rec.autos.simulators

ANSWER:  None.

Followup QUESTION:  What is is about driving a pace lap that is so
damned hard? I mean, geez-louise what the hell is so hard about it?!!!
 I had people hit me from behind, people stop in front of me, people
just sit there as the rest of the field began the pace lap, and
everything in between.

I can (almost) accept this happening in a 0-10 rated race with a bunch
of rookies and yahoos, but I was in several 4-10's and it happened
there too.  Typically 2/3 to 1/2 of a 35+ car field is out of
contention before turn one.  That's just SAD.  I know a lot of it is
the accordion thing, so much of the blame could probably be laid on
just a few people.  Maybe it is a lag/warp thing, too.

A REQUEST to those few people (who I doubt have ever even heard of
RAS):  Please learn to drive a pace lap before attempting to race
online.  It's not hard.  If you can manage to dress and feed yourself,
you can probably do this simple thing to.

Thanks for hearing me vent,
Gerald Moore

Part of the problem can be attributed to the numbnuts who think it's fun to
do a power burnout at the start of the pace lap, effectively blinding
everyone behind them for 5 seconds.

TM

100% in agreement.

| Part of the problem can be attributed to the numbnuts who think it's fun
| to
| do a power burnout at the start of the pace lap, effectively blinding
| everyone behind them for 5 seconds.
| TM

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Don Burnette

No freakin' kidding.  Why the hell do they do that?  Also, people that think
the race is a standing start, people that draft up 2 inches behind you for
the entire pace lap, boneheads that bump the pace car for fun and spin out,
people who forget where the gas is/haven't turned their wheel on/other
stupidity, who then race to catch up, forget that the car doesn't stop on a
dime and ram the guy in front.

I stay either on the apron or the wall as far away from everybody else as
possible.

    -Phasor

Who do you think Sierra, notice I didn't say Papyrus, sees as their target
market for increased sales of a Nascar sim?  Also notice how their servers
are free...not like the old Hawaii days (expensive long distance phone
bill), or TEN (a pay to play service).

Sierra wants to generate sales.  They're not going to do that if they make
if difficult for the RaCeRxs of the world to crash and burn each other.

Think about it...we're simmers here.  We expect a darn near perfect sim
racing experience for our $50.00, and we don't care if it takes the vendor
15 free patches to get it there.  What does RaCeRx expect?  Certainly not
patches...he could care less.

BTW, I'm over 50 years old and have been playing/driving Papyrus software
from day one.  My solution to the online pickup race fiasco?  Join a
league.  I'm in three of them now and could join others if I had the
time.  These leagues consist of quality individuals trying to do the right
thing and be competitive at the same time.   There's nothing to compare to
running against people that you consider friends, and have gotten familiar
with their driving techniques.

OK, off the soap box....Happy Simming everyone :-)

Bob G

| Its what ya get for free racing. If it were pay to race it would be
| different

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I also do not like the instant swearing and volatility of the N4 pick up
racers in general. Online incidents obviously happen but when the
respect,courtesy, and safe driving occur that happen a whole lot less.

Happy racing guys (and gals)...

Dave Ciemny
Mookytc

Another thing I have noticed is that the pole-sitter (who has the
right, to a limited degree) will often slow drastically just before
the race goes green.  Slowing slightly is ok, to take away the room
someone might use to get a run on you, but I have seen dudes slowing
down by 10-15 miles per hour, drastically increasing the odds of
pile-ups behind them.  I guess if your goal is to cut down the number
of likely competitors, this is sound strategy.

It was explained *somewhere* that you could legally pass a car on a
pace/yellow if they were significantly off the pace.  Anyone seen a
definition of what is "significant"?  I'd love to be able just to pull
out and pass the jokers doing this.

Gerald

If I am online with a buddy of mine, we can sometimes make this
strategy work by sticking together and drafing nose-to-tail.  It still
depends on a bit of luck to get through the mess without losing too
much track position.

Gerald Moore

Yes, I agree.  I thought perhaps the ranking system would allow us to
shake out the undesirables, but, at least for rank 4 superspeedway
races, this doesn't much seem to be the case.

I *have* had some good races, don't get me wrong.  Part of the reason
I get so frustrated is that I have seen how good it CAN be, if only
people would just be a little patient, and try a little bit harder.

I would pursue joining a league if I had more time to play.  I travel
a lot, and never know when I might get some time to race.  I've gotten
pretty damn good at a few of the tracks, but most of them I have
hardly even driven.  I don't think that makes me good league material,
so I dont pursue it.

Gerald