I don't know. It's probably not the guys who've got "third tier" points who are causing most of the problems though. Maybe my interpretation of the second server is wrong, maybe I'm expecting too high a standard from it when it's not intended to be very exclusive. Either way, I don't think the reward of reaching a new server is what drives most of them, I think it's the simple accumulation of points for its own sake (cont. below).
They would lose popularity with the better racers, who are there purely to find good, clean competition, but not with the people who enjoy watching progress bars go up. Yes it might seem bizarre to you and I that these people exist, but apparently they do, in their millions.
I wasn't referring to your system. Your system is considerably more polite than most and it is much appreciated.
i don't think yu are ever gonna stop people just jumpin in a car and racing, that's not the problem tbh as i do that, i'm not going to learn to drive all the different tracks etc etc before coming on the server.
I learn on line, get sets from people online don't drive at 100% so i don't risk things have a good race and finish mid pack
what you need to have is the drivers that do not appreciate and respect the differences in the cars sorted out as these are the ones who in my opinion cuase most of the crashes for one reason or another, by trying to keep up with or drive the same style as the car in the different class a head of them
Hi the level of driving is a joke on these servers no blue flags seem to taken notice of, and i was racing on bl track and was in 3rd place and was behind the 2nd place car, i tryed to over take he blocked me which was fair enough but when i got beside him he did a monuver which took me out which i was very peed of about and i got booted for calling him a w****r. I drive clean and fair all the time but when this happens i dont like it or the person/persons involved. Sorry for my bad spelling
Damn right you where booted, the servers are not provided for you to throw a hissy fit at another driver which - it seems I must remind you - effects the mood of the entire server just because you threw a tantrum. That's exactly what the swear filter is designed to do - to remind you that that kind of behaviour is innapropriate. The correct solution was to watch the replay before making a rash decision, and if complaint was felt necessary to either politely raise the issue with the other driver or to report it via the reporting system.
The right course of action is never to start slagging off other drivers and swearing at them. I'm glad the system booted you, hopefully by the time you come back you might be calmer.
If you are involved in an incident then there is a 99.99% chance that it could have been avoided by using your head. If your having T1 problems take it easy on the first lap. If your in a rough group distance yourself from them. If you pay attention to every driver around you and watch for the signs you can virtually see an incident happen before it happens and prepare yourself for them and potentially remove yourself from having any issues if not minimizing the severity.
Even being rearended can be prevented to an extent by keeping peripheral vision on the rear view mirror and watch for any cars suddenly growing bigger quickly, simply let off the brake a bit and turn out of the way or even just let off the brake a tad. Two people missing an apex is much better than having two cars in a wall. Wreckers are a different story, but they should virtually be extinct on the silver servers. Having issues with aggressive driving is a different story. Some people just need to read the rules some more.
I guess I am saying is that if your having issues with being wrecked double check your driving habits. While it's not the ideal solution its much better than being wrecked every race.
Everyone on CTRA servers are I feel competing and trying 110% that extra 10% is what’s causing the problems and people are overdriving their abilities.
I agree that these driving skills shouldn't be needed, but we are all human. Humans make mistakes and it's both drivers responsibility to prevent any incidents, regardless who's at fault.
that was my point a few posts earlier ... the last time i was there you were either in row 1 or you had to take it easy ... very very easy to the point where you almost let the entire fiel past in t1 (overtalking the half of it thats stationary somewhere at the exit) and then work your way back up through a whole bunch of random chicanes built from cars ... while its possible to finish in the top5 this way and gain some points its virtually impossible to even get to row 1 where you have a chance of comming out of t1 the way you entered it
Two things are happening right at the moment. Firstly the team are working their way through all the out standing reports and revoking a few licences and being much more critical of the way they administer reports for the silver server.
Secondly we've discussed and outlined some substantial advances to the reporting system which will come live with patch X. (We've taken a leaf from traditional customer service systems and installed a call waiting system with a recorded message and some musak! lol), and are intent to make use on all the new technology insim 4 has to offer, in order to deliver something well beyond everyones expectations.
When the CTRA launches on patch X I am on a personal mission to make it so good, and so advanced, and so much better than what your wildest dreams might have predicted .
I'm giving you high expectations for a reason. Because I want to build you up and STILL impress you .
The only downside is that we already know there will be downtime for us between patch X being released and the CTRA server software being ready which could be as long as a month. There's a number of reasons for this and there's no blame to point.
Oh, by the way, now that serverside replay saving is (going to be) possible, will you modify the reporting so someone can say "happend in a race at about time X on lap Y"? That would probably make reporting a lot less of a hassle
I might add, IMO all the debate and theorising if the license system works is kinda pointless - just looking at the amount of complaints and threads regarding the driving standard on CTRA servers confirms that currently it's not working good enough.
In having just been bumped to Silver, I have to say wow indeed!
My first race using the tank that is the RB4, I was lined up mid pack on the grid. On the green lights, I pulled right off the track to let EVERYONE by so I could just run some laps and get used to the track and the car. I knew I was going to be slow, and though I wasnt terrible, I wasnt as good as I was racing at the Bronze level. Bronze I was getting 1st to 3rds regularly, Silver Im back 5th to 10th.
