Format change?

[Jamin]

Our current format of one car per week has been running for about three years now and whilst it was popular, player numbers have dropped recently, the long awaited LFS update is making the game feel stale and players are drifting away.

Since I took over, I've gone for combos that we haven't done before, some of these turned out to be fun, but others are not, I was hoping that the odd combos would bring in some new regular racers looking for something different. Plus there is a legacy behind dMr that brings some unwritten rules that could do with changing.

So....

We have a small group of 8 or so dMr regular racers and I would like to focus on us instead. The BF1 is five weeks away and marks the end of the current car cycle and points total so it would be a good time to start something new.

Any ideas? what do you like/dislike, fav combos? class racing, having to pit, FCV, rallyX, etc. You can just say you like it how it is and don't change anything.

I like the race format of a week with the combo, the one hour on Thursday, pit stop and FCV. The car rotation idea is fine but I would like to drop some cars and add class racing...TBO etc and of course, more rallyX

[Seany]

Yeah, I think some changes would be good, to keep it fresh.  But what to change?  I like FCV, forced pits and the fact we drive every car everywhere.  More rallyx would be good, I also like the idea of Class racing (TBO, LRF etc).

There is more we could change but I fear maybe it gets too complicated?  For example it is possible to make an new class by using restrictions.  Like limiting FZR FXR and XRR with to be able to race with XFR and UFR.  Or you could limit the TBOs to be raced with the STD cars.  I don't know how long it would take to balance the cars though, depending on each track, perhaps too long and too much effort.   But maybe the data is already out there some where?

I do miss team racing, but it requires a fair bit of organisation, and I'm not sure we have the numbers any more.

[Slider 46]

Yeah, I think some changes would be good, to keep it fresh.  But what to change?  I like FCV, forced pits and the fact we drive every car everywhere.  More rallyx would be good, I also like the idea of Class racing (TBO, LRF etc).

There is more we could change but I fear maybe it gets too complicated?  For example it is possible to make an new class by using restrictions.  Like limiting FZR FXR and XRR with to be able to race with XFR and UFR.  Or you could limit the TBOs to be raced with the STD cars.  I don't know how long it would take to balance the cars though, depending on each track, perhaps too long and too much effort.   But maybe the data is already out there some where?

I do miss team racing, but it requires a fair bit of organisation, and I'm not sure we have the numbers any more.

I'll second Seany on everything there. Im sure other clubs have mixed car races so the restriction info must be out there.
 
Just a thought, what about two half hour races for some cars? You could split the points accordingly,10 min' break in between perhaps. Reverse grid for the second race maybe?(is that even possible?) It might turn into a crashfest if you have some really inexperienced folks in but it shouldnt really. The hour race is cool with me but it does become a challenge in itself sometimes (look at last week). If you did bin it big time, theres always another chance for some points and or glory with two shorter races. Some cars deserve an hour, like this weeks combo for example but it might be nice mix it up abit. Plus, how many real races last an hour in one sitting?

[Seany]

Just a thought, what about two half hour races for some cars? You could split the points accordingly,10 min' break in between perhaps. Reverse grid for the second race maybe?(is that even possible?) It might turn into a crashfest if you have some really inexperienced folks in but it shouldnt really

I was thinking of this too but couldnt think of a "twist" to make it interesting, but the reverse grid idea is nice, I like that.  I agree that some cars do need the full hour also.

[Lameduck]

I must admit that the one hour race sometimes becomes an aimless exercise in concentration and at my age I find this quite frustrating. Steve's idea would suit me and the reverse grid bit is excellent.
I'm all for more RallyX and I still have the doo~hickey to sort out the team racing partnerships. Perhaps we can revert to a team racing night using the car we have been used to for a week (Race 'S' rules).
Lets keep the FCV and work on some balanced Class Racing.
We can get data from LFS WR to help decide on car comparisons.:2cents:

[Dee_Slider]

I like the strictness of the server, like FCV and forced pit, and I always enjoy the 1 hour race, good or bad.

I agree that some class racing (TBO) would create interest.

To add to Slider46's idea, how about:  Qualify, then 5 lap sprint race, followed by a 45 minute feature race, with reverse grid from 1st race.  I know we can't do 45 minutes, but we can work out roughly how many laps it would be.  I think the touring cars used to do this.

As for track rotation, I have an idea I'd like to put forward,  although this is still a one car/track combo....
on LFSWorld.net in the hotlaps section, under Ranks, there is a MHR (Main Hotlap Rank) which involves 18 combinations.  If we go through these, then if people wanted they could post a hotlap each week, and see how far up the table they could get.  I made a list of the combos, in the order we use the cars.  There is one track (SO sprint1) that has no pits and one oval (eek) also the two BMW 'newest' cars are not listed. Any of these can be adjusted to our needs.  

