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forum
Suggestions for the 2013 season
It's early, I know, but with the revival of the old suggestion thread it seems people are full of ideas on how they'd like the game to be "improved" next year!
Obviously, this is all stuff that we'd like to see, wishful thinking really, but road.cc and Dave have always listened to what people think and have implemented good suggestions in the past (regional leagues, premium membership, the removal of the varying player values etc) so if you've got an idea post it below. Think of this as the place to make your request/suggestion so that Dave can see it easily. Also, tell everyone what you think works too rather than just complaining!
Firstly off, I'd like to thank Dave for the game and strides they've made over the last few years to improve it into what is an excellent competition. I think that this years game is the best yet, the 4/5 split is a massive improvement over the old 1 GC, 1 AR ,1 KM, 1 PC and 5 DS split and allows for much more interesting team selections, likewise I think the constant rider values is something that should be kept next year as I haven't missed the old system at all.
My suggestions? Nothing major...
1) Remove the 4/5 split altogether - I'd be happy if the current system was kept but would like to see complete flexibility, the limited budgets will restrict players from having a particularly unbalanced team and it will allow for even more creative team selections, especially where there are lots of cheap stars in a race (like this years classics). For example, pretty much all the top Vuelta teams will still have 3 of Contador, Rodriguez, Froome and Valverde so the 150 credit cap will restrict the makeup of the rest of their team. However, I guess the 4/5 split does give structure and makes the game easier to get your head around when starting out (my dad really struggled when he joined for the TdF but the 4/5 split made things easier).
2) Expand on the premium membership with extra features such as combined purist team on the same account and stuff like that. I will probably pay for premium membership next year but I'd like to see some extra features being included for my money, not just extra races (which have been a bit shambolic this year and are very hard to follow).
3) Teams of teams - another possible premium feature, 9 players band together into one team of players, their scores are combined in some way (straight sum of scores, average of all 9 or maybe lose the highest and lowest and sum/average what's left) and they compete against other teams for a prize (Grand tours only maybe?). Should be fun and unpredictable, also, good for getting people to get involved on the forum.
4) Fantasy jersey competitions - another thing to aim for when playing the grand tours, a selection of jerseys awarded to winners of particular comps:
- a GC jersey awarded for whoever finishes 1st overall along with the bike, a black jersey possibly something road.cc themed.
- a points jersey based on sprint stages or combined sprint points, either whichever teams gets the most intermediate sprint and flat finish line points over a race or maybe whoever scores highest just on flat stages, based on intermediate sprints would keep it interesting throughout though as you have to keep up with breaks in the mountains.
- a mountains jersey like the points but for KoM points/mountain stages
ideally these would be biased to make it very difficult to win them whilst still playing for overall placing, ie base it heavily on breakaway points (the KoM in particular) so that you need to pick the breaks and possibly suffer in the overall as a result, that'd make it something entirely separate to aim for like the riders aim for the KoM comp sacrificing their overall standings. Moreover, these aren't big cost prizes and are just for fun/pride.
5) Reduce the penalty for making additional transfers. I like the fact that there is a penalty but 20 points is very heavy, you basically need to place in the top 4 to overcome that. 10 points might bring in more tactical use of this facility and not be so penal if someone cocks up their team and needs to sort it out.
That's mine, just to be going on with. Also, a booby prize for whoever first mentions the 'reset button'.
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.
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198 comments
I agree. Though it's thrilling when you have a rider on your team that scores so many points, it feels more like guessing and luck rather than skill...
I think the reason this seems out of focus is that KM points along the way are tallied for the breakaway but Finish Line KM points on a hilltop or mountaintop finish are not. I think it would be more consistent, and seem fairer, to either lower the points on offer for KM along the route that are available toa breakaway, or, to count the KM points at the end of a stage race. Either would suit me.
At the same time, regardless, I'd be ok with max points for winning a stage to go back to the old standard of 25 points, etc... It just seems a cooler number to me and would make for more exciting competitions and smaller margins of victory...
