Overhaul race calendar for all divisions
(1) More random system concerning stat gains/decrease to make the game more unpredictable. (2) Add race crashes back in. (3) Add more ways money can spent during the transfer season.
Introduce crashes
Team role/strategy selection (not practical though)
- Removing the 24h period after a transfer deal is posted to make "handshake deals" binding. (Still keeping the 48h moratorium at the beginning where no deals can be posted)
- More freedom for trades (e.g. no min fee for transfers, 1to3 loans etc)
- No mandatory GT goal
- A better PCM / race simulation software
A full restart at some point. I think it would be interesting, but it would also kill all the history behind the game that makes it so special.
Training cheaper for CT, the same for PCT and more expenssive for PT.
I think trying to fix inflation is the obvious answer here, but I feel like there's no unique way that would keep everyone happy and that no one would disagree with
More active reporters for a faster season
Make it shorter and faster. Seasons always drag themselves way too long for my liking.
Expand stat distribution at the CT-level; so that not every race feels like a role of the dice as to whether a rider will compete or not.
More cobbles! And to be able to choose more races in PT.
Hmmm... hard to say. I love MG. A lot of my issues with it are really more issues with PCM than MG itself. And PCM will never be perfect, or probably even good. I guess if I could just get rid of inflation and fix the DB with the snap of my fingers, I'd do that. Otherwise, I'd really place an emphasis on adding fewer talents and with a wider range of maxed capabilities. Or maybe just restructure a few of the talent development options.
Oh, actually. I would just get rid of the cost of goals you pick having any impact on the upcoming season's budget. New teams should just get the same budget to start, and existing teams should have their budget based entirely on the success and strength of the previous year's goals.
More interest in it I guess? Happy with where it is now but can always do with more applicants, more comments, HQ posts, reporters, etc. Otherwise I really am not smart enough about it to change the mechanics - possibly after my transfers this year I’d change some of the fee rules around 1>3 loans but that’s personal and recent
make it easier for smaller nations/ lesser riders to max their riders, Even if it was a cap of 50xp from level 4 to max in PCT and 25xp from level 4 to max in CT it would help a little and give options to delay development of domestiques but keep them in house
More expansive stat gain choices
Make reports shorter. Game could run faster.
I would remove/soften the need for CT teams to get PT loans to fully develop a rider (plan to propose this). More broadly, I think the critical changes to the mangame are anything that keeps people active in the game. The game is best with committed, long-term owners. So I guess my answer is I would make whatever change makes the game more fun and keeps people involved. I hope this survey illuminates how to do that more generally. For me, that is being allowed to fully develop Taylor Eisenhart without having to arrange/pay for a PT loan. Not being able to is the one thing that could make me quit right now - my blood pressure goes up just thinking about it. Generally I think CT could be a little more player friendly so someone who doesn't have immediate success or has a set back and gets relegated has more to keep them attached. You have the least race days, the least money, minimal opportunity to sign the best young riders, no ability to ride the biggest races or sign the biggest riders and a 5 year path to the top level (if you do well). Seems like that all that could lose people - so throw CT manages a bone and let them fully develop (some of) their own riders. Having made that argument, if you look at who drops out they aren't necessarily concentrated in CT or PCT relegation, so that may not matter much in terms of player retention. So I am willing to sacrifice my change if there was another change that had a bigger impact on player involvement (although there is no downside to my change so maybe I can make two changes?)
At this point probably fuse CT and PCT due to the low amount of fresh blood
No recommendations at this time. Maybe rider loyalty so their wage demands lessen the longer they’re at the team.
I would add all the countries of the world and random created young riders for them. I believe it would add another dimension to the game I'd enjoy a lot. Additionally, the creation of a U23 calendar to make the MG world even more immersive from my point of view.
Part season planning would be nice. Eg. plan the first half of the races before the season starts, and the remaining season planning could take place 5 races before the first half is done. This would make interaction better and one could quicker make adjustments to new game versions.
From an egoistic point of view I would like talentsetups (U23-U25) teams riding at CT levels, so the PT setup could be more competitive and not as development. All level 1-3 riders could ride there and level up 1 level pr. season.
Make the seasons run through faster
Can't wait for the next races, the next renewals, the next transfer period... I honestly think lots of things are good in MG. I'm not convinced by the OVL formula, though - but in lack of better ideas, I couldn't suggest a concrete change.
Re-set the entire DB & divisions with slightly improve long term inflation measures. A 2-tier system with a PT and larger more free-form CT. Also i'd split half of the real PT race races out to be CT ones.
