Skill Formula for GT4 overall , A&B-specs

The debate about how useful A-spec points are got me to thinking about all the driver stats in the previous ywo GT offerings.
Quite simply , as 100% is the game target the stats for overall skill should be measured by this goal ( all cards can be investigated by diary to see when this is acheived) , each card being considered a full run at completion.
The formula for overall gaming skill would to my reckoning go this way ;
A-spec being utilized to guarantee race wins should judged on that potential.
B-spec as cruise control to get you to Game Home to be judged on the other percentile present.
The Formula thusly;

A-spec points by win% (e.g 4950 X 90% = 4455 ) + B-spec points by game% (e.g 6780 X 47% = c.3187 )
___________________________________________________
/ 2 ( 4455+3187/2=3821 )


This formula takes fully into account the road you took to one hundred percentile nirvana
Does anyone else think this is killer fair ?
Also is anyone posting ABSOLUTE LAP RECORDS inclusive of in-race GT times etc..?

It's a nice try, but it won't work. A-Spec points can easily be abused with the Ram in 'easier' events, and I've heard of people resetting the PS2 after losing just to have a 100% win ratio. Remember, exiting out of races to save time, or because your car is too fast/too slow affects your win ratio negatively.

Hmm...Interesting, but I agree with ktaylor, with all the people doing so many different things, its impossible to show someones true skill with a simple mathimatical equation. Good idea though, and in most cases it would work, but with all the variations of how people do things, it really wouldn't have much use as a guide to show someone their "skill rating".

Change the "+" to a "-", don't divide by 2 and don't use win % and I might agree

Why is there still such debate about A-Spec points. They are there for 2 reasons.

1. They are a score.
2. They result in replayability ie retry races to increase your A-spec points.

I don't care what my total A-Spec points are. But I redid the Subaru races where you get the touring car to get the different colours. What I did was each time I got a lesser car and hence kept increasing my A-spec points. I think the next time I do it I will get the max points for that race (model wise) ie I have not added weight, used crappy tires etc to increase my points just downgraded to a less powerful car.

I found this thoroughly enjoyable and will do it again in other series.

If your total A-Spec points are high then you drive a lot or drive lower performance cars a lot - either way it is an indication of how good you are at driving (and a little bit at tuning).

If your total B-Spec points are high then you watch a lot of races and or tune well.

I see no need to change how the points are done. Get on with the racing and/or watching and enjoy yourselves.

gumpy

Why is there still such debate about A-Spec points.

Click to expand...

My guess... Culture clash crossed with "Fox And The Grapes" (Aesops Fables)

In short Old Gamers are accustomed to just a good old fashioned high score to provide feedback for their accomplishment in the game... or at least a level of advancement (I got to board X). Later, the sense of completion was introduced (there was an END). Then came the notion of "unlocking" and "collecting". So... New Gamers are accustomed to being "rewarded" for actions takens.

Gaining satisfaction from a videogame became collecting the rewards offered while completing the game. So, if it doesn't fit into that formula (aka ASpec pts)... it's easier to be dismissive to justify inaction... aka "They're worthless. They're just for bragging rights". In other words, They're sour Yeah, well, what ISN'T a bragging right? Gold licenses? 100% completion? A-Speccing the F1 Championship? Never losing? What?



Enough psychobabble. Sorry, I just couldn't help myself

For me, having an indication of challenge (flawed as it is) is a huge improvment over GT3. In GT3 I became bored because I didn't have a good metric going in to a race to know how competitive the race was.

+ It motivates me to try out all sorts of insane races that I would never normally consider Oh... and it's worth it! Although having to block 3 cars on the Fuji 90s straight at the same time maybe pushing it...


DRIVE ON!

Nice idea but I agree with Gumpy.

You can't the use the stats due to potential abuses eg the RAM and NOS, and individual views on measuring (in my book 100% counts for an awful lot, even over 99%), but you can have a lot of fun improving your A-spec. I always look at GT4 (and other games) as being about setting my own personal goals.

In my book B-spec is nothing to do with personal skill (I have only used B-Spec in the Enduro hall) so my goals for GT4 are 100%, 80 Golds, and 50,000 A-spec points. If I manage all that I will be happy. And if I want more fun then I try out strange cars or go back and improve my Gold times (which I had a lot of fun doing in GT4P).

I have 70G, 80% and 25,000 A-spec without using the RAM, except for the Beginner truck series, with 20% to go including about half the missions and a lot of my early races with v.low A-spec I 'd say I was on track. As Gumpy I have slowed my progression a lot lately by trying to get good A-specs at each race. I aim for 100+ per race though obviously sometimes 20pts is difficult whereas other times 150pts is easy.

Fortunately as I don't get to play as much as others but this should keep me going for a couple of months more yet, and then I will find new challenges/fun things to do.

regards


Steven

The RAM is not really open to abuse. Yes, it will rack up lots of points in the early stages, but past the 20000 or so points mark it WILL NOT get you a massive score, as it can't be entered in enough races. As for NOS, well yes it's a bit cheap but it won't really make any difference over races of more than 2-5 laps and there are plenty of places where it isn't going to help you if you can't drive.

As for B-Spec, it requires no skill to accumulate the points (all 10000 of them) if you use it enough so IMO there's no point using it to judge skill, just use it if you want (personally I don't and my game save is 100% A-spec no miles B-spec).

As for gauging skill it depends on what you're looking for. I believe I have the highest A-spec total of anyone (see my sig) so far but does that mean I 'm the best driver? I think there are plenty of people who would give me a solid thrashing in OLR, have better license times or whatever. But I'm old school and high scores count as something for me to be proud of.

I may not be the fastest but I'm very happy with my gaming and that'll do me.