This is not a discussion in which I wanted to get involved, but I now feel as though something has to be said because it was and continues to be a classic "whoever shouts loudest wins" situation. Can we stop this right now please!
@Celtic Pharaoh, if you had a problem with Yuri's participation in this race as a single driver then you should have brought it up with the staff members and organisers in private, instead of ranting publicly in the Twitch chat and the forums. Your decision to be so vocal about this "issue" in public was always going to provoke a reaction from others - I'm not sure if this was your intention, but if it was then I must say that I'm disappointed, and either way I'm rather annoyed. As an ex-staff member I would expect you to know better; instead of openly contributing to (or in this case instigating) what is quite clearly a divisive subject you ought to have either approached the organisers in Race Control to discuss the matter, or sent us a private message. The same also applies to you,
@Bobby Pennington.
I am saddened and somewhat angered by the way in which this event has ended. What was such a fun and enjoyable race, in which many of us had a great time and looked on in awe at Yuri, has now been marred by this horrible atmosphere.
I appreciate that you, like a few others, are hurt, and maybe also displeased by this whole situation, and some of the comments that have been made, but that does not give you justification for being so vocal about it in public, especially when there are better methods in place for dealing with the issues.
That being said, I do not actually know what all of this fuss is about! Yuri was allowed to race (this decision was made by the organisers), and he fully deserved the win - his feat really was something to behold. However, at no point have we stated that he would be part of the official classification. We have not yet even announced the final result!
In response to the point made by
@Simon Marshall, you are correct in saying that this was not a club event, but it was not a league event either. This event was, first and foremost, for fun. There was never any intention to treat it in the same way as a league race, but it was certainly more serious than a club race. If there had been something riding on the outcome of this event then the stance taken by the organisers may well have been completely different, depending on the circumstances. We, the organisers, don't just say "yes" to everything - we make a considered decision in these cases - but the last thing that we want to be is autocratic.
The suggestion that people are expecting a higher standard from us is quite frankly insulting. It is almost always a "lose-lose" situation for us, because no matter what decision we make somebody is going to be angry, and we come out looking like the bad guys. We can't always please everyone. In this case, given that it was not a competitive event (i.e. part of a series), and with the result just for pride and bragging rights, the decision was made to allow
@Yuri to participate, but a penalty equating to a driver swap would be applied. In actual fact there were two penalties for Yuri, the first first of which was admittedly of his own making. Anyway, going back to the original point, organising these events is far from easy, and these decisions are not made lightly.
@Matt Le Gallez did an absolutely fantastic job, and I cannot fault him one bit for anything that he did during the event. If anybody else thinks that they can do better then be my guest, and step up to the plate. You will be in for a shock, and find that it's not so easy to make these decisions, or to be the good or bad guy.
These inflammatory comments, as well as the constant reproval of decisions made by organisers, are the reasons for which there has not been a major rFactor 2 league this year at RaceDepartment. I shall not be involved in the running of the RDLMS or any future leagues for the matter as a result of this constant arguing that I am once again having to arbitrate and resolve. I will always admit when I or the rFactor 2 club in general has done something wrong, but in this case I believe there was nothing wrong with the decision made at the time. Also, I am more than happy to receive criticism, and I will always critique myself as some of you may already be aware, but for organisers to be so openly denigrated is absolutely not on!
Finally, the way in which
@Joseph Wright has been publicly reproached is completely wrong. I understand that he may have said something upsetting and deemed unfair, but that does not in turn warrant this reaction against him in the forums, as you have now also left him feeling vilified in much the same way. Once again we encourage you to get in touch with staff members directly and privately, so that the matter can be discussed and dealt with properly, instead of taking matters into your own hands in full view of everyone. In the heat of the moment I am sure there were a number of things said that both parties later came to regret... or maybe not. Sometimes the commentary can be very direct, Joseph can get very excited, and things are occasionally said for effect but not to intentionally criticise or cause offence. Can we please try to sort out this issue in private, and hopefully amicably.
I would like to end by saying that I am not criticising anyone - the point I am trying to make is that many of these comments, instead of being posted here in this thread and in public, to fuel a fire, should have been sent directly and in private to the appropriate staff members. This would have allowed the issues to be dealt with and questions to be answered without having everyone jump at the chance to get a word in on the situations, which does not help the cause in either case.
