how long will it take form me to go up a liscence because i was on ctra race 1,and to go up from copper is 300 points, and i only seem to be earning like 3 points a race. It seems you have to be an expert on all the tracks to rack up any points, which im not i can race fairly well but still if i come 8th or higher you dont get any shouldnt you be rewarded for taking part at least. any feed back will be very welcome

Run the gauntlet like everyone else has had to do.

OMG, here we go again.
There are still people who think it's fair to get points, only because they manage to drive on the track for a few laps.
The CTRA system is a competitive point system, that means you only get points if you are faster than most of the people on the track.
Giving away points just for participating makes the whole system pointless

Quote from Demon68 :

Giving away points just for anticipating makes the whole system pointless

Participating.

We would love to give people points for participating. But we found that it degraded the quality of the higher tiered servers so we had to scrap the idea.

You get points by 'being a good racer' Part of that is being able to run competitive lap times when compaired to your peers.

Just had a look at your race results, you seem to be between 5 and 10 seconds per lap slower than the faster guys.

To build points quicker you will need to consistently put in faster laptimes, which should bring along with them some better finishing positions.

You can earn just as many points being clean as you can by being fast. you dont have to be quick to earn a higher licence, but you do have to deserve it.

I don't want to derail the thread, but seeing as my questin also fits the thread title:

How long (:shy does a server keep the same configuration before switching to another track? Is this based on a certain time interval or a certain number of races? I'm asking because I just got my silver licence moments ago, and I want to start racing on Race 2. However I figure I need to practice offline on the various tracks to get comfortable before going online. Also, does the server rotate tracks even if there is no racers online?

Thanks.

Ok thankyou i was just asking i know i need to improve i just felt that people may get bored before they start to get any points i personally love ctra but i jus thought you could get some by finishing the race quite near the front

Gnomie

It's approx every two hours iirc.

It tells you how long until the next track change on this page
http://www.raceauthority.com/servers.asp

Quote from The Moose :

It tells you how long until the next track change on this page
http://www.raceauthority.com/servers.asp

Excellent, it didn't used to

Quote from Bean0 :

Excellent, it didn't used to

Sam's a clever bloke, though keep that quiet, we don't want him getting big headed

When I first started racing on CTRA 1 I had trouble scoring points as well, and apparently for the same reason that you're struggling. I was several seconds slower then the leaders on most tracks. If you can average 3 pts a race you're not doing too badly. You'll have to work for it, but you can earn your Silver that way.
As others have pointed out, and as you've probably noticed your self, you can finish in the points many times just by not wrecking, no matter how far off the pace you are.
More importantly, I guarantee that by the time you do reach Silver, your times will be much more competitive then they are now.
It is hard, and frustrating I know, to race on CTRA 1. But you will learn a lot and becoe a much better driver in the process if you stick it out.

Quote from Antman :

Ok thankyou i was just asking i know i need to improve i just felt that people may get bored before they start to get any points i personally love ctra but i jus thought you could get some by finishing the race quite near the front

Quote from The Moose :

Gnomie

It's approx every two hours iirc.

It tells you how long until the next track change on this page
http://www.raceauthority.com/servers.asp

Thanks! I simply hadn't noticed the bar saying how long it's till the next track change.

That's because it was only added a few days ago.

Originally suggested by me!!

^^^^

Give the man some cookies

Its available in game too on the $track command.

You have competed in: 1,040 races and driven 10,795 laps on the CTRA system.

It has taken me 10 months and the above many races. I am average at best and can remember thinking I'm never going to score a point let alone ever reach silver.

Just practise, not to be fast but to just complete each race you enter and avoid getting yellow flags, as Becky stated more points are had for clean racing, good luck, you'll get there eventually If I managed it then anybody can. (No wise crack comments from you fast buggers )

Quote from Antman :

Ok thankyou i was just asking i know i need to improve i just felt that people may get bored before they start to get any points i personally love ctra but i jus thought you could get some by finishing the race quite near the front

A large part of the fun is getting faster for the sake of getting faster. Do that and the points will come. Rumor has it that there are even some servers where you just race for a good finishing position and bragging rights, not points.

Quote from The Moose :

Gnomie

It's approx every two hours iirc.

It tells you how long until the next track change on this page
http://www.raceauthority.com/servers.asp

Hm... the timer thing doesn't seem to work properly. Twice now it's said that there'd be 1,5 hours till track change, yet when I connected 30 minutes later there'd be another track. Makes it pretty hard to practice a track before going online! Is this issue only occurring when there's no racers connected, perhaps? Or if there's one racer who clicks "restart" over and over?

Do not worry mate, in your first weeks it will be difficult to earn any points. I remember when I started at Race 1 that it was very difficult to even earn one single point, but finally I made it by driving safely while people in the front wrecked themselves out ot the race. Your lap times will be better soon, keep on driving. Practice makes perfect.

Silver license here I come..

Concentrate on safe driving first, because it will bring as many points as fast / not so clean driving in the first time, and then you will be able to get more points by increasing your pace.
You will also improve the overall racing quality if your cars goes in the correct direction during the races, and make your fellow racers happier.
Don't worry too much about points, the system is well designed and balanced. You will get points for an upper license when your racing standard allow you to race on higher servers

Quote from Gnomie :

Hm... the timer thing doesn't seem to work properly. Twice now it's said that there'd be 1,5 hours till track change, yet when I connected 30 minutes later there'd be another track.

You do know that people can vote to change the track on the CTRA server?

Best way I've found is to go on the server when it's empty to practise. Works best on Race 2 as it's mostly empty anyway. If you start easy and avoid spinning you'll even get points for just cruising around the track.

Do think that racing races alone for points a bit useless is, it is good for your stats ok..