SNAIL Parity Racing Series - 86 GT/FR-S/BR-Z Night

[Vol Jbolaz]

Okay, I'll update the second post later, for now, I've updated the spreadsheet

The first tab has regular points for tonight. You get one point for every driver you beat. The second tab, 2012.04.24 Alt Points, you get 16 points for 1st, 15 for 2nd, 14 for 3rd, and so on.

The differences:

In the second one, drivers that didn't finish all races were shuffled to the bottom. Aside from that, the order did not change, at all.

There were no ties with this. There were ties with the regular system. I imagine ties are still possible, just didn't happen here.

 

[BeRandom]

It's really interesting to see that Nic had the lowest average PP but still won the points.

I also don't feel so bad knowing that dabneyd had 20pp more when he blew past me on the last race. There was no way I could keep up.

All said, I had a lot of fun tonight. Keep it up Vol.

 

[esh]

Although I was getting a little fed up with the contact and overall slowness of getting the races going I wouldn't have disconnected if I hadn't started getting alerts from work of a failing SAN. I would have much rather raced than spend an hour and a half on hold with Dell just to order a battery @ 1AM.

 

[diabolicwyvern]

Thanks for picking on me.

 

[Apmaddock]

A couple of ideas for you, garris. Take them or leave them as you please.

1: Regarding PP:
It came to my mind that perhaps the PP difference that you scale the cars by should be directly related to a percentage of their initial or maximum PP. i.e. car starts with 400 PP, and each increment is 5 PP (which I think worked pretty well last night) then the percentage per increment is 1.25%. Use that number each week to determine your increments for the week. So 500 PP cars use a 6 PP increment, etc. This percentage could then be what you tweak based on how well the parity PP shifts are balancing the crowd.

2: Regarding scoring
If you're afraid of people intentionally dropping back for a bigger PP boost or whatever, you could use more of a curve in the points scored per race. Instead of a linear drop for each position, you could do something like.

1 : 24 points
2 : 20
3 : 17
4 : 15
5 : 13
6 : 11
7 : 10
8 : 9
9 : 8
10 : 7
11 : 6
12 : 5
13 : 4
14 : 3
15 : 2
16 : 1

Or similar.

You have demonstrated how sandbagging is not a great option, generally, and I agree, but this would make it even worse.

Admittedly, I like your parity system, and I'm not watching the numbers closely enough to really know if or what changes need to be made, but these popped into my head, so I thought you could give them a look.

Thanks for the races last night.

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

1: Regarding PP:
It came to my mind that perhaps the PP difference that you scale the cars by should be directly related to a percentage of their initial or maximum PP. i.e. car starts with 400 PP, and each increment is 5 PP (which I think worked pretty well last night) then the percentage per increment is 1.25%. Use that number each week to determine your increments for the week. So 500 PP cars use a 6 PP increment, etc. This percentage could then be what you tweak based on how well the parity PP shifts are balancing the crowd.

This is one that I've thought about. I actually wondered if the increment for last night should've been 4 or 3 PP instead of 5.

But, I think the race was close last night, except... we were on tight courses, so it may have just been tight since it was hard to pass.

 

[Apmaddock]

It seemed decent. I finished in the middle of the pack consistently, which is exactly what I do on Sunday night, as well – finish in the middle of Division 2 – the middle pack.

5 seemed good to me last night. 5 seemed like barely enough to me last week.

 

[pyxen]

I had a good time...thanks for the races I was there for! On our first visit to Rome, I got behind you going into the 2nd gear turn before the long back straight, and ended up losing it because I tried to avoid you and your damn early brake points...*grumble* I never really care if I drop places, but it's a pain, and I apologise to those who were behind me (which was everyone from 4 back)!

I'll try and make it again next week, and then at some point for a whole evening! I've been bagged lately, so not inclined to stay up late these days

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

I don't know what it is Pyxen, if you are talking about the corner that I think you are talking about, but I take that corner completely differently going forward than backward. I don't know why. I just take a slower, inside line going forward, but I go wide when going backward. I think it is just how I see the corner opening up, or not, at the end. Sorry to throw you.

Aside from that, there is some concern about cheating. I don't share the concern. Yes, I really do think there are some people who are cheating. But I don't care. There are some people who are not. I value those people more anyway, and I get a chance to keep up with them. I don't win, but I wasn't going to win without this parity experiment anyway. I don't care that I don't win, I don't have this big ego or pride. I try to win, if I win, great. If I don't, well, the joy is from the attempt. It is the journey, not the destination.

As I say to my son, if you don't enjoy doing it when you are losing, then you don't enjoy doing it.

Still, there is a concern, and I am going to try something different for the next few weeks. I am going to try to do the staggered entrance to the track. As a result, this will slow us down. So instead of six races a night, I think I will do four or five.

Each one will also be slightly longer, this will give drivers who had to start at the back, due to reverse grid, more time to try to make it to the front.

Mind you, those drivers should have less PP, on average, so their chances of making it to the front should drop. But that is what I'm going for, close racing where every position matters, not racing where winning matters.

