Does Sim Racing Have An Esports Problem?

[@roussin_]

Esports has an Esports problem and sim racing is just one form of expressing it

[@Lungorizz]

Exactly. Any game I can think of, Madden, Fifa, and even Call of Duty all have some major issues right now

[@philipkalin1928]

well, you right

[@jericosha2842]

This is what I came to comment, but you did it perfectly.

[@tonyyimbo]

This guy gets it .

[@nickheisler2559]

@@Lungorizz Would you be willing to say what those issues are? Is it technical related, like connections dropping and notorious DDOS attacks? Or is it more of a META gaming problem? Just curious as I don't really follow eSports anymore, save watching Jimmer

[@kibbo0]

3:50 Fun fact: They tried to hide the cheating, but they falied so hard, not only the side screen was still visible, but also his CENTER SCREEN

[@mbgmadbull1141]

I mean they did pay for the track right? doesn't that mean they can use the whole track? lol

[@batchest4084]

@@mbgmadbull1141 nah not how it works

[@mbgmadbull1141]

@@batchest4084 oh I know, was having a bit of a laugh is all man.

[@lomdonsreets5350]

sucks how "investors" ruin everything to extract money due to mathematics

[@RH-hz9ly]

@@mbgmadbull1141 that's not wrong but totally wrong at the same time 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@HypHipHop]

Well Jimmer ...this is a good moment for you to start a proper Virtual Sim event ! I think you got a big amount of guys following you !

[@sirmez9597]

UPVOTETHIS!!!

[@Wall562]

This^

[@lomdonsreets5350]

all hail the JIMMULATOR

[@CarlosGarcia-ze6rt]

I said it in the video where he announced that he bought the praga. A broadbent "gt academy" would be awesome, a simracing championship where the winning prize is racing with the praga

[@youtubesucks69420]

This!. Ive never raced in a sim event because I don't like how serious people take it. But if Jimmers made one I would try it for sure.

[@Hulkenburger]

I used to be a director in PSGL. Down in the 11th tier is where you have people just racing for fun, maybe some of the older guys who’ve been racing there for a decade and don’t really practice but like having a race once a week. Cheating at that level is embarrassing and pitiful.

[@RaindancerAU]

Nothing saps the fun out of a hobby quicker than competition of the highest levels. When you throw money into anything forget fun and sportsmanship, people don't just want to win, people want the money and will do what they can to get it.

[@kami_narisama]

There's definitely a point where competition is balanced with fun. Finding it however, is very difficult

[@zeendrom]

Same with most hobbies. The moment it becomes a job, say goodbye to all the fun. Good to see you here, Rain.

[@Skumtomten1]

@@zeendrom My dad played a round with a pro golfer in my country (Niclas Fasth) and that is exactly what he said. Now that my hobby is my job, I have to find a new hobby.

[@TheCynicalJedi]

Saw a video the other day about how quickly money ruins things, said person (Moistcritical/penguinz0) would get tonnes of emails or livestream chatters suggesting video ideas, he decided if he makes a video someone suggested he'd pay them however much money for the idea, as soon as he publicised that he was doing it his email became an un-readable hell hole of vague ideas, obvious ideas that never needed suggestions (I.e. telling a movie reviewer to review a brand new high profile movie..) and brevity purely because people think that'll get them paid. Almost instantly it became about the money not the ideas. Same with everything else, exactly as you say, entertainment turns into business and the fun goes away

[@mickyzzzeee]

@Couchtripperthe only thing that works is having overwatch at every paid event or top split lobbies.

[@prattomatic]

Sure seems like I need to look up the sponsors of the Williams eSports team and let them know that I find it hard to buy products from companies that encourage the teams they sponsor to act in unsportsmanlike ways.

[@WLS_Churchill]

Chillblast, Razer, BenQ, Playseat, Fanatec, Heusinkveld (Svend and Niels took the matter seriously

[@mattiesinclair7689]

Motor racing has always been about cheating as hard as possible without getting caught, why should sim racing be any different?

[@prattomatic]

@@mattiesinclair7689 because they are competing in a field consisting of amateurs as well. If the split was 100% professional, paid teams, go for it - but this was the equivalent of Rick Hendrick bringing a team to a local track for a publicity event and blowing everybody else away because they had 100 extra HP in their engine

[@Svend1500]

Hi David, Svend from Heusinkveld here. We sponsor/support simracing teams on all levels but never encourage unsportsmanlike behaviour. We are taking this matter serious and have been in contact with the team about this. Please allow those directly involved in this matter to do better in the future where needed. Thanks :)

[@prattomatic]

@@Svend1500 thanks for the reply, and I absolutely know that Heuskinveld would not condone this, you guys are a great company. You might want to have a chat with them though, in that the (now deleted) tweet from the Williams driver basically said “We have to act this way to keep our sponsors happy” which, while not true (of course), isn’t a good message.

[@mrxbas]

This will surely be an interesting topic in 2023, especially considering the growth of simracing esports and the ESL tournament with its large prize pool!

[@mickeyporter1934]

The “the game allows it everyone else does it so we have to” argument is the exact argument used to justify doping in other sports

[@5thearth]

And that's exactly why organizers have a responsibility to prevent it.

[@AppleGameification]

What sport allows doping?

