What makes a good Car Meet?

[P4DR0N3]

 

 

I have been to more than a few Car Meets and from the Subforum dedicated to it across 3 platforms, its unarguably a popular aspect of the game. As diverse a cross-section of players as this game attracts, I imagine that the answer to this question will vary greatly depending on the types of activities you, the player, enjoys.

 

As I have gone from Meet to Meet, I have had vastly differing experiences. Some are very relaxed with people coming and going throughout and others have had themes or cruises, etc et al.

 

So I am curious, what do YOU expect when you decide to attend a car meet for the first time? What makes it a good experience for you? Sure I could have gone with a Poll but I am genuinely interested in what folks think. I don't want to guide anyone too much but here are some things that you could think about in your response.

 

** Most importantly keep your response limited to things that are currently possible with the game without requiring an administrative type of change**

 

Should there be Age and Level Requirements?

Do you like themes (Specific vehicle types or attire)?

Do you like having group activities (Cruises, Jobs, Missions, Playlists)?

How long is a good Car Meet to you?

Would you enjoy side activities like Session Events (Upside-Down flying, Longest Wheelie, Longest Distance without Crashing)?

 

Tell me (the U.S. NSA and the rest of the Internets) what you enjoy. I thought about phrasing the question what makes a good and bad car meet, but I thought I'd rather keep it focused on what is good. With that said, if something totally tanked a meetup you attended, please tell us about it (not that we can do anything but hopefully learn a lesson). I'm interested because I think with a little thought and planning from a group of people who actually enjoy the game, it shouldn't be too hard to use the tools we have available to make it more fun for us all.

 

Thank you in Advance

Edited May 19, 2016 by P4DR0N3

[The Wandering Hunter]

A decent hydra strafe imo

[DangerZ0neX]

In all seriousness, good and easy communication between players is what makes a car meet so good, but unfortunately only the PC people get such luxury thanks to their keyboards.

 

Bringing out nicely customized cars that aren't a niche is also good, I'd rather see a fleet of super cars with impressive paintjobs and modifications than a yet another gross pink and chrome Panto or Regina, it was never funny and it'll never be funny, if you do that then you're just turning a casual and enjoyable experience into a joke for your sh*tty hipsterish quirkiness and you deserve to be killed by the entire server.

 

Switch up the cars, don't bring any recently released cars other than the first three days they're showcased in, try to be more creative and bring out a nice classic under-appreciated car like a Phoenix or Coquette Classic and add some spice to the mix for example.

 

Hope that helps

[Hunter]

One Savage, and Hostile Takeover at the ready, so I don't pay one bit of their insurance.

 

No just kidding; I've never actually broken up a car meet. On topic, um, I guess the most important thing's just to plan it well; only invite people you trust.

 

Main thing is that you don't invite someone who'll just start killing everyone. Half the battle's done with that alone.

 

Other than that, maybe have some side activities to do, have some people you know/like, and have a ton of food to stuff down while you play.

 

All I can think of really.

[Taintedsoul_x]

What makes a good car meet?! Blowing everyone car that's what.

[Nacho Z]

Nobody getting uptight about rules is a good start and nobody firing a gun or blowing anything up is a good end.

 

A highway cruise can be fun in a relaxing way, stopping at traffic lights and whatnot.

[P4DR0N3]

One Savage, and Hostile Takeover at the ready, so I don't pay one bit of their insurance.

 

No just kidding; I've never actually broken up a car meet. On topic, um, I guess the most important thing's just to plan it well; only invite people you trust.

 

Main thing is that you don't invite someone who'll just start killing everyone. Half the battle's done with that alone.

 

Other than that, maybe have some side activities to do, have some people you know/like, and have a ton of food to stuff down while you play.

 

All I can think of really.

 

I agree that screening is definitely important and wouldn't suggest a Car Meet without it being an Invite Only session personally. Thank you for your input.

[Anda7x]

People with c4

[CrysisAverted]

a host who isn't a complete child

[Fish_head]

I've been to 3 car meets, and all 3 ended up with merryweather airstrikes.

 

That and the host getting somewhat anal about positioning of vehicles, line up etc, its almost a relief when you see that flare.

 

Il still go to them tho, the ideas good

[fw3]

...

