Tips for Running a Successful Lobby?

[Satomiblood]

Whilst I can't speak for @JKcreativeworks regarding the Sunday Cup. I know that real life often gets in the way of hosting these things and unlike some members who have seemingly all the time in the world for GT Sport I only get a few hours a week before I'm guilty of ignoring my wife.

My (joint) plans for the (sequel to the Sunday Cup) Clubman Cup ran aground purely due to lack of time to dedicate to setting up and testing the theory. However I've not completely forgotten about the idea and I'm hoping to try and look at a Super Taikyu style N class lobby next year once I can figure out the best course of action in lieu actual multi class racing (IE can people be trusted to stick to certain power/weight levels for each 'class').

That's a shame. If you guys get Sunday Cup going again, I may be interested. I'm still struggling with getting mine off the ground and I've tried all sorts of things. I see threads pop up that get a bunch of replies and I'm left wondering what I'm doing wrong with mine. There's a structure, I invite people to ask questions/make suggestions, I try to make it inclusive and easygoing. And yet, people just scroll on by. I even switched over to Gr.2 for a SUPER GT theme. Nothing. I feel like I'm talking to myself.

 

[Nielsen]

My experience with hosting road car lobbies is that many people will join and then leave when they realize that no tire compound above sports soft is allowed. It's tragic.

 

[nojgib]

Personally I believe a lot has to do with finding the like minded individuals to race with. I really like the first response to the thread, especially the final bit. The more people you regularly race with, the easier it is to get a public lobby (or structured lobby) going. After a few join in a public lobby there are many randoms to follow. You will eventually find people you enjoy racing against who want the same things you do. If you are running by yourself, it doesn't necessarily mean there isn't any interest. It could be they are racing with THEIR friends and not looking for random lobbies to join. In this case it is better to look for another lobby running something you would enjoy racing. You are bound to find someone to race with there, and they more than likely have a friend or 2 who like the same.
As for the structured racing, the next obstacle is schedule.... there isn't much you can do there other than try to find a time when most can join. Best of luck.

It could be your car choice. Try offering a choice of cars to try and pique peoples interest. Harder tyres like comforts will scare less skilled people away while softer tyres will steer better skilled people away as they're too much tyre. Road car enthusiasts are a fickle bunch so you're definitely not the reason people aren't interested. Seeing the right combo at exactly the right time that they're looking for one is. It's a buyers market for lobby joiners and a really tough sell for hosts.

Maybe look into creating a community group to drum up interest from your friends list and see if you can find some regular players. Run races in the ever popular Gr cars for a while, then suggest road cars. Lobbies are usually a democracy. If the host asks for a quirky combo, it usually clears the lobby faster than a smelly fart so you have to cater to their needs to keep them happy. If you find a decent combo that has people joining but you want more, try remaking the lobby. Save your settings, leave and make the lobby again. You'll be back at the top of the lobby browser page for people to see.

Try public lobbies. If you get some people sticking around a while who you wouldn't mind racing again, send them a FR, post what other races you're considering running on your community page so they see it and see if you get any bites.

Good luck with it.👍

 

[Satomiblood]

My experience with hosting road car lobbies is that many people will join and then leave when they realize that no tire compound above sports soft is allowed. It's tragic.

Do you ever get people that enter your lobbies and immediately begin demanding things like picking a different track or reducing the number of laps? I had someone specifically request that I switch off visible damage.

 

[Nielsen]

Do you ever get people that enter your lobbies and immediately begin demanding things like picking a different track or reducing the number of laps? I had someone specifically request that I switch off visible damage.

I've seen questions along those lines, yes.

 

[seadog777]

I had the opposite experience yesterday. I joined a lobby with only one player (the host)....... and within a minute of me joining s/he left, leaving the race to me!! Online stuff remains unattractive to me...... too many weirdos out there!

 

[Lazybike]

I think PD could change a few things to make the lobbies a better experience, being able to specify cars would be useful, being able to pick any garage car and tune it in the lobby would be useful, an indicator that a race is in progress on the lobby page would save having to join and leave because the race has just started, It can take a bit of searching to find a lobby I like, but when you get a good one you can have some great racing.

 

[sundaydriving]

I think PD could change a few things to make the lobbies a better experience, being able to specify cars would be useful, being able to pick any garage car and tune it in the lobby would be useful, an indicator that a race is in progress on the lobby page would save having to join and leave because the race has just started, It can take a bit of searching to find a lobby I like, but when you get a good one you can have some great racing.

Shuffle races and fixed one make. And of course, a load of bug fixes.

You can tell if a race is in progress in the lobby page. Its not kept up to date though so you do sometimes join only to find the race has just started. No worries though, as you just leave and join another.

And yes, once a good lobby is found, its easy to spend a lot of time in it. Finding that lobby can be hard though.

 

[zortation]

Do you ever get people that enter your lobbies and immediately begin demanding things like picking a different track or reducing the number of laps? I had someone specifically request that I switch off visible damage.

It's your room, if they don't like it too bad. I put both visible and mechanical damage on all my rooms and can get people in for a few good races. I chose the tracks as well, no voting (most of the time)

 

[VBR]

Shuffle races and fixed one make.

Ah, the good 'ole days of Shulle & Spec racing in GT5. Here's hoping for a PS4 remaster of GT5...

