- 757
Back when I started here on GTP, GT4 was doing quite well, and had a healthy community of dedicated racers who enjoyed pitting themselves against each other and the clock, as evidenced by the WRS and it's success. The Racing Series forums were also ripe with the ideas of many people, and those with the where-with-all to pull off successful series' made names for themselves and the competitors they attracted and inspired.
These racing series on GT4 were run "offline" as it were, with people taking the time to organize spreadsheets of data into coherent, readable tables used by the competitors and community in a ranking system. Players would sign up for an event, use the horsepower and weight settings given to them by the race steward or event organizer (normally one and the same), and race in Arcade mode against AI in hopes of getting the fastest clocked time in the event. They would then send their times and relevant data via PM to the event organizer, who would collect this data and send it back out as race results.
This way gave a modicum of being able to race against other competitors, though not truly a "live" feeling of racing. Waiting with baited breath for the results to be posted on Sunday evenings (or for us more time-crunched race organizers, Monday) was the most excitement that seemed to stem from this form of event. Downsides were that you had to trust your fellow competitor to use the prescribed settings, do the number of laps, and otherwise not cheat. It did instill a bit of camaraderie in the competitors I believe, and added a large measure of community.
Now I've been playing GT5 for a few weeks, and have tried the online lobbies and even participated in a longer race or two. I've followed the GT5 Online Racing subforum closely, watching how Online Racing in GT has evolved from what I knew from "back in the day". Now, races spring up like weeds it seems, some good ideas some not so much. Some very well thought out, some not so much. All hinge on getting a bunch of random people together at an arbitrary time and have a go.
SuperGT Season 9 is now set to begin soon, and I see this issue coming to a head in this championship. Kudos to all those who have kept GTMSA alive and well, by the way; you've shown the dedication in time and effort that I could not, and couldn't be prouder of what you have become. But reading through the series description, it occurred to me that trying to meld the old and new is going to be a bit difficult. Time zones and constrictions make it next to impossible for all those who wish to be able to compete in the series.
There were years of SuperGT (and GTPLMS) that we had competitors from Australia & New Zealand, China, Russia, Europe, South and North America all competing in the same championship, and with the old format it was possible because you could complete the race in your own time. I'm not sure this can ever really be achieved anymore with the advent of true online racing. Just look at the GT5 OLR subforum. There's two or three different SuperGT championships going on based on region. A "true" champion is either someone willing to be up racing at 3am local time, someone who doesn't have to balance family, work, and racing, or simply unattainable.
But does the old format have a chance at success in this new era of true online racing? Is it as much fun now to race on your own, submit a time, and wait for results as it was when it was the only option? I've contemplated getting back into the series organization game quite a lot, and actually have started putting together ideas (7 different series at present), but this nagging question keeps coming back to haunt me. I see with the WRS that the "old" way of Timing & Scoring can still be done, and done well, but WRS has always been a little different than OLR. I would personally create racing series' that can be competed by the largest amount of people, and that would require doing it the "old" way. I would like to compete in the new SuperGT series, but time constraints force me not to unfortunately. And it's a great loss to me personally, as it was the first series I ran on GTP back when eatsviper4lunch was hosting it.
So I ask the community's opinion on this issue. I'm particularly interested in those that have been here a long time, through the "old" days of GT3 and GT4 racing. Can a racing series, one dedicated to longer events, survive with it's competitors not competing against each other, but instead against a clock and the AI? Or is that type of competition relegated to hot-laps and the WRS?
These racing series on GT4 were run "offline" as it were, with people taking the time to organize spreadsheets of data into coherent, readable tables used by the competitors and community in a ranking system. Players would sign up for an event, use the horsepower and weight settings given to them by the race steward or event organizer (normally one and the same), and race in Arcade mode against AI in hopes of getting the fastest clocked time in the event. They would then send their times and relevant data via PM to the event organizer, who would collect this data and send it back out as race results.
This way gave a modicum of being able to race against other competitors, though not truly a "live" feeling of racing. Waiting with baited breath for the results to be posted on Sunday evenings (or for us more time-crunched race organizers, Monday) was the most excitement that seemed to stem from this form of event. Downsides were that you had to trust your fellow competitor to use the prescribed settings, do the number of laps, and otherwise not cheat. It did instill a bit of camaraderie in the competitors I believe, and added a large measure of community.
Now I've been playing GT5 for a few weeks, and have tried the online lobbies and even participated in a longer race or two. I've followed the GT5 Online Racing subforum closely, watching how Online Racing in GT has evolved from what I knew from "back in the day". Now, races spring up like weeds it seems, some good ideas some not so much. Some very well thought out, some not so much. All hinge on getting a bunch of random people together at an arbitrary time and have a go.
SuperGT Season 9 is now set to begin soon, and I see this issue coming to a head in this championship. Kudos to all those who have kept GTMSA alive and well, by the way; you've shown the dedication in time and effort that I could not, and couldn't be prouder of what you have become. But reading through the series description, it occurred to me that trying to meld the old and new is going to be a bit difficult. Time zones and constrictions make it next to impossible for all those who wish to be able to compete in the series.
There were years of SuperGT (and GTPLMS) that we had competitors from Australia & New Zealand, China, Russia, Europe, South and North America all competing in the same championship, and with the old format it was possible because you could complete the race in your own time. I'm not sure this can ever really be achieved anymore with the advent of true online racing. Just look at the GT5 OLR subforum. There's two or three different SuperGT championships going on based on region. A "true" champion is either someone willing to be up racing at 3am local time, someone who doesn't have to balance family, work, and racing, or simply unattainable.
But does the old format have a chance at success in this new era of true online racing? Is it as much fun now to race on your own, submit a time, and wait for results as it was when it was the only option? I've contemplated getting back into the series organization game quite a lot, and actually have started putting together ideas (7 different series at present), but this nagging question keeps coming back to haunt me. I see with the WRS that the "old" way of Timing & Scoring can still be done, and done well, but WRS has always been a little different than OLR. I would personally create racing series' that can be competed by the largest amount of people, and that would require doing it the "old" way. I would like to compete in the new SuperGT series, but time constraints force me not to unfortunately. And it's a great loss to me personally, as it was the first series I ran on GTP back when eatsviper4lunch was hosting it.
So I ask the community's opinion on this issue. I'm particularly interested in those that have been here a long time, through the "old" days of GT3 and GT4 racing. Can a racing series, one dedicated to longer events, survive with it's competitors not competing against each other, but instead against a clock and the AI? Or is that type of competition relegated to hot-laps and the WRS?
