Long post alert!
Heh heh, well first of all thanks to all for the nice long race last night, and many thanks to Neth for kindly making and posting the videos. And thanks especially to R for running another smooth event.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also, I must apologize to R for one of my passes. I believe it was turn 3; the left turn after the short downhill section. I went inside and brushed against you lightly- not an awful pass, but certainly not one I would normally have made. There are a couple things to explain why it happened-
1. I thought you had not pitted yet. Since the pit stop seemed incredibly long on this track because it takes you at pit speed all the way down the straight and then around the first corner, I think the whole affair took of 20 seconds or so. So, there were several laps where I was putting a good-sized gap on you early on in the lap, and you were still close enough to draft back up to me, and you continued to battle with me, costing us both time. I was getting a bit frustrated that a driver who I thought was 30 seconds behind me was costing me time and allowing those who I had a 10-second lead on to catch up, so I lowered my passing standards just a bit.
2. I also thought it looked like you were intentionally going wide on entry to let me through- I thought you were doing this because you wanted me to get back by either because you realized I had a 30-second lead over you and you didn't want to slow me down, or because you pushed wide and knocked into me when I was trying to pass you on the outside of turn 1.
Ha ha, so the short version is, I wouldn't normally have made that pass, but I thought you were letting me back through, and I was eager to get by because I didn't realize you were legitimately in second place, and were causing me to be in danger of getting caught by whoever was actually in second.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the microphone topic- I feel very stongly that mics should be banned during races. These races require nearly as much concentration as a race in a real car on a real track, and there is an unbelievable amount of needless chatter, background noise and mic feedback, cursing, grumbling, complaining, exclaiming, and whistling
that goes on. For examples, please have a look at the videos posted above. I really can't stand it, and I plan to connect a mic next race just so I can set it next to me and allow it to pick up any talking so that it doesn't come through my speakers, and so I can concentrate on my race.
I do not mean to be harsh, but I think the argument for mics being used as a tool to identify your location on track is quite unfounded- we have many tools to handle that already, including mirrors (for those who have that option, depending on their controller type), setting the track map to a small scale and observing the triangles, and just good old fashioned paying attention to who is in front of and behind before entering a turn. Also, the tools I mentioned are a bit more realistic (the track map with triangles is a pretty good substitute for the awareness you would have in real life that doesn not transfer to the game) than using the mics- we can't tell another driver where we are in a real race.
For those who enjoy the interaction- you can still get plenty of that during casual practice races and free run sessions, and the pre-race practice. I think the best thing to do is ban all mic use during qualifying and racing, except for the race steward, who should limit mic use only to very neccesary items.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And finally, I noticed that not everyone paid attention to or understood the benefits of the advice given by myself and others after some earlier races regarding heavy battling in early stages. At the start of the race last night, I was with a car with whom I may have broken away from the pack and ran with for the entire race to claim first and second spot, but he made every attempt to pass me in the first few laps, costing us both a half second per lap, and allowing the pack to eat through the small lead we built up. Ironically, after I had opened up a 10 or 15 second lead over him, I ended up behind him after exiting the pits, and after I passed him he went back to the same business of catching up to me in the draft and then stuffing his car up the inside going into the chicane or turn 1, costing us both half a second per lap. He was a fast driver and had no trouble sticking with me, especially with the good drafting opportunities on this track, but his need to get in front of me at all costs eventually landed him in the barrier at the chicane after a poorly-executed dive up the inside- I think that's how we ended up with a PD haybale in the middle of the road approaching the final turn.
To try and make the point again- if you find yourself with another car who is near your speed, it will benefit you both to save any battling until late in the race. If you fight for position early on, chances are that you are just going to trade positions back and forth, lap after lap, and cost each other a half second per lap. 10 laps of this puts you 5 second behind the cars ahead of you, or if you had a 5 second lead, it is now gone and you are vulnerable to whoever was 5 seconds behind you. Instead of fighting for position, you can work together with the other car, and still trade positions by drafting (as long as it doesn't result in a dive up the inside into the next turn), and only take a pass if the other driver makes a mistake and you can get by easily, without slowing either of you down.
Thanks for reading, I look forward to any feedback.
I think if a not so legal move is used to gain an advantage then there should definitely be a consequence, but for someone driving in the back of the pack or all alone and is trying to make up some time due to an off (so as not to turn a 2:10 lap).