 

[Satomiblood]

@Benny44

Here's a thread I started last year. Some of the advice in this thread might come in handy for you as you try to get yours started.

 

[Benny44]

Thank you! Life's been a bit busy as I'm moving at the end of September. But I really want to race.

 

[Rangeraus]

Just some general tips from experience:

Make sure the lobby settings are correct when creating the lobby. It can be frustrating when everyone on track gets reset when the host has to change some overlooked setting.

I would suggest setting fixed room ownership to OFF. It is pretty aggravating for everyone else who gets disconnected if/when the host decides to leave whenever they feel like it. Especially if everyone else is doing a race or qualifying run.

Try to give a 5 minute, 1 minute, and 'Starting soon' warning before starting races. There is no point giving a 1 minute warning if people are yet to complete a 2 minute qualifying lap, etc.

It is fine to run lobbies with people joining from different regions, but in my experience there are less issues (i.e. lag, cars turning around in circles in the pits or on the starting grid) if everyone is joining the lobby from the same region.

 

[Sander 001]

Ugh, I hope the usage of qualifying goes way down once the novelty wears off. I mean, the moment the lobby opens people are setting times so let’s just race already!

 

[Satomiblood]

Just some general tips from experience:

Make sure the lobby settings are correct when creating the lobby. It can be frustrating when everyone on track gets reset when the host has to change some overlooked setting.

My settings are typically correct. Thankfully, an event that's required a massive midsession settings overhaul hasn't happened.

I would suggest setting fixed room ownership to OFF. It is pretty aggravating for everyone else who gets disconnected if/when the host decides to leave whenever they feel like it. Especially if everyone else is doing a race or qualifying run.

I normally set the ownership to On, but I might switch it to Off.

Try to give a 5 minute, 1 minute, and 'Starting soon' warning before starting races. There is no point giving a 1 minute warning if people are yet to complete a 2 minute qualifying lap, etc.

Yeah, that's exactly what I do. I normally give people anywhere from 5-10 minutes to practice, test tunes, and set times.

It is fine to run lobbies with people joining from different regions, but in my experience there are less issues (i.e. lag, cars turning around in circles in the pits or on the starting grid) if everyone is joining the lobby from the same region.

My lobby times tend to appeal more to people outside of the U.S. One criticism I've gotten from some American players is that the Saturday 9:00 a.m. (EST) start time is too early, which is a bit weird considering I've seen the same players playing GTS around the same time, so that argument is a bit weak.

Ugh, I hope the usage of qualifying goes way down once the novelty wears off. I mean, the moment the lobby opens people are setting times so let’s just race already!

I've recently implemented qualifying in my weekly lobby and I have to admit it's a bit cumbersome when all I'm doing are sprint races. I'll probably switch it back to practice/race.

 

[talhaONE]

Kick everyone who attempt to drive Porsche 911 variants and Ferrari F40.

 

[Clean Racer]

@Satomiblood

I wish you success in any future events and if possible I would participate. My issue is balancing a crappy work schedule, hosting my own events and spending time with family.

Upon viewing your Turbo Sports series two things sprung to mind for me:

1. Annoyingly, people don't want to tune street cars. In fact there is a real strong aversion to tuning. So that is a real obstacle to overcome. I personally prefer to tune street cars but I am in the minority

2. On top of the fact that tuning is allowed you have a large selection of cars. Which is cool but overwhelming to some. Perhaps a smaller list or maybe a match up between manufacturers would be good. I know i would personally want to try every car to help me decide which one i like most and which one I am most consistent in.

Just some thoughts. Keep at it.

Also! Start tagging people when you post. Like this @Satomiblood

I helps get attention.

 

[Satomiblood]

@Satomiblood

I wish you success in any future events and if possible I would participate. My issue is balancing a crappy work schedule, hosting my own events and spending time with family.

Upon viewing your Turbo Sports series two things sprung to mind for me:

1. Annoyingly, people don't want to tune street cars. In fact there is a real strong aversion to tuning. So that is a real obstacle to overcome. I personally prefer to tune street cars but I am in the minority

2. On top of the fact that tuning is allowed you have a large selection of cars. Which is cool but overwhelming to some. Perhaps a smaller list or maybe a match up between manufacturers would be good. I know i would personally want to try every car to help me decide which one i like most and which one I am most consistent in.

Just some thoughts. Keep at it.

Also! Start tagging people when you post. Like this @Satomiblood

I helps get attention.

1. I find it strange that there's such an aversion to tuning given the nature of the GT series. I think part of it has to do with the fact that people just don't know how to tune. I actually don't know how to tune myself, but I've made use of the GTS tuning forum. There are some dedicated threads in there. And if you have a special tuning request that's not covered, people are pretty willing to help out. Also, with tuning open, I either have BOP switched On or I set power/weight limits. I haven't perfected the combinations yet, so that part is very much a work in progress.

2. My lobby has a different event each week. The car lists vary. Some are one-make events, others feature a small selection of cars, and I even do the occasional one-on-one matchup. Yes, the car list for the Turbo series is long, but it doesn't include every single turbocharged car in the game either.

But I will say that while it's my lobby, I openly welcome suggestions in that thread. Sadly, there's not an incredible amount of feedback. People seem mostly okay with the specs I set, but I employ an open door policy. If you don't like something and want to suggest a change, feel free to speak up.