Feedback & Suggestions: PDF Soccer League Operations

It’s just not happening... damn it—no Messi.

Anyway, we’re probably looking at another thread about the EuroLeague soon, yawn.

Is there any chance that starting next season, you could somehow separate the La Liga threads from the endless Real Madrid vs. Barcelona drama and the constant Ronaldo vs. Messi back-and-forth? It feels like the same group of people is always here, looking for every tiny excuse to give their favorites a free pass while rarely seeing anyone penalized for blatant trolling. Look, a little banter is fine, but when the same three topics drag on day after day... what's actually the point?
It would be great if you just created a dedicated thread for the 2024/2025 La Liga season where we can actually discuss the games, and then have a separate space for all the trolling to migrate to. Right now, out of 10,000 posts, maybe 800 are actually useful. Other leagues don't deal with this. I've never seen Liverpool and Everton fans spend days bickering over some obscure family connection, nor do I see AC Milan fans mocking every single bad pass made by a former player.

Emily Ward3 said:Is there any chance that starting next season, you could somehow separate the La Liga threads from the endless Real Madrid vs. Barcelona drama and the constant Ronaldo vs. Messi back-and-forth? It feels like the same group of people is always here, looking for every tiny excuse to give their favorites a free pass while rarely seeing anyone penalized for blatant trolling. Look, a little banter is fine, but when the same three topics drag on day after day... what's actually the point?
It would be great if you just created a dedicated thread for the 2024/2025 La Liga season where we can actually discuss the games, and then have a separate space for all the trolling to migrate to. Right now, out of 10,000 posts, maybe 800 are actually useful. Other leagues don't deal with this. I've never seen Liverpool and Everton fans spend days bickering over some obscure family connection, nor do I see AC Milan fans mocking every single bad pass made by a former player.

👍 smartest suggestion on this whole site ☕

Bryan Adams6 said:👍 smartest suggestion on this whole site ☕

Right after Jeffrey Edwards76's, obviously. ☕

Emily Ward3 said:Is there any chance that starting next season, you could somehow separate the La Liga threads from the endless Real Madrid vs. Barcelona drama and the constant Ronaldo vs. Messi back-and-forth? It feels like the same group of people is always here, looking for every tiny excuse to give their favorites a free pass while rarely seeing anyone penalized for blatant trolling. Look, a little banter is fine, but when the same three topics drag on day after day... what's actually the point?
It would be great if you just created a dedicated thread for the 2024/2025 La Liga season where we can actually discuss the games, and then have a separate space for all the trolling to migrate to. Right now, out of 10,000 posts, maybe 800 are actually useful. Other leagues don't deal with this. I've never seen Liverpool and Everton fans spend days bickering over some obscure family connection, nor do I see AC Milan fans mocking every single bad pass made by a former player.

We've tried pushing for this a few times before. Most users agreed it was a solid idea, but in the end, it never went anywhere beyond just talking about it.
Anyway, I'm 100% behind the idea, but honestly, I'm not holding my breath that it'll actually happen...

That’s just not happening.

We could physically split this mess in two: one thread just for Barca and Real Madrid talk (which is basically 90% trolling anyway) and another for everything else. Maybe then we wouldn't be constantly moving posts around and could actually get a thread where people can have a real conversation about Spanish football...

Robert Torres said:We could physically split this mess in two: one thread just for Barca and Real Madrid talk (which is basically 90% trolling anyway) and another for everything else. Maybe then we wouldn't be constantly moving posts around and could actually get a thread where people can have a real conversation about Spanish football...

Wait, so Barca and Real aren't Spanish soccer? 🤷
If we want to have a normal conversation, why should we still have to deal with all the trolling?
Besides, if the mods actually stepped in and penalized the trolls instead of practically encouraging them, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.☕

Robert Torres said:We've tried pushing for this a few times before. Most users agreed it was a solid idea, but in the end, it never went anywhere beyond just talking about it.
Anyway, I'm 100% behind the idea, but honestly, I'm not holding my breath that it'll actually happen...

