For the past few months that I've been playing Ridge Racer 6 online, I've noticed that there is quite a difference between playing against Western (US, UK, France) gamers and playing against Eastern gamers (Chinese, Japanese). In almost every game that I play against Westerners, the players are more aggressive, resorting to dirty tactics like hard bumps and causing you to crash into walls. At the starting grid, the first thing that happens after the announcer says GO, is that the cars start hitting each other, as if the game was Burnout: Takedown. Later on, if you try to overtake another player, western gamers do more than just hit you. They actually try to take you out of the race. They hit you furiously just to get you to crash into the wall or slow you down.
The funny thing is, Ridge Racer 6 doesn't really penalize you that much when you get hit. Unlike Project Gotham Racing 3, where getting hit can cause you to spin out and essentially be out of the race, in Ridge Racer 6, hitting won't affect you that much unless your opponent hits you in a certain way, like if he is using nitrous or if he hits you squarely on the side. Because western opponents resort to these types of dirty tactics online, I find it easy to beat them. No kidding. I've won so many races by 10 or 20 seconds whenever I play against western players. Occasionally one or two good western players come along, but it is very very rare in Ridge Racer 6.
Whenever I play against Eastern gamers like the Chinese, the Japanese, or the Koreans, the way they play Ridge Racer 6 is a lot different. At the starting grid, players tend not to hit each other...rather, they're focused more on gathering enough speed to be able to start drifting and gathering boost as quickly as possible. Racing against the Easterners feels more strategic. Some Eastern players will intentionally wait behind you until the very last moment and then charge into the lead. I've been beaten by a shocking +0.002 seconds by one Japanese player. This never happens with the Westerners. Westerners will just keep on charging into you, hoping to take you out, but in the process take themselves out of the race.
I've heard of the problems over in Project Gotham Racing 3, and I've seen the dirty tricks being employed by many of the gamers there. In Ridge Racer 6, these same players are trying the same tactics, and, unfortunately for them, those dirty tactics that they use on PGR3 don't quite work on RR6. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but, really, every game I've played that has ENGLISH as its label turns into some kind of destruction derby.
Another difference between Western gamers and Eastern gamers, is that the Westerners just can't get enough of that headset. In one game, I had a British guy ask me where I come from. I told him the truth, which probably was a mistake:
"I'm from the Philippines."
After telling him that information, during the race he ended up berating me and my country...it was difficult to understand what he was saying, but i could tell it wasn't really good. To be honest, the guy sounded stoned. In the end, I won the race, much to his dismay. He didn't really represent the United Kingdom very well.
In another race against Westerners, one guy who constantly lost the race....he was, again, British. At the final lap, the guy turns his car around and starts driving the wrong way, laughing and heckling while he was at it. I was in first place during this match, and he almost nailed me. Luckily he missed...after that he started talking and talking and talking....when the game returned to the lobby, I kicked him out of the room and proceeded to continue racing.
I've never experienced that type of lame behavior when I'm playing with Koreans, Chinese and Japanese players. And I have to say this...the Japanese players offer the greatest challenge ever. I'd say they're the best in the world. And it's fun to play against them because they race clean, unlike the Westerners. Also, I've had one really pleasant experience with a Japanese gamer. Previous to my 199th race, there was this one Japanese player who gave me quite a challenge. We were exchanging wins back and forth, and on my 199th race, this guy opted not to race against me and went spectator mode. At the end of the race, at the very moment I crossed the finish line, the Japanese player sends me a message which says "o-me-de-to! 2 0 0 Wins!" which essentially means CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR 200 WINS! I was surprised by that...the Japanese player was nice enough to let me take the victory and even greeted me for it. I thanked him and added him to my friends list, which he did as well. His name is fumomega, one of the Japanese Elite Ridge Racer 6 Players! (Thanks for being a great sport!). This goes to show that, despite the fact that these Japanese players are the hardest-of-the-hardcore when it comes to RR6, they are still quite friendly and accomodating to everyone, and play for the love of the game.
On the other hand, Western gamers don't seem to be good sports. If you constantly kick their ass online, they will get back at you through the feedback system. I've had a perfect 100% feedback rating for a long time, and that was because there were next to NO western players on RR6, for a short while. Once more western gamers came into RR6, I noticed that my feedback rating started to go down. It always went down after I played with American or British players. Apparently, they hate losing in a game as *simple* as Ridge Racer 6.
