The XMB friends list is obviously a bit of a hindrance if people are looking to organize, for example, regular online races with always a full grid. Also, normal "private rooms" may work for FPSs where people come in, play a while and then leave again but don't really get consistently involved. They might be good for setting up a quick race for people who want to keep bumper cars out, though.
Anyway, I've been playing around with an idea of having a built-in system in GT5 for racing clubs as opposed to simple clans like in most FPSs. This would, for example, allow a large group of people to organize their own race events, keep cup standings, etc. The events could either be limited only to club members or open to selected other clubs or everyone.
The clubs would have three levels of users; club organizers, race officials and regular drivers. The club organizers would manage the memberships, choose the race officials and generally call the shots on how the club is managed. The chosen race officials would be able to create and organize racing events (just like the public ones), etc. Everyone would be able to participate in events sanctioned by their own club and also be able to form teams for sharing liveries and for online endurance races with multiple drivers per car.
One could liken Polyphony Digital to be the FIA of the GT virtual racing world, creating racing classes and rules, car "homologation", organizing public events for all clubs and managing the multitude of clubs under their umbrella. The clubs would then handle the actual driver memberships and organize their own events based on rules and regulations set by PD.
Some other thoughts; Instead of quitting a race, a driver should be able to choose 'Retire' and stay on the race as an observer. For a few times, I've managed to repeatedly crash and not knowing whether I was the host, parked my car outside the track and waited for the race to end instead of just quitting. Would've been nicer to watch the race instead of a full-screen view of a tyre barrier.
Also, a nationality flag after each driver would be nice in the starting grid roster and race results. Especially after the online chat feature is added.
Ok, that's just a bit of something that's popped up into my mind on these few days that I've been racing online with GT5P. Anyone had similar thoughts? Private rooms have at least been a very sought-after feature pretty much everywhere GT5P is being discussed.
Anyway, I've been playing around with an idea of having a built-in system in GT5 for racing clubs as opposed to simple clans like in most FPSs. This would, for example, allow a large group of people to organize their own race events, keep cup standings, etc. The events could either be limited only to club members or open to selected other clubs or everyone.
The clubs would have three levels of users; club organizers, race officials and regular drivers. The club organizers would manage the memberships, choose the race officials and generally call the shots on how the club is managed. The chosen race officials would be able to create and organize racing events (just like the public ones), etc. Everyone would be able to participate in events sanctioned by their own club and also be able to form teams for sharing liveries and for online endurance races with multiple drivers per car.
One could liken Polyphony Digital to be the FIA of the GT virtual racing world, creating racing classes and rules, car "homologation", organizing public events for all clubs and managing the multitude of clubs under their umbrella. The clubs would then handle the actual driver memberships and organize their own events based on rules and regulations set by PD.
Some other thoughts; Instead of quitting a race, a driver should be able to choose 'Retire' and stay on the race as an observer. For a few times, I've managed to repeatedly crash and not knowing whether I was the host, parked my car outside the track and waited for the race to end instead of just quitting. Would've been nicer to watch the race instead of a full-screen view of a tyre barrier.
Also, a nationality flag after each driver would be nice in the starting grid roster and race results. Especially after the online chat feature is added.
Ok, that's just a bit of something that's popped up into my mind on these few days that I've been racing online with GT5P. Anyone had similar thoughts? Private rooms have at least been a very sought-after feature pretty much everywhere GT5P is being discussed.
