Open Letter to Turtle Racing League
Members of Turtle Racing League,
Thank you for making your way over here. Your time is appreciated. It's recently been brought to my attention that some of you harbor strong resentment towards S.N.A.I.L. and I would like to address those feelings.
I honestly try and limit my conversation on the SNAIL thread but since my name was brought up via a quote in the open letter to TRL. I thought I might give my two cents.
First off, I think Ph1sher is a great competitor and have never even heard a cross word from him over at turtle. Since I don't follow the SNAIL thread religiously, I have apparently missed the posts where Turtle ideas were being bandied about unless he was referring to the first turn rule discussion or some discussion from long ago? I must have missed it.
Second, I was put on probation for 2 weeks for a race incident with DRGreen and I deserved to be. I raced last Sunday because I assumed probation was not suspension. Perhaps there was some confusion on Ph1sher's part or mine? Does 2 weeks probation mean I cannot race for 2 weeks? If so, I raced when I should not have last Sunday.
Now on to the meat and potatoes:
Since I have raced in both leagues for some time, I can say that I have never heard Psycho say a negative word about SNAIL. I race with him weekly and he couldn't be a nicer guy. If he has some hostility towards SNAIL, he keeps it private, or at least has for many months since I joined TRL Enduro Series. Since I have personally brought up SNAIL on TRL league nights, I would think if there was some hostility, it would have come out then. I have also mentioned SNAIL in TRL threads and have never had a negative response from those posts from anyone regarding SNAIL. Perhaps I am just lucky and missed all the complaints? I would think I would have at least caught a whiff of it by now, but this is the first I am hearing of it.
What is said in the TRL thread when I am not paying attention may be another story as I don't really religiously follow that thread either. I do read enough to have a gut feeling that no criticisms are being leveled regularly at SNAIL and I haven't seen any specific complaints about league copying. Besides, imitation is the highest form of flattery and should not be offensive to a person secure in themselves. They may have borrowed ideas from SNAIL and SNAIL may have borrowed some ideas from Turtle too. I am not sure why that, in itself, would offend either league.
One thing that I can say with confidence is that competitors in SNAIL take incidences a lot more serious than Turtle guys do. Both leagues demand the observance of OLR Rules and the Good Racecraft guide but when you find yourself outside those guidelines, SNAILS tend be more hostile and unforgiving. Also, debates within SNAIL tend to escalate into a more hostile mode similar to COD forums. if I had to guess, I would say the average age of SNAILs is younger than TRL for that reason alone. Older people tend to be more secure in their opinions and less hostile to dissent.
That is not saying all SNAILs are that way but it is a big part of the culture at SNAIL. Turtle, on the other hand, has a less competitive and more fun loving atmosphere and I have commented about that personally on the TRL Enduro thread when encouraging interested SNAILS to join Turtle when they have exhibited an interest in doing so: "come on over because it is fun and competitive and light hearted".
That is not to say that SNAIL needs to change or is somehow wrong in its approach!
It is just the way it is and it seems to be working fine for all involved as SNAIL is a pretty big and popular league. That popularity may be directly attributed to the extremely competitive and combative nature of SNAIL. I know I look forward to the challenge each Sunday even with all the drama. Would the NFL be as popular if everyone loved each other and nobody ever said a mean thing about another player? Probably not. That being said, a lot of drama created isn't that interesting and is created by people trolling.
Sometimes I wish things were overall more friendly in SNAIL but I am also cognizant that if I had my wish, the whole dynamic of SNAIL could change; perhaps for the worse.
In closing, I think that any rivalry between TRL and SNAIL is overblown. They both have their own dynamic, competitors in each league are above average in racecraft and performance, and there seems to be no real public disdain by TRL for SNAIL or vise versa.
Or, I am full of it and am totally oblivious to it all because I don't pay close enough attention. I find that in many ways, ignorance is bliss. Hence the reasoning behind paying scant attention.
