All focus nations are included.

I'll set a deadline now for the first round: Saturday!

then please tell whether the list on round 3 will come and if so, whether and how much money I'd have to keep for using it...that majorly impacts my scouting in round 1

f.e. if I spend 60 on scouting now I'll receive the list in round 3 right?

Yes

I can't download the file for some reason, could you maybe add it to our dropbox? Thanks!

I put it here: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/6xagou834zrs...uting.xlsx

Thanks Matt!

can someone cover for me for this for the time being. I'm going through an absolute shit time right now and I don't really want to spend effort on this at the moment

can do that for you, if bikex agrees

Sure, no problem.

Don't forget to send in your scouting files until tomorrow if you haven't done so yet.
Also it would be great if I can get help with reporting in February, as this will be a very busy month for me regarding uni.

I'm sorry but at the moment I can't help with reporting sadly :/ would love to do so (or see other guys doing it) though, your effort is amazing bikex!

Ideas for the new season

I have already been thinking a little bit about what to change for the next season. These ideas will not all be implemented, but it would be nice to get some oppinions on all of this.

Minimum Wage
There will definitely be a change to the minimum wage, but I haven't yet decided how exactly it will be. My current idea is that the lowest wage possible will be 100 and all riders with an avg of 70 and less will have the same min wage. That way it will be prevented for teams to sign hords of 55AVG riders. I do not really want to see them in WT races. The highest min wage will probably be a little bit higher than it is currently to make Team captains cost a little bit more.

BuyOut Clauses
I'm not very sure about this one, but it is an idea I've had. This would be kind of similar to a loaning system. If implemented, it would be possible to include rebuy clauses in transfer deals, they'd count for one or two seasons. That way it would be possible for teams that have missed to get rider types they wanted in the first transfer rounds and the other team to not loose the rider permanently. In the contract of the rider there will be a sum that will be needed to pay by the team not having the rider in the season to the other team to allow them to negotiate a new contract with them in the renewals phase. If the clause is not paid the rider would be able to stay with the team he is in.
Possibly teams could also sell their riders a season in advance to get quickly some money.
However, the main area of use for this would probably be the development teams. With this kind of Clauses they could profit from the U23 Tour without having a team there for very few of their riders. I could imagine some unmanaged U23 Teams being added.

Energy Stats Development
I have noticed that with the current development system developing riders don't progress enough in the energy stats, I will increase the points put on those stats. I'll also plan to increase the energy stats in retrospect for the development of the last season, so this will not harm any riders compared to others.

World Cup
This season, noone really cares about the World Cup, but I plan to change that. I plan to add prize money for the first spots of every World Cup competition. This year's option of making the World Cup a focus race will then be removed. If there is money for the next season to be won through the world cup it will lead to teams focusing on it more. The normal rankings are usually only for teams/riders interesting that focus on stage races. So far every time a stage racer won here. With the World Cup the gap in budget could be closed for teams focusing on classics.
Also it would be nice for the winner of the world cup to wear the old World Cup leader's jersey in the following season. It is very complicated to implement the jersey how it really was, but I think this could be a nice award for the World Cup winner every season.

World Tour Rankings
At the moment the Prestige Rankings count for the budget of every team. From next season on, the budget for the World Tour teams will only depend on the World Tour rankings. I want to increase the focus on that ranking for the World Tour teams. In my oppinion it should be more prestigious than the Prestige Ranking, despite the name. With less points counting towards the budget, promoting CT teams will be more on the same level budget-wise.

Press Articles
For a long time the Teams thread is very inactive now. I have thought of a way to increase activity there. My idea would be for teams to post "Press Articles" there. Each press article would give them a small budget bonus for the next season, like 50 or something. For the system to not be exploited only the first 10 articles(for each month of racing) posted by a manager will give the bonus. So it would be an easy way for everyone to gain an extra 500 for the next season, also it could increase the overall activity, which is kind of low at the moment.

Scouting System
I think the Scouting System needs a major overhaul. At the moment there is not much gained, when leaving some money for scouting. Following almost no team has done it. The 1-2-3 system makes it too easy to guess the most promising youngsters. Having a big scouting focus should lead to having the biggest chance of finding the best young riders. There are plenty of options how the new system could look like. The system could stay similar, but without the stats being displayed with 1-2-3, but just the specialities of the riders. A small new race series for new riders could be added, so managers can choose who to scout based on results. Another idea would be to make it possible to sign scouts with different specialities and assign them to regions. Any further ideas would be welcome.


On any of these ideas, it would be great to get lots of input from others. Let me know what you think.

I don't like this, it would mean the game would not really be based on skill, but on the free time people have available.

Some inputs.


Minimum Wage

It will hurt my team but i understand why this is impelemted Maybe you can upper gradually. +20 this year, +20 next and so on ...

BuyOut Clauses

Sounds good, will be comlicated to understand, use well.

Energy Stats Development

Good idea.

World Cup

Will be good, add more depth to planning.

World Tour Rankings

I dont undertsand. Then why go a WT team for C1, C2 races? The WC add more depth, this reduce that.

