Just finished the other divisions and then quickly listened to the PT overview and your thoughts on my team for PT. Will listen through the rest this afternoon. I echo everyone else that these insights into the game are super helpful!
Think your thoughts on my team are pretty accurate, which I'm happy to hear as it means I didn't miss anything drastic. Looking at how the divisions shaped up, I think I'm pretty glad I made the Pedersen/Per swap, as the cobbles have gotten very competitive and Pedersen is a more secure top guy than Per with all the trainings. Definitely missing a guy for the hilly classics, which was something I targeted at various points in transfers but couldn't make work unfortunately. But we've tried to avoid them in PTHC to the extent possible. And for some reason (I guess stamina) Gregaard loved them last year and was routinely in those 15-25 places despite being 71 hill. Not sure we can expect that going forward, but he'll try it again.
We had a lot of overperformances last year that won't come to roost again this year (Skjelmose, Gregaard, Aranburu), but hoping that I've figured out planning enough that we can still do well. Aranburu will ride I think 3 or 4 hilly classics this year just because he had enough race days to take the chance (and he still likes a race like Fleche) but has otherwise sought hills in stage races and some short medium mountain days. I've left the flat classics for Pedersen/SKA and put Rodenberg exclusively in stage races, which is hopefully helpful for making sure he sprints in a much deeper PT sprint field. In a flat classic he'd be on the border of being outside that top 20 who actually sprint that you mentioned in the PCT preview.
And WJ is obviously spot on regarding our sprinting plans, being familiar. We initially went after the Enger/Van Poppel tier of older sprinters as a holdover with Lund maxing next year. Once we failed to get one of them, it seemed we wouldn't be getting a leadout often, if ever, for Rodenberg, so we shipped Lund out for the season and pivoted. At that point, trying to find another 79ish guy to fill the race days didn't seem to fit, as the only flat days left to cover would be in stages races where we had GC ambitions, and I didn't want a repeat of last year with Skjelmose riding off the back with AKA.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Sitting in the park on my lunch break, and everyone must think I'm mad smiling and laughing. Only through the first few teams of the pct but it's a very fun listen. Very interesting to get some more details on the game engine and how that interacts with the MG DB, which you can't really express well in forum posts.
You guys give me too much credit (but then again, Top5 winningest manager). Hopefully the team-noone-understands(-yet!) can live up to your expectations.
I found time to finish up the PCT this morning. Honestly, i feel short changed so much about my team was about sponsors and less about the actual team! But i'll accept it as a vote of confidence it's a solid team that's neither a threat or under threat.
Listening to the discussion on the engine and stats, it's amazing how little has actually changed since I last played PCM in like 2020. Was definitely good to learn how much more MM plays a roll on flat and hill days. And how much more being well rounded as a rider can be a strength (i've been saying for years we've needed more low potential and rounded stat additions, which combined with potential changes to training to make rounding out riders more valuable, could lead to some wildly interesting manager choices in the future).
The sprinter AI, yeah that's been like that forever. It's been tweaked here and there but pretty much the same. And same for treatment of "leaders", or what we call leaders, but because PCM is designed to handle a 'normal' DB are not treated as leaders. Honestly this is the easiest answer to a range of manager comments about over/under performance of certain riders, a ton of it comes down to whatever designation the game gives you which with the MG DB is a dice roll if you're outside the Top5 favourites.
Touched on with reference to Anialowski (definitely spelled it wrong) as a sprinter that just gets good dice rolls. I remain convinced, and have done for years, there's something in the DB that either specific team or rider ID's get a better set of dice rolls. Or there' something else, i don't know, but there is something built in there which works in favour of riders that isn't visible to us as players (MG or PCM players).
The AI designations, the "secret dice roll stat", it's why i've kept talking about results having every more of an impact on Wages.
Anyway, enough general talk about PCM. Enjoyed the chat. I will eventually listen to the full CT & PT entries as well. Plenty to think about and consider about PCM, the MG and the teams. Almost, almost but not quite, makes me want to pick up PCM again and give it some swing to see if it has improved or not in the last 6 years.
