Open the league up to non-SM's?

[Mirfee]

How do folks feel about trying to attract more players from the non-SM population? I've been reluctant to in the past, but I've since softened that view in the hopes of seeing more drivers in-game. I know there's at least a couple non-SM's who have expressed interest in racing with us. I also know there are some non-TGers who could be enticed to at least register here to be eligible to play. Who knows? Perhaps some will become SMs.

[xTYBALTx]

Sounds good to me.

[RocketPunch]

Yeah, I like the idea too. However, since you are running the server, not sure how that would affect it if when we have more players. I guess until then we will figure something out cough*tg server*cough, LOL.

[Mirfee]

It's my understanding that server support at TG is premium. With so few of us racing, I don't know how well we can sell Apophis on the idea of a dedicated server. It's been suggested before to see about having the special events server setup to run GTL. I expect we could sell that.

Whichever route, have to suss it out with the powers that be.

[Turbo]

I wouldn't mind it at all. If we end up with people who race dirty then lock the server down with a different password and just send out invite's to people. More people would be fun.

[Vulcan]

It would be a fantastic way to start raising our population and making the prospect of an official TG server much much better. Ofcourse mirfee you are the sole server propietor atm so admining si completely in your hands.

[Mirfee]

I'm only admining and hosting as it's what's available for now. Should we grow, I'd definitely like to spread out the admin rights to more people.

[Trooper]

I think since F4 has left a sim game is needed at TG. Especially with this group of guys. Why not post somthing in the forums about possible interest to see how many non-SMs do have it or would get it. Im wanting get it just for the fact of the people playing it.

[USN_Squid]

I agree we should open it up to non-SMs and just be vigilant with TG standards of gameplay. It shouldn't be an issue as long as we use a password that is only available to those registered TG drivers.

[Strag]

Originally Posted by USN_Squid

I agree we should open it up to non-SMs and just be vigilant with TG standards of gameplay. It shouldn't be an issue as long as we use a password that is only available to those registered TG drivers.

I haven't even had a chance to race yet myself, but.....I completely agree with what Squid said. That's a great way to do it.

[Mirfee]

Good suggestions guys.

If this does take off and become a fully supported TG title (presumably moving the racing forums to a proper game forum), would anybody be willing to step up and co-admin?

[Mirfee]

Ok. Bear with me, I'm being stream-of-consciousness as usual, and verbose to match.

A further question then is, do we retain a seasonal points-race/ranking?

My first impression about GPCOS is that it's going to require some dedication on the part of drivers to maintain their race-to-race eligibility. I know we're just getting that system started for the first time, and it's bound to have some clumsiness while getting acquainted with it. But it *is* an added series of steps that take the driver away from TG. The more steps, the more likely people will get lax about the whole thing. And the more players we have, the more the likelyhood expands.

If opening the league up to TG-wide admittance, there could conceivably be 2 layers of participation... casual drivers, and championship drivers.

Assuming we can acquire a proper TG server for GT Legends...

Casual drivers would include everyone. Open server running like most TG game servers. No season points, no fixed parameters. Just a rotation of tracks with some preset car choices (full, single class, whatever).

Championship drivers would be like what the league focuses on now; a season with points, scheduled races, tracks, and cars/classes. Such events would use the same server, but would have more restricted access (registered for the championship at GPCOS, separate password than casual race access, whatever).

I like the thought of retaining the championship in some form as it feels like tournament play. Really focused, with potential for teamwork, etc. All the best of TG in a racing package.

Casual racing would be like the open track nights, but *really* open. There would be a TG password, but any registered TGer would have ready access to it. This would be pickup gaming, without scheduling apart from players posting if they'll be on and looking for fellow drivers to join them.

An alternative to fully stat tracked championship structure would be to forego the formality we've had and will use this coming series. Simply schedule a track and cars for a regular night like we already do for series events, giving a week for everyone to setup and practice as much or as little as they like. Anyone can show and race. The result file (a .txt on the server) could just be posted in the forum without any reformatting, or point tallying. Just a record of the event. This would eliminate all the backend work to track and compute stats. It would also allow more frequent events. Say 2 or 3 official races a week to accommodate player schedules if that were desirable.

I have mixed feelings about this option. It would be simple and almost no admin work. It would give *some* structure to the races... somewhere between open tracks and formal season races. A potential downside is lowered relevance, or importance of the events. Without full stat tracking, there's no continuity, apart from what people could themselves follow from one results posting to the next.

Hmmm... starting to write myself into circles here. Gonna stop.

Any bright ideas, I'd love to hear em. Feel like I'm starting to run in molasses the more my thoughts orbit this.

[Trooper]

why not a timed type thing. The racer with the fastest time would get a certian ammount of points and so on. That way you could setup maybe 4 times a week where a points race would be held, you just show up for 1 or even 2 to get a practice run in, and only count one score. Then the server can be open when those races arent scheduled. Give everyone a freebe, so if you miss one its not gonna make or break your score, if you do show up all an average of al your times will be subtracted from your total time.

Do 5-8 race schedules so its not to long but worth while.

[RocketPunch]

I say keeping an official "4 weekend per season" championship is perfect. If anyone wants to be in the champhionship, all they have to do (SM or non SM) is register and allocated the races that they will be in. I would just call whatever that is in between the "official races" open practice sessions, where special events can be hosted, Such as:

A) An offical race set-up session where the server will run the coming championship race track and cars all day.

B) Tech Sessions: couching, Q&A...something like that.

C) Casual running.

Again things will need to be adjusted as participant increases or decrease. To answer what trooper suggested regardig if you missed a race you might lost the whole championship, my answer would be just structure the season as a best 3 out of 4 points season, so bascially everyone will have a chance to drop their lowest point scoring race.

Originally Posted by Mirfee

Good suggestions guys.

If this does take off and become a fully supported TG title (presumably moving the racing forums to a proper game forum), would anybody be willing to step up and co-admin?

I can help out as co-admin.

[Vulcan]

My only suggestion is running more frequent sessions, if that's possible. We could also hookup a buddy program to help new drivers get acquainted by running a 2 man practive server between the two. The knowledgable person creates a server and has the buddy join to practive with.