UF1   on AS cadet
RB4   on SO long rev
UFR   on KY national
MRT   on FE gold
XFG   on FE club
FXO   on FE green
XFR   on SO town
FBM  on
XRG   on SO sprint1  (no pits)
XRT   on BL gp
FXR   on AS historic
FOX   on WE interntl rev
LX4   on KY oval
RAC   on KY national
XRR   on AS grand prix
FO8   on WE interntl
LX6   on FE black rev
FZ5   on AS national
FZR   on KY gp long
BF1   on

[Mille Sabords]

I like that idea of a sprint race + longer race! Some points for both races, and of course DNF for 1st race start at the back of second race...
Of course no pits in the sprint race!

Class racing instead of single car: Why not try and see if it attracts newcomers? But I would first introduce the new race format, to see how it fares, before implementing more.

Team racing with Race S was fun and I miss it, and with all the Ario stuff we should be able to sort matched pairs quite easily these days...

[Jamin]

So has everyone who wants there ideas/opinions considered posted?

As far as team racing goes, the lack of people turning up killed it plus it became a bit of a nightmare trying to organise the non ventrilo/random joiners that sometimes it felt like it took longer to organise the race than the race itself, and that was when an admin who knew what to do was present, if no admins came then no team racing happened. If someone wants to be responsible for running team racing then raise your hand.

Creating a class from unequal cars is tricky, as setting up the restrictions is voluntary with no way of checking if a player has set the correct restriction. I don't know how other servers run with restricted cars so I can't offer a solution.

Keep the ideas coming though and in a week or so we'll see what we've got :thumb:

[Romus]

I don't really have any ideas for a new format, but I don't have anything against us trying something new either. I've been working hard in my new position and learning stuff, so I've not had time nor energy to participate much lately, but I'll be back..

[Deetz]

Well, I do think its tricky to find a different format that would work as well as the current one which I really like.

Purely because its just a little too easy to get the car / tyres to last an hour, if anything I would like to the race length increased to bring a bigger requirement for tactics in the pit stops for the longer race.

However their are come combo's where everyone (myself included) seems to be praying for the race to hurry up and finish, and thats without extending the race distance.

I do like the idea of multiple race's contributing to and overall points winner for the combo, and a 10 - 15 min sprint race followed by a reverse grid 45 min race sounds like a good idea.

I also fancy the mixed class race idea, but it's very hard to actually match a few cars, even where they are puportedly balanced. And as everyone always wants to win, usually one car gets much better support than the others. (Even so I think this is worth a go.)

BRING BACK 'RACE S' TEAM RACING  :thumbsupsmileyanim:

I know its a bugger to sort, and educate new peeps to the rules, but its great fun.

I think a trial period to try the various suggestions would be a good idea.

:racing:

[Jamin]

When I made the original post, it was the week of one car on one track format I was suggesting changing. What I was hoping for was some common ground format where we all enjoy the week. Dee sliders format is the type of answer I was looking for but most of the suggestions made focus on the thursday race rather than the week as a whole.

At the moment, if at least Lameduck or me aren't on the server for the evening, it generally dies unless it's a good combo, so obviously there must be certain combos that most of us like and other combos that most of us suffer. A few weeks ago we had the xrr@so, only FOUR people finished the thursday race, where was everyone? two weeks later the lx6@as was packed, that suggests to me that the xrr should be dumped.

The lack of players is down to LFS being stale, once the update is released things should pick up but until then, something has to be done to keep the few that turn up happy, the trouble is I only know what will make me happy so I'll ask another question:

if you ran your own server, what would YOU do with it?

[Toddshooter]

I have the urge to pick up my wheel for the first time in a long time this coming weekend. I'm trying to drum up some interest in an LFS weekend with RSR so we might be by on Sunday for some team racing if possible.
 I know you no longer do team racing because of #rs but I figured if I can confirm enough peeps for Sunday I would let you know, then we might be able to have a cracker of a race like old times!!

 I'll let you know if I can wake the beast :-)

[Lameduck]

I'll let you know if I can wake the beast :-)

For heavens sake, don't wake the beast. Find your wheel instead and we'll get some team racing going on Sunday night. Should be hilarious as were due to move over to the BF1 on Thursday

[Toddshooter]

For heavens sake, don't wake the beast. Find your wheel instead and we'll get some team racing going on Sunday night. Should be hilarious as were due to move over to the BF1 on Thursday

 Too late. I picked up a big stick and poked the Beast right in the eye!!!  I think I actually woke up a few people.
See you on Sunday. What approximate time does it start again?

[Lameduck]

About 1900hrs BST ish