OOC: State of the League Address Part 2

Hai hai, everyone~!

Another month has passed since my previous State of the League Address, but we're still ticking along here~! We've actually kind of already discussed "the community meta" in the previous address which you can read by clicking here, so I'll be laying down the foundations for next season's events here.

Endurance GT
The poster child discipline for the Racing Heart community, the Endurance GT class will once again take the spotlight with the arrival of a simulated Global Endurance Masters championship for all to participate in!

For Season 3 and onwards, we will have a number of series-specific special rules which will come into play, changing the dynamics of each championship. But the biggest change is universal: for all Endurance GT championships, teams must nominate two drivers per car! We've added this change in order to reduce car counts across series, to ensure there is as many slots available for new teams to join mid-season.

J-Speed GT Masters
The crowd favorite series returns stronger than ever, with an all-new storyline featuring the return of Tsuchigami no Kyojin, Kaido founder Moriya Speed Shrine, and ex-Toyota works team HIME'S! With Kamata Sport waving World GP and Global Endurance money at Ai Tsuchigami, spirits at the Tsuchigami team have crashed to an all-time low... can she rally the troops to take back their rightful place on Japan's GT racing throne, or can the likes of Tsukuyomi Racing Project and PARSEC Autosport stand tall against all odds?

But the storyline isn't the only big development for this series. In both classes, we will now be featuring a weight handicap system, where driver pairs that finish in the top 4 or qualify on pole will take weight penalties in the next round.

Weight Handicap Data
Be warned, weight handicaps are not removed for your car if it fails to finish!
Also, no car may have negative weight handicaps: everyone starts at 0 kg handicap.

For the Tsukihime 1000km, we've also changed the point system: it is no longer a double points finale. The new scoring system goes 30-26-22-18-16-12-10-8-7-6-5-4-3, with 2 points for +1 lap and 1 point for all other finishers. You still won't score any points if you fail to finish, obviously.

This race series will also be changing over to fixed lap counts instead of timed races. All events except for the Tsukihime 1000km run to 300 kilometers, give or take 5 km.

Overview
7 rounds
300 km races / 1000 km finale
Weight handicap system ON
No series specific BOP adjustments
Development allowed in PRO only
Hard, Medium, Soft tires allowed
Entry slots:
10 user PRO cars full time + 6 NPC cars (16 total)
20 user AM cars full time + 4 NPC cars (24 total)
(Overall, 40 full time entries)
8 cars reserved in AM + 4 cars in PRO for Tsukihime (12 total)

Aeternam European Series

The newbie dungeon for Endurance GT returns in Season 3. As its role of being the Green Hill Zone for GT teams, races are only an hour long and feature one mandatory pit stop. Newcomer NPC team JNR Motorsports Academy are out for blood after having a one-year hiatus to develop their team in other Endurance events, but perhaps you will survive the Nissan onslaught!

Unlike in J-Speed GT Masters, where teams may choose freely between Soft, Medium, and Hard tires, competitors here are limited to Medium tires only. Gold tier drivers also cannot enter this series!

To encourage development and creation of lower tier drivers, a separate Gentleman's Trophy will be available. Drivers in this class will score points according to where they place against other Gentleman's Trophy entrants, but the scoring is otherwise the same as all other Endurance GT events featuring this class. Teams entering this class are limited to drivers rated Bronze or lower tier.

Overview
8 rounds
1 hour races // Mandatory pit stop
Weight Handicap system ON (see J-Speed GT Masters)
-5% horsepower (advertised as a "semi-pro series")
No development allowed (category restriction)
Medium or Soft tires only
Entry Slots:
4 AM cars entered from NPCs
32 cars open to user teams
(36 cars overall)

Global Endurance Masters

The ultimate Endurance championship is finally here for live canon broadcasting, after two years of waiting. Ferrari and Maserati have declared civil war on each other in the GT class, while in-fighting and rivalries turn on their head in the Prototype class.

Races are 2 to 4 hours long, with a 24 hour race at Le Mans as its season finale. This series will be a test of a team's endurance, both on and off the track, with development games and strategy at their full strength here!

Only the best and select few will be able to enter, and only one team can win...

