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Suggestions for 2012 season

Seeing as the 2011 fantasy season is now winding down I figured I'd start a topic for everyone suggestions/requests for next year. I know a few have been given through the season but I thought it'd be more helpful for us to have our suggestions and requests for next season all in one place.

Other than having a little more flexibility on who I can pick (up to 3 ARs, 2PC etc) my suggestion is:

- Have a team reset button when doing transfers -
Basically be able to reset my own transfers if I realise I've messed up. While this is the basic reason it would also allow people who perhaps can't always make their transfers at 10:55 to make two transfers immediately when the window opens and then if they have a change of heart or realise that one of their riders has abandoned/crashed/been done for drugs they can reset their team to how it was at the end of the last stage and redo their transfers. Also this might stop people having to keep asking Dave to reset their team if they mess up.

On variable rider values despite being against it at first I like that the riders change in value a little throughout the season but I think variations might be better if they were slightly more noticeable than they are now. How it was during the Giro was probably a bit excessive, how it was during the TdF was hardly noticeable and a bit pointless (other than to mean that I was always 0.1 short of having the team I really wanted) so either no changes or more noticeable changes would be better.

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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80 comments

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Loosehorse | 12 years ago
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Top Hat to ya Dave & yer crew  16 - Don't change a thing (although January start is cool)

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STEVESPRO 79 | 12 years ago
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Congrats to dave and the team for running such a successful fantasy game.....Ive read all the comments above about changes,and I agree with some and disagree with others......I think its important though that the game is tweaked a little but equally important that wholesale changes are not made...."basically,if its not broke,then dont fix it"......
Its impossible to please everybody all of the time,but personally I think that Dave and the team do an excellent job of keeping most people happy for most of the time.....a time consuming,thankless task at times...
So `chapeau` guys and your efforts are appreciated....Even if I still havn`t received my TdF goodies...  3

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cherrypicked | 12 years ago
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First like to comment on the excellent game.  1

I have played the SBS fantasy comp (same as Halfords) for the last 3 years. This game (Evans road.cc) is far superior in communication (bit of a human face) and technical execution (interface, scoring accuracy and timeliness). Having said that I quite like both of the games and glad that they have their differences.

New ideas (so far as I can tell)
• Country flags nest to each contestant on the scoreboards
• Most recent stage score next to total score on scoreboard for each contestant, with rollover rider points
• Points listing is hidden away under stage listing, whereas should be incorporated as part of the rules. This could be achieved by creating standard types of stages of which I’m guessing there might be 5 or 10. The stage listing could simply refer to one of these standards
• Replace the consistency league with highest score on any individual stage – this could help maintain interest to the end for those who joined late
• Could there be a clarification of the number of teams that one person can have (in the rules)

Some of my more general thoughts/thought on what has already been discussed
• Need to look at purpose? Is it for as many as possible, or just for a limited number of suckers who devote hour(s) per day/week? Dare I suggest the sponsorship dollar is somewhat a consideration and therefore maximum site traffic.
• I had just got to thinking I could do the world tour next year (based on this years calendar) but then I saw it’s starting in January – that’ll go on for a long time. Not sure I’ll be able to maintain the enthusiasm and time for the whole season
• Not so sure about the rider values changing at all – who gains – those who do well get rewarded with points for the game and a bigger budget. Those who get behind don’t get the option to catch up. Having said that, consensus seems to be that points should change.
• If point change retained I think reset at start of grand tours is good. I’m guessing that there is a spike in interest for each grand tour (esp tdf) – you don’t want to be making it stacked against the newbies.
• Have to be careful of level of complexity. Already quite difficult for someone not used to fantasy cycling games.
• With this in mind need to consider changes as a whole – does this new combination of rules work?
• Flexibility in choice of when to use transfers (as opposed to set 2 every time) leaves the result a lot more open, and requires a lot more planning (also complexity)
• I like the idea of being able to have a purist team and a regular team from the 1 logon. The purist team to run on a setup that only allows transfers at the right time.
• Completely agree about being put off by not being able to see anything about the game before signing up. After seeing nikobec’s comments elsewhere I decided to give it a go
• I don’t see any problems with some of the data inconsistencies that are thrown up (eg Radioshack 3 on GC, only 5 sprinters available, set classification across year when their purpose in individual races might be different). It is all part of the game to exploit these things.

