Whats happened to Mad Laps??

[Belial]

I’m getting seriously concerned.

I play this game nearly every day and I have noticed more and more there are no or very little players in the Madlaps servers. Why is this?

Is it because on Madlaps pro most people (in fact nearly all) get no points for playing?

Is it because mad laps time trial doesn’t have the tracks changed enough?

My concern is 2 fold.

1) The death of a great gaming community kept alive by only a few stalwarts and the rest of us that just pop in for 5 mins once a week.

And 2) I don’t really want to be shelling out £40 quid a month for a sever that’s empty 99% of the time. It just seems like it would be better spent on beer!

Some input from the racers would help here as well as Mad and Mid.

What’s going wrong???

[msquires]

Never fear! Dan and I are on the case of the tracks and will start keeping a high speed rotation of tracks so all you sector chasers can get excited.

This does mean more tracks are needed though so anyone who wants to build a track and get it uploaded, now is the time! AND don't worry about them not being noticed as all new tracks will recieve prime airtime on PRO and the increasingly popular POINTS...so GET BUILDING EVERYONE! We want new ideas and I'm feeling a track building comp in me waters!

And this isn't just some moral raising rant...although we do need the results of the gp season up

[evil_homer]

is the Solo Cup still going

it stopped for a few weeks and then nothing got said on here about it so i kinda forgot about it used to enjoy it too

i'm still unsure who won the last GP season too and even though i wasn't a driver in it would still like to know, fair enough if everyones busy but the last race was 26th Feb. does that mean that the last 2 weeks worth of results are still not up too

not seen Mid post on the forum either recently, i've not really played Trackmania a lot the last few weeks does he still play

it might not be as full as some of the other servers but in my opinion it is one of the best or it was not that long ago

[JawZ]

me and tracmania burned out abit over last few weeks, slowly getting up m hours.
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[Spanky_McCoy]

IMO it's probably the fact we're between seasons and there are no organised competitions to keep everyone coming back to the server. In saying that I don't think it's a totally bad thing that we do have gaps between seasons as Mad, Mid etc who keep the show on the road have lives away from here. We could with Mads permission of course arrange other events that the rest of us admins can run for him so he doesn't feel obligated to turn up when he is obviously busy with other things. The Mad Laps FA cup was meant to be such an event and it's totally my fault it didn't start a month ago as I was too busy to get it going and didn't come and ask anyone to help out with it.

In some way Belial you might be right about the lack of points, some people are just points whores and while the racing is always close on the Pro server when we have the usual crowd on it doesn't benefit their rankings to keep coming on, even I admit to a bit of points whoring as I've been playing on C@nt the last week as nobody is on the Pro server and at least I can get something out of my time playing the game at C@nt.

It is no coincidence the absence of mid and mad has seen a decline in the amount of gamers playing on the mad laps servers as I tend to come on because certain people are playing and when you see half a dozen people on a server some folks join out of curiousity and thats when we end up with the 32 racer ram jams that mad laps became famous for

I reckon once we get the Cup going and try and bring back the GP's soon thereafter the community will get going again. We all have a responsibility for that so when you're on folks and you see the server empty then head in and if you race it they will come

Sorry for the chapter and verse fellas I've gotten into writing longer pieces after the creation of the SpankyTech saga coming to a screen near you soon
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[Ste-Unit]

I'm on Trackmania almost daily, and so is Swat and Bboy, but I only come to Madlaps when there's a good number on, last night I only saw as much as 5 people on and didn't think it was worth joining the server. A couple of nights ago we had a great session on points, even Moldo turned up!

IDK, as I said I still play TMN just as much as before but I'm finding other servers more exciting due to the new tracks and the more activity.

[YussuF]

Hey Guys - It's spring , I think a bit lower activity in the time where the sun washes all frustration about snow and rain away is quite normal...

...but well, I'm still playing almost everyday and kinda sad about the developments as well, but tbh I think these real great amount of racers (32..) on the servers was this year only existing after all the GP-fellas went over to Pro once the GP was over....so GPs will certainly help.
And once those 32-ppl-evenings will happen regularly a week there will be more racers on the other days o'the week as well I suppose.

...the great session on points ste talked about was awesome, but there weren't more than 20 ppl on either...great nevertheless

i think the fact that most people get absolutely no points on Pro doesnt scar anybody off....a point limit on there would be totally wrong I'd say (thats why points exist isnt it ? )

and btw, those postings here show it another time : We just need shocking news, a bit of fear and concerns by those who run the server to fill this forums with life !?
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long days and pleasant nights!

