The Car Shopping Round Rules and Stats

strop · 22 February 2018 14:01

This is the rules and meta thread for the Car Shopping Round.

What is the Car Shopping Round?

It’s a sorta-weekly rotating challenge that has been running since January 2016. The host is the (first available) winner of the previous round. The premise of each round is that a particular client, described by the host, wants to buy a certain car for whatever needs and desires they have. They provide a brief and everybody who wants to enter submits a car with a pitch hoping to convince the client to buy their car.

Joining is simple:

Look at the OP of the current round thread for the client information and the car they are looking for
Ask questions until you are clear on the rules
Build your car. Name the model and engine family [CSR current round] your usename and the trim and engine variant whatever you like
PM the host of the round your exported car
Post pictures with relevant information on the thread for some advertising
Make sure the host knows if you already know you can’t host the next round
Wait for the results
If you win or you are the highest placed available user, you’re the next host!

Hosting is… demanding but keep to these principles and you should be ok:

Within 24 hours of the previous round ending, make a new thread with the title [CSR current round]: title of the round
Link to this page: The Car Shopping Round Rules and Stats
Define the client and the car they want
Make sure your rules are clear and be prepared to answer any questions within reason, and update your OP accordingly
Set a deadline, preferably within 7 days of the round starting
Write your reviews and post results to determine the next host in a timely fashion (see below for definition)

FAQ

All your questions answered here

But that’s not how most cars are bought in real life??? Also how is this fair?

Yes, this isn’t necessarily how buying the car works in real life. It’s also highly subjective. The data and the numbers that Automation metrics provide are interpreted and weighted in varying ways per round and that’s part of what needs figuring out each and every round.

Exactly how do I enter?

Look for the thread with the current round in the title.
Read the OP, as that will tell you what kind of car the client needs.
Make the car. Make sure you save the MODEL and ENGINE FAMILY with the name CSR current round number - your username. The Trim and Engine Trim can be whatever you want.
Post a picture of the car and relevant information in the thread. Some people do ads. Unless specifically required (and it shouldn’t be), you don’t have to be a PhotoShop master to sway the host.
Export your car using the export button.
PM the resulting file to the host with the name of the car and anything else they might require.
One car per user per round. No exceptions.
Always specify in the thread whether or not you will be available to host. We know it’s not always possible to predict the future, but winning or placing and being required to host then suddenly saying you can’t is kind of uncool. Hosting is demanding. Play it safe.

I’m not clear on the rules, help!

The golden rule of all challenges is, if the rule isn’t written in the OP, it doesn’t exist.
Always ask questions to your satisfaction before making and submitting your entry.
Remember this is a subjective challenge, so asking to be spoonfed on exactly what kind of car the client wants may not be reasonable. Use your judgement.

There are so many people, I don’t think I’ll ever win!

Winning a CSR is 3 parts meeting the brief, 1 part X-factor, and 6 parts luck.
Don’t stake your perception of self-worth or even relative worth to the community by your CSR track record, it’s a game, and this is a forum about a game.
If you find yourself getting salty over how your unique approach to each round’s rules isn’t netting you any accolades, take a break and go outside.

I actually won! What next!

Did you say you couldn’t host? If not, you are the next host!
Create a new thread in the Community and Competitions section. Title will be [CSR previous round + 1]: title of your round
Link this post at the start of your OP:
Describe your client
Describe the car you want
Specify a submission deadline (ideally no more than 7 days after the start of the round)
Wait for the PMs to roll in
Make your decision and write your reviews and post them in the same thread
Do all this in a timely manner

What is a timely manner?

The new thread needs creating within 24 hours after the results of the previous round are finalised, or in a timeframe agreed to by the community and the new host
The judgements and reviews should ideally be posted within 72 hours of the round being closed to submissions. However, some allowance can and should be made for large rounds of over 30 vehicles, to the tune of an extra day or so for every 10 additional vehicles entered.
Some small allowances may be made, depending on the consensus of the participants, if extenuating circumstances are highlighted in advance.
However if it’s all going awry, refer to the Troubleshooting section below.

What kind of rules should I use when making the round?

We’ve been having some trouble with this lately. Read carefully.

Basically you only have the right to judge as strictly as your rules are clear.
At the very least you must give people an idea of what kind of car you want, or even what kinds of car you will consider. Figure out whether every single parameter is important to you.
If you didn’t mention it in the rules, you shouldn’t mention it in the reviews. People will get salty at you for doing this.
It is okay not to be absolutely strict on everything e.g. you may choose to say “the car can not consume more than 7L/100km” or you cay say “I would prefer the car to consume no more than 7L/100km”. But saying “fuel eco is sorta important” is getting vague. Maybe too vague. The only way that would be acceptable is if you said something like: “fuel economy is not a strict factor, however, between two cars with equal stats/desirability, the car with better fuel economy will win”.
It is also okay to declare that you are going to favour subjective parameters like looks or “the feel” of things over hard stats like drivability, comfort etc. BUT be warned: people don’t read minds. If you aren’t very good at communicating your impressions you will get roasted and rightfully so. Choose wisely.

