Racing in other territories. Thoughts

[Crazy Taylor]

I got to thinking about people who race elsewhere. Why do people do so? Lack of competiton, fit into lifestyle better, just like doing more FIA races, friends live elsewhere etc. Is it also healthy to play races on 3 different servers? What are your thoughts on this?

 

[ASH32]

@Alpha Cipher This one's for you.

 

[Crazy Taylor]

@Alpha Cipher This one's for you.

Thats wha made me think. Cipher has a finger in every pie.

 

[inri]

i made an asian account to see if the racing was different .. it isnt really. different cars are popular there (the toyota 86 for example) but the pace is roughly the same as europe. i probably won't keep playing there though theyre mostly very respectful drivers and stuff

 

[coryclifford]

Weird question. And who cares unless they got friends in other regions and sleep at odd times?

 

[TheGeologist]

Thats wha made me think. Cipher has a finger in every pie.

I have created a second account on the Eu server, but I haven't used it yet. I did so because 1. I'd like to see how quickly I can return to Dr A 2. (The main reason) I've heard other regions are cleaner that the US. 3. It'd be nice to be able to experiment with cars, and get more practice at the fia races

 

[Crazy Taylor]

Weird question. And who cares unless they got friends in other regions and sleep at odd times?

Its a plausible question to ask as others like to race elsewhere. I just like to see how they go about it

 

[Alpha Cipher]

@Alpha Cipher This one's for you.

It's gonna be a long one, this. Anyway here we go
Going into the UK region at first I only had two goals: To have an account where I can race with relaxation (DR S is very stressful) and so that I can meet some of you GTP people around in Sport Mode. That didn't last long at all since I noticed my exponential progress there and so I revised my goal to get DR S there and then move to the US to do the same. Right now I have 2 more objectives added into the original goal as well (Snitch Top 1 in every region, as well as win an FIA race in each of them) so yeah, those are my current views on why I made three accounts.

Playing on 3 different regions can be done healthily if you don't mind the FIA races. On the UK the timeslots in my region is 1-4AM in the morning, and in the US 6-10AM.

Now my thoughts on the racing environment per region. Like @inri said, the race environment between Asia and Europe is not all that different, really. Sometimes you'll see different cars on the leaderboards if the meta game allows it, and if it does I notice that the Asia region players tend to go for more agile cars, even if they're not as powerful on the straights (like inri's toyota 86 example). Both regions are very clean (trust me they are). But their race pace at different ranks are a whole lot different. Asian players are relatively skilled for their rankings (DR B Asian is as good as a low A European) until at around DR A. At DR A in Europe the difficulty level shoots up exponentially, because there you start seeing people from the famous racing teams (TX3, TRL, etc.). My personal take on this is that because of the lack of organized racing teams in Asia, they lack the practice done by the professional teams and so get left out at the higher rankings. But for some weird reason that I do not know, if they are pitted against other drivers that aren't in a racing team and is around the same ranking as them, the Asia players would probably come out on top.

The US of A deserves its own paragraph... and all for the wrong reasons (I'm sorry US peeps ). This region is unique to the other two in the sense that you can't compare both their etiquette and skill level to the other regions at all. It's the dirtiest of the three. It's so dirty that in almost every race there's always a rammer, divebomber, you name it. I'm very lucky really that I see all this carnage only on my rear view mirror. Even on the cleaner tracks (Kyoto Yamagiwa) it's common to see 3-5 people with a red SR rating. I don't know the experiences of other people but on the other regions at high rank red SRs are only given to a couple of people there. One day I was unfortunate enough to spin on a race, relegating me to the midfield. It was hell. Starting from the back at Europe and working my way up (at low ranks, even) is 10 times cleaner than a high rank midfield in the US.
Their skill level. Their Top 1-3 on the leaderboards (mostly Snow, anthalicious, and another ORMA) are at par with the other regions, if not the best. But look further down and... 4th usually has a 5/10ths second gap from 3rd, and most probably is 2-3/10ths off the pace from the Top 10 leaderboards elsewhere. Needless to say it's quite easy to get a Top 10 leaderboard there and make it stick. Granted anthalicious advised me to hold my judgement until I'm at DR S at the US, and that the different timezones may play a role, but so far that's my judgement on the US region

Weird question. And who cares unless they got friends in other regions and sleep at odd times?

