Hi everybody. Im new in LFS so hello....is great to be here with you.I live in Spain but im Argentinian.

I ve discovered LFS a week ago and started playing and i have to say its a fantastic game. I really enjoy it. I have the demo version and i plan to buy S1 or S2 license once i reach at least 1:34.XX at Blackwood. I dont want to but it before that because i want to concentrate and learn step by step. Seems pointless (for me) to run in 6 tracks with 20 diff cars when my record at blackwood is 1:35.77 and only did it once.

So... once I reached 1:36.XX i decided to start playing online and remain at the end of the race and try to follow faster racers. I know im 2 seconds behind the average of the winner but thats enough to stand at the end in real life races so it would be enough in LFS as the simulator is pretty real.

But here the game-experience didnt turn up so well, as i found a lot of "evidently on purpose crashers" as well as some nasty situations where some people doesn know how to say "hey.....sorry for that" when they take you out of the track so you can say "np"; and when you say "Hey....my fault....didnt see you ....sorry" the answer is "Next one you get banned"

(?????????? After 3 days ONLINE and only because you made ONE mistake????How can this be possible???????????). In general, lack of education and kindness, big times.

Yesterday i had this last situation that was really surprising. I was in the second place on lap 1 and was about to overtake the first when he rammed me on purpose. Good luck was on my side as he ended out of the track and i took the first place. 5 seconds ahead i got kicked. I couldnt believe it because the crash fault was very very clear. So i return to the server and ask the admin for reasons. I told him it wasnt my fault and ask him to watch the replay. He answered me like an admin should never answer due to his position and we stayed online but left it.

5 minutes later he goes offline and the he login again and says to me:
"Didn´t see it. Sorry"
So i ask....
"Didnt see what?"
And he says :
"He was cutting you.....was his fault"

How can this be possible???. How could he directly-kicked me in the first place without even asked me sth or watching the replay. ?????? Why did he kick me'????? Because the other driver was his friend as i realized later on the next race due to their dialogue. Very dissapointing.
Anyway, i wont pay attention to this. I just want to find better servers.

So my question is for S1 and S2 license owners:

If i get the license will I have acces to more Blackwood servers where Im pretty sure i will meet kind and responsible sportsmans or even having a license Blackwood servers are the same as in demo version????

Thanks in advance for letting me share my expierence and for your answers.

like it's been repeated countless times before, demo is free and free stuff attracts all kinds of people and thusly, a lot of muppets. There are some of them in S1 and S2 as well, but it's far far less and you'll have a much better time here.

Of course, if you buy S2 licence - you can play in Demo, S1 and S2 servers. There are also S2 Blackwood servers. Good luck :]

Then i think it will be money good invested even when i wont race with other cars in other tracks; the acces to licensed servers will worth it.

Thanks guys. See you soon.

All of the blackwood + xfg/xrg/fbm servers are demo lisenced, so buying a S1 or S2 license won't solve your problem if you still want to use only the demo cars.

Quote from Uke :

All of the blackwood + xfg/xrg/fbm servers are demo lisenced, so buying a S1 or S2 license won't solve your problem if you still want to use only the demo cars.

Aha......now i see....So i have two diff answer.

I see that you are not all agree.... but im guessing you have the right answer for what im asking.

I want to race with the xfg/xrg in Blackwood.
Will i find more servers with licensed players if I buy a S1 or S2 license than in demo-version???

I guess the right answer is "NO". Could more people confirm the right answer???

You can check lfsworld.net for online hosts, it also is pretty easy to get rid of demo users if you just want licensed drivers on your server, so the poster before me wasn't entirely correct about that.

http://www.lfsworld.net/?win=hosts&whichTab=licensed

Demo servers have limitations that S1 / S2 servers do not have, mainly:

S1/S2 servers can have layouts (can consist of a few cones on the track but can also be very complex)
S1/S2 servers have an increased capacity (Not 13 cars on track max, I think up to 32 with more than 40 connections, should look in the manual for info)

Overall it is possible to find good racing on demo servers, but it will take time for you to find the right place. Usually with a live admin.
On the other hand it is very easy to find good racing on S1/S2 servers, the problem resides in finding people to race with you if you want a specific car / track (called combo around here).
You have to know what you are looking for, and then you will find it.

Quote from RouteKaster :

I want to race with the xfg/xrg in Blackwood.
Will i find more servers with licensed players if I buy a S1 or S2 license than in demo-version???

I guess the right answer is "NO". Could more people confirm the right answer???

I confirm.

Even if it is setup as a S2 server, demo users can still join when it's on a combo available on demo. One option to prevent that would be to increase the number of available slots in the server above the demo limit but I don't think there are any servers who are doing that atm. At least none that are crowded.

Quote from RouteKaster :

I guess the right answer is "NO". Could more people confirm the right answer???

You can find more servers but its unlikely. Demo servers can run only this combo and S1/S2 player can race there.

But why stay on 1 combo? there are a few tracks that are fun too, with these cars.

S2 is worth the money anyways, to say the least.

well at my demo server we dont take any actions unless...

1. we see it our selfs
   
2. multiple people agree it was that person
   
3. watch replay
   

To the OP
RouteKaster if you buy an S2 licence, you can join the awsome LR Server1 where I have seen some great large grid races in the XFG & XRG with good/fair admins and plenty of mature minded drivers.
You might only want to concentrate on BL1 for now but, the many of the other tracks available to S2 players are sutable for fun road car races and some are in many ways better to race on than BL1.

