See, what gets my goat is when we focus on the gameplay aspects, and try to pretend that the rankings/points don't matter. They do, because that is how each racing interaction is set up. I don't mean we should focus on the ranks/points as if they tell us much about the individual players, but rather when there appears to be a problem with how the ranks/points are setting up unsatisfying contests.
Like I have said previously ranking to me is of much less importance of good, fun, close racing.
When the lobby screen pops up yes I see the DR spread but what I am much more focused on is the lap times as compared to my own from the racers several spots in front of me and several spots behind me.
Also what cars they are driving as I have spent time trying to learn where individual cars have their strong point and where they are weak.
It helps when devising a strategy of where to possibly overtake or where you need to defend against certain cars overall.
I also look at the connection bars of the racers around me as a racer showing low bars could be a lag problem knowing where they are actually at on the track due to a saw blade pattern on the screen.
Those will generally be the racers I find myself racing at least at the start and many times throughout the race.
Once the green flag drops on the track what a racers DR rating is not of importance and I am more focused on racing whatever cars are in front or behind me at the time regardless.
Well that's true, but no excuse really. Dropping a place or two would hurt, but only to the tune of about 160 DR points per place. I don't know that I'd call it a bug / side effect because if a lower ranked driver can beat the S then they deserve to win the points!
OTOH, if the S spins (or gets spun) and falls to last place, that could be more like -3000 DR, which would take a lot of races to recover from. It's hard to say that the others have raced better and deserve their points gain in that case. And it's probably much more likely to happen through a disconnect than from a mistake
I can understand where a racer whom the rankings are more important may be concerned over losing points, but regardless once on the track how many points you may gain or lose does not lessen the responsibility that everyone on that track is entitled to the space they occupy period.
Points or no points, DR or SR ranking of no importance it is still up to the overtaking driver to cleanly pass the driver in front of them.
It makes no difference if the driver you are trying to overtake is a DR D and you are a DR S and you may be capable of lapping on a clean track 7 seconds a lap quicker as long as he is not illegally blocking it is your responsibility to cleanly pass him.
That does not mean that the slower driver cannot legally use defensive driving lines forcing the overtaking driver to pass on a less than optimum line and no it is not the responsibility for the slower driver to move off of the racing line to let such driver go pass, this is a race not a track day.
He is still entitled to his racing line on the track.
Before this latest penalty update it was not uncommon for a faster driver to spin, fall to the rear and bulldoze their way back towards the front scrubbing penalties with no loss along the way.
After all they were faster, they were higher ranked and they as a result felt entitled to not need to wait for a proper passing opportunity as it was no actual penalty in the race results for not waiting.
Now it is a penalty, now the bulldozing cost lost time and positions and yes all passes or moves now could come at a greater cost if not well set up.
And you wonder why those that drive a more passive style of race like the new system? Finally clean and consistent driving across a race distance may be rewarded where in the past the only style of racing that was rewarded was hot lapping basically.
Now if the would turn on crash damage and have bouncing over curbings damaging suspensions and tires, off track damaging bodies and splitters and over revving engines causing blown power plants then we are racing with more real world consequences.
Think you have to watch how you drive now, that brings the racing to an actual "sim" level experience. What we have had up until now is a game where only hot lapping was rewarded. That is not real world racing.
Perhaps PD should institute the stiffer penalties across the board and actually reward clean contact free racing across the board from top to bottom. I would be okay with that but I like the new system that makes bulldozer through style of racing to be a position loser rather than a position gainer proposition.
