If a driver is subject to a ban nomination, how about making the driver position on the map 'flash'.

This gives everyone else valuable information about where the miscreant is on the track.

Imagine you're on the demo servers and unnamed is parked on the apex of the final turn, a number of people wish to disco/ban unnamed because of this. By making his/her car flash on the map you know where the car is, and how they are causing a problem for the rest of the field.

What if the "miscreant" is not guilty? His name/car is flashing and he has does nothing wrong.

Quote from Gunn :

What if the "miscreant" is not guilty? His name/car is flashing and he has does nothing wrong.

Well if he is doing nothing wrong then it doesn't really matter if he is flashing on the map it's just an additional way of displaying that there is a vote to ban him.

Good suggestion imo

Some servers I have been in, the whole map would look like a christmas tree.

Quote from Gunn :

Some servers I have been in, the whole map would look like a christmas tree.

lol that's a fair point it could be distracting.

I like the suggestion. The dot should be red, definitely.

Even if the person is guilty or not, it still helps. If you have a dot that is red and you are near it, you know what to look out for (for example the first turn on SO Classic (underpass)). It would be a great feature to have I think, and don't see any issues to be honest. The only time I'll ever pay attention to the map anyways is to see the distance between me and other drivers, and if I am approaching still/frozen dots on the map telling me someone has crashed or they are wrecking. And if the proposed banned user was a red dot, it would be a lot better for teaching people awareness.

Would be even cooler if yellow flags and blue flags were somehow notified on the map too.... The car that is getting the blue flag in front of you would be BLUE, and car that has caused the yellow caution would be yellow or something.

Because if you think about yellow flags, it only happens when you are nearby, same with blue flags. So your map wouldn't exactly be a whole Christmas tree unless you were near all of this I guess. But for the banned user, one red dot wouldn't hurt.

:up:

Good idea, doesn't matter if they're guilty or not.

Quote from Gunn :

Some servers I have been in, the whole map would look like a christmas tree.

Hehehehe

rofl true for some servers Gunn, especially those oval ones; but yes, this would be greatly helpful! because then if they arent banned, and they are close, you know who to look out for and/or where to look out for them

It doesn't effect me personally since no bans ever occur on the servers I race on these days, but I try to point out that some people shouldn't be voted for ban anyway. The mob-mentality is responsible for so many unfair bans that perhaps a red flashing light would draw in all the ban-happy racers like proverbial moths to a flame.

An indicator that shows some idiot blocking the track would be of great use to many of course, but that is a seperate issue.

I often try to show possible negative effects of ideas, good and bad because it is very easy to support an idea if it serves us in some way and it is often easy to disregard any possible ill effects. In this case I can see that a red flashing light would translate to some racers as: Oh look a red flashing light, ban him!!!

For what it's worth, I expect most serious or experienced racers don't jump on the ban-wagon at the drop of a hat, but they aren't the ones who post "I was unfairly banned wtf?!?!" topics.

VERY good suggestion, it will help a lot to know where the guy who is being banned is, and it allows yourself 1. to drive carefully when you are going to pass him for example, and 2. you can see if you are really banning the right guy

Quote from Clownpaint :

If you just see a red dot sitting in the SO chicane for example you know they aren't up to anything good.

Only if you drive on the minimap! :fence:

I like the idea. As the wreckers usually crash&pit you don't usually get to see his name or at least don't remember it (after 10 seconds ). So if there is a vote going on, you can easily see if the guilty is near you. And maybe check his lines&driving.

As to the Tweaker's idea about showing the blue/yellow flags too, I really see no point in this. There is no need to tell everybody on the track that there is yellow flag in T1 for the next 5 seconds. Or showing blue dots, simply because it would cause more misunderstanding and distraction.

:juggle:

I like this idea too. While the problem is fortunately very rare, when it happens, it's typically race-critical. The information that this change would provide is good information to have. It'd work for me, if in red and if for ban votes or kick votes. Either way.

I too would like to see yellow flags indicated. It could work nicely by having coloured stretches of the minimap, on approach to accidents. I use the minimap quite a bit. It has good potential to provide "pitlane" advisories.

I disagree with the "ban" dot indicator as like other's say, there are too many "ban-happy" people, though not when I am racing. I have very very rarely seen any bans since S2 was released. As for the yellow/blue flag indication on the minimap, I especially want to see blue flag on the minimap for those behind you. Right now, all you see is that the car behind you is orange that indicates he is behind you. He may be a lap behind, therefore not racing "you" or he may be the position behind, there's no way of knowing right now. I'd also like to see whether the car in front of me is a position ahead or a lap ahead. Even though we have names above the cars and a position list, you can't see the list if you display F9-F12. I'd also rather race without names displayed above the cars, but need them to know who is who if I happen to remember which ones are ahead of me and which ones are a lap ahead. Though, if you're good enough, then I guess you don't have to worry about anyone being a lap ahead, eh?

