I just want to race. Is that impossible ?

My apologies for the following frustrated rant from a long time follower, first time poster.

Today, Sunday, I spent my whole night searching for an online lobby to have some nice races. Sadly, after a whole night trying, I had none. Even after asking if they were gentlemen drivers or madmen, always the same outcome. First corner, bang. Second corner, an even harder bang. Third corner, last trailing half a lap :ouch:. I have all the respect for drivers trying to make a move, I’ll give some room, they’ll leave some room but in the sense of “if you cannot make it stick, don’t make the move” kind of mindset. Braking late used to be a skill but all these “kids” online these days (didn’t want to offend anybody with this, but that is the impression I get), they just plainly don’t brake, and guess what, my four wheels are pointing in four different directions, I get a time penalty for causing an accident and they drive away with no issues whatsoever having gained a place! Is it me just getting old(er) perhaps that might be true as my first multicomputer/multiplayer experience was serial cable based?

How do you guys have entertaining night playing online because I can’t seem to make it work? I don’t have any friends that play GT5 so that ultimately leaves me with the crappy online lobby system. “Race for fun” or “Race for real” means the same thing: banging into each other. The rating system with the stars has absolutely no meaning to me: it’s all banging into each other. “Clean”, “Fair” and the likes in the room name don’t mean anything except: banging into each other … *sigh* I just want to race *sniff*

I have already read about some GTP leagues but having to make another account with GTP_MyNick is just too big a hurdle to jump for me (I’m 36ish Aspec – don’t want to do it all over again because I just don't have the time for that with work and other crap).

Seeing forward in your responses as I cannot be the only person in the world that actually want to race instead of playing destruction derby (ooh, that brings back memories, doesn’t it).

And again, my apologies for the rant (I do feel better now:tup:), if anybody is offended in any way by this post; that was not my intent.
 
Lately I'm having more luck in the shuffle lobbies. I'd say that more than 60% of the time I end up finding a lobby with fair drivers, and end up having fun.
 
Well you are in the right place now!
Look arround and you'll find plenty of series that provide exellent racing and quality racers!
Welcome to GTPlanet!
 
DerNosferatu: I understand what you're saying. And the only way to have 100% clean races in GT5 is to join a league. All drivers know eachother, and respect eachother, which leads to incredible racing! 👍

Since you're in Belgium (?), I'd sugest you take a look at the "WSGTC 2 pre-season" thread I'm about to create. It'll be up within the hour. Read the OP (4 first posts), and if you like what you see, you are more than welcome to join us. 👍

P.S You don't need a GTP_TagAccount to race in leagues here. Only the WRS. So just take a look in this forum for something that suits you. One thing that is important (Guess it's an organizer typeing ;)) is that if you officialy sign up for a league, make an effort to stay commited. All championships here are struggeling with drivers who don't show. It's not the No Show that's the worst part (People do have obligations IRL), the worst part is when they are not informing the organizer/admin.

And welcome to GTP by the way. :cheers:
 
Eventually you will find a group of people that are fast and clean and you'll race with them more often than not. It IS possible to have clean and fun races online - you just have to be very careful about who you're racing with.
 
Welcome, you came to the right place! :D

I think your story is typical of how a LOT of people wind up here!!

The thing about some gamers in the public lobbies is not just that they're sloppy or don't know how to drive. It's that some make it an art to know how to cheat dirty to win. Why someone would want to do that is beyond me. But there are people who actually figure out how to get another person to get a penalty by knocking them without getting one themselves.

So believe me, you're not the only one to notice that a lot of public lobby games are simply NOT SANE. :dopey: LOL

There are cheaters in every multiplayer online game.
That's why a forum like this - joining leagues, organized races, and clubs, to meet & get to know who you're playing with - is one of the best ways to go.
When you play with the same people lots, the reputation aspect comes in. People are less likely to cheat if they're going to be playing with the same people again! It's actually been proven in a study! (But it's common sense - if you cheat with someone, they're not likely to want to play with you again!!)

And BY NO MEANS do all leagues organized here on GTP require you to put GTP or anything else in front of your PSN name. I'm assuming some groups do that and have their reasons. Reminds me too much of the clans in the old school multiplayer games with youngins. hahaha. At my age it would feel kind of silly.
No one yet has asked me to create a new account to participate in their online organized races, leagues or clubs. And I've participated in several so far.

