Quote from 240Z :

CTRA - I am simply loving it. The fact that there are some bad or wild drivers doesn't really bother me (or if it does I log off or go to one of the other CTRA servers). If I am pushed off the track or simply lampooned I tend to just ignore it or send a smiley face and generally get a good response back. If its my fault, I generally let the driver pass at first opportunity. Collisions do happen, some drivers are more forceful than others but this is all part of the joy of racing.

What I do like is seeing the really good drivers and trying to learn from what they do.

I think it works well.

Well there's my two pennys worth.

You're off to a very good start already with that attitude towards it, remember, it looks really bad to make a mistake, but even worse when you get angry and shout at people. Good going. Resist the red mist.

Also, another little tip that probably will not help since you probably already do it, but watch some real life motorsports, and replicate what they do. Even when it comes down to recovering your car from off the track, real life drivers will wait until its safe to rejoin, in a certain technique which is a combination of getting back on the road but staying off line until back up to speed, putting the car on parts of the track where even if 2 cars come by, they have room etc etc etc. You can learn from the real guys.

I am not a very experienced driver since I only have time to play on weekends. I find the CTRA server on a very good level, but slow racers shouldn't be ruled out just because they are slow. I would rather race with slow clean racers than with overly aggressive fast racers.

ultimately the only way to solve this problem once and for all would be a mandatory test before a driver is even allowed entry to the system (essentially the way it works in real life)

Quote from Shotglass :

ultimately the only way to solve this problem once and for all would be a mandatory test before a driver is even allowed entry to the system (essentially the way it works in real life)

That would work out fine, I guess. There is a major problem that I see in this, though: Having people with enough time from the CTRA to be able to watch races and rule out the unclean drivers. I think the sheer amount of drivers might make things a bit demanding.

If CTRA decided to implement something like that, I think a one or two hours weekly session would work fine. As I see it, only people with no CTRA license could take part, and the CTRA admins would watch the replays and decide who gets a copper/clubman license (which would then be required to access the first tier servers). People who wouldn't get their license immediately (and weren't banned) could try again the next time, so they would have a week to practice. And those we'd rather not have on CTRA servers would either give up after a couple of times, or improve.

Personally I don't think that such an entry license is required at the moment, though. Now that the novelty factor has started fading, there aren't that many very bad drivers anymore.

It's impossible to vet drivers first as there are too many new drivers every single day to make a worthwhile weekly analysis possible, let alone daily. The 1st tier is our training ground.

I didn't realize there are so many new drivers every day.

I only keep half an eye on it on the new licences but we had 10,500 when the old servers closed, and have ~15,000 now.

Blimey! Such a high number. I had no idea.

Quote from mtrein :

Blimey! Such a high number. I had no idea.

Yeah, and over 100 races run each day just on Race 1 by my calcs, with over 500 across the board=) Each day we are seeing a good 20-30 more NEW drivers registering by joining a tier 1 server.

it would boil down to whether it takes up more time to deal with reports for sub par driving or to preschool the drivers ... clearly i have no idea which would be more time efficient
im certain though that dealing with those who cant keep their car on track with the nose pointing the right direction for more than one lap (if bbt decides to show up to comment on my driving in the lx6 the other day ignore him ) before they enter the server would cut down a huge part of the criticism the server have been getting every now and then since the system went live

It would definatly partially help. Conducting a driving school would definatly take more time on the flipside though too. We would still have to have do go over reports with drivers already in the system so the extra added by these new drivers wouldn't be that much more.

I have mulled over this idea, but the problem is that we are seeing 30 plus new drivers a day. To get a decent training session in you would need a 1on1 session, and there just isn't enough people to run a training ground like that. Then it's another problem of format, from the training sessions I have seen come out I haven't really seen anything worthwhile or lasting very long. The best training is hopping online and racing against everyone and learning as you go. 99% of the drivers causing little problems are just having teething issues, like all of us had. The really bad ones end up getting multiple reports done on them. There will not be a fast fix for problem drivers, there has to be a trend of bad driving for us to ban them, unless they breach some of the basic rules.

Quote from Viper93 :

We would still have to have do go over reports with drivers already in the system

one of the good things of such a system would be that drivers can drop out of it without banning them in the sense of permanently locking access to it for them

Quote :

The best training is hopping online and racing against everyone and learning as you go.

the problem is that quite few now have reported on spending half their time on the first tier servers dodging mobile chicanes
it might just be selective memory on my side but i really dont remember a time where upon comming up on a completely unfarmilar combo or track i wouldnt first spend some time spectating the quicker guys to figure out some basic lines and then train either post race or offline to the point where i could at least piece an errorfree albeit slow lap together ... or more to the point to train towards being an obstacle because im slow but now because im standing still
it seems a lot of new drivers fail at the most basic level of learning from others

Perhaps racers with enough time and disposition could "adopt" green drivers and teach them a few basics, going over a few laps with them... I once had some help from one of the drivers on one of the stcc servers in that regard, and it worked wonders for me. There are a few things that would take you a huge amount of time to realise, even if you read them on a post somewhere.