I care

 

[MikeTheHockeyFan]

I got to thinking about people who race elsewhere. Why do people do so? Lack of competiton, fit into lifestyle better, just like doing more FIA races, friends live elsewhere etc. Is it also healthy to play races on 3 different servers? What are your thoughts on this?

I’d say US and Can drivers get tired of blaming Brazilian drivers for their misfortunes, so maybe sometimes they try playing in the EU region so they can join their UK cousins in blaming Spanish drivers.

Worst case if your region is getting you down, try racing with AUS and NZ so you can blame your low SR on Japanese people.

 

[coryclifford]

@MikeTheHockeyFan that is hilariously perfect.

 

[John Crellin]

The US of A deserves its own paragraph.

'Murica!!! 👍

and all for the wrong reasons (I'm sorry US peeps ).

...'murica???

I haven't raced in the other regions but I'm really think hard about setting up another acct. Is it true that mid field is not as dirty in other regions? That's crazy. Im getting tired of all the vigilantes taking their own special form of Justice out on others. It seems the maturity levels are just ridiculously low lately.

Maybe I just need to get an European acct. Would be fun if anything.

 

[xxxman1]

It's gonna be a long one, this. Anyway here we go
Going into the UK region at first I only had two goals: To have an account where I can race with relaxation (DR S is very stressful) and so that I can meet some of you GTP people around in Sport Mode. That didn't last long at all since I noticed my exponential progress there and so I revised my goal to get DR S there and then move to the US to do the same. Right now I have 2 more objectives added into the original goal as well (Snitch Top 1 in every region, as well as win an FIA race in each of them) so yeah, those are my current views on why I made three accounts.

Playing on 3 different regions can be done healthily if you don't mind the FIA races. On the UK the timeslots in my region is 1-4AM in the morning, and in the US 6-10AM.

Now my thoughts on the racing environment per region. Like @inri said, the race environment between Asia and Europe is not all that different, really. Sometimes you'll see different cars on the leaderboards if the meta game allows it, and if it does I notice that the Asia region players tend to go for more agile cars, even if they're not as powerful on the straights (like inri's toyota 86 example). Both regions are very clean (trust me they are). But their race pace at different ranks are a whole lot different. Asian players are relatively skilled for their rankings (DR B Asian is as good as a low A European) until at around DR A. At DR A in Europe the difficulty level shots up exponentially, because there you start seeing people from the famous racing teams (TX3, TRL, etc.). My personal take on this is that because of the lack of organized racing teams in Asia, they lack the practice done by the professional teams and so get left out at the higher rankings. But for sone weird reason that I do not know, if they are pitted against other drivers that aren't in a racing team and is around the same ranking as them, the Asia players would probably come out on top.

The US of A deserves its own paragraph... and all for the wrong reasons (I'm sorry US peeps ). This region is unique to the other two in the sense that you can't compare both their etiquette and skill level to the other regions at all. It's the dirtiest of the three. It's so dirty that in almost every race there's always a rammer, divebomber, you name it. I'm very lucky really that I see all this carnage only on my rear view mirror. Even on the cleaner tracks (Kyoto Yamagiwa) it's common to see 3-5 people with a red SR rating. I don't know the experiences of other people but on the other regions at high rank red SRs are only given to a couple of people there. One day I was unfortunate enough to spin on a race, relegating me to the midfield. It was hell. Starting from the back at Europe and working my way up (at low ranks, even) is 10 times cleaner than a high rank midfield in the US.
Their skill level. Their Top 1-3 on the leaderboards (mostly Snow, anthalicious, and another ORMA) are at par with the other regions, if not the best. But look further down and... 4th usually has a 5/10ths second gap from 3rd, and most probably is 2-3/10ths off the pace from the Top 10 leaderboards elsewhere. Needless to say it's quite easy to get a Top 10 leaderboard there and make it stick. Granted anthalicious advised me to hold my judgement until I'm at DR S at the US, and that the different timezones may play a role (not sure about the latter, though. I know that the US is 12 hours behind my timezone, and I play until 2AM, which is 2PM on their timeline, so I do think that I get a taste of the racing there at prime time, especially during weekends), but so far that's my judgement on the US region


