rec.autos.simulators

  Over the last few days I have been in VROC and truly it is becoming
more of an experience with each passing day.  It never ceases to amaze
me that a person can put together a fast couple of laps to qualify
near the front, then as soon as the race starts, that same individual
becomes a complete brain dead body that ends up taking out the entire
first three rows because of stupid mistakes like trying to go one
hundred miles per hour through a turn that cannot tolerate anything
faster than fifty!!!!!!

  Oh well --------------- I suppost that just has to be understood and
at least there is NO MONEY riding on these races.

  BUT -------------------------------

  SOMETHING that is beginning to annoy me, and I am seeing it with
more frequency, is that the host of the race may be running well, but
if he runs into bad luck, or spins and loses a few positions, merely
ends the race altogether for EVERYONE.

  I think this is something that is starting to get out of hand, as I
have seen it happen in four races I have been participating in just
this last week.  It has gotten to the place that I am writing down the
names of the host, and if I see he is starting to open a race I won't
go into the race because of the abrupt halt that can be thrown over
the competition.

   Come on guys ----------- we all have bad luck on occasion, but that
is no reason to knock everyone else out of the race as well, just
because you are upset.

   Just last night, I joined a race just as the practice ended and was
unable to post a qualifying time.  I started from the very back of the
grid.  I fought my way all the way to the front and was actually
leading, until a backmarker spun in front of me and (since we were
racing a PRO catagory race --------- I hit him so hard my monitor
screamed for help  :-)  --------------------- I was suddenly out of
the race ---------------- bad luck ------------- that's racing.  But
that is no reason to ruin it for the guy who does suddenly find
himself in the lead and a possible victory.

   Just a few thoughts ------------- I felt it needed to be said here.

   Doug

That is the exact reason I started hosting myself:)

And this last ime I blew an engine on start and got to watch the whole
damned race. I had fun watching along with the rest of the gang.

This is a prime reason for leagues and passwords....poor sports say the hell
with it and restart or whatever....

I've hosted a few races on VROC and while it doesn't happen often, there've
been about 3-5 times over the past 2 months in which my PC has either locked
up or all the clients get disconnected in the middle of a race because of
network problems.  When this happens, there's usually at least one client
that is warping a lot.

I've never prematurely ended a race I've been hosting just because I wasn't
doing well - this would be akin to throwing everyone out of a party just
because the host isn't having fun.  I think the majority of hosts on VROC
don't do this and I hope it stays that way.

See you on VROC,
Brian

8-(

*Peter*   #:-)

Some hosts hit the button to display the newspaper the second the last
guy crosses the line (assuming it's not them), not giving this poor soul
(often me) the chance to save the replay or check out the stats.

When the top guys finish, they go into a lengthy gab fest discussing the
race, which is very distracting.  Sure you can turn off the in-car chat,
but sometimes it's useful to have it for real emergencies.  Or the host
asks if there are any other drivers still out on the track after he has
finished the race.  Who has time to type a yes or no?

Dave Ewing

I've presonally had the sim freeze up or crash on me druing an online
race - I certainly didn't want it to happen, but it did nonetheless.  
Usually, I reboot (because it seems like a good idea) and re-start the
session.  I suspect that the majority of server dumps are because of this
very problem.  people with under-powered machines probably attempting to
host too many remote drivers, or their sysems aren't properly setup, or
(god forbid) the sim merely crashes randomly on them.

Before flaming online hosts, consider all of the possiblities and wait
for proof before even mentioning it.

--
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John Simmons - Redneck Techno-Biker (Zerex12)
http://www.members.home.net/jms1/index.html

John Simmons - Barbarian Diecast Collector
http://members.home.net/jsimm/diecast_index.html

IGPS Director
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Yes. Rather bad manners.

I do recognise the commitment that once a host has started a race
session one should let it run to its conclusion whethere or not the
host is still in it.

I might add I have hosted a couple of races where after I've hit a
wall or had an incident of some kind my system has hung, or fallen out
of GPL without my input. Its possiable that others have had simular
experiences.

There is the other side as well where as soon as some non-host drivers
get a bit behind they no longer want to continue and drop out. This is
perhaps understandable, especialy for long races, but is also
regreatable. I've hosted some races where everyone but the leader has
dropped out.

Best Regards

Phillip McNelley