schooner wrote:
> The sim community is traditionally an open
> varied community with a lot of small groups doing varied things, with open
> mods, group leagues, custom tracks, add-ons, etc.

It depends how old you are what is traditional

The community you described evolved after the mainstream developers
departed (Papyrus) or lost their way (Crammond). For many more years
than we have had small studios and enthusiast groups we had a staedy
flow of blockbuster releases that the vast majority of sim racers used.

The fragmented result of sim racing anarchy without any form of common
ground or organisation (FILSCA tried and failed) has led to the concept
of pick up racing as being a waste of time.

iRacing promises to give us back the de facto sim aligned with an
innovative organisational system to make pick up racing (arrive and
drive) of the highest quality along with league formats rather than
aimless races.

Of course a new hobby of modding which people enjoy and provide
enjoyment to many has developed and that will be catered for by other
products which will continue to flourish as iRacing won't cater for
these. Though in my view this isn't the roots of sim racing.

Cheers
Tony