Domagoj
05-14-2002, 08:13 PM
It's about time we brought forth the obvious next step for the most popular PC racing series...payouts for records...which is inevitable, might be just around the corner, and will be for sure if EA is convinced it's truly a doubler (easily) or (most likely) tripler of their NFS income...in the end maybe far more than a tripler (I wouldn't be surprised if it increased sales ten fold)...hell the game would almost double as a lottery ticket - with a chance to win back the price of the game, and of course the chance for the really big dough...I can't imagine there not being hordes of gamers (most of them not even very hardcore race fiends, or fans of other racing games) flocking to the nearest computer store to try their luck - and beside that it's the newest greatest racing game in the greatest PC racing series of all time - you win both ways - just buying the game you've got the best racing experience there is - so what's there to lose??? :)
Of course EA will have to create a SUPER THOROUGH replay check first, and all replays should be sent to the official NFS6 website which should have a built-in replay checker when records are submitted, and everyone gives their bank account information/real name, etc when signing up to be able to submit records, so then once someone's replay is sent in and verified as legit, the cash prize is a direct deposit into that racer's bank account - or better yet - have EA control everyone's money, and make them an "online bank" just for NFS racing payouts (or maybe they can set up some partnership with a bank for this venture). Then people can have perhaps options for EA stock, links to investment sites (which will pay EA for referrals per click and make EA even more money of course), or the option to just have it direct-deposit, which most people will likely choose if this is instated.
Naturally, another, perhaps easier way, would be to remove all editing capacities from the game to ensure legitimate times, but this would outrage so many people that regard that as the greatest asset to the game, however if there are to be payouts for record runs, then those other user-made cars will be just for fun...and I can pretty much guarantee that far far more racers would get ultra-serious about racing for records, with competitiveness at an all-time high, naturally... Also, someone could always use a computer program to run a near-perfect time and say they did it...so that might call for additional componenets to the replay checker which will check every moment of the run, to see if the car is on the "absolutely perfect line" or not, since a human racer will NEVER ride the absolutely perfect line at the absolutely perfect speed for extended amounts of time, if EVER...
I have a rough outline for the payouts, but I think these prizes are a *bit* too large since they will be the first prizes for NFS (perhaps 10 times more than is deemed "reasonable" for the first payouts in PC racing), however the payout ratios between differing cars/categories is satisfactory...and in reality there's nothing unreasonable about this payout scheme...it will just be difficult for the corporate heads to accept that it will be the best thing ever for boosting sales of the best racing game series there is...
Here's the rough outline for now (cash prize per track record) :
First, the 5 fastest GOFAST cars :
$10,000 X 24 = $240,000
$8,750 X 24 = $210,000
$7,500 X 24 = $180,000
$6,250 X 24 = $150,000
$5,000 X 24 = $120,000
GOFAST total = $900,000
Now the payouts for all 20 cars stock (assuming there are exactly 20 cars) :
$2,500 X 24 = $60,000
$2,250 X 24 = $54,000
$2,000 X 24 = $48,000
$1,800 X 24 = $43,200
$1,650 X 24 = $39,600
$1,500 X 24 = $36,000
$1,400 X 24 = $33,600
$1,300 X 24 = $31,200
$1,200 X 24 = $28,800
$1,100 X 24 = $26,400
$1,000 X 24 = $24,000
$900 X 24 = $21,600
$800 X 24 = $19,200
$700 X 24 = $16,800
$600 X 24 = $14,400
$500 X 24 = $12,000
$400 X 24 = $9,600
$300 X 24 = $7,200
$200 X 24 = $4,800
$100 X 24 = $2,400
Stock total = $532,800
Overall Purse Total = $1,432,800
A million and a half dollars seems like a lot, but really it's not all that much at all for a corporation the size of EA (just over 1% of one year's profits), especially if they're serious about selling far more games than they have been - they can step up with "the big boys" and perhaps match or beat the sales of the most popular shoot em-ups and strategy games...this WILL happen sometime (when they finally give payouts, it's that simple), so might as well get them to start the ball rolling with their upcoming release or the next one after that (or perhaps a new series made exclusively for a PC Racing Industry)...and since a payout scheme doesn't necessarily have anything related to the game's development, it won't postpone the release date (even if it were to be instated for NFS6 - haha god one) - but if there are to be payouts (and if there is any chance in hell it is approved), we should make this proposition to EA immediately, so that they can advertise it in all the magazines and online months before the game (whichever game it will be) is released...but no high hopes for that...it will probably take a while before anything like this is even remotely considered...a pity...so many racers could be making a good living off record setting, especially with great prizes up for grabs, but hey we're not fully into the computer age yet, but just you wait...EVERYTHING will follow suit...and as soon as there's real steady money to be made in all forms of gaming, there's nothing any "regular" people can say about "lazy video gamer bums". Hey, the best gamers will make more money than most of those loogans soon...
