Minorating.com (guide thread) unable to join servers tagged "mr-abc"?

If you got blocked by a Minoratingserver, don´t worry! You are not on a blacklist.
You will be able to join that server and enjoy clean and fair racing once you have
proven your racecraft.

This guide tries to explain the principles of Minorating,
as well as providing you with all the information needed to
a: succeed in becoming a high graded Minorating driver.
b: prevent you from beeing excluded from several hundred servers that provide: clean and fair racing.



If you consider this guide helpful, please post a "thank you/make it sticky!"
(so that others get a chance to read it)
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Minorating system
1.: General system information
1.1.: Function
1.2.: Driver requirements
1.3.: Identification
1.4.: Communication
1.5.: Responsibility

2.: Rating system
2.1.: Contact points
2.2.: Distance count
2.3. Attack range/Combat range
2.4.: Behaviour

3.: Grades
3.1.: Description
3.2.: Grade flow

4.: Rules

5.: Links
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Career guide
1.: Inform yourself
2.: Practise offline
3.: Join the server
4.: Qualifying
5.: Race
6.: After the race

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Training / How to recover from a bad grade
Motivation
Step1 Muscle memory
Step2 Use your eyes
Step3 Car placement
Step4 Overtaking
Step5 Find populated MR-D servers
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Minorating system
1.: General system information

1.1.: Function
Minorating is a serversided plugin, that
-acts as an automated, global, adjustable "whitelist" shared by all servers that use it.
-observes the behaviour of all drivers and graduates them based on their skills.
-provides the option to restrict access based on grades.

1.2.: Driver requirements
As a driver you don´t need to download/registrate /install/pay anything,
just join a minorating enhanced server that allows N-Grade and race there.

1.3.: Identification
Minorating enhanced servers are tagged, to ensure they can be found in the server list.
Example: "<Servername> MR-ABN"
In this example C,D,W graded drivers will be blocked,
but clean/fair racers (A+B) and newcomers (N) can join.

1.4.: Communication
When you are driving the plugin will send you private messages via the serverchat.
Those messages vary depending on your grade.*
As a newcomer you will get many messages related to collisions.*
As you progress to higher grades you will get far less messages.
You can check which grade you are via the chat by typing: /mr in any server running MR.
*currently disabled

1.5.: Responsibility
Minorating is programmed by a modder called @Minolin.
Server hosts/admins decide
-to use Minorating.
-which grades are allowed to enter their server.
- about the server configuration.
-to kick/ban someone.
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2.: Rating system
The rating system is based on four parameters:
contact points, distance count, attack range and behaviour.

2.1.: Contact points
It is important to know that, in case of a collision, both drivers will get 1 contact point (CP).
Despite receiving a message stating you had contact you don´t allways get a full point.
Minorating takes many variables into account and in obvious cases (internally) counts fractions of CP´s.
Imagine each contact point as repair costs.
In real life you have to repair your car even if it got damaged by someone else.

2.2.: Distance count
It doesn´t matter if you are guilty or not?
This strange logic works, because the grading is also based on collisions per driven distance.
Comparing the two extremes reveals how it is working:
A clean and fair driver will have only a few unavoidable collisions per driven distance.
A careless/reckless driver will have many collisisions per driven distance.

2.3. Attack range / Combat range
The driven distance gets weighted depending on the situation.
-If you are driving alone on track your driven distance will count.
As there is no risk for collisions it wont improve your rating much.
-When there are other drivers spread around the track the possibility to hit someone is there.
As a result the driven distance will count a bit more.
-Racing in a tight pack of cars the distance will count much more.

2.4.: Behaviour
Minorating observes several variables of the drivers behaviour such as*:
off-track (evasive maneuver/unmotivated)
loss of control (spinning out + drifting)
cutting (evasive maneuver/cheating)
collisions (cars/objects)
rejoining the track (safe/unsafe)
blue flag (ignored/obeyed)
rear-ending s.o.
parking on track
doing donuts
abuse of chat (swearing + bad language)
abuse of voting system (spamming votes)
quitting before the race is over

*(as soon as the server api gets updated by kunos and sends the needed data, minolin will try to implement
the missing variables. For the time being just assume they all work.)
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3.: Grades

3.1.: Description

"N" not listed (or new)
A new driver that needs to do some more laps to get his first grade.