[@KevinJDildonik]

@@AppleGameification Sports fans can be really dumb. Here's a hint. They only test athletes during a defined season, and only for certain things. In MMA, Conor McGregor just took a season off and doped out of his mind, since he wasn't being tested. In bicycle racing, the season that Lance Armstrong came back, his red blood cell count magically remained at high altitude training levels for the whole competition which was definitely not a result of whole blood transfusions since those are banned wink wink. Female athletic competitions are frequently dominated by women with XXY chromosomes. Absolutely all professional athletes, in all sports, are doping. And all fhe leagues know it. It's just a question of how much public pressure there is for the league to pretend like they care.

[@jsunh98]

false equivalence. doping isn't allowed.

[@miles11we]

@@jsunh98 but going off course to gain an advantage is?

[@sodaaccount]

8:30 Some found out the hard way :D Im a marshal and was watching the pit exit line at an event. Drivers kept ignoring it and were reported. I got A LOT of "unfriendly gestures" after their drive throughs. Some were stupid enough to do it several times in different sessions (I guess they thought the marshals rotated?!)

[@sodaaccount]

@@ThaJay I gotta be honest, its literally "my pleasure"😅 Its just great to be less than a metre away from the action (at least on parts of the Nordschleife)

[@jmvirtualtracks]

Your closing statement is exactly how I feel about sim racing. I don't think I could sacrifice having sim racing as an enjoyable experience where I go to relax and relieve stress just to chase down competing at the top level. I quite enjoy being a sim racing developer as my day job and a racer for run.

[@buddhapest]

in real sports punishment is much more severe then a short ban. that's the real eSports problem.

[@VinnyFonseca]

Exactly, and with MANY more available participants, it's not a matter of scarcity. Bring the hammer down.

[@Dan_Mitch92]

Nah, the bump draft sending Pablo's team into the wall was definitely intentional. When you're that skilled at the game you know exactly what is happening in that situation.

[@Meta-Drew]

Yeah not sure why Jimmy needed to simp there and declare that it was absolutely not intentional.

[@kingcars]

Not necessarily. I’m fairly certain there were two teammate cars in that same top split that accidentally wrecked out in a nearly identical fashion. Pros make mistakes too, though I definitely understand not wanting to give the Williams drivers the benefit of the doubt. The difference is that Pablo said his team specifically asked them to stop bump drafting, whereas what I mentioned was two teammates voluntarily working together.

[@joeogle7729]

@@Meta-Drew well tbf Jimmy has always been an assume mistakes or incompetence over malice kind of person. (And in a world where everyone has a rod up their arse and is desperate to slam someone, I find that so much more refreshing) And I think that's for the best because if Jimmy accuses someone of deliberately wrecking then that will be the queue for some to arm the pitchforks, ready for war and take to DMs.

[@Jimmy_Broadbent]

@@Meta-Drew I just thought it wasn't intentional lmao. If I was simping I wouldn't make this video at all.

[@williamstrachan]

@@joeogle7729 yeah, he's just showing us the crash, saying he doesn't think it's intentional, we are fully allowed to think something different. Outright accusing someone of intentionally doing that is frankly risky, as there's no proof, and unintentionally crashing out Pablo's team is still really fucking awful behaviour for a lapped car to be doing and looks bad enough on its own account.

[@kanojo1969]

This is the first time I realised there weren't live stewards in the top split. This blows my mind and explains everything. The solution to this specific problem - cheating by drivers on track - is simple, we already have the real-world racing examples right there to copy from. if there's pro teams involved, there has to be live stewards and human policing of race behavior. And before that, much better rules that are very specific about both violations and penalties. Basically, iRacing needs to put in the measures any reasonable fan would expect to exist. To put it another way, the worst part of this whole thing wasn't Williams cheating, it was that nobody stopped them or punished them for doign it. Absolutey pathetic from iRacing and others who run the event.

[@gsheist]

💯 agree with you. How can iRacing claim to be a serious platform for professional sim racing without life stewards. That’s a huge miss in my book

[@Sushi227]

People in my iRacing league have all been saying the same things for years now: top splits during special events need live stewards, and that the sporting code needs an overhaul along with enforcement to show unsportsmanlike behaviour will not be tolerated at any level.

[@virtual_GaRy]

iRacing should make offtack areas actually offtrack and delete your quali time, fix their countless physics exploits and live steward top split. Netcode also absolutely not esports ready and where is the rain?

[@juni_2452]

Yeah i think having live stewards on top would be very beneficial to iRacing, because incidents like this wouldn't have happened, and also i think that everyone involved in that top split would take it more seriously. I don't really think it would be favoring top split, if i ever got to top split i would expect iRacing to take measures like live stweards

[@randomchannel323]

Agreed if this was a real race it would be noticed instantly and they'd be DQ'd

[@Samylton]

Still waiting for a full vid on T-Rex Assetto Corasa mod, I think we all need a break from all this serious esports shenanigans

[@dinonuggies2276]

The distinction between simracing and eports is very important. An esports Player wants to win, a simracer wants to be immersed. Playing f1 in TV pod cam is not simracing. Thats not a bad thing(!), but these players have a very diffrent goal in mind from the guy that uses cockpit cam because you cant see shit in the real car either

[@alexbelmonte4581]

Absolutely true. Many Esports players are gamers who want to compete and win the game. Unfortunately, racing games are a forum in which gamers meet racers and don’t always see eye-to-eye.

