Daijhi
Registered: 16.03.2007
Location: Germany
Posts: 36
14.04.2015 14:56:11
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We have a PROBLEM
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Hi Maverik and everyone....
I am sure that you've seen the serious fall in membership this year.
There are 415 profiles going into race 4. In 2014 there were 566, 603 in 2013 and the same in 2012.
Members are falling away and we must ask ourselves why.
So far I have encouraged 15 people to join the game but this year 9 of them have left. Their reason lies mainly in the team BUDGET system.
The current system simply doesn't encourage them to play.
For example many teams face a budget readjustment of 20m or even more for race 4. That means it will take at least 10 races without further price inflation to buy the same team that was bought for race 3. And if one or two selected drivers crash out and if inflation takes place in the meantime it will take even longer to reach the same team selection. In short many teams will only reach the same level achieved in race 3 by about the end of the season!
This is very disheartening and exactly the same happened last year. Consequently many players are turned off the game.
Formula 1 is not a socialist concept where every team has equal chances. It is a capitalist enterprise that favors the successful players. Every player has the same chance of predicting which elements will rise in value and those who get it right will do better than those who don't.
But we have to have a system that does not load the game too highly in favor of the clever players. Indeed this was the fair reasoning behind budget readjustments introduced last year.
Unfortunately the new system has over-corrected the old problem and simply created a new one. So I have a proposal:
PROPOSED 2016 SYSTEM
Everyone knows and understands the simple system used for team managers. There is a fixed cost structure and each manager is given a value completely based upon the accumulated points scored. It is simple to understand and fair to apply.
I think this structure should be applied to all elements of the game.
There should be a fixed price for each score position in all elements of the game. For example the highest scoring driver is valued at say 50m, the second at 48, the third at 46 and so on. It should also be possible to extend the gap to 3m between components at the very top or at the very bottom if necessary.
After each race the value of any component changes up or down according to its points position but there are no reductions for crashing and no extra for winning. And there are no changes to the fixed cost of each component position. Like the manager system it is based entirely on points scored within a fixed cost structure. The cost of the top driver will always be 50m and so on.
The same concept can be applied to engines, chassis and tyres but with different costings and gaps according to the points scoring potential.
Players keep the benefits of their gains and take the consequences of their losses.
After every race all players should be given a 2m budget increase as before, an extra million if they selected the winning driver and penalty millions for engine changes, crashes etc as now. But there are no deductions beyond the 2m budget increase.
Maverik should set the values for race 1 and these should remain until after race 3.
But players should be given 5 changes PRIOR to race 3 (and not after) in order to prepare for the big value adjustment that will inevitably take place after race 3. In this way it will be fair for everyone.
By this system it will be possible to achieve by the end of the season 'the perfect team' if a player has successfully predicted the changes throughout the year. And every player will see a gradual improvement of their ability to buy better components rather than the current system in which we will be lucky to have the same teams in race 15 as we had in race 1.
I hope this makes sense and that all players will give this some thought.
Greetings from Berlin.
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Maverick
Registered: 10.01.2004
Location: Austria
Posts: 1132
14.04.2015 23:15:33
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Hi Daijhi!
Thank you very much for your feedback.
I agree with you, that we have a problem with decreasing member numbers.
There are certainly a few reasons:
- Domain name changes
- Trademark issues
- Complexity of the game play
- Extraordinary adjustment of costs
Costs calculation:
Basically we have a fixed costs structure for the component prices (initial values before race 1). The component costs are in- or decreased according to their overall scores. But it is not possible to rank the drivers, chassis and engines after every race according to their overall points an assign this values to them immediately. The price fluctuation would be so high and the team budgets would be drifting away so rapidly that you wouldn't have any chances after one or two bad decisions.
Personally I Think that the main problem is the extraordinary adjustment of costs after race 3. So many players just see the negative cash balance and do not understand that action. They really feel punished even if their teams made a lot of money. I am afraid that this misunderstanding is a reason for many players to quit the game.
I have to find a way to avoid this, obviously for many players confusing, adjustment of component costs which can lead to a negative cash balance.
First of all I am going to start the next season after the first test sessions. Then it should be easier to assign the right values to the component. But there will be still a remaining risk.
Maybe it would be an option to freeze the prices of underrated components (instead of an adjustment of costs), if they are more than 6-8Mio away from their real value. Of course such a freeze must be announced before a race and frozen components must be tagged properly. It's just an first idea and I don't know at the moment if this could work
No doubt about it, I have to find a solution to keep up the complex game play for the veteran players and manage to achieve a turnaround in the number of participants.
Kind regards
Maverick
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