Discussion: Tactics spam & angry comments

2026-02-11 12:42#309493 luk4sh31 : another is being schedule to be posted https://www.fmscout.com/c-fm26-tactics.html?id=13489.

He read this comments and laughing at us.

If the editor has been used then IMO it should be removed.

3 variants but only 1 tactic posted with no explanation and 70/30 split no explanation.

Hiding tactics behind paywalls should not be allowed.

2026-02-11 12:56#309495 Knap :

2026-02-11 12:27#309489 Tikitaka Master : @The Avenger2101 I fully agree with what you said.

n. 3 Reply to this post
Stam said my reply and GYRM 's were picked up by their antispam filter, well last year I wanted to create a topic about my tactics in this forum too as some other user did (I will not name that user but it's not Josh) and it took many days before it was approved so that I forgot about it, but why that user can do it so freely and my comments or posts are picked up by anti-spam and why also GYRFM 's ?

I am not aware of any rules on tactics discussion forum that would prevent you discussing your tactics.

Yes, that's why I said it must be the anti-spam filter, it should work when you put sensitive words only, and I never put any sensitive words, I only created a post entitled "Tikitaka master's tactics" , so if it's not the anti-spam filter I don't know what happened

@TheAvenger2101: I've sent that message last night, so I assume tactics already scheduled won't have any change in that regard. There's no 'Josh clause' and cheating with tactics shouldn't be allowed. Even though it's not explicitly mentioned on the site rules, it's unethical and I won't allow it. The only one who has a different treatment here is Knap (annual mega-thread and table) because he's a tactics legend.

@Tikitaka Master: It's on the site rules under submitting downloads. I'll respond to all points raised, even though they're unrelated to this topic.

1. I wasn't aware another user was doing that subsomething until you told me. Once I found out, nobody was allowed to continue using it. After giving someone the right to bypass the queue, I keep checking what they're doing for a couple of submissions, then find out about issues when someone brings it to my attention.

2. Through the years I've seen plenty of cases where people would use or merge existing reputable transfer updates and pass them as their own, so it became an automatic reflex for me. There are very few transfer updates which are consistently maintained at large scale (FMTU is one of them and I co-built that platform). So it's super weird for an individual to start one from scratch.

3. It's true. About a year ago I faced an unprecedented wave of spam that forced me to devise anti-spam measures, including AI-powered post checking with strict criteria. Since starting this topic, I've amended the criteria and seemed fine so far.

4. You're welcome to keep posting your tactics here.

5. The point is not to stop YouTube creators from sharing tactics. The magnified issue which emerged with such creators is their tendency to pick click-friendly titles. When someone is doing or trying to do that full-time, that practice becomes a reality for the sake of views. That's understandable, but the actual problem is when a title fails to deliver on its promise.

Okay, then I'm curious, today there's another broken or meta tactic coming up.

@Stam

Thanks for your clear answers. For point 1, well now that I remembered, those who complained against that users said they also sent a PM to the admin to have his tactics checked and the subunlock.io issue solved, so ignoring his violation of rules for nearly 1 year despite those claim while you stopped me only after 2 months, anyway rules are rules and then you put his tactics into queue too as you did with me after I told you, so nothing more to add here.

For point 2, the database
well FMTU is super (I did not know you contribute to that, again, thank you for your work) and I guess sortitoutsi is another one, but in Italy there are others like FM Fusion and many other who do that even individually or only with one or two friends and I did that too on an italian site many years ago, so for once I wanted to upload mine here too, I was very disappointed.

For point 3)
In fact 3 days ago I saw someone posting about UGC in India and investing and I do not what he was talking about and he was not picked up by the anti-spam filter but luckily it has been deleted later, can't find him now. Sometimes I see some weird ads so I understand that you had to take measures anti-spam, those spammers are really a pain in...

Point 4) thank you

Point 5) yes exactly, that's the point

2026-02-11 13:36#309498 Stam :

5. The point is not to stop YouTube creators from sharing tactics. The magnified issue which emerged with such creators is their tendency to pick click-friendly titles. When someone is doing or trying to do that full-time, that practice becomes a reality for the sake of views. That's understandable, but the actual problem is when a title fails to deliver on its promise.

Editor use should not be allowed when submitting tactics, as it undermines the validity of the results.

Extravagant Clickbait should be avoided. I believe GYR has toned down his tactic descriptions.

All tactics used need to be made available.

All teams tested should at least have table and squad. Although this is not proof it works with all teams.