Press Articles

I dont like that because im lazy But surely improve the forum activity. And there are some guys with good writer blood .

Scouting System

I dont have an opinion. Can change, can remain.

The minimum wage will hurt my team business I think

That's not true. It would be enough to take 5 minutes and write a small post about your team. I think it is not too much to expect that managers that want to get a small bonus to take that time sometimes over the season. Like said, there would be a limit on how much articles will get a bonus. At the moment it often feels like nobody really cares about ICL. Introducing this might increase the interaction between managers. 50 per article is maybe a little bit much but 20 or 30 should be okay. Teams won't be ruined if they don't get this bonus.



Thanks for your oppinions on this.
(1) It won't be added gradually, but I'm sure it won't hurt teams like yours, who have a lot of these low budget riders, much. It will just require you to buy stronger filler riders, but I doubt you'll have much of a problem filling your team.

(2) I think the main focus for WT teams should lay on the WT races. Going to CT races still makes sense though: It will give lower riders of WT teams to score points and makes it possible to give them more racedays, which both counts towards their progression in the offseason.

As someone looking to come to the game ():

Minimum Wage - Sounds like a great idea to stop an obvious flaw/loophole that is being abused.

BuyOut Clauses - Confuses me somewhat. Sounds like a Loan system but with slightly more complication and little benefit. If a team doesn't want a rider, but does in the future, the team should pay for them every year. Otherwise they should be fair game to all. Could lead to rich teams hoarding riders via re-buy clauses as they can afford to hold various talents without costing money against current strength

Energy Stats - No idea how the dev system currently works, but small improvements are always good.

World Cup - Don't know what this is Can't comment as a result

Rankings - Sounds like a good idea, if it can be balanced off against a way to make prestige important in another way just to allow some variety and benefit for new/weak WT teams.

Press Articles - Will only reward those with time to commit and can still be abused with short and poor updates to get the bonus. Activity is always hard to promote, but you can reward those who do comment regularly in other ways i'm sure

Scounting - No idea how well it's working at the moment so can't comment much. Sounds like it is too easy, so just making it harder/more expensive to find information would help. Take away some of the pure stat information for phrases instead. Spend more, get more pure stat information?

Will put my view in on more later but if you do want the articles reward thing to go ahead, without making it so it's just those with a lot of spare time to write a good report they must be of a certain quality to get the reward?

My take on the ideas :

Minimum Wage
- Raising minimum to 100 - Good idea!
Not sure if i like raising the idea of increasing the min wage of top riders. They rare get paid min wage anyway and i prefer to have the market decide their value. If anything, one could increase the demanded wages in renewals. Equally, i feel we should lower min wages of domestiques & lesser riders (those currently under 350 min wage). I think that if one would lower those guys then that would automatically raise the wages of top riders as teams would have more money left to pa captains.
I dont think it has been suggested before but I'm also a big fan of lowering riders' min wage not picked up in the first two rounds of FA. Basically, that says that they are not wanted by any team and should be desperate for a new team. I hate seeing Raymond Kreder, Von Hoff (both 76SP) or Simon Gerrans (75HI, still nice backups) without a team whille teams settle for riders like Belkov (71TT) or Dekker (71HI) instead because they demand less money. Anyone left after round two / three should be available for the global min wage (or at least for under 200) in the fear of staying unemployed.


Energy Stats Development

YES YES YES

World Cup

World Cup leader's jersey - only as an option please
Prize money - could be a decent idea (I'd like as a classics team) but I'd prefer if it would be introduced slowly (low amounts in first season as a test)

World Tour Rankings

I think it is about time that we get an answer to the to the question which one is more important so i think its a good idea.

Press Articles

No, please not. I'm fully against it! I believe that would only lead to unmotivated 3-liners at the start of the season.

I believe the main problem for the lack of updates there is that nobody ever comments on the updates there (i dont either ) and that this demotivates people to put effort in it. This has to change and then we will likely get a few more updates.

Monthly Previews for certain Teams

When we are at it: These should go into the HQ thread as that is what these are. I like them and the energy managers is appreciated but i believe they should go where they belong.

Scouting

It's way too easy and needs some changes. A mini scouting series could be an option (preferably with a full video instead of just the result if possible) or perhaps taking away all information at the start and make the first level of stats super cheap (like 0,5 per rider)

Minimum Wage
Only up the lower ones is needed imo. Definitely not make team leaders more expensive. The in betweeners may also need a small wage reduction.

BuyOut Clauses
Not really for or against.


Energy Stats Development
Why only last season? Most of my riders have been with me from the start and it would be a shame if they never reach the top because the ones behind them progress better. A shift towards energy stat would be good, but definitely not just add extra points without full compensation.

World Cup
Pro, and for the record, I was always looking at it. The team standings may need a new formula though, the current one doesn't really reflect the results.

World Tour Rankings
Doesn't really matter to me

Press Articles
Ok with this, but sae concerns as above.

Scouting System
I don't agree it needs a major overhaul. It's a good system, but could use some tweeking. Adding a few races could work yes.