Loved this last year, so having jt added got me really hyped. Listened to the PCT pod and loved to learn all the bits around the game engine and squad-building you guys shared.
I want to commend jt for referencing TMM's nonsense. I don't understand any of it and it not only makes me feel old, but also iliterate. An actual explanation would be helpful indeed.
I think you did justice to my team's state of affairs. Our squad doesn't seem robust enough to withstand this year's PCT. The climbing field got way stronger, I did not manage to fund Adomaitis training, the sub-leaders I got aren't as valuable as I wanted them to be and finally, I got a couple of good talents but nobody worth relegating for. I'm still hopeful that Errazkin can pull off a good season though. I remember a couple of very good races from him last year and he has a very good calendar (HIL+TT races), but his inability to sprint may absolutely be our doom. Also Adomaitis and Willwohl can fail a lot but have dozens of oportunities to poach decent results. I'm more worried about Latour though. I expected him to be an improvement to Rodrigues, but the field is just massive this year which will make that really tricky.
On a more personal level I must admit the thing I've found to enjoy the most out of this game is the frenzy of transfers. My first team iterations had a regional focus which restricted a lot of interactions and thus limited that enjoyment. With Duolingo and now Everesting I just don't have that kind of shackle which makes negotiations feel absolute bananas. On the other hand I just don't have the time to study the DB, scout the market and adapt the plans with how the division is fluctuating. It's funny that most of what you said about Laurens not being present resonated with me. I want to have the full experience I had when I was younger and less RL commitments, but just can't make that to work towards the team's success. A rebranding and a regional focus may be a good solution for a CT project I reckon.
Also, WJ, your "[Everesting] has a mountain to climb" pun has infringed rule no. 78.c of transfers and Wirtgen is of now an Everesting rider
Thanks a lot for this project. I'll give a listen to the CT and PT ones when I get time and will probably force me to do so again next year before transfers so I can actually retain some of your cautionary remarks!
Finished the PCT version yesterday, and the CT edition before that.
I have to say, thank you so much for all the in-depth breakdowns of game mechanics, I learned a TON. I have to say, this is required listening for all of those (like myself) who don't understand the intricacies of how sprinters/depth are treated in PCM24. I'm a little concerned that you both are so low on Hesters, I'd made the decision to go away from Willwohl as Hesters is clearly a better rider for a better wage, but didn't fully appreciate that the drop from 79 to 78 SP could have bigger consequences than intended. I'm hoping Hesters does sprint, obviously, and think I've placed him in some races that he'll get results from (e.g. stage races where his RC will come in handy), but against the full sprinting field, I can see a world in which his scoring is not as good as Willwohl despite being more well-rounded.
I haven't released Benoot's calendar yet, but safe to say your concerns about whether he rides the classics or not were rather easily spotted in planning
I think we'll have enough to stave off relegation which gives us another year to develop Uijtdebroeks, Watson et al. Next year's roster construction is quite a bit more straightforward (if we do better in renewals)...just need to stay in PCT!
Appreciate the kind words Booker
So Hesters as you mentioned it's not that we would be low on him completely it's more that depending on planning will depend if he sprints or not which just tempers expectations of points totals here's an example
Ryan Gibbons also then didn't bother sprinting in Denmark Rundht till the last stage as there were too many other priorities for the game to handle.
So Hesters if you can pick the right races, can still be good; you just need to hope he's going to be in the lucky selection of guys who will sprint, which is why WJ referenced training him to 79 to guarantee he sprints in all races. But with some luck he still can be good.
Glad you caught onto the Benoot needing to ride more cobbles races that should be a big positive for him I pity for you that you don't get Elite Benoot from PCM 22 prior but he's still top 20 guy which is always fun to have.
I have to say, thank you so much for all the in-depth breakdowns of game mechanics, I learned a TON. I have to say, this is required listening for all of those (like myself)
Have to echo Booker, this is so helpful (and entertaining) thanks a lot guys!
