(soapbox on)
Ladies and gentlemen of rec.autos.simulators:
It is my understanding that some ill-bred and completely stone-headed
people are sending mail to Jed and the gang at The Pits saying
(referring to the Daytona deal), and I quote:
"you guys are pussies"
Now, I realize that the great unwashed majority of you here in
rec.autos.simulators believe that the sim racing world was created
specifically for YOU, and you alone. How else could one explain the
torrential flow of posts like the following:
"Papyrus, you suck.. we want Indy and we'll do anything to get it cuz
we MADE you"
I could go on, but anyone reading this newsgroup can see what I'm
talking about.
For those who don't know already, the sim efforts at The Pits,
IWCCCARS, Spyder's page, Mike Carver's site, even at IVGA, are NOT
big-business hackers. Take away the Web site, these are ordinary
people with ordinary lives. This is not our job -- we do what we do
IN ADDITION to our jobs, our families, and everything else that goes
along with life. Sometimes we only have two or three hours a night
TOTAL to spend with our wives and children, and many nights TO PLEASE
YOU, THE SIM USERS, we forgo that to do site updates, new patches, new
cars, etc. etc. etc. We sacrifice a LOT for what we do, and we don't
get paid for it. IVGA is lucky because they have deals with computer
manufacturers and other sponsors, but still even they are just
run-of-the-mill guys.
On the same vein, I get mad at people who rail at Papyrus for not
working miracles with their simulators. Believe it or not, guys, the
Papyrus people (Rick, Ed, Adam, etc.) are just normal people who put
their pants on one leg at a time. They are not here to cater to your
every whim. Sure, they get paid to write simulators. They do NOT get
paid for the kind of customer support they are lending on this
newsgroup. Be glad they're here -- do you see ANYONE (except maybe
Joker) from any other software company talking to you directly, trying
to help you with their products? I think it takes a lot of courage
and patience for those guys to brave a crowd like this one.
So you might understand a little better why we don't answer e-mails
that are just plain out of the spectrum of believability. I don't
know how many e-mails a day Jed gets asking for track editors, patches
to allow flips on superspeedways, etc. I get the idea that people
think the Daytona patch was actually going to look like Daytona -- all
it would have been was Talladega with some objects moved around and AI
tweaks. I'm sorry to disappoint some of you who think that we can
work miracles (no, I can't change the NASCAR car model to look like a
Superbird.. I just paint cars), but we're doing the best we can.
Normally, we try not to go off the handle about this subject because
we don't want to appear immodest or glory-seeking. But with a baby
due in a month that will probably force me to practically shut down
IWCCCARS, and KNOWING that I'll start getting hundreds of mails
accusing me and the design team of being lazy with updates, I just
couldn't keep quiet about this any longer.
I just want to say "Thank you," on behalf of IWCCCARS and all of the
rest who work to make simulation racing better, to all of you who have
sent supporting and encouraging e-mails to us. It really makes what
we do worth our time. To the rest of you... lighten up. Appreciate
the fact that what we're doing is FREE for you. You're getting what
we offer with no effort on your part.
(off soapbox)
--
IWCCCARS Project Coordinator
Racer's Choice Web Directory Editor
Hawaii Racer ID: IWCCCARS