[@kevinking9752]

this is a slippery slope, because it becomes a no true scotsman debate. Sometimes triple screens can allow more visibility than a regular driver would have in a bucket seat, in some cases you can see directly to the side of you when lots of drivers do not have that ability. There are adjustments you can make to your brake pedal, to your FFB, a dozen different HUDS on your screen that gives you info that a driver wouldn't normally have or even setup changes that definitely would not be possible in real life without breaking the car, ability to remove the halo in iRacing, etc. I just don't agree that using a TV pod cam isn't sim racing, perhaps it shouldn't be allowed in competition, but 'true simracers' can create tons of advantages for themselves that aren't available to actual drivers on a track. It's always been an approximation of real racing, and it all depends on what makes you feel immersed. If a guy needs to drive a GT3 car with power steering that is as heavy as maybe 6 Nm at most with his Simucube at 16 Nm, then he can and literally know one would shit on him for doing that.

[@aqulex84]

The whole problem can be overcome by fixed camera settings dictated by the server. As well as no help like racing line etc. AC does that perfectly and it’s „old“ 😂

[@kahlilrickford]

Real life racing is literally a competition where people want to win and will do everything they can to win and hence esports is part of the 'immersion' of sim racing. Sims just have unfortunate limitations that you have to deal with to compete at the top like using T cam as you mentioned.

[@jackarmstrong7285]

The best example of esports racing imo is a game called TrackMania. Yes it’s racing and it has the roots of its physics in realism but then when you come to the tracks that all gets thrown out of the window because it’s virtual and nothing needs to be possible or safe for it to exist. Also why it’s the most popular racing esport

[@mykschumacker967]

It's just gotten too serious... I first got into through a group of friends, and we get together on AC and race, create leagues and stuff. We all know and trust each other and have real fun racing together, and eventually some new person becomes part of the group, so it grows. However, when money gets involved, that's when all the fun gets pumped right out of it.

[@michaelredford5389]

I'm liking the more chilled out TED Talk Jimmer we've had so far this year..... keep it going 👍

[@IanMustafa]

TEDx Basement is lit 🔥

[@gameboyterrorysta6307]

It often feels like AI in sims is degrading. Even games that used to have decent AI, are getting worse over time, as singleplayer side of game is being forgotten/ignored with updates. And as much as I love racing online, it is hard to have good experience outside of special events/leagues.

[@bobbyosborne2375]

I hate racing online. Only fun I've ever had was way back on Forza 4, pgr3...and that was it. Always with a lobby of close friends. Never randoms. Otherwise, I'm a single player racer through and through. And I'm with you on the focus being on multiplayer. And honestly, it's bullshit.

[@DannicusMaximus]

Across the board on all titles the multiplayer is a horrible experience. Whether it be crash kids, griefers and cheaters. Started a lobby on f122 going for 3 days with no assists and in that time only 5 players stayed past t1.

[@toebeeone]

"It often feels like AI in sims is degrading. Even games that used to have decent AI, are getting worse over time, as singleplayer side of game is being forgotten/ignored with updates." or is it that you are getting better? i'm a single player too. GT7. i've seen a lot of youtube uploaders on here complaining about drivers all the time. it's ok if the person that is the one that made a mistake, but not ok for others. pointing them out and talking down about them, turns me away from getting online and trying it out. the AI is just real enough to keep it fun and interesting. there are more average players like me out there than there are "pros". the AI makes mistakes just like i do.

[@JWHarris........]

Tried playing a bit of split screen on Gt7 with my son. You cannot adjust player 2's assist settings. What a shame.

[@TheseAreOurGames]

@@JWHarris........ WRC Generations also has a similar issue where neither player can select a tune or edit it, player 2 doesn't have access to changing the electric mapping, and sounds are broken here and there. I find that for most games, i'm best off hooking up a 2nd system next to the main one to get the best experience, which in some instances means needing to buy the game twice ( and let's be real, this is likely by design)

[@Einveldi]

I chaired a panel at the World Science Fiction Convention in 2019 that asked "is Esports the future of competition?" And I think we're now there. If it's going to be contested at that level, it has to be governed at that level.

[@Ermz]

Can't imagine a better way for the general public to never care about sim racing than by tying it to more of these esports events.

[@carlzee3230]

I think asking EA to actually care about anything besides microtransactions is asking far too much (let’s remember who now owns Codemasters). They’re probably more concerned with finding a way to create F1 Ultimate Team

[@dannyx2737]

Yeah that's the truth. Games just aren't what they use to be. Games are made with micro transactions in mind first before gameplay and game performance

[@MysteriousFigure]

It's not like Codemasters were achieving masterclasses with developing F1 anyways, so now that they are a part of a very lazy and cash hungry developer, I wouldn't expect muich if at all unless it makes money

[@captaincookieee6586]

Indeed, and after F1 2020 (which I thoroughly enjoyed) the F1 games went rapidly downhill, and F1 22 just is a mess and after buying 3 games on launch, I couldn’t bother anymore

[@jdevlin1910]

Codemasters stopped caring long before EA arrrived

[@periurban]

As someone who loves arcade racing games like Wreckfest and Wreckfest, the sim racing world looks completely mad.

[@emlyndewar]

Yeah, the fun seems to be being sucked out of it.

[@Pobsworth]

@@emlyndewar nah, sim racing is fun on a personal level. These big events just give it a bad image

[@rickrolled7930]

​@@Pobsworth aren't the aliens also sim racing for fun? Because if not, why are they doing this? For the money? There are better paying things out there.