"A" exemplary racing skill
Driver is able to race and fight bumper to bumper with enormous discipline and consistency.
This is proven in a huge amount of dense fights on the track.

"B" clean racer
Driver is considered a gentleman and is able to actually race others for several laps.

"C" rookie
Driver may prefer driving alone or just has bad luck often.

"D" not clean
Driver has been involved in quite many collisions.
Probably not his fault all the time, but usually this can be improved on both sides.

"W" deliberate Wrecker beyond doubt
Driver has been identified as a wrecker.
He caused way too many collisions per kilometers driven.

3.2.: Grade flow

All new drivers start their minorating career as "N".
Depending on the performance shown in the first 40km they get graded "C" or "W"
From "W" drivers need to work their way up through all grades. (W-D-C-B-A)
From "C" drivers may advance to "B" or be degraded to "D".
To advance from "C" to "A or B" you will need some km in Attack /combat range.

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4.: Rules

Like in any competitive sport, there need to be rules and ettiquette to ensure
all are playing together nicely.

I compiled a basic set of (sim)racing rules and a (simracing)ettiquette:

Spoiler: Minorating Rules and Ettiquette

www.minorating.com/rules

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5.: Links

Spoiler: Minorating homepage

www.minorating.com

Spoiler: Minorating.com (drivers thread)

https://www.assettocorsa.net/forum/index.php?threads/minorating-com-drivers-thread.25732/

Spoiler: Minorating.com (server admin thread)

https://www.assettocorsa.net/forum/i...gin-minorating-com-server-admin-thread.25751/

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Career guide

Now that you know about the system and have read the rules/ettiquette,
it is time to start your Minorating career.

1.: Inform yourself
Search for "MR" in AC´s serverlist. Your safest place to be would be a "MR-ABN" server,
like Minolin´s Newcomer´s Academy MR-ABN server, as you will be around clean drivers with good awareness
and you can be sure they will play by the rules.
Don´t join right away, note the car/track config + number of laps and replicate it in a single player race weekend.

2.: Practice offline
You might want to install

Spoiler: Helicorsa App

https://www.assettocorsa.net/forum/index.php?threads/helicorsa-radar-app.20223/

an App inspired by my idea and programmed by the same guy that wrote Minorating.
It´s purpose is to increase your situational awareness by showing you where the opponents are in relation to you.
Additionally / alternatively you can enable a virtual mirror by pressing F11.
If possible map the "look back" button to your wheel or controller it will help re-entering the track safely.
Race the A.I. (artificial intelligence) until you can do many consistent laps, without loosing control or touching their cars.
Do this without the help of stability control, as it will most likely be disabled online.
( go to: Drive>Race>Race Weekend>Summary>Realism>Stability control: off / Fuel 1x)
Think about where to safely stop your car on track, if you want to exit to the pit
and where you could let someone lap/overtake you during your qualification outlap
or in a blue flag situation. You don´t want to slow someone on a hot qualifying lap down,
while you are still warming up your tires. Or even worse, block the leaders and interfere in their race.
You might want to practise being overtaken/lapped by faster guys with the A.I. first.
Practise several race starts. Take note where your braking point is for "turn one" if you
start from a standstill on the grid vs the brakepoint when you approach "turn one" on a flying lap.

3.: Join the server
When you feel confident, join the server and check which session is active.
Don´t start driving during a race session!
Use that waiting time to check what tires are being used by those that are racing.
Check the grip percentage in the menu to know what to expect in your first race.
Get into the car (but stay in pit) to activate relatives-app, helicorsa, virtual mirror, chat...
depending on your preference. Say "hello" to the other drivers.
(In case the server is empty: all servers are empty until someone enters them.)

4.: Qualifying
Drive to the pitexit (make sure not to cross the line to not cause a yellow flag)
and enter the track by staying inside the line once the relative app shows a big enough gap.
Drive conservatively, so that you stay in control at all times and try to get a feel for the grip level on cold tires while heating them up slowly.
Make sure you are aware of others during your outlap and try to let those that are on a hotlap past. Do a clean lap or two, don´t try to be fast.
Use your planned safe spot to come to a stop and exit to pits.
Don´t forget to adjust the amount of fuel in your tank for the race distance + some extra safety.
Watch the times beeing posted and look for the names close to your pace, you will be around those during the race.
Spectate them to see where they brake and what lines they use. The more you know, the better you are prepared.