In the end the rules are the rules and you just have to use them to your best advantage
Cameron

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drheaton | 12 years ago
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One small suggestion. Arrows next to your score in the Overall league and each individual league or regional league showing whether you moved up, down or stayed in the same spot in the standings after the last stage.

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Squiggle | 12 years ago
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Expand the regional tables so that you can see where you rank in your region (eg Aberdeen, Highlands and Islands), home country (eg Scotland), country (eg UK), continent (eg Europe).

Gameplay is currently good although I made a few points ages ago, I'll go back and try to dig them up.

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Raleigh | 12 years ago
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It would be quite good to have a flag next to each rider's name, so you get some idea of who's going to attack when a big race goes through a rider's hometown...

I think that it would be fun to have more races crossing over, but with the ability to have two teams at the same time.

Maybe a 'subs bench,' for changing riders midway through a stage, but with a limited budget, like what's left over from your team, would introduce another level to the game, weighted towards those who don't go to work/school and spend all day streaming Eurosport...

Age related prizes could be good, like u16, 16-25, 25-40, 41-65, 65+.

 105

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stewieatb | 12 years ago
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WRT stage races overlapping, I think it's best to have a system similar to how Dauphine/TDS was done this year, BUT;

Instead of having 4-transfer days while we switch over, why not have two overnight unlimited windows; one at the start of the crossover and one at the end. That way you can bias your mixed team however you like, and it makes things better for the purists.

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drheaton | 12 years ago
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I think a good basis for the races to include in next years fantasy competition would be the UCI World Tour ie everything that contributes towards the World Rankings. I also like the idea of including a few of the other major one day races and also the Tour of Britain as it's our home race.

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The Chaplin | 12 years ago
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Just a small comment - I think at the start there should be an element of the choice where you pick a nationality from the UCI rankings and you CANNOT CHANGE at any point in the game.

Pick up points for nationalities of riders who win as well as the riders you have picked in the team... Drop points for any drop outs/disqualifiers...

Obviously some nationalities are going to be favourable for picking, but it would add an element of further variations in claiming points and open up the game a bit.

Quite enjoyed this years fantasy league, missed a few stages due to absent mindness but felt the element of trying to get a good team together on limited points certainly made me do plenty of research!

Next year, Tour of Britain and maybe one or two smaller races with more prizes.

Well done Team Road.cc  4

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noddy69 | 12 years ago
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I think the purist league is a great idea but how about opening it up to include everyone.If you are only allowed one team and the prize for this league is minimal compared to with transfers it takes out any real incentive for me anyway.What about taking your first picks for tours etc on day one and using this for the purist league rankings whilst still allowing transfers and entry into the main competition.It would certainly add to the conundrum of picking your squad at the start instead of only for the first stages and for those who miss alot of transfer windows but do get a few mean they are in with a shout from the start at least in the purist league.

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lucas | 12 years ago
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Ok, when do we get to see the new rules and any changes? December? How about letting us vote on them bewteen now and the end of the yaer? I got a lot of planning to do!  1

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Tony Farrelly | 12 years ago
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Just to be devil's advocate what if we didn't change the game itself but maybe changed the way we awarded prizes? So bigger daily prizes to keep the interest going until the end of a stage race, but maybe at the cost of a slightly lesser main prize - though depending on the sponsors maybe not at the cost of a lesser prize.

I'm quite keen that we keep the element of needing to do some research because I think that for many people that's the most enjoyable part.

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simon F | 12 years ago
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Quote:

Just to be devil's advocate what if we didn't change the game itself but maybe changed the way we awarded prizes?

