rec.autos.simulators

A race steward - someone that sits and watches the race without
racing, and that awards a one-lap penalty to anyone that wrecks or
spins on a restart (maybe even a lap for every car that is involved
as well), and that black flags anyone for chatting beyond the auto-
chat keys.  The race steward's word will be final.

I think that might prompt people into driving better, especially on
restarts. We're not racing for points, so something else has to be
done to jerk people back into line.

I don't like the idea because that means someone isn't going to be
able to race.  However, if the restarts don't improve radically, I
will fill in as the race stward for the first few races, and because
I'll be babysitting instead of racing, I can almost guarantee I'll be
in a bad mood.

If you guys don't want me to consider this action any further, the
restarts had better start improving.  I haven't ironed out all the
details, but if I feel the need to implement this, I will.

Becoming a good racer at first sight appears to be very easy - it's by
almost 100% a purely mental effort. All you have to do is, before the race,
focus your mind on 'I must avoid any accident' rather than the 'I want to
pass I want to pass I want to pass' that seems to reverberate through the
heads of many average online racers.

However, making that simple switch seems to be impossible for many. A race
stewart may help them focus on the right issues.

Another good way of educating drivers is to disable yellows. Yellows reward
bad driving, as in addition to helping the very few innocent victims of
accidents (in most accidents, even those who consider themselves victims
could have helped avoid them) keep the consequences in terms of losing time
moderate, they prevent all those who cause accidents from losing all chances
of finishing anywhere but near-to-last.

I know, many are worried about losing 'the strategic component' yellows
introduce. But IMHO it would be a lot more 'strategic' to learn to drive a
race without accidents, to know when to be fast and when not to, to avoid
accidents and other dangers, and to stay clean and fast throughout the race.

Anyway, good luck with that race stewart scheme John!

Achim

Not really, but it's the only thing I can think of.

That's an artificial rule I was talking about. Ain't gonna happen.

I do have a couple of problems though. I cannot get my head around what the
problem is with chat under yellow. Given how many we get lately, this would
mean spending over an hour driving at 50 mph and not even communicating.
This is not fun.

I think Achim is dead right regarding yellows. They only reward poor driving
at the moment and have absolutely no 'strategic effect' as there are so many
of them. I know you said 'it ain't gonna happen' but my mum used to say that
a lot and I learned it was worth keeping going 'cos I'd win occasionally ;)

I've listened to Jan about quitting early and I agree with what he says.
Unless the fun element starts to improve though, I think you'll find the
numbers dropping off again. Just lately I've become tempted to take some
time out myself as the fun and challenge have deteriorated markedly since
the time change. I'll support any idea that puts a few more green laps into
our races and strongly recommend a trial period of no yellows to get us
going.

Fire away ;)

[snip]
[snip]

Bruce.

Bruce.

says...

The whole problem is that we shouldn't be cruising around under
yellow so often.  If people would worry more about their own driving,
we wouldn't have so many cautions.

Again, our goal isn't to have more cautions, it's to have fewer.  
Cautions cannot be completely eliminated, but running 50% of a race
under caution is bullshit.

No yellows is not a viable.

BTW, I wanted to thank you for backing off a couple of times in the
race this weekend.  I was trying to mix my no-prisoners approach to
driving with the knowledge that you were eventually going to pass me.  
I charged into each corner as normal, but planned on staying high if
you stuck your nose under me and kept it there.  Good racing.

:)

Hope to finish a rascar race soon ;-)

Guido

NASCAR doesn't step in and say, "Rusty, you can't race this weekend.  It's your
turn in the barrel as race steward."  No, appointing someone would not be fair,
IMO.  It wouldn't even work on a rotating schedule, because all drivers don't
race every week.  I'm thinking that maybe we have to make changes to make the
races MEAN more.  That way people would have more to lose if they***up...

Eldred
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People still run into each other under yellows.  IMO, that's one of the
*stupidest* things to do.  Yes, I've done it once, and it was stupid THEN.
Chatting is a distraction for some people, and hard to do for others.  While
guys are busy composing their witty comebacks, they're not paying attention to
what their car is doing 100%.  Combine that with most of the field not being
able to maintain a pace speed, and it can(and often does) cause trouble.  I've
been in leagues that had NO chat during the race.  Curiously enough, there were
no incidents under yellow...

Eldred
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I don't like the artificial rules, either.  The single-file rule screws drivers
who might be fast enough to compete, but end up a lap down for some reason.
Single-file restarts practically eliminate the chance to get the lap pack.  One
driver(Ian?) got caught a lap down early last time we ran no yellows.  With 20+
drivers on the lead lap, he was NEVER going to be able to get his lap back.  So
he dropped out.  Can't say that I blame him in that case...

And, the single file restart doesn't solve the problem either.  As long as some
drivers restart better than others, there will be opportunities to make up
spots on the green.  Human nature to get ahead will put us right back where we
started.

Eldred
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Achim

...

We started out with Realistic damage, but were losing too many people to
'random' damage.  People who got hit from behind would lose engines, guys would
lose gears on the pace lap, etc.  So, we went to Moderate in an effort to keep
more people in the race...  I don't think it made a difference in driver
mentality, though.  The first couple of races after I switched, I didn't tell
anybody.<g>

Eldred
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