Edited May 20, 2016 by fw3

[CarimboHanky]

a car rigged with explosives ofcourse!

 

i lost count of how many carmeets i have bombed since that became a thing.

[Bobfakkel]

My first car meet came through a random msg on my xbox 360 back in early 2014. I joined and it was roughly 10 people orso. Nothing bad happened and we did cruise around the map stopping to take pictures along the way. Unlike other carmeets where people blow up along with cars nothing happened in that carmeet apart from fun.

 

Ive added the host and we did plenty of carmeets in the year following. Never really had a theme and only 1 yes you read it correctly 1 where someone blew up all cars before getting kicked.

 

Personally I just like the "any car" carmeet then cruise around take pictures and maybe throw in a dragrace.

[Fox2Quick]

My first car meet came through a random msg on my xbox 360 back in early 2014. I joined and it was roughly 10 people orso. Nothing bad happened and we did cruise around the map stopping to take pictures along the way. Unlike other carmeets where people blow up along with cars nothing happened in that carmeet apart from fun.

 

Ive added the host and we did plenty of carmeets in the year following. Never really had a theme and only 1 yes you read it correctly 1 where someone blew up all cars before getting kicked.

 

Personally I just like the "any car" carmeet then cruise around take pictures and maybe throw in a dragrace.

Pretty similar to my experience. If you come up with good activities, people stay way longer. One night we had an entire lobby racing up and down the FZ airstrip. A few people had Cheetahs and Turismos and were going the opposite direction, coordinating with racers to be moving ramps. Once someone's car got too messed up, they'd take a jet and assist in keeping the npcs at bay, which wasn't hard because so many of us moving at full speed in such a small area keep making them despawn.

[A.I.R]

I have been in few car meet. Back to the old gen and new gen. In my experience the best meet are the one that any car can go. I remember a nice car meet went the low riders dlc come. Everyone in the car park whit the trunk open playing the same radio station (RLS) talking about the dlc and other sh*t.

 

Good time

 

Edited May 20, 2016 by A.I.R

[theEwing1979]

This has got me reminiscing about the first few days after Benny's opened. Impromptu car meets springing up all over the map with very little hostility. Sure, there was the odd player that had to bring guns and bombs to the party but there was a surprising amount of goodwill and harmony for a short while.

[P4DR0N3]

 

** Most importantly keep your response limited to things that are currently possible with the game without requiring an administrative type of change**

 

Thank you in Advance

• "Most importantly" there should be a sense of fun and levity in a thread like this, not forced conformity or a rule structure – it's a video game, man. Lighten up.

• "What makes a good car meet?" Like-minded people who understand that it's a game and the idea is to have fun. If you go and someone starts acting "out of order," don't be a freak and start demanding they behave or cry because they just blew up your car. Like I stated above, it's a video game and a good car meet requires a mind-set of such, that everyone is there for the fun of it (and that at some point it's likely going to turn into a free-for-all, not always, but it happens).

• Saying "thank you in advance" is like saying "Gezundheit" before someone sneezes. It's a corporate yank so that the person sending the email doesn't have to take time out of their oh-so-busy-day to say thank you, after the fact. In can be considered, by some, to be snobitchee.

• Lastly, it's unfortunate my meat car was removed. It was the best reply to this thread.

 

 

Duly noted.

 

Twice now, you have sought to derail the thread with off topic, non-contributing posts. I hope you get the message now, that I will actively seek to keep this thread on topic because I asked a perfectly valid question.

 

Its not your thing, thats fine. Trust me, you will NEVER see me knocking on YOUR door asking you to come hang out. You want to contribute, thats great. But don't deflect your personal problems into my thread or read things into my use of verbiage other than what the statement intended. It doesn't matter one iota what someone else used it for in YOUR experience. Its how I used it. I was saying thank you out of respect that someone had bothered to read the post in its entirety and for having responded in kind.

 

Neither of which did you do, so don't worry. It doesn't apply to you. Should you like to contribute something, again please do but stay on topic or I'll flag it for removal as I expect gathering this data will take some time before it becomes useful, but having to sift thru non-relevant content any more than necessary isn't something I want to do.

