Name that Bob!

[photonrider]

As I mentioned in the discussion at the AI Center, no one still knows for sure who first used the term 'Bob', or as a matter of fact, even where it was used first.
However the name stuck, and Bob endeared himself to many of us who relished his company, and his hard work helping us live beyond our means. (My Bob in GT4 is past the 9000 point mark now and is practically invincible even if given even a sub-standard car in which to race.)

When GT5 came along we were not only given six 'Bobs' of our own but were given the privilege of naming them ourselves, too. This was quite a good move and even made us feel a bit 'godfatherish'.
And we could race them Online. Which again was a lot of fun, and more moolah, too.

The new Bob is a stripped down version of his old 'group' self. And, to make it even more 'bare-bones', he seems to be a clone - at least in name - a sort of 'Mini me'.
As to whether he is an actual clone based on our driving record remains to be investigated, but for now when Players refer to their drivers they refer to them as 'Bob', which makes one wonder - is the Player posting about 'Bob' in general or their own Bob?

I've seen posts where some Players are already renaming their Bobs, jazzing it up by calling Bob James, or calling them John and dumping them right away with a 'Dear John' letter.
My own Bob is called H. Photonrider, a name that sounds very suspiciously like my own PSN name.
This means this guy may go on PSN and get me into trouble!

Well, we're not sure what PD has in store - there may be many new additions to the B-Spec spectrum as time goes on, from additional Bobs to remote-racing them again, but for now to keep things clear I'm not going to call him Bob again.
That's like someone calling me 'Human!'
'Hey, you! Human! Talking to you!'

I have to find, (apart from the names I call him that are against one AUP or another) a name for him.

And what about you? Do you have a special name for your Bob?

Or should I just call him 'your Bob' when we are gossiping about his shenanigans?
Tell me your Bob's real name.

 

[HBR-Roadhog]

I've seen posts where some Players are already renaming their Bobs, jazzing it up by calling Bob James, or calling them John and dumping them right away with a 'Dear John' letter.

I think the James reference is to indicate that Bob is slow. I.E. James May "Captain Slow" from Top Gear.

My Bob is currently smoking the AI so we'll call him Chong

 

[Nielsen]

I don't think of him/it as Bob anymore. It's me having an out of body experience.

 

[Suzumiya]

My Bob's name is Pancho!

 

[GTP_CargoRatt]

I prefer to reference him as "I. CargoRatt", a robot version of myself.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/where-does-the-name-bob-come-from-b-spec-driver.148426/

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/941103-gran-turismo-5/58480316


https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/why-does-everyone-call-the-b-spec-driver-bob.83482/

http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/34756/t1613615-bob/


Just a few threads on the subject after doing a quick Google search. No evidence of who started it really, but I'm sure there are more than a few people who claim to be "that guy".

Kinda unrelated but a funny story nonetheless regarding BOB. Some years ago, I was in a Detroit area WalMart and noticed bright yellow signs at all the cashiers stations with a picture of a shopping cart and the question "Have You Seen BOB. With my curiosity up like a cat in a new house, I asked the cashier, "Who is this Bob character and why are you looking for him?" She just looked at me and kinda laughed and said that BOB stands for Bottom Of Basket and is a reminder for them to check the bottom of the carts for items that people place there such as cases of beer, pop, water, ect. Just shows you how out of touch I can be at times.

 

[WJHMH]

J.R. "Bob" Dobbs.

 

[kolio]

I like your posts @photonrider on many of the forums and threads here. However you are simply asking for too much.
He is my 🤬 Bob, and always will be.


No seriously though, I will always call him Bob. Just can't kick the habbit, so might as well keep it going strong.

 

[photonrider]

The chuckles are building.
' . . . out of body experience . . .'
Does seem like that.

I like your posts @photonrider on many of the forums and threads here.

My pleasure.

However you are simply asking for too much.
He is my 🤬 Bob, and always will be.


No seriously though, I will always call him Bob. Just can't kick the habit, so might as well keep it going strong.

This is the thing. We are so used to calling him Bob.
Remember this guy?:

We called him Bob, and the AI AI.
In a way it made sense because it seemed to be a 'shared' Bob. We all had the same Bob. What we did with him was what made him ultimately 'our' BOB, but there wasn't too much personality to him that was directly connected with us as 'Owner/Team Manager/Crew Chief' and so on.

Then along came these guys:

Names, personalities, temperaments, unique driving styles - they had it all.
Quite honestly if you pulled a driver out of my stable and I watched them race without knowing their name I could tell you who was driving for me.
Igor (Ice) Berg, for instance, was cool, methodical, and a stalker who would coolly maintain his pace and then grab the win at the last moment.
Hans van Beek was a terror - would blast his way to the front right off the bat and scorch it all the way to the finish line.
Herve Meyer was one of my favourites - I threw every possible racing problem at him, and he would fight tenaciously for the win battling mid-packers till the last.

After all that . . we . . are back to Bob.

Some funny, and probably appropriate, names in here, I see - and that is part of what gives personality to our digital playmates. The difference between the GT4 Bob and our new GT6 Bob is that the GT4 Bob did not really have a name (if we leave out the cuss words, that is )
But this new Bob has been given a name. Stolen from us! A doppelganger. Our PSN IDs.
This makes it somewhat confusing. Who is this guy?
I'm still scratching my head over what to call him.
Holley?

Perhaps I'll play with him some more, and he might actually speak one day. Who knows . . . technology.

 

[TheProRacer]

Bob. James Bob.






Lol.

 

[photonrider]

Does that match the name on the Board when you get your final standings?
Like this:

As you can see he has stolen both my initial and surname. So I have to think up something with 'H' to match his first name.
I think I might stay with Holley.

