Suggested

Remove Driver Atrophy

Based on the feedback, it’s clear the current balance is off. This feature, along with a few other parts of the update, needs further tuning. It’s a result of moving too quickly on a large system change, not the result of any hidden agenda. I can also assure everyone that people are using all the alternatives provided in the game anyway, not spending on this, and I can see that reflected in the data. It's not winning us popularity contests or revenue as it stands, it's just unbalanced, that's all.

This is a tuning problem, not a philosophical one, and it will be addressed. The purpose of atrophy is really to discourage inactivity and account farming, while keeping managers engaged. The goal is that regular engagement allows you to realistically maintain performance.

Personally, I think we need to move to a dynamic range or adjust training impacts. We will revise the system though, as we did shortly after launch.

Some players are pushing for systems to be simplified to the point where effort no longer matters.

That may feel convenient in the short term, but it damages depth and long-term longevity.

Wanting everything easy and simple might sound appealing, but it ultimately leads to lazy design and a weaker, less rewarding game.|

PS: IRL: Even Fernando Alonso and Cristiano Ronaldo train every day. That is exactly why they remain at the top of the performance curve to this day, if you know what I mean. 🤖

This is stupid. It’s not real life, it’s a game. Also this makes the game pay2win. Those who have more resources can just buy new drivers and get them a talent. This has nothing to do with making the game simple and easy. We didn’t say to remove it completely but to rebalance it because this is sucking up all the fun in the game.

This does need addressing as right now, multi-account managers will have found a way around this. And that way they get the advantage once again.

I would like atrophy to be diminished, maybe one random skill point per race so it’s manageable to get back up before and during the season. This way inactive accounts still get punished.

I would combine this with the introduction of 3% atrophy on buying a new driver. This to prevent multi account working around atrophy.

And also, right now, I’m about to lose one driver because of 3 rounds of atrophy. that driver is a lost cause at the rate of training as it is today. Maybe if you could introduce a one-time anti-atrophy package for a few tokens, I might be tempted 😉

Maybe in the very short term abolish atrophy for now until a better system is introduced?

The game should accommodate the full spectrum of players. 
Other games I've played if you want FTP you need to grind a lot, login many times a day, watch a ton of ads. Etc...
You want to skip all that? Pay up.
A ton of players don't even login every day or just once per day before the race

Atrophy is not an isolated feature. It came with about 5 other features and is a critical part of balancing them. Remove atrophy: nobody needs to train a driver, ever. The end.

What was there before? Previously, star ratings and levels were capped to the manager level. As you progressed drivers/staff would lose stars, and you had to train them up again every time you levelled up to regain 5 stars or replace staff. Drivers also couldn't be competitive across manager levels (level 10 had 0 chance against level 30 for example). Now, you don't need to replace staff, drivers at all levels are competitive and everyone has the same choice (train or go to the market), effective at the same moment, so it's fairer in almost every way.

I understand that it feels different to the old system though, and it triggers a greater sense of loss aversion ("where did my level go? that's not fair!" - a perfectly normal reaction, really), but I think it needs a round of balancing where it is higher on younger drivers and lessened on older drivers to match their training rate. If we remove it, it has to be replaced with a completely different system altogether, otherwise, you get the problem I outlined with the opening sentence.