Roles and Responsibilities
There is a private forum for use by the moderators. The moderator's forum is essential for administering the league and reviewing race results and incidents. The assistant moderators do not need to be members of the moderator's forum. It is the moderators responsibility to ensure any tasks delegated to an assistant moderator are acceptable.
Divisional Moderator - Tasks
A divisional moderator is assigned to each division in the league. Ideally each divisional moderator will have one or two assistants. The various tasks the divisional moderator carries out are listed below:
- Race Announcements The divisional moderator prepares a race announcement two or three days prior to every race so that each driver in the division is aware of the start time, race length, practice times, server to be used and any particular restrictions for the race. These restrictions may be pit stop times or allowable car choice etc, it all depends on the specific division. Where Pit Stops are used, the Pit Stop Calculator can be used to calculate the pit stop times for each division. The times can be exported to a text file complete with the formatting necessary to display the times as a table on the SRou forums. The race announcements are made via the dedicated forum. The specific details on how to post race announcements can be found here.
- Race Password The divisional moderator will decide on a password for the race. The password automatically appears on the race announcement topic 24 hours before the start of the race. Only the drivers eligible to enter the race will be able to see the password.
- Starting the Race Server The procedure for starting the server is quite straightforward but the details will not be listed here. There are several things that can go wrong but rarely do. In the unlikely event of a problem occurring there is usually an experience moderator available who can sort out most issues and the worst thing that can happen is that a race has to be postponed or re-run. In order to lessen the chance of a pile-up at the start, the server should be configured with loose grids. For some divisions the race length needs to be altered. This is done by changing the Grand Prix race distance in the 67season.ini file. The Pit Stop Calculator can be used to calculate the "Grand Prix" race distance required to generate a specific "Long" race distance. If necessary the divisional moderator must change the race length before the starting the server.
- Publishing the Results of a Race This involves uploading the results file, which should be automatically saved by the server, onto the UKGPL website. This does require some additional skills in using the "LEAGUE MANAGER 2" application administered by our webmaster. Details can be found here. Occasionally a driver will be dropped from the server and the results file will have to be edited to reinstate the driver to his rightful finishing position. It is probably easier to do this before the results are imported into LM2. However, provided all the drivers appear in the export, it is possible to edit the result post-race. Go into LM2 and find the Entries page under Reference Data. It is much better to import the results from a server replay rather than a client replay. Ideally both the GPLRA Complete.txt file generated from the server replay and GPL's HTML export should be imported - that way all the available data is retrieved.
- Collating Driver's Incident Reports The drivers are obliged to submit a report after each race (using the incident report form on the event's results page) detailing the incidents they were involved in. The divisional moderator collates these reports, and any client replays the drivers may have provided, ready for reference when the race is moderated.
- Moderating a Race This can be the most time consuming aspect of the divisional moderators job. However, the task is an off-line activity so it can be completed at the divisional moderators convenience. Details of how to moderate a race can be found here.
- Checking a Moderated Race In order to maintain some consistency throughout the league, divisional moderators generally ask for comments on a race report from other divisional moderators via the moderator's forum. A divisional moderator may or may not decide to amend his report but in principle each divisional moderator would be expected to respect the consensus of the group.
- Publishing the Moderated Race Report This involves editing the published results to take into account time penalties etc. It also involves adding incident reports and a race summary to the results page on the website. Again this does require some additional skills in using the "LEAGUE MANAGER 2" application administered by our webmaster. Details can be found here.
- Managing Driver's Appeals Very occasionally a driver may appeal against a divisional moderator's decision. Normally this wouldn't arise because contentious incidents are checked by the other divisional moderators before being released. The procedure for dealing with appeals is defined in the rules section.
Deputy Divisional Moderator - Tasks
The deputy divisional moderator has the same authority as the divisional moderator and can carry out any of the tasks required of the divisional moderator. Normally a new moderator will be assigned a post as a deputy for their first season. This would allow them to get up to speed with the "hustle and bussle" of the moderator's forum without the pressure of running a division.
Assistant Divisional Moderator - Tasks
The divisional moderator is free to perform most of their tasks at a time convenient to themselves. However, starting the race server must obviously be done at a specific time. If the divisional moderator is not available to start the server (due to holidays. work etc), then a deputy has to be found. To date this has generally been another moderator but with the moderating team shrinking in recent years this is proving to be more difficult to arrange. Consequently the primary role of the assistant divisional moderator will be to ensure the races can go ahead as planned. It is expected that the assistant divisional moderator will be a driver in the division they are assistant divisional moderator for, so starting the server should not be an onerous task. The assistant divisional moderator may be called upon to perform the following tasks:
- Starting the Race Server In the absence of the divisional moderator the assistant divisional moderator may be required to start the server. The process is as described above and the necessary IP addresses, port numbers and passwords will be provided. However the assistant divisional moderator will only be able to change the race length if they have been given access to the server via VNC or RDC.
