FIA Change to format and race times

[SmokeyMR2]

So PD has announced on their site some changes for the upcoming official season.

FIA Gran Turismo Championships' Schedule Change Notice
Starting from Stage 1 of the ‘FIA Gran Turismo Championships' 2020 Series beginning on Saturday, 25 April, the race schedule, entry times, and the number of race entry slots for the Nations Cup and Manufacturer Series will change as follows.
■ Event Days
　・Nations Cup: Tuesday & Saturday (no change from previous format)
　・Manufacturer Series: Wednesday & Saturday
■ Event Times & Entry Slots
EMEA Region
　・Tuesday & Wednesday : 14:00, 15:20, 16:40, 18:00, 19:20 UTC (5 Slots)
　・Saturday – Nations Cup : 13:00, 15:40, 18:20 UTC (3 Slots)
　・Saturday – Manufacturer Series: 14:20, 17:00, 19:40 UTC (3 Slots)
On Saturdays, the Nations Cup and Manufacturer Series are hosted one after the other.

Thank you for your continued support and please continue to enjoy Gran Turismo Sport!

Not quite sure what they are thinking but to me this doesn't seem a good change. What's everyone's thoughts?

 

[VulcanSpirit]

It's already being discussed in the main FIA thread, but at the moment I'm not sure how well these schedule changes will work out for me. In EMEA at least, the Saturday afternoon slots make sense as they partially emulate a typical race day schedule, but the near-total elimination of later evening slots may not be ideal for most people. I can also imagine the earlier weekday slots being out of reach for those who are already working, volunteering or engaged in other real-world commitments...

Will be more assured about this season once we know more about the 'first' stage combos and other changes Polyphony mentioned a few weeks ago.

 

[watto79]

Being in the UK it's a big fat no for me. The weekend thing is not so bad although 3 slots per competitions seems weird, but the UK time slots for Tuesdays and Wednesdays means at BEST getting two attempts in. Most often just the one.

It will be interesting to see if participation numbers fall, and if PD react to it.

I don't really understand why they keep changing the time slots. In the UK we've had the last slot starting from everything between 7:20pm to 1:20am. I would love to know the reasoning behind this change. I have to wonder if people being at home at the moment mean the uptake in the earlier slots has increased, so PD think this is a trend they needed to respond to?

 

[Patclash]

It looks like they will see more kids in the FIA races
(maybe that's what they want ....)

 

[Pigems]

The split Saturdays is pretty lame, less slots than the weekdays and you have to practice two races on the same day. I think I’ll just focus on Nations now and only do spot races in Manu to get 3 scores.

 

[edgematic]

hopefully with less slots we have longer races like we had in previous seasons

 

[milehighmadd]

The split Saturdays is pretty lame, less slots than the weekdays and you have to practice two races on the same day. I think I’ll just focus on Nations now and only do spot races in Manu to get 3 scores.

To go along with that, may as well just pick the strongest Gr3 car for manu and simply not bother with any gr4 races.

 

[Pigems]

To go along with that, may as well just pick the strongest Gr3 car for manu and simply not bother with any gr4 races.

I prefer Gr.4, but I agree with the logic. I’ll pick a car that gives me the best chance for results in 3/4 races and skip the rest. 👍

 

[Sander 001]

This may be good for those of us who only watch. Saturdays be there or be square

 

[dlshearon]

Don’t like it for my friends in EMEA.

Personally I like that they went back to the old style on Saturday.

This might be a test to see which way gets more participates. Seems like PD is actually trying different things out.

 

[barak181]

Being in the UK it's a big fat no for me. The weekend thing is not so bad although 3 slots per competitions seems weird, but the UK time slots for Tuesdays and Wednesdays means at BEST getting two attempts in. Most often just the one.

It will be interesting to see if participation numbers fall, and if PD react to it.

I don't really understand why they keep changing the time slots. In the UK we've had the last slot starting from everything between 7:20pm to 1:20am. I would love to know the reasoning behind this change. I have to wonder if people being at home at the moment mean the uptake in the earlier slots has increased, so PD think this is a trend they needed to respond to?

I'm in the Western US and even my first thought about moving the time slots forward was the it would be a mess for Western Europe, particularly the UK. If that was my first thought, somebody at PD had to have realized it.