I wouldn't have a problem with that - it would be nice if we could have a few more (and/or later season) races. I assume that wouldn't need changes to the rules.
More prizes would be nice but, having realised very early on that I had no chance of any of the main prizes, the game itself was really the point and kept me hooked throughout the season.

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KirinChris | 12 years ago
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Agree with Simon F on this... the prizes are secondary for 95% of the field. If we were doing it for prizes then most people would drop out after a short time.

And also agree that it doesn't need wholesale change - just some tweaks to make the classics work a bit better and be slightly more flexible in category selection.

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fluffchucker | 12 years ago
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I'm not bothered about rules or prizes neither as it seems to be working OK at the moment & I just enjoy the crack.
The simpler the rules the better, but if the changes give more flexibility in selection, that's fine

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lucas | 12 years ago
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Ok, is there a timeline for the changes to be announced or discussed? Any polls going to be set uo somewhere? January? Before the Tour Down Under? I'm ready!  1

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starchild | 12 years ago
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Big thanks for the game - really enlivened the pro season, and helped me and the mrs focus on certain riders through different races and the whole season. I won the TdF but she won the season!

I don't mind some of the tweaking as per somew of the comments above, but really just want it up and running again. Any proposed dates when it will be ready to go?

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ray silvester | 11 years ago
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The 2 per team really came home to roost in the USA Pro Challenge

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Noriko | 11 years ago
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A hardcore purist competition where you select a pool of 30 riders at the start of the season from which to chose your team for each race.

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dave atkinson | 11 years ago
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we should probably have a 2013 season thread rather than tacking the new stuff onto this one...

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JAndrewHill | 11 years ago
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Great idea about tbe 2013 thread...suggest it to dave

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silas chime | 11 years ago
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How about being able to nominate a team leader for double points?

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crazy cats replied to STEVESPRO 79 | 12 years ago
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STEVESPRO 79 wrote:

Congrats to dave and the team for running such a successful fantasy game.....Ive read all the comments above about changes,and I agree with some and disagree with others......I think its important though that the game is tweaked a little but equally important that wholesale changes are not made...."basically,if its not broke,then dont fix it"......
Its impossible to please everybody all of the time,but personally I think that Dave and the team do an excellent job of keeping most people happy for most of the time.....a time consuming,thankless task at times...
So `chapeau` guys and your efforts are appreciated....Even if I still havn`t received my TdF goodies...  3

Totally agree with above re minimum tinkering.
I would like to see limited carry-over of transfers and a LITTLE more flexibility of choice.
However, If the season long competition is to have any meaning I feel the 9 one day classics and world championships should be allocated many more points.
For example, the three major tours between them have a total of approx. 19,000 points available while the 9 one day races listed have a total of approx. 1,900 points available and have little influence on the competition. A factor of 10!
And, like the real world, should a tour stage win be worth as much as winning the world championships or Paris –Roubaix?

Again, many thanks for an enjoyable and well run competition.
I used to think that I knew something about pro cycling but some of you guys amaze me!

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azzure replied to noddy69 | 12 years ago
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I posted this elsewhere, but thought it might be approprite here, too

del toro wrote:

What was the prize for the Purists League? Next year, will we have an option to have a purist team and (!) a non-purist team? Thanks!

I don't like:

noddy69 wrote:

Taking your first picks for tours etc on day one and using this for the purist league rankings

, but I do like the idea of having two teams, one with transfer, the other without. Thanks!

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drheaton replied to Tony Farrelly | 12 years ago
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tony_farrelly wrote:

Just to be devil's advocate what if we didn't change the game itself but maybe changed the way we awarded prizes? So bigger daily prizes to keep the interest going until the end of a stage race, but maybe at the cost of a slightly lesser main prize - though depending on the sponsors maybe not at the cost of a lesser prize.

I'm quite keen that we keep the element of needing to do some research because I think that for many people that's the most enjoyable part.

