rec.autos.simulators

The following is a post from Rocket24B, a racer I complained about in
a previous reply to Eric Busch post on "RACER TO AVOID" regarding
Hawaii.. This fellow has posted an explanation, which is more than
others have done, and if I  was wrong in my accusation, then I am
sorry.  I personally will not name any more racers here in the future
unless it it so blatent, it becomes intolerable and i am absolutley
sure and then i might have 2nd thoughts.

Following is txt of post:

I have received many complaints about my driving skills on Hawaii. I
have
to settle it right now. I am so tired of being called a rookie. I'm
sure
you all are tired of it too. Okay, so I'm not the best driver in the
world. I'm good at some tracks, and are horrible at others. However,
just
because I cause a wreck doesn't mean you all have to ignore and refuse
to
race with me!! I have many friends on Hawaii, and many enemies. It is
very
hard to race with 32 other people and not have a wreck. The problem
is, I
have seen lots of incidents where people INTENTIONALLY take somebody
out
just because of a wreck. Hey, Hawaii is supposed to be FUN!! There is
no
money involved (except the loads for long distance charges), and you
don't
get any awards or anything. If you wreck, don't accuse somebody and
then
wipe them out. Simply leave and spend your LD on another race. For
example, I was running 3rd at Talladega. Then #25 got mad and took the
leaders out, leading me to victory. Please, get along and don't fight!
If
you get mad, silently avoid that racer, (Which in fact, many people
have
done to me). Papyrus worked very hard to get Hawaii out, and all you
can
do is fight over the results? C'MON!!!!!! Why don't we just all get
along?

Kenneth Drupiewski

http://www.racesimcentral.net/
Rocket24B on Hawaii

This is a complicated situation. There are a some people (myself included)
who take racing on Hawaii as seriously as we would if we were out in a real
machine. There are lots more who view it as pure recreation and are just
out to have fun. And there's a third class who are there to wreak havoc.

The skill system was supposed to solve these problems, but it's not working
because the system doesn't sufficiently penalize accidents and is biased
towards races with large fields (Talladega). For example, let's examine two
races:

Race #1, Talladega, 20 drivers equal skill.
Finish 5th, points awarded = 4 * (-3) + 15 * 3 = 33 points

Race #2, Dover, 5 drivers equal skill
Finish 2nd, points awarded = 1* (-3) + 3 * 3 = 6 points

In both cases, only 20% of the field finishes ahead of you, ranking you in
the 80th percentile, however there's a 5x difference in points, rather
dramatic.

Since Talladega always has the largest fields, the racers who race it over
and over again and do reasonably well get their ratings boosted quickly.
Drivers who prefer to race at the other tracks take much longer to increase
their skill ratings.

With regard to accidents, the "incident" penalty is not severe enough. If
the white flag comes out, and I'm behind someone within my skill range (+/-
2 points), I can actually gain points by bumping into them and causing a
spin. I would like to see the incident penalty made more severe, perhaps to
-6, to discourage this type of behavior.

I've made these suggestions to Papyrus, and I hope that others of a similar
mind might also encourage them to address these issues so that the skills
system does a better job of sifting drivers.

The other thing I've been doing is trying to chat with drivers that are
involved in incidents and offer suggestions on how they can be a better
Hawaii "citizen". In some cases, this has been effective. In others, well,
"You can lead a horse to water..."

Dave "davids" Sparks
Sequoia Motorsports

Bill.

Dave "davids" Sparks
Sequoia Motorsports