Okay, let's see if I can answer some of these things without ranting about something, but this will still be a doctorate thesis. :P
First off, the NDR Sporting code has almost everything that has become common to our events, so that it doesn't have to be repeated again and again and again and again and again. It also contains our standards expected. Naming format is simple. We want your number, with a space, then F.Last. We won't nitpick a space or not between drivers, that's really just stupidly strict. We want it in a grey colour for easy of looking when in, say, qualifying or for LFSStats use on other leagues.
I'm actually now pondering changing the qualie system. I prefer the two spread out ones because it spread out the admin workload, and also will let teams have some extra time to switch from qualifying mode to race mode. I did the longer times to allow a bit more time to set a lap, and that's why I scrapped the No ShiftP/S stuff. But, my thought now is, is keep the session times the same, but Sunday is simply an organized free practice, and the only qualifying is on Friday. But that'll stay up in the air. After some thought on it also, the qualifying driver(s) must start in the race will be implemented.
I don't like limiting strategy choices, and since we'll have diferent race lenghts for a few more rounds this season, I didn't wish to risk any confusion there either.
IRC is an internet relay chat, and really can use minimal resources and allow a team manager or somesuch not on track to be in it and Remote etc. It's there so we can send messages and penalties and discuss the race with teams without us having to procure a 300 slot Vent server to park everyone in.
We will not monitor driver side things, that's also nit-picky. The Sporting Code covers modifications, etc. No player hacker, and nothing that edits the natural performance of the car (I'd classify VOB mods as affecting the natural performance of the car since they change the natural car, iirc)
Safety Cars will not be called for just anything. Generally, for this, they will be called for a beached car or a car out of fuel on track, or a car upside down, or a major incident that involves a majority of the cars on course or will pose a severe risk of affecting other cars within more than a short space of time, as in, it takes a long while for cars to clear the scene and begin moving again. SCs add another element of strategy to Endurance racing, which is what is needed. There's a great element of luck with SCs implemented, but there's always luck in racing.
Our goal is to keep the amateur status for participation there, while running the league in a professional manner to help prepare drivers for IGTC or MoE should they advance to it or to keep the racing as clean as possible. We wish to see drivers who have already got experience, but not the IGTC/MoE level of experience that would be needed for those.
Also, the rulebook is only 18 pages because of things learned from the other series that we run and the other Endurance series. Rulebooks, on my view, are meant simply to be the guidelines for runnign the races and deciding on conflicts. It is my desire to never have to enforce or use over half of what I put in the rulebook. I much prefer the racing on track to spending my evenings and days following a race reviewing incidents and protests and screwing with the results after the race. But the rules are there to provide an as clear as possible explanation for what to do when something happens. I don't expect anyone to know the rules by heart, or never have to reference them. I just expect that teams and drivers have a basic, general knowledge of what the deals are and can put them to use on the track. Of course, we'll always remind of the common ones, and we will remind when needed. We also do tend to issue warnings for rule infractions before a full out penalty, at least early in the season. Even I don't have the rules memorized, so I can't expect it to be done by anyone else.
Rules, for this, and any other thing, anywhere, are just there to be the standard set of actions to take in reaction to the initial action. They are NOT there for us admins to choke off the ability to race freely, they are NOT there for us to be uberpower-hungry admins. They're there so we have guidlines to work off of when we need to, as they are there for you.
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Just a quick one, if I dont drive the next IGTC race (and not the starting MoE rounds :P), Will I then be able to drive GTAL, as I havent driven in IGTC/MoE then? 