Wait, if you're being lapped, then you're not racing for position. "If the other guy has a faster car he'll overtake you on the straights"? No, not necessarily - he may be going faster in the corners and his advantage on the straights may be tiny. Whatever the case may be, if you're a back-marker you should slow the front runners as little as possible. I just don't get what you're complaining about. Its not as if you lose position if you let the guy through. illepall

Quote from birder :

I must say you are very lucky getting onto the ConeDodgers Server as its normally full and even luckier to stay on if you do not obey the blue flag.

There is a big difference between not wanting someone to spam the hell out of everyone and not obeying the flag. I'll obey the flag itself, but not some random pleb who thinks they rule the world because they're faster than someone.

i think he is complaining about the fact, faster drivers sometimes behave like they are stalin/hitler/napolen and think everyone who is in their way should dissolve and better never touch a wheel again...

and i think it is only in about 10% of the corners in lfs safe to let others pass. only on corners where "going wide" makes sense. waiting for the straight is most of the time safer and wiser...

Well i havent read any posts yet, so my appoligizes if said..

But when blue flag, you dont just slow down heaps and assume the leader is going to pass.. you ease off, keep racing with a good ammount of speed until he has passed, you should not then pass him back unless he is 0.5 off each sector or more..

For your battle.. i guess its what position your in.. where in the turns or how many people in your battle.. .

But i guess i hate it when people are farr back, and they start beeppping, pressuring you and hit F# and make you let through.. Backmarkers are racing too ya know and when the time is right, we are smart enough to let you through so theres no accidents.. but theres some who dont let you through which is plain stupid..

Quote from Dajmin :

There is a big difference between not wanting someone to spam the hell out of everyone and not obeying the flag. I'll obey the flag itself, but not some random pleb who thinks they rule the world because they're faster than someone.

ConeDodgers servers are filtter with LFSLapper and we consider spamming and swearing as un-sporting, if you spam LFSLapper is set to give you a Drive-through penalty automatically which normally gets the reaction of "This is Bullsh*t" or some other such comment, however it works as normally the person stops spamming.

Also as the server is so full we attract a number of drivers who use Shift+S several times in a race, using Shift+S is the main cause of Blue flag incidents.

On [CD]1 (AS3) we have had 5 people record 1:39.xx lap times, 100's in the 1:40's and over 1000 in the 1:41 range. The main problem is when 2 cars are of similar times yet one is a lap ahead, it is very difficult for a 1:42 driver to pass another 1:42 driver who has used Shift+S and a lap or more behind so the driver being lapped MUST obey the blue flag.

It is very difficult to "police" a full server, to stop spamming and stop all blue flag problems but one thing is clear on our servers is that using "/ban xxxxx 0" makes the problem go away for about 12 hours.

I will also say to anyone who will not obey the blue flag rule, please do not use our servers.

Funnily enough, we have heard from a spammer defending his point of view. So, they either don't read this forum, in which case we're preaching to the converted, or spammers are a figment of our collective imaginations.

I obey the blue flag rule, but I refuse to jeperdise my track position just to let someone who's a bit faster than me past, so I wait until a straight and just ease off the gas, then draft them to keep my speed

I was on that server aswell, people do whore it out, I mean the big blue message is enough, but then they go flood the comment box with "BLUE FLAG MOVE".

It's one of racings unsolvable problems...unfortunately, and moaning and whinging isn't gonna solve it one bit.

Sick of people overusing caps lock in title threads.

Just go a side and use your commen sence. Those people with Fx buttons preset at "blue flag make room", delete those Fx button it's useless. If we all do this there is no need for this stupid topic.

I haven't done any laps with my shiney new S2 licence yet - getting used to the new toys...

But on the demo servers, it really annoyed me to see faster drivers joining from the pitlane then expecting people in the race to get out of the way. Go away. You're behind me and going to stay there, even though I'm four seconds a lap slower.

If you're about to lap me though, I'll give you the space when appropriate, but if you can't take the pass, then you may be faster, but you're lacking in racecraft. Go away and practice against the ai - they never yield.