Give me a few days and I will get back with you all about this.

:edit:I am going to have to change this to a few weeks. I will be offline for a few weeks(moving house) and won't be able to do much. I do have some ideas and will be putting them to computer screen while I am offline.

Quote from Toddshooter :

I'm so glad I got my silver license now and don't have to go there anymore unless I want to. Which isn't very often!

Well I think you can call yourself very lucky or happy that you don't need to race there anymore. It took me more then 110 races just to get to bronze, only to realize that I have reached absolutely nothing and still cant progress to a more clean server. The reward system is very dull. As pointed elsewhere, only the fast, be it clean or not clean drivers get to progress. But what is the second server really about? Throw a bunch of fast dirty drivers in it?

Second server should be 1st, about clean racing then everything else and clean racing means sometimes, you just have to give in to another player to stay clean and some simple know how to take advantage in that.

I will say it again and again until my head turns blue. R1 can only be as good as the reports being sent in The more quality reports we get the better the racing will be.

You all are asking us to change something only you, the drivers of the server, can change.

At first I would like to thank the CTRA-team for their great work for online racers.

As a (online-)newcomer and after racing a couple of nice races at the R1-server I'd like to open my mouth for the first time on the forums too.

I have only scored one point during my huge career in CTRA and yet I have to say it was not the easiest point I have earned in my online gaming career, but atleast I had fun chasing it. I got it from a race at BL by starting from some 13th(?) place and after a few passes and some retirements (if that is the right word ) I finished 6th. As a surprise I found that I had earned one point! Yippee!

I had read the CTRA website but I still hadn't found how to exactly score some points, didn't even find a clue how the point system works or what are the exact requirements to acquire the next "license level".

In practice I've found that it is pretty difficult to overtake people in race without their own mistakes, but I think that is just lack of my own driving skills. Day by day I am learning from my mistakes and to be honest I do not even know every track yet.

See you on the racetrack!

Quote from daKasi :

I had read the CTRA website but I still hadn't found how to exactly score some points, didn't even find a clue how the point system works or what are the exact requirements to acquire the next "license level".

First of all your fastest lap must be within 108% of the CTRA Lap record for that combo (ie. track & car). You can see what the CTRA record for the current track/car is in the $track menu (just type $track when you're on the server). Secondly, you must finish near the front and on the lead lap (eg. if you finish 4th but you were lapped because you had an accident, you will not receive points). In my experience the first 8 drivers get points, although 6th - 8th only gets 1 or 2 points. If you set a fastest lap or even a new CTRA record you get extra bonus points.

Your next license is Bronze, and you have to get 300 points to get there. Good luck and congratulations with your first point! I'm sure they will come easier as you progress and get better

Quote from obsolum :

Secondly, you must finish near the front and on the lead lap (eg. if you finish 4th but you were lapped because you had an accident, you will not receive points).

I dont think thats true on the race and ss servers.

Thats only in BJ AFAIK.

Quote from zeugnimod :

I dont think thats true on the race and ss servers.

Thats only in BJ AFAIK.

No you do not need to finish on the lead lap for any of the servers. It just usually ends up being that the people that are a lap down are not within the performance window for points to accumulate =P I know I have won points by being a lap down.

On Bump and Jump you must finish on the lead lap to score, but scoring is very different on Bump and Jump in every respect. Otherwise it does not matter what lap you finish on, although most people a lap down are mid race joiners and therefor are not racing for stats and points anyway (except yellows and laps).

Ah, I stand corrected then

Come again? You get points if you are withing 108% of lap record no matter where you finish?

This server forced me to accommandate to all the tracks which I have never had a lap on...
I like this style because I can get the same laptime with some silver or even platinum racers and enjoy the great races with them.
However, even if I am using the FR car XRG which gives me a higher point. It is still far away to the next level. I don't have much time spending on games which is the reason I gave up those online games.
This system is good that it gives me a aim to go. But the aim should be faster. Even if you get fast enough which is far from your level. You still have to go a long way reaching the next level...

Maybe the system can make more points on the keep winning... Or even add some points for the time having the gap within 1 second which makes a great race.