Day 28 in the Big iRacing house <-- warning, long and about iRacing

Andrew is in the diary room...

[What can we do for you Andrew?]

Cheaper subscription? Free content as you earn it instead of being milked
for every extra car or track?

[Not a hope.]

Free racing for backmarkers then... think of it as a charitable act
nurturing immature drivers.

[Dream on.]

How about a time machine so I can go back and never join, saving myself
from ever having to drive that lousy Solstice, bore r.a.s. with my posts,
and appear such a fool for flip-flopping on whether to stay on or not?

[I don't think we can do that.]

How about peace in Afghanistan and an end to Cold War II and instability
in Pakistan?

[No, not that either.]

They've got nukes remember.

[Big iRacing isn't afraid of nukes, only free will and hacking.]

Ok, it was worth a try.

[So are you still flip-flopping?]

Only when I forget to do my zipper up.

[How hilarious. If only your driving was as sharp as your razor sharp
wit.]

Now who's being sarcastic?

[Forgive me. But remember Big iRacing and its housemates can see every
race you've had, every off you've offed, every pathetically slow lap
you've turned. So it's very funny listening to you pretending to be a sim
racer when we all know you're just a pathetic little wannabe clogging up
the virtual tracks.]

Aren't you supposed to listen and let me talk?

[Go on then. If you must.]

If you've reached here, congratulations. I expect I'm talking to about
three people now, and all of you will be familiar with my love-hate
relationship with iRacing.

And I really do want to hate it. There are *so* many things about the
pricing and prescriptive <'allo_'allo>you vill do ziss ant you vill haff
fun!</allo_'allo> structure that I want to dislike intensely. And no
matter how many times I'm told the Solstice is good for me, I will never
forgive them for making me drive the darned thing for a whole week of my
life. I'll never get that week back!

So last weekend, after that race I'd enjoyed so much, I decided not to
race again in my final week of subscription. No risk of enjoying myself
again if I don't drive, right? No danger of going back on my decision to
step away from the credit card for at least a month.

Well, I made it up to this morning. Then I booted up the games box and
put myself in the Solstice at Laguna... a combination of car and track I
hate more than any other. Nothing to lose, just foot down and push as
hard as I can while I can still access the code.

Result? No joy whatsoever. Ne pleasure pas. Zilch, nada. No speed, no
thrill, no satisfaction. Just frustration. Which is exactly what I
wanted... it confirmed all my prejudices and suspicions about my driving.
As some say on iRacing, if you can't drive the Solstice well you're
probably just a lousy sim racer. Deal with it.

But I once said -- here I'm sure -- that I'd drive anything Papyrus
coded... it's about racing and their skill at convincing you it's real,
not the shape and weight of the car. Well, obviously I was wrong.
Sometimes driving your chair around your desk can be more satisfying than
a car which doesn't suit you.

Ok, so I then made a mistake. Last weekend I did very few laps in the
Skip Barber ready for this week's Lime Rock race. But today I decided to
throw myself straight into a time trial. After all, if I leave I will
still remain on the iRacing stats, and my secret (and, I'm certain,
humiliating) iRating & ttRating will soon be visible to everyone there.
So I might as well try to improve things a little before I go.

And I had an *embarrassing* amount of fun pushing the Skip Barber around
Lime Rock. Maybe partially because I didn't really care any more, and
maybe because it's a small track with lots of long corners to force the
car round. I had the back end out for a change, I ignored the prospect of
not scoring if I had an incident, and I got my previous best down from
about 1:02.5 to *just* under 1:01. Not earth shaking, not in danger of
troubling those getting 1:57s, but a fair improvement, with an average
over my best 8 laps of slightly over 1:02 (I backed off towards the end
to ensure 8 straight laps without an incident).