I highly recommend pouring over the posts in this section of the forum (as well as the list of social groups), and finding something you're interested in - and just join in. You'll make lots of friends if you get involved. In fact, it could get to a point where you don't have time to look in the public lobby anymore when you get on the ps3. :D

That said, vitomazzi is right about public shuffle lobbies. Definitely more luck there. Most of the time that I look, if I'm just looking for some random racing for a short while, I can usually find at least a halfway decent shuffle game. Most of the time though they're not clean if they say they're clean, because then the turkeys join just to be jokers. The really clean ones don't label themselves as such, so as not to attract clowns. You kind of have to just check it out & see if the host is on top of things. Best to join ones w/ skid recovery force OFF, and boost OFF. I have luck with ones that say "fun shuffle". Sometimes they've got some sloppy drivers... but usually they're not making contact deliberately & as a tactic... and it's a case if you just drive clean, you can easily get away from those particular sloppy drivers, even if you're in a slower car, so they're not much of a bother. :) Having said that, I've been in some really tough shuffle rooms with really clean & skillful players, where I felt like the sloperooosy of the bunch. :D
 
I'd like to mention the race series in my sig (Manufacturers Global Team Championship). We're currently full, but we've never had more than 12 racers show up for an event. Typically due to some real life conflicts. So if you're interested in sitting as an active reserve, we'd gladly have you?

Our races are all very nice, with great racing, though I must say, we do have some more inexperienced drivers. But the benefit of a series is that everyone learns a bit about each other and plays with some respect (when the dang PSN isn't glitching us into each other).

Anyway... get a hold of me if you're interested or have any questions. All of the information you'd need is in the first two posts of the thread.

Good luck out there!
 
I have to agree with Jay: you will certainly be able to find some quality, at least decent, racing somewhere in these forums. I would suggest taking another look at the racing leagues and also continuing to check the "looking to race" general thread that is always at the top of the GT5 Online Racing threads list. The leagues do not all require a "GTP_" beginning to one's PSN ID, and they each offer something a little bit different. I've just filled in as a substitute this past Saturday in the Team Manufacturers' Championship; it worked well. Though there were connectivity issues, there was no one out there driving like a crazed lunatic, smashing cars intentionally, or the like (as you complained of so well). I am on the hunt (in the GTPlanet forums for GT5 online racing) to find another couple of leagues I could take a spot in.

On the whole, I totally sympathize with your sentiment. I too wish there were a way to sift through the lobbies to consistently find those interested in some quality sportsmanship on a level playing field. Mainly I'm just turned off by idiotic driving. That really grinds my gears.
 
I generally tens to avoid rooms where no aids are allowed, personally, I think its unfair and it's almost like the host is just looking for an easy win since three quarters of the people in the lobby will most likely spin out in the first two corners, it's one of my biggest pet peeves in GT5, let everyone use whatever aids they want, someone wants to use no aids? Cool. Someone wants to use all the aids. Cool. I just think if you can choose what aids you want to use, it's more fun and fair to everyone. I always race in rooms like that and whenever I host my own room, everyone can choose whatever aids they want.. Thats what keeps online entertaining for me.
 
Welcome to GTPlanet mate. There are so many race series around here. Most, if not all of them follow GTP's racing etiquette. There are many that don't require the gtp_____ tag. You'll just have to scour through them and see if any series fit what your looking for.
 
You will be extremely lucky if you find a public room with decent racing, avoid them like the plague.

Look aroung at the series in this section and sooner or later you will find one that suits you.

As Denilson pointed out ( I guess some of the others just don't know, or didn't bother to read his post), there are no online racing series I know of that require a GTP_ tag; that is only for the WRS (weekly racing series), which is not an online event.
 
honestly it´s not easy to find a group in here to join if you are european ... 70% in here are from NA and due the obvious time zones we are suffering ^^

i couldnt find an active group of europeans organizing some nice racing nights over the weekend .

me sad
 
At this moment the most euro friendly league is the WSGT championship I 100% recomend it to anyone looking for grade A quality racing, very professional organization level and tons of fun!
 
For competitive, clean and close racing without going through getting a new account and setting up cars for the league's the shuffle race's are good, though it can get quite frustrating if you keep getting crappy cars and not all of them are full of clean drivers. Most of the time some GTP members are hosting rooms (though often without GTP-tag) and they tend to be more clean than most other rooms and there are battle's everywhere.
Also, if you fear getting rammed in the first corners, just start slowly, you can only lose a race in the first corner, not win one.
 
You sound like an honourable & clean racer & are exactly the kind of person that we're looking for in our Saturday Stock Car Series race event, please check it out. You don't need a GTP tag to participate either!