I went back and did some digging through the archives just now. It’s pretty clear that a lot of people recognize the mess being made there; it’s becoming nearly impossible to read or even follow the thread. This whole situation is nonsensical. If we implemented stricter rules and started deleting posts more aggressively, the moderators would lose their minds in no time...

Bryan Adams6 said:Wait, so Barca and Real aren't Spanish soccer? 🤷
If we want to have a normal conversation, why should we still have to deal with all the trolling?
Besides, if the mods actually stepped in and penalized the trolls instead of practically encouraging them, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.☕

Personally, I’m not in favor of banning discussions about Real Madrid or Barcelona, provided they stay civil.

It’s tough—if I don't say impossible—to separate those kinds of discussions. And trolling in a thread actually meant for trolling isn't really trolling ☕

Quality trolling has always been part of the Soccer PDF DNA. What we're seeing on Example is just pathetic trolling combined with stupid off-topic spam. Nothing is going to change right now since the season is wrapped up, but there will definitely be changes starting next season—I agree that this current setup makes zero sense.

Bryan Adams6 said:Wait, so Barca and Real aren't Spanish soccer? 🤷
If we want to have a normal conversation, why should we still have to deal with all the trolling?
Besides, if the mods actually stepped in and penalized the trolls instead of practically encouraging them, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.☕

Look, the truth is it’s almost impossible to talk about Madrid or Barca without someone starting crap, and honestly, hardly anyone here even tries to keep it civil. At least that’s how it looks to me. Even when someone tries to post something decent, some idiot will inevitably swoop in to shut them down, and before you know it, three posts later, the whole thread has devolved into an uncontrolled troll fest. Doesn't matter if it's about La Liga, transfer rumors, or the Champions League, it's always the same.
Personally, I don't mind a bit of banter or moderate trolling—I'm not here to lecture people on how to act—but man, I really don't feel like scrolling through seven or eight pages of losers whining about how Messi sat on the bench against Bayern.

I seriously doubt this place will ever have a normal thread where the nonsense is kept in check and everyone can actually enjoy the discussion. Honestly, the only real fix seems to be splitting things up. Or at least give the younger crowd their own sub-forum where they can just mess around without worrying about it... 🙂

Independence 🙂

So why aren't we banning troll posts yet? 🤷

What makes this place such a magnet for trolls anyway? 😕
Sure, you can just block some of the usual suspects, but like you said, I’m not about to scroll through ten pages of garbage just to find one actual useful comment.

Whatever. Personally, I’m all for cleaning up this mess and actually enforcing some rules. 🙂

Robert Torres said:We could physically split this mess in two: one thread just for Barca and Real Madrid talk (which is basically 90% trolling anyway) and another for everything else. Maybe then we wouldn't be constantly moving posts around and could actually get a thread where people can have a real conversation about Spanish football...

That would actually make sense if there were a significant number of people who actually wanted to write constructive pieces on Spanish football—but they can't because of the constant trolling from VB and VRM. But let's be real: are there actually Sociedad fans who find themselves unable to get a word in? Are there La Liga enthusiasts who show up to the thread and then immediately flee? As far as I can remember, the only long-running, continuous debate outside of the Barca/Real circus was just the endless trolling between Athletic Bilbao fans and... well, more Athletic Bilbao fans. It’s the same nonsense under a different name. Is the number of constructive posts really going to change just because there's a second thread? I'm betting it won't.

It’s easy to romanticize the fans of smaller clubs—as if they don't push marketing, don't troll, and are always being constructive. If only it were true, but in most cases, it isn't. If people are genuinely annoyed by the mindless trolling from VB and VRM, then that's a job for the moderators to handle, isn't it?

ruggedjackal46 breaks it all down for you.

honestly, at this point I can't even tell the difference between trolling and, well, just trolling

Transfer Market - Summer 2013 (Official) 🙂

This is the most accurate and easy-to-read thread on the forum, second only to the Lovren chat.
I don't want to be a killjoy, but I’d suggest just clearing the chat and issuing a warning to prevent more off-topic posts in the future (and please don't penalize users like 🙂).

ruggedjackal46 said:That would actually make sense if there were a significant number of people who actually wanted to write constructive pieces on Spanish football—but they can't because of the constant trolling from VB and VRM. But let's be real: are there actually Sociedad fans who find themselves unable to get a word in? Are there La Liga enthusiasts who show up to the thread and then immediately flee? As far as I can remember, the only long-running, continuous debate outside of the Barca/Real circus was just the endless trolling between Athletic Bilbao fans and... well, more Athletic Bilbao fans. It’s the same nonsense under a different name. Is the number of constructive posts really going to change just because there's a second thread? I'm betting it won't.

