One of the most concerning issues iRacing faces today is its ineffective reporting system, which has caused growing frustration among users.
When a player falls victim to an unsportsmanlike maneuver or a deliberate collision, they expect the reporting system to act quickly and fairly, punishing the offenders. However, in iRacing, these sanctions often lack real weight, leaving many offenders unpunished and fostering an environment where unsportsmanlike behavior is practically consequence-free.
This gap in rule enforcement not only affects the quality of the races but also erodes players’ trust in the system.
Mismanaged incidents pile up, creating a sense of impunity that discourages more serious and competitive racers.
Instead of enjoying clean and fair competition, users find themselves stuck in races where respect for the rules seems optional. As a result, many players are leaving the platform, worn out from competing in an environment that fails to ensure fairness or protection against malicious behavior.
This frustration is further compounded by the overall monotony of the competitions, which offer little novelty or motivation to keep participating.
In this context, it’s no surprise that more and more players are abandoning iRacing. What was once seen as the pinnacle of competitive sim racing is now perceived as a stagnant simulator, where a lack of innovation and an ineffective reporting system are diminishing its appeal.
Players are seeking more dynamic experiences, fairer competitions, and, above all, an environment where unsportsmanlike actions have clear and effective consequences. If iRacing doesn’t urgently address these issues, it will continue to lose its user base at an alarming rate.
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Furthermore, the game engine is becoming increasingly outdated, impacting players who invest heavily in their PCs. Indeed, iRacing’s engine does not take advantage of the latest innovations in graphics cards to deliver a smooth gaming experience. Although iRacing is the leader in sim racing, it appears to have grown complacent with its reputation. The company should pay close attention to the rising competition, which is steadily gaining traction and attracting more players.
Complacent? They’re literally busy building a new engine. Just read the end of season updates to become a bit more informed.
I agree Shane,
Shane, I’d like to share a thought with you: is it normal that after all these years, it’s still necessary to modify the .ini file of the game to configure triple screen mode in 4K? There’s a paradox here: tightening their update policies could also cause them to lose players, especially since other platforms like LFM, SRS, and SIMGRID are rising in popularity and starting to overshadow iRacing in ranked racing. Although iRacing is finally showing signs of waking up, the high cost of the simulation is still hard to justify. I’ve been on iRacing for 6 years, but this will be my last year. During this period, my setup has evolved much faster than the game itself. If iRacing doesn’t modernize, I don’t give it more than 5 years before it’s overtaken by more ambitious titles. We’ll probably talk about it again then.
You say this as they are actually declining in popularity while iRacing not only maintained it’s Covid bump it’s still increasing.
None of the others outshadow the ranked racing in any way, if anything they are far more restrictive and officious and neither in a good way.
Either you’ll be eating crow and back again soon, or just forgotten as there’s a large enough playerbase to not worry about churn, unlike the others you mentioned…
I think the fact that you can still be competitive on iRacing with very modest hardware is one of its best characteristics. So long as they have a physics engine that feels like a real car and the best online experience I’ll continue to subscribe.
There are many titles out there that look visually stunning but either feel nothing like a car, or handle well enough but multiplayer is buggy to non-existent. Besides if you have the hardware to run iRacing with the graphics turned all the way up it still looks stunning.
Who is this “rising competition” you speak of? Would love to see some actual facts on this.
Pretty sure the author reported someone and it didn’t get upheld and this is his tantrum about it.
What kind of reporting is this? You’re making lots of claims but have no data to support any of it. What % of users have left over what time period? They got a huge bump in users with covid, is it just that people are going back to other hobbies? This article is pure conjecture.
The author wrote it after getting doored and they’re just salty.
That’s exactly what I thought. Lol
Where is the evidence that forms the basis of this story?
This reads like a sour grape who had a bad race. People get banned for serious offences. It’s the best reporting system in sim racing. What a non made up story.
It is the only reporting system, so the best and the worst. I didn’t write the post, but serious offenses in track are never punished.
Of course, chat and voice infractions are easily banned.
They absolutely are. Someone I reported dropped off the service for the last week. Just because they don’t tell you the outcome doesn’t mean there wasn’t one.
I got banned. Reporting got me off the track for an entire week.
In my 13 years in the service I followed all the outcomes and the vast majority of the guys were playing the next day. My experience.
You’re looking for retribution rather than them adjusting their driving after protests.
I’ve seen quite a few banned and quite a few given a talking to. This article is rather biased to a singular perspective vs the reality.
Their “adjustment” is very weak. It is what we’ve seen since the very beginning. They have to ban harder.