I can't fight down the hunch, though, that PD has a plan about this. And it may have something to do with eventually putting our drivers online to battle with each other.
That would be fun of course.

 

[Thematic]

I can't fight down the hunch, though, that PD has a plan about this. And it may have something to do with eventually putting our drivers online to battle with each other.
That would be fun of course.

A rough cut idea: B-spec event (interactive or not) is loaded with cars from each "team garage". There's a brief qualifying, and then these cars are distributed in order: pole position bo chooses a car based on various factors like what kind of cars have yielded best results before, how big an advantage the qualifying showed and so on, then the runner-up picks etc. Performance points would not be the primary factor. Perhaps the player could optionally change the emphasis some.

 

[photonrider]

^
This is what I'm thinking like, too - I have studied PD from many angles (including playing a 'released' game in its entirety without a single DLC) and I will not be surprised if they have some hidden agenda.
The many surprises they have thrown at us have been somewhat nullified, and even glossed over, maybe even unappreciated because of all the yelling and complaining about what was lacking (or even worse promised and lacking), but it has still not blinded me to the fact that they have many gift horses hidden away which they produce on occasion and take the entire gaming community by surprise.
So what's with the name game?
What are they planning?

Meanwhile Holley and I are prepared. Or at least preparing.

 

[MonGnoM]

I just call him Bob.
I like the name Bob

 

[CommandrCyclops]

As to whether he is an actual clone based on our driving record remains to be investigated...

Has there been a thread on this? I thought of starting one a while ago, but I was afraid I would sound crazy. I noticed right away that for the most part my Bob did things exactly as I do if I put it on Push The Pace and left it alone. It could be coincidence, or maybe there are just lots of us at the same skill level as the Bob. On the other hand, if everyone had a Bob with my skill level, there would be a lot of rage on this board over how bad he sucked.

 

[eran0004]

I don't think of him/it as Bob anymore. It's me having an out of body experience.

It's an out of Bobby experience

 

[photonrider]

Has there been a thread on this? I thought of starting one a while ago, but I was afraid I would sound crazy. I noticed right away that for the most part my Bob did things exactly as I do if I put it on Push The Pace and left it alone.

Yes. A known phenomenon and discussed and tested at GTPlanet's unofficial AI Center in the Seasonals Forum.
Most of the fastest drivers in there also have the fastest Bobs as well as opponent AI.
There definitely is an input-influenced output in some areas of the racing.

It could be coincidence, or maybe there are just lots of us at the same skill level as the Bob. On the other hand, if everyone had a Bob with my skill level, there would be a lot of rage on this board over how bad he sucked.

It's interesting when one reads around the Forums - especially in the B-Spec Forum - about the seemingly different AI in individual saves.

_______________________

Okay - back on topic. Christening the Bobs.
Hold on. Some of you may not 'christen' or baptise them - though I'm sure some of you would want to exorcise whatever is in them . . . anyway I've had some more racing sessions with my Bob - and it is eerie to see him make moves that I would make - and have rarely seen anyone, either AI or the people I play with online, make.
He also told me off for calling him Holley. Says he's not a carb.
Surly guy, too.

We had a bit of an argument over some of the races he's not doing too well at - especially the challenges over at the AI Center, and I told him he'd better improve. He's not bothered by my blustering; he's in some kind of union where the drivers cannot be fired. He forgets I'm secretly god of this little world. I could erase him.
Anyway I need him for now so I gritted my teeth and told him that I had two golds and a silver at one of the Kart series and to go get me the gold - and was too tired to do it anyway.
Guy gets into the kart and just breezes along at his own pace, and ends up in the same position he started in.
"WTF is wrong with you?" I'm yelling at him, "You thought it was a frikkin' Sunday cruise? Why didn't you push the pace?"
"Push the pace?" he's asking me blandly. "Push the pace? Why dinya sayso?"
"Get back there and do it, Holley! They're running the race again."
"Not Holley," he says and ambles off.
So he gets back into the Kart and I'm watching him through my hi-tech race surveillance system, and talking to him from my private control booth reminding him to push the pace, and he pushes the pace and comes sixth.

The usual storm back in the pits after that.
"Can't you push it harder?" I yell at him "What don't you understand about the word 'Push?' Or is it harder you're having difficulty with?"
"Push it harder? Why dinya sayso?" He's shaking his head at me.
"Get out there, Holley. Do it! Push it harder! Harrrrrrder, understand?"
"Name not Holley," he monotones and zips off to the kart.

Now the guy is driving like a bit of a maniac and to my embarrassment even making some of the overly-aggressive moves I might myself make when racing these AI opponents.
He comes in with a silver, just like I originally did,
Back to square one.

Long gloomy silence back at the pits. No one is saying anything about the elephant in the room. In fact we don't even know what the elephant is - we just know there's an elephant involved, it's right there, and we don't know where.

"Can't really blame you, " I told him. "You did your best."
"Ya, did your best."
"Your."
"Ya, your."
"Oh! Just shut the -- why didn't you overtake them? You're supposed to overtake them, fer chrissakes!"
"Overtake? I did."
"But you didn't keep overtaking them."
"Why didya say so? You gotta say keep overtaking." He spun on his heel and strode off to the race again. He looked around once to say. "Name Hotchkiss. Hotchkiss Photonrider."

Needless to say he grabbed the gold for me right away when I kept yelling at him to keep overtalking.

"Hotchkiss! Overtake you bastard!" I kept at him right through the race. And boy, he kissed. All the way to the finish line.

So there you are. That's how I learned my Bob's name.