Prefered Race Length

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Downhill Dino

Downhill Dino

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DownhillDinosaur
I'm really curious what you GTpers think of race lengths. The other day I put a server up for GT500 cars on Indianapolis Road Course with 15 laps. Everyone left after a few laps. It would only take about 20-25 minutes. If you can stick around in a free run server for hours why can't people race for 30 minutes? Kinda made me angry and confused but that's not the point.

So what length can you guys bare?
 
i like longer races tbh, like back in GT5P they ha the F1 only races that where about half hour. i did these most days and didnt really touch the over servers at all
 
I probably prefer 5-10, but could handle a 15 lap race. 5-10 laps is usually enough to figure out who's going to win the race...usually, and that seems to be what online racing is about for most people. Anything longer and it's not really about winning anymore, more about the journey, and your target audience for that kind of driving will be quite a bit smaller I would think.
 
I prefer races that aren't too long, yet, not too short. Like 4 laps round Sarthe with 180-210BHP cars.
 
You're never going to get people to stay that long in public lobbies.

In private lobbies when I host organized events and people know about it in advance, my races generally go about 90 minutes~2 hours.
 
I just thought longer races make more sense, and that's how it is in real life. Just being all crammed together through 3-5 laps is boring. I guess people take it as an endurance race. Then again here's another story; I had a Tsukuba racing server and set it to 3 laps, people on an average rate join. I then set it to 20, people start clearing out. We were using 500 HP cars.
 
Look at how long the average deathmatch in call of duty lasts. If you race is longer than that, people will probably leave. I doubt the average GT5 player watches or follows much actual racing, or cares how long a real race is.

I don't mean that to be derogatory, but I expect it is the case. Even those who do may not always have 20-30 minutes for an online race. I know that if I'm looking for an online race it will be either planned ahead of time, and long, or a random few laps before I do something else.
 
And people aren't willing to race that long? (Of course depends on track)

How pathetic online drivers are. To many free runs too. But that's not the topic! Back to topic...

How can I find good racing servers anyways? They usually involve X1s or Lamborghinis and other such super cars with X1s and such mixed in them. Where are these orginized racing?
 
EliteDreamer
And people aren't willing to race that long? (Of course depends on track)

How pathetic online drivers are. To many free runs too. But that's not the topic! Back to topic...

How can I find good racing servers anyways? They usually involve X1s or Lamborghinis and other such super cars with X1s and such mixed in them. Where are these orginized racing?
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I usually always host my own rooms, where I set the conditions to "normal" cars. They actually usually get around 8 people or so. Enough to host a fun race. You could do the same.
 
EliteDreamer
And people aren't willing to race that long? (Of course depends on track)

How pathetic online drivers are. To many free runs too. But that's not the topic! Back to topic...

How can I find good racing servers anyways? They usually involve X1s or Lamborghinis and other such super cars with X1s and such mixed in them. Where are these orginized racing?
Click to expand...

I usually have some success with shuffle racing, but that's the only kind of races people online will spend time on it seems.
 
me and a buddy from gtp did ten laps on Nürburgring the other day, 1hr 14mins. best fun ever! I dont like lobbys with a low number of laps, To have a good race, 7-10 minutes long at the least is good in my opinion. I dont want to do 1 lap of autumn ring mini in a 4.2 billion hp rocket or get '$$$$$$$ in 16min' so unfortunatly online has taken a turn for the worst recently in terms of finding a lobby.
 
Well, a race would require complete concentration from start to finish, therefore you can't go away from your PS3 and then come back.
In free run, you can drive, stop for a moment, go away from your PS3, come back and continue driving.
 
Depends on who I'm with and how I feel, to be honest. If I'm with friends, I can do races for an hour as long as it's close.
 
aint Cod up to 20 min? I used to play hardcore mode where u could die or kill with two three shots and if a team didnt reach the score limit within time the game would end in 20min. dont recal if you could adjust the lenght tho.