Transfers anyone?...
Dave, what I mean is, hope I read right, that you're saying you'll post values - in the Riders section of a competition? or in the Pick Team section of a competition? - about a month out from a race and those values won't change, right? So even if there are roster changes for a race, once a rider's value is published for that race, it won't change, right?
Wow... I hadn't thought of that, but it does bring up the question of how you handle them, if they have no results for the year, that's an interesting case...
I am! very! intrigued by the formula(s)!
Can we see it (them?)? 
.... I'm in awe of someone who comes up these things! 
I disagree. If you include finish line KoM points then the really high scorers (the breakaway winners) will score EVEN MORE POINTS and it'll skew the race towards the mountains as more points will be on offer for these stages. If you want to reign in breakaway points then adding on finish line points won't help as it'll punish you even more when you fail to pick a rider like Voeckler who goes on an all day break and racks up 100+ points.
You could offset adding in KoM finish line points by also awarding Sprint/Points competition points for the finish line as well but then you're skewing the race towards finishing places and away from breaks. There is a balance to be found and I think we're fairly close right now, massive changes would be too much.
What I will say though is that technically, the finish line points already reflect the points awarded in the KoM or Points Competitions. No points are given to riders for finishing positions except these so you could argue the 35-1 points on offer for a stage win already include these.
I say, leave it broadly unchanged.
Just give up. Rules on transfers will be announced eventually, probably at the start of January in the run up to the TDU so leave it. At this point I expect Dave has the rules laid out how he wants and they won't be changed. We've all had our say, let's just see what happens.
You REALLY need to get out more
50+ days till the TDU... what a pain... I miss this game... I wonder if we'll get more races next year, like the Jayco Cycling Classic, the Cancer Council Classic, the Tour de San Luis, the Vuelta a Mallorca series, the Volta Algarve, the Vuelta a Andalucia, the Vuelta a Murcia, etc... I'd rather have some of the smaller Spanish stage races than the flat Tour of Oman and Tour of Qatar...
I do! Cool icon, by the way...
Cheers ! its a large tattoo on my arm as well, hurt like bugger but worth it.
nope. top secret. plus, i've lost the fag packet
Not to worry, help is at hand. I kept it for leverage
Obviously I had to black out bits not to give it all away
FILE0919.JPG
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I read your post...
(Sigh!) Ok!... How about some thoughts on transfers for next year then?...
Dave, what are your thoughts on the transfer rules? Are you considering making changes or are you inclined to leave them as they are?...
These long winter days... They make me wonder what the transfer rules will be next year... Any news, Dave?....
Man, you're right...
I am thankful. I'm also obsessed about it... And I know people may not like my ideas, but I love how responsive Dave and company are... So I keep throwing out ideas I think of just to make it more fun, and sometimes more challenging. for me, not to make it easier per se...
I don't agree. I loved the new interface, the ease of transfers, the flexibility of not having to pick GC, KM, PC and AR's... I think it's much! much! better! Thanks, Dave!....
Man, you're right... No point hiding it...
Or just leave it as it is of course... then everyone can play the way they choose.
Love the palmares by the way.
I also love the squad idea (or even better a 'keeper' league where this squad rolls over year on year and you have to manage transfers) but agree that its a big departure from the current game and might not necessarily work alongside.
However, if Dave were to ok it this could be something we run on yet another extra team via the forum maybe and a separate league. Limits put in place so we can only select riders in our start of season squads would create the same game in essence but the standard game would take the strain when it came to scoring
The only down side? Variable rider values next year would make it very difficult to set squad values at the start of the season and we'd be restricted to team 150 credit cap and two per team rules (which I'd personally scrap for the squad game).
If enough people are interested I could set something up.
Also Dave, for the Palmares it'd be nice if we could include results from two teams (purist and normal) on one list, either through merged or linked accounts or some other fudge.
Loving the flexibility of 9 ANY riders in the ToB comp.
