Variety vs Specialty

[NommyNom]

In your opinion, when it comes to daily and cup races, is it better to;

Specialize in specific types of cars on specific tracks that you are very fast/familiar with and only race those when they are available? Or,

Understand and try a variety of cars and all the tracks GT has to offer by participating in as many types races as possible?

 

[Jamie Bbbbb]

For me, specific, because I don't enjoy online racing very much in anything other than Gr.3 and Gr.4 cars (and I suppose Gr.1 but not had enough opportunities to try it). And I only run Race C unless I don't have enough time because they are simply the best races.

 

[kilesa4568]

Jack of all trades, master of none has been my policy so far. I've not used the same car twice in a single night but I hate front wheel drives so they don't get a look in. Jack of most trades I should probably say because of that.

With the dailies being so restricted with tracks and race lengths, I'm starting to do mainly lobby races for the variety.

 

[VFOURMAX1]

My opinion you should be offline as you are learning to become "familiar" with a new car or track so that when you venture online into an environment where your driving and track knowledge affect other peoples races so that your mistakes as you are learning do not affect others.

In many cases it is easy to tell who has taken the time to properly learn a track and who is a tool that should be offline learning the track rather than being in an online race making life miserable for others.

 

[kilesa4568]

My opinion you should be offline as you are learning to become "familiar" with a new car or track so that when you venture online into an environment where your driving and track knowledge affect other peoples races so that your mistakes as you are learning do not affect others.

It's my lobby race and locked to friends only so there's no worry there. If a mistake happens, we'll probably laugh about it.

 

[Sean Renon]

When I first started, I was doing dailies over and over, and FIA races - lately I've been focused on more specific events and circuit experience (getting near top 10 times), and learning the tracks much more in depth.

I feel like I hit a plateau around mid DR.A and to get faster I had to study more rather than just race the same people, since then I've taken some serious time off some of my tracks and I've been getting better by being more focused.

 

[GTR365]

My opinion you should be offline as you are learning to become "familiar" with a new car or track so that when you venture online into an environment where your driving and track knowledge affect other peoples races so that your mistakes as you are learning do not affect others.

In many cases it is easy to tell who has taken the time to properly learn a track and who is a tool that should be offline learning the track rather than being in an online race making life miserable for others.

I echo this. 'Practice' should not occur during competition. The result of such is frustratingly unpredictable for all parties.
I rarely race in Sport Mode. After racing since original Gran Turismo, I often prefer just to cruise at between 4/10's & 7/10's pace. Kids, don't discount this activity - it's like a Friday track walk to learn lesser known track intricacies & to establish additional markers for when traffic occludes good track vision we enjoy during Q laps. It also enhances heads up awareness for getting passed without losing time. Just why do those guys drive Tomahawk X on RSS tires in my cruise rooms?

 

[AlexDB9]

Variety, since I enjoy both a low powered fun car like the Mazda Roadster and racing cars with crazy specs like some VGT cars alike. Afterall variety of cars is a main reason I bought GT Sport instead of let's say F1.

 

[DriftMethod]

If you want to get a higher Driver Rating, then be very selective and focus on a small number of tracks/cars, then only race with those.

It depends on what you want to get out of the game. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to play. I have been focused on specific car/track combinations and will soon start branching out.

One thing I disagree with is the idea that you shouldn't "practice" during online races. Grid position is based on a qualifying lap (in Sport mode), so the drivers around you should be relatively close in ability. My belief is that most of the carnage is due to people intentionally diving/bumping and having different views of acceptable racing. One caveat, if you're being lapped you should know how to let others safely pass.

 

[Shottah072]

I only run the C races because they are longer and in my experience provide the best racing. I also prefer a race car over a street car anyday so i've been mainly driving gr3 and 4. Only tracks i avoid are the ovals and tokyo, also havent raced willow spring yet.

 

[VFOURMAX1]

One thing I disagree with is the idea that you shouldn't "practice" during online races. Grid position is based on a qualifying lap (in Sport mode),

And join just about any current sport mode race and you will see the evidence of people that are after multiple lap attempts in Qualifying they are finally able to put together 1 decent lap but once in the race they cannot consistently run or maintain that pace.

There is a lot of difference in being on a track by yourself and taking 20 or more laps to finally string together 1 decent lap than being on a track with 19 other racers and need to turn close to that same time over a course of up to 10 consecutive laps and also take into consideration of accounting for less grip because of the tire wear that is active in the race.

That lap time not only sets your starting place but indicates you can run in a race at close to that pace lap after lap if need be.

So they are the ones in the race trying to run over their heads bouncing off walls and coming back on the track taking out other racers, blowing braking points and running through corners taking out those that have used a proper braking point for the track and pace being run.

They have not run the track enough to understand how a corner will affect the car because the optimal line is already taken and forcing a different line because of traffic.

Yes there are people that intentionally wreck people but there are in my opinion many more that are trying to drive at a pace that exceeds their current skill level who are causing the most problems taking many racers out not on purpose but due to lack of ability.

 

[JacksHerer]

If you want to punch above your weight, then concentrating on a few tracks is easier/quicker than spreading your time over all the tracks.

 

[polizei]

I prefer the road cars and single make races. I find that at my ranking c/c the gr3/4 races are full of dive bombing try-hards that make it more of a chore. Most of my racing is in public lobbies.

I also avoid the courses with walls as the tank your ranking faster than anything

 

[DriftMethod]

And join just about any current sport mode race and you will see the evidence of people that are after multiple lap attempts in Qualifying they are finally able to put together 1 decent lap but once in the race they cannot consistently run or maintain that pace.