Either low end training costs, so that training domestiques becomes more viable and increasing the minimum training limit, or slowing the addition of top talents and medium talents to combat inflation. Instead of adding 1 future world beater and 3-4 guys just below him in each terrain every year (who will all end up being trained to the same point more or less), make it 1 for every tier with maybe a few exceptions for real talents irl so that top talents are more sought after.
Reinstate Tareq Esmaeli with 85 in every stat
There are some minor things I would do differently, but I'm not sure what would be the one thing I would change.
Maybe I would change how deals are done, because already a few times I felt that it is not the ideal way currently. Managers should be able to choose by themselves if they want to have a deal set in stone right away or if they would accept better offers. If a manager just wants to take the highest bid for a rider, he should not need to have to confirm a new bid for a rider.
Another thing I probably would slightly change is how training is done. I feel like the game could profit if it would be easier (cheaper) to train stats of a rider that are not his main specialities. Also especially for weaker riders. (Why is it more expensive for an 75 OVL rider to increase a stat to 67 than for a 78 OVL rider?).
Going to take this in a more serious manner. I think a HUGE revamp of rider renewals needs to happen, it really so broken for any riders that aren't worth 500k+ wages. Guys who constantly go for 50k ask for 130k in renewals, Guys who didn't progress and had a 50k wage the year before all of a sudden want 200k. If this seemed consistent I would much prefer it, but it really does not seem consistent in terms of cross-terrain consistency.
Example.
Tsatevich last year was like 70k wages, an unreal price. No matter how well he did in the CT (didn't even finish top 30), there is no world where a rider of his skillset should be asking for 200k in renewals (he took 165k, after rejecting a 155k bid). But IMMEDIATELY that rider becomes a negative for the team that has him, but that really ruins the roleplaying aspect for me. In no sport do riders get a 1 year contract every single year, and this is especially wack in my opinion for big-name talents, as a smaller team has to literally give up everything to go after big talents, while pro-tour teams can get a 600k knowing his wages will go down to 300k the next year.
That said, I am complaining a lot without much of a fix in mind honestly. A multiple year contract system is pretty complicated, but I think would add tons of layers to this game. More riders would get sacked, younger riders would cost less likely in year 1, but you'd be on the hook for a longer-term.
If there's a non-structural change though I could make, I find a few of the younger/newer riders are a bit rude in negotiations. But I also think that naturally fixes itself when you realize some people just aren't interested in dealing with you after (happened in my first few years).
Sorry for all the spam, feel like I'm not the most present MG manager so just wanted to get some ideas out there. That said, I've been a part of the MG since I was 15 pretty much (I'm 22 now) and I absolutely love it.
Add random decrease variable to riders under age of 32 to mix order of strength in base DB
Make it easier to track when reports involving your team are posted
The game-engine (PCM XX) being a better simulation product. It deals with some things really quite well (or at least 'sensibly/transparently'
. Other things that were/are a bit wonky negatively impact all of our shared enjoyment of the game. Current examples would be things like sprints often being a lottery, some mountain stages basically being uncontested with big groups finishing together, AI decisions relating to chasing breaks (mostly an issue in GT's). In some respects it does a surprisingly good job; still doesn't negate the desire for better/more!
Relating to MG management, I think progress has been made towards controlling runaway rider stat inflation, although is important to keep a steady hand on this. For instance, is now transferring into mass stat inflation of 'secondary' stats instead which will itself be a big issue in a few seasons time.
Relating to the transfer market, I think in last 2-3 seasons there is also a growing issue of being no/negative impact in re-signing riders - although a gamble, cheaper to release and try and re-sign, or sign an equivalent - the gamble is becoming very small. Not an issue with top leaders, but for lesser riders seems counter-intuitive that the best approach is to dump everyone and get replacements (Look at successful teams like Isostar who have replaced all their riders with wage of 100K or less with pretty much exclusively 50K FA alternatives who are equallt as competent). Some thought of a mechanism to reward (or at least not penalise) loyalty between teams and riders might be required now that the DB is as is, and we have a slowly shrinking manager base (numerically).
Make the current DB smaller and add less riders every season.
Shorter reports due to load of work
No real change, I would just love to be able to ensure the game is safe in the future with less people joining every year + disbandments.
Widen wage gaps between divisions to have riders fitting better to the respective divisions, much more emphasis on past performance than ovl on renewals, fielding a control team with advantage in sprint races so that the sprint AI for the first 3 in the GC is not broken and they don't sprint, allow amateur/regional teams for regional development, cut half the unsigned sprinters before next season from the game to stop the overload. Remove 2 GTs to free up space for a more diverse and hybrid-friendly PT calendar.
that riders would have more realistic stats compare to what do they have in MG or in real life.