Well, I finally got all 150cc cups with 3-stars in MK7 so I figured I try my luck online just playing random people. If I can get 3-star cups then I should know the courses well enough by now.
So, jumped online and discovered how the online component works. Everyone selects a course and then one of them is randomly chosen. The first course up was Koopa Cape. I was a bit nervous since it had been awhile since I'd played it. It was one of the courses in the first cup I 3-starred so it had been a while. I was rather rusty while also later my nerves and excitement get the best of me and ended up in 4th or 5th. Tried again and the next race was Koopa Beach N64. Did ok, I was keeping up with the back. Suddenly, near the end of the last lap, I was in first place coming around the corner and could see the finish line up ahead. That's when I got whammied by an item and placed 5th or 6th. Frustrating to see victory coming up and losing but at least I felt better about myself and that victory might be possible against these Japanese and Australian players I seemed to be getting matched up with.
Then came the turning point. The next race was Rainbow Road MK7 edition. So, I buckled down and just paid attention to solid racing fundamentals as I figured that would give me the best chance to win and didn't want to be driving wild on this course. The end of the race came and suddenly I realized it was myself in second and someone else in first. I was pretty sure it was the Japanese player who had selected Rainbow Road as the course to play in the first place. We passed the last items on the course and I didn't get anything that I could use offensively and he looked to have enough of a lead to win even if I did my best on the two tight corners ahead. Well, suddenly, the miraculous honking of a blue shell coming from behind reached my ears. It passed me by leaving me unharmed while blowing up the racer ahead of me. I zoomed by him with my tight cornering on the last bend and zoomed ahead to the finish line winning my first online race and on Rainbow Road to boot. Poor guy was probably peeved to get a blue shell at the end like that.
That race, however, marked a turning point for me and I went a winning streak getting 8 - 10 first place victories in a row. It turns out, I might actually be good at Mario Kart. However, a Japanese player showed up at this point. I recognized the name reoccurring as I played more races and the point total accompanying it. This one racer was really good and he became my main competition sometimes winning first place while I fell to second or had a meltdown and ended up in 4th or 6th as I did in a couple bad races. I did get a couple wins against him but it was much tougher for awhile. However, I finally started breaking through at the end and getting a few more first place wins in the last few races I did while he began to struggle for a bit and fall into 3 - 6th place in various races.
I learned there are a couple courses I need to brush up on and some weak spots I've got. There are some courses I seem to be really great at. One course, even with a blue shell and a couple lightning bolts, no one even got close to challenge my lead. Everyone seems to be playing online with Metal Mario (gross), Yoshi or Toad. The Japanese really seem to go for Metal Mario so maybe he's supposed to be a top tier character. I was the only player who seemed to be rocking Daisy. I never encountered any others out there which is sad. And why no love for Waluigi? I know why. That's not a serious question. Hopefully, my success with Daisy confounded some of these Metal Mario players and will cause them to rethink their character strategy.
I took my VR from 1000 - 1336 after a couple hours which I suppose is good but I'm not sure. In order to get the Gold Standard kart body, according to GameFaqs, I need to obtain a VR higher than 10,000 points or collect 20,000 coins. I though the 20,000 coins requirement was insane but it might take me just as long to get to the 10,000 VR ranking as well. That's a lot of racing for something I don't think is even worth it.
Anyways, that's my report on MK7 online play. If we do face off Phil, I guess it only fair to warn you that, based on this comparison against other human players, I may be a pretty tough opponent. Not sure how you've faired online in your MK7 adventures. I'll also just add that despite not normally being interested in online play for games, I found MK7 a very positive experience. It's only the second time I've played Mario Kart online. The first was with the DS when Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection first started and, although it was alright the first few times I played it, it soon became a frustrating experience with players either snaking or dropping connections and being jerks if they were going to lose. This was far and away a much better experience and I look forward to playing some more MK7 online in the future now and I'm even more excited to try playing other stuff online.