IMO the Multiplayer system we have is making the game inaccessible for people who want to just jump in to server. I believe we need some sort of a lobby system where we can chat and organise races. If we could talk with others then we could jump into a server that everyone could access. I'm sure there are other people looking for a race but the problem we have is there is no way to contact them to organize one (within the game). An example. There are 20 people searching for a server to race. 1 person says "who wants to race Indy Ovals" 10 people say "yes" and then join a server together. Simples. I think this would pump the multiplayer up a much needed notch. As it stands the only way to do this is through a leagues forum which generally require memberships.
That's exactly how GPL VROC's chat room was. A great place to get news on the fly and make friends for life.
Yep, I think that would be a great idea. Not sure if it would turn into a massive abuse chat or spambot type stuff, but the idea itself would be great to see.
Good points, agree with you Squeeekmo! Together with some statistics like overall driven laps, laps per track, fastet laps and such stuff. Maybe there's already something planned in this direction?
And filters ! I been asking about filters since first release. Server's list is too long and messed up to find a server with the MOD you are interested on. Why don't apply some filter to find at least OW, GT or formula cars. I not asking for a custom filter.
I like the lobby chat room idea. Maybe a teamspeak server for isi servers could also help socializing and organizing people for setting new servers. If that is combined with the possibility of easier/quicker vmod creation and server setups with get mod and components enabled, the result would be very good in terms of number of people online.
I think rf1 had two big problems that made casual driving difficult and the lobby chat not very popular: - mismatches. - no get mod and components feature to get the right components to join a server. The best way to avoid that was joining a league. I think rF2 has (or is in the way to have) all the required ingredients so that a lobby room succeeds this time.
rF1 public lobby was definitely used... the latin languages seemed popular, seldom saw northern european languages.
You are right about the difference between rf1 and 2, mismatches were the biggest problem to join public races. I used to stay at VROC's chat room for hours while was working at night helping people to put GPL in order for her first race (obviously at Monza). Where do you think I learned to speak english? lol With RF2 that could be back thanks to the MODs packages.
Is that even possible? I think you need to be logged in to access MP, right? Can a bot just go through like that?
rFactor1 allows only to change Game Name and it is easy to find Race Series (car) you like to race when you are hunting public races. You have chat, bookmark you favorite servers and you can also use IP add. to find servers. Chat in rFactor1 don`t work good, reason is if you ask: Who wants to race DRM there is some looser who reply`s : "Don`t you have any life you f.....a..h..." or simply spams chat like this: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa or spams chat some other way that it is not possible to use it at all. rFactor2 when creating vmod you can rename Race Series and MP lobby has public Race Serie Names like tiempo10, etapa05 etc. witch don`t indicate what Race Series (car) is used and and if you name is not Sherlock Holmes the only way to find out Race Serie (car) is Get Missing Component, I don`t think there is so many who wants to spend evening to downloading When I am creating vmod I rename our vmods like -F2R-Spark_F3- or -F2R-F2000_Skip_Barber- I do this to get MP listing show all -F2R- mods in order and it makes easy to find out what car is used. If we are hosting only one track I rename vmod like -F2R-Skippy_at_Sebring- this indicates that there is one car and one track. I can see that ~IsR~ is doing this too and I bet Bab`s do this for the same reason and I think everybody who is hosting should do something similar just to make it more easy to them who likes to race public. Maybe bookmark favorite servers , filter password/public is something we need to rFactor2 MP
Yeah, not displaying the cars used in vmod-title is just silly. (unless its deliberate) But then again, allot of quick-hosts might not even be aware of this.
Ahhh, good ol' VROC. Such a simple web based tool which led to great races back in the day. I agree, a multiplayer lobby with chat and filter options is a must.
95% of the times I join multiplayer mode to see what's going on and try to join a server, I ended up hosting my own race. That's the biggest problem I see. The filter should work even if the race is listed with any name. If this is not possible, the MOD's name must be hardcoded to be displayed on the server's list. Things must be easier to let people join a server and get a race.
I think a possible way to help with this, is to be able to display a subfolder or menu when you click on a server on the "Race Series" column. The idea is to see which cars are allowed on that server, independant from the server race's name. Rf2 must be easier and better than rf1 or everybody will keep using it. I have more than an hour trying to join a server, but I gave up, I will join the rf1 server hosting DRM.