Anyways, since it's 1.4328 millon total purse right now, might as well make it an even 1.5 million total, so I might as well ask a $67,200 consulting fee for setting up the payout scheme, ideas, etc. (yeah right...) ;) Hey, I don't think it's even much to ask, considering the millions and millions of extra dollars this will make for EA...but again, it will likely be deemed a silly unmarkatable idea, no matter what the case really is...
And now the divvying of the total prize money per car/single track direction combo. Having 3 payout levels per car/track combo, (at the 99%, 99.33% and 99.66% perfect markers), is a bit messy (although slightly better overall in terms of depth/"class" concerning the payout scheme), so there might as well be only 2 payouts per car/track combo, worth 30% and 70% respectively, of the total sum alloted to that car/track combo, for the 99% and 99.5% markers being broken...and the leftover $67,200 might best be used as bonus money for the fastest GOFAST car (presumably McLaren F1 LM) on the 20km super track, a $15,000 bonus in either direction for anyone that breaks through both time markers first without anyone else having broken through the first one before the "initial primary marker shatterer" breaks through the second one, and if one person can achieve this fete in both directions, they get the $30,000 for "standard bonus" plus a super-bonus of $37,200 for the sweep of both markers, in both directions, arriving at the sum of $67,200 total bonus for having achieved it all by their lonesome...and with the $10,000 per direction from standard time marker payouts added to that, a whopping $87,200 potential for that one track...
Of course the payout scheme might work best when allocating certain sums of money ratio-wise to a certain time it takes to complete a lap/segment, but since that information is not avaliable, this list will have to do for now...but all in all it's pretty much good enough to leave it as it is anyways...
So, the "final tally" would look something like this :
GOFAST :
($3,000 / $7,000) $10,000 X 24 = $240,000 => (plus additional $15,000 / $15,000 {$37,200} = $67,200 bonus)
($2,625 / $6,125) $8,750 X 24 = $210,000
($2,250 / $5,250) $7,500 X 24 = $180,000
($1,875 / $4,375) $6,250 X 24 = $150,000
($1,500 / $3,500) $5,000 X 24 = $120,000
GOFAST total = ($270,000 / $630,000 / $67,200 bonus) $967,200
Stock :
($750 / $1,750) $2,500 X 24 = $60,000
($675 / $1,575) $2,250 X 24 = $54,000
($600 / $1,400) $2,000 X 24 = $48,000
($540 / $1,260) $1,800 X 24 = $43,200
($495 / $1,155) $1,650 X 24 = $39,600
($450 / $1,050) $1,500 X 24 = $36,000
($420 / $980) $1,400 X 24 = $33,600
($390 / $910) $1,300 X 24 = $31,200
($360 / $840) $1,200 X 24 = $28,800
($330 / $770) $1,100 X 24 = $26,400
($300 / $700) $1,000 X 24 = $24,000
($270 / $630) $900 X 24 = $21,600
($240 / $560) $800 X 24 = $19,200
($210 / $490) $700 X 24 = $16,800
($180 / $420) $600 X 24 = $14,400
($150 / $350) $500 X 24 = $12,000
($120 / $280) $400 X 24 = $9,600
($90 / $210) $300 X 24 = $7,200
($60 / $140) $200 X 24 = $4,800
($30 / $70) $100 X 24 = $2,400
Stock total = $532,800
Overall Purse Total = $1,432,800 ($1,500,000)
Finally, there's a bit more to say on how and why this is not only feasible, but an essential step in the direction of a "gamer's paradise". Skateboarders, freestyle BMXers, surfers, windsurfers, pro skydivers, extreme sports athletes, and the lot of similar "occupations" are basically grouped together with the "lazy" video gamer crowd, as the "useless punks of society", the ones who practice "useless" hobbies which are never respected by society as a whole. You see, the only reason practitioners of those other kinds of activities don't have the chance we do of starting an actual INDUSTRY is because none of their equipment is made by billion-dollar companies, so there's no chance of any real big cash payouts since the companies making the bikes, skateboards, surfboards, body suits, parachutes and whatever else have no more than a few million dollars annual income at best, so they can only reward pro athletes a sponsored bike, or some other very minor affirmation of their time, skill and detication to their craft, with outside corporations like liquor and cigarette companies providing the purse for tournaments and other events. Sure, all of those sports are more dangerous than PC gaming, but the fact remains there must be a big corporation backing competitors in any field if there are to be sizable payouts, and a subsequent mass popularization of that art, leading to far more income for that corporation...
