a few years late... but I finally tried VROC

Ran my first couple of online GPL races today. I'd been running offline for the past few months, and really loving the tight racing with the AI. Even started myself a GPLRank account and worked my handicap down to -14. Having seen a little glimpse of the world of GPL pickup races, I can see now why there are so many GPL leagues. I suppose that on the rare occasion when you hook up with some like-minded and similarly skilled drivers, pickup races could be great fun... but it seemed I couldn't find such races. It was a mixture of guys running low 1.27's on Monza (after the start, I'd pretty much never see them again) and guys who seemed to be drunk or otherwise undergoing some sort of psychotic episode (I saw them a lot...usually they were coming straight at me, the wrong way down the front straight). So now I'm wondering.... without joining a league that involves heavy time commitments...is there a particular time or place where I might go to seek out races where 'average' GPL drivers are racing online with an emphasis on driving cleanly and having fun? Thanks, Itazura (by the way, I'm in Japan... so Japan-friendly time zones would be a big plus)

On Fri, 29 Mar 2002 09:46:00 +0900, "ss" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted text (9 lines)

>Having seen a little glimpse of the world of GPL pickup races, I can see now >why there are so many GPL leagues. I suppose that on the rare occasion when >you hook up with some like-minded and similarly skilled drivers, pickup >races could be great fun... but it seemed I couldn't find such races. It >was a mixture of guys running low 1.27's on Monza (after the start, I'd >pretty much never see them again) and guys who seemed to be drunk or >otherwise undergoing some sort of psychotic episode (I saw them a >lot...usually they were coming straight at me, the wrong way down the front >straight).

First of all, avoid Monza.. it's a BAD place for pickup races :) Qualify towards the front of the field. Most of the times the accidents happen in the middle or end of the pack. And I think you had very bad luck with your first VROC experience.. in three years of daily VROC I encountered someone driving the wrong way maybe two or three times.. But league races are indeed much better than pickup races, so go here for lots-a-links to GPL leagues: http://www.racesimcentral.com/links/ultimate.shtml Andre

Andre Warringa wrote: > And I think you had very bad luck with your first VROC experience.. in > three years of daily VROC I encountered someone driving the wrong way > maybe two or three times.. I agree, I've only seen it twice too. Was it bad luck or an over exaggeration? Gerry

On Fri, 29 Mar 2002 10:20:25 +0000, Gerry Aitken <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted text (13 lines)

> > >Andre Warringa wrote: > > >> And I think you had very bad luck with your first VROC experience.. in >> three years of daily VROC I encountered someone driving the wrong way >> maybe two or three times.. > >I agree, I've only seen it twice too. Was it bad luck or an over >exaggeration? > >Gerry

Or.. was HE driving the wrong way? :) Andre

"ss" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:NOOo8.24$[email hidden]... > Ran my first couple of online GPL races today. I'd been running offlinefor > the past few months, and really loving the tight racing with the AI. Even > started myself a GPLRank account and worked my handicap down to -14. <snip> "few months".... "-14" !!!

Now why would someone do that ? To much X-files watching<G> -John "Gerry Aitken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted text (13 lines)

> > > Andre Warringa wrote: > > > > And I think you had very bad luck with your first VROC experience.. in > > three years of daily VROC I encountered someone driving the wrong way > > maybe two or three times.. > > I agree, I've only seen it twice too. Was it bad luck or an over > exaggeration? > > Gerry

> > Or.. was HE driving the wrong way? :) > Oops... that's embarrassing. No wonder my setup felt so strange through the Parabolica. ...... But seriously...there was a lot of carnage. (No more than half of which was directly caused by my poor driving.!) I may well have just had some bad luck., though. I'll keep at it and hopefully have some happier encounters. And there's always the trusty and well-implemented AI. Itazura

