are behind, that needs to be shown, or if you just drop a lot... if you are a punter etc... some voteable options would be good and while they can be abused, realistically it rarely if ever happens in games that support it.

But again the important thing is to give choices... let those who want to play a game play a game and make a corner for those who take online racing as seriously as real racing...

You can't go forcing either group to be like the other or mix and match and expect anything good.

 

[CSLACR]

I regularly see mid race online opponents stopping or exiting, and then write up after saying "sorry phone call" or something of that nature.
I'm not saying i'm particularly bothered but it shows the big divide between online sports play and real life play.
I play doubles tennis and if my phone rang while playing I would not just walk away and answer it. In fact I turn it off. I have actually been in a tennis game and one bloke did go off to answer his phone, and I was just thinking why is he so important he can just leave the 3 of us waiting. I suppose in GT5 we don't have to wait for them to return but an opponent drop out in a "real race" section of GT5 online play does diminish the race "value".

At Silverstone in GT Academy simulator racing round you wouldn't get one person step out of their seat mid race and say sorry I just wanted to check a text message.
It makes me think there is not enough value attached to online racing, which is optionally menu set to "real" and important.
Instead of not just earning credits and xp, exiting mid race should deduct credits and xp from your A spec level account. And their perhaps should be some kind of on-line levelling reward system for GT5. It would add more fun to races by making them more important and committed to with interest.

Then people would cheat more, and we'd have to deal with that.

You can't expect a game to deliver quality online play without quality drivers doing the racing.
This is something PD cannot control, and you'll not be delivered in any game.

 

[GfxJG]

Some people may just have a life you know. I feel sorry for you if you don't.

 

[hyyperactive]

If I can reach the phone from my driving seat I check who is calling first though and if it seems unimportant I'll just mute it and call back. It's not like there are many things that couldn't wait 10 minutes or so. Otherwise I'll just finish the race and call back if it seems important/interesting. I just bought this car and I'm about to finish my first lap on the nordschleife with it!

I don't really agree with the tennis analogy that was mentioned earlier in the thread. I stop watching tv, stop playing some internet shoot em up game, stop a movie or stop reading the newspaper when the phone rings. Surely for tennis, golf or whatever I'd put the phone to silent mode just to be courteous towards others.

 

[davelis]

i only quit when someone's at the door

 

[counter345]

I really don't see playing a video game a time to turn your mobile off.

My mum works full time, and even when she is at home she still gets IMPORTANT phone-calls about the servers and other things.

In my opinion, GT5 is just a hobby and nothing else- therefore phone calls should be a higher sort-of priority.

 

[Ecchi-BANZAII!!]

You can not quit for a call just in case it might be important.

I'll say it again you don't know a call is important unless you take it

Moot you're two things...

AND

Ignorant.

If you really think people would even care one bit if you want to race and completely act like an autistic fool by choice.

If I join a room where you're the host or even participating I'll leave the race right before the first person finish the race just to tick you off.

Importance hierarchy:
Life > Family > Phone > Smelling your own fingers after you scratch your back > A Video Game

I guess your list would be the opposite by changing > into a <.

 

[zr1chris]

Just a hunch but answering the phone just might be more important than a video game.

 

[Moot]

I really don't see playing a video game a time to turn your mobile off.

My mum works full time, and even when she is at home she still gets IMPORTANT phone-calls about the servers and other things.

In my opinion, GT5 is just a hobby and nothing else- therefore phone calls should be a higher sort-of priority.

But i'm thinking more perhaps of the difference between GT5's own "for fun" and for real" modes.
If she gets calls about work then she must be on call and paid for that as part of her overall job responsibility, if she is not on call then she should not accept work related calls at home. That's nothing to do with this subject but I think people have the right to not even think about their work once they have finished.

Just a hunch but answering the phone just might be more important than a video game.

I'm not saying it's more important than the game, but it could be, I'm saying the real person in the game you are already with can be more important than an unknown phone call. Which is proved by many other instances in real life etiquette, seen in recreational events or going out for meals etc.