Think of Rock n Roll and the Blues - they started out as "hobbies" basically, and look at them now. It just goes to show you nothing is impossible, no matter how outlandish. Imagine what people thought about Hip Hop twenty years ago - they probably thought it was a passing fad - now it's the biggest thing in music... Same goes for us, it's all about just getting it started, it will do the rest all by itself...
Now the only thing I left out is tournaments - that will require outside sponsorship for promotion and advertising, as well as everything else that comes with setting up tournaments and expositions, but the payouts for record replays should undoubtedly fall in the hands of EA, since it will be the single most valuable decision they make in terms of profit margin increases on a never before seen scale...
Even if this does strike some as being too large a purse, one tenth of this amount is peanuts - $100,000 should be possible for the top racer to acquire from one game - no kidding...but in any case, a nice, round $1,000,000 purse for a game's replay payouts should be on the horizon shortly...well it depends on what you deem shortly...
Feeling anxious? ;)
Of course EA will have to create a SUPER THOROUGH replay check first, and all replays should be sent to the official NFS6 website which should have a built-in replay checker when records are submitted, and everyone gives their bank account information/real name, etc when signing up to be able to submit records, so then once someone's replay is sent in and verified as legit, the cash prize is a direct deposit into that racer's bank account - or better yet - have EA control everyone's money, and make them an "online bank" just for NFS racing payouts (or maybe they can set up some partnership with a bank for this venture). Then people can have perhaps options for EA stock, links to investment sites (which will pay EA for referrals per click and make EA even more money of course), or the option to just have it direct-deposit, which most people will likely choose if this is instated.
Naturally, another, perhaps easier way, would be to remove all editing capacities from the game to ensure legitimate times, but this would outrage so many people that regard that as the greatest asset to the game, however if there are to be payouts for record runs, then those other user-made cars will be just for fun...and I can pretty much guarantee that far far more racers would get ultra-serious about racing for records, with competitiveness at an all-time high, naturally... Also, someone could always use a computer program to run a near-perfect time and say they did it...so that might call for additional componenets to the replay checker which will check every moment of the run, to see if the car is on the "absolutely perfect line" or not, since a human racer will NEVER ride the absolutely perfect line at the absolutely perfect speed for extended amounts of time, if EVER...
I have a rough outline for the payouts, but I think these prizes are a *bit* too large since they will be the first prizes for NFS (perhaps 10 times more than is deemed "reasonable" for the first payouts in PC racing), however the payout ratios between differing cars/categories is satisfactory...and in reality there's nothing unreasonable about this payout scheme...it will just be difficult for the corporate heads to accept that it will be the best thing ever for boosting sales of the best racing game series there is...
