Read on Twitter
First of all, thanks a lot to every who responded. Really interesting feedback, useful too.
I will summarise your responses below, but of the 200-odd replies, the overall mood was very positive, people enjoying it who didn't expect to.
/1 https://twitter.com/motomatters/status/1249448632388071424
I will summarise your responses below, but of the 200-odd replies, the overall mood was very positive, people enjoying it who didn't expect to.
/1 https://twitter.com/motomatters/status/1249448632388071424
I tried to sort the 202 replies I got to this into several different categories (the categories I used in the question were badly phrased, unfortunately).
108 replies were positive, saying they enjoyed it. A couple more said they missed it, but enjoyed the 1st race
/2
108 replies were positive, saying they enjoyed it. A couple more said they missed it, but enjoyed the 1st race
/2
The main positive point mentioned in the replies was the banter between the riders, and being able to see them interact / see their faces. 40 people explicitly mentioned this.
/3
/3
Several people expressed surprise to see how competitive riders were, even at this.
That shouldn't really be a surprise. It gives you an insight into how driven these athletes are. Winning is the only thing that matters, even in unimportant things like computer games
/4
That shouldn't really be a surprise. It gives you an insight into how driven these athletes are. Winning is the only thing that matters, even in unimportant things like computer games
/4
45 people said they had no interest in watching eSports. Nearly all of those didn't watch the first race either.
28 people said they didn't watch the second race, but they weren't all negative about the racing. Opportunity to watch the race was a factor too
/5
28 people said they didn't watch the second race, but they weren't all negative about the racing. Opportunity to watch the race was a factor too
/5
One reason people enjoyed the 2nd race more was because it was longer than the first, so was better.
Another important factor was that people's favourite riders were taking part (or in a couple of cases, were missed because they weren't).
/6
Another important factor was that people's favourite riders were taking part (or in a couple of cases, were missed because they weren't).
/6
12 people said the event wasn't done right. Most of them said the game wasn't realistic enough, which they felt devalued the racing. Several negative comparisons with car sim racing (iracing) which is much more realistic.
/7
/7
A couple of people commented that the main race screen was too small, with all the riders' headshots around it. That seems fixable by the TV director.
/8
/8
So, overall, I would say the reception of the racing was positive, but almost everyone said it was only a stopgap measure until we get real racing. Nobody would swap the real racing for this.
Highlights the importance of personalities for sport, that was mentioned a lot
/9
Highlights the importance of personalities for sport, that was mentioned a lot
/9
For the record, I didn't watch it (and probably won't). I have no interest in watching, but happy others get pleasure from it. Each to his own.
/end
/end
Addendum:
Clear from the replies that motorcycle racing is much more difficult to simulate than cars. I suspect that eSports are much more of a threat to F1 than they are to MotoGP because of this.
Clear from the replies that motorcycle racing is much more difficult to simulate than cars. I suspect that eSports are much more of a threat to F1 than they are to MotoGP because of this.
