... so many servers unused.

I hope that this thread might give an idea to server admins what the general population is looking for, when it comes to pick-up races.

Server A has the combination you want to race, server B has the same combination. They have the same amount of racers, but different variables. What do you look for?

If you can think of any options I may have missed, please post 'em.

whats a pick-up race?

hi, still posting the options... it would be nice if you could get the options done before having to click submit. Gimme a min.

Pick-up race = non-league race, just for fun...

A server that you can join and jump into a quick race, I think.

I'd like to see more uf1 races, myself.

Quote from nikimere :

whats a pick-up race?

I think he was trying to say!"to pick up a race"

Anyway limited to class, because thats good for close good racing, and also where is the option in the poll for number of players on serverillepall , i mean one is not going to join an empty server?

Quote from Goop :

They have the same amount of racers, but different variables

Quote from nikimere :

whats a pick-up race?

Public racing, where you just join in and race as opposed to league and team racing, scheduled and/or private.

What makes me want to join pick-up races?

a. There is no league racing when I'm available to race, briefly in the evenings and evenings to later at night on weekends.

b. When there is more than 1 connection on the server. I log on and there are 12 servers listed with connections. Half of those the connection is the server itself (ie. non-dedicated host) and 1/4 of them are drift, citylife, drag. That leaves 3 of 12, which is Aston National/GTR with the most connections, BL1 or AS Club with FOX with several connections, and usually something with either F08 or the FWD GTRs.

Not interested in open wheel cars or any FWD. Don't like the slow response of the TBO class. That leaves me my favorite, the FZR or the LFR class. No one drives the LFR class, which is a shame, and the only thing you see in GTR is Aston National. Then, when you go to Aston, 2 out of 15 are running under a minute 50, you start in the back, end up collected up into some new fellow's crash, and can't get up to the front to race anyone. It's also 10 laps with mandatory pit, so the last half of the run you aren't racing, but just hotlapping by yourself.

I've been racing very very very little the last few months. Where are all the US racers? Where are all the guys who show up and flood the servers for a month or 2 after a physics patch? I can't believe they are only racing for a month on LFS then going to GTR/rFactor.

I log on every night there isn't a hockey game on, but can't race.

What about an option of "Anything that's not GTRs on Aston National, FOX on Blackwood GP or BF1 on KY Oval"?

Quote from mrodgers :

Public racing, where you just join in and race as opposed to league and team racing, scheduled and/or private.

What makes me want to join pick-up races?

a. There is no league racing when I'm available to race, briefly in the evenings and evenings to later at night on weekends.

b. When there is more than 1 connection on the server. I log on and there are 12 servers listed with connections. Half of those the connection is the server itself (ie. non-dedicated host) and 1/4 of them are drift, citylife, drag. That leaves 3 of 12, which is Aston National/GTR with the most connections, BL1 or AS Club with FOX with several connections, and usually something with either F08 or the FWD GTRs.

Not interested in open wheel cars or any FWD. Don't like the slow response of the TBO class. That leaves me my favorite, the FZR or the LFR class. No one drives the LFR class, which is a shame, and the only thing you see in GTR is Aston National. Then, when you go to Aston, 2 out of 15 are running under a minute 50, you start in the back, end up collected up into some new fellow's crash, and can't get up to the front to race anyone. It's also 10 laps with mandatory pit, so the last half of the run you aren't racing, but just hotlapping by yourself.

I've been racing very very very little the last few months. Where are all the US racers? Where are all the guys who show up and flood the servers for a month or 2 after a physics patch? I can't believe they are only racing for a month on LFS then going to GTR/rFactor.

I log on every night there isn't a hockey game on, but can't race.

For the last TWO YEARS I have been racing EVERY night! > connecting to servers/racing/gone, there is no, as you said leagues to suit my hours > weeknights 6 to 12 GMT),

What we need is a club or somethin' for weekdays

Quote from CSU1 :

For the last TWO YEARS I have been racing EVERY night! > connecting to servers/racing/gone, there is no, as you said leagues to suit my hours > weeknights 6 to 12 GMT)

All leagues, that are not running at the weekend, are in that time range. For example now, you have dsrc Midweek Challenge, UXRL and LXCC. Thats 3 ones to chose from.