I care

@Alpha Cipher well said

I share your 1st goal on my EU account. Just like today, played race b in EU to preserve my Asia Dr & Sr points. Dr S race is so tense that one single mistake could ruin the race. Leisure race with 2nd account, still as clean as possible, is an enjoyment and a good way to try something different. Eg I have no way to buy a meta VGT, so raced with a C7. Finished ahead of some VGT made me happy.

@Alpha Cipher why don’t you organise a “Alpha racing team” I am sure many of us on GTP in Asia region would love this idea

 

[DriftMethod]

I've raced in all 3 regions and have a little different experience than @Alpha Cipher, so I'll give my 2 cents. I believe that Cipher and I both have a built in bias (correct me if I'm wrong here) because it seems we both played a lot in our respective home regions before venturing out to the others. I started in the Americas and went through the learning curve and updates for a few months before racing in Asia and Europe. The majority of my races are in the American region. When GTS first came out, Sport Mode racing was horrible, but has steadily improved since.

I absolutely agree with Cipher about the leaderboards. Although the top handful in America would be competitive anywhere, the times generally fall off and don't compare to Asia and Europe.

There's posts on the forums that there could be some issues between certain Countries, so it might also depend on which Country you choose for each region. I haven't noticed it myself, but just thought I would throw that out there as another variable.

I usually play later at night, America Pacific Time, which is early morning in Europe and afternoon in Asia. Times probably do make a difference in matching. I seem to get closer matching in Asia and Europe.

I've had clean races and dirty races everywhere, so I wouldn't say any one is truly better than the others. My most frustrating races have been in Europe with DR A drivers and it feels like Europe has the most aggressive drivers, but not intentionally dirty. I've had a different experience than Cipher in America and don't think the racing is that dirty. Asia, I've had a pretty good experience but still run into some of the dirtiest individual drivers anywhere. If forced to rank cleanest to dirtiest in order, I would say Asia, America, then Europe. But I don't have a large enough number of races outside the Americas to feel confident saying that.

 

[Sven Jurgens]

The US of A deserves its own paragraph... and all for the wrong reasons (I'm sorry US peeps ). This region is unique to the other two in the sense that you can't compare both their etiquette and skill level to the other regions at all. It's the dirtiest of the three. It's so dirty that in almost every race there's always a rammer, divebomber, you name it. I'm very lucky really that I see all this carnage only on my rear view mirror. Even on the cleaner tracks (Kyoto Yamagiwa) it's common to see 3-5 people with a red SR rating. I don't know the experiences of other people but on the other regions at high rank red SRs are only given to a couple of people there. One day I was unfortunate enough to spin on a race, relegating me to the midfield. It was hell. Starting from the back at Europe and working my way up (at low ranks, even) is 10 times cleaner than a high rank midfield in the US.
Their skill level. Their Top 1-3 on the leaderboards (mostly Snow, anthalicious, and another ORMA) are at par with the other regions, if not the best. But look further down and... 4th usually has a 5/10ths second gap from 3rd, and most probably is 2-3/10ths off the pace from the Top 10 leaderboards elsewhere. Needless to say it's quite easy to get a Top 10 leaderboard there and make it stick. Granted anthalicious advised me to hold my judgement until I'm at DR S at the US, and that the different timezones may play a role (not sure about the latter, though. I know that the US is 12 hours behind my timezone, and I play until 2AM, which is 2PM on their timeline, so I do think that I get a taste of the racing there at prime time, especially during weekends), but so far that's my judgement on the US region

I care

In defense of my region, it depends a lot on what time you play. The NA region doesn't have as many players as the EU so matchmaking is usually starved of players to make good matches. Prime time really doesn't start until 7pm EST / 4pm PT. I sometimes do a few races during lunch around 1 pm EST / 10 AM PT and it's usually bad for matchmaking and also quite dirty at times. It's mostly kids playing around that time, especially in the weekends.

