- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Tubeless valves
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
forum
Leagues - Standard vs Premium
Are the leagues going to be divided between standard and premium users? As Premium are obviously going to get a lot more total points being in more races?
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
Latest Forum Topics
Latest Comments
- bensynnock 28 min 25 sec ago
Stick it in the road.
- Hirsute 1 hour 27 min ago
If you can't see a %^$&ing large tractor what ^%$£"!*ing hope is there that you will see a cyclist ?...
- chrisonabike 1 hour 44 min ago
Well if you *can* interview the original riders at all surely they worked, at least?...
- David9694 2 hours 13 min ago
Live: Car plunges over wall and lands on beach rocks...
- biking59boomer 2 hours 20 min ago
Looks like yet another bike share service that's going to fold because of selfish idiots.
- quiff 6 hours 24 min ago
Fair point - I was restricting myself to pedal bikes. As I've never spent that kind of money on anything though (mortgage doesn't count), it's kind...
- brooksby 7 hours 26 min ago
And finally: I wonder how many of the "more than 3,000" signatures on that petition are actually locals, who live or work there (and are not just...
- Doug_D 9 hours 2 min ago
Another book suggestion - I can highly recommend "Lost Summers and Half-Forgotten Afternoons: A Mint Sauce collection" - a beautifully presented...
Add new comment
22 comments
I'm not playing with any hope of winning a prize, I just want to beat my mates in our mini league and vicariously the regional league and overall. If they go premium and I don't, will this put me at a disadvantage, or will the premium race points be stripped out and only counted in the premium league contest?
To put it in a different light, I've been playing the game as a purist, and I actually just upgraded to Premium mainly because, as a purist, sometimes you find yourself stuck with a sucky team partway into a long stage race, and you can't wait for the chance to get it over with and start fresh with a new squad in a new race. The Spring Classics were a complete disaster for me--I would have loved to have been playing some of the other races during that time just to get my mind off of my bad luck (and foolish picks.)
I consider the top prizes to be such a long shot I didn't really consider them as a factor in upgrading to premium. Well, maybe just a little.
One great thing about the purist game is that you only win a prize if you are really good. Only the ones who have real expertise can win this game and its a permanent battle for glory. Last years Vuelta for example was great: There were only the best overall players on top of the table. You know your opponents and its always the same who are up there at the Grand Tours.
I think the purist game has always been a bit of a poor relation to the main game, it's a way of playing that offers little/no reward in terms of prizes (when compared to the normal game, no big prizes, little chance of stage prizes etc) but offers a much greater challenge as many on the forum have been finding out with Tera's competitions.
As long as those wanting to play can do so and see how they fare against each other using the current league set up it doesn't really matter if they're premium or not, I would say though that premium teams points for the premium races should be stripped out of the overall competition as it gives them an unfair advantage.
sorry my bad. just ignore.
I personally agree with the idea. As Dave mentioned the income so far only just covers the cost of the server so to be able to play such a game all year round for £10 is not bad at all.
I dont really know enough about computers to suggest a different way so i'll leave that to the brain boxes amongst us.
What does the changes mean for the purists? Are premium purists and standard purists separated now?
Since I started to play this game I've always been a purist, so I hope premium users won't be allowed to set up a purist team in addition to their non-purist team.
Just my personal opinion.
I think that would be a little unfair for the real purists who play it with full commitment.
I play both, purist and normal, and while I'd like to have both my teams rolled into one account it's not the end of the world. Also, I take my purist team extremely seriously (currently top 20 overall), it's a real challenge, much more so than the normal game in my opinion, and very difficult to get right so having lots of new people probably wouldn't change much. You can't get as lucky over 20 stages with 9 riders as you can with a normal team and can't dig yourself out of a hole with transfers.
There are little to no prizes for purist teams anyway and the chance of a purist winning the big prizes is next to non-existent so going premium probably wouldn't have any affect other than being able to play some extra races. I certainly wouldn't bother to take my purist account premium as it stands (assuming I can't play both on one account) as there's no real benefit.