There is a lot of difference in being on a track by yourself and taking 20 or more laps to finally string together 1 decent lap than being on a track with 19 other racers and need to turn close to that same time over a course of up to 10 consecutive laps and also take into consideration of accounting for less grip because of the tire wear that is active in the race.

That lap time not only sets your starting place but indicates you can run in a race at close to that pace lap after lap if need be.

So they are the ones in the race trying to run over their heads bouncing off walls and coming back on the track taking out other racers, blowing braking points and running through corners taking out those that have used a proper braking point for the track and pace being run.

They have not run the track enough to understand how a corner will affect the car because the optimal line is already taken and forcing a different line because of traffic.

Yes there are people that intentionally wreck people but there are in my opinion many more that are trying to drive at a pace that exceeds their current skill level who are causing the most problems taking many racers out not on purpose but due to lack of ability.

I understand there is a difference between running alone to set a qualifying lap and racing with 19 others. So how does someone learn to race competitively with others offline? AI won't help. I don't think you can gain the skills to compete with real people without racing real people. This goes back to driver's attitudes and understanding that if you are just getting your feet wet, then learning while racing is more important than ending position.

If you can consistently run your qualifying time (other than tire wear), then you are either an Alien or need a better qualifying lap. Aliens more or less only compete with themselves. If you don't put the time in to get a fast qualifying lap, then it's your fault for starting near overall slower drivers. The first lap is usually crazy, but after that, you should be near drivers close to your ability for the rest of the race. Everyone makes mistakes, but in a competitive race, any mistake will cost you time/positions that are hard to gain back. There is no "faking it" in racing, you either put up the times or are passed/left behind.

I race Sport mode regularly and it's quite possible that we are just looking at races with different perspectives. I try to keep it clean and respectful and for the most part that's what I get back. I apologize when I make mistakes and will give back positions if I don't feel good about a pass. I've had my share of getting upset and frustrated with other drivers, but I've found that as my skills and times improve so does the quality of the racing around me. A large part of that is setting a qualifying time representative of a great lap (for me) which is noticeably faster than my race pace. My Sport mode experience has been largely positive.

 

[PirovacBoy]

I drive any Car on any track, it’s the variety that I like most. Every Car is unique and trying to give my best in each of them gives me the ultimate satisfaction. Why should I specialize myself to only one Category?! No point. Hopefully PD finally adds more daily races with different Categories, we have so many Cars, what’s the Point in only being able to use them in lobbies.
The Specialists will anyway go for Gr3 and 4. Each his own.

 

[VFOURMAX1]

If you can consistently run your qualifying time (other than tire wear), then you are either an Alien or need a better qualifying lap.

I intentionally try to set a Q lap .5-.7 tenths of a lap faster than what I feel I can run realistically on a regular basis. My starting position varies with the lobby of course but regardless of where I start I am usually capable of maintaining whatever pace I find the race requires.

And yes even the tire wear part I have usually spent countless laps offline prior to racing online with the car I am racing to know beforehand what type of grip differences I will experience and what adjustments the car needs in driving style to compensate for the changes.

Again my purpose is as a responsible racer I should know how such conditions will affect me over a race distance so I will not face surprises that cause me to ruin not only my race but that of someone else as well.

I truly think that much of the problem we see today in Sport races in part is because of the current Q system used to match drivers. I think we would have a much better matched system if the actual Q session was limited to 10 laps and the average of the best 3 back to back laps was the Q time used.

That would give a much better capacity to judge a persons actual maintainable pace over the current 1 hot lap method in use as of now. The closer the matching the better the races should be in theory.

So yes I may be able to turn a one off faster lap than I "turn in" I know that is not a pace I can run multiple laps mistake free usually. I prefer consitent as a measuring stick. I will never be an Alien so that is a moot point to me.

The game has me about right I think as far as ranking is concerned.

 

[GTR365]

Concerning Sport Mode Daily Q time of record, I disapprove carrying forward the time I achieved in Car A while switching to Car B. I believe the fairer requirement would be either for me to qualify Car B to achieve a revised time or for me to enter the race using Car B with no Q time.

 

[DriftMethod]

I intentionally try to set a Q lap .5-.7 tenths of a lap faster than what I feel I can run realistically on a regular basis. My starting position varies with the lobby of course but regardless of where I start I am usually capable of maintaining whatever pace I find the race requires.

And yes even the tire wear part I have usually spent countless laps offline prior to racing online with the car I am racing to know beforehand what type of grip differences I will experience and what adjustments the car needs in driving style to compensate for the changes.

Again my purpose is as a responsible racer I should know how such conditions will affect me over a race distance so I will not face surprises that cause me to ruin not only my race but that of someone else as well.

I truly think that much of the problem we see today in Sport races in part is because of the current Q system used to match drivers. I think we would have a much better matched system if the actual Q session was limited to 10 laps and the average of the best 3 back to back laps was the Q time used.

That would give a much better capacity to judge a persons actual maintainable pace over the current 1 hot lap method in use as of now. The closer the matching the better the races should be in theory.

So yes I may be able to turn a one off faster lap than I "turn in" I know that is not a pace I can run multiple laps mistake free usually. I prefer consitent as a measuring stick. I will never be an Alien so that is a moot point to me.

The game has me about right I think as far as ranking is concerned.

I think we are close to agreement here. Responsible racing is what we both ask for.

As far as qualifying and matching, I think it's decent as is (except maybe the SR matching should be more strict, but that's another conversation.) I don't think it should be complicated by averages or limiting qualifying laps allowed.

I mean no disrespect when I say that you should push for your very best qualifying lap if you think that you get placed near inferior drivers. It's not unfair to set a blistering qualifying lap to get a better starting position, that's the whole point of qualifying.

edit: moved qualifying discussion to https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...ng-has-been-implemented.364651/#post-12182588