The quality of racing usually improves in the evening, for me starting around 9pm EST (6pm PT) and keeps improving until the races change at 3am EST / 12AM PT. Weekends are always worse until later at night.

The grass seems always greener on the other side, yet I doubt I'll find quality racing when I make a European account. Who is playing at 5AM ? Perhaps during lunch it might be better to race in Europe as that's when it's prime time there, 5 hours ahead of me. Although that's also when most kids are playing in Europe. What time is racing best in Europe?

 

[OutlawQuadrnt]

The US of A deserves its own paragraph... and all for the wrong reasons (I'm sorry US peeps ). This region is unique to the other two in the sense that you can't compare both their etiquette and skill level to the other regions at all. It's the dirtiest of the three. It's so dirty that in almost every race there's always a rammer, divebomber, you name it. I'm very lucky really that I see all this carnage only on my rear view mirror. Even on the cleaner tracks (Kyoto Yamagiwa) it's common to see 3-5 people with a red SR rating. I don't know the experiences of other people but on the other regions at high rank red SRs are only given to a couple of people there. One day I was unfortunate enough to spin on a race, relegating me to the midfield. It was hell. Starting from the back at Europe and working my way up (at low ranks, even) is 10 times cleaner than a high rank midfield in the US.
Their skill level. Their Top 1-3 on the leaderboards (mostly Snow, anthalicious, and another ORMA) are at par with the other regions, if not the best. But look further down and... 4th usually has a 5/10ths second gap from 3rd, and most probably is 2-3/10ths off the pace from the Top 10 leaderboards elsewhere. Needless to say it's quite easy to get a Top 10 leaderboard there and make it stick. Granted anthalicious advised me to hold my judgement until I'm at DR S at the US, and that the different timezones may play a role (not sure about the latter, though. I know that the US is 12 hours behind my timezone, and I play until 2AM, which is 2PM on their timeline, so I do think that I get a taste of the racing there at prime time, especially during weekends), but so far that's my judgement on the US region

From someone who struggles to be faster than an American S-class midfielder, that's a fair enough assessment. At my best (unless they fix the gas pedal), I can qualify close enough to the front that two clean laps and I can start pulling away from the inevitable jumble that breaks out behind me. The most tense part is whether I get booted from behind because I'm more of a slow-in fast-out type of driver and I always have those that love jamming their noses in every single little gap right behind me.

That said, it can come down to the luck of the draw. At least back in GT6 when playing with drivers all over the world, there were some correlation between cleanliness and country of origin but there were always exceptions to that.

 

[Alpha Cipher]

'Murica!!! 👍



...'murica???

I haven't raced in the other regions but I'm really think hard about setting up another acct. Is it true that mid field is not as dirty in other regions? That's crazy. Im getting tired of all the vigilantes taking their own special form of Justice out on others. It seems the maturity levels are just ridiculously low lately.

Maybe I just need to get an European acct. Would be fun if anything.

For me, yes the midfield on other regions is very clean. Usually the midfield would be a big train that would disperse when a corner would come up then line up again after the corner
Not gonna lie it's sort of a common occurence for someone in the midfield to spin out or get punted in the other regions, but if I look at the replay it's mainly because someone else messed up and probably wasn't intentional

@Alpha Cipher well said

I share your 1st goal on my EU account. Just like today, played race b in EU to preserve my Asia Dr & Sr points. Dr S race is so tense that one single mistake could ruin the race. Leisure race with 2nd account, still as clean as possible, is an enjoyment and a good way to try something different. Eg I have no way to buy a meta VGT, so raced with a C7. Finished ahead of some VGT made me happy.