That being said, at only 230 premium users at the minute it's not as if you'd get an influx of new people playing purist and competing for what prizes there are. Most of those might even have a second team already so I don't really see much changing.
You might be right with your point. Im just worried that the purist game could suffer from the changes. Its the most challenging way of playing the game and its much fun.
+1
Just like to add to what Dave said with. A lot of us hinted at and suggested that there be a charge for the game, be it through a premium part or flat out charging everyone to play.
By making certain parts and prizes premium is a better way to do it. Charging everyone, you may end up with only the 230 people who have already chosen to go premium playing.
So by keeping a separation is the fairest way, those who enjoy the game can continue as normal, for free. Those of us who appreciate the time Dave and other put into the game and the costs incurred by them will quite happily stump up a small fee for it.
If you think of it like a raffle, but with a twist, you can pick your riders and if they do well, you could win something. If not, then with only 230 players, it makes the chances still good odds at getting your hands on a bike.
I'm actually really disappointed that road.cc made this standard/premium split. Especially since the best prizes are now for only premium users.
Cycling is and always has been the hobby and sport of those wealthy enough to do it. I'll never be able to afford a nice carbon fiber bike like those they're giving away. And now I'm being asked to pay for the remote chance to get one? And being excluded from the bulk of the year's races if I don't "pay up."
I always wondered what road.cc got for putting on such a great game. Free publicity and good PR, obviously, but now it seems like it was all just a lead-in to literal monetary gain. Hook 'em, then charge 'em.
Isn't anyone else unhappy about this?
you don't have to pay up. and we're not stopping the free game. and it'd be hard to argue that the 'bulk of the races' is the extra stuff we've added, when the three grand tours and a bunch of other stuff are, and will remain, free.
we want to continue to offer the game, because everyone seems to like it. and we want to continue making it better. right now it costs us money to to run. the premium subscriptions will offset some of that.
for the record there's about 230 people paid up at present, so at £6.56 a pop after paypal fees we're looking at about £1,500. that doesn't quite cover the cost of the server the game runs on for the year. just trying to put it into perspective
Just for the record, I see your point, but I'm not unhappy about it at all. "Bulk of the races" is certainly a bit of an exaggeration - you can still play exactly the same races for free as you could before, its just that the prizes are not quite so good if you don't subscribe. All in all, a bargain. Keep it up Dave and co. Although if I lose my job due to all the time I spend working out my team, then I might change my mind...
My thoughts for what its worth is a premium league table for those on premium accounts and an overall table for everyone.Just from a readability stance its easier IMO.
Personally think that the timing of this being mid-season is naf.....Im going premium but I still think its wrong to change mid game.....Just my opinion....
But why separate leagues, why not just put a red star or background beside our name?
That's what I meant. One league but highlight which are premium and standard players.
the main reason is that there's a cut-off point for registering as a premium user for any given tour.
so, the main league (with premium users shown, as it is now) won't necessarily reflect the premium users actually playing for the prizes
There needs to be some way of identifying who the leading premium player is so you know who's winning the bike.
But I agree, in personal leagues where it shows season long scores perhaps the extra premium tours need to be stripped out so they don't skew the scoring.
How about, when you set up a league you can choose the type, standard or premium, standard just uses free races for overall score for all league members whereas premium would show all races including premium ones. That way if you're playing season long with free player work colleagues or something you don't get an advantage by competing in more races
Likewise, how does this affect regional leagues? Will just free races be counted or all so that a premium member will always win those?
I suggested having extra leagues for only premium people to see which split out stuff like the Giro so they can see where they stand for prizes.
Does it really need to be? Only Premium can now win prizes, so there should be no need to divide it up.
The only thing that needs to be separate will be the premium tours
Isn't this why we need to see who is standard or premium. The first player overall in the premium catagory in line for the bike (not likely to be me by the way) may be behind standard players overall. So without seeing it in the league tables we wouldn't know who is winning just for the glory or the prize.