 

[Ashthebash]

The more I think about it, the more this isn't a good change for us UK guys. Personally I'm fine with the weekday races, my job allows it. I just have the choice of whether to race the earlier slots for probably lower points or wait until the later slots which will be ultra competitive with every man and his dog trying to get into them. As for the weekend racing, can write that off once the football starts up again! If we had a Saturday 3pm home game I can make the final Manufacturers slot and that's it. I'm sure they've made the changes based on data they have but it's certainly going to make things more difficult in some respects

 

[CodeRedR51]

It was nice having manufacture races on Sundays because it gave me an opportunity to compete on a night I am usually at home doing nothing. Right now I can't do Wednesdays as my work schedule is shifted to nights temporarily, and Saturdays are my day to do things outdoors. It's very likely that these new time slots will not work for me at all. I wish they would just stick with a schedule.

 

[Lazybike]

I'm old and retired so may give the early weekdays a try..I think FIA needs more than just new time slots though.

 

[milehighmadd]

It was nice having manufacture races on Sundays because it gave me an opportunity to compete on a night I am usually at home doing nothing. Right now I can't do Wednesdays as my work schedule is shifted to nights temporarily, and Saturdays are my day to do things outdoors. It's very likely that these new time slots will not work for me at all. I wish they would just stick with a schedule.

Also was a really great way to meet other people on the game. Always enjoyed practice lobbies on Sunday.

 

[breeminator]

The only logic I can think of is they're trying to make the later races have better points relative to the earlier races by shifting all the races earlier so that more people will only be able to do the later races.

 

[BaareCZ]

I've only ever done a FIA race if there was a combo I liked. Which was not very often. But it was always after 20:00. That's the earliest I can do it. Week day or weekend, doesn't matter. Well, that takes care of it then. No FIA for me anymore. Thanks, PD.

 

[SmokeyMR2]

It looks like a lot of people are either going to miss most races and a lot seem to miss the Sunday racing. If they were going to combine the events into one night then combining the Tuesday & Wednesday, although still not ideal, would have been better than losing the Sunday evening races. Hopefully they are just testing and will realise it is just not a good move.

 

[DoctorNuu]

What are they doing?
Thank you for your continued support - despite trying everything to ruin the experience

 

[VulcanSpirit]

Looks like Polyphony have been listening:

Event Days[/B]
　・Nations Cup: Tuesday & Saturday (no change from previous format)
　・Manufacturer Series: Wednesday & Saturday

■ Event Times & Entry Slots
EMEA Region
　・Tuesday & Wednesday : 14:00, 15:20, 16:40, 18:00, 19:20, 20:40, 22:00 UTC (7 Slots)
　・Saturday – Nations Cup : 13:00, 15:40, 18:20, 21:00 UTC (4 Slots)
　・Saturday – Manufacturer Series: 14:20, 17:00, 19:40, 22:20 UTC (4 Slots)

On Saturdays, the Nations Cup and Manufacturer Series are hosted one after the other.

(Please note that on 23 April we have made changes to the Event Times & Entry Slots for the EMEA Region.)

 

[milehighmadd]

Good to know that they do listen. I'm sure they're well aware of when the penalty system was crap and ultimately did the best they could to rectify the situation when it was pretty bleak.

 

[Barters81]

So in the Oceanic region it’s not so bad for us on the Tuesday. Last slot being 9:20pm which is the same as the last season. But with both series running the same night? I’ll only be able to do one and not the other.

Who’s idea was the Saturday thing? I guess it’s designed to make people pick either manufacturer or nations, and to maybe discourage people from doing back to back to back time slots looking for the best score.

As in, if you’re focusing on Nations.....there is 2hrs and 40mins between events!! You could pop in to do a manufacturer between times I guess....

Just seems silly to be honest. Sunday races were my favourite.

 

[BaareCZ]

Looks like Polyphony have been listening:

No way. Nice. I'm starting to think someone at PD might actually be monitoring this forum. Probably just coincidence.

 

[DoctorNuu]

No way. Nice. I'm starting to think someone at PD might actually be monitoring this forum. Probably just coincidence.

Let's hear it for Sunday.
Sundays... YEAH

Let's hear it for sanity, too. This interlaced saturday format... what's the point???

 

[golfer07840]

Under normal circumstances I'd like the move of no MFG races on Sunday, usually I'm not home and doing other things, or in the fall, I have football.

however these are anything but normal circumstances these days. So I would have preferred to keep the schedule as it had been.