[Ste-Unit]

[Spanky_McCoy]

Think the key is we get some competitions and fun events going and people will hang around more.

Also for those of you who haven't been on yet come into the ventrilo channel it adds an extra dimension to the racing when you have other people taking the piss . That is aimed at you Belial we haven't been hearing many inebriated scouse rants lately
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[JawZ]

dg, loves dirt.
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[DaCheese]

I'll admit to not having been around much recently (darn college and 360!). My absence probably hasn't impacted on the racing experience much but nevertheless I'm sorry . I'd hate to think that Mad, Mid etc. feel like there's pressure on them to keep things going because other commitments should definitely come above what is essentially just a racing game, but there's no doubt that things haven't been the same recently.

What can we do as individuals? The simple answer is jump on the server on a quiet evening and see how many turn up. Playing for points has never appealed to me and neither has time attack. Over the last couple of weeks I've dropped in and it's been quiet, but the potential is still there for great racing as shown by the battles for the lead I've had with Dan and Spanky. Once I've got less college work on my plate I'd be happy to take a more active role in organising stuff and overseeing the track rotation, provided somebody shows me around the console properly to avoid me screwing things up.
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[Ste-Unit]

[JawZ]

when its not buggy n doesnt end up ruining the race, often provides intense close racing.
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[mark-s]

calling all track builders, since i have been building tracks for mad laps everybody always looks for the next best thing to put in, takes ages sometimes for that little piece of inspiration doesn't it, always trying for that zany track. think of it like me now its mads laps not mad tracks.
try and keep them simple dans race for the win, start in knots, simple race tracks that you could play all night and not have to worry about am i going to pull of a eighty foot jump after a triple salko double twist.

personally i think we could do with a couple of track lists like this.
do some 30 seconds a lap tracks keep a nice smooth flow to them and see what great races you have on them.
as with tracks being built i am as guilty as all the others i think everybody starts building in gp season to see if they can make it as a gp track.
we all need to sit down come up with simple race tracks and trial them if there rubbish bin them if they induce some close racing your on a winner.


get back to some good ol racing again.

if you want inspiration go have half an hour on racing spirit or races of legends and see what close racing is.

rant about tracks over

me personally i only go on now and again, loss of job ( shifts which meant all morning building tracks till two o clock then racing when i got in at ten till one in the morning)
to now new job permanent days which is great no more shifts but a lot less time for this now.

will start looking into building some more tracks though perhaps we could store the new ones then release them in about a month keep them all together them leave them on the server for longer for everybody to learn.
hopefully bring back some interest
as sometimes i will click on look at the track list and that can be a put off, i dont know if anybody else feels this way.

[JawZ]

earlier this afternoon i went on and there were 11 ppl on - the records and such werent working.
thats another issue of late, the server recs havent been up.

but after 3 races i ended up being left alone with debs.
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[mark-s]

i did say racing spirit just took a look and not that good try gentlemens world and you will now what i mean.

[msquires]

Have to say I'm one who likes a nice stunt every now and then. But it does have to be a good race track too. The trick I try and stick to now is a fun track with some great stunts which arent too difficult. There are some 'normal' race tracks which actually don't result in close races at all (was racing sunset slalom earlier and found this) because corners are tight and chicanes require elitist reflexes.

Gentlemens world is what i wish ML was more like imo

There will be a trackbuilding comp soon and everyone will get a chance to display their best work and ideas they have...

[mark-s]

wasn't a dig at anybody matt, every now and then throw in that bunsen track, but i have noticed a lot of new bods coming on there now and a lot of tracks are not noob friendly thats why they dont stay any more.
just saying i think we could have a couple of track lists with all the race sort of tracks on and a couple of stunt tracks not to major though just the odd jump here and there just to bring the Competiveness back.

just put a track on take a look took about hour and twenty minutes, not saying everybody has to beat that time. but if we can all bang some simple things out like it we can revitalize the server again

[mad]

All I can say is sorry but we're working on it

I've been extremely busy and not managed to organise the troops enough to keep up the momentum. Having said that other people are beginning to hound me and it's time to put the show back on the road....

Spanky.. anytime you like
Dan.. Thanks

I'll get the results out soon... I promise...

[Ste-Unit]

Shoddy admin work just for a giggle on vent, now i remember why i stopped playing on madlaps

and what happened when I said that? I got kicked.