Allow me to introduce myself. I’m the Series Coordinator of the Virtual Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo, and it’s been through the creation and management of the Virtual Super Trofeo that I was able to learn just how many people there are in the Forza community who are looking for the same online racing experience that I was seeking. As a result of this experience, I have two main goals.
The first goal is to continue and improve the prototype that is VLBST to make it the best online racing series possible. My second goal is to learn as much as possible about the Forza community in terms of competitive virtual motorsports.
Take just a few minutes to complete this short survey. It will go a long way towards a strong initiative to take virtual competitive motorsports to new heights, and will be greatly appreciated.
RESULTS
The results of the survey can be found at the link below and are live (so they will be updated as more people take the survey).
I’ve filled out the survey for you. I think there is definitely room for improvement in terms of proper league racing. Basic functions such as championship points and variations of qualifying should be added.
The only way you can improve racing online is to implement a set of racing behavior parameter rules that are applied in real time to races who violate them. No amount of surveys and trying to guage the community will do it. Because of the range of ages and skill levels people for the most part and will continue to nudge, push, crash and bully drivers who are better than them off the racetrack and this is where enforcement will come in handy.
We’d love to have you join us! The next and final race of Season 1 is on Sunday, March 20th at 6:00 pm EST (World Finals at Sebring), but Season 2 won’t be too long of a wait and will feature the Huracan Super Trofeo in the PRO-AM and PRO categories. If you want to race with us at World Finals, just let me know.
Filled out the survey earlier. One thing that I have seen work really well in the past is when races are comprehensively reported and detailed.
RealishRacing started out as a Forza Motorsport 4 club before moving over to PC last year, and did some things that I don’t see from any other virtual racing organisation. The biggest thing being a comprehensive Wiki containing pages for every event, race, team and driver.
The forum was also well-used, with drivers writing up detailed race reports.
Each driver chipped in with editing their own pages, which helped foster a good community that was happy to race against each other every week and share their experiences.
I haven’t joined TORA or TURN purely because they don’t have something like this.
It definitely seems like we were on the same hunt. After finding nothing, I resorted to making my own series with nothing but Google, an unhealthy passion for motorsports, and an even more unhealthy desire to satisfy my attention-to-detail. I really, really like what you guys have done with Realish Racing. I’m definitely way behind in terms of how well organized/established the data management and workflow is, but I’m hoping to grow into something similar with more time/experience.
The real purpose behind the survey isn’t really my series, though. It’s more to gain insight on the manner in which series can exist, and the amount that each level of seriousness can be scaled. Obviously, there’s a gradient between casual and hardcore virtual racing, and the scalability of the hardcore end of the spectrum is quite poor in comparison to say, hopper-styled “leagues.”
I started this journey because I wanted a racing series that I couldn’t find on the forums, and was forced to create it. I’ve successfully started what I came for, and I will continue to build and improve my series (we’ve even attracted an ex-Minecraft developer who is going to help create a new series website), but the object of my fascination is building models of game mechanics, licenses, points systems, data management systems, etc. that will allow very in-depth series to run a full-length championship on a very large scale. And though other titles offer more realistic physics, Forza isn’t far off; the joy in racing is in the nature of the competition, and the level of customization available in Forza Motorsport creates the opportunity to really immerse users in what could easily be a virtual racing career experience.
Halo is in the X Games. It’s televised. Racing is televised. Why aren’t there any licensed virtual racing series with broadcasts, sponsors, partners, etc.? GT Academy put a gamer behind the wheel of a real GT car, and with great success! The technology available to us is more than sufficient to create a virtual version of the world of motorsports in which most of us will never participate. I want to bridge that gap.
Forza really just needs options…T10 turns more and more towards the casual players and cutting of the hardcore fans instead of making things just optional.
Subtitles would likely be an update to the console (not just Forza), implemented as a global solution to any media played, streamed, or loaded on an Xbox One.
Talk is cheap. It’s nice to see what people respond in a survey, but this is just the beginning of a very serious initiative to test and analyze the public’s demand for competitive virtual motorsports.
The survey shows what people think generally about the subject, but I want to find out exactly what percentage of people are willing to spend x amount of time and or money on y amount of simulation. I want to create something they don’t know they need.
I don’t have any tracks, other than dirt ovals, that offer track days within 4 hours of my house. This is probably as close to real racing as I’ll ever get. My wheel/seat cost a pretty sizable chunk of change and i probably spend close to 24 hours of my three day weekends on Forza. I might be the minority but I imagine there are plenty more like me. I’ve always wondered why racing hasn’t seemed to get any traction with MLG. No pun intended.
I’m glad someone is trying to push virtual racing into new frontiers. I’m behind you 100%. I loved the Lambo challenge. Just wish i hadn’t missed the first week so i could have made it to season 2. But i am very excited for anymore competitions to come.