I don't think many people would leave the game if it didn't change but as it's pretty new it would make sense to try and get it right asap. I like the game as it is and feel that rather than wholesale changes a few tweaks here and there would be massively beneficial to the way the game plays.

Prize wise I think you need to be careful. I guess that through ad revenue the game supports alot of the site (as it generates alot of hits) so you want as much through traffic as possible. Most of the players to date will probably have been convinced to play by the large prizes on offer, especially for the TdF, and then stayed with the game through the rest of the season. Diminishing the 'value' of the main prizes might lose some players and wouldn't draw as many new ones in. A headline prize for the TdF of £2-3k's worth of bike is a big pull.

As I've said before what I feel really needs to happen is that everyone has an equal change for every prize so for each grand tour everyone starts on equal credits etc. I worry that spot prizes might go to the team with the biggest budget which means those already in contention for the main prizes. If team budgets didn't alter then yes, I'd be all for upping the 'worth' of the spot prizes and giving everyone the opportunity to win something.

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lucas replied to KirinChris | 12 years ago
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abudhabiChris wrote:

... be slightly more flexible in category selection.

I agree with this. The flexibility afforded for the WC's and Lombardia seems like something that would be ok for one day races.

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enrique replied to starchild | 11 years ago
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starchild wrote:

Big thanks for the game

You know, I really wanted to say thanks, too... I've been on this game every day for so long I can't believe it. I'm really addicted to it!  1 Thanks for the high!  1

And now my top two requests for next season:

1.

drheaton wrote:

Have a team reset button when doing transfers - Basically be able to reset my own transfers if I realise I've messed up.

Yes, please!  3 That! Or! Being able to make all the changes I want to my team and have transfers charged only at the end of a transfer deadline!  1

2. Remove the Star Rider/Domestique restrictions!  1 Although I'd be ok with limiting the amount of GC contenders to 4 per team only (!) during Grand Tours.

Otherwise, all Star Riders restrictions should be removed for all races all year long. Budget constraints will prevent team stacking in most cases.

I think we could also do away with the no more than 2 riders per team rule. There's no real advantage to having more than 2 riders oer team except in a TTT, and then you'd probably have to dig yourself out of a hole when the sprint stages or mountain stages come along!  1

But, yep! It's a mighty fun game and I love it! Thanks!  1

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enrique replied to ray silvester | 11 years ago
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ray silvester wrote:

The 2 per team really came home to roost in the USA Pro Challenge

How so?...

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TheBigMong replied to enrique | 11 years ago
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enrique wrote:
ray silvester wrote:

The 2 per team really came home to roost in the USA Pro Challenge

How so?...

Well, from the very beginning most people wanted a roster of only Garmin and BMC guys but you couldn't even get halfway there due to the rule. The 2-rider-per-team rule is especially hard on Purists sometimes.

In the end, having the full Garmin roster wouldn't have been a bad move! Tyler Farrar got 2 stage wins, Tom Danielson got a stage win & lots of KOM points, Vande Velde won the overall and lots of points along the way, Dave Zabriskie was in the points a couple times... and I'm sure there were more Garmin scores I'm forgetting at the moment.

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enrique replied to TheBigMong | 11 years ago
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TheBigMong wrote:

In the end, having the full Garmin roster wouldn't have been a bad move! Tyler Farrar got 2 stage wins, Tom Danielson got a stage win & lots of KOM points, Vande Velde won the overall and lots of points along the way, Dave Zabriskie was in the points a couple times...

Wow. I guess in a smaller race with lots of lesser known riders choosing a team becomes a bit more of a challenge.

I can see why they would want to limit the number of riders from one team in particular in these smaller races to force you to go outside the box, but! it is harder on purists, as you say.

I don't know, I think we can do without that rule next year. I can't see why that rule was implemented. It only seems to matter in smaller races or for TTT's.

If you don't want to get rid of it maybe you can forfeit 5 points if you choose to have a 3rd rider from the same team... Just like you forfeit 20 points if you want an extra transfer.

I don't know.. but thanks for the explanation!  1

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