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Board » Sailonline Yacht Club » Comparing SailingOnLine with VirtualRegatta

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Posted by
Exmeromotu


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2008-12-10 15:22:17
2010-07-28 14:14:55 - Re: Comparing SailingOnLine with VirtualRegatta
What's up Doc! (sorry couldn't help myself!) ;)

I'll do my best to answer your questions:

1) I have not played in any VR race in a looong time in fact the ONLY time they answered an email of mine was when I asked to be removed from their database (even if you don't join a race your "ghost" yacht keeps sailing races this helps them with artificially boosting their number of entries for boasting and PR purposes) . So I can't comment on the "new and improved" game engine but... If they haven't fixed the gybing or tacking indefinetely between two wind cells and boats speeding along at 4kts. in 0kts. of wind (among other things), then I still think VR is a waste of time. In SOL once you tack or gybe you take a performance hit (as IRL) which is cumulative if you do it too quickly just like IRL, if you sail into a 0kt. wind hole you stop just like IRL. SOL's server crashes rarely, but on when it crashes it crashes for EVERYBODY, in VR the "English" server always had problems, while the "French" server rarely did...hmmm!!


2) With weather updates 4 times a day SOL is not "Euro centered" EVERYBODY has at least one weather update at an inconvenient time of day which levels the playing field worldwide, but also has the effect that you have to keep an eye on your boat at least 4 times a day instead of two with VR. If you were sailing IRL on a single-handed race you wouldn't establish a 12 hours on - 12 hours off watch system, would you? The accuracy of the weather forecasts in SOL is much better than the ones from VR, as usual in light and fluky winds the forecasts have to be taken with "a grain of salt" cause the weather vary drastically from update to the next just like IRL. In conclusion I think you can get away with checking your boat 3 times a day (skip the one update at weird hours of the night and take your chances). Some top skippers do it and it works fairly well for them. But checking your boat twice a day just doesn't cut it, unless its one of the long ocean races.

3) SOL does not charge anything for a race, you can play for free as long as you like with EXACTLY the same tools as those who are members. A 35 EUR/year membership to the Sailonline Yacht Club (SYC) gets your boat on the SOL cumulative rankings. You still get ranked in each indivdual race if you are not a member. However, if you like the platform and enjoy the competition I urge you to become a member for the reasons exposed in my previous post.

Cheers,

Toño



Posted by
Doc Häagen-Dazs


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2010-02-16 03:01:09
2010-07-28 14:34:40 - Re: Comparing SailingOnLine with VirtualRegatta
Thx Toño! Very helpful. The relearning curve will be steep for me. But I'm definitely seeing the light. I can't tell if my membership has expired. (Maybe I'll be informed?) I'll give it a go!
Posted by
Exmeromotu


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Posts
71
Registered at
2008-12-10 15:22:17
2010-07-28 14:40:55 - Re: Comparing SailingOnLine with VirtualRegatta
Doc,

On your next race, don't be afraid to ask questions be it either on the Chat or on the forum. I'll be more than happy to help you get up to speed, I'm usually active (or lurking) on the English and Spanish chat rooms.

Cheers!
Posted by
Doc Häagen-Dazs


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2010-02-16 03:01:09
2010-07-28 15:04:19 - Re: Comparing SailingOnLine with VirtualRegatta
Thx for the offer! I'll take you up on it, for sure!
Posted by
ShamrockPirate


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2010-12-03 17:49:57
2010-12-13 01:40:26 - Re: Comparing SailingOnLine with VirtualRegatta
All,
New to SOL and have tried to read through a lot of the forum posts. This one has been particularly helpful and prompted me to join SYC tonight. I have sailed the last 3 races (poorly) but, having been landlocked for 15yrs after moving off the boat, it'll take a while to get my virtual sealegs!

I also looked at several "sailing games" and SOL seems much more realistic than any on-line game I have found. ANYTHING that will get me out of bed in the wee-hours of the morning to check the computer is, well....remarkable! If I could just have someone yelling at me while throwing ice-cold water in front of an industrial fan, it would be PERFECT!!

I am also looking forward to the challenge of creating some races for my region and researching the polars for some boats not listed in the DB. This will be a lot of fun and a good distraction during a long, cold winter. Thanks to all the SOLers!!

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