Here's the rough outline for now (cash prize per track record) :
First, the 5 fastest GOFAST cars :
$10,000 X 24 = $240,000
$8,750 X 24 = $210,000
$7,500 X 24 = $180,000
$6,250 X 24 = $150,000
$5,000 X 24 = $120,000
GOFAST total = $900,000
Now the payouts for all 20 cars stock (assuming there are exactly 20 cars) :
$2,500 X 24 = $60,000
$2,250 X 24 = $54,000
$2,000 X 24 = $48,000
$1,800 X 24 = $43,200
$1,650 X 24 = $39,600
$1,500 X 24 = $36,000
$1,400 X 24 = $33,600
$1,300 X 24 = $31,200
$1,200 X 24 = $28,800
$1,100 X 24 = $26,400
$1,000 X 24 = $24,000
$900 X 24 = $21,600
$800 X 24 = $19,200
$700 X 24 = $16,800
$600 X 24 = $14,400
$500 X 24 = $12,000
$400 X 24 = $9,600
$300 X 24 = $7,200
$200 X 24 = $4,800
$100 X 24 = $2,400
Stock total = $532,800
Overall Purse Total = $1,432,800
A million and a half dollars seems like a lot, but really it's not all that much at all for a corporation the size of EA (just over 1% of one year's profits), especially if they're serious about selling far more games than they have been - they can step up with "the big boys" and perhaps match or beat the sales of the most popular shoot em-ups and strategy games...this WILL happen sometime (when they finally give payouts, it's that simple), so might as well get them to start the ball rolling with their upcoming release or the next one after that (or perhaps a new series made exclusively for a PC Racing Industry)...and since a payout scheme doesn't necessarily have anything related to the game's development, it won't postpone the release date (even if it were to be instated for NFS6 - haha god one) - but if there are to be payouts (and if there is any chance in hell it is approved), we should make this proposition to EA immediately, so that they can advertise it in all the magazines and online months before the game (whichever game it will be) is released...but no high hopes for that...it will probably take a while before anything like this is even remotely considered...a pity...so many racers could be making a good living off record setting, especially with great prizes up for grabs, but hey we're not fully into the computer age yet, but just you wait...EVERYTHING will follow suit...and as soon as there's real steady money to be made in all forms of gaming, there's nothing any "regular" people can say about "lazy video gamer bums". Hey, the best gamers will make more money than most of those loogans soon...
Anyways, since it's 1.4328 millon total purse right now, might as well make it an even 1.5 million total, so I might as well ask a $67,200 consulting fee for setting up the payout scheme, ideas, etc. (yeah right...) ;) Hey, I don't think it's even much to ask, considering the millions and millions of extra dollars this will make for EA...but again, it will likely be deemed a silly unmarkatable idea, no matter what the case really is...
And now the divvying of the total prize money per car/single track direction combo. Having 3 payout levels per car/track combo, (at the 99%, 99.33% and 99.66% perfect markers), is a bit messy (although slightly better overall in terms of depth/"class" concerning the payout scheme), so there might as well be only 2 payouts per car/track combo, worth 30% and 70% respectively, of the total sum alloted to that car/track combo, for the 99% and 99.5% markers being broken...and the leftover $67,200 might best be used as bonus money for the fastest GOFAST car (presumably McLaren F1 LM) on the 20km super track, a $15,000 bonus in either direction for anyone that breaks through both time markers first without anyone else having broken through the first one before the "initial primary marker shatterer" breaks through the second one, and if one person can achieve this fete in both directions, they get the $30,000 for "standard bonus" plus a super-bonus of $37,200 for the sweep of both markers, in both directions, arriving at the sum of $67,200 total bonus for having achieved it all by their lonesome...and with the $10,000 per direction from standard time marker payouts added to that, a whopping $87,200 potential for that one track...
