When I look at a players stats, I'm not really interested in how many sales he or she has made through their bazaar, or how often they have been to Argentina. I want to know what racing class they are in and how many official races and racing points they have won.
It is probably better to keep driver skill hidden, but I see no reason why the other stats shouldn't show, you know, for boasting rights, or challenging.
Edit: It seems that people don't mind showing their driving skill too, so we could throw that in.
Currently racing does nothing for the faction except maybe as a team building exercise. Respect gains from racing would help the relevance of racing to the rest of Torn.
I suggest a simple respect score of 1 respect per racing point won. This would not make a very big difference to overall faction respect.
Gains could appear under a racing tab in the faction log. Other faction members would then be able to see your placings "Kupe came 2nd in a class B race and gained 2 respect for the faction". This would increase the visibility of racing and encourage more participation.
If you are expecting to be attacked, because you suspect that the same "someone" attacks you regularly, you can have a friend open an attack screen loader on you, without actually pushing the final attack button. When you are attacked, your friend will see the attack log including the attacker's name.
TLDR: you think your actions (mugging) are a "normal accepted part of the game" (which is true), but that bountying in retaliation isn't (which it is).
I think that it is you who needs to accept a normal part of the game.
Get to level 15 so that you can fly before you start thinking about level holding.
Level holding disadvantages: You don't gain the life points (5th battle stat) that come from levelling up (biggest disadvantage). You appear weaker, so may be attacked more. You don't get levelling up merits. It is harder to bust people from prison.
Level holding advantages: You appear weaker, so may be attacked more, and may get more free defends. It is easier to get busted from prison. Weak high level players may be attacked and "farmed" for respect/experience for faction chaining or those trying to level up themselves.
I'm sure there are other points that I can't think of now.
If you want to see who is actually attacking you, is there a regular time that you expect to be attacked? If so, get a friend to open the attack screen on you just before that time (without actually clicking "start attack"). When you are attacked, they will get the attack log showing who your attacker is.
Being non-tradable is part of the essence of points. Waiting on my vault page, or on a ghost trade while I have points on the market is part of the game challange. Your suggestion would definitely make the game easier, but eliminating a challenge is the way to blandness and boredom.
Which racing stat are we suggesting be included? Racing points earned, races won, races entered? These are the three currently shown publicly in our stats. I think racing points earned.
I don't like the cash idea, but I do like the regular points idea.
I imagine that many young racers will fall into the trap of taking the regular points, then not being able to upgrade their cars. Wiser racers will shake their heads and say "you shouldn't have gone for the short term gain". Drama and frustration added, which is all for the good.
It is a good guide, but it still relies on pictures of the tracks, rather than descriptions. I will write the descriptions here when I have time, if someone else hasn't already done so.
Okay, here are the descriptions: Uptown - a tarmac oblong, slightly pointy on the right hand end. Fairly easy corners. Withdrawal - a large tarmac loop crossing two bridges to include the island. Easy corners and long straights. Underdog - a tarmac track with a blocky shape, including eight near 90 degree corners. Parkland - second longest track, including a dirt section with eight hairpin bends known as "the corkscrew". Plus seven sharp corners on the tarmac section. Docks - the longest track, all tarmac. A bit like a square crescent with two long arms. Has some long straights, but includes seven corners about 90 degrees. Commerce - tarmac, shaped a bit like a club. Five sharp corners and one easy curve. Two islands - a squiggly track involving the mainland and two small islands. Dirt section on one of the islands. Course squeezes together twice to recross the bridges. Very curvy. Industrial - tarmac track goes back and forth a lot at the top right. 14 sharp corners including three sharper than 90 degrees. Vector - tarmac with straight line up the left side and nine sharp corners through the rest. Mudpit - all dirt, and all curvy. Short. Hammerhead - strange squiggly hammer shape. Part dirt, all the corners are curved. Sewage - all tarmac, three "wings" with a mix of sharp and curved corners. Meltdown - all tarmac with a mix of sharp and curved corners. The track goes around two power station cooling towers, and we can't see our cars behind the towers. Speedway - all tarmac, the classic oval track. The shortest track. Stone Park - part dirt and wiggly. Corners are all curved. Convict - tarmac square. The left side is slightly curved out. Four sharp corners.
Apart from the Mudpit, all dirt sections are a single and relatively short part of each track.
Sounds good, but it is very open to manipulation by the race participants. How does the spectator/punter know what upgrades each racer has? A supposed favourite could tell their friends to bet on a rival, then use a stock car (or car with few upgrades).
There are plenty of obtainable merits. Is it just jealousy to want to remove those that you cannot get? How does the existence of unobtainable merits affect you?
I have made three suggestions about racing in the suggestions thread. Two got to 100 votes. One was rejected by Ched and one accepted, so people do care enough about racing to upvote a decent suggestion. Just don't suggest starting official races as soon as there are six participants. It has been suggested many times and it is still a dumb idea.
As for suggesting a new tournament, it is probably better to just get stuck in and organise the tournament yourself. The URT did not come from on high, but evolved from the Professional Racing Championship organised by BackAlleyBob, then taken on by GeorgeCostanza, and now SugarValves. It wasn't until it was an established thing that Chedburn started sponsoring it with a flash car and prize money.
I know that you have had bad luck with your romantic attachments so far. You seem to always fall for the bad boys. And maybe I'm no saint either, but I at least have a steady income as Duke's hired muscle, and I know how to treat a girl right.
I'm afraid that we might have to sneak around behind your brother's back, but love will be on our side.
Love from every devoted slave to Duke's missions.
PS: Oh damn, I just remembered who is judging this. Disregard everything I said. I'm going to have to leave the country for a while.