It’s easy to romanticize the fans of smaller clubs—as if they don't push marketing, don't troll, and are always being constructive. If only it were true, but in most cases, it isn't. If people are genuinely annoyed by the mindless trolling from VB and VRM, then that's a job for the moderators to handle, isn't it?

Why do we need Real Sociedad fans on this forum specifically? I’ve never seen anyone posting about Siena or Werder, so other topics seem perfectly fine. It shouldn't be about racking up a million posts or stretching a thread out into eight different parts; surely the goal is the quality of the information being shared. This isn't about small-market teams. The real issue is that most of you don't know where to draw the line and you keep badgering people with your constant "back-and-forth" bickering.
I have no idea how this thread hasn't hit 90 posts since last night following that Neymar goal; usually, in situations like this, things spiral out of control. 🤷

Emily Ward3 said:Why do we need Real Sociedad fans on this forum specifically? I’ve never seen anyone posting about Siena or Werder, so other topics seem perfectly fine. It shouldn't be about racking up a million posts or stretching a thread out into eight different parts; surely the goal is the quality of the information being shared. This isn't about small-market teams. The real issue is that most of you don't know where to draw the line and you keep badgering people with your constant "back-and-forth" bickering.
I have no idea how this thread hasn't hit 90 posts since last night following that Neymar goal; usually, in situations like this, things spiral out of control. 🤷

😂

Where are Morgan Williams and the rest of the crew?

It’s wild that even the news section didn't mention Stackakor's hat trick 🤣

ruggedjackal46 said:That would actually make sense if there were a significant number of people who actually wanted to write constructive pieces on Spanish football—but they can't because of the constant trolling from VB and VRM. But let's be real: are there actually Sociedad fans who find themselves unable to get a word in? Are there La Liga enthusiasts who show up to the thread and then immediately flee? As far as I can remember, the only long-running, continuous debate outside of the Barca/Real circus was just the endless trolling between Athletic Bilbao fans and... well, more Athletic Bilbao fans. It’s the same nonsense under a different name. Is the number of constructive posts really going to change just because there's a second thread? I'm betting it won't.

It’s easy to romanticize the fans of smaller clubs—as if they don't push marketing, don't troll, and are always being constructive. If only it were true, but in most cases, it isn't. If people are genuinely annoyed by the mindless trolling from VB and VRM, then that's a job for the moderators to handle, isn't it?

Calling everyone here a troll who just trolls for the sake of trolling is a pretty shallow take. I think plenty of people want to have actual discussions, and most threads work perfectly fine without needing moderation. The nonsense is mostly limited to La Liga topics, anything touching on it, Champions League, the Ballon d'Or thread, and lately, the Bundesliga since Dortmund absolutely demolished the Madrid teams. 🙂
I seriously don't doubt that a new thread would be mostly normal discussion, simply because most users active on this site right now who aren't focused on Barca or Madrid are trying to play it straight. And let's ignore that whole mess between Athletic and Atletico that flared up maybe twice in the four years I've been here and never even resulted in a single ban.

Whether there are Real Sociedad or Levante fans out there who want to write something but feel they can't... I don't think it matters. What matters is that those of us posting right now clearly aren't happy with how things are.
I wouldn't rule out the possibility that there really are people who might contribute more, but the structure of this thread pushes them away. Take me, for example—I've been around here a while, but when I come back and have to scroll through five pages of the exact same garbage, I lose all motivation to post and just log off. Lately, my activity is pretty much just following matches live. There are also Valencia or Deportivo fans who pop in occasionally and might have something worthwhile to say, but they can't get a word in edgewise like this.
Anyway, let's at least try to change something. Maybe it'll work, and it's hard to imagine things getting any worse than this...

Independence ☕!