[@mikekirby5871]

I have been running sim Racing games for over 20 years. I may not be the fastest, but I race it because I enjoy it. To cheat takes all the fun out of it for me. I agree with your points

[@PorscheRacer14]

About as long as me, too! Funny story, I loved playing Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed so much, I went out and bought a used 1986 Porsche 944 because I liked the way the drove in the game and they had pop up headlights haha. *Yes I knows it's not a real sim racing game, but I did like the older Need For Speed games as pure fun, where as GT Legends, rFactor and such were more serious and broke more wheels and pedals than I could keep up with.

[@randomchannel323]

If there's money on the line people will

[@adenkyramud5005]

@@PorscheRacer14 the big question now is... Did you enjoy the car as much irl as you did in the game? Also I agree old NFS was stupid fun. I remember playing most wanted and underground 2 as a kid on my dad's computer. Some of the first racing games I've played (first ever was F1 2006 on ps2) and absolutely got me hooked.

[@PorscheRacer14]

@@adenkyramud5005 Oh yah I had a blast. It is the one car I wish I would have kept. It was a fairly cheap Porsche to run. 928, 911, those get pricey quickly.

[@callummclachlan4771]

Sometimes it is fun to cheat and push cars off the track. But only against AI. Never against a real player. In my view. I will repeatedly bump and hit an AI if it's doing something stupid (but if they're clean, I'll be clean back). Lost count of how many AI I've rammed off the track after they ruined my race. But I won't do the same with people because I know what it's like.

[@seanberry1]

I agree that top-split esports events need live stewards. I've been saying it for years. If they want to protect the integrity of their sport, they're going to have to pay more attention to the aspects of real motorsports that aren't covered by the programming.

[@Ferrari255GTO]

this is absolutely unacceptable, we have all of theese simracing youtubers telling us to respect the rules, drive clean and keep cool, and then here comes williams using the "it's not in the book" excuse to blatantly cheat while simultaneously screwing every other racer for no reason. This shouldn't just be a ban for the racer, but rather for the whole team and their stupid attitude towards the event. This goes against all that sportsmanship is and it's pathetic to see come from a "professional team". I honestly hope that they pay accordingly to what they've done. I hate so much that they were like "bUt SoMeOnE eLsE cOuLd'Ve DoNe It"while they themselves are that someone else, making themselves the reason why their excuse doesn't work. I shouldn't be this mad about it especially because simracing isn't something i really watch closely, the only serious event i've seen was the digital 24Hours of le mans because jimmer was there, but it's surreal to me that this happened sorry in advance if any spaces are missing, the keyboard i'm using rn is faulty

[@Jacked153]

This is why we admire what you do Jimothy, keeping it real and discussing the topics most people won't touch

[@Torquematterz]

My old auto teacher would warn us. When your passion becomes your job; you can't use it as an escape anymore.

[@brutus1014]

E sports drivers can be relentless but from I have seen you don't fit into their space...because you did it, you became a real race driver which when your on I watch all the time, thank you for your continuing content, I have just purchased f1 2022 and already the leaderboard on hotlaps is just ridiculous, take care and happy racing.

[@02bluehawk]

Hit the nail on the head at the end there bud! People are forgetting how to have fun and taking it too seriously.

[@mikehipperson]

When money and kudos is involved anything goes in any sport, real or digital!

[@joeogle7729]

@@mikehipperson ah money, the ruiner of all good things

[@rickrolled7930]

In average lobbies yeah, maybe. But when there is money to be won, people want it, no matter what it takes. Some poeple do decades of jail for robbery and drug trafficking and so on, all for money. Esports drivers are also people and want the big prices. Not to even mention the ego.

[@Azeria]

My opinion is that if you want an eSports league? run one. Don’t use public sessions on iRacing.

[@JonB83]

iRacing should definitely start putting stewards in top splits of special events. It's crazy that they allow this stuff to happen in the sense that the win is still given even though they cheated the whole race.

[@AidanMillward]

People say the money sucked the fun out of sim racing, but really the fun got sucked out of it by tryharding. By putting spreadsheets together with the exact crossover points for the tyre drop off, the point at which you need to swap to wet tyres and so on. Which is why I’m in favour of ANYTHING that disrupts that kind of thing. Safety cars, removing the access to certain bits of telemetry and so on. It’s like how you can go on a fandom wiki and find out what the best weapons and armours are in fallout instead of figuring it out by playing the game. Yeah, there’s sponsors and people want to win because of those sponsors and when there’s prize money you want to make your time and effort worth it. But it’s just taking over the fun aspect. You are allowed to have fun and be competitive at the same time.

[@tquiring212]

I agree with your idea of live stewards for the top split on major events like the Daytona 24. It's the one that is broadcast, most likely has all the biggest names in the service, and is the one everyone will hear about. Live stewardship would have prevented that qualifying lap from occurring and may have altered the GTD shenanigans.

[@iluvfionaleggate]

I had no idea about this somehow, that behaviour by Williams Esports is absolutely disgraceful, and makes sim racing look like a joke.

[@adimuzmusic5402]

Jimmy you're a humble guy. The fact you have voiced your opinion and made this video should be a wake up call to both the owners of sim racing games and owners of Esports teams. Not all hero's wear capes!