The only real criteria for me is (sorted by importance):

1) MUST be limited to a car class
2) Has a car/track combo I don't dislike (esp. the overplayed ones. Won't bother with big GTR class either)
3) Has at least one person playing

Bonus points for longer races, but this has the drawback of only few people finishing. Right now I wasn't online for quite some time, as I cannot even beat the Pro AI with my G25 right now (though, taking the RAC on SO4R with 720° steering lock for reference might be a bit over the top).

I just gave up on the G25 shifter,,, i raced 6 laps w/UFR @ KY2R, sequential mode... (and still frikken lost!)

Depends on the track, but FO8 + 10 laps with mandatory pit stop is pretty fun

Quote from Goop :

I just gave up on the G25 shifter,,, i raced 6 laps w/UFR @ KY2R, sequential mode... (and still frikken lost!)

Well, sequential mode is not really a problem. But using the real one coupled with the clutch, that makes things interesting. Also I totally fail at countersteering, as I was used to 270 non-linear degrees for years now
But we're getting OT...

What I go for is a server with at least 3 or 4 people on it with a low ping and a car/track combo I'm competitive at.

I havn't raced much for quite a while. I find that each time more content was added, it became more difficult to find enjoyable races... just finding races with enough folks at about the same skill level can be tricky when there are so many combos.

Its a shame that people don't use the chat...
years ago when I played GPL there was an app called winVROC... everyone congregated there in the chat area and there was a list of servers showing which ones were mid race, and which ones were running qualifying for next race... with this setup, it was easier to get folks together for races.

I guess in LFS its fine if you are in a 'team' you know roughly when other members will be around, and what servers to check on, but for everyone else, it just makes it even harder to get good 'casual' racing enjoyment.

My first port of call is LFSW to see if any of my 'buddies' are online. If they are I'll look to see what they're driving and where. If it looks like fun then I'll join, if it doesn't interest me I'll consider joining a favourite server (Odd Combo Club is usually a good one).

I very very rarely use the in-game browser list and choose randomly now, as I get much better races and more satisfaction racing people I know rather than randoms.

I look for a car first, a track second and server reputation third, that is to say servers where I know admins ban people when they're driving themselves I dont bother unless it's the only one with a car/track I want to run. I preffer servers where admins are prepared to check replays, or to just watch for a while, than those who make personal decisions or decisions on the strength of a friend's thoughts of who took them out, and are often wrong. The only way to be impartial is to stand back.

Quote from Eldanor :

Depends on the track, but FO8 + 10 laps with mandatory pit stop is pretty fun

I know you're talking about S2 servers (which, obviously, I haven't investigated yet), but on the demo servers there are races to be had with a mandatory pit stop... I don't get it. That puts me off immediately - why have a compulsory pit stop in any race lasting less than half an hour?

In a 10 lap race, that pit stop means you'll lose any sense of flow over what is really a very short race.

I'm usually torn between a combo I like and a server with people in.

Cars and laps !

Quick fun races

What good thing could possibly come out of having set /cars=ALL In setup.cfg? I've "translated" and made setup.cfg available in swedish, but i've made a slight modification to it.

The default /cars= value in my version of setup.cfg is set to TBO instead of ALL.

A little off-topic perhaps but i guess that answers the question.

You need to add a populated server option. I like to drive on servers that are reasonably well populated.

Recently, thanks to the STCC mainly, there has been more TBO servers, this is a class I enjoy a lot. Its also fun to race them on unusual tracks.

I would really like to see more LX6 and LX4 servers, these cars are so sweet to race, LX6 especialy since the tyre patch and I cant for the life of me understand why the LX4 is so under used, this car is awsome.

I would like to do more racing in the GTRs, but I just cant bring myself to drive them round AS NAT.....again...its so Autumn 2005

Quote from Goop :

Why do you join a server?

None of the above. I join a server if one or more of my mates are online there, no matter how the server is set up.

In order of preference, starting with the most significant:

1. people on server
2. combo I like
3. car I like
4. friends online

1. car I like
2. track I like
3. not really interested in empty servers, no one joins and I'll end up hot lapping
4. not fern bay

And I will never join to server with all cars allowed. Unless I'm going to drive the BF1.