[l Marksman God l]

Someone to blow everything up. My P996 loves random car meets

[livejoker]

There's so many variables to consider but it all comes down to 3 points:

-Not a crew meet/filled with regulars, it's easy to get kicked from those and have a host who's egoistic. Lowkey meets are often the best.
-Fewer the rules, the more enjoyable it is. Avoid meets that have "follow the leader at all times!" and who have co-hosts. Co-hosts are trouble. Oh, and "always stay in passive". Avoid those too.
-A host who doesn't post a lot on the forum is generally someone you'll forget two weeks down the line.

Should there be Age and Level Requirements?
No. Meets who are age-gated are typically full of idiots anyway. Avoid these. I've met kids who have cool rides and act more mature than older players.

Do you like themes (Specific vehicle types or attire)?
Specific class or specific criteria (4-door only, Mad Max-esque cars only, etc.) are tons of fun but "Bring Anything You Want" are more popular. Both are fun. Attire shouldn't be dictated unless for Holidays (Valentines Day, Halloween, Christmas, etc.).

Do you like having group activities (Cruises, Jobs, Missions, Playlists)?
Cruises are the core of a car meet. Park up, vote, cruise. That's the typical car meet format. Some do it as a job to avoid paying insurance. You also have those that stick around at the end so doing jobs and getting to know those people is also cool.

How long is a good Car Meet to you?
40 minutes is the best length for a car meet. Shorter than that and you feel underwhelmed. Do not waste too much time at the start inviting people in, that's a big time killer. Anything above an hour and 10 minutes is too much unless you're having a blast.

Would you enjoy side activities like Session Events (Upside-Down flying, Longest Wheelie, Longest Distance without Crashing)?
Scramble to do freeroam challenges? Sure! Just be sure that it doesn't confuse the group and that it also doesn't lead to cheating (crash into others to ruin their chances, etc.) and ruining the atmosphere of the lobby.

The best way to figure out what makes a meet good and what makes a meet bad is to join as many meets as you can. Join open crew meets (going against my first point but it's in the name of science) and see what they do. Then join a random meet with someone who just made a new thread and see what they do differently. See if you can make suggestions and how open the host is and how he reacts. The best hosts are those that are considerate of time, of their players, of their suggestions and who have a general feel for the atmosphere of the lobby. If you're drifting in the casino parking lot for 30 minutes and no one is talking, chances are most are not enjoying themselves. Do something else, not the spot but the activity. Also you need to learn not to milk things. If you make a football game and people play it for a solid 40 minutes, cut it off at the end of the match and declare a winner. Tell them they can play at the next meet, thus making them wanting to join the next meet. TAKE PICTURES! The best way to bring people in and to make a meet memorable is to take pictures/videos. Players then look on the forum and remember the whole meet in 5-10 minutes which is perfect to burn it into their brain if it wasn't already.

So why the Lazer picture? There's chill out sessions or after a meet sessions you can join (when you're late). If a car meet starts off with cruising and then go straight for a plane to parachute, that's a chill out session. Oh, and if you head to the airport to drag race or something and your input is ignored and you're told to shut up - leave. Don't take part in those. Simply take pics, if possible, and post your feedback in the host's thread about your experience. When I started joining meets I saw how little feedback there was to car meets and man were there so many bad hosts (pretty rude people). Don't retaliate with an airstrike or killing them as it's only gonna get you banned and a bad rep. Best to leave the session and write it all down on the forums.

Let me know if you want to know anything else! Thinking of hosting yourself or just curious?



http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x41ffqc_vsx1_animals

Edited May 20, 2016 by livejoker

[Jenkiiii]

Am I the only person who's never been to an organised car meet?

[livejoker]

Not at all but most, if not everyone who plays with friends, has done an impromptu car meet. "Hey, come join me I'm at LS Customs" and you two meet up to show off your rides to one another - that's technically a car meet. At its core a car meet is in the words; when cars meet. Sounds dumb but it's the most basic form of a car meet. Just show up in a car and look at the other one. People who don't like car meets may find offroading more their style or may be into roleplaying more. There's a lot of variety when it comes to meets (bike meet, boat meet, walk up Chilad which I've done with a group before). A lot of "ruining car meets" posts in here but chances are everyone has been involved in a meet in one way or another, with friends or strangers.

