remarks about NASCAR racing, oval racing and cries of "boredom" running the
sims we have available to us depicting those motorsports. The sides are not
well defined, but can generally be divided on the broad basis of geography -
between the Europeans and the Americans. Sadly, the chide remarks don't
help the discussion, naturally.
Here's my "two cents:"
1. Comparing road racing and oval racing is like comparing American
football to soccer. They are similar sports, played on similar types of
fields, both use a single ball (of different shape) and the goal is to score
points by moving the ball up the field to a "goal." Past that, they are
night and day to each other, and attempts to apply adjectives to them like
"boring," "lacking skills," etc., is mostly a complete waste of time and
indicative of the writer's complete lack of understanding about them (or
lack of understanding about one of them).
2. The same would be true of motorsports (IMHO). If you follow and
appreciate (meaning = fully understand) road racing, but not oval racing -
then how is it you can make comparisons between the two motorsports that
create these chide comments? I would like to add, the reverse applies if
you follow and appreciate oval racing, but not road racing.
[I would like to add: Nothing about NASCAR racing is "redneck" today.
Certainly, not any more than F1 racing is only about the European "elite
socialites" - both are false terms based on the heritage of the two sports,
and do not apply to them today. - IMHO].
3. I'm not going into a long definition/description of the two forms of
motor racing - but perhaps there is a good website that does this and it
will be useful to have it posted here? I hope somebody can do that. I
would dare to say only this: Road racing is much more about the race car
driver, and the outcome of road races has more to do with the driving skills
during the race, less to do with the pit crew, race strategy, pitting
strategy and so forth. Oval racing is the opposite, it is more like a chess
game and the outcome of oval races is less dependent on actually race
driving skills than pit crew and strategy. Notice, I didn't say any of the
skills to win a race of both types....were completely missing in either form
of the motorsport. Maybe it would be safe to say something like: In road
racing, the outcome is based something like 60% on the driving skills and
40% on strategy, crew and team.....and in oval racing, the outcome is
something like 40% driving skills and 60% strategy, crew and team. I don't
know that this is a completely fair statement, but it seems like it is to
me.
4. Whether one personally likes one form of the motorsport over the other,
is mostly just that, personal taste. However, I have found that when
someone gains deeper knowledge and understanding of the "other form" they
don't care for as much.....that tends to change their thoughts about it.
Isn't that just human nature?
5. Statements about one sim or another being "boring" reflect, in my
opinion, only the "type" of sim driver the person is. There are many
different levels of sim drivers in this community. And, I think it would be
reasonable to form some kind of a general statement about the "categories"
along these lines:
**Arcade/Game Racer**: Likes to drive mostly sims that are easy to
drive. Looks for "instant thrills and gratification" when driving and
doesn't really care about racing skills (strategy, racing lines, avoiding
collisions, etc.). Usually drives from the "F2" view.
**Arcade/Sim Racer**: Still likes sims that are mostly easy to drive.
Pays more attention to racing lines and is likely to be turned on by
hotlapping activities. Still doesn't care much about racing strategy or
racing lines, except where they can improve their "flyer" laps for a good
lap time. Primarily doesn't understand the term "racing line" as opposed to
"fastest line" through a road course or oval track. Tends to drive from the
***pit, but doesn't mind driving from the F2 view if it makes them post a
faster lap time. Brags about their PB's at race tracks.
**Sim Racer**: Doesn't care for sims that are easy to drive (although
still owns a few of them and runs them from time to time for pure fun).
Likes sims that have realistic car physics and are difficult to learn to
drive. Almost always drives from the***pit view (99% of the time). Still
is less interested in racing strategy, enjoys short races and hotlapping as
their primary sim racing activity. Likes racing online more than offline
against the AI for that reason.
**Serious Sim Racer**: Doesn't keep sims that are easy to drive
installed on their computers (but generally tries them all out when they are
released). Looks for realistic car physics and sims where the race car is
difficult to drive fast over long periods of racing sessions. Generally
doesn't "hotlap" and primarily participates in online league racing where
race strategy is more important than fast laps. Looks at a new sim from the
"total simulation" aspect - meaning, how well does the sim "simulate" that
particular form of racing, or series racing in total. Never drives from
anything but the***pit view, probably has never even done a lap in the F2
view.
I'm sure these "categories" can be expanded, the definitions expanded and
maybe even sub-categories within each of the four created (levels). I just
wanted to point out that there are different types of sim drivers in this
community...with different aspirations and expectations of what they like or
want in a new racing sim.....based on what type of sim driver they are. I
would also like to point out that you can migrate from one type to another,
and many of us have done that.
So, with this in mind (and giving lots of flexibility to the definitions and
categories I've written) - doesn't make a lot of sense that an "Arcade/Game
Racer" would think that N-2002 (except for the two road courses) is
"boring." On the other hand, a "Serious Sim Racer" would maybe think
something like Viper Racing or even Midtown Madness was totally boring?
Making comments about "boring this" or "unrealistic that" only serve to
categorize the writer. It does not describe the racing sim in any
meaningful way.
Just my two cents (about $3 worth)....sorry for the length, but it seemed
like an important topic?
Regards,
Tom