But when it comes to GT5 I dont bother racing shorter races than 3-5 min. Lately Ive been hosting races with about 5-10 laps round suzuka but I love a full grid with good/clean drivers racing for 20-30 min as well. And I dont use the penalty system becouse I think it sucks but instead Im using weak damage or heavy for the longer races. Aint many people liking the heavy damage tho :s kinda bothers me lol

EDIT: Also love the longer races with friends/planned races that could last for 1-2 hours or maybe more longest ive raced online so far is 90min
 
Depends on the track and my mood, but I enjoy 10-15 lap (on average lenght tracks) races the most, personally.
 
90% of people you meet in random races think because they win in A-spec, they must have a goal of 1st online too. As soon as they wipe out at Daytona and know they will not catch up to the front of the pack, they usually leave. These people don't think catching up and beating the last two or three places is any fun.

Generally the more laps you have the better quality of people will remain. This is especially true with NASCAR racing: fewer laps means more bad drivers and wreckers, while more laps means more dedicated.

Fewer laps generally results in more children, while more laps results in more adults: adults generally are less hyper and more patient.

When I set up a room I tend to set lower laps to start off: 5-6 at Daytona or 2 at Laguna Seca. Then I slowly increase the number of laps as the rooms fills up: 10, 15, 30 at Daytona or 4, 6, 8 at Laguna Seca. More people are willing to wait for the next race if they know it will end soon.
 
Driving long races of 45 minutes or more is a very different experience. You simply can't drive 'qualifying' laps like people tend to do in 5~10 minute races. If you do, you'll wear your tires out after just a few laps. You have to learn to manage your tires, tone down the aggression, plan fuel a strategy. It becomes more like 'real' racing and it's something I find very enjoyable.
 
Depends on the setting.
If the room is marked "Race for Fun", I expect 5 to 10 minute races.
If the room is marked "Race for Real", I expect 15 to 60 minute races.
That's why they have those settings in the first place, to distinguish the race types the room hosts.
 
BKViper
Depends on the setting.
If the room is marked "Race for Fun", I expect 5 to 10 minute races.
If the room is marked "Race for Real", I expect 15 to 60 minute races.
That's why they have those settings in the first place, to distinguish the race types the room hosts.
Click to expand...

I don't think you can really say that the race length is the deciding factor in which label to apply to your room. I think you'll find it's something a little more subtle. Do you take your online racing seriously and believe you have a lot of skill? Then label it "Race for Real". Do you think of races online as an opportunity to have some fun, or want to have close racing with people of varying skill levels? Then label it "Race for Fun". I think "Race for Fun" rooms will be more likely to use driving aids and boost, but I have had plenty of longer races in "Race for Fun" rooms.
 
I didn't say it was the only deciding factor in the room naming.
Its just what I have seen most often, and use myself when hosting.
Of course there are other distances, and some folks do run short "real" or long "fun' races.
But for the most part, I have found, and I host, that when I am doing "fun" races, they are short so more people can jump in and out, and when I race "for real" we do longer lengths to get a more realistic experience.
 
Well I really created this topic to know what people think and suggestions. I like to race online to challenge myself but it can be very difficult. Racing with people who just came off Call of Duty annoy me so much with their cursing at me for their early braking or their screw up. Oh well, I try to create servers with names that unattract these people and others and get better drivers but then no one joins.

What are the most popular racing tracks?

Really what would help online racing is a longer title. Or a Race Regulations that you can type out.
 
Longer races mean more waiting for the current race to end when you first join the room.

Longer races mean that the performance/skill advantages of certain cars/players have more time to take effect, leading to one player miles ahead of 2nd place, who's miles ahead of 3rd place, etc. Shorter races have a higher probability of being exciting.

Longer races mean more chances for race-ruining accidents. Once one of these occurs, you can either scrap it out for last place, drive by yourself for the remainder of the race, or quit and wait for the race to end. Neither of those are are fun as battling it out in the lead pack. In shorter races, if you wreck, you know your next opportunity is only minutes away.

All of this "longer races are for mature adults" thing is a load of nonsense. I race 4 hour A-Spec races, I watch 4 hour NASCAR races; I'm plenty patient. But when I'm racing online, I want 5-10 minute shootouts. If I wanted a 90 minute hotlap session, I'd just use Practice mode.
 

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