By the time I'd finished, the 12:15 GMT race was coming up, so... yes,
you guessed it. I raced and enjoyed myself immensely. I started last and
-- thanks to a combination of luck and discos -- finished much higher
despite going off at one point (rather elegantly even if I say so myself,
looking at the replay afterwards). I found another driver of very similar
ability, and also had plenty of clean interaction with faster drivers who
were less consistent.

In short, I remembered exactly why this bl**dy sim is so addictive. The
Skip Barber in iRacing *is* GPL2, there is no doubt -- in my mind at
least -- about it. The mystical balance of visual, aural, and force
feedback which made GPL such a satisfying experience has been reborn for
the 21st century.

I always said I'd crawl over broken glass to get GPL2. So surely forking
out a lump of money and putting up with a rigid racing structure I don't
really like is much less painful?

Andrew McP... up for eviction from r.a.s. ;-)

[Please vote him out!]

"Andrew MacPherson" > wrote in message
dress_disguised...
> Andrew is in the diary room...
>
> [What can we do for you Andrew?]
>
> Cheaper subscription? Free content as you earn it instead of being milked
> for every extra car or track?
>
> [Not a hope.]
>
> Free racing for backmarkers then... think of it as a charitable act
> nurturing immature drivers.
>
> [Dream on.]
>
> How about a time machine so I can go back and never join, saving myself
> from ever having to drive that lousy Solstice, bore r.a.s. with my posts,
> and appear such a fool for flip-flopping on whether to stay on or not?
>
> [I don't think we can do that.]
>
> How about peace in Afghanistan and an end to Cold War II and instability
> in Pakistan?
>
> [No, not that either.]
>
> They've got nukes remember.
>
> [Big iRacing isn't afraid of nukes, only free will and hacking.]
>
> Ok, it was worth a try.
>
> [So are you still flip-flopping?]
>
> Only when I forget to do my zipper up.
>
> [How hilarious. If only your driving was as sharp as your razor sharp
> wit.]
>
> Now who's being sarcastic?
>
> [Forgive me. But remember Big iRacing and its housemates can see every
> race you've had, every off you've offed, every pathetically slow lap
> you've turned. So it's very funny listening to you pretending to be a sim
> racer when we all know you're just a pathetic little wannabe clogging up
> the virtual tracks.]
>
> Aren't you supposed to listen and let me talk?
>
> [Go on then. If you must.]
>
> If you've reached here, congratulations. I expect I'm talking to about
> three people now, and all of you will be familiar with my love-hate
> relationship with iRacing.
>
> And I really do want to hate it. There are *so* many things about the
> pricing and prescriptive <'allo_'allo>you vill do ziss ant you vill haff
> fun!</allo_'allo> structure that I want to dislike intensely. And no
> matter how many times I'm told the Solstice is good for me, I will never
> forgive them for making me drive the darned thing for a whole week of my
> life. I'll never get that week back!
>
> So last weekend, after that race I'd enjoyed so much, I decided not to
> race again in my final week of subscription. No risk of enjoying myself
> again if I don't drive, right? No danger of going back on my decision to
> step away from the credit card for at least a month.
>
> Well, I made it up to this morning. Then I booted up the games box and
> put myself in the Solstice at Laguna... a combination of car and track I
> hate more than any other. Nothing to lose, just foot down and push as
> hard as I can while I can still access the code.
>
> Result? No joy whatsoever. Ne pleasure pas. Zilch, nada. No speed, no
> thrill, no satisfaction. Just frustration. Which is exactly what I
> wanted... it confirmed all my prejudices and suspicions about my driving.
> As some say on iRacing, if you can't drive the Solstice well you're
> probably just a lousy sim racer. Deal with it.
>
> But I once said -- here I'm sure -- that I'd drive anything Papyrus
> coded... it's about racing and their skill at convincing you it's real,
> not the shape and weight of the car. Well, obviously I was wrong.
> Sometimes driving your chair around your desk can be more satisfying than
> a car which doesn't suit you.
>
> Ok, so I then made a mistake. Last weekend I did very few laps in the
> Skip Barber ready for this week's Lime Rock race. But today I decided to
> throw myself straight into a time trial. After all, if I leave I will
> still remain on the iRacing stats, and my secret (and, I'm certain,
> humiliating) iRating & ttRating will soon be visible to everyone there.
> So I might as well try to improve things a little before I go.
>
> And I had an *embarrassing* amount of fun pushing the Skip Barber around
> Lime Rock. Maybe partially because I didn't really care any more, and
> maybe because it's a small track with lots of long corners to force the
> car round. I had the back end out for a change, I ignored the prospect of
> not scoring if I had an incident, and I got my previous best down from
> about 1:02.5 to *just* under 1:01. Not earth shaking, not in danger of
> troubling those getting 1:57s, but a fair improvement, with an average
> over my best 8 laps of slightly over 1:02 (I backed off towards the end
> to ensure 8 straight laps without an incident).
>
> By the time I'd finished, the 12:15 GMT race was coming up, so... yes,
> you guessed it. I raced and enjoyed myself immensely. I started last and
> -- thanks to a combination of luck and discos -- finished much higher
> despite going off at one point (rather elegantly even if I say so myself,
> looking at the replay afterwards). I found another driver of very similar
> ability, and also had plenty of clean interaction with faster drivers who
> were less consistent.
>
> In short, I remembered exactly why this bl**dy sim is so addictive. The
> Skip Barber in iRacing *is* GPL2, there is no doubt -- in my mind at
> least -- about it. The mystical balance of visual, aural, and force
> feedback which made GPL such a satisfying experience has been reborn for
> the 21st century.
>
> I always said I'd crawl over broken glass to get GPL2. So surely forking
> out a lump of money and putting up with a rigid racing structure I don't
> really like is much less painful?
>
> Andrew McP... up for eviction from r.a.s. ;-)
>
> [Please vote him out!]