Thanks Laurens, I hope you get a cleaner run at transfers next year!
Sitting in the park on my lunch break, and everyone must think I'm mad smiling and laughing. Only through the first few teams of the pct but it's a very fun listen. Very interesting to get some more details on the game engine and how that interacts with the MG DB, which you can't really express well in forum posts.
You guys give me too much credit (but then again, Top5 winningest manager). Hopefully the team-noone-understands(-yet!) can live up to your expectations.
I found time to finish up the PCT this morning. Honestly, i feel short changed so much about my team was about sponsors and less about the actual team! But i'll accept it as a vote of confidence it's a solid team that's neither a threat or under threat.
Listening to the discussion on the engine and stats, it's amazing how little has actually changed since I last played PCM in like 2020. Was definitely good to learn how much more MM plays a roll on flat and hill days. And how much more being well rounded as a rider can be a strength (i've been saying for years we've needed more low potential and rounded stat additions, which combined with potential changes to training to make rounding out riders more valuable, could lead to some wildly interesting manager choices in the future).
The sprinter AI, yeah that's been like that forever. It's been tweaked here and there but pretty much the same. And same for treatment of "leaders", or what we call leaders, but because PCM is designed to handle a 'normal' DB are not treated as leaders. Honestly this is the easiest answer to a range of manager comments about over/under performance of certain riders, a ton of it comes down to whatever designation the game gives you which with the MG DB is a dice roll if you're outside the Top5 favourites.
Touched on with reference to Anialowski (definitely spelled it wrong) as a sprinter that just gets good dice rolls. I remain convinced, and have done for years, there's something in the DB that either specific team or rider ID's get a better set of dice rolls. Or there' something else, i don't know, but there is something built in there which works in favour of riders that isn't visible to us as players (MG or PCM players).
The AI designations, the "secret dice roll stat", it's why i've kept talking about results having every more of an impact on Wages.
Anyway, enough general talk about PCM. Enjoyed the chat. I will eventually listen to the full CT & PT entries as well. Plenty to think about and consider about PCM, the MG and the teams. Almost, almost but not quite, makes me want to pick up PCM again and give it some swing to see if it has improved or not in the last 6 years.
If you explain what the sponsor actually is I won't have to air my confusions next year
But yes your right we don't see any danger of promotion or relegation so in essence the team becomes hard to talk much about as it's going to be fine
While I can see where your coming from re: Aniolowkowski (my attempt to butcher his name from memory) he is also a unique skillset. Nobody in MG has his FL, HI, ST combo with 80+ SP until this year... where Olav Kooji also has it and will also be very very good so I put this one down to his stat makeup the game really likes.
Agree Re: Wages being even more linked to results Morton for example should be taking a massive paycut after last year in renewals but i doubt he did because of his high OVL.
Just finished the other divisions and then quickly listened to the PT overview and your thoughts on my team for PT. Will listen through the rest this afternoon. I echo everyone else that these insights into the game are super helpful!
Think your thoughts on my team are pretty accurate, which I'm happy to hear as it means I didn't miss anything drastic. Looking at how the divisions shaped up, I think I'm pretty glad I made the Pedersen/Per swap, as the cobbles have gotten very competitive and Pedersen is a more secure top guy than Per with all the trainings. Definitely missing a guy for the hilly classics, which was something I targeted at various points in transfers but couldn't make work unfortunately. But we've tried to avoid them in PTHC to the extent possible. And for some reason (I guess stamina) Gregaard loved them last year and was routinely in those 15-25 places despite being 71 hill. Not sure we can expect that going forward, but he'll try it again.