- Other Tasks From time to time the divisional moderator and the assistant may agree to share the workload. The tasks that could be delegated if both parties agree are:
- Race Announcements Amendments to the race announcement can be posted on the appropriate race announcement topic.
- Moderating a Race Some aspects of moderating a race, such as checking pit stop times and identifying incidents using GPL Replay Analyser, can be delegated. However, the divisional moderator must retain the responsibility of assessing incidents. This role cannot be delegated.
No other tasks should be delegated to the assistant divisional moderator.
Chief Moderator - Tasks
The Chief Moderator is ultimately responsible for both the day-to-day running and strategic direction of UKGPL. The Chief Moderator is a member of the Moderator�s Forum and may also act as a Divisional Moderator. Whilst the management of each division is delegated to a Divisional Moderator, the Chief Moderator must ensure the UKGPL rules are applied consistently throughout the divisions. Drivers should not be expected to behave differently depending on who is moderating the division. If any disputes should arise between the moderators or if a driver decides to appeal against a moderator's ruling, the Chief Moderator must arbitrate on the debate and decide on an outcome. The Chief Moderator's decision is final so it is paramount that good judgement and diplomacy is applied. The Chief Moderator must ensure all the rules, guidelines, championships and any other information published on the UKGPL website is accurate and up-to-date. In summary, the Chief Moderator carries out the following tasks:
- Appoint the Moderating Team This involves assigning existing moderators to specific divisions and recruiting new moderators where necessary.
- Advise and Mentor New Moderators Moderating isn't easy and everyone makes mistakes. It is imperative that the Chief Moderator has sufficient experience to provide good sound advice to new moderators. This does not mean the Chief Moderator has to be an accomplished driver, but to be credible he must have a reputation for clean, safe and fair driving.
- Arbitrate on Moderating Issues Occasionally moderators disagree on rulings for specific incidents. The Chief Moderator must clarify any queries on the rules and apply a casting vote where the moderators persistently disagree.
- Process Driver Appeals A driver is entitled to appeal to the Chief Moderator if they disagree with a Divisional Moderator's ruling.
- Assign Drivers to Divisions At the start of each season, process the registrations ensuring the drivers are entered in divisions commensurate with their abilities.
- Authorize the Rules Periodically review the rules and technical content published on the UKGPL web site. Consult with the moderators and drivers regarding any proposed rule changes. Authorize any changes to the rules.
Membership Secretary - Tasks
The Membership Secretary is a member of the Moderator�s Forum and acts as the first point of contact for anybody wanting to join UKGPL. The Membership Secretary may also act as a divisional moderator. New drivers would normally contact the Membership Secretary for advice on the league structure, race formats and rules. Much of this information is already available on-line so the advice might simply entail directing the prospective member to the UKGPL website and SRou forum. The SRou forums operate an automatic registration system so there is no need for the Membership Secretary to be involved in the registration process for new members. However the Membership Secretary would be expected to advise and guide the new members in order that they apply to join a division commensurate with their abilities. Finally the Membership Secretary should actively promote UKGPL whenever possible to encourage a steady flow of new members. In summary, the Membership Secretary carries out the following tasks:
- New Members Advise new members on the choice of race formats and ability based divisions in UKGPL.
- Web Site Periodically review the UKGPL web site to make sure the advice to new members is up-to-date. This need not entail editing the web site content.
- Publicity Maintain a presence on the plethora of sim racing forums (other than SRou) in order to promote UKGPL.
- Canvass Driver Opinion At various points in the season it is prudent to canvass driver opinion so that potential changes to the rules, race formats and moderating issues etc can be addressed in a timely manner.
League Administrator - Tasks
The League Administrator is responsible for maintaining the UKGPL specific aspects of the web site and forums. The main SRou forum and League Management infrastructure is maintained by the SRou web master. In summary, the League Administrator carries out the following tasks:
- Maintain the static pages on the UKGPL website Ensure the technical content is correct and up to date. Make changes to the published rules only when authorized by the Chief Moderator.
- Set up the Seasons in SRou The format of the season, number of divisions, format of the divisions, race nights, race dates and times etc are all agreed with the Divisional Moderators before the season is announced. Thereafter the League Administrator must: enter all the data into LM2 to create the various divisions for the season; this includes all the races tracks, dates and championship parameters. Create the registration threads and season preambles that appear at the top of each championship table.
Senior Consultant
The Senior Consultant is appointed by the Chief Moderator to assist regarding arbitration on moderating issues and driver appeals.
Consigliere
Consiglieres are former Moderators who keep access to the moderators forum in order to provide assistance and advice. They act as an adviser or counselor on general league issues having qualified as elder statesmen from their past experience within UKGPL. |