You'll come back..... They always come back.....


:-))

RobP

On Aug 27, 8:39*am, (Andrew
MacPherson) wrote:
> And no
> matter how many times I'm told the Solstice is good for me, I will never
> forgive them for making me drive the darned thing for a whole week of my
> life. I'll never get that week back!

I don't understand this attitude at all. There was some frustration
for me with the Solstice at Laguna, but I did the best I could with
it, and found more speed over time. I never had the visceral negative
reaction to the rookie car that others have. True, it's not a lot of
fun compared to the higher level cars. I'll probably never drive one
again. But while I was driving it, it was just a car that I was
trying to go fast in, and that is always fun on some level.

Maybe the difference is having enough real life seat time to have
experienced a poorly handling vehicle?

I've had plenty of bad rental karts that didn't want to turn, but I
had already spent my money, so I just went as fast as I could with
it. There were other times with my own kart where I missed the setup
and was way off the pace. I just did the best I could.

Frustrating? Yes. But it's still better being on a race track than
on a tennis court or golf course. Guess I approached the rookie
Solstice the same way and was happy just to drive it to its (and my)
potential.

--
Pat Dotson

() wrote:

> I don't understand this attitude at all.

Whereas I can understand your attitude completely... I can understand why
some people might get a thrill out of training a particularly stubborn
dog. But I just can't make the Solstice entertaining in any way, shape or
form. The strange thing is though that it's not that much slower (the way
I drive it :-) than the Skip Barber... only a matter of 4 or 5 seconds a
lap around Lime Rock. But that 4 or 5 seconds feels like an eternity!

I am increasingly convinced that the Solstice is a way of finding out if
you're made of the Right Stuff for iRacing. Not as a driver, but as a
member of the gated community which iRacing is.

I remain torn, very painfully, over whether to continue. It's the most
difficult decision I've ever had to make over something as silly as a
computer game. I'm embarrassed at how easily I swing from positive to
negative and back again. It really is sim crack. I'm definitely going to
give up... until the withdrawal symptoms come back.