As I've mentioned before in previous comments, you've got to stick to a points budget, so can't see any harm in it.
I agree, definitely loving the lack of restrictions but agree that the ToB isn't much of a trial run. How about running this system for the world's or Lombardia where there's likely to be more big names?
Sounds a good idea...
I used to like something about the old game - having to have a GC guy and a PC guy. I'd be ok if for next year, insteade of Star Riders, you were required to have 1 GC guy, 1 PC guy and one KM rider.
Just playing around with the idea
Another option I thought about was to eliminate the GC, KM and PC points, except for the riders you had on your team that were chosen for the GC, KM and PC slots.
Maybe the GC, KM and PC slots could be filled with any rider you choose, not those designated by the game as KM, PC or GC guys,l but whoever you wanted in those slots.
For example, at the start of the Tour I could choose Cancellara to fill the GC slot, Cavendish the PC slot and a DS to fill in the KM slot. Only thoes guys I chose would get the extra points for GC, KM and PC points. The rest my team, the other 6, would just get Finsih Line Points and PC and KM points along the way.
I guess what I like about it is that most teams have someone who pursues the GC, or at least the yellow jersey, a sprinter and a climber or breakaway guy. I guess I like the idea of requiring a GC guy, a PC guy and a KM rider from last year. I guess I'd just like to choose who those guys are and not have to choose from a designated list like we used to.
Just playing aroud with ideas...
Not sure we will see that rule come back, especially with the extra races. Some of these premium races we have struggled with a good enough choice of star riders as it is, so that rule would make it almost impossible for some races
What happens though when you get, for instance, Il Lombardia when you have to have a sprinter but know that it wont be a sprint finish so you've wasted a slot ?
Or like Tour Down Under / Tour of Beijing where every stage is a sprint and you need a KM rider in ?
I like where your coming from but not every race is the same.
Personally i would like to see, like the ToB, just pick 9 riders regardless of stars for the classics because anyone on their day can win one of the classics but when it comes to the stage races and GT's we have team leaders who the teams work for and unless something miraculous happens a domestique isnt going to win a GT.
Yeah, i'd like to see more like the ToB, even for the big tours. ANY 9 riders within budget. I think Beijing might be the same.
But there is really NO need to change much for next season.
I know the riders value's with be different and changeable. So thats going to be interesting.
The value of stars has been gone over a few times. Some are way over valued IMHO but its the same for all of us.
I can see Henao being into the late 20's possibly early 30's after the year he has had and the emergence of some of the younger sprinters.
It would be interesting to see how the team work out the rider points system.
It would be to complicated for us if the values kept changing for every race. Keep it as it is with values set at the start of the year. At least you know where you are.
Pretty happy with the game as a whole. How about including a couple of the womens' races as well. Or could run parrallel to the mens season?
I was thinking of where I have made a complete muck up of a team in a grand tour which left me with no chance from the off. One solution which could be taken from F Football is one complete reshuffle of a team in any one competition per season.
This would obviously come into play in the grand tours, but only one of them. It gives everyone a fair shot if they have screwed up and also if they need a tactical reshuffle, but only once in the season.(if it has already been suggested apologies but alot of posts to go through)
So in essence its a one off wild card to be used at one point whenever you so choose.
I play the F Footie game and the wildcard is used by a lot of players due to injuries etc.
If it was brought in here then i agree only once per season.
I dont see how anyone can complain about "dumbing down the game" as if you've already mucked up your team your already on the back foot so not gaining anything by it in terms of the overall.
However it will make your own game that much more enjoyable as you have the chance of stage wins etc without virtually waiting a full week (2 transfers per day) to change your team about.
For instance i have already stated above i missed the first week of the Vuelta and by then i was literally 300+ points behind the leader. The next week was spent trying to get my team back together and as such falling further behind. In the end the race wasn't much fun as i had no chance of winning and virtually no chance of a stage win.
Its a thumbs up from me for the wild card.
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