WIth a rank of -14, you should be one of the guys runing 27's at Monza. And since you already have a neg rank, you already know all the tracks, so a league should be no extra effort besides showing up for the races once a week. There are going to be wrecks on-line because of problems inherent in on-line racing like lag and warp. But you will rarely find someone wrecking you on-purpose let alone driving in the wrong direction. You must have just hit a bad race, and Monza is the Nascar Dayona/Tally equivalent to GPL so its the worst track to race on-line. -- Biz "Don't touch that please, your primitive intellect wouldn't understand alloys and compositions and,......things with molecular structures,....and the....." - Ash ss <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:NOOo8.24$[email hidden]... > Ran my first couple of online GPL races today. I'd been running offline for > the past few months, and really loving the tight racing with the AI. Even > started myself a GPLRank account and worked my handicap down to -14. > > Having seen a little glimpse of the world of GPL pickup races, I can see now > why there are so many GPL leagues. I suppose that on the rare occasion when > you hook up with some like-minded and similarly skilled drivers, pickup > races could be great fun... but it seemed I couldn't find such races. It > was a mixture of guys running low 1.27's on Monza (after the start, I'd > pretty much never see them again) and guys who seemed to be drunk or > otherwise undergoing some sort of psychotic episode (I saw them a > lot...usually they were coming straight at me, the wrong way down the front > straight). > > So now I'm wondering.... without joining a league that involves heavy time > commitments...is there a particular time or place where I might go to seek > out races where 'average' GPL drivers are racing online with an emphasis on > driving cleanly and having fun? > > Thanks, Itazura > > (by the way, I'm in Japan... so Japan-friendly time zones would be a big > plus) > >

[email hidden] (Andre Warringa) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted text (20 lines)

> On Fri, 29 Mar 2002 10:20:25 +0000, Gerry Aitken > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > > > > > >Andre Warringa wrote: > > > > > >> And I think you had very bad luck with your first VROC experience.. in > >> three years of daily VROC I encountered someone driving the wrong way > >> maybe two or three times.. > > > >I agree, I've only seen it twice too. Was it bad luck or an over > >exaggeration? > > > >Gerry > > Or.. was HE driving the wrong way? :) > > Andre

you're a dickhead, piss off loser

"The Snowman" wrote... > > Andre Warringa wrote: > > Or.. was HE driving the wrong way? :) > > you're a dickhead, piss off loser You're making a great first impression as well. <g> Jan. =---

"The Snowman" wrote... > > Or.. was HE driving the wrong way? :) > you're a***head,***off loser You're making a great first impression as well. <g> Jan. =---

> > you're a dickhead, piss off loser > > You're making a great first impression as well. <g> > > Jan. Oh I don't know, Jan. His opinion on N2002 was quite enlightening. I think he described himself perfectly... Tony

Ah... I must have missed that one first time 'round. Had to DL some more headers to find it. Strange fellow... unless he really is on the white stuff. Jan. =--- "Tony Rickard" wrote... > Oh I don't know, Jan. His opinion on N2002 was quite > enlightening. I think he described himself perfectly... > > Tony

"Tony Rickard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<im3p8.6845$[email hidden]>... > Oh I don't know, Jan. His opinion on N2002 was quite enlightening. I think he > described himself perfectly... Heh. I just read his posting history on deja. Man, I barely have to time to participate in serious discussions on usenet (and only then when I'm working nighshift really), I can't imagine what sort of motivation a troll like that has. I mean, is it really fun to just troll newsgroups and post random pre-pubescent garbage? If I had that much free time I'd probably spend it with my daughter or girlfriend, I think. Jason

On Fri, 29 Mar 2002 23:37:39 +0900, "ss" <[email hidden]> wrote: >But seriously...there was a lot of carnage. (No more than half of which was >directly caused by my poor driving.!) I may well have just had some bad >luck., though. I'll keep at it and hopefully have some happier encounters. >And there's always the trusty and well-implemented AI. > >Itazura Yes but after you had some good online races you don't want to race the AI anymore.. nothing beats a good online race. Monza races are infamous for the starting crashes and carnage, I guess because Monza is a reasonable easy circuit it's the most used track by people with not that much experience. Try some of the other more challenging tracks.. But I have to say it again, nothing beats racing in a league.. Andre

In article <x1%o8.11969$[email hidden]>, "Biz" <[email hidden]> writes: >WIth a rank of -14, you should be one of the guys runing 27's at Monza. I wondered that, too... Eldred -- Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank - under construction... Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

In article <[email hidden]>, Gerry Aitken <[email hidden]> writes:

Quoted text (10 lines)

>Andre Warringa wrote: > > >> And I think you had very bad luck with your first VROC experience.. in >> three years of daily VROC I encountered someone driving the wrong way >> maybe two or three times.. > >I agree, I've only seen it twice too. Was it bad luck or an over >exaggeration? >

I've seen it a LOT more than twice. One of them was dumb enough to do it on MY server, while I was logged in as 'boss'. It's *good* to be the king...<g> Eldred -- Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank - under construction... Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