[@theparkster1542]

7:20 one of the more irritating parts of this is that this is literally every online apology these days. It's just "sorry we got caught" rather than, genuinely being sorry for what you did. Fm

[@hinkypunk7073]

I still don't get it why they don't force cockpit view. Especially in the f1-series championships. For me it's always a bit ridiculous when you are an official driver by a team and then racing in the t-cam...

[@aryawyk.7874]

B-But my vision!!1

[@andrewfetter4843]

To be fair in a real car you can move your head and view more than is possible from just a cockpit cam. If you wanted the cockpit cam you would need to require VR headsets to maintain the same level of awareness. If anything it just needs to be a standard camera setup for all, either everyone uses t-cam or some other configuration. The problem is lack of standards not the difference from real life as their are limitations that a flat screen has vs real life in a cockpit.

[@hinkypunk7073]

@@andrewfetter4843 Of course. But at that level there should be enough money to have at least a three-screen-setup. I don't race online anymore, but I did a lot 20 years ago (GPL, NR2002, NR2003). And already back then a lot of my opponents used e.g.. TrackIR I guess when they would force the cockpit view, the simracer would find quickly a solution.

[@Formaldehydex]

Check out what happened at the very first corner of the very first lap of the last race to win the Skippy School scholarship. Diego Pinto’s teammate put the chrome horn to the second place driver when there was just a 5 point lead, so everything was up for grabs until he got punted off the track.

[@griff_the_boxer]

The worst thing about F1 esports is that for bad drivers it’s really obvious when they’re cheating…they miss apexes and make tons of mistakes but still do great lap times. The problem is that if the top drivers just give themselves like 1% more grip, it would be almost impossible to tell (unless you implement an anti cheat).

[@matthewcoleman8267]

Latest update from iRacing today is an update to the Daytona track especially for the apron usage.

[@billyrowlee7337]

No matter what, in any type of game, you're going to get competitive. And in a game where competition IS the game, its only going to get worse. iRacing was fantastic when i first got it, but after Covid, it's just gotten to the point where I'm not on very much. Not from being burned out, but it has so many glaring issues that aren't addressed that takes the fun out of it. I'm not willing to do wacky things with a setup, wall ride or do anything out of the norm that I'd do in a real car. No matter what happens, when money gets involved, things change, and generally for the worse. Is it good that sim racing is growing? Yes, but the consequence to that is this type of behavior that goes against the "spirit of the race".

[@Matt7R]

The mentality of "oh but if I don't do it, someone else will and then I'll be at a disadvantage" applies to so much more than just esports and racing, it's literally going to be the downfall of us all - really. Such a stupid and selfish mentality. It's the reason anything bad in this world exists.

[@fourutubez7294]

The Rennsport saga is going to be so entertaining.

[@VinnyFonseca]

I agree, but hoping to be happily disaapointed on that one. Another top notch sim on the market would be great right now.

[@si1208]

Well expressed, Jimmy. It's a sad side of human nature that some will take advantage wherever they can get away with it. Adding prize money incentivises the bad behaviour. Add corporate sponsorship, and the bad behaviour takes over.

[@RubyRoks]

What happened with Williams Esports in the iRacing D24 will ABSOULTELY be used to amend iRacing sporting code, just how wallriding is now explicitly banned in NASCAR after the Ross Chastain's stunt at Martinsville. What this year is showing is that more competition in racing games is needed. Newer developers making truly next generation sims with up to date anti-cheat implementations and running events where the rules are taken seriously. Unfortunately, were i a developer looking to get into a genre, the LAST thing i'd want to do is make a racing sim because of how embarrassing these issues are

[@mrhatty0514]

On the Williams debacle, the mechanical side or “game” aspect of the platform does allow what did. The sporting code, the thing every iRacing player has to abide by and agree to before turning a single lap, doesn’t. Willams Esport violated no less than 4 regulations in the sporting code with their shenanigans. The driver in questioned got suspended, not banned. A ban would indicate they are done for good and not allowed to return at all. And if iRacing had any teeth they would not only lifetime ban the driver, but tell Williams to hit the road and exclude them from every broadcasted and special event for the rest of the year given their response.

[@Tomani02]

This is pretty sad overall... If there is a competition that deserves to be called an "Esport" more than anything else since it is the closest thing to the real sport in video game form. Even with a Logitech G29, it enables people with modest income to have a similar experience to driving a real race car. It is the democratization of motor racing. So it is sad for me to see all this stuff that harms this hobby which I call my favorite.

[@brunoboldt6336]

It´s human nature, specially on the higher levels of competition, team will use ANY breach on the rules to get a advantage over the others, and it happens every where on e-sports and "real"sports. Ethic is something that dies rather quickly when huge money / sponsorship gets involved sadly. Good thing is that there ARE good and honest people.

[@tylersmith3645]

Not yielding with a blue flag IS against sporting code. You should yield within 3 corners. Anything beyond that is a violation.

[@Oscar__RH]

If only we knew an experienced iRacing live race steward who's open to payment...

[@mrj3217]

How does Iracing not have code for this to automatically flag these actions. Then after the race have the possible flagged infractions scrutinized before officially awarding a win. To easy.

[@bundesautobahn7]

This is where EA can assist Codemasters with their expertise. The responsibility is with Codemasters, but they can ask their parent and publisher for assistance in finding an anticheat solution.

[@DERP_Squad]

EA are more likely to identify the cheats and offer them as an in-game subscription.