Agree, I still race but much less than I used to and only in special events where the driving standards are a little better. Multi class racing is really bad if you’re not driving a top level prototype where they basically mow over gt cars regularly with no recourse. We were running p3 ahead of the eventual gt3 winner at Daytona 24 when a prototype decided to enter the pits from the high side banking directly through our car ending our race ~8 hours in. No warning, no attempt to avoid us, no apology. Our team was 3k ish irating so not in a low split. I seriously thought about quitting right then, when it should be the guy that caused the wreck thinking about quitting due to a lengthy ban. This lack of moderation prevents them losing membership in the short term, but long term will result in the cleaner drivers leaving when they’ve finally had enough.
That said, there’s no better alternative and league racing with real moderation cleans it up. We ran the majors 24 and won our split, the driving was cleaner than the official races there because they have in race moderation.
People forget that this is a game and we’re all dorks on the internet. Professional drivers get it wrong all the time and sometimes in the same ways as sim racers with stupid divebombs and bone head moves. To say people are “abandoning the service” in a post covid world with no data or sources to back up the claim is just moronic. If you keep getting wrecked out that’s a you problem, not the other drivers, we’ve all seen this same reddit thread a million times.
I wrecked a guy on propose. I was reported. Two days later not only did iRacing suspend the guilty but they also banned my other two accounts. Not sure how they knew I had three but they got all three. Suspended for an entire week. Don’t tell me iRacing doesn’t punish those who are deserving. And it also got my attention. One of my accounts is 100% content owner and when it was suspended along with the account that did the wrecking I got a bit nervous and so not wrecking people on purpose anymore no matter how angry they make me by wrecking me. Not I simply report them. As far as this sim being stagnant your nuts. This is by far the greatest racing sim. We now have rain have you forgotten that? And graphics updates are in the works. IRacing doesn’t run out and release buggy garbage. They care about the race community. This article is trash.
The last sentence spoiled all your argument. You could say IMHO and it should’ve been fine.
He didn’t express an opinion, humble or otherwise. Furthermore, I see no logical reason to believe the validity of an argument is at all affected by whether or not an opinion is expressed. He spoke upon a matter of fact. Opinion had nothing to do it. An article clearly written in spite which provides no supporting facts and/or evidence to support its heavy criticisms is the definition of a trash article. This is a fact, and remains so whether you agree or not. The article may or may not be true, have merit. Whether or not it is or does is irrelevant to the fact that it’s trash.
I just want to say I while back i got super tilted (just a me thing not the game,) and basically went on a killing spree for a couple days straight. Like I smashed people off, no braked into others, was crashing into leaders while being lapped. And what was my punishment? Nothing, literally nothing at all. I got reported but I just got a warning. I like iracing I think it has the best racing and collisions but god damnit I should have had my accounts deleted
This article must be incomplete, otherwise it’s just terrible writing to go along with terrible “reporting”. Alberto – this article is clickbait garbage. Try harder and do better.
What other platform provides the kind of fairness you claim iRacing users are desperate for? iRacing provides a good system of license, safety and skill rating, which not only make sure you are paired in races with drivers of similar abilities, but also helps users identify potentially problematic competitors and steer clear of them. This article sounds like it was written by someone who’s pissed that they got squeezed off the track. Go watch a real race.. it happens there too.
iRacing has the means, they can do it better. This is just a trend Alberto saw. It is happening slowly.
You think that iracing is fair they are just wreckfest it out of control
Careful, Jacob Klein will ban you.
I’ve used iRacing for nearly 12 year and have repeatedly witnessed the type of driving, seen how penalty aren’t effective, and consequently seen the growth in an “all me, screw you” attitude, foul language and ridiculous forms of road rage in Open events. As a result, I no longer use the “public” open sessions nor races for those very reasons. That being said, iRacing’s Leagues do attempt to police the driving and level penalties sufficient to change driver behavior. Penalties like Drive Through (the pits, no stoping), No Qualifying (start at the back), Stop (in the pits) and Hold (for 5, 10, 30 or more secs) seem pretty effective for addressing unsportsmanlike conduct.
If people would save reporting for actual egregious moves and intentional wrecking I think the system would work better. People probably flood their inbox with racing incidents or mistakes. I’ve had multiple people say they were reporting me over racing incidents/their mistakes. Just my theory
I have dealt with this first hand i was banned for retaliating for being wrecked over an over an over with little done to help me then after 90 days they allow me back I get wrecked on purpose twice guy trolls me an threatening me to slap the shit out of me come to my home an hurt me I have it all recorded on video an because his buddy protest me for so called arguing with him witch all I did was tell him where I was so he could do all this things they banned me again the only protest I had since before previous trouble I didn’t wreck him or try to retaliate after all he was doing I was banned…all day long people just wrecking an playing wreckfest on there nothing being done can’t even race on there they have totally screwed up the platform the ones running iracong should be fired an people who understands racing should run it
Find me another service that bans drivers if they exhibit poor sportsmanship. If you’re not seeing the results of your protests, you’re not filing them. If you are arguing that bans and consequences need to be real-time, good luck with that. Show me a system that wouldn’t accidentally ban the wrong racers in many situations. No thanks. This reads as something poorly thought out. As others have already stated, where is the data to back this up? Where are racers going as an alternative that is better when it comes to poor driving standards? There is none.
