EDIT: This thread is created from posts moved from the "April Progress Report" thread.
We are discussing ways to make sure people know what is happening online so they can find the races they would like.
Part of that discussion is about the leagues section of this site.

Quote from NumberTwo :

...
Lfs for me has only one problem. And that is getting new guys in, and getting them to respectable level. Because nowadays, on competitive races, if you are too slow you dont even qualify for a race. Skill level is quite high overall.

I don't know if this will work out or is easy to do, but if someone could make a forum thread which lists the currently active events and popular servers and times when it is likely to find a race on those events / servers, I could do a tweet to point people to that thread. It might get a few people in, from the nearly 1500 followers.

Quote from NumberTwo :

Lfs for me has only one problem. And that is getting new guys in, and getting them to respectable level. Because nowadays, on competitive races, if you are too slow you dont even qualify for a race. Skill level is quite high overall.

Basically this, that's the main reason I don't race online. There are no users matching my skill level, so considering there's only high skilled drivers online, that would mean like doing a time attack, because i get gappped quickly. And the SP with the AI is really bad as well

Quote from Scawen :

forum thread which lists the currently active events

There is such thing already,it's called Leagues section - https://www.lfs.net/leagues ! You should check out!

Quote from Eclipsed :

Sitting here an complaining won't make them more! If it's not enough,make some yourself! It's not devs,who make the races,it's the community! It was always like that and it won't change. If you want something,do something!

I could if there were more than ~60 racers overall.

Quote from Eclipsed :

There is such thing already,it's called Leagues section - https://www.lfs.net/leagues ! You should check out!

That's a valid point - I really like that page and think that it is / would be a great "hub" for an overview of racing leagues. However, it needs some moderating and cleaning up: a huge list of events looks good of course, but I found many, so called "leagues" on that page which aren't real leagues and haven't had a single event - or it's just a fake event because someone had the mood to try creating an unreal and unorganized entry on the list. Also, I know revamping Leagues section isn't a high priority thing to do right now, I think the racing calendar, which is the most interesting and synthetic overview, should be on the main page (maybe in a more compact format so players can easily see which days are active and click if they are interested on a given day). Also, something like an RSS feed or exporting/linking public calendar formats would help a lot (for example, I would LOVE having a separate LFS events calendar in my Google Calendar, which I actively use every day).

EDIT: I also started posting individual events on /r/LiveforSpeed, hoping I can "advertise" or spread news of these fun organized events we have.

Quote from Scawen :

I don't know if this will work out or is easy to do, but if someone could make a forum thread which lists the currently active events and popular servers and times when it is likely to find a race on those events / servers, I could do a tweet to point people to that thread. It might get a few people in, from the nearly 1500 followers.

Well, leagues section should be for that, but Its not as visible as I'd like it to be. A schedule that is on lfs.net is a better thing I think, but I've never really put any attention to it, cause I've been lucky (or ignorant) to mostly race FOX, and I always knew where to find that.

https://www.lfs.net/leagues

This page seems OK, its just that leagues owners dont put in the needed info.

Not all leagues do use LFS race calendar. I don't know why.

But nowadays it is like that. Also in other sims you need to put effort to find all the leagues and communities spread around the internet. Too much opportunties, too much information. And everyone wanting everything quickly without efforts, this is the world today.

When I organized 9397 Racing events some months ago, I spammed all channels around internet with my posters, still there was people visiting my server and they didn't know anything about my events. Nowadays people don't bother to find out. We are a world of greedy zombies chilling around half sleepy and half awake.

But I agree that the Leagues section needs cleaning.

The "problem" mentioned by NumberTwo is also real. Tho I would not call it a problem, its just a fact. As a new player its difficult to join a league with experienced drivers. But this is also the same in all simulators. What can do? Moderated demo servers are a fantastic thing in LFS, something you don't see in other sims.

But who would create racing series for beginners? Who have motivation for that? And what kind of rules could tell who can join such serie? Would be nice if SimRacingSystem supports LFS. But it doesn't organize even AMS/rF2 events it supports them. Because lack of participants. (Hmm I think MRc organized some demo events...respect!)

I think the current situation of LFS user base is much better that it could be. No place to cry. LFS could be dead and buried years ago, but is it not. Lets enjoy it. Btw tonight there is LX6 event at South City.

Thanks for the thoughts. By the way, I wasn't really trying to think of a way to solve things forever, but maybe a one off tweet and a forum post that is just relevant for a short time from now. But it might not be that easy to get the info together, because even as experienced community members you all know different things. I don't think one person knows all the relevant info to post.

Regarding events, leagues and tweets, I do try to check the LFS twitter account every couple of days, so if there is an event coming that is relevant for the public, you can include @LFSracing in a tweet and hopefully I'll see it and retweet. Specially if it's a nice prepared tweet, maybe with a picture and a link to where people can find more information.

Quote from David 96 :

Even though I don't know how you got those numbers, as you said yourself, the majority are demo racers, so what's the point on buying a license when you are restricted to demo content to have some good racing?