[@NeogreenPeaches]

Im always amazed every time I am reminded that the Codemaster F1 games have a competitive scene.

[@casesully50]

God I love Pablo. He's so funny sometimes.

[@AustinOgonoski]

Been saying this for years. The eSports fad (because that's what it is - a fad - just look at the PATHETIC view counts) has turned a portion of the community into overzealous tryhards and messed with sim racing culture. What we've got right now is something that's part Smash Bros and part Need for Speed, when these games were originally intended for quieter guys in their 20's, 30's, and 40's.

[@snaillio]

The 23 hours of zolder that Jimmer did last year was run ALOT better than both Daytona and Le mans virtual have been run

[@zapkill24]

Fr. They even had a live steward.

[@RubyRoks]

In fairness, the stakes for 23hZolder are much lower than iRD24 and 24hLMV, but you're right. Creative Interpretation of the rules was minimal and the punishments were swift and fair

[@zapkill24]

​ @RubyRoks The Bigger the event, The more care that should be put forth, not less. Especially with all the PR damage to themselves, sim racing, and credible esports.

[@Oscar__RH]

@@zapkill24 Yes they did.

[@zapkill24]

@@Oscar__RH Who did what?

[@SpaceFoxAD]

Really appreciated that ridge racer towards the end

[@boccs]

When the exploits are obvious to the point of people doing them by accident... Maybe there is an obvious solution to people misusing bugs, fixing them! I guess that would be a lot to ask for though :/

[@JSmith73]

Check the latest release notes for iRacing, re Daytona? ;)

[@scotthecarnerd1995]

This will be talked about for the rest of the year you can guarantee it, whatever happens it needs change like you said because its tainting something that a lot of people find really enjoyable and rewarding.

[@SystemError52]

How has iRacing NOT got live stewards in top split of such a big event? Even my weekly amateur sim league has live stewards, and they're kept very busy.

[@ShadowWolfe]

Because then you'd need to pay them, plus having them in shifts for endurance events so that everything is caught as it happens. The closest iRacing has is a Protest system, which of course is delayed action, but action does get taken if it needs it. Like Jimmy said, it would come across as preferential treatment if _only_ Top Split had stewards. Personally I think iRacing failed by not issuing a statement and removing the win from Williams, but that's a whole other conversation on if it's even possible for iRacing to change the result sheets after an event has occurred. If anything, Williams eSports/all their drivers that directly participated in those actions should definitely be banned from running iRacing for the rest of the year.

[@billyrowlee7337]

The world championship sprint car series with a 25,000 dollar prize pool doesn't have live stewards. it's never going to happen.

[@stevebuscemi3622]

Esports takes the fun out of casual gaming.

[@theburb247]

The late, great Eddie Guerrero summed it up nicely: "If you're not cheating, you're not trying".

[@trees987]

The end of the video made me subscribe. Great video 😁

[@marijn17s]

The F1 cheats have been around for a long time actually. Started to get serious around F1 2020. I've heard from a very reliable source that Longuet had them as well back in F1 2020, not sure if he still has them though. Edit: Codemasters have implemented an anticheat after about half a year into the F1 2021 game, but it has proven not to be very effective.

[@jacekatalakis8316]

FWIW I remember trainers for as far back as 2013, sites like Cheathappens were distributing them a decade ago and with some fiddling you could get them to work online without too much hassle

[@marijn17s]

@@jacekatalakis8316 true but it really kicked off with fully working online cheats in 2020

[@Andres-ud8md]

unrelated but you really should plug your vaporwave playlist, that song in the beginning was nice : ) good coverage as always.

[@gabehowe2778]

There’s definitely an esports problem. As much as I love being competitive in terms of racing, there are times I would love to just…drive. I need an open-world game with sim physics, where you can feel cars and drive them a bit, while also just letting loose and having fun. I know AC can sort of do this, and pretty well, but it’s just not the same because you know it’s AC.

[@adenkyramud5005]

So basically a mix between AC and NFS or the crew? Now that's something I never knew i wanted but now that you've said that... Yeah I want that now 😂

[@callummclachlan4771]

Yeah. A lot of modern sims are too focused on the esports side of things. It's really disheartening to people who will never be at that pace (including me) and just do it for fun. Yeah, I've done an hour race around Adelaide in VR, but it was for fun and not at all serious. I will never be fast enough to take it seriously and I'm fine with that. If I were to spend that much time, money and effort, I'd rather get a real world race car. Even an entry level one. No sim and peripherals can perfectly replicate ordinary driving, let alone racing. Even with my limited real world driving experience, I notice the massive difference. Also love racing weird cars for shits and giggles. Remember racing a bunch of standard SUVs (Macan, Levante etc) around Bathurst, which was chaos.

[@gabehowe2778]

@@adenkyramud5005 hit the nail on the head. Basically just Forza Horizon with way better physics and less focus on nonsense basically

[@luckyshark32]

Beamng with a real big mod map is pretty much this. It's made gigantic strides toward being a legit driving sim in the last year or so.

[@HiBoa]

From my time being around as a spectator, it is a frustratingly common thing where there is this 'esports problem'. Historically the cod leagues have had issues with players taking stupid amounts of adderall before tournaments and then just going insane throughout all the games without anyone 'knowing', and gotten so bad to the point that in 2020 former pro Killa stated "No one is talking about it because everyone is on it." There have also been whistleblowers around the same time for CS:GO, Overwatch and Gears of War, why? Because there is no anti-doping scheme or sentiment for any of these sports, you are allowed to take whatever you want provided it doesn't kill you on stage, as that is the only time it really affects the company organisers like MLG and ESL as they would then actually have to deal with it.

