rec.autos.simulators

The more I thought about it the more this idea rings true. We tend to think
of incident points as something that are doled out by stewards and we expect
a determination of guilt or responsibility in that awarding. In IRacings
case  the Incident points act more like an abstraction of the real life
consequences of an action. Physics doesn't judge; if you run into another
car (or another car into you) both  the innocent and the guilty suffer
damage and so it goes with IPs. In real life racing you see far less
incident than you see in a typical online race since an accident, regardless
of fault, has expensive consequences. IRacings IPs appear to be an attempt
to introduce some of that cautious fear into the online world.

Obviously the IP system isn't exactly analogous to real life. For one thing
it is introduced gradually whereas physics is always the same. As far as I
can tell the gradual intro is a training scheme to break online racers from
the years of bad habits we have formed  from consequence free
contests.Rookies are affected least
since decent Safety Rating (which is derived from IPs) is relatively easy to
maintain at the rookie level. At D level, where I am at present, the
penalties are stronger. As a rookie I could get away with a 6 IP race
without losing SR. At D a 4 IP race can negatively affect my SR. From forum
posts by the C level players they are under even stricter rules. I'd have to
assume that the A & B levels (when IRacing gets there) will have it even
worse.

SR is also a form of abstract fear. Do badly enough at a high level and you
may not be able to play with the toys you've bought. Want to drive a Radical
in races' Better maintain that B level or high SR C level. Fall back enough
and you lose access to your toys. If you can't drive safe enough to compete
with the big boys then you can suffer a monetary loss too since you have
laid out real cash to buy that Radical and now you can't use it.

Interesting concept. As they say in IRacing it is not for everyone. It will
be interesting to see what sort of virtual racer winds up in the higher
levels. A lot of the fast but only marginally in control boys will find
themselves stuck at lower levels, no doubt frustrated and blaming the system
for their troubles. Frankly the thought of getting away from the stuff-it-in
crowd is all the incentive I need to progress

Dave

I agree. I think the system is something that needs to be there and I pretty
much like it the way it is, despite most of the incidents I get involved in
being created by other cars. This is because I know that I can repair my
rating easily, whilst the win or crash merchants will find themselves going
backwards.

RobP

Andrew McP

If you want to relax, try flower arranging.

Despite being slow (I am a little faster now, so I guess I'm improving
slowly), I'm getting pretty regular top 5 positions. iRacing has taught me
one thing, and that is whilst speed is nice to have, consistency is far more
valuable.

Yet again, in another race yesterday there was a super fast racer that came
up large in my mirrors, so I let him by. Two corners later he came off at
the Barrel at Laguna. Again he started to loom larger in my mirror and
again, he came off.

The chap above was a lot faster than me, but just couldn't put it together
consistently and as a result came in behind me.

RobP

But that chap may end up learning track and car combinations quicker. One
of the advantages of a racing game, is that learning the limits for a track
and car combination is faster than real life, beacue you can exceed the limits,
off track, even crash, but then reset and continue. Although this is something
that should be done in practice instead of a race.

I have a few easily implemented ideas on how to weigh these factors into
a SR points system where aggressive reckless drivers would do much worse
than the cautious and respectful driver...

In a way, iRacing think that the careful driving is a common
responsibility amongst racers, and this needs to be accepted and adapted
by each and every racer. This model has many things for it, but I still
think that a slightly more finely-grained points system would be fairer...

-A-

It actually wouldn't be easy at all, because people would learn the
system and use it to their advantage. Only a human can decide fault.

There's some fine tuning to do, but I think the SR works very well.

The current system is already doing that, it decides that both drivers are
at fault every time. There is no reason that the SR system couldn't assign
fault a portion of the time, even it it's not always fair, since any reasonable
attempt to assign blame by a computer would be more fair than the current one.

-Larry

They have 8 seconds worth of brain matter I simply appear to not have.

That's for RC's.  On Ovals, I can run with the best of them.  Most of the
time.  I'm still a bit rough at flat tracks, always have been.

-Larry

The problem with iRacing (for me) is that while there are 'relaxing'
practice servers for the current week's track, there's never anybody on
them... well, hardly anyone, and never enough slow enough to allow me to
drive in traffic without the SR axe hovering over your head.

Maybe that's a good thing, because you never get that kind of situation
in real life racing. But I'm not a real life racer and never will be. So
I currently find myself wanting access to iRacing's superb simulation
code, but not the overly serious side of the racing and the sometimes
rather elitist community.

Which tells me, basically, that I'm just not an iRacing person, no matter
how much I might want to be. That's a shame, because no other sim offers
the same kind of kick I get from driving the Skip Barber. Their code is
definitely the best, even at this early stage in the game.

Andrew McP

--
Pete Ives
Remove All_stRESS before sending me an email