#WeAreRaceNight EST. 2009
Prologue
For 331 consecutive weeks, the Giant Bomb Forza Race Night has carried on the tradition of doing dumb things in dumb cars. Okay, we race serious in serious cars too - but even as the numerous years and attendees have come and gone, our objective has never changed:
Let's have fun. With cars.
True or not, we like to think we had an influence on the number of cars in the Forza series that have no business being on a race track. We're the ones who rejoiced when vehicles like the Cadillac XTS Limousine and Pontiac Aztec were added to the lineup, bugging Turn 10 for the return of the Smart Fortwo, and suggesting hot future DLC like the Reliant Robin or a variety of school buses.
Why do we enjoy such nonsense? While the serious nature and stress of competitive racing can be enjoyable, it can also grow tiresome very quickly. Too often players equate fun solely with winning, a habit I think leads to bad behaviors and attitudes. In our modern society where the prominence of E-Sports is growing everyday, I don't believe we have yet to encourage a culture and standard of 'E-Sportsmanship'. Ideals and lessons taught through regular sports are seldom passed on to their virtual counterparts; concepts like "play fair", "never give up", and "finish strong" in my opinion are too rarely seen from casual players all the way up to professionals in various competitive games.
W.A.R.N. has subconsciously fortified these qualities by forcibly dulling the competitiveness in the racing events we set up - for example, you're probably not going to stay mad at somebody because they hit you with their Jeep while performing Warren's 'Spinning Drop Kick' by accident.
We also realize not everyone has the time and dedication to be a top 1% leaderboard contender so creating artificial challenges and obstacles to consider, whether it's an 19,000 lbs armored Canadian truck parked in the middle of a hairpin or seeing the true dark abyss of Nordschleife inside a nearly silent Forumla E car that has no headlights, help to even the playing field further and enforces the importance of having a good time over the need to be victorious every race to constitute an enjoyable experience.
Make no mistake we race to win, but at Race Night winning isn't always about coming in first place. Our success is measured by the memories we make with our fellow duders and by the number of stupid inside jokes and memes we come up with to laugh about.
From my perspective that appreciation for "dumb" is the formula that has helped Giant Bomb grow into that popular site it is today, and has kept Giant Bomb Race Night alive and kicking for over 6 years.
Most of those nights have been hosted by @Trace, likely some sort of an unofficial world record, as he lead the group through countless obstacles and challenges that is hosting a weekly multiplayer event on Xbox Live. Many a time we thought the end was nigh whether it was due to various connection issues or simply low attendance(the dark period known as Forza 5), but somehow we still managed to march on and have been joined by an increased number of attendees since Horizon 2 and Forza 6. And while the Forza 6 experience remains far from perfect(e.g. broken lobby chat requiring party chat instead), I think it has thus far been a great platform to carry out our automobile mischief.
With that said, last week was the final Race Night with "Peace Egg" at the helm. It has been a long journey with huge amounts of unnecessary responsibilities shouldered, and like a true 'legit pro' he decided to step away from the position while on top of his game in fear of things going stale, with intentions of breathing new life into Race Night.
That torch has been passed onto me and while I feel unsure about my own capability to fill the large void left behind by someone who set the standard of "host", I also don't want to let Race Night wither away without a fight.
One day #WeAreRaceNight will just be a memory. The time I've spent with others at W.A.R.N. will surely be looked back upon through the rosiest of tinted glasses. Until then I hope to keep the dream(and streak) alive and if/when it is time for things to come an end, I'd like to know that we did our best to "finish strong".
P.S. Trace is still around organizing various GB events like the Giant Bomb Rocket League Snowday Tournament and Giant Bomb DiRT Rally League
*following section was shamelessly copied and edited from original Race Night thread*
Starts every Thursday at 9:30 PM ET (6:30 PM PT) (@ 187 Swatch Internet Time)
Runs until people get tired (usually 12 AM - 1 AM ET, 9 PM – 10 PM PT)
Since November 2009, we’ve been running a combination of silly and serious races using one of the most accessible racing sims available. Every Thursday night, it’s not about crushing rivals or being a dominant force of motorsport; rather, it’s about enjoying races that are unexpected, challenging, and just plain fun.
It’s worked for over six years without fail, so I think we’ve got something special here.
Do you like racing cars? Do you like doing silly stuff with cars? Do you want to do any or all of that with the Giant Bomb community? If so, you should join us.
Hosted by @sushix (SushiXXX on Xbox Live).
How to Join
- Follow my gamertag, SushiXXX. You should be able to do this without needing my permission on the Xbox One. It will also make my Drivatar more likely to join your career races. I apologize in advance.
- Post your gamertag in this thread (if you're not already a regular attendee). This way, I can follow you back to send game invites and make it easier for you to jump straight into my lobbies. ONLY POST YOUR GAMERTAG IN THIS THREAD IF YOU WANT TO JOIN US ON THURSDAY NIGHTS. I don't want to be mean about this, but this thread isn't intended as a gamertag exchange, so posting your gamertag without intending to join only makes it harder for me to find and invite people on Thursdays. You're obviously free to follow me anyways if you want my awful Drivatar to make a mess of your races.
- When I start up the private lobby for Race Night just before 9:30 PM, I'll go through my list of followers and invite anyone playing Forza Motorsport 6 into my game. This would be a good time to be playing Forza. If my friends list says you're in-game, I'm hitting you with an invite. If you can join my lobby before that invite, then feel free to be proactive! You won't be disturbing any natural order.
- We'll race. You'll have fun, hopefully.
Two additional notes to keep in mind:
- Occasionally I might be unavailable, so someone else will host during those weeks. We’ll try to keep track of that in this thread, but it may slip through the cracks at times.