We will see how the next few weeks go. Hopefully, we will get a large turn out again.

 

[BeRandom]

A staggered entrance should work just fine if everyone pays attention. After a race, you can tell if your PP is gonna changed based on where you finished. All you gotta do is adjust the power limiter, so just be prepared and watch the chat box.

 

[Nicktune]

I am going to try to do the staggered entrance to the track....

I'll add something to that....Once you are on the track do not leave to the lobby.

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

My PS3 is down. So no parity racing tonight. I may have it back up (replaced) by next week. We'll see.

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

I am back! We will race this week.

Again, this week will be the V8 challenge. There are three cars to chose from. Once you pick one, you'll be asked to drive it the entire evening. Chose wisely, but remember, there is a parity system. It should compensate not only for you, but for the car as well.

This week we will do the staggered entrance. After a race, I'll compute the new PP levels. Then I'll lower the limit to the current level of the lowest drivers. Those drivers enter the track. I'll raise it to the next set of drivers, and they will enter the course. We'll do this over and over.

Once you are on the track, stay there. Do not return to the lobby.

I have three tracks planned. They all fit into the theme, and they should hopefully be big enough to accommodate a large crowd. I hope we get a large crowd. I'm not sure how long each round will take with the staggered entrance. If we can get in one or two more races, I'll be happy. We'll vote for the tracks.

 

[Oshawa-Joe]

Hi,

I'm thinking about trying this tonight if there is space. Can the cars be modified and tuned?

 

[dabneyd]

Hi,

I'm thinking about trying this tonight if there is space. Can the cars be modified and tuned?

Nope. Tuning prohibited. Check the OP.

 

[Oshawa-Joe]

Nope. Tuning prohibited. Check the OP.

I had looked there but couldn't find the info.

 

[dabneyd]

I had looked there but couldn't find the info.

You're right, but tuning would make the attempt at a parity system moot.

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

Sorry for the confusion, I started this before joining SNAIL, and we were trying to start at 9:30 Eastern. The new start time is 10:00 Eastern.

Also, when I started this, we were allowing tuning, but we have people that can tune a car so well that they can easily take on someone 25 PP higher. We may allow tuning from time to time, but not tonight.

It is in the D2 lounge. We don't have a fixed roster. It is open to anyone that shows up. First come, first serve. I'll probably be in the room by 9:00 Eastern trying out the cars, though I think I am going to drive the GT S.

Oh, and I think we ran penalties just one week. I'm sorry about that. Penalties are off on Tuesdays.

 

[pyxen]

Sorry for missing...been fighting a killer head cold, and forgot! Hope it was a good time.

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

I still dont' know what car I'm going with. I wanted to use the RGT, but it only goes up to 506 PP. I'll have to poke around. For the good drivers, that would be more than enough, and it is a great car to drive, but I am not a good driver. Maybe the V8 R8, maybe the IS F. XKR? M5? There are some very stable cars that should work for me, so I have stuff to choose from.

There are also some dramatic cars in that range, such as Vipers, Corvettes, and a Zonda.

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

Okay, I've finally gotten around to updating the leaderboard post. The full Google doc is available as a web page.

Since zer05ive won two weeks ago, he is picking the format for this week. Nic-KL won last week, so he will be picking the format for the week after this. I'm going to keep this up for a while, letting the winner pick the format.

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

Zero and I are working out the final details, but it will be GT500 cars racing across five F1 circuits.

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

Details finalized:

22 May 2012: GT500 World Tour

• Car Selection: Any Premium or Standard JGTC or Super GT GT500 Race Car
• Initial Performance Point Level: 575
• Lower Performance Point Level: 565
• Upper Performance Point Level: 590
• Performance Point Increment: 5
• Tire Selection: Racing Medium
• Track Selection: Indianapolis Road Course, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Nurburgring GP/F, Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Suzuka Circuit

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

There was a pretty healthy sized patch released last night. If you want to join tonight, you need to log in early to download and install the patch.

 

[Oshawa-Joe]

I have never really done Gt500 anything. What would be a good car to use? I have all of them including the rare/ hard to get cars and would prefer to use one of those instead of the NCD cars.

 

[dabneyd]

I have never really done Gt500 anything. What would be a good car to use? I have all of them including the rare/ hard to get cars and would prefer to use one of those instead of the NCD cars.

Hopefully it doesn't matter. Pick the one you think is prettiest, or drives the best.

 

[Oshawa-Joe]

I don't have time to test a bunch of them, so I'll go with something that sounds cool - the Hiroto! My luck it's probably a lemon.

...wow, I can use a Nomad Diablo? Awesome!

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

To me, the NSXs are a little twitchy. The Z is very stable. The GT-R is stable, too, but it is just FR. They don't run the AWD.

I will be running the the Yellowhat GT-R. It is yellow and has the number 3 on it. The GT-Rs are also at the top of the range without needing a break in.

 

[zer05ive]

This is my ride tonight!

 

[tezgm99]

I've got some GT500's capable of being in this....if there's room in the, uh, room