[@batgaming9648]

You forgot the main problem of sim racing. The fact that someone absolutely killed an LMP2 in the last lap of Daytona.

[@MattyT_86]

Something else that I;ve been reminded of, when the cheating was discussed: A lecturer once said to us that if someone spent as much time studying as they did at working out ways to cheat the examinations, they'd have been good enough to pass the examination outright anyway.

[@daxxrogers2055]

Jimmer has become too good so his opponents need to cheat to gain an advantage on him

[@staceybertran52]

Thats the best point made. Since it was top split and generally live broadcasts by someone like Race Spot, there should ALWAYS be live stewarding as part of the norm. As a benefit for making the top split. If its already getting live broadcast, not every split gets live broadcast. So live stewarding is mandatory in my mind. Because its like we have seen in the past with tire dipping etc. Drivers pushing the edges and no fear of getting caught unless protested. At the time of protesting. its too late.. too late to change the outcome. too late to get safety rating and irating back, too late in general and since iRacing is making a shyte ton of money off of us perhaps even have the top 5 splits with stewards to dissuade people from going one or two splits down on purpose to do the same stuff. Just my thoughts. Thanks for the update Jimmy.

[@j05h.m]

8:25 this is exactly what hamilton did at bahrain 2021 extending at turn 4 for 20 something laps

[@tinyrodent2821]

8:30 - Exactly this (in terms of the first clip with abusing the apron). How many times do we see F1 drivers abusing weird rules about where the track limits are until they suddenly change the rules and punish other drivers for doing the same.

[@regibson23]

The qualy thing was so minor. It's a 24 Hour race. Big deal. It's better to be 2nd anyway to fuel save. The bigger problem I have is sending out cars that are laps down to block competitors.

[@mrtalimac929]

Great video mate, I feel it maybe time for an Esports council where all teams/drivers competing work together for the greater good with an agreed code of conduct. Making the SIM scene more professional and people being held accountable for indiscretions within the agreed code. Just a thought of course 🤣

[@Shiraumere]

Williams e-sport should be banned from the next daytona event for their behaviour. Button is just a bellend. Forcing e-sport generally tends to ruin everything if it's forced too much, look at Siege and Overwatch.

[@Comalv]

Oh I didn't know that there wasn't any form of anticheat in driving games yet. If F1 starts adopting one, prepare yourself for a rocky 6-12months start with legit people being flagged for random reasons or niche peripherals being banned as the system gets polished to a workable standard. Regarding Pablo's video, I'm glad you took the time to address the issue with your reach after replying to my post on twitter. I hope iRacing steps up for next event and keeps a closer eye on overeager first split teams. Keep it up Jimmy!

[@whassupg89]

Sim racing’s other esports problem is that too much focus in the building of these games is aimed at the top levels of esports competitors, meaning less effort goes into making these games just enjoyable to play for the rest of us who like racing but suck at it 😅

[@backmarkerbob]

I agree wholeheartedly on Rennsport, everything about it makes my spider-senses tingle

[@crazyoliver7877]

It's really sketchy to me. I think they are being serious about the half a million because how many more people will buy that product as advertised VS people who wont buy it if there wasn't a chance to win half a million.

[@martinbourque5594]

was about time someone talk about it!!!

[@marijn17s]

Spetz has gotten a year ban actually. His discord status also has the days remaining until his unban in it.

[@Hellcat_UK]

What he did probably wasn't worth the year ban. After all, pole in a 24hr race isn't as important as say a 15min sprint. But as that was his 3rd bannable offence it's justified. He's an amazingly fast driver but absolutely lacking in common sense, or a support network for preventing him from doing stupid stuff!

[@marijn17s]

@@Hellcat_UK Yeah i agree. Also shows that the grass dipping one week bans were kind of a warning for them that they’re not going to get away with those things in the future. I hope this sends a message to all the esports teams that they should play fairly

[@altguitardemos6608]

Great commentary Jimmy... Very well put.

[@DFT1929]

'this breaks my balls' is such a classic hispanic phrase but it sounds so weird in english lmao

[@ElectricTSL]

And this kind of video is why I love your work!!!😍🙌🏼👏🏻

[@alexda6789]

rF2 seems to be heading in the esports direction too. as someone who does simracing as a way to pass the time, and rF2 re-doing their tyre model for Goodyear and the Virtual LM completely changed how you have to go about those cars, including what used to be my all-time favorite simracing car, the Oreca 07. I can no longer just hop into a race when I feel like it, I have to spend hours practicing because even with TCS and ABS assists turned all the way on, which I never had to do, it's impossible to drive as a casual player. Am I saying that I'm mad about a skill issue? Maybe. But the point is that I can no longer do what I want to do in rF2 because of too much attention to esports and I am not an esports driver. The casual feel of the LMP2s and GTEs is gone and it's just a bit frustrating, since rF2 perfectly suited my wants as a simracer before.

