F1 Subforum Moderators

First off, I’m not complaining about the moderators, Gray and Wayout—I actually think they’re more than fair and doing a solid job—but I really feel like it’s time for a firmer hand on this subforum. We need a new moderator brought in, simply because the level of spam and trolling has spiraled out of control due to the current light-touch approach to enforcement. Personally, I think The Edge or someone with a similar temperament would be perfect to step in and actually restore some order.

Dorian.

Hey, brightwolf48!
The question always boils down to how one should moderate race threads. It seems the community tends to get a bit more spirited while the action is actually unfolding on the track than they do when we’re looking back at post-race analyses months or even years later. If we apply overly strict moderation during the heat of the moment, we risk stifling the discussion entirely. However, the real friction arises when people start commenting on the drivers and their teams. After all, no one can really argue with a forum member's right to claim, for instance, that a victory was purely the result of a dominant car rather than actual driver skill—and therefore, that supposed talent is nothing more than a sham. But once that sentiment starts being repeated incessantly, it inevitably begins to bait others into arguments. So, the core issue is whether we should prohibit labeling drivers as frauds, geniuses, or similar terms. The lines are incredibly blurry, isn't it? It is exceptionally difficult to pinpoint the exact moment when a comment crosses the line from a strong opinion to something deserving of a warning—where one person gets flagged for calling someone a fraud and another doesn't.

That said, we are attempting to communicate this clearly with our users, and hopefully, we can reach some kind of consensus. 👍

I'm switching over to this handle for this thread since we agreed I'd use it for the Formula 1 PDF moving forward.

Dorian, honestly, after reading your reply, it looks like Pila and his crew (suddenly Holger shows up out of nowhere...) are still just running around trolling every single thread. Either start moderating properly, or just shut down this subforum and move it under other sports so things can actually stay orderly. I’m still going to say that maybe we should ask The Edge to take a look at this place. It used to be such a great subforum where you could actually find some smart posts, but now? It's just a line of online trolls posting three lines of empty space and goofy little emojis over and over again.

Kate Wilson8, I’ve been away for a few days, so I’m not entirely certain where things stand since I still need to catch up on the rest of the reports. However, I haven't seen a single notification regarding a Formula 1 job application for days now. If you believe there’s some trolling happening or that reports are being dismissed, please understand that we don't always see everything ourselves.
If you’re feeling dissatisfied with how people are reacting, why not drop a few links here to the specific posts you think warrant a ban? That way, we can look at concrete examples and have a more substantive conversation.

Furthermore, our previous correspondence in this thread was focused on race-day discussions. After a brief debate with the regular crew over at the paddock, we got the impression that most people aren't looking for stricter moderation during those times, given that trash talk is somewhat expected. Besides, the last race passed by in almost perfectly peaceful conditions.

brightwolf48 said:First off, I’ve got zero complaints about the mods Gray and Wayout—they’re honestly great—but I think this sub needs a tighter leash. We need a new moderator because the spam and trolling have gotten totally out of hand thanks to light moderation. Someone like The Edge would be perfect to actually clean things up here.

Dorian.

Don't tempt fate—you might actually get what you're asking for.

The Formula 1 sub is doing just fine as it is, and we don't need any outside interference—that would honestly just backfire.

The Formula 1 sub is a pretty niche, hyper-focused community, and you can only moderate it if you actually "get" the people involved—otherwise, it’ll be total chaos. Half these guys are hard to wrap your head around at first; it takes a minute to even realize what this sub is about. You need someone who understands this specific crowd and how they operate.

The Edge wouldn't get them at all.

My advice? Just vibe with the current atmosphere instead of trying to play hall monitor.

The Formula 1 subforum has grown incredibly dull.
There’s just no saving it anymore.

Tyler Ross56 said:I’m using this handle on this thread because it was agreed that I'll use this specific one for the Formula 1 PDF moving forward.

Dorian, unfortunately, after reading your response, it's clear that Pila and his crew—suddenly Holger shows up out of nowhere...—are still just running a circus of trolls across all the threads. Either moderate properly, or just shut down the subforum and move it under other sports to maintain some semblance of order. I am still appealing for The Edge to take a look at this once-wonderful subforum; it used to be a place for insightful posts, not just a parade of online nobodies posting three lines of empty space and stupid little smiley faces.

Wait, what did I ever do to you? Who even are you?