[P4DR0N3]

@ LiveJoker - Thank you for taking the time to reply so thoroughly. To answer your why the Lazer (they're Hydra's) picture, at one of the Meets I attended the theme was for Aircraft. So when I decided on the photo to use for this thread I wanted to make sure people who don't go around in Super Cars and prefer other modes of transportation felt they could reply as well. Cars, Trucks, Bikes, Boats, Planes, its all gravy.

 

@Jenkiii - I didn't for a looooooooooong time. But I kept seeing references to them and decided I would check it out. Its a different spin to the game. Id recommend you try it out if youre looking to change the pace. You can get an entire Lobby filled with like minded players with multiple activities going on, and as long as people keep things copascetic it can be a lot of fun.

Edited May 20, 2016 by P4DR0N3

[livejoker]

Only one of them is a Hydra.

That's actually a clever meet theme. I always enjoyed meets "out of the box" like that walk up Mt. Chiliad I mentioned. Never knew the host or saw his name again but it was the most memorable meet. We walked up Chilad and ran down. We then cruised in cars. Also impromptu moments. I attended a meet ages ago in tribute to Paul Walker and the host wanted a group picture at the end with all the cars and that was when the flair gun came out (around that time) and he wanted flairs in the air. No one had flairs and the inventory option wasn't out yet so we ran to an ammu-nation. That was a solid 2 minute run, laughing the whole way, laughing inside the store and laughing on the way back. We then shot flairs straight up....they fell straight down....and everything blew up before we could realize what we've done and run to safety. Anything impromptu and with the agreement of the whole lobby is probably the best thing you can do in a meet.

[Bitmapp]

I used to host meets all the time back in the days of Last-Gen. I had an Xbox 360, and a lot of time. I started attending meets, but a lot of them were the same. And it got boring fast. Join the meet, cruise to a spot, drag race, done. It gets repetitive. Also, if anyone ever spoke out to them, they were frowned upon and yelled out. The creativity factor just wasn't there, and it made all the meets really dull if you ask me. Too strict, not enough fun, and boring.

 

So I opened up my own group, called Speedfreaks Car Club. I went around to people who I knew were looking for something new, and I told them about it. I told them there was a new club, where the meets had variety and your opinion was appreciated. I setup a small ranking system of people I trusted to host meets, and before I knew it I had 50+ people (I consider that a decent amount of people at the time of last gen). I had full lobbies, and hosted meets every night. I took photos, I met everyone, and we all had fun. Their was a small ranking process. You joined the club, after you attended your first meet you were moved up a rank on social club, and if you became a regular or a good friend of mine, you kept climbing. Just a simple rank for organization reasons, and none of them meant anything besides commissioners.

 

And I don't mean to toot my own horn, but everybody loved it. I have a flash-drive full of photos. Everyone came and had a good time, we were hardly grieved. When we were, it was handled immediately. We mainly stuck to drag-races and off-roading, but I tried to switch up spots all the time. I basically did what the people wanted, and what I seemed to get the best reaction from.

 

People loved meets where their was a theme. I did those often. When I couldn't be bothered to apply a theme, I let everyone bring their own cars. It was really cool seeing the variety, and a lot of people asked questions and gave opinions to other people. It was a group of well-minded kind people who all had a common goal. I really miss it.

 

Anyways, I eventually started working more often so the meets became less and less. Then people started losing interest, and I sold GTA V. A year later I came back on PC, and now I just sort of hang back and attend meets rather than hosting them. Because, let's be honest, hosting is no small job, and you get really tired of it after a while. Consider me retired.

 

As far as the questions go:

 

Should there be Age and Level Requirements? Nah. I never had an age or level limit on mine. I just followed a strict 1-strike rule. One offense and your out. It was really the only strict part of my meets, but you do what you gotta do to keep the peace.

Do you like themes (Specific vehicle types or attire)? Like I said, whatever makes everyone happy. Themes are a good way of keeping variety in the system, especially if you do meets often. Doing the same types of cars too frequently causes people to run out of cars to show or get bored.

Do you like having group activities (Cruises, Jobs, Missions, Playlists)? Yes, it keeps everyone their longer, and causes everyone to bond with each other. It's a good way to fill time and provide entertainment.

