Letter to the Editor

[slopat]

In this case that would be Kalniel. -I don't assume you have the power to make these changes Kal, but hopefully you have some influence on someone who does if you care to exert it.

We are all aware of the technical issues the game has. Despite these many of us still enjoy it and are hopeful patching will make it even better.

However, even if the patch achieves what we hope for there remains an element that this game needs to develop for it to be successful in the long term: A strong community. I think the prime example of this is Forza given how it's probably the prime competitor to this game on the XBOX. The Turn10 forums, despite all the immaturity one can witness there have created a very strong community for the game.

It's my opinion that Atari needs to do something similar here. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to give feedback that is presented on these forums, but it's high time to move forward. I don't know about others, but I am constantly aware of the very strict rules applied here on this forum, and although I can appreciate them in the context of feedback and etc, I think they hamper the development of a community for RACE Pro.

Case in point, Kalniel's April Fools thread, that he felt he had to lock. I don't think anything untoward was said in this thread, and you had some members sharing the kind of personal info (such as FATT and his love of hotrods) that allows a community to grow. Sadly Kal felt the thread needed to be locked.

Another example is the start of the 09 F1 season. I was very tempted to post a thread prior to the Australian GP and then even more so following the Brawn GP domination and the Lewis Hamilton fiasco. I did not do so because I feared moderation.

Sub-forums with less restrictive rules are an essential tool in allowing the people who enjoy playing this game to develop a sense of community, which in the long run can only help make RACE Pro and SimBin's next title more succesful. Leagues, teams and tuners would also greatly benifit from dedicated sub-forums, which again helps build the community.

Nothing said here is ment as criticism, and if any was implied I hope it's percieved as constructive.

[o0-Signal-20-0o]

I think he "Locked" the Thread because people were still replying to it as if it were "True."

I understand what you're trying to say but if we were to incorporate everything you suggested then wouldn't we just be like them? We need to find something unique.

I'm not just sticking up for ATARI/Simbin but we need to understand that they (ATARI) have several Games to maintain, whereas T10 only has one and can focus.

Everybody is asking for something yet no one is willing to start something. I tried with "The Race Pro Challenge" but no one has responded. True Sim Racers are a different breed and therfore must be felt out. I don't know if you understand what I mean?

[GlitchWizard]

I think he "Locked" the Thread because people were still replying to it as if it were "True."

I understand what you're trying to say but if we were to incorporate everything you suggested then wouldn't we just be like them? We need to find something unique.

I'm not just sticking up for ATARI/Simbin but we need to understand that they (ATARI) have several Games to maintain, whereas T10 only has one and can focus.

Everybody is asking for something yet no one is willing to start something. I tried with "The Race Pro Challenge" but no one has responded. True Sim Racers are a different breed and therfore must be felt out. I don't know if you understand what I mean?
I'm not quite sure if :atari: maintains the game. Doesnt Simbin do all of that?

[o0-Signal-20-0o]

Simbin developed Race Pro. ATARI is responsible for anything after the fact. It is up to ATARI to get it fixed, eventhough they're (ATARI) aren't the ones doing the fixing.

What I was refering to was that ATARI has to watch over hundreds of Titles. Just look at the Forum list, which is only a portion. We can't expect ATARI to just bend over backwards for one Game. We have to get their attention.

[kalniel]

I've punted this to internet discussion, as I think that's the best place for discussion and suggestions related to these forums themselves.

The locking of the April fools thread was nothing to do with any rules being broken at all - it was simply out of date and despite the [fools] description in the title players were still taking it seriously.

I think the OP makes some good points - I'd love to be able to create sub-forums, and we've asked who we can to create them for us, but I guess due to personnel reasons they can't at the moment.

As for the rules themselves, well I guess you could make suggestions as to which specific rules you'd like to see Atari look at again and consider dropping or changing. As a moderator I don't have any say over the rules, I just implement them with as much flexibility as is given to us by the higher ups. At the moment that means things are pretty much static (set at the level determined by the previous administrator) - we are hoping to get a new administrator soon and when that happens we will do what they ask us to do.

If you do have any uncertainties about whether to post a thread or not, the easiest thing to do is shoot me a PM - I might take a day or two to reply if I'm busy (or if my inbox is full, try again in a day) - it doesn't take any effort and I'm very happy to answer such queries.

[TTR_Joyrider]

In this case that would be Kalniel. -I don't assume you have the power to make these changes Kal, but hopefully you have some influence on someone who does if you care to exert it.

We are all aware of the technical issues the game has. Despite these many of us still enjoy it and are hopeful patching will make it even better.

However, even if the patch achieves what we hope for there remains an element that this game needs to develop for it to be successful in the long term: A strong community. I think the prime example of this is Forza given how it's probably the prime competitor to this game on the XBOX. The Turn10 forums, despite all the immaturity one can witness there have created a very strong community for the game.

It's my opinion that Atari needs to do something similar here. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to give feedback that is presented on these forums, but it's high time to move forward. I don't know about others, but I am constantly aware of the very strict rules applied here on this forum, and although I can appreciate them in the context of feedback and etc, I think they hamper the development of a community for RACE Pro.

Case in point, Kalniel's April Fools thread, that he felt he had to lock. I don't think anything untoward was said in this thread, and you had some members sharing the kind of personal info (such as FATT and his love of hotrods) that allows a community to grow. Sadly Kal felt the thread needed to be locked.

Another example is the start of the 09 F1 season. I was very tempted to post a thread prior to the Australian GP and then even more so following the Brawn GP domination and the Lewis Hamilton fiasco. I did not do so because I feared moderation.

Sub-forums with less restrictive rules are an essential tool in allowing the people who enjoy playing this game to develop a sense of community, which in the long run can only help make RACE Pro and SimBin's next title more succesful. Leagues, teams and tuners would also greatly benifit from dedicated sub-forums, which again helps build the community.

Nothing said here is ment as criticism, and if any was implied I hope it's percieved as constructive.

very well said, and i agree totaly