- If you aren’t joining right at 9:30, there may be a delay inviting you in. You can send me a message to alert me you want in, but please be patient, as we’re probably in the middle of a 5-10 minute race.
What To Expect
While we mostly race during Race Night – hence the name – we do have a few other game modes we've created over the years that are fun.
Some of these games include:
- JELLY RACING: Collection of legit pro tunes created by yours truly; studies have shown Jelly car racing increases driving proficiency by 500%.
- CLUNKER PUSHING: Requires teams of two, so only in smaller lobbies. One person is a clunker, an already-slow car with 75% of their horsepower and some of their grip taken away. The other person is a pusher, a faster vehicle with no such handicaps. First clunker to make it to the finish wins. It's like Cat & Mouse, except more awesome. Typically done on a track with big hills, because there’s a sick comedy in tiny cars rolling back down large hills they couldn’t ascend.
- VIRUS TAG: One person starts as 'it'. When another person is tagged, he or she also becomes it. Repeat until everyone has been tagged and we all curse over whomever we “let” win. Hopefully heats will eventually work properly in Forza 6.
- FLAGPOLE RACING: One person is a flagpole. Everyone else is racing. Every time you encounter the flagpole, regardless of where it is on the track, you have to drive a circle around it before continuing on. The flagpole may move between laps.
- HATEFEST: Don’t ask. It’s better you discover the terror yourself.
- CAR SOCCER: Someday we’ll figure out how to get this back. Rocket League can’t replicate what we had perfectly.
In addition, expect the following special series over the course of the next two years:
- Formula Duder: The iRacing-born series will make its debut in Forza 6! Expect stock open-wheel battles over a series of tracks. Very likely to use the Formula E to start, unless the Formula 2000 becomes available shortly after launch.
- Giant Bomb Super Series: Multi-class racing mayhem with weird bonus points and team warfare that relies heavily on social media. It’s not only the dumbest series we’ve ever run, it’s the best series we’ve ever run. #GBSuperSeries
- Giant Bomb GT: There sure are a lot of touring cars and GT3 machines in Forza 6. We're going to make good use of them and bring this series back from a long exile.
Expect the unexpected. I am always willing to try new things out, provided there's a good way for determining a winner in-game.
The Rules
Our standards are pretty simple, much like Giant Bomb's rules: Don't be a dick. So far, we haven't had any major issues with this, but allow me to elaborate with suggestions that will greatly help everyone's experience:
Don't intentionally crash others during races.
Forza Motorsport 6 is not nearly as full-contact as Forza Horizon 2. Accidents will happen with high speeds and limited space, but please don’t slam into other players, and be mindful to give appropriate space when battling.
This rule doesn’t apply to any of the weird event ideas we come up with, like clunker pushing or flagpole racing. Generally, though, if a race isn’t designed to involve contact and we haven’t explicitly stated the race is full-contact, please avoid hitting other cars.
If you do end up blatantly taking someone out by accident and advance your position as a result, it's considered good manners to give them the spot back. This doesn't always mean stopping on track, which we've learned can be rather dangerous, but if you see the person you crashed in your rear-view mirror driving at speed again, slowing down and letting them pass is a nice gesture.
Calling ‘Gran Turismo’ before using somebody’s car to make a turn may be FIA regulations, but it’s not cool in Forza Motorsport. Don’t do it.
Be mindful of the voice chat.
With up to 24 people, there’s a potential for a frightening amount of voice chat, and I don’t think party chat works with those numbers. Do keep in mind that sometimes I'll ask for race suggestions or someone will try to explain game modes to newbies in the lobby. Chattering over this sort of stuff only delays the fun times and gets annoying. Don't delay the fun times!
In addition, if someone's headset is acting up, most especially with echoes or high-pitched squeals, we may ask you to try and fix it ASAP, since that almost completely prevents us from communicating with one another. It's highly frustrating. Usually, unplugging or muting the headset until you can deal with it is a good temporary fix if you're in the midst of racing when this crops up.
Oh, and don't snap in TV if it's going to blare through your headset. That's just annoying.
Other Things You Should Know
If you want to join, JOIN.
Don't mull over whether you're good enough or not. Our fields are full of people with widely varying skills, and as long as you're willing to understand that racing's not always about finishing first, but finishing well, you should have a great time with us. You won’t be cast out because you’re placing last all the time. On the contrary! We want you to practice and learn. Mastering this racing stuff is a pretty amazing feeling.
If you're worried about crashing one of us accidentally, let me just say that we're all used to how online racing typically goes. We can avoid your spinning car with brakes aflame, so don't worry about that either.
We don't mind if you're late.
As long as we have open spots (and we will have open spots with lobbies of this size), we're looking for people until the end of Race Night. If you can only make it to Race Night an hour in, then you're good. Get in here.
You don’t need a racing wheel.
Seriously, Vinny, it’s cool. This isn’t iRacing, so controllers are supported very well. I’ve always used a controller for Forza, and it’s worked fine thus far. Not having a wheel won’t put you at a horrendous disadvantage, trust me.
You don't need any cars or DLC, but having a car for each class would be nice.
The car suggestion is for your own enjoyment, as earning less money from rental cars is rarely fun. And while no DLC will be required to attend Race Night, most of us are voluntary members of the "Cult of Greenawalt" and are VIP with season passes.
Have fun! That's what we're here for.
You might hear some of the long-time regulars make reference to things like Stanica the Danica Fanica or the Lamborghini Pizza Club, but don’t worry about that. You’ll catch on soon enough.
Seriously, just enjoy yourself.
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