5.: Race
You are placed on grid. Check the grip% and get into the car. Center your wheel.
Keep the motor at idle rpm until the lights come up.
Use that time to envision the first corner, remember your turn one braking point being different from a standing start.
Calculate the pile-up in and be prepared to brake as soon as you see the first braking lights light up.
Don´t try to overtake during your first races, it is better for your career to get some collisionfree mileage first. Good luck!
In case you messed up and hit someone during the race,
if you are off track anyway type "sry" in the chat and give the position you probably gained back,
otherwise remember to apologize immediately after the race.


6.: After the race
Type /mr in the chat to see if you got "C" graded. Do some more qualy´s and races at the back of the grid until you are a safe "C".
Then start following cars in a safe distance (2-3 carlenghts) only attempt to overtake in situations where you are almost 100% sure you can make
the pass fair and clean (after you studied the guy ahead for some time). You should be "B" soon.
In case you left the server ranked "C" you need to find a MR-ABC server to go on with your Minorating career.

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Training / How to recover from a bad grade
Ask yourself: Why am i in this situation? I know the first few answers that will come to your mind.
If you are honest to yourself, you will have to agree that either you lacked the skills needed,
or you didn´t take simracing serious.

Motivation
If you really want to become a higher graded driver you will have to work for it, but you can take advantage of
your situation and re-enter the arena as a better driver. Start by reading the rules.

Spoiler: Simracing Rules

www.minorating.com/rules

Step 1 Muscle memory
Use Minolins Rehabilitation Center MR-ABCDW (i know it is empty most of the time) to improve
your consistency, try to do all your sessions without any off track moments.
(You should be able to skip quali by voting.)
If you want to race people, driving the car shouldn´t be something you have to focus on.
Once you drive clean laps effortless your concentration can focus on racing.
Drive until the race sessions end.

Step2 Use your eyes
Whenever you get bored, finish the session and go to a public (non Minorating) server and focus on avoiding collisions.
This app will help you:

Spoiler: Helicorsa-App

https://www.assettocorsa.net/forum/index.php?threads/helicorsa-radar-app.20223/

Learn to avoid people, you can see it coming most of the time, train yourself to not focus on the car you are about to hit,
instead move your eyes to the gap, it´s better to get some dirt on the tires than wrecking your car/rating.
Practise following cars without actually looking at them, look the furthest ahead you can to see what will happen next.
If you see smoke on the horizon it´s like an early warning that you need to react.
Stay behind them, notice that you have to brake earlier, when you follow someone closely.
Your latest braking point: when they brake, not where they brake.
Brake as soon as somone starts to spin, spinning slows them down and you can´t predict where they will end up, so you need to slow down to avoid them.
Whenever you leave the track the first thing to do is check the relatives-app to see if there is someone around you,
if there is someone use the look back button or glance buttons to judge if it is safe to re-enter.

Step3 Car placement
Back on the rehab-server, look the furthest ahead possible and recognize your braking markers
in your peripheral vision. Then try missing all apexes by a car width for some laps. Next try not to use all track out on corner exit.
Watch each replay to see if your feeling of car placement matches reality. You will need to know how much space you gave your opponents.
Think of adjusting your FOV if the track looks narrower while racing than it looks from the outside in the replays.
Find a compromise between "seeing enough" and undistorted 1:1 vision.
Practise to hold your line by driving the entire track one lap on the left side of the track,
one lap on the right side as fast as you can. You need to be able to do this if you go two-wide through a corner.

Step4 Overtaking
Bored again? I can understand that! Training is boring. Let´s try overtaking on a public server.
First find someone slower than you and follow him until you know when he brakes, what his line is, where you are much faster.
Where / How do you want to overtake him?
To pass someone you need to:
A: leave a little gap before the corner, so that you can take the corner faster than him and use that higher exitspeed to pass him on the straight.
B: gain right of road position by placing your car next to his before the turn-in point.
In this case both of you will have to hold your lines which will slow you both down.
C: wait for / force him into a mistake and take advantage of it.
This option is very risky and can´t be planned.
A is much safer than B and you don´t risk to get overtaken by the car behind.
C is an option for advanced drivers.


