What is the latest one can connect to a session? I really do not want to miss this event. Is Qualifying the cutoff? I'll likely be able to make it in the door minutes before 18:00 hours.
Personally, I enjoyed the race and was glad I was able to get other obligations taken care of in time to make the start. At the same time, races like this are what I find disappointing and disillusioning about sim racing at present. What incentive is there for me or anyone to drive clean and consistent? I go out of my way to practice, be familiar with the car / track package, I try my darnedest to drive clean, consistent laps, not go off road or hit anyone or anything yet I end up finishing behind cars that had not one but at least two 90+ mph impacts, one with a guard rail and one with another car resulting in a roll over. Wut wut wut wut (trombone)... want to talk about an immersion killer? So much for 'Simulation'. Kind of $@%tty and disappointing. Felt like a colossal waste of time, effort, everything. Not just the practice but arranging one's schedule, work and real world obligations to have that one hour window to participate. These races are midday EDT over here. One round left and I reconsider whether I bother with anything else. All these games need to change or at least start putting ALL the realism at 100% so there's an iota of real consequence.
There is also the flip-side to your observations Joey. We all do this for personal enjoyment and having spent the time and effort in preparation that you've referred to, if you then go out after a few minutes due to a momentary error, it might make guys also wonder why they bother. Equally, going off and hitting something shouldn't be without consequence and again it can seem sometimes that the sim has been too hard or soft in it's calculation of damage allocated. For the races I host I always set damage effect to 50%, hoping it finds a reasonable middle ground. Though in my experience even with 50% damage set, rF2 can be quite severe in the effect it makes to the car's handling.
I understand and get all that. At the same time, while attendance has been lean, there really is no good reason I should be in 5th overall. Know what I mean? I still believe that the racing would be better with full damage / realism. People would be forced to reel it in to reality levels a bit so maybe they do not make that 'monetary' error you refer to. Think twice before stuffing a corner, dive bombing, riding under someone's rear wing or bumper rear ending them because you would risk bent wheels, punctures, aero or cooling damage or a terminal incident just like the big boys. Additionally, the over zealous driving not only produces unrealistic scenarios but also collateral damage. Others are usually collected in the messes created. Nothing to lose so why not? Anyway, it is what it is. Cheers.
If you set 100% damage, then at the finish there will be 2-3 cars at best. The maximum damage value with which I had to participate in races is 75%, but you need to go there very, very carefully.
Yes and? I practice with 100% full damage and I turn up the AI to 110% or more depending on the cars/mod. I 'simulate' not wrecking just like in the real thing we are simulating, where they try very hard to not wreck. I may not always be super fast but I'll almost always finish. Finishing is everything. All those cheesy cliches exist for something. Unrealistic expectation I know since there just aren't enough people to have separate races with more realism.
Frankly, Joey, i find your comments offensive. Through no fault of my own (i was on my brakes as soon as i realized a car was careening off the barriers and was going to become unavoidable in my path) i found myself behind you after contact and a flip. I had effectively lost 3 positions at that point (4 if you count the guy i hit) due to someone else's error. Watching the replay, you were the only car following that wasn't significantly affected by that incident. Yes, i agree, my preference is 100% damage, and i agree with the critique of those who don't treat this sport as a legitimate "sim" requiring proper preparation and attention to preserving car and driver, but i have no control over that. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed our 23+ lap battle, most of which i had what should have been a DRS advantage. But while i seemed to have a better overall pace than you, you had the legs on the straights to overcame my advantage in the corners, even with DRS. Additionally, you were driving very consistently, so I was convinced it would finish that way. Then your only significant error opened the door a couple laps from the end. I had great fun in this race. But now i'm reading you don't think that battle was legitimate, let alone redeeming. Sorry, i disagree. It was epic, in my opinion. barrett [And i'm assuming you are not referring to me when you reference "stuffing a corner, dive bombing, riding under someone's rear wing or bumper rear ending them because you would risk bent wheels, punctures, aero or cooling damage or a terminal incident...over zealous driving [that] not only produces unrealistic scenarios but also collateral damage..." as you'll never find me intentionally guilty of that. Far as i know, we never touched in those 23+ laps. If you are accusing me of that, we have more to talk about.]