Real iracing issue is dlc that bring zero technical novelties. Each new car gets slightly different setup, but the driving still feel ass
Completely agree. Member for nearly 14 years and I hardly ever use anymore and these two reasons are the primary reasons I no longer enjoy it. On top of this add the anger and hate and it has become a really unpleasant experience to be part off. So much arguing and hatred. The old community feel it used to have has completely gone but I don’t think that is unique to iRacing only but that happens to all online communities as they grow in size. I will make sure that I add this is my opinion and experience only so as to make sure I don’t upset the “iRacing police” … Lol
Poor reporting is not only an Iracing phenomenon it also plagues LFM. You just get to the point where you don’t qualify to stay out of trouble in the first couple of corners but you still get wrecked. I play to race not being wrecked by idiots
Does someone have figures to show that numbers are decreasing as much as this article claims? Also, where are people going to go that is a better simulator?
Seems like click-bait article to me.
As post said, seems a trend, nothing to worry.
Poor reporting? Wtf are you guys talking about?! Go fn play gt7 or ANY other game out there. There Isn’t a sim racing title even close to iracing. Outdated graphics?! Does anyone read the notes, Constantly being updated. The guys”getting” wrecked just shows your racecraft. Suck it up, incidents happen, intentional incidents have heavy punishments when there’s a pattern. How many times have you gotten pissed of and done the same thing. And this article is obviously paid for, the journalism is about as high quality as the racecraft here.
Paid? LOL
Does iRacing notify the protesting driver the outcome of their protest?
Nope.
They notify you that it’s been investigated and dealt with appropriately. Imo, there is no need for the protesting driver to be informed of either the decision or the punishment. Once it’s reported I’ve done my best to deter that type of behavior. Another thing to keep in mind is that what you and I see as a punishable offense they may not. If deemed intentional they are punished appropriately, I can guarantee you that.
More shoddy reporting from this group. No data to back your claim, AT ALL! Sure, some are not happy with the reporting system but mainly because they don’t understand it. Their expectations are set differently than what the reporting system is intended to do.
Btw, a look at the number of Members online at a given time of the day has not declined over the last few years! If anything, it has gone up! Lol! So there, did your fact-check for you.
Enjoy the clicks.
The question is is where do you go? When you’ve got a sim rig and want to race online there really isn’t another alternative that gives you as many options to race.
I want to make it better. If you read some people here, there is nothing to improve. It is just perfect.
They need to build a AI referee because they have all the telemetry data to come up with algorithms to not penalize the innocent drive. If not then appeal.
What a pointless article. It makes grand assertions without any evidence or statistics to back up the claims.
Lack of international pricing did it for me. Just got too expensive.
We feel your pain. Lots of time spent managing the lobby. Nothing worst then a good race that has what we call a wrecker and that’s saying it nice. Lots of racers have the book of shame to manage and this helps us out for a clean lobby. Lots of Xbox and ps2 players are excited for the experience of iracing. Lots of good talent and not to worry. I’ve heard that it won’t be cross playable. 240 mph on two of the super speedways gets you coming back on a eight year old game. Still wondering how much it going to cost. I guess will see come next fall. Good racing everyone
I would claim since the update there has been a huge drop off in population leaving lobby’s stagnant with low and high class drivers and lucky if there’s splits at all, I notice the player population is a lie, it will claim there is 6,000+ online yet there isn’t even 200 registered for upcoming races and I would agree with this article as the sportsmanship because of the small pool leads to frustration, i’m an 1800 I rating on dirt oval and will be forced into a 1 split race with 500’s and 4,000’s making it a wreck fest and nearly impossible to win.
They have to use AI to do it extensivelly and at the moment.
This article has certainly got some conversation going. It seems more opinion than facts
I’ve been iRacing for over 10 years and race in all disciplines, so I believe I’m qualified to have an opinion on this.
Just like people in general, there are all types out on track. I try to quickly indentify “driver character” and race them accordingly. I don’t think I shock easily, but I have witnessed some shocking behaviour & language that didn’t make me a proud iRacer.
I’ve also witnessed a lot of sportsmanship, humility, good grace and terrific racing manners and made a lot of new friends from all over the world , some of which I still go endurance racing with most weekends. The iRacing community is what makes this sim so good I’m my opinion. It keeps drivers organised to race times & has a such a vast variety of racing.