How long is a good Car Meet to you? Mine were an hour and a half, maybe an hour if I had something to do. Once the meet was over, however, I normally stayed in the lobby for an extra hour. Just because the meet was over didn't mean you had to leave.

Would you enjoy side activities like Session Events (Upside-Down flying, Longest Wheelie, Longest Distance without Crashing)? Actually, I found out that if you input challenges into car meets, it tends to bring out the competitive side of people. If someone lost and was a sore loser, it would most likely trigger them to blow up a car or something stupid. I kept these to a minimum.

 

Oh, and one more thing. One of the reasons why I started Speedfreaks was because I thought people were too strict. That doesn't mean I didn't have rules, though. I had 3. Be their, Be fair, and Be aware . Simple. I get how it's just a video game, and we're all just their to have fun, but if everyone is trying to have a legitimate car meet and have a good time and someone blows everyone's car up, it just spoils the fun. There are many other lobbies that would willingly invite explosives.

 

I managed to dig up some photos from my times in 360. I'll post them below:

 

Edited May 20, 2016 by Bitmapp

[Rewdalf]

See, I'm the kind of guy who can enjoy both a casual cruise and meet, and at the same time likes the really intricate organized ones...

 

Very few people actually take the time and, you know, act accordingly during a meet.

Not to mention there are so few of them on PC, while Xbox and PS4 are just littered with 'em...

Shame, really.

 

Back to my previous point, I've seen meets where traffic lights and road rules are a requirement.

Not a lot of people have the patience for that, but those who do end up with very nice meets.

 

That isn't to say that a casual gathering isn't also appreciated, and sometimes preferred if you're short on time...

 

But, things that should always be a must.

 

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/544152993454295876/B17736936CAACACEC42D78C4A4337E178AD1318B/

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/544152993454295272/08FAE01F9EE773D5E988B0C59DAC8EF95CB29824/

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/544152993454295772/2EBAE498A2E7CC5F6A3DEB2CA84B9A33B66A8A7C/

 

Theme.

Sure, it ain't required but having everyone in the same weight class makes things look nicer. As opposed to, say, having a T20 parked next to a Ruiner...

 

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/544152440197986217/A6653D27F660B4F0D0EAFA901B03996D2A3441B5/

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/544152440197986351/6040A1D5AA1206A24396B7C3B5CF5B128022297E/

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/544152440197986984/FA8F7624F2AD4CB7CB48213FC97E54CE7AD66C92/

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/544152440197987098/0C424A45DBD2FCC14761899C2077E008E7137F42/

 

Location.

Means a lot more than people think. This is an easy one though, since it's literally a car meet and you can just roll out and find a better spot any time.

 

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/544152440197986549/F3625AEBB59B0AFEE0DC71C4D97C2B54601785E1/

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/544152440197986450/08E12FFB9F80A2133537CFA6DE0D8AE79772C531/

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/544152440197986669/E55DA9B71A86EF79CC949D188ACD09A9917891DC/

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/544152440197986776/055B151D3EDEAD07D5E7BAAAAE5EB47F5CE7A032/

 

 

Cruise.

Showing off is nice. Actually going somewhere makes it more interesting...

Especially if people take care and actually drive properly, you know?

 

Problem is I can't seem to pinpoint a lot of these, so all I can do is sit around and dream.

Organizing them is literal hell too, since you either get people who don't take them seriously, end up being no-shows, or not enough people in the first place...

 

Steam is an unauthorized image extension...? Seriously? That's just as stupid as GTA Wiki being a disallowed image link...

Edited May 20, 2016 by Rewdalf

[gtafan26]

Am I the only person who's never been to an organised car meet?

Nope, I have not either, heck, I dont even know how to host one.

[MeisterJazz]

Love this thread. This reminds me of the 1st car meet I ever had with my Voltic. I was beating everyone on a 1/4 mile straightaway lol. Its funny how people were so impressed by it though. One thing I love about car meets is that you surely get a lot of ideas from other people. Plus it's quite refreshing to see other peoples styles.

[seven50iL]

good cars.

[LL Cool L]

no police

[flino]

Explosions! Lots of it