There is a lot of text to read (rules etc), but it's there to prevent all the kind of incidents you just mentioned & more. The way I look at it is this: if someone hasn't got the patience to take the time to read it all, they probably won't have the patience out on track to be able to race properly either so it's a win win for us!


Hope to see you at SSCS oneday soon.



VBR.
 
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You only need a GTP_tag for WRS and OMRS, but WRS is weekly time trials and OMRS is a competition online race every month. It's up to you, but if you see a GTP_ or GTRP_(different site) tag online, they are clean drivers
 
Here are the ways I find a lobby online as I share your frustration.

1.) search lobbies filtering with all countries open and skid recovery force off.
-i dont agree mac K... People who want aids and boost should be segregated from those who don't (for a whole host of reasons).
2.) shuffle racing is usually your best bet... again I like to have it as real as possible so having everyone understande that things like damage are set to heavy, tends to force folks to drive like they would in real life.
3.) choose lobbies with certain restrictions (spec racing)...more than just pp... I hate rooms that read something like "street cars" @ 500pp and use racing softs. these are usually children who use a controller instead of a wheel.

So what I have learned
-on average european lobbies seem to based on realism/simulation more so then N.A.
-on average the more the realism the better the drivers
-spending 20-30 min finding the right lobby is better then jumping into the first room you fancy

One idea that could help people looking for good racing without joining a league
-The online forum here of gtplanet needs to be in 2 parts.
-1 part online racing series/leagues (which it is now)
-1 part online racing in a more general sense, mainly for matchmaking purposes
 
First of all I would like to thank all of you for the quick responses. Also my gratitude towards all the people who invited me to join, I will look into all the invites.

So basically I'm glad of this community spirit that is apparently living and thriving in this forum and for the fact that I am not the only one completely put off by the online lobby selection hassle and it's inherent frustrations in finding a decent room, only to find out the host will quit after the current race :crazy:.

I do agree with every single one about the higher probability of good racing in shuffle races. Let alone the fact that I rather like the format of shuffle races: just normal cars of all sorts.
Although my experience has taught me that races that are started rather quickly by the host tend to be yet again a crash-fest because none of the racers are trying out their appointed motor. I always test braking, maximum possible turning in a specific corner, the tendency towards oversteer and understeer just to get a quick feel of what I think can be done in certain situations. But if you just race a vehicle you do not know... yeah, crash-fest it is.

And lastly, before I'm off checking all the invites, I like to second govna420 in his idea for a separate forum for "this-minute-matchmaking". When you feel like racing for a couple of minutes without any form of appointment with civilized human beings; I'm hosting this type of raceroom, with these restrictions, online now with roomnum ####. I know I would use that.
 
Feel free to add me to your list ( GTP_Digitool ) and join me when I'm on. I have a mic, may not always be on, but I typically find that people willing to talk in the lobby (and sometimes racing) are generally better drivers. One less way to hide I guess. Any room I create, I like to utilize the test / tune driving before the race, and check with everyone and give warning of when I plan to start the race.

It can be a pain to moderate, and weed out the bad guys, but like already mentioned, you can scare them away with full damage and other restrictions.

This website has been great. I joined not long ago but already have a good feel for the place. I was having a little difficulty with a setup for a race and I made one mention of it in the chatroom and before you know it I had suggestions.

You can see a professionalism here I haven't seen anywhere else.

Oh, and last thing. I had a BLAST in my first (and so far only) GTP event. The racing was extremely fair.

I had a race where my setup was completely off, and so I did get lapped, I'm the kind of person that when I seen that I was about to be passed, I slowed my pass off to the side of the track to allow the leaders to pass.

You'll find that kind of courtesy here.
 
Try the shuffle races. Best fun i've ever had.

Actually, i'm kinda sorry that they are so much fun, since I almost don't join any other type of races!

Apart from the shuffle races, i've found that the races varying in PP from 450 to 500 tend to be better. I guess those guys that just wanna ram dont like "low" PP races?...
 
1) Try shuffle races. There are more drivers and less tuners/cheaters
2) Try pp and tire restricted rooms. The lower the PP, the more exciting the racing.
3) Check out leagues and other events on this forum.
4) Start your own league based around the times you race and the cars you enjoy
 
-The online forum here of gtplanet needs to be in 2 parts.
-1 part online racing series/leagues (which it is now)
-1 part online racing in a more general sense, mainly for matchmaking purposes

I'd second this.