You sound like a fair minded racer, the kind you expect to find at any good S2 server

You also make a good point for reintroducing the demo=no filter (although I don't think we will ever see it again)

Good racing

SD.

Just join fs-server

(If you made more than 50 laps with a demo car)

OK, so when I was demo I thought it was cool...but once you get S2 (It's worth it) you will be amazed at how much less you'll drive the demo cars. With S2 you have access to all cars and tracks and you can even go into demo servers like you do now. get the S2...you'll enjoy it alot. Plus, if you are into cool paint jobs on cars, you can make your own paint jobs with stickers and stuff and other people can see them while you're racing online. You CAN'T do that in demo. So get the S2.

I see.
Im buyin the license soon thats for sure. But looks like i will have to pay the price of being "new" and learn BL among crashers in the unruled jungle of demo-servers if I want to run with XFG/XRG.

For you answers i can see it will be easier to meet licensed players playing other combos than the one I want to start with. This sounds very logic also.
But sooner or later i will find those 2 seconds per lap that im losing in BL. Im closer!!! And then i will meet you in other tracks and have clean and thrilling races.

Thanks everybody for your answers. Looks like a nice community here.

See you soon on tracks

Just on a side note, I see a lot of people saying "let me get on pace and then I'll hop in servers". I say hop in servers to get on pace.

If you're afraid you'll mess things up, just wait for the grid to be formed on track, and then join last. Let the other cars go ahead, you'll be mostly racing alone but you'll also get to see some of the common problems drivers face, the lines and brake points other drivers take - which could really help you - and perhaps even get into a fight or two.

That is, assuming you're 2 seconds behind pace. If you can't even stay on the gray stuff that's another story.

You'd be surprised with the range of laptimes you get on a typical good quality pick-up server. There's race for everyone.

Well we are also running 2 XFG/XRG Demo servers and we have the same problem:

A lot of idiots are joining our servers with the only purpose to crash other cars.

This is the reason why our team members and marshals are quite nervous kicking someone quite fast to ensure a safe race.

Of course mistakes are done and we might kick someone by error!

But for this case every team running a server has a own forum and you can post your issue there and it is possible to check the logs or auto-saved replays then - and to excuse of course.

Anyway, 2 seconds off the leaders pace really is quite slow, so I would advise to drive VERY careful and try to avoid every contact. Once being last you have time enough to improve your times. Once you are able to do low 1:35 or high 1:34 times I would suggest to start learning to fight FAIR for positions. In my opinion letting someone go is better than forcing an overtaking which leads in to a crash.

However chatting with our admins and marshals to share setups and experiences might help a lot. There are a lot of damn fast guys on our servers - even driving with mouse or keyboard.

Quote from Crady :

This is the reason why our team members and marshals are quite nervous kicking someone quite fast to ensure a safe race.

Of course mistakes are done and we might kick someone by error!

But for this case every team running a server has a own forum and you can post your issue there and it is possible to check the logs or auto-saved replays then - and to excuse of course.

Sure....we all make mistakes!!
In fact, that´s the reason why I have not presented a formal complaint at the server forum. And I haven´t mentioned neither the server nor the Admin name cause that´s not the point. Actually, been Admin in a demo server must be hard work if you wish to do a good job. So there´s no point on acussing him.
Is like I understand, but I want something better. At least and Admin that has a little time to watch a replay before kicking you, specially when you are on the first place of the race. And a bit less of "on purpose crashers". So, before Christmas, I´m writting to Santa so he doesn´t forget to bring me a license!!!

By the way, let me tell you that actually in REDLINE server i had no problems at all, except for the crashers that are in every demo-server. I logged yesterday night and there was a guy named RedlineQuinno or something similar that was a kind guy. I had a good impression.

See you all.

Quote from Crady :

Anyway, 2 seconds off the leaders pace really is quite slow, so I would advise to drive VERY careful and try to avoid every contact. Once being last you have time enough to improve your times. Once you are able to do low 1:35 or high 1:34 times I would suggest to start learning to fight FAIR for positions. In my opinion letting someone go is better than forcing an overtaking which leads in to a crash.

2 seconds off the leaders isn't that slow. Especially if the leader is an alien. As long as you drive clean you can always fight for positions no matter the laptimes. IMO.

It happens quite often that someone being 2 seconds off pace finishes in front of someone doing WR pace because he is driving those times consistently whereas the WR driver does a lot of small mistakes. Hell, I am 1-2 seconds off WR pace on most combos (still, after almost 5 years :shy but I still can easily get top 5 finishes on public servers.

Sure, with some skill you of course can an should fight for position - no matter how fast you are.

But as I beginner I had problems to drive the car at all. So my whole concentration went in to the driving itself and I was not able to concentrate on other drivers too.

So I decided to stay at the back of the field to improve my car handling and my times first before starting to fight.

I'm glad you are going to get S2. When you do join me on the TC city driving servers. they really rock and it's a good place to learn to control your car.

Quote from roadrash17 :

I'm glad you are going to get S2. When you do join me on the TC city driving servers. they really rock and it's a good place to learn to control your car.

I have to disagree with you.


OP was looking for some Racing action, not some Cruising servers with full of crashers and spamming kiddos.

Cruising is not the place to learn how car controls here in LFS, its either Racing, or sometimes Drifting if you want "slideways" action.

TBH mate if you buy S2 and use the FOX cars those are the best practice you can get. Fast yet stable.