@Alpha Cipher why don’t you organise a “Alpha racing team” I am sure many of us on GTP in Asia region would love this idea

Thanks and yeah being able to race Sport mode without much care for your ratings is really satisfying! I'm not sure about a racing team though, it might be a bit much for me to handle I don't mind joining one in Asia though
Edit: Hmm, well I did consider trying to make one once, but I didn't really follow through on that since my management skills suck and I don't perform well as a team leader or something I wanted to make one since I'm reading this fanfic by @RCKakashi14 on Gran Turismo and I like to recreate the racing team he's written up (Dream Alliance) so yeah

I've raced in all 3 regions and have a little different experience than @Alpha Cipher, so I'll give my 2 cents. I believe that Cipher and I both have a built in bias (correct me if I'm wrong here) because it seems we both played a lot in our respective home regions before venturing out to the others. I started in the Americas and went through the learning curve and updates for a few months before racing in Asia and Europe. The majority of my races are in the American region. When GTS first came out, Sport Mode racing was horrible, but has steadily improved since.

I absolutely agree with Cipher about the leaderboards. Although the top handful in America would be competitive anywhere, the times generally fall off and don't compare to Asia and Europe.

There's posts on the forums that there could be some issues between certain Countries, so it might also depend on which Country you choose for each region. I haven't noticed it myself, but just thought I would throw that out there as another variable.

I usually play later at night, America Pacific Time, which is early morning in Europe and afternoon in Asia. Times probably do make a difference in matching. I seem to get closer matching in Asia and Europe.

I've had clean races and dirty races everywhere, so I wouldn't say any one is truly better than the others. My most frustrating races have been in Europe with DR A drivers and it feels like Europe has the most aggressive drivers, but not intentionally dirty. I've had a different experience than Cipher in America and don't think the racing is that dirty. Asia, I've had a pretty good experience but still run into the some of the dirtiest individual drivers anywhere. If forced to rank cleanest to dirtiest in order, I would say Asia, America, then Europe. But I don't have a large enough number of races outside the Americas to feel confident saying that.

It's good to have another perspective on this topic, since our experiences will always vary

About your certain countries being an issue, I honestly don't experience that, so no I think the stereotypes are false. People who say Japanese players are dirty aren't really wrong, but honestly who else would be dirty when 90% of the lineups are always Japanese?

Your experiences in the Americas though give me hope. Maybe it isn't all that bad as I have experienced, so my judgement on the US is still subject to change (all regions, really, but the US is the most probable)

In defense of my region, it depends a lot on what time you play. The NA region doesn't have as many players as the EU so matchmaking is usually starved of players to make good matches. Prime time really doesn't start until 7pm EST / 4pm PT. I sometimes do a few races during lunch around 1 pm EST / 10 AM PT and it's usually bad for matchmaking and also quite dirty at times. It's mostly kids playing around that time, especially in the weekends.

The quality of racing usually improves in the evening, for me starting around 9pm EST (6pm PT) and keeps improving until the races change at 3am EST / 12AM PT. Weekends are always worse until later at night.

The grass seems always greener on the other side, yet I doubt I'll find quality racing when I make a European account. Who is playing at 5AM ? Perhaps during lunch it might be better to race in Europe as that's when it's prime time there, 5 hours ahead of me. Although that's also when most kids are playing in Europe. What time is racing best in Europe?

Thanks for your assessment! I take back this quote of mine:

(not sure about the latter [differeng experiences because of timezone], though. I know that the US is 12 hours behind my timezone, and I play until 2AM, which is 2PM on their timeline, so I do think that I get a taste of the racing there at prime time, especially during weekends)

Based on what you said it seems like I play out of prime time, and even worse just an hour after the dirtiest time of day. I'll give the US some slack, I haven't fully experienced the whole thing yet on the EU region I find that the racing is cleanest at around 12nn-7pm UK time, which is basically when I play. Maybe I'm lucky that this is prime time, and might explain why @DriftMethod's experience is different from mine

 

[Sven Jurgens]

About your certain countries being an issue, I honestly don't experience that, so no I think the stereotypes are false. People who say Japanese players are dirty aren't really wrong, but honestly who else would be dirty when 90% of the lineups are always Japanese?

