Notice: We are
not going to attempt a 15 car grids moving forward in our weekly events after the technical issues last week. And 16 seems completely impossible since the lounge reports full and denies entry after 15 drivers are present. If there are 15 or more
confirmed drivers we are going to split into two rooms from the start [details on how we'll split below and TBD]. Special events may/will have their own limits.
It's important that you confirm for the race [if you are going to make it] at least one hour prior to the race if you want a guaranteed spot.
We are going to
"freeze" registration changes one hour prior to each event. We'll decide at that point exactly how we are going to arrange the event based on the
# of confirmed drivers:
- <=11: A single mic-enabled lounge (Main), max # of drivers = 12
- 12-14: A single mic-disabled lounge (A), max # of drivers = 14
- 15+: Two mic-enabled lounges (Main and B). Lounge assignments posted to thread and assignment formula TBD.
Note that if we have 10 confirmed drivers and a long list of reserves we may opt to go mic-disabled and enable the limit of 14 drivers. In any case we'll post the scenario we've chose when we open the pre-race lounge.
Confirmed drivers are *always* guaranteed a spot in the race if they show up on time (5 minutes prior to the start). Reserves are not guaranteed a spot in all scenarios, but when spots are available up to the max listed for the chosen scenario, the spots will be awarded on a first come, first serve basis. Drivers not on the registration list at all (last minute drop-ins) are welcome assuming spots are open after reserves (lowest priority).
Confirmed drivers that are not in the lounge 5 minutes prior to the event start time will forfeit their guaranteed spot (unless they notify an admin/steward that they are on the way via the thread) and an extra reserve spot will open up and be announced on the thread. Abuse of the confirmed status (a no show) could result in a penalty of "start in the back" in a future event. If you are confirmed and can't make it due to an emergency, post to the thread if at all possible. Emergencies happen and we'll deal with those on a case by case basis. If your attendance is in doubt use the reserve status.
Reserves can join the main pre-race lounge in scenario 1 or 2. They will be asked to exit when/if we hit the driver limit. The order the reserves enter the lounge will determine who will be asked to exit first to make room for confirmed drivers. This way if a confirmed drivers is a no show the reserves are set up and ready to take their spots without delay.
One of the goals of this formula is we want to
avoid lounge shuffling at the last minute as that tends to increase the probability of technical issues and very late starts to events. The decision about which lounges to use (mic-enabled/disabled or multiple) need to be made early so drivers go to the appropriate lounge first. The online system works best when drivers "trickle" into the rooms over time in the hour leading up to a race. Based on our experience when a bunch of drivers join at the same time (e.g. when we switch lounges) we get invisible drivers, lack of tire noise, etc. which spoils the experience for everyone.
Hopefully we can grow these grids to 20+ confirmed drivers and then we'll be in the two lounge scenario and all drivers including reserves will always have open spots to race.
We'll tweak the above as needed based on game updates, network improvements and additional experience etc. It's not set in stone forever and our primary goal is to ensure that we provide the best online racing experience possible within the limits of the game and it's idiosyncrasies.
We're discussing the lounge assignment formula in the case of a split grid and will try out a few different approaches. Our goal will be to make it fair and balanced. More details to follow, but some options include:
- Holding live pre-race qualification in both lounges and the fastest quali times across both lounges race in Main
- Splitting based on division/handicap
- Split by alternating A/B based on handicap
- Holding pre-qualification and fastest race in main
- Random draw
Also when we split we are discussing these options for determine driver counts in each lounge:
- Split field in half between lounges (odd driver goes to main)
- Minimum number of drivers in B, remaining in Main
- B gets 6-7 drivers depending on track size (small=6, large = 7)
- Main has remaining 8-12
- Once Main hits 12 we start adding to B until and even split
We're actually very happy to have full grids after the summer lull of June and July and this is a very good problem to have. If only, GT5 supported grids of 24+ we'd be in heaven, but in the meantime we'll do the best we can to accommodate as many drivers as possible with a fair and balanced system. Here's to working to recruit and expand our group a little further so we can be in the 20+ scenario on a regular basis and have two solid rooms with room for reserves. Invite your friends and recruit to help us out.
As always, feedback welcome.
) set the ability to set race length by time plus pace lap.