Why does anyone keep the chat on during a race? OK, maybe to say "sorry" in a gentlemanly manner once in a while, since we can't wave through the window, but that can all be said after the race. I always block chat and race in the expectation that others do too. So if I don't apologise it doesn't mean I don't love you anymore

Quote from nihil :

Go away. You're behind me and going to stay there, even though I'm four seconds a lap slower.

Im still unsure about this point, back when I could race online I used to frequent the AS National GTR servers, which were sometimes set to 20 laps, if they were half way through the race I would join to get some praccy.

I would never get in anyones way and be extra curtious as im not fighting for position, but if I came up to a driver very quickly who was obviously a lot slower than me, id tail them for a bit and pass when safe to do so. Now sometimes when this happened I would get spammed with "BLUE FALG MOVE OVER" and that did used to annoy me, afaik if you are consistantly faster and dont cause an accident its prefectly ok to cruise past

is this right?

WEll i think people should do it once, then if the racing who is being lapped does not move then the host should notice and give warning's!

There is no need to do it at all. You can't exactly miss the huge BLUE FLAG written across your screen.

Quote from Davo :

You're supposed to leave the racing and let them pass when it's an opportune and safe time, usually on a turn or straight.

well, most of the times that's the whole track?

The guy with the blue-flag must not wait until the car is at his back before reacting on blue-flag...

Quote from GianniC :

Sick of people overusing caps lock in title threads.

Word.

Quote from Glenn67 :

The biggest problem we have online, which exasperates the blue flag syndrome, is the disparity between the fastest and slowest drivers and the shortness of pickup races.

I.e. yesterday in v8supercars at Philip Island several drivers were shown the bad sportsmanship flag and one received a drive through penalty for not yielding and they were less than a second off pace (and fighting for position) in a 32 lap race. In LFS we have 5 laps and people that are commonly 5 seconds a lap off pace with little track experience compared to the fastest guys, which is always going to cause controversy.

I’m not the fastest, normally about 1 second off WR pace on car track combos I know, but if I get stuck behind a slower bunch of drivers I will endeavour to have a fair battle with them as best as possible making up whatever ground I can then go on from there in the next race. I never see one five lap race as the be all and end of all races, I look at it as a series of races and try to do well overall. And I know others faster than me that think the same, I look out for them and race them whenever I can , but then there is others that I avoid because of there mindset

I think some take pickup races a little too seriously, need to step back and look at themselves and remember that the person they are abusing on the other end of the net IS NOT a pro racing driver but is most likely a race enthusiast, and due to lack of any real life track time is most likely prone to errors of judgement in the heat of a battle, hey even the Pro’s get it wrong on occasion .

We need to respect each other a bit more at times on the track I feel, although I find the vast majority do and that is what makes LFS such a great community .
Hey if you want to race for sheep stations join a league or set up a private server and invite all the WR pace guys there, but don’t whinge every time someone has a lapse of judgement on a public server in a 5 lap pick up race and better yet don't spam blue flag blue flag let me pass!

very nice post I can only add one fact, some people likes to ignore the blue flag or the text in the middle of the screen showing BLUE FLAG, in that case i need a bind to remind em. If youre fighting on top with others and a backmarker is going around one-armed with a cup of coffee and watching tv as well you really need those binding to make the flag more offical.

If everyone is reading the chat, checking the map, mirrrors & flags, every race could be more then a pleasure and if you do this you show respect to everybody else. But as you said, we all have started once and had to learn all this stuff.

The way i see it, blue flag means that you must not attempt to defend your line against a car who is ahead of you...
I will not slow down just to let them past and i dont expect anyone to do the same for me, if i or you are in the position to pass, then they will pass no problem.
And as for spamming it, god that annoys me - its distracting enough (but neccesary) having a huge BLUE FLAG across my screen. I do NOT need BLUE FLAG - GET OUT OF MY WAY spammed 80 times....

Quote from BlakjeKaas :

well, most of the times that's the whole track?

The guy with the blue-flag must not wait until the car is at his back before reacting on blue-flag...

If you don't wait until the car is "at your back", then what should you do? (In a normal lapping car situation, not midjoin or shift-S pit) There has been plenty of times that I have seen blue flag, but never saw the car behind me. I should just quit racing just because I am getting blue flagged? If I'm 3 seconds ahead of the leader and running the same laptime but am there due to a spin, or an accident that I slowed for, why should I immediately slow just because I am blue flagged? He is not catching me to actually hinder him, so I just continue keeping an eye out for him incase he does catch me.