I disagree, the whole air about LFS is its realism and in true to life races, you get the black flag for that one race!

The moths to light is a good analogy of this idea. The red dot will only attract attention to one persons questionable judgement of anothers' actions. Not a good thing (you should be on the receiving end of this - I have I crashed into someone once and they sent a message out to everyone that I was a wrecker - instantly I got banned).

If a person consistantly is a wrecker/nuisance (ie people vote them off - say twice in one day), then the server should ban then PERMANENTLY or at least for a set period of time - say 14 days.

Quote from amalgyte :

I disagree, the whole air about LFS is its realism and in true to life races, you get the black flag for that one race!

In real life races people don't enter race just to ruin other people's races. In real life black flag works, in LFS the wreckers take it as a joke. Random online races can hardly be compared to real races, but league races and other organized races can be compared.

If a wreckers started to making random ban/kick votes the people would notice it faster that the person who starts the votes is the a**hole. If this system was implemented, that is. It attracts people's attention to that what may or may not have been wrecking/purposeful.

It still doesn't change the fact that there are people online who think they never make any errors and whine about anything...

Ok, then how about this...


Which situations would you most likely vote yes when you see a ban vote?

1- Don't see him and have no idea what he's doing wrong.

2- Don't see him, but remember him cutting you and others off.

3- See on the map that he's stopped in the middle of the last turn's apex.

4- See on the map that he's going the wrong way.

The person could be 'guilty' in all of these cases. Now which situation is most likely to get an innocent person banned ?

All this to say i think it could be usefull to know/see who we are supposed to judge. As said above, as soon as the ban vote is up,
you ARE judging him. The more you know about that person the better imo. This happens a lot in shooter games. I just hate not
knowing if this person is actually a nuisance or is the victim being falsely accused.

+1 Good idea

Quote from Hyperactive :

As to the Tweaker's idea about showing the blue/yellow flags too, I really see no point in this. There is no need to tell everybody on the track that there is yellow flag in T1 for the next 5 seconds. Or showing blue dots, simply because it would cause more misunderstanding and distraction.

Maybe a misunderstanding.... from what you read. What I was saying was.... those blue and yellow flag warnings are ONLY for you and the people that are close to it (just like we have now, but the only difference is that we would have a colored dot on the minimap, wow! :rolleyes: ). You don't get a warning for a yellow flag when the accident is 8 turns away from you, it only appears when it is relatively close. Simple. It wouldn't warn everyone in the race, and colored dots wouldn't appear for everyone, just the ones that need it. And how would this distract or confuse people??? We already have a big warning text saying "BLUE FLAG" or "YELLOW FLAG" right smack-dead in the middle of our screen... and if that isn't annoying enough already, how harmless could a little colored dot on the minimap be. :zombie: :doh:

Anyways... I know Gunn's point about very few bans happening in licensed servers, but occassionally you do need to ban a wrecker or someone that is AFK while on the track or sitting on the grid. Bans are the last resort, most people kick anyways. But if it did ever come down to someone voting to ban someone, I really would appreciate a colored warning dot on the map.

I actually like the yellow flag - dot on map scenario quite a lot.

But a yellow flag incident, you could glance at the map and say to yourself: "he has crashed in the chicane", and you can ready yourself to be cautious when you arrive there. This could be compared to a pit crew radioing you and saying "Smith has stuck his XR into the wall at the chicane, be careful". Realistic enough to be in context, I think. The same goes for different colours for cars on different laps, acceptable that a pit radio would be able to provide similar feedback. I think the idea has merit when used in this way.

Quote from Fonnybone :

Ok, then how about this...


Which situations would you most likely vote yes when you see a ban vote?

1- Don't see him and have no idea what he's doing wrong.

2- Don't see him, but remember him cutting you and others off.

3- See on the map that he's stopped in the middle of the last turn's apex.

4- See on the map that he's going the wrong way.
.

3 and 4 could give me cause to vote yes.

Quote from -jester- :

3 and 4 could give me cause to vote yes.

Yep, but...

Quote from Fonnybone :

The person could be 'guilty' in all of these cases. Now which situation is most likely to get an innocent person banned ?

This is what i mean. As it is now, we risk accusing an innocent person
more than we risk punishing a real trouble maker.

Quote from Fonnybone :

This is what i mean. As it is now, we risk accusing an innocent person
more than we risk punishing a real trouble maker.

But how much of a difference does a colored dot on the map make. If a ban starts no matter what, the vote could be to someone innocent anyways. Some people have said "No" to this suggestion because they think the banning could be for someone innocent... Of course that is a problem... but that is a problem with the banning system, not this suggestion. The dot makes no difference whatsoever than to alert you on the minimap and on the track --- for the possibility if the person is guilty or not.