We had a lot of overperformances last year that won't come to roost again this year (Skjelmose, Gregaard, Aranburu), but hoping that I've figured out planning enough that we can still do well. Aranburu will ride I think 3 or 4 hilly classics this year just because he had enough race days to take the chance (and he still likes a race like Fleche) but has otherwise sought hills in stage races and some short medium mountain days. I've left the flat classics for Pedersen/SKA and put Rodenberg exclusively in stage races, which is hopefully helpful for making sure he sprints in a much deeper PT sprint field. In a flat classic he'd be on the border of being outside that top 20 who actually sprint that you mentioned in the PCT preview.
And WJ is obviously spot on regarding our sprinting plans, being familiar. We initially went after the Enger/Van Poppel tier of older sprinters as a holdover with Lund maxing next year. Once we failed to get one of them, it seemed we wouldn't be getting a leadout often, if ever, for Rodenberg, so we shipped Lund out for the season and pivoted. At that point, trying to find another 79ish guy to fill the race days didn't seem to fit, as the only flat days left to cover would be in stages races where we had GC ambitions, and I didn't want a repeat of last year with Skjelmose riding off the back with AKA.
All of this seems very sensible to me BBL, Rodenberg I guess would have sprinted in Flat classic just due to teams having double 80+ SP guys means near enough always 79+ will sprint.
Really looking forward to your season should be another strong one overall as I think your maybe underestimating that you do just have a couple of guys the game favours anyway and Pedersen is an exceptional add.
Loved this last year, so having jt added got me really hyped. Listened to the PCT pod and loved to learn all the bits around the game engine and squad-building you guys shared.
I want to commend jt for referencing TMM's nonsense. I don't understand any of it and it not only makes me feel old, but also iliterate. An actual explanation would be helpful indeed.
I think you did justice to my team's state of affairs. Our squad doesn't seem robust enough to withstand this year's PCT. The climbing field got way stronger, I did not manage to fund Adomaitis training, the sub-leaders I got aren't as valuable as I wanted them to be and finally, I got a couple of good talents but nobody worth relegating for. I'm still hopeful that Errazkin can pull off a good season though. I remember a couple of very good races from him last year and he has a very good calendar (HIL+TT races), but his inability to sprint may absolutely be our doom. Also Adomaitis and Willwohl can fail a lot but have dozens of oportunities to poach decent results. I'm more worried about Latour though. I expected him to be an improvement to Rodrigues, but the field is just massive this year which will make that really tricky.
On a more personal level I must admit the thing I've found to enjoy the most out of this game is the frenzy of transfers. My first team iterations had a regional focus which restricted a lot of interactions and thus limited that enjoyment. With Duolingo and now Everesting I just don't have that kind of shackle which makes negotiations feel absolute bananas. On the other hand I just don't have the time to study the DB, scout the market and adapt the plans with how the division is fluctuating. It's funny that most of what you said about Laurens not being present resonated with me. I want to have the full experience I had when I was younger and less RL commitments, but just can't make that to work towards the team's success. A rebranding and a regional focus may be a good solution for a CT project I reckon.
Also, WJ, your "[Everesting] has a mountain to climb" pun has infringed rule no. 78.c of transfers and Wirtgen is of now an Everesting rider
Thanks a lot for this project. I'll give a listen to the CT and PT ones when I get time and will probably force me to do so again next year before transfers so I can actually retain some of your cautionary remarks!
Can understand the optimism for Errazkin just don't think he's ever going to be at more than a sub optimal level leader in this particular game cycle see: Van Niekerks 430pts last season and place him somewhere between the 300 he scored last year and there ( I have Moscon very similar for the same reasons)
I'm honestly much more positive re: Latour though I get that you were probably thinking even higher then the 620pt Rodrigues got when he was signed and that most likely isn't possible now.
Adomatius and Willhohl you've got spot on I think they will fail they will be great at other times I really like Adomatiuis in the right situations he can outscore his stats and this is why I was hoping for his training as I think he could have taken a bigger jump from 300pt (297) that he scored last year then Errazkin ever could.