Comments on this thread

Like I said before, he was notified by Stam, and the video evidence is still missing. He doesn't give a damn because he has some kind of protection here, and that person either knows what kind of crap he's doing or doesn't even know it themselves.

The user in the screenshot, My Name is Jeff... EXACTLY MY OPINION. He is being protected.
As a user of this site, I simply want to see a change.

@TheAvenger2101: So your opinion is that I'm defending and protecting Josh? Well, I'm not and there's no other admin here. I don't know what he's doing with his tests. His actual involvement here has been with our YouTube channel where he presented Knap tactics.

I started this thread to collect feedback and figure out ways to address the situation and make things better. It's clear to me that we need to tweak the process of submitting, but mostly validating tactics.

That requires time planning, making choices, coding and ideally having a small group of people helping out with quality control. What I want is everyone to feel welcome to share their creations without any drama. At the same time, too much scrutiny would likely scare people off.

In terms of planning, how about these:
- Data completion rating on listings, depending on how much data is filled out
- Certain screenshots required for YouTube creators (ME version, squad stats with star ratings)
- Penalty system with warnings and infractions based on internal testing
- Thumbs up/down system for simple users
- Option to submit test results instead of a simple comment

Not all of these ideas need to be implemented because some probably render others useless, but you get the point.

2026-02-17 00:55#309587 Stam : - Certain screenshots required for YouTube creators (ME version, squad stats with star ratings)

This goes for you and all the people complaining about testing:

- Testing tactics for one season is a horrible way to test tactics. You can test the same tactic two times, end up in the top 4 in one test and fight relegation in the other test. A content creator can just test many times and use the test with the best results.

- Screenshots can just be edited.

The only way to properly test tactics is to upload them to a third party site like FM-Arena. People have uploaded his tactics on there before, and unless he copies Knap or other tactic creators on FM-Arena, they usually suck: LINK

Since FMscout can't depend on other sites to test tactics, my suggestion would be to skip the focus on results and focus more the quality of information uploaders provide to go with the tactic. People like Josh just spam tactics, label them AMAZING, and put no effort into it, so he would instantly disqualify. Others create tactics with a plan and explain the plan in detail, which is also much more interesting to read about.

The idea with the screenshot has been mentioned here MULTIPLE times, that it's easy to fake. So please... In the video, especially with Josh, you should simply show the Match Engine, which can be done with the scoreboard. He shows the scoreboard, yay Paris FC META 200 points, AND THEN show the Match Engine in the video. Furthermore, you shouldn't allow tactics where you can already see the pen icon in the video, because in my opinion, that's the icon that indicates the editor is active.

So, suggestions that, in my view, ABSOLUTELY MUST be implemented:

People uploading videos must show the Match Engine for a few seconds, and in a smooth transition (I immediately notice cuts in the video). Also, the pen icon must not be visible IF it's the editor icon, which someone could perhaps confirm.



``` These are the two main reasons that are absolutely criticized, and if you say you've already written him a message and he doesn't show the ME video after video, etc., what are we supposed to think?

I agree that screenshots can be faked, I've made that point in a previous reply in this very thread. ToniPaulis also makes a good point about focusing on the quality of info provided.

What you're supposed to think is that I'm trying to take all the steps necessary towards making things better. Videos on someone's personal channel I can't exactly dictate nor force what people do with them. I did send the message though.

Since I'm not a tactic expert nor have time to conduct testing, I reckon it would really help if we put together a team of experts/testers who can hand out warnings and penalties if internal testing is unable to get close to the claimed results. In theory, that should drastically clear the area from both clickbait and foul play.

What do you think?

Since there are people here who have tested the tactics, I think this is a very good idea. There are many TRUSTED tactic creators here, and I understand that you don't want to dictate what's shown in the video, but please remember, the video is linked here, so you do have some say in the matter.

I agree that some form of testing should have been introduced. However, I’ve been testing tactics for a while, and the results are rarely replicated to the same extent.

I did some testing myself today — while the overall outcomes may look similar, the individual match results and statistics are clearly random.

Therefore, using one high-scoring result against a big team as a selling point for your tactics is madness. The same goes for claiming your team had 70% possession or scored 200 goals in a season. I’ll say it again — it’s madness.

Attention friends, a new META TACTICS challenge is online. 106 points, no more players than shown in screenshots... Fantastic, I love it!

It's simply delightful to read about him on Reddit these days. Good publicity.