While leagues sound intriguing I find them to be not practical for me. Most of them are too early in the evening (Either GMT or EST), and for those of us with careers and small children it's too hard to commit to something at a set time every week.

What would be really awesome is if we had some 24hr GTP rooms with different car types and PP that were open most, if not all, of the time. That way no matter when you wanted to race you could just look in the room that has the type of car and/or PP you want and start racing.
 
I agree, but the problem with bring your own car events is that only the host has the perfect car for his pp limit. Unless you pick a lupo cup car or something it's never a close race and I usually end up racing myself.

I like the idea of a gtp room, but if it's a bring your own car event, maybe it's an idea to make a few classes that are accessable to everyone and low power so the rammers won't join. The lupo cup car for example, everybody has two of those (from a-spec), they're fun to drive and pretty much guarantee close racing because they're slow. Limit the weight, tyres and power to something, throw in a few races with other cars and some races with cars from the online dealer and it should be a blast.
 
The real problem with rooms that allow aids in the pub lobby are the ones that allow SRF or have boost on strong... It makes it totally ridiculous. With cars crashing out but then come flying up again... in this bizarre looking fashion. It's funny - for about 5 seconds. Then it's just stupid.
They're not playing the game like a driving simulator or whatever. And I don't care if you use a wheel or a ds3... that's not the issue here. There are plenty of ds3 players on this forum who like a driving simulator rather than a silly race with boost on with people flying up from behind driving from whacked out corner to whacked out corner.
Oh, and "boost" within itself isn't the problem. It's the WAY people in pub lobbies often use boost... It's not used to keep a race close. It's used to make ridiculous stunts possible, and allow for wild griefer behaviour.

I have been in plenty of decent shuffle race rooms that allow either TC, or maybe some of the other aids, and most people in the room are not using them anyway. And I'd rather have an inexperienced sloppy driver use TC (which only slows you down anyway), rather than sliding into other cars.
Aids are not the problem. Mentality is.
 
I generally tens to avoid rooms where no aids are allowed, personally, I think its unfair and it's almost like the host is just looking for an easy win since three quarters of the people in the lobby will most likely spin out in the first two corners, it's one of my biggest pet peeves in GT5, let everyone use whatever aids they want, someone wants to use no aids? Cool. Someone wants to use all the aids. Cool. I just think if you can choose what aids you want to use, it's more fun and fair to everyone. I always race in rooms like that and whenever I host my own room, everyone can choose whatever aids they want.. Thats what keeps online entertaining for me.

I think you've got the wrong end of the stick with that, I don't think the purpose is for the host to gain an advantage, it's more likely to keep an even playing field for people who prefer to drive with realistic physics vs those that don't.
It's a bit unfair for people who drive with SRF to race against those without, since SRF allows you take corners like its an arcade game, to be honest I don't even know why the option is there in a simulation game.
When I host a race I allow TCS and ASM to help those noobs who are still learning to drive (not that I would want to use them myself as they make me slower!).
Ocassionally I have everything off and damage on to try and entice some decent racers into the lobby, hoping only experienced drivers would want to join knowing they can control the car themselves without computers helping them, but it doesn't always work so some kicking is required for those not driving fairly
 
@Denilson: You have a very nice series, bit edging toward endurance, I really think i'm going to join if my schedule permits.

@DJAbacus: Can you give me some more details on the mmR championship, highly interested as my second car is a Micra lol
The deep forest surprise night would be nice for my free monday nights !

@EivlEvo & VBR: Also nice series but sadly the saturday timing is off for me.
Can I add you guys anyway, maybe we'll meet each other online is a random shuffle match ?

Thanks again for your input, guys, much appreciated!
 
You are more than welcome to join. When you know if you can make at least 8 out of 11 races, just post in the thread and I'll sign you up. 👍

All details are listed in the 5 first posts in the "World Super GT Championship | Pre-season, Sign-ups" thread.
Proposed season schedule is in the 5th post, along with the drivers list and suggested mods.

We got some pre-season races starting this Friday, and 2 Fridays after that. You can join us there to get a feeling of the championship, and also to get to know this great group of drivers. Some of them are true aliens, so winning will be tough. But that's the way it's supposed to be, right? 👍

Dennis
 
@...VBR: Also nice series but sadly the saturday timing is off for me.
Can I add you guys anyway, maybe we'll meet each other online is a random shuffle match ?

Thanks again for your input, guys, much appreciated!

Try the Concours Club link in my sig, it's on Sunday's, & yeah add me if you want to..


👍
 
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