You can find your encounters info(racers met) from LFSWORLD which enables you to see who and how many times you encounter someone online with a couple of filters.

The majority of the racers are licensed racers, and all it takes is to go to a licensed server and people will follow. Our (MRc) Saturday event has good turnouts (usually full server), so the racers are out there.

Quote from bishtop :

You can find your encounters info(racers met) from LFSWORLD which enables you to see who and how many times you encounter someone online with a couple of filters.

The majority of the racers are licensed racers, and all it takes is to go to a licensed server and people will follow. Our (MRc) Saturday event has good turnouts (usually full server), so the racers are out there.

Ah I see. Too bad I can't practice with my wheel. All I have is a laptop, and the screen is way too small for me to use a wheel, I can't see properly, so I'm forced to use the mouse, and it's kinda a turn off

Quote from David 96 :

Ah I see. Too bad I can't practice with my wheel. All I have is a laptop, and the screen is way too small for me to use a wheel, I can't see properly, so I'm forced to use the mouse, and it's kinda a turn off

you're lucky, lfs is the only sim where you run more with mouse than with wheel how is that possible?

Because the physics are very good obviously!

Quote from F.C.Barcelona :

you're lucky, lfs is the only sim where you run more with mouse than with wheel how is that possible?

Because the physics are very good obviously!

I do not know for you, but I would have to turn the wheel with my feet, accelerate with the nose, and brake with my hands, I am pretty sure I would succeed quickly to run the thing properly.
But anyway, yes, I admit that I find that you can be a bit too quick with mouse/keyboard.

Quote from F.C.Barcelona :

you're lucky, lfs is the only sim where you run more with mouse than with wheel how is that possible?

Because the physics are very good obviously!

The same can be said with a.c, but what you fail to see is how it is no easier with mouse, i have tried with a mouse and fail, yet those that are fast with a mouse quickly adapt when they've changed to wheel.

The controller has nothing to with physics, regardless of controller type they stay the same. All i see is someone that gave up a long time ago and has no real interest in LFS.
The very fact someone can be good with a mouse or keyboard is a strength of LFS

On leagues there is a super interesting league that exists and will now launch Oval Series starting on July 7
South American Virtual League (liga Sul Americana Virtual)

How about supporters? If making integrated community racing support with variety and quality, we might do something which is relevant to everybody.

Know what, since we started this leagues discussion, I see that some people added their leagues into that page.

I did my part and added Fragmaster's Fox Friday, will update it every week with fresh info.

Maybe Scawen could just tweet the leagues page for the people to see some of the races.

OK, I've tweeted it.

The only thing is, 'leagues' seems to me to sound like something you have to sign up to and commit to a series of races.

But, going by the names only, the page does seem to list events that aren't really leagues as such. Maybe it needs a bit more information so users can see if it's an event you need to sign up to, or a series of races, or a server you can join freely.

Quote from NumberTwo :

Well, leagues section should be for that, but Its not as visible as I'd like it to be. A schedule that is on lfs.net is a better thing I think, but I've never really put any attention to it, cause I've been lucky (or ignorant) to mostly race FOX, and I always knew where to find that.

https://www.lfs.net/leagues

This page seems OK, its just that leagues owners dont put in the needed info.

It doesn't help that for our new exciting league (Layout Racing League), I can't add anything under the "League Information" box. It does not allow me to update that area, no matter what I write. Sucks really, because now it's empty

Seeing as this league section discussion is getting some pace, I think there needs to be a separate thread

OK, moved to new thread.

Quote from Sobis :

Seeing as this league section discussion is getting some pace, I think there needs to be a separate thread

Yeah. It carried out by itself with no pain, lol.


Anyway... How many series / leagues are active as exact? Do we exceed over 30 as total?

Some leagues are running on different time zones... and some leagues are not even known to public, despite it's state.

I think the most active time I've been racing online was in times of CTRA. The times for league races and free time are often different. If you miss two / three races the season has gone anyway.

Maybe some in-game short list (on the front page) of upcoming league races within a couple of days would help? I bet most players don't visit the forums or some external LFS sites that often, and beginners probably don't even know where to look at. The basic information for each entry could be automatically created from racing calendar/league list?

Something like:

Upcoming league races:
18.6 [local time] RTFR FZR@RO10 S3 [link to server][link to forum/racing calendar]
20.6 [local time] FM GTI XRG@AS4 S2 -""-

This would make the game feel more alive and "serious" and would create an additional incentive for organizers to list their events.

Great idea, Rejekt! That would be awesome and events would get much more attention and gain more reach. Especially if it was placed on the main menu screen. LFS sites and forums would still be the places to go if one wants to get all the details about upcoming events.

Well.. I believe it could be very strong addition. Perhaps if possible, giving more variety, as not every race would contain "standard" stuff.

EDIT: Then again, ppl would come to see just normal stuff in first place... so it would suffice for sure.

EDIT2: However, it would not suffice actually. If including all various aspects, and comparing for example to me what I did seek things in first place, they were far from standard. So I still bet variety and lots of options would definitely take a kickstarter.