Completely understand the time frame, on a personal level i got really lucky in my professional career that I found myself in a job where i can put time into this now as (time/money/family) are a non issue day to day and thats never going to be the same for everyone and it's one of the reasons me and WJ are hoping to make this a regular thing throughout the season to go through the results and mechanics of the game more in a podcast format for the likes of yourself who don't have hours to pour into the forum anymore! Can pick up a podcast for an hour and digest some information similar to how we spoke about the game mechanics here us all understanding more about them can only be a good thing as a whole.
Completely understand the time frame, on a personal level i got really lucky in my professional career that I found myself in a job where i can put time into this now as (time/money/family) are a non issue day to day and thats never going to be the same for everyone and it's one of the reasons me and WJ are hoping to make this a regular thing throughout the season to go through the results and mechanics of the game more in a podcast format for the likes of yourself who don't have hours to pour into the forum anymore! Can pick up a podcast for an hour and digest some information similar to how we spoke about the game mechanics here us all understanding more about them can only be a good thing as a whole
I haven't listened to everything just yet, but it really is an impressive piece of work! Some interesting points aswell. I have listened the most the the PT for obvious reasons, but I am going to listen in depth to everything in due time.
I was a bit surprised to hear the assessment of my team as one close to relegation, but after having heard it all I do think your own conclusion is that too many teams are just not very strong this season. I do think me finishing in the top 10 is more realistic than relegating. I see myself between 8-13th as most likely outcome.
You do touch base a bit on the U25 towards the end, but that is where I have invested quite a lot. Karatsivis and 3 strong TT/PRL riders should get quite a few points. Atleast that is one of my primary focusses, due to it being a cheap gain.
I agree that Farantakis isn't going to replicate his crazy season, but I do hope that our train will see him get towards 1000 points yet again. Altur at 750 points will probably be more like 500 points now, and Kinoshita is gone, but I would be very surprised if his 550 points can't be replicated by De Plus and Gaudu.
Giannoutsos and Karatsivis scored a combined 775 points last season, and both are now stronger. I would be very surprised if they don't cover the lost points of Altur - atleast.
Also depth points is usually where our team goes up and beyond. F.e. from the world champion, Boutopoulos (323 pts). Riders like Ioannidis and Kiriakidis are also usually between 250-350 points. Cavagna was around 250 last season aswell, and overall our depth strength is just significantly stronger than last season where we had quite a lot of poor riders.
I haven't listened to everything just yet, but it really is an impressive piece of work! Some interesting points aswell. I have listened the most the the PT for obvious reasons, but I am going to listen in depth to everything in due time.
I was a bit surprised to hear the assessment of my team as one close to relegation, but after having heard it all I do think your own conclusion is that too many teams are just not very strong this season. I do think me finishing in the top 10 is more realistic than relegating. I see myself between 8-13th as most likely outcome.
You do touch base a bit on the U25 towards the end, but that is where I have invested quite a lot. Karatsivis and 3 strong TT/PRL riders should get quite a few points. Atleast that is one of my primary focusses, due to it being a cheap gain.
I agree that Farantakis isn't going to replicate his crazy season, but I do hope that our train will see him get towards 1000 points yet again. Altur at 750 points will probably be more like 500 points now, and Kinoshita is gone, but I would be very surprised if his 550 points can't be replicated by De Plus and Gaudu.
Giannoutsos and Karatsivis scored a combined 775 points last season, and both are now stronger. I would be very surprised if they don't cover the lost points of Altur - atleast.
Also depth points is usually where our team goes up and beyond. F.e. from the world champion, Boutopoulos (323 pts). Riders like Ioannidis and Kiriakidis are also usually between 250-350 points. Cavagna was around 250 last season aswell, and overall our depth strength is just significantly stronger than last season where we had quite a lot of poor riders.
Definitely would agree we were over harsh on your team Sotd watching back, I think trying to get across this team could relegate not that it would and as you mentioned there is just too many weak teams this year for that to happen rreally/.
There's also a real gap in the divsion between I'd say the top 7 and the rest so could definitely see your team or a few others pushing to 8th