Am I not allowed to post in the Formula chat? I showed up because I felt like having a conversation with maminhom and Pila... Does my presence in a standard chat topic really bother you that much? Look, if William Bennett53 wants me gone, I will completely withdraw from that PDF—not that I have many posts there anyway. I honestly have no idea why you've targeted me.

Fine, I get it.

You're the least of anyone's concerns on this subforum. Honestly, I’d go as far as to say you aren't even a problem at all.
Everyone knows which three or four usernames actually cause the trouble.

You've got a point there, Matthew Young35. Having a chat topic isn't really the issue here. And honestly, I don't think Steven Wood72 sees it as a problem at all within this subforum, so maybe he deserves an apology for being brought up in that previous post.

Given all the back-and-forth about the last race, and honestly, just looking at how this whole subforum is acting lately,
I think it’s about time The Edge stepped in as the voice of reason for this community
and actually brings some order to things. Don't get me wrong, the current mods are great, but they're maybe a little too nice to everyone? I guess they're just being too lenient with the moderation.

It feels like people are getting banned for absolutely nothing lately—and when there isn't a real reason, they just slap on a generic "violating subforum rules" or "trolling and spamming" label... which is especially ridiculous since it's happening right in the chat topic designed specifically for that kind of stuff.

Check out the last warning Mom gave him before he got sent packing—you probably don't even want to look at this.

Also, if someone starts "dragging things out" in specific threads, it would be so much easier to just move those few posts over to the chat topic where we can actually finish the debate, rather than constantly issuing warnings and handing out bans... but I guess that’s just too complicated an operation for the Formula 1 mods.

Tyler Ross56 said:Given the recent back-and-forth regarding the last race—and honestly, looking at the state of this entire subforum—
I’m calling for The Edge to step in here as the ultimate authority
and actually enforce some rules. Don't get me wrong, the current mods are great, truly—but they're a bit too nice for their own good, which makes them way too soft when it comes to actual moderation.

The Edge already tried playing hero in a similar thread about Formula 1 moderation once before—no thanks, we really don't need another one of those.

Can we please just get it through our heads once and for all that Joe, Pila, and Maminjo are basically Formula 1—yet somehow, one of them is always being blamed for everything going wrong

I don't give a damn if I mess up sometimes, or if the site goes down, or if some random person or whatever else fails us

Look, if we're already graying, then fine—let's actually show why we went gray. We need a rule—if one doesn't exist yet, I haven't really bothered digging into the forum rules because, honestly, they're the biggest load of nonsense ever—where once a post gets flagged, it stays there. Let's have a rule where you can't delete a flagged post—that way everyone sees exactly why someone got banned.

Take this situation right now: someone got banned, but their post was deleted. So how the hell are we supposed to know why they were kicked? We can't.

It’s bad because someone else, totally clueless, might pull the exact same stunt as that guy and get banned too—but if the post wasn't deleted, they'd at least see the warning sign.

Mods are what they are. Being a moderator is basically the same as being a garbage man—not a fun gig, you work like a dog, cleaning up trash all day, zero fun, and by the end of the shift, you pretty much stink. But hey, they chose this life, so they can enjoy it. I'm not looking to take over their jobs.

But banning posts? Yeah, kill that rule.

And I still don't get why clones aren't allowed. It will never click for me. I don't see the logic from any angle. If I owned this forum, I'd want people having as many clones as possible—it would make the place look way more active than it actually is. Plus, if someone has the brainpower to argue two totally opposite sides with actual points—why stop them from using clones? This whole thing just confuses people. They can't tell if I'm a Fernando Alonso fan, a Sebastian Vettel fan, or a Kimi fan. They don't even know which regional accent sounds most natural for me. Sometimes I feel like typing in a Southern drawl, sometimes a Midwest vibe, sometimes a New York attitude—trying to cram all that into one account makes zero sense. What's the harm in having a little conversation with yourself in a thread? Am I misleading anyone? Am I running some massive scam? Please. If everyone here wrote under their real names—which these same mods fight tooth and nail against, for some reason—then things would be clear. But instead, we're all just random handles like cosmiccyclist8 and others—so why not allow clones? What's the big deal!? If I use one clone to write "Sebastian Vettel is the GOAT because..." and another to say "You're wrong, Fernando Alonso is the best because...", who am I actually hurting? Anyone deep in the Formula 1 stats is gonna know it was just Joe anyway—besides, we all know everyone's business here. And the casuals scrolling through the stats will just think, "Wow, look at these die-hard Alonso and Vettel fans going at it"—so what?

