The number of communities which decide to affiliate with The Sim Grid is continuously growing. BSKIT has been one of the latest additions. This is a very friendly environment that guarantees high driving standards, as the sign up process has always been managed with the invite-only formula. We had a chat with one of the admins, Declan Bowler, who gave us a more in-depth perspective of this community.
The Roots of BSKIT and the Affiliation to TSG
A peculiarity of BSKIT is the fact that the community was not originally dedicated to simracing. In 2016 it started as a World of Tanks clan, but after a couple of years it switched to racing games: Forza Motorsport 7 at first and then Project Cars 2. Around January 2019 many BSKIT staff members started to show interest in Assetto Corsa Competizione, which shortly after became the most used sim by the community.
When the sim came out of the early access phase, BSKIT began hosting a weekly open night for a bit over a year. This way, a lot of the current community members could get in touch with BSKIT founders. After a couple of years of racing on ACC, taking part in multiple TSG championships and one-off races, it was about time for BSKIT to start organizing their own events. And The Sim Grid structure helped greatly in the management of them.
“The Sim Grid affiliation was about May this year”, told us Declan. “Using TSG site has made signup and entrylist generation a lot easier, as well as doing a lot of the standings more conveniently”.
Currently Running Leagues and Future Plans
Even though BSKIT started organizing proper events in May, the community has already offered a nice variety of solutions in terms of sprint racing and it is now expanding towards endurance.
“So far the only races we have organized have been sprint races, but that is more due to the number of members interested in taking part in the events. We chose sprint races initially as it meant more cars on the grid for the same number of members, however, we have recently begun accepting signups for our first endurance series which will be run in collaboration with Pineapple Racing Club (PRC), a community we have some overlap with” Declan told The Sim Grid.
One of the most successful events run by the community since its affiliation with The Sim Grid has been a charity event. A 90 minutes solo endurance at Silverstone in memory of a BSKIT community member, who is no longer with us.
“We organized this one off charity event to raise money for Epilepsy Research UK. It went really well and let us remember a community member of ours who sadly passed away aged 21. We often run the number 21 for endurance races because of this, so that has special significance for us”.
In regards to the future of the community, there is nothing written in the stone. The first endurance series by BSKIT is starting soon, but there is good news for sprint racers as well.
“We try to be fairly fluid so we don’t have a road map to speak of. We have got plans to broadcast and steward the events too so we are excited for that!”. “We are also approaching the end of our second season of a solo sprint series, so shortly we will start to think about what a third season might look like!”.
A Community Beyond Racing Simulators
As you might tell by reading how BSKIT got started and then developed, this community goes beyond Assetto Corsa Competizione and racing simulators. Users can also find dedicated spaces to share their interests with other members. Every part of the Discord server has got its own dedicated staff who looks after it.
“We have different branches to the server, each headed by one senior admin assisted by a junior admin. Each pair takes care of a different branch within the Discord server. This includes an ACC and an Automobilista 2 dedicated sections, as well as catering to the interests of our members such as their hobbies, sports, and providing places for general discussions”.
Games with smaller followings have their own individual rooms where there is demand for it. Despite covering so many different topics, the automatization offered by bots separates different areas of the Discord server without creating any confusion at all.
“I think as a result we get a really friendly environment, where people come to chat with each other and relax, there’s more to life than whatever game is being played at that time and we try to provide a community hub where people can relax, as well as somewhere they can race/play with friends”.
BSKIT got started quite recently, but has already made a mark in the simracing world and has got a bright future ahead. From competitive racing to more relaxed gaming, this community is quite unique in its genre for the variety of content that it offers. Make sure to join BSKIT on Discord to be part of it. And also to always keep an eye on The Sim Grid championship page to not miss any of the future championships.