[@shig.bitz.3205]

Your point about drivers doing everything they're allowed to gain an advantage reminds me of Spa 24 a couple of years ago where the stewards basically said they weren't going to police track limits at the last chicane. Resulted in drivers taking a wide exit line off of the track, and then complaining about track quality because they were getting too many punctures 😂

[@TBolt1]

Thank you for posting this and standing up for what’s fair and decent sportsmanship. The entire Williams team - real and online - has lost favor with me now. The Williams cheater should have been banned for 10 years.

[@VodkaRob]

Sadly there will always be cheating where any computer /console game is concerned and as soon as something is out to combat it I would imagine the cheats will be working on a way around it. Unfortunately it's not like real life racing in a physical car. It's sad that people do it. For me I would rather finish last than win by cheating but not everyone is the same. I can remember playing a mobile game and the top 10 times were all ridiculous like 1 second for a full lap and that kind of thing is even more ridiculous. It's not even believable. We just have to hope the devs keep working on fixes. Great video as always, thanks ✌️ 😎

[@jonlamontagne]

I remember back in the old days iRacing if you did Donuts at Talladega Daytona on your warm-up lap all your tires would be warm instantly. You could be easily going 10 miles an hour faster than everybody else on your first lap that they would be on their final lap legally. It became a thing of Honor that if people saw it everybody disconnected from the race of the person couldn't win. Because that was really back in the single file one line down by the paint.

[@JoeBlowUK]

If you watch drivers live streaming ACC races, you often hear them deciding where they plan to use their 3 off-tracks, so they can gain maximum advantage, which ironically is the exact opposite of what the off-track penalties were designed to prevent. Sportsmanship is a rare thing these days.

[@rickrolled7930]

I mean if you don't do that you will probably loose positions. I race in lfm and EVERYBODY does that. There are also ways to cheat the track limits: no time gained system. I don't like that system at all, i think you either go full f1 mode on track limits or lay them low completley. And i don't like it simply because it's easy to cheat on, not a bad idea at all on paper. But i think that in acc there are far worse things rn. Zero tc meta is absolute bullshit. Because in platforms like flm that have custom bop, the bop is made by aliens running no tc, which is very unfair to all the normies that want to drive a gt3 like a gt3, with tc on. Care like the ferrari have monster traction and everyone uses the 296, while the bmw for example that is a powerslide torque machine at low speeds suffers a lot from this. Meta setups or paid setups that break the game are also shit. The reason sim laptimes are so much quicker than in real life is not the physics engine, but all the setups that exploit loopholes or glitches in it to gain advantage.

[@MisterFribble]

9:15 F1 22: "I have the most and worst cheaters" FH5: "Hold my beer"

[@exa-roli3954]

This is not the real problem. I'm an F1 22 league owner. Its the league from what some of you might now know as the creator series started from. I'm also the guy that found the lad that started all this debacle off back in December. The real problem is obvious once you look into the general behavior of drivers at the community level. Back then , drivers , especially the younger ones , were enjoying the racing and what the community brought to their passion. Now i have a very, very tough time explaining to most racers that retiring in the pits after a spin on lap 3 isn't right. Ever since eSports 90% of the racers are result driven pro wannabes. People stopped doing anything on this game that doesn't make them get closer to eSports. Just enjoy, have fun, chill with friends , stop spending 10 hours a day sweating time trial for a casual league race , it won't give you any pleasure apart from frustration once it doesn't work out.

[@Franconen]

Hello Jimmy, when you introduce money problems comes, it's like that everywhere.

[@csechrist1]

Those Williams justifications immediately had me thinking of professional cycling during the doping era, where the attitude among a lot of the field was that you had to dope because if you didn't someone else would and you'd get beat. Meanwhile the athletes were doing anything they could to not get caught, sometimes spectacularly unsuccessfully.

[@jonclark25]

Agreed. Doing something proffesionally and as a passion is very different. Programming was my passion 7 years ago and now I'm a programmer I still enjoy it but it doesn't get me outta bed in the morning but sim racing and driving on the limit at race tracks IRL too and adding performance parts to my car consumes 99% of my thoughts because it's a hobby. I bet pro drivers even get a moment here and there when they just don't want to think about racing even.

[@electropneumatic]

Jimmer you hit all the points I was thinking on the head. And I completely agree: if something is not set in stone driver can and will take advantage of it--and they should. But this was a blatant and they knew what they were doing was wrong.

[@zabu497]

Was waiting for this 😬😬

[@GregoryPrzybyl]

As someone who plays f122. I’ve been accused for cheating because of my age and my surge in form. It’s a shame how the game is going downhill

[@nieko3038]

Your paraphrasing of Williams excuse had me laughing. My thoughts exactly. Maybe they are too interested in money. I witnessed cheeting in the Raceroom competitions too. Ghost cutting the track. How people feel better about their achievements doing this is beyond me.

[@mikehipperson]

It's probably the only event that Williams will 'win' for the next 2 decades!

[@joeogle7729]

It reminds me of David Brent delivering good news and bad news...

[@Nascarfan35]

Gaming has an eSports problem. It should not exist, period. All it does is pollute games and their goal as a whole, everything has to focus on it, and therefore people will cheat to get to eSports or do well. Gaming should be a hobby, not a competition. Companies need to focus on anti-cheat and quality simulation and gameplay. The F1 series isn't that, for sure.

[@Fl3tch3r222]

Regarding the rensport competition, couple years back valve organized dota2 tournament for 1 mil. before the game was launched, only the competing players had access to it for some weeks and it turned out to be great ad for the game.