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[Kaleigh Doyle]

For those of you who may not follow the Intergalactic Summit much, the latest incarnation of the Racing League is just around the corner, starting on May 28th with Season 1.0. Under the banner of the New Eden Racing Association, and continuing where the ISGC left off sometime in 2008, we've got a strong start so far with a rather significant sponsorship from various members of the community and lots of anticipation from new and veteran pilots.  Overall, I think this is going to be our best season to date, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops.

You might be wondering how it works, so I'll give the basics. Pilots compete in three classes (frigates, assault frigates, and interceptors) simultaneously along a track that traverses between multiple waypoints. Each waypoint is an anchored container (in low sec) at a star, asteroid belt, gate, etc., containing the the location of the next point. Racers have to access each waypoint, and those who reach the finish line soonest earn the most points. The individuals and teams that score the most points at the end of the season will win the prizes.

Racers compete individually and in custom teams that they form on their own with other racers. Racers will have to contend with the hazards of the environment such as pirates, npc rats, gatecamps, and giant fucking asteroids that like to get in the way. Combat is also allowed between racers, but podding is illegal. A full listing of rules can be found here.

In addition, there are going to be assorted exhibition events sprinkled in between season scoring events that are variations on the season rules that allow unusual classes to participate.

Each season event costs 1 mil to participate, and exhibition events cost 5mil. All ISK is then used as payouts for scoring on the top 3 in each class. Forming a custom team has a one time fee (per season) of 5 million ISK.

Some of you may not have been around during the League events, but the Racing League has had a presence starting way back in 2005 (oye!) as a side project for the Glamour Syndicate. Just to give you an idea of our history, I've collated some interesting bits of information about each of the seasons.

The GLS Racing League (Season 1)
Duration: 12.9.05 - 10.15.06 [20 events]
Synopsis: The events started out with frigates (including faction) only, with racers scoring on behalf of their corporations. The events were bi-weekly, with roughly 5-7 waypoints, meaning 40 minutes or less per event. At 20 events, that took nearly 10 months to complete. Kaleigh stepped down as the Glamour Syndicate fell apart and Gyra took over, taking fulltime duties as its organizer. The organization was called the IRA at the time, which some took offense to, and implied I was referring to Irish folk. Silly people.
Total season Prizes: ~30 mil

The ISGC: Frigate League (Season Two)
Duration: 10.18.06 - 06.06.07 [20 events]
Synopsis: With Firetails dominating the first season, faction frigates were removed in the hopes of returning some variety to the League. Also, individuals and corporations were recognized in separate season pots, which people seemed to like.
Total season Prizes: 211.8 mil

ISGC Racing League: Season Three
Duration: 06.17.07 - 10.08.07 [10 events]
Synopsis: This season saw the introduction of interceptors, destroyers, and assault frigates. This was the only season that destroyers were included in the regular season races.
Total season Prizes: 453.125mil

ISGC Racing League: Season 4
Duration: 10.20.07 - 02.24.08 [10 events + 4 Exhibitions]
Synopsis: Destroyers were removed from the lineup, but custom team creation was the huge change during this season, allowing racers to form their own alliances outside of their corporations.
Total season Prizes: 1.3 billion

ISGC Racing League: Season 5
Duration: 03.30.08 - 07.13.08 [10 events, 2 exhibitions]
Synopsis: We added a rookie season pot for pilots new to the League.
Total season Prizes: ~1 billion

ISRC Racing League: Season 6
Duration: 08.24.08 - 12.21.08 [ten events, 2 exhibitions]
Synopsis: Introduced a tiered ranking system for pro and amateur titles. Quintrala and KillJoy Tseng took over the reigns less than half-way through the season due to unforeseen circumstances.
Total season Prizes: ~1 billion

ISRC Racing League: Season 7
Duration: 03.08.09 - 08.23.09 [12 events, 4 exhibitions]
Synopsis: Quintrala and KillJoy were overseeing the league at this point, and I wasn't very active.
Total season Prizes: Alot? (unknown)

NE-RA Racing League: Season 1.0
Duration: 5.28.11 - ? [12 events, 4 exhibitions]
Synopsis: Gyra is back as organizer of the League, and a new dynamic scoring system is being introduced to scale point gains. Also, with the exception of the Dramiel, faction frigates are making a return to the frigate class.
Total season Prizes: 4.125 bil

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In support of this little venture, I'm going to be writing ic-pieces about various facets of the racing sport through the RNN (Racing News Network), including interviews of interesting personalities in the League and other insightful discussions to get people immersed and involved. We're also working on getting an actual alliance started to to possibly branch out into other pod sports related projects within the month, even for added advertisement.

I am, of course, available for questions if anyone has them, otherwise you can visit us at the NE-RA Forums and say hello!

