Just recently I got my wii connected to our wireless router so our wii is online finally. Thanks to that, I've been able to do Mario Kart Wii online and maintain a VR ranking of 8000 plus or minus a couple hundred.
I've had some weird experiences though, I play with a friend so I can confirm everything I'm seeing. Here's a few:
1. I would see an opponent clearly go down a pit, but they would end up still in front of me with no loss of speed. Has anyone else seen it and how does it happen?
2. A similar version would be "warping" forward repeatedly while looking like that character is glitching ahead.
3. I've seen an opponent win races by using infinite bullet bills (I know for a fact that happens by careful observations), I would be in second but I wouldn't finish before the 30 second limit.
The strangest one of all: 4. I started a race with some people on Mushroom Gorge where I started first from the last race and some people joined in the back. During the countdown I got hit with: a bomb, lightning, a thunder cloud, a bullet bill, a blue shell, and got run over with a mega mushroom before the lakitu even said go.... wtf. I was also able to fire multiple green shells during that race, 5 out of a 3 pack to be exact. One we finished I saw the person I passed behind me so I assumed I finished first... nope second. But the guy in first with a 9999 ranking lost 100+ points.
Anyone have experiences like that they want to share or can anyone explain what happened to me at the starting gate?
Hackers. They use that Twilight princess hack illegally, and they get online cheats. I heard they mostly use Funky Kong. the appearing in random spots is just a side effect of all the hacks going on...
I've seen them use a variety of characters. One of their favourite techniques is to use invincibility, find someone, and bomb them repeatedly without either person moving. Also, if I see anyone with VR 35555 or whatever the impossible number is, I leave the race immediately. Of course, sometimes they're stealthy and set it to 7xxx so as not to appear suspicious. As for the opponents falling down a pit and reappearing on the track, that's not hacking; it's a side effect of lag in internet connections and Nintendo servers, and it occurs frequently with highly internationalised races (Japan->USA->Europe, for example).
Hackers usually try to get last place in order to give away VR (which is often 35555 and thus gives a great deal to other players) because they believe they're only making the experience more fun for other players. However, in my case, I've had several times now a VR of ~9500 when some idiot comes in, uses infinite items and pretty much destroys the race, and causes me to get a terrible placing, behind people with 6xxx-8xxx VR but still ahead of the hacker himself, so I lose a few hundred. I most likely would have achieved 9999 by now if not for such catastrophes...
I played on WFC against "random opponents" for a few weeks until I finally got sick of seeing all of the weird things that started happening. Rob64, I haven't seen any of the things that you have mentioned but I have seen some really weird things happen that made me scratch my head and say "What the ****!" Now, I try and play online with people that I know. Although this doesn't have any impact on VR, I find it much more enjoyable.