Andrew McP

PS I've even wondered if my Solstice aversion was down to a controller
issue. But I'm fine with the other cars, so it must just be me!

Andrew MacPherson wrote:
> Andrew is in the diary room...

Still the nutter Andrew , it's too bad really that we've never (to my
knowledge) crossed paths on a virtual race track out there, and
according to your own evaluation of your skills that may be just as well
for the iRating I don't have....and never will have, but I think I would
have enjoyed it


Goy

Goy Larsen wrote:
> Andrew MacPherson wrote:
>> Andrew is in the diary room...
>
> Still the nutter Andrew , it's too bad really that we've never (to my
> knowledge) crossed paths on a virtual race track out there, and
> according to your own evaluation of your skills that may be just as well
> for the iRating I don't have....and never will have, but I think I would
> have enjoyed it

> Goy

the return of RAS's favourite uncle...

I have just had a great idea, I think I will call it iRascar. Get DGF,
Simmo & Mitch on the blower, stock up with popcorn and lets get this
show on the road!

Cheers
Tony

On Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:25:04 +0100, Tony R wrote:
>
> I have just had a great idea, I think I will call it iRascar. Get DGF,
> Simmo & Mitch on the blower, stock up with popcorn and lets get this
> show on the road!
>
> Cheers
> Tony


That sounds like fun, and who knows with iR considering open servers
in their latest customer survey... ;->

cheers, Uwe

--

Tony R wrote:
> Goy Larsen wrote:
>> Andrew MacPherson wrote:
>>> Andrew is in the diary room...
>>
>> Still the nutter Andrew , it's too bad really that we've never (to
>> my knowledge) crossed paths on a virtual race track out there, and
>> according to your own evaluation of your skills that may be just as
>> well for the iRating I don't have....and never will have, but I think
>> I would have enjoyed it
>
>> Goy
>
> the return of RAS's favourite uncle...
>
> I have just had a great idea, I think I will call it iRascar. Get DGF,
> Simmo & Mitch on the blower, stock up with popcorn and lets get this
> show on the road!

Hehe, those were the days, at least on here DGF wouldn't get banned

Good to see there's still some familiar faces around here, I'm still
convinced this web based forum thing is a passing fad....


Goy

On Aug 27, 9:45*pm, (Andrew
MacPherson) wrote:
> () wrote:
>
> I remain torn, very painfully, over whether to continue. It's the most
> difficult decision I've ever had to make over something as silly as a
> computer game. I'm embarrassed at how easily I swing from positive to
> negative and back again. It really is sim crack. I'm definitely going to
> give up... until the withdrawal symptoms come back.
>
> Andrew McP

I can assure you the Barbie (I refuse to call it the Skippy!) at LRP
is not sim crack. It might be skunk - and it is most certainly not the
alcohol-free, what's-the-point-lager that the Solstice is - but it's
not sim-crack. If you're looking for sim crack, I would recommend sir
try a seat in the Legends Weekly Road Racing league. Oh...my...god.
That is fun :-) The car drives (and sounds) like a demented wasp, and
changes direction like it's trying to throw you out - the wheelbase is
so short that it's just absolutely alive to every minute weight
transfer and movement of the throttle. They're not tough to drive -
but they're insanely tough to drive fast! Watching the aliens throw
these things around is pretty jaw-dropping. In GPL I understood WHAT
they were doing, I just couldn't do it. Here, nope, not a clue how you
throw this around and stay within 100m of the track.

Go on, you know you want to - all the cool kids are doing it ;-) The
first hit is free....
(Damn, no it isn't....!)

Cheers!
John

(Goy Larsen) wrote:

> Good to see there's still some familiar faces around here, I'm
> still convinced this web based forum thing is a passing fad....

We can all dream! :-)

I'm still waiting for someone to work out how to make a reader for forums
which works in the same way a newsgroup reader does. I'd pay good money
for that actually!

Andrew McP