Im my opinion, the standard of driving hasnt dropped, I think its become more competitive. Youve got drivers pushing hard and not wanting to give up positions...to me, thats racing.
I'm not keen on giving out details ahead of time, but yes I do plan to use the server side replays. For the specifics of how the new system will work, think Macintosh.
I dont check server usage much any more, but I think there are still 3 busy CTRA servers, and a much more prominent LFS Forum presence than the other 2 regularly busy combo servers. Hense more vocalisation of complaints.
To me any post mentioning driving standards are a demonstration of people NOT using the system correctly (because complaints about low standards should go through the reporting system) - and for as long as the users dont use the system as intended it's always going to break (hense patches to remove such things as AI drivers, spectators, driver take overs and so on).
I think that this is part of the reason for the problem with _some_ FXO drivers - the FXOs get swamped by RB4s at the start (and to a lesser extent XRTs), so even if they are on row 1, they will be back in the pack usually by T1. If the only way to keep at the front is to drive unfairly, many will choose this path.
I have noticed that some of the really fast and experienced drivers will choose a different car depending on where their starting position is on the grid... sometimes for variety, but maybe sometimes its a strategy to help deal with the mayhem?.
For me by far the most annoying thing is drivers who know they have caused an incident, and even use their 'sorry' bind, but do not wait at a safe place to be re-passed....
hehe one time recently, I pulled up a guy about this - we'd had a good battle, me trying to pass for a few laps, eventually I made it through, and he shunts me in the next corner... so he fires on through... I catch him up again, but he keeps the lead and wins the race - Anyway I asked why he didn't wait for me to repass him, he said that he did wait - he slowed down... I guess I just took a little too long to re-pass him and lost my chance
I think way too many racers don't realise that there is a huge difference between
#1 Accidentally making contact so choosing not to pass, or waiting for re-pass.
and
#2 'Accidentally' making contact and using it as an opportunity to gain a place.
so many racers _seem_ to think #2 is acceptable as long as the contact wasn't intentional.
Yeah I hear you there, that's something that annoys me on ALL servers - when I take people out I let them back through, sometimes on a 50/50 call (it's never 50/50 in the replay, which is a point to consider). I have pondered how to make this approach more commonplace, but I think it's a difference between people who have self respect, and people who go through life narrowing dodging ASBO's. We're the middle-class of sim racing Col .
Or maybe they're a demonstration of the system not working !... this whole thread was started by me getting REALLY exasparated, and I WAS using the reporting system... unfortunately as we have discovered since, it wasn't working ! I wonder how many others were trying to file reports that weren't getting through... I guess you guys will find out soon if your inbox gets more reports now that they are via an e-mail address.
fwiw, I noticed that yesterday, the general standard seemed much better after the new messages at race starts... today it seemed to have dropped back a little
Totally agree
The 50/50 comment is a good call as well, its happened to me once or twice when I've complained about an incident, gone and checked the replay, then had to go back and apologise to the driver because it was 50:50 (or worse :ashamed
Now, if I knew anything else about Macs other than that are made by Apple...
That is of course also true. Measured by the amount of throughput these servers see, the silver ones have surely a much better driving standard then you'd see on (not heavily administrated) public servers with the same amount of racers. However, I think, while being of higher than average standard, it just does not live up to the expectations many people have right away or get after reading the rules. That said, maybe everything is working as intended and it's just the expectations that are set too high?
Anyhow, it was STCC/CTRA that brought me and many others back into LFS racing, so it's not at all like the effort isn't appreciated or was fruitless
Just to get things clear, there are not many servers out there actively ASKING for complaints. The point is that we're asking for replays to substantiate those complaints. The fact that we're not GETTING the replays is a thorn in OUR side as much as in the side of anyone who is trying to get a decent race in the CTRA servers.
When Patch X is launched, the CTRA servers will disappear. They will stay down until 1) we have a working, stable and advanced version of the server management software. 2) until we are satisfied that we have received and processed every complaint about every driver OR RACE that anyone wishes to file, whether it results in temporary bans, permanent bans, relegations, cautions or licences completely reset.
If ANYONE is considering complaining about the driving standards of other drivers, or drivers in a particular server in general, you'd better turn on MPR autosave to back it up. If you don't, I'm simply not interested in hearing about it. If you wanna TAKE a bit of a stab, then bloody well GIVE a bit of an MPR to TOTALLY back it up too. Otherwise you're just making noise, and I'm not even REMOTELY interested in listening to just noise.
@Android, my post was sparked by your comment, but I'm not directing it at you.
I'm chilled I just don't want anyone to waste their time having a whinge if they're not going to back it up.
A whinge WITH substance, I will bend over backwards to address. You probably know this already. I just want everyone to make their voice count for something, though I'm quite sure I'm preaching to the converted.
which i was very peed of about and i got booted for calling him a w****r.
I drive clean and fair all the time but when this happens i dont like it or the person/persons involved. Sorry for my bad spelling
... lol
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