IF you must use the phrase “be sensible” or “be realistic”, they MUST be qualified anywhere in the post by context and vehicle type e.g. “you are expected to use common engineering choices for a family car from Europe in the 1960s.” We have users of all ages and from all over the world here. Any less context is insufficient. We have had so many problems with this phrase that the next time somebody uses it inappropriately and there are problems that require my intervention, I will start handing out suspensions from hosting rights.

Lots of people said they couldn’t host. How many winners do I pick?

Try and rank your entries in an ordered list long enough that somebody will be able to host.
If that’s too difficult don’t worry. Troubleshooting will have you covered.

There are a lot of submissions. How am I going to write everything up on time!?

It is not uncommon to receive more than 30 cars
To help yourself try if possible to start writing as soon as you get the first car
And put all the relevant information on a spreadsheet
But still this can be too much. The original CSR was made for quick blurbs. Some people were able to go an extra mile and wrote like 300-500 words per car and that really blew things out
It’s generally okay to write short blurbs (<100 words) for each car if you intend to go into more detail with a short list later.
It can also be okay (if you are confident) to start off with a “Bin” post that immediately discards all the cars that completely failed to meet the brief.
Just make sure whatever you write conveys that you did properly consider the car and not ignore it completely.

What if the circumstances/conditions of my round change mid round?

If the rules are written and the round is open this is rare
However sometimes a big update or a new mod body that significantly changes the playing field may drop in the middle of the round
If the problem is big enough this may necessitate restarting the entire round. Usually Dev Updates that wreck the game balance come in advance so this can usually be scheduled around
As for mod bodies, the original rule was that if a new mod body drops during a round it is disallowed, because it would be a disadvantage for those that had already submitted. However if the host wishes to make an exception they may do so at their discretion. It does need to be discussed in the thread for clarity.

Troubleshooting

ah shit here we go again

CHEATING: Exploits, hacks and alt accounts are obviously forbidden. You get called out, I get called in. If you’re proven to have done a dodgy, you’ll be barred from CSR indefinitiely. On a lighter note sometimes it’s just an honest mistake and there’s a mod or a body that behaves funnily. There’s no need to punish anyone there, just have to make a note of those and move on.
FAILURE TO COMMENCE ROUND: the new host has failed to post round rules 24 hours after the end of the previous round without notice. The next available host on the list of winners takes up the mantle. If there are none, then the highest ranking available user of the previous round will host.
FAILURE TO CONCLUDE ROUND: The host has failed to post round results 72 hours after the round submission deadline without notice. Usually there’s some reasonable explanation and if possible the round will be judged. If this is not possible in a timely fashion and the consensus from participants is to move on, then the highest ranking available user of the previous round will host the next round. The round itself may be concluded by the previous host at a later time, or, if abandoned, a poll may be held and decided by all.
ABORTED ROUNDS: Sometimes shit happens, and sometimes, your premise which sounded great in your head ended up a steaming pile of shit that just won’t work. Sometimes it’s better to pack it in at this point. It’ll be treated as a failure to commence round.
SERIOUS DISAGREEMENTS ABOUT THE RESULTS: If I’m not already there with the , tag me (@strop) or find me on Discord. I’ll come in like a wreeeeeeeecking baaaaaaaaall. If that doesn’t work we’ll know because the mods will come in with their banhammer and start smacking everybody, myself included, because I’ll be more interested in spitting . I also will not be able to arbitrate objectively if I’ve entered the round (rare) or I’m hosting the round (much rarer still).

Miscellaneous

Don’t tag people to congratulate them on winning or placing. It ruins the surprise for them. Muting isn’t a practical solution.
As the host you are allowed and even encouraged to tag people when reviewing their cars
The host is there to pick the winning car, not the winning host. If you are suspected of sending a car to the because you don’t want the user to host, bad things will happen.

This next section will eventually be replaced by a tally of all the users who entered etc. for the first 64 rounds

Previous Winners:

nialloftara
8bs
Dragawn
Leonardo9613
titleguy1
asdren
Sebesseg
koolkei
AirJordan
DeusExMackia
oppositelock
phale
HowlerAutomotive
KLinardo
thecarlover
Dragawn → strop
Der_Bayer_von_Awesome
Rk38 & koolkei
phale ->Kubboz
phale
Madrias
HighOctaneLove
EnryGT5
Leonardo9613 → rcracer11m
phale → abg7
BobLoblaw
Denta
HighOctaneLove
NormanVauxhall
4LGE
Ornate
Leonardo9613
EnryGT5
the~~car~~crossoverlover
marcoalla
Rk38
strop holy fucking shit finally
Leedar → HighOctaneLove → Dragawn
AirJordan → gridghost
AirJordan
Dragawn
doctor_narfy
Rk38
titleguy1
the~~car~~obnoxiousluxobargeSUVlover
EnryGT5
Rk38
NormanVauxhall → Leonardo9613
enryGT5 → phale
the~~carlover~~mclovinvanlover
KA24DE
TR8R
TheElt → conan
NormanVauxhall → accent
JohnWaldock
gridghost
NormanVauxhall
bastormonger
conan
kubboz → Der Bayer → asdren → titleguy1 → goblin95 → Mr.Computer → abg7
nialloftara → dragawn
strop → theElt
NormanVauxhall → Leonardo9613 → koolkei → conan
thecarlover