Not sure if this has ever been suggested (I welcome a supporting Necro post if it has)
As a result of the fun I’m having racing to the Gleambow meteors, I had a thought of making something similar as a regular game mechanic.
I’d like to suggest “racing beacons” be added to the game. Essentially special plot beacons that that must be place in pairs to monitor an individual’s race progress. These pairs of beacons have an assigned number for each pair and would serve as point to point directional gates to set the race progression and course layout that players must pass through. Obviously the first pair of beacons will be the starting gate and the last will be the finish line.
The race cannot be started until beacon owner or anyone in his permissions list would set the race parameters. This would be how long the race will last, hours, days, weeks, and what the payout prize is for the winners or participants (ie; coin, items, name on a wall sign etc), as well as time bonus or demerits for death penalty, or missing gates. There would also be a time limit to start the race and finish the race in case players decide not to start or don’t finish the course.
Once the race parameters have been set and confirmed it is set in stone and cannot be altered until the race is completed. Even if the race beacon owner deleted his characters and other plots, the race beacons remain until the race is complete.
Now participants can see the race details by selecting any of the race beacons. They can now choose a “race” option to have their name entered in the list of participants. Their race timer does not start until they pass through the start beacons. Passing through the startling gate would bring up a timer and the race name on their screen to help indicate the race has begun. Once the participant has completed the race their time is recorded in a list that is visible to other contestants by selecting any of the race beacons. Players can only participate once, unless there is the ability to pay per race added, but they must start and complete with in the race owners specified times (no refunds!) At the end of the time duration the winner(s) receive a message that they have won and the prize is automatically transferred to their inventory as soon as there is adequate space. The race beacons hold the race info and can now be reset, footfall collected, and a new race started by the owners, or the plots regen or be claimed by another player if the owner has left the game.