Of course the payout scheme might work best when allocating certain sums of money ratio-wise to a certain time it takes to complete a lap/segment, but since that information is not avaliable, this list will have to do for now...but all in all it's pretty much good enough to leave it as it is anyways...
So, the "final tally" would look something like this :
GOFAST :
($3,000 / $7,000) $10,000 X 24 = $240,000 => (plus additional $15,000 / $15,000 {$37,200} = $67,200 bonus)
($2,625 / $6,125) $8,750 X 24 = $210,000
($2,250 / $5,250) $7,500 X 24 = $180,000
($1,875 / $4,375) $6,250 X 24 = $150,000
($1,500 / $3,500) $5,000 X 24 = $120,000
GOFAST total = ($270,000 / $630,000 / $67,200 bonus) $967,200
Stock :
($750 / $1,750) $2,500 X 24 = $60,000
($675 / $1,575) $2,250 X 24 = $54,000
($600 / $1,400) $2,000 X 24 = $48,000
($540 / $1,260) $1,800 X 24 = $43,200
($495 / $1,155) $1,650 X 24 = $39,600
($450 / $1,050) $1,500 X 24 = $36,000
($420 / $980) $1,400 X 24 = $33,600
($390 / $910) $1,300 X 24 = $31,200
($360 / $840) $1,200 X 24 = $28,800
($330 / $770) $1,100 X 24 = $26,400
($300 / $700) $1,000 X 24 = $24,000
($270 / $630) $900 X 24 = $21,600
($240 / $560) $800 X 24 = $19,200
($210 / $490) $700 X 24 = $16,800
($180 / $420) $600 X 24 = $14,400
($150 / $350) $500 X 24 = $12,000
($120 / $280) $400 X 24 = $9,600
($90 / $210) $300 X 24 = $7,200
($60 / $140) $200 X 24 = $4,800
($30 / $70) $100 X 24 = $2,400
Stock total = $532,800
Overall Purse Total = $1,432,800 ($1,500,000)
Finally, there's a bit more to say on how and why this is not only feasible, but an essential step in the direction of a "gamer's paradise". Skateboarders, freestyle BMXers, surfers, windsurfers, pro skydivers, extreme sports athletes, and the lot of similar "occupations" are basically grouped together with the "lazy" video gamer crowd, as the "useless punks of society", the ones who practice "useless" hobbies which are never respected by society as a whole. You see, the only reason practitioners of those other kinds of activities don't have the chance we do of starting an actual INDUSTRY is because none of their equipment is made by billion-dollar companies, so there's no chance of any real big cash payouts since the companies making the bikes, skateboards, surfboards, body suits, parachutes and whatever else have no more than a few million dollars annual income at best, so they can only reward pro athletes a sponsored bike, or some other very minor affirmation of their time, skill and detication to their craft, with outside corporations like liquor and cigarette companies providing the purse for tournaments and other events. Sure, all of those sports are more dangerous than PC gaming, but the fact remains there must be a big corporation backing competitors in any field if there are to be sizable payouts, and a subsequent mass popularization of that art, leading to far more income for that corporation...
Think of Rock n Roll and the Blues - they started out as "hobbies" basically, and look at them now. It just goes to show you nothing is impossible, no matter how outlandish. Imagine what people thought about Hip Hop twenty years ago - they probably thought it was a passing fad - now it's the biggest thing in music... Same goes for us, it's all about just getting it started, it will do the rest all by itself...
Now the only thing I left out is tournaments - that will require outside sponsorship for promotion and advertising, as well as everything else that comes with setting up tournaments and expositions, but the payouts for record replays should undoubtedly fall in the hands of EA, since it will be the single most valuable decision they make in terms of profit margin increases on a never before seen scale...
Even if this does strike some as being too large a purse, one tenth of this amount is peanuts - $100,000 should be possible for the top racer to acquire from one game - no kidding...but in any case, a nice, round $1,000,000 purse for a game's replay payouts should be on the horizon shortly...well it depends on what you deem shortly...
Feeling anxious? ;)