With the protest system, I have protested and been protested against. I think it is important to really look objectively at what happened before you protest. If it is a racing incident, you need to get over it & move on. If it goes against the iRacing code of conduct, and you feel strongly that you have been wronged, you should save the relevant replay clip/s, and protest it after the cooling off period. I’ve taken the time calmly explain or report and be objective, and have always got a fair hearing, even when I have been the aggressor.
That said, a lot people are too lazy or can’t be bothered to report. It’s only as good as the standard the community sets.
There is certainly some anti iRacing sentiment here. I’ve been happy being an iRacer for such a long time that I haven’t bothered with other titles. Disgruntled iRacers that I know that have left, tell me there is nothing that really compares to the community, organisation & variety that iRacing offers. This will only get better with more members. I certainly witnessed this during covid.
Yes, the cost of buying cars and tracks is not for everyone, but I believe the value that you get in a basic membership is way better than when I joined. I only buy a couple of things every season, but to start as a new member would seem expensive for sure. It’s not just pay once for a game and expect the world. I was against the pricing model when I first found out about iRacing, but years later I bought a cheap $12 membership for 3 months promotion and have iRaced ever since.
Graphics is another issue I’m reading about. I can’t comment on this as I don’t drive other sims, but I’m happy with what I am seeing and I do notice cool looking changes that make me smile.
Do any other titles even have a protest system?
Well this article is nonsense from top to bottom.
There is no competition to iRacing, it is the best sim out there full stop.
I have to admit that the report system has many flaws.
You are more likely to get banned for calling out someone doing something dirty rather than getting banned if you take someone out.
From experience , if you take out someone in a race in a dirty way , nothing will happen.
You have to do it multiple times (basically , you can ruin, multiple races for many drivers ) and still be free to race…but again if you call these drivers “Dirty” that single word might give you a racing Ban.
Let that sink in…
Someone got the point 🙂
I wrote many times to iRacing with such feedback and I got the same answer. It seems the management of iRacing as they keen repeating the answer defending the broken simulator got disconnected from reality.
IRacing is an amazing platform but no surprise if I see the business stagnating.
Sadly, box this lap seems to falling foul to’ persuasion and click bait articles.
Anyone remember their article about Asseto Corsa Evo, basically saying that it was lacking innovation and more of the same despite better graphics. Then a few weeks later they have another article, literally praising it as something revolutionary? I really don’t think box this lap can be trusted as a reliable source anymore, as they are clearly being persuaded by external forces to either create misinformation and or misleading information.
I wish iRacing would change a few in-game things which could help eliminate bad drivers who wreck and cause problems.
Maybe when a car is wrecked or involving with a accident if it can’t drive back to the pits and has to tow then the car is out of the race then.
Make it so all wrecked cars going back to the pits should have to run on the apron below the racing surface.
This eliminates guys wrecking, driving reckless then ghosting to the pits then fixing the car and then causing more chaos on track.
Make it more realistic. Maybe try this in a series during week 13.
Ever since COVId lockdowns and the explosion in player count the sportsmanship has taken a very big dive. If you look at the incident count in the top splits of every popular road racing series more than half the field has 10x or more. I agree with this article on that point, it’s full of idiot young men now that have come over from Grab Turismo and other arcade games and think that divebombs shunting people off track or ignoreing others on track is how you race.
iRacing need to stop being so lenient on guys wrecking people and actually ban users.
Recently I got Intentionally wrecked by someone, the guy waited for me on the middle of the track and then took me out after I got close, he didn’t get banned for even a single day, was racing the same series everyday with no repercussions other than a email about the rules.
This kind of behaviour from the iRacing team is the normal as well after speaking with other racers with similar stories. So if they won’t even discipline intentionally wrecking someone, what do you think they do about people gaming the rules and shunting you off in braking zones and pretending that a 5k irating guy magically forgot his braking marker, or someone diving up the inside and shunting you off when the car is extremely loaded up in a corner.
I have little to no qualms about the reporting system or the overall competitiveness and quality of racing, but the underlying simulation leaves so much to be desired.
Before the heavy iHitters rush to defend, I still race quite a bit in iR and have since nearly the very beginning. I would much rather see them overhaul tire simulation, aero simulation, engine and drivesystems simulation and brake system simulation than add a drop of new content or bring the graphics up to modern standards.
It drives like its age and nearly every time they finally roll out a new tire model, it’s well behind the cutting edge.
The sim is simplistic in many ways. When iRacers claim things like “it’s the best and most realistic simulator going,” they come across as ignorant and inexperienced. No amount of whinging and whining from its most ardent defenders will change that.