What a wild and wacky month August turned out to be! So many
changes took place in the way we run and score races that you almost needed a program to keep up with it all. FTC (Failed To Connect) became a new buzz word, as matching issues plagued us throughout the month. SCEA’s regularly scheduled server maintenance wreaked havoc on organized racing for a while, and continues to be a sporadic issue at press time. Optimists see it as preparations for the release of the full game while pessimists look on it as nothing more than continued incompetence. Either way, the effects were felt throughout the month.
July ended with a discussion on the boards about how TPRA tracks race results and declares an overall points winner. It had been pointed out that quite a bit of emphasis was placed on how often a driver entered events (quantity) versus how well he finished in the events he did enter (quality). The bottom half of the leader board was littered with names of drivers we all knew to be excellent racers but we’re handicapped by missing events throughout the month. And the opposite was true as well as the upper ranks contained a lot of Division 3 drivers (no offense!) who garnered a lot of points by running in everything that got posted.
So, quantity over quality was an issue as was qualifying. There were drivers who could qualify well, thus picking up extra points by being placed in a higher division. Something needed to be done to balance out the equation. Some way that would reward a good qualifying effort, regular participation (quantity), and most importantly, good performance on the track (quality), all in an effort to reveal the “best“ drivers.
That’s a lot of “qua” words to deal with, but the race officials went after the problem with a vengeance. As you may recall, the month of August began with an announcement of a test event. A new system had been devised and needed to be
tested. Heat races were introduced that would allow drivers to move either up into a higher division, or down to a lower one based on how they performed in the races.
The boards were full of comments and queries as drivers tried to grasp what was being proposed, and Fuji 550 RWD became a proving ground. Opening night saw a large field turn out and test the new system. Drivers were shuffled up or down into new divisions and had to relocate to new chat rooms in between heats. Race Control scrambled to maintain control over the chaos and, for the most part, managed it well. (This reporter had to move so many times I met myself in the hallway outside the Div 3 chat room!)
The results were both predictable and surprising at the same time. Good drivers who qualified low in the field managed to race their way to the top. Others, who had qualified well but couldn’t back it up on the track finished further back. Part of the equation had been solved in that good performance on the track was well rewarded, but the method was labor intensive and unwieldy. Further testing proved it unworkable during 5-lap races, especially if matching issues required multiple reruns.
TPRA officials pored over the data and kept the best bits of the new method while tossing out the problem parts. Heat races became a permanent fixture, but driving out of your division did not. What eventually floated to the surface of this bubbling brew was a multi-race format in which driver’s qualified into a division, ran two heat races to determine a starting grid for the final, and points rewarding event. That took care of the qualifying and quality part. What finally sealed the deal on the quantity issue was a “premier” event was selected to run on Wednesday nights. This event would be the only one counted toward the overall points leader board.
The event offered on Fuji at 700PP became the race that counted. Drivers were allowed to run the car of their choice on R tires, but could not repeat their selection throughout the month. Clio’s, Nissans, and a flock of Ferraris topped the list of cars selected. Epic racing ensued with Forgetful having a stellar month garnering the points championship for the month of August. Congratulations, Forgetful!
In other news…
Moose has set up a new site to be used to track drivers, race events, standings, and a whole slew of other data. RacePointsManager.com (or RPM) is a new tool for all participants to use and will become the focal point for all TPRA events in the future. RPM will provide everyone with all the information they need about past and upcoming TPRA events and provide each driver with a personal page to set up as home base. If you have not registered yet, please do so at your earliest convenience. Registration
The 700PP event on HSR is the premier Wednesday night event this month. Point accumulated in these races will be counted toward the overall leader board.
Matching issues are still plaguing us and a letter campaign to SCEA is ongoing. We urge all users to alert SCEA to your dissatisfaction in an effort to get the problem(s) resolved. There is a “Contact Us” link at the bottom of the first page on the PSN boards. Follow that to “Send an email to Consumer Services” and let them know as nicely as possible that the system is broken and needs to be fixed. Expect form letter replies to your comments, but the point is to make sure SCEA is aware there is some sort of issue with the servers we all use for online racing.
The boards were full of comments and queries as drivers tried to grasp what was being proposed, and Fuji 550 RWD became a proving ground. Opening night saw a large field turn out and test the new system. Drivers were shuffled up or down into new divisions and had to relocate to new chat rooms in between heats. Race Control scrambled to maintain control over the chaos and, for the most part, managed it well. (This reporter had to move so many times I met myself in the hallway outside the Div 3 chat room!)
The results were both predictable and surprising at the same time. Good drivers who qualified low in the field managed to race their way to the top. Others, who had qualified well but couldn’t back it up on the track finished further back. Part of the equation had been solved in that good performance on the track was well rewarded, but the method was labor intensive and unwieldy. Further testing proved it unworkable during 5-lap races, especially if matching issues required multiple reruns.
TPRA officials pored over the data and kept the best bits of the new method while tossing out the problem parts. Heat races became a permanent fixture, but driving out of your division did not. What eventually floated to the surface of this bubbling brew was a multi-race format in which driver’s qualified into a division, ran two heat races to determine a starting grid for the final, and points rewarding event. That took care of the qualifying and quality part. What finally sealed the deal on the quantity issue was a “premier” event was selected to run on Wednesday nights. This event would be the only one counted toward the overall points leader board.
The event offered on Fuji at 700PP became the race that counted. Drivers were allowed to run the car of their choice on R tires, but could not repeat their selection throughout the month. Clio’s, Nissans, and a flock of Ferraris topped the list of cars selected. Epic racing ensued with Forgetful having a stellar month garnering the points championship for the month of August. Congratulations, Forgetful!
In other news…
Moose has set up a new site to be used to track drivers, race events, standings, and a whole slew of other data. RacePointsManager.com (or RPM) is a new tool for all participants to use and will become the focal point for all TPRA events in the future. RPM will provide everyone with all the information they need about past and upcoming TPRA events and provide each driver with a personal page to set up as home base. If you have not registered yet, please do so at your earliest convenience. Registration
The 700PP event on HSR is the premier Wednesday night event this month. Point accumulated in these races will be counted toward the overall leader board.
Matching issues are still plaguing us and a letter campaign to SCEA is ongoing. We urge all users to alert SCEA to your dissatisfaction in an effort to get the problem(s) resolved. There is a “Contact Us” link at the bottom of the first page on the PSN boards. Follow that to “Send an email to Consumer Services” and let them know as nicely as possible that the system is broken and needs to be fixed. Expect form letter replies to your comments, but the point is to make sure SCEA is aware there is some sort of issue with the servers we all use for online racing.