[Laerise [PIE]]

It's a shame certain people decided to sponsor you - otherwise I and a few other amarr's would have chucked in a bit of stuff for the pot as well - good luck

[Kaleigh Doyle]

It's a shame certain people decided to sponsor you - otherwise I and a few other amarr's would have chucked in a bit of stuff for the pot as well - good luck

No worries. There's always next season. Besides, I'd rather have more competitors trying to win it. 

[Misan]

I should hopefully be participating unless RL decides to kick my ass again and I miss getting everything ready. Heh.

[Dewgong]

I look forward to the races and hope everyone who does not race will at least come to watch!

Zoom Zoom :>

[Kaleigh Doyle]

Just an update on this project: Season 1.0 is in full swing despite a rather rocky start. Two weeks prior to the start of the season CCP decided to host their tournament, which pretty much coincided with our event for the next month prior to the launch of Incarna. While we may not necessarily have too many racers involved with the tourney, I think it did steal our thunder a little bit. Now with Incarna and all the mess that has brought has made attendance a bit quieter than anticipated, but we're trying our best to get the word out about the League events and hopefully things will pick up. I've setup advertising through the corporate recruitment tool ingame and opened up an academy channel for veterans of racing to teach people how racing works from the ground up.

We have four main teams thus far vying for position in each of the three classes: Venture Racing Team, Scuderia Caille, Dirtside, and Dragonstar Racing Team. Each have an extensive history in the league with plenty of history and rivalry, but if there's one thing you'll discover is everyone here really just wants more competition, new teams, and new blood on the tracks. One of the reasons I've remained with this project for as long as I have is that not only do events have an ingame impact, but it builds reputation and roleplay opportunities like nothing I've ever had the pleasure of being part of.

With over four billion ISK divided into 36 different prize rewards, it's almost difficult NOT to win something by participating, especially if you're completely new to racing. We have a rookie ranking structure in place for racers who are new to the league and still want to feel competitive, even if they can't necessarily keep up with the veterans. We also just finished our fifth of twelve races, and with more than half the events left there's still lots of time to get into the action and see what the sport is all about.

This Saturday we'll be hosting our second exhibition event involving a hybrid of racing mechanics matched with mining. Then the following Saturday we'll be returning to a regular season event in Heimatar. My time this week setting up the races has been rather interesting in the Bleak Lands, seeing a lot of familiar faces in the Amarrian department.

Anyway, if you guys have any questions about the project, please feel free to ask here or PM, or you can find me ingame as Gyra Rho.

[Lyn Farel]

I have been very interested in these events, and would have taken part in it if only it was not for similar reasons to Laerise (can't decently IC participate to something sponsored by several antagonist groups), added to that I am in the militia so I would not even be able to race everywhere.

[Kaleigh Doyle]

Doesn't seem to bother the Cardinal much.    Also, Dewgong sponsored about half this year's ISK, in addition to Nicoletta Mithra's contribution...   

[Katrina Oniseki]

I'm not sure whether to spectate or compete.

EDIT: Maybe I can plop a BC with some tracking mods down on the course and pick off the racers. >_>

[Kaleigh Doyle]

I'm not sure whether to spectate or compete.

EDIT: Maybe I can plop a BC with some tracking mods down on the course and pick off the racers. >_>

There's not much to spectate unfortunately. We're trying to work out ways of making it so people are aware of everyone's positions, but this would require me hiring some people to program. Also, there are plenty of unsavories on the track.

[Misan]

Yeah, the combination of tourney stuff (either doing practices or matches) being right when races were plus the recent Incarna stuff killed my ability to actually show up at all. Will have to poke Darina and see what Dirtside is up to. Hopefully I can make the next race.

[Varrent]

I might be interested in racing on the next one, but does the track go into hisec often or at all? I have a slight problem of the police hating me. Also is there any way to view the track somewhere before the race?

[Kaleigh Doyle]

I might be interested in racing on the next one, but does the track go into hisec often or at all? I have a slight problem of the police hating me. Also is there any way to view the track somewhere before the race?

Some points:
A season generally lasts 4 months, and we're 1.5 into this season.  If you're genuinely interested,  practice this season if you can.

All waypoints are located in lowsec. And we do have people in FW that participate.

The track is revealed after the event to avoid campers, and adds some surprises for the racers.

Hope that helps.

[Kaleigh Doyle]

And another update: We're nearing the end of the season with only two races left, and thus far we've had a fairly consistent turnout of regulars and new pilots interested in the sport. I'm looking forward to handing out prizes and awards for a mix of rookies and seasoned vets. The interceptor class has been particularly lively this season, and some of the new pilots have made Assault Frigates a contentious affair for the teams.

 If you're thinking about trying out the races next season, this might be a good time for a test run and to get a feel for racing overall.

[Altantsetseg Naranbaatar]

I also want to encourage people to show up and try it.  It really is a lot of fun, and probably a good use for alts that are collecting dust if your character has IC or OOC reasons not to participate.

And Kaleigh is right, come race now so you can start the next season strong!