Overview
6 rounds
2-4 hour races / 24 hour finale
Weight Handicap system OFF
No series specific BOP
Development allowed
Hard, Medium, and Soft tires allowed
Entry Slots:
6 user cars in WorksProto + 10 NPC cars (16 total)
16 user cars in GTE PRO + 16 NPC cars (32 total)
(48 cars overall)

Lightning Car

Although Continental Super GP was not the most popular of series, it was enough to establish interest in one of the most important series in canon history - the Lightning Car World Tour, or as it's been known since 2012, the Jade Sebringson Memorial Trophy. Featuring ovals, street circuits, and traditional circuits, this series will test the strategy and setup tuning abilities of teams to the max.

This season will be a David and Goliath battle between ruthless British super team Scarlet Devil Raceworks and the rebellious underdogs at Steel Angel Autosport. Rumor has it that the head of a powerful, yet ultimately unpopular shop in the Tuner Village is going to be signed for SDR to twist the knife between the Steel Angels...

Overview
10 rounds
150 to 200 mile races
No development allowed (category limitation)
Hard or Soft tires for non-ovals only // Tire supplied by Astaroth
Special: Oval Specialists will gain a slight performance advantage on ovals
Entry Slots:
20 user cars
8 NPC cars
28 full season entries in total
+10 one-off entries for the 500 Mile Special

Continental Super GP

Aside from the new strategy options, this series will retain many elements of its previous season incarnation. However, we will now be moving to fixed distance 200 km races. A few teams will be coming over from the recently merged Atlantic Super Grand Prix series, most notably Four X Motorsports Group and Archetype Racing Club - will you be able to stop these teams from dominating the league?

Overview
8 rounds
200 km races
No development allowed (category limitation)
Hard or Soft tires only
Entry Slots:
30 user cars
5 NPC cars
35 full season entries in total

Kaido Battle Championship

For years, the Kaido Championship has enjoyed stability and easiness, with thrilling championship battles and awesome cars, and this season seems to be no different... or is it? Powerhouse Yumi and Tomoko Powered Garage left last season to perfect their new cars, and only time will tell which of these two will win now that they're ready. This season will see the introduction of more proper touge venues, as well as a greater emphasis on time attack, to reduce the gameplay and story segregation which as resulted due to the new lore post about the Kaido Association.

Overview
7 rounds:
- 2 Touge Tournaments (Mt. Akagi and Mt. Haruna)
- 2 Time Attacks (Okayama and Gunsai Cycle Center)
- 3 Standard Races (Suzuka, Ebisu Minami, and Autopolis)
Tuner-specific custom build rules:
- No "Full Race" parts
- Total car weight after tuning must exceed 90% of the car's stock weight
- Hard Street tires, Medium or Soft Treaded Slicks only
Entry Slots:
28 user cars
8 NPC cars
36 entries in total

World Modified Masters

The youngest World Championship of those organized by the World Racing Authority, this series is home to the fastest tuned cars in the world. So far the Tuner Village is in peace and the Kaido Association is one big happy family, but news of disagreement and argument between "Mama" Tsuchigami and Meiko Taniguchi of Modellista Car Lifestyle has given rumors of dissent and even a clash of mentalities that could divide the organizations...

Overview
8 rounds:
- 2 Touge Tournaments (Gunsai Cycle Center, Mt. Panorama)
- 2 Super Lap Sessions (Long Beach, Phillip Island)
- 1 Stage Rally Series (Mt. Haruna)
- 3 Standard Races (Autopolis, Laguna Seca, Wonder Speedway*)
* Fuji 90's
Tuner-specific custom build rules:
- "Full Race" parts OK
- IF 80% of car's stock weight is LESS THAN 1200 kg, use 80% of stock weight as minimum weight, otherwise 1200 kg is minimum
- Ultra Soft Slicks OK
Entry Slots:
24 user cars
8 NPC cars
32 entries in total

To conclude...

There are many series that I would love to simulate within the Racing Heart Universe, but with time limited and manpower for broadcasting and simulating solely on my shoulders, it's important that we have series we all want. I'd love to have touring cars join the fray, and IMAS GT is fan favorite I'm sad to say may have to be demoted to mention-only for now. But when you see the love and effort that comes with making all these series integrate both on the lore and gameplay side, we want every series to be given only the best we can offer~!