Every time I log into Ridge Racer 6, the first thing I look for when racing online, are games hosted by Eastern gamers. If you want to have the best experience when playing RR6 on live, play with the players from the Far East. You won't regret it.
The funny thing is, Ridge Racer 6 doesn't really penalize you that much when you get hit. Unlike Project Gotham Racing 3, where getting hit can cause you to spin out and essentially be out of the race, in Ridge Racer 6, hitting won't affect you that much unless your opponent hits you in a certain way, like if he is using nitrous or if he hits you squarely on the side. Because western opponents resort to these types of dirty tactics online, I find it easy to beat them. No kidding. I've won so many races by 10 or 20 seconds whenever I play against western players. Occasionally one or two good western players come along, but it is very very rare in Ridge Racer 6.
Whenever I play against Eastern gamers like the Chinese, the Japanese, or the Koreans, the way they play Ridge Racer 6 is a lot different. At the starting grid, players tend not to hit each other...rather, they're focused more on gathering enough speed to be able to start drifting and gathering boost as quickly as possible. Racing against the Easterners feels more strategic. Some Eastern players will intentionally wait behind you until the very last moment and then charge into the lead. I've been beaten by a shocking +0.002 seconds by one Japanese player. This never happens with the Westerners. Westerners will just keep on charging into you, hoping to take you out, but in the process take themselves out of the race.
I've heard of the problems over in Project Gotham Racing 3, and I've seen the dirty tricks being employed by many of the gamers there. In Ridge Racer 6, these same players are trying the same tactics, and, unfortunately for them, those dirty tactics that they use on PGR3 don't quite work on RR6. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but, really, every game I've played that has ENGLISH as its label turns into some kind of destruction derby.
Another difference between Western gamers and Eastern gamers, is that the Westerners just can't get enough of that headset. In one game, I had a British guy ask me where I come from. I told him the truth, which probably was a mistake:
"I'm from the Philippines."
After telling him that information, during the race he ended up berating me and my country...it was difficult to understand what he was saying, but i could tell it wasn't really good. To be honest, the guy sounded stoned. In the end, I won the race, much to his dismay. He didn't really represent the United Kingdom very well.
In another race against Westerners, one guy who constantly lost the race....he was, again, British. At the final lap, the guy turns his car around and starts driving the wrong way, laughing and heckling while he was at it. I was in first place during this match, and he almost nailed me. Luckily he missed...after that he started talking and talking and talking....when the game returned to the lobby, I kicked him out of the room and proceeded to continue racing.
I've never experienced that type of lame behavior when I'm playing with Koreans, Chinese and Japanese players. And I have to say this...the Japanese players offer the greatest challenge ever. I'd say they're the best in the world. And it's fun to play against them because they race clean, unlike the Westerners. Also, I've had one really pleasant experience with a Japanese gamer. Previous to my 199th race, there was this one Japanese player who gave me quite a challenge. We were exchanging wins back and forth, and on my 199th race, this guy opted not to race against me and went spectator mode. At the end of the race, at the very moment I crossed the finish line, the Japanese player sends me a message which says "o-me-de-to! 2 0 0 Wins!" which essentially means CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR 200 WINS! I was surprised by that...the Japanese player was nice enough to let me take the victory and even greeted me for it. I thanked him and added him to my friends list, which he did as well. His name is fumomega, one of the Japanese Elite Ridge Racer 6 Players! (Thanks for being a great sport!). This goes to show that, despite the fact that these Japanese players are the hardest-of-the-hardcore when it comes to RR6, they are still quite friendly and accomodating to everyone, and play for the love of the game.
On the other hand, Western gamers don't seem to be good sports. If you constantly kick their ass online, they will get back at you through the feedback system. I've had a perfect 100% feedback rating for a long time, and that was because there were next to NO western players on RR6, for a short while. Once more western gamers came into RR6, I noticed that my feedback rating started to go down. It always went down after I played with American or British players. Apparently, they hate losing in a game as *simple* as Ridge Racer 6.
Every time I log into Ridge Racer 6, the first thing I look for when racing online, are games hosted by Eastern gamers. If you want to have the best experience when playing RR6 on live, play with the players from the Far East. You won't regret it.