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Do we have a term for the opposite of a live race?

Started by Duplode, January 31, 2025, 04:12:15 PM

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Duplode

Just an idle thought: "live race" is an established term in our jargon, but is there a reasonable word or expression for the opposite of that -- that is, a race with a deadline measured in days rather than minutes, in which people send replays in their own pace? The first thing that comes to mind is "monthly race", but that doesn't always apply -- the race could be weekly, biweekly, etc.

alanrotoi

I think not. We usually call them "competition track" but it's not completely accurate

Cas

In the Wiki, I have referred in the past to "asynchronous competitions" and "asynchronous races". I created this article some time ago:

https://wiki.stunts.hu/wiki/Asyncrhonous_tournament
Earth is my country. Science is my religion.

Duplode

#3
"Asynchronous" is pretty good, actually! ("Async" for short, maybe? Or is it too much programmer jargon to abbreviate it like that?  :) )

Quote from: Cas on January 31, 2025, 07:39:32 PMhttps://wiki.stunts.hu/wiki/Asyncrhonous_tournament

I don't think I had seen that article yet! I like the lead paragraph a lot:

Quote from: Asyncrhonous tournamentA competition can be said to be asynchronous when it's not running live and so, a method has to be established to make pipsqueaks' participation competitive. Almost every tournament in the history of online Stunts has followed this pattern to the point that we tend to take it for granted, but realising this possibility was a great milestone that took Stunts not only to the multi-player level, but to competition in the distance.

Cas

Yep. I wrote the article mostly with the intention of emphasising the non-triviality of the system we use in our tournaments. I think that one thing that stops newcomers is that what seems obvious to us, is not for them. Sometimes, they just can't guess how it works and it takes a few minutes to realise. Then, it becomes very simple.

I used the word "asynchronous" because it was, well, the word I could find that meant this, but I realise it's not a nice, comfortable word like "live" is, so we could also find an alternative or a more friendly synonym. "Async" is good too. Could be "ACS" (Asynchronous Competition/Contest System) or "ATS" (Asynchronous Tournament System). Also, it occurs to me that a non-live replay could be called a "worked" replay, but this term cannot be used on competitions and races... It becomes less clear.
Earth is my country. Science is my religion.

HerrNove

In chess we would call it a correspondence tournament. The term "play-by-mail" was also popular, but I think it now feels outdated.

Cas

Well, in the beginning, we actually played Stunts "by mail" in tournaments here!  So it is quite appropriate, as a matter of fact
Earth is my country. Science is my religion.

Duplode

Indeed -- "correspondence" feels very appropriate, @HerrNove ! There is a long evolutionary chain linking automated replay publishing in competitions like ZakStunts to the very earliest competitions ran through mailing lists: first, with the rise of the Web, competition managers began publishing laps sent by e-mail on websites; later on, Zak hooked the mailing directly into the site, and eventually e-mails were replaced by more convenient means. The replay posting page at ZakStunts is still called "mailer"  :)

Chulk

#8
I think we are mixing up two different things:
1- the simultaneity of the race (do all drivers race at the same time like a live race or do they race when they want during a longer span of time?)
2- the sending/posting of replays and results. Live races are submitted through some form of mailing (the forum), we don't get "live results"

So a "Live race" does not necessarily contradict a "correspondence race". Maybe we can get live results once @Erik Barros gets the lap counter up for broadcasting
Yes, it is me. No, I'm not back at racing (for now...)

Duplode

That's a good observation. I'd say "live" versus "non-live" is mainly about aspect #1, which is something that several live race formats have in common:

  • Hotseat live racing, WSM-style: Everyone physically in the same place, trying to get a result given a fixed number of attempts. Perhaps the pipsqueaks won't be literally driving all at the same time (especially if there's just one computer!), but it's close enough. Results are as live as they can be.
  • Le Stunts: 12 minutes to post an 8 minutes replay, so everyone drives at the same time due to the tight deadline. Results aren't truly live, being instead compiled from the replays posted to the Forum.
  • Stunts Online session: Unlimited attempts within 10 minutes to drive a NoRH lap. Everyone drives at the same time (though the individual laps aren't in sync), and the results are live.

We can of course try to find grey zones. For instance, is a race with unlimited RH and a deadline of 15 minutes a live race? What if we change the deadline to 60 minutes?

Chulk

I
Quote from: Duplode on February 05, 2025, 09:44:12 PMFor instance, is a race with unlimited RH and a deadline of 15 minutes a live race? What if we change the deadline to 60 minutes?
As a rule of thumb, if it requires some kind of coordination for a day and time for pipsqueaks we can call it a "Live race".
Yes, it is me. No, I'm not back at racing (for now...)