There's a much bigger issue at hand, but I'm not getting into it now. I'm in a good mood and I don't feel like diving into the drama of this site today.

Besides, nobody ever actually banned clones—they just banned

using a clone while your main account is sitting under a ban

But get this—when I open a clone without being banned, they ban the clone, and if I talk back, they come for my main too

Either someone here doesn't grasp the rule about posting from a clone while the original nick is banned or they’re just making up rules as they go

Actually, no:

On this Forum, it's strictly against the rules to:

use sockpuppet accounts while any of your other user profiles are currently banned from the Forum or try to juggle multiple accounts just to mess with people (like jumping into the same thread with different handles, or basically playing both sides of an argument to back yourself up...)

Here's the link to our general forum rules.

cosmiccyclist8 and ruggedhawk20, why do I get this feeling you two would start beefing with the moderators even if they were your own clones? And I mean you’d specifically target your own duplicates 😬

Basically, I have a hunch the drama would escalate big time—we'd probably be seeing full-blown insults by then...
At least it’d be hilarious watching ruggedhawk20 try to explain to his clone that he’s just a total nobody.🤣

stormybadger8 said:cosmiccyclist8 and ruggedhawk20, why do I get this feeling that you guys would pick fights with the moderators even if they were just your own clones?—and I mean you’d be arguing exclusively with your own doubles 😬

Basically, I have a hunch that then there would be way more fighting going on, maybe even some actual insults...
But hey, if nothing else, at least it would be entertaining to read ruggedhawk20 trying to explain to himself (well, his clone) that he’s just a total nobody.🤣

If I were a moderator, I’d still be absolute garbage at it.

Plus, I’d probably lose all my friends instantly—if I got into a debate with William Bennett53 or Wayout, the second they started getting on my nerves, I’d just ban them. Just enough points to land them in the doghouse for trolling or spamming, and mine would be the last one standing.

And would that make me fit for the job? Obviously not. So how did certain people actually manage to pull it off? And why doesn't the admin team do anything about them picking on people?

Joe, I make no secret of the fact that I think you're a wonderful person. In fact, it’s actually quite painful for me when I have to step in and be the heavy. I see the issue clearly: you're a good man with genuine intentions—everyone who knows you understands that—but you seem to struggle with the reality that we're living in strange times. Despite your noble character, the rules here apply to you just as they do to any other average person who happens to wander onto this forum. So, damn it, occasionally Way and I are forced to issue you a timeout because you're critiquing the moderation within a thread, or perhaps because you're arguing with yourself via two or three burner accounts and those kinds of trivialities. But look, this is our job, and that's yours; I see no reason why we can't continue to respect and value one another. 🙏

cosmiccyclist8, the kid got a warning for picking fights with the blue moderator alerts right inside the thread. It wasn't enough to get him banned, but he already had a significant amount of points accumulated from elsewhere. Besides, he's been around the forum long enough to know that you don't comment on moderation within a discussion thread; there are specific channels for that.
Furthermore, if you intend to take this to the grievance committee, come prepared with links and concrete evidence, rather than just throwing a pure troll outburst like you did in your previous post.

William Bennett53 said:cosmiccyclist8 got hit with a warning card for trying to lecture the mods because he decided to pick a fight with a blue moderator alert right in the middle of the thread. It’s not that he actually got banned—it’s just that he already had an impressive amount of points from elsewhere, most of which he racked up on other sites. Plus, he’s been around this forum long enough to know you don't critique moderation within a specific discussion thread; there are actual dedicated channels for that kind of thing.
Also, if you’re planning on making a formal complaint, show up with links and concrete examples instead of just throwing a pure troll tantrum like you did in your last post.

Did someone lose their crown? 😁 Let's give it back. 😁
At least the kid was being honest—and since there’s no real way to appeal here, it’s hardly surprising he blew up over a perceived injustice... besides, half the time you're the one provoking him, letting him run for two or three posts, and then—bam—you ban him just because you're bored.

Here are three totally unnecessary warnings issued lately—there probably would have been more if this hadn't been deleted...

Over here, you hand out a warning to Jozi instead of just moving the conversation to the chat room
yet his comment right underneath stays unpunished. Unbelievable. 🙏

Give a break with those reputation points. I've said it before: you guys aren't Formula 1 or anything high-stakes; it's just Jozi, Pila, Maminjo, Maxym... it makes my hair stand on end seeing how certain individuals from that specific clique constantly get favored.