> > >WIth a rank of -14, you should be one of the guys runing 27's at Monza. > > I wondered that, too... > Errr... well.. I guess I'll keep practicing. But GPLRank can be a bit misleading. Hitting the occasional clean, fast hotlap seems to be a very different sort of skill than running quick, but consistently against a full field of cars over many laps. When the stars are in proper alignment and with a stiff tailwind, I can hit low 128's at Monza. But I still consider myself new to the game, and in a race, I'm happy when I can consistently hit 129's. Itazura

"Andre Warringa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > On Fri, 29 Mar 2002 23:37:39 +0900, "ss" > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > .... > But I have to say it again, nothing beats racing in a league.. On behalf of all who race in IGPLC: thank you for the compliment :) Bart Westra

"ss" <[email hidden]> wrote: >So now I'm wondering.... without joining a league that involves heavy time >commitments...is there a particular time or place where I might go to seek >out races where 'average' GPL drivers are racing online with an emphasis on >driving cleanly and having fun? If you are willing to drive GPL's F2 "Advanced Trainers" and FD Class (F1 chassis, F2 engine), go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vroc-f2 for the VROC-F2 Club, which offers =exactly= the kind of experience you are looking for. Multiple regularly scheduled events each week, a great group, and on Saturday mornings (US time) up to three fields / servers running according to drivers' best time in a pre-qualifying session. Chris Noto, see Noto at tee dee ess dot net

I think somebody made the same suggestion to me back when I first picked up GPL. At the time, I decided that I needed to learn my way around the tracks a bit better before subjecting other humans to my driving. Now that I know all the original tracks, though, I'll try to set up FD and F2 driver accounts and run those a bit to see how they feel. The Saturday morning US times would be a big plus (well, if it's east coast AM, anyway). Thanks for the information and link. Itazura

Vroc-F2 is what you want. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vroc-f2 rms [email hidden]

Andre Warringa wrote: > > First of all, avoid Monza.. it's a BAD place for pickup races :) Personally I don't think monza is any worse than anywhere else. T1 at every track has a crash. How many times have you got through eau rouge or the Glen T1 without being walloped? It's all because people think they have to get ahead instead of just holding station and getting by later in the lap. I just seems to be taking an enormous amount of time for people to LEARN! I was in a trerrible race at rouen on saturday. During qualifying I came across two wrecked loti at the end of the back straight, weaved my way past and one of them clobbered me, then got in front and weaved at 5mph to prevent me getting by, then ran me off the road. When I asked why he said I'd ruined his qually lap! I corrected him by saying that a lotus hit him and not my BRM but besides, there's no reason to take it out on me. Come the race I got along side him on the straight and he just ran me off the road. Go figure. Maybe monza isn't so bad..... Kev

"Kevin Clark" wrote...

Quoted text (8 lines)

> <snip> > Personally I don't think monza is any worse than anywhere > else. T1 at every track has a crash. How many times have > you got through eau rouge or the Glen T1 without being > walloped? It's all because people think they have to get > ahead instead of just holding station and getting by later > in the lap. I just seems to be taking an enormous amount of > time for people to LEARN!

Agree, but, in my experience, the situation is worse in Monza pick-up than anywhere else. The worst kind are the quick late arrivals which start from the back. These people don't seem to understand that, eventhough a car may be 3 seconds slower per lap, it's not possible to pass it at will at any one point on the track. I have no intention of stopping to let them bye, so they must wait for a section where a let bye doesn't cost me too much in terms of lap time. Plain and simple, but this concept is beyond the wannabe alien, I suppose. <g> > I was in a trerrible race at rouen on saturday. <snip> Sorry to hear you ran into a dickhead. Jan. =---

If people practiced starts more (offline), then we should have even less carnage. Many crashes ive seen is cause people pull full throttle, let go, and bang, they slide away into the car on the side off it, and then goes the rest of the field into this crash. Then we have a bunch of hotlappers that cant race, and who thinks that just cause they are faster, everyone else who is slower should just step aside. In qualify on your warmup - yes, i think you should step aside. But not on your fast lap, even if a faster guy is behind you. The same goes for races, as long as you are on the same lap. They usually come ram you into the back of the car, before lesmo 1, since many people including me likes to go on the brakes a bit earlier Others like to drift in the back of you all the way after the lesmos, until you have to brake, and the car behind rams you again.

Quoted text (9 lines)

> Yes but after you had some good online races you don't want to race > the AI anymore.. nothing beats a good online race. Monza races are > infamous for the starting crashes and carnage, I guess because Monza > is a reasonable easy circuit it's the most used track by people with > not that much experience. Try some of the other more challenging > tracks.. > But I have to say it again, nothing beats racing in a league.. > > Andre