I have over 2000 races under my belt and I definitely alter my strategy to what flag is driving behind me. Sure there are dirty drivers in every country, yet South Americans are a lot more aggressive in general and I have to change from slower in faster exit to defending my inside as 9 out of 10 times a South American nose shows up on my inside bumper. I'm sure they do their best not to hit anyone, yet the average connection strength is also only 3 bars from South America, aggressive bumper to bumper driving plus lag usually causes unintentional bumps.

I also tend to block dirty drivers after a race in the players met section. That way I can recognize repeat offenders when they're already blocked. And about half the time when I block a US driver, Spanish is listed in the language section as secondary language. Coincidence? For Canada there's a lot of French speakers on my block list even though it's just 20% of the population that speaks French. Different temperament?

Anyway I've also had awesome close very clean races with Brazilians and met scum bag English speaking Canadians in game, but I do always take note of what nationality is driving behind me, just as much as what their connection strength is. It works better than relying on the SR rating :/

 

[Alpha Cipher]

I have over 2000 races under my belt and I definitely alter my strategy to what flag is driving behind me. Sure there are dirty drivers in every country, yet South Americans are a lot more aggressive in general and I have to change from slower in faster exit to defending my inside as 9 out of 10 times a South American nose shows up on my inside bumper. I'm sure they do their best not to hit anyone, yet the average connection strength is also only 3 bars from South America, aggressive bumper to bumper driving plus lag usually causes unintentional bumps.

I also tend to block dirty drivers after a race in the players met section. That way I can recognize repeat offenders when they're already blocked. And about half the time when I block a US driver, Spanish is listed in the language section as secondary language. Coincidence? For Canada there's a lot of French speakers on my block list even though it's just 20% of the population that speaks French. Different temperament?

Anyway I've also had awesome close very clean races with Brazilians and met scum bag English speaking Canadians in game, but I do always take note of what nationality is driving behind me, just as much as what their connection strength is. It works better than relying on the SR rating :/

Different experiences I guess? I've yet to see a pattern in muppets and nationalities for me. Or maybe I don't pay much attention to the flags

 

[1MSC]

How do you change region?

 

[Alpha Cipher]

How do you change region?

Create a new account and put in a different country

 

[1MSC]

Create a new account and put in a different country

That easy 💡 Thanks I will try that.

 

[Crazy Taylor]

How do you change region?

Get a new psn id and change it to either Asia, Europe, or American region id. May need additional ps plus.

 

[Alpha Cipher]

Get a new psn id and change it to either Asia, Europe, or American region id. May need additional ps plus.

nah you don't need it. As long as the accounts are on the same PS4 they're all leeching off off one PS Plus subscription

 

[Crazy Taylor]

nah you don't need it. As long as the accounts are on the same PS4 they're all leeching off off one PS Plus subscription

My american one did (seexybuttocks, won't let you use sexy in id) because my primary is my brothers ps4.

 

[ROCKET JOE]

Get a new psn id and change it to either Asia, Europe, or American region id. May need additional ps plus.

Is it necessary to create a new account or is possible to use an existing one and just change the location ?

 

[ceres2000]

Is it necessary to create a new account or is possible to use an existing one and just change the location ?

You need a new Id since psn doesn't allow region changes for existing accounts.

 

[xxxman1]

My american one did (seexybuttocks, won't let you use sexy in id) because my primary is my brothers ps4.

I want to use xxxman1 as my second account id. Won’t allow xxx as well. So gt_manman1 in instead.

 

[HellzFire]

Im not against it to a limit.

If your connection with the server is bad because of the distance and you might damage the experience of others playing outside of your region then it should not be done.

 

[xxxman1]

Im not against it to a limit.

If your connection with the server is bad because of the distance and you might damage the experience of others playing outside of your region then it should not be done.

So far got 3-4 bars connection speed to EU.

 

[ASH32]

Im not against it to a limit.

If your connection with the server is bad because of the distance and you might damage the experience of others playing outside of your region then it should not be done.

True but when Alpha Cipher was in a race with me he lagged less (not at all) than others in the race, when he had a orange connection and they had full bars so it's a bit random anyway.

I suggest to try it if you want too, if you are annoying the other racers with your lag you can bet they'll let you know about it.