Step5 Find populated MR-D servers
This is a tough one, you wont find many servers allowing "D" and those will be empty.
If you manage to find a populated one you will advance much faster to "C" grade, if they did their homework too.
Minorating can´t make it´s drivers race cleaner by magic, there needs to be an incentive to motivate drivers to be more careful, respectful, clean.

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well done sir....well done!

this should definitely be stickied

 

Really good work getting everything together.
I'd add two things that are important IMO.

In case you messed up and hit someone during the race, if you are off track anyway type "sry" in the chat

I would add "if you hit someone causing him to lost control over his car, wait for him (safely, doesn't mean dead stop) and give back position.

And another one, also for the same -race- paragraph.
If you see a blue flag in the top left corner it means that you are a lap down from the car behind. Don't race with him and give enough space so he can safely pass you.

I know you linked rules from MR site, but you also made some descriptions for Q, R, so these two suggestions wouldn't take much space.

 

This is great, now we know how we are judged. Also you said in the title that this guide would help people get back on serves with a higher rating, there should be a section on Rating D servers ( that are actually populated ) as this is the only way to get back to a C from D. It wont matter if you are now the most polite respectful racer in the world if you can't get on any servers.

 

Excellent work @Hagen !!
I hope you don't mind if I copy and paste this to our forums? I will of course give credit

 

Thank you @Hagen

Great Work!

 

Yeah... Huge thank-you for putting this together and getting it out there.

Appreciated.

And also to @Minolin for putting MR together, and server providers for using it. Things are getting better out there

 

Thank you for the kind feedback. I updated the text like suggested.

 

Excellent guide to online etiquette and behaviour. It should be stickied at least in the league section.

Thanks

 

Great stuff, I will just link to this thread from my server thread. Says all thays needed and it will help guys understand whag Minorating is about and also simpmy how to drive better amongst others.

 

Wow ...you've put in a lot of work into this....Great work....excellent guide....keep up the good work!!

 

Very cool, I thoroughly enjoyed that read. all this should be common knowledge for anyone that is playing racing sims anyway. But unfortunately that is not the case more of the time than not. :\ Thank you for this write up. I think this should be in game and required read for everyone before they are allowed to do their first online race. Thanks again!

 

One thing that wasn't mentioned in this write up tho is when you spin-out while around other people (while in a convoy so to speak). In that case you shouldn't just try to floor it off the track or start turning around. You should sit still, even if it's in the middle of the track (unless the track is completely blocked, like there being no pavement left for drivers to go around you), and wait for other drivers to go past you. That way you are "predictable". You don't want to see a guy spin out in-front of you, and you already picked a line to go around him safely, when he suddenly starts moving few meters before you reach him. And you have a needless incident that ruins a race for more than one person. Even if it's unintentional. I think you should add that as well.
Other than that this was a great write up. Hope my suggestion helps and makes sense, as I probably didn't describe it all too well.

 

Great guide as is. An idea:

[QUOTE="Hagen, post: 579246, member: 582"
Step5 Find populated MR-D servers
This is a tough one, you wont find many servers allowing "D" and those will be empty.
If you manage to find a populated one you will advance much faster to "C" grade, if they did their homework too.
Minorating can´t make it´s drivers race cleaner by magic, there needs to be an incentive to motivate drivers to be more careful, respectful, clean.[/QUOTE]
There is the minorating rehabilitation centre for all grades server, more often than not it's the only one of its kind but you cannot race for more than five laps at a time....to get your grade back up from a D it is a deathly grind of session starting. If it's possible maybe show how to create own minorating server with say 20 lap race?

 

I've done exactly that a few days ago, two racers, went through three 5 lap races, one after another, zero contact and no off track, did the same thing next day only did two races, total of 5 races still at D grade. Stumped.

 

a little while back I joined this rehab server with the express purpose of helping whoever was there recover his MR standing. (I'm AB). there was one guy there alone. so I followed him closely for a Q + R session. he seemed very grateful, was fun as well. great combo. some others showed up and became 6-7 racers and some awesome races. close quarters, surely a few improved their MR standing.