There are many many different situations of blue flag in LFS that it all can't be sorted out with a definative rule on what you need to do. It is all relative to the particular situation.

Quote from Dajmin :

There is no need to do it at all. You can't exactly miss the huge BLUE FLAG written across your screen.

Some people can, trust me Some people are even searching for their eyeglasses while it is already on their nose

Quote from 510N3D :

very nice post I can only add one fact, some people likes to ignore the blue flag or the text in the middle of the screen showing BLUE FLAG, in that case i need a bind to remind em. If youre fighting on top with others and a backmarker is going around one-armed with a cup of coffee and watching tv as well you really need those binding to make the flag more offical.

If everyone is reading the chat, checking the map, mirrrors & flags, every race could be more then a pleasure and if you do this you show respect to everybody else. But as you said, we all have started once and had to learn all this stuff.

I agree with that too, I've seen you driving competitively and you've never really spammed the whole blue flag thing (I should know should i :P) but again this comes down to the few silly people who need to spam it constantly.

My favorite situation in context with blue flag:

People (backmarkers) are blocking and causing a crash, then they ask or even insult me why this happend or even better, they shift the blame on me !? illepall

Quote from TypeRCivic :

I'll be infront of someone with a blue flag on my screen and i'm fighting for my position ...

Who are you fighting for position with? A guy in front of you on the same lap? If so, you are right, you are entitled to fight for you position.

But at the same time, you are not allowed to hold up the lapping driver behind you. If you think that you can fight with the car lapping you, then you really do need to understand the blue flag "rules" better. It is a bit like golf though, everybody has a slightly different interpretation of the rules and it is on the honor system mostly.

These are realistic situations that happen in real races. You can use it to your advantage. The guy you are fighting with has the same requirement you do. Get behind the lapping car once you let them by. Draft him and use him as a pick to get inside your competitor and take the position.
Of course this is assuming that have not joined mid-race or something like that.

Quote from tomylee :

You guys don't understand what TypeRCivic is saying. He is fighting with somebody on the same lap and then comes a faster car. He has the right to fight the position and does not have to give way right away. The faster car can use on the next straight the draft to overtake him. The problem is that those guys are not patient enough to bring them in the corner in position to overtake after the corner. No, they push and pumb into the slower car (not all of course). The whole thing is called RACING and not HOTLAPING!!!
I give TypeRCivic right, there are guys who just can't stay cool and act cool.
I even had drivers who were lap's behind me and pushed me off track and saying I'm to slow and I should shut up. That's race spirit...........

Be sure we do understand, he is fighting for his position while he is getting blue flag, then the priority is to give room for the leading driver(s) which doent means he has to give up on his battle at all. If youre able to give room and also keep on fighting for youre position then youve got some skills and do it with race spirit Situations with idiots excluded in this case.

word to big bird(er)!

i think the conedodgers servers are very well run, and getting better all the time. i think one of the reasons you see such an emphasis in enforcing the blue flag rules in the chat screen is that the races there are very competative, and everyone wants a good clean race. it's very rare for anyone to actually be lapped in a 10 lap race, and the vast majority of blue flag warnings are a result of people joining mid-race. when there are 20 cars on track, with the top 10 finishing within 20 seconds of the leader, even the smallest disruption caused by a late joiner can ruin a very exciting race for several drivers (not just the one directly interfered with).

there are a ton of servers available online, and i would say that conedodgers is one of the best and most fun going, but if you are still learning how to handle the car in heavy traffic, it might not be the best place to practice, simply because it's so competetive.

but for those who insist on giving it a go, at least try to finish your races when you start them, even if you go off in T1. if you end up a minute or more behind the leaders, so what? you'll finish the race, get some experience, and you wont see any blue flags. but if you keep crashing and rejoining, you ruin everyone's fun, including your own.

my 3 cents...

Quote from R34GTR :

It's one of racings unsolvable problems...unfortunately, and moaning and whinging isn't gonna solve it one bit.

I don't know about unsolvable. How about limiting people to 1 chat binding message every 2 seconds, and no more than 10 per lap unless they've got admin status?