Official

'New Levels' Update — Release date & details

What I'm going to write now will probably sound crazy, ridiculous and totally unrealistic, but try stepping into my fantasy world while reading:

What if running a game like this and at this scale needs servers, storage and network? What if the host of these servers is a b*st*rd who doesn't want to give that for free and sends Jack a monthly bill that he needs to pay with real money?
What if maintaining a game like this needs people? What if these people have families and all of those want to eat daily? What if they are very spoiled and also want to live in a house with heating and electricity and running water? What if they for some crazy reason don't get this all for free from someone and expect Jack to pay them a salary with real money to be able to pay for all this luxury?
What if keeping the game fixed in the previous state meant close to all maxed out players had no incentive whatsoever to spend any money to progress faster, because there was simply nothing new to progress through and the free money and tokens received every race covered more than enough?
What if this meant that the revenue was lower than the money needed to cover the costs to keep the game running and Jack was spending his own money to keep the game alive because he loves his "baby" and has still many dreams to expand it further?
What if introducing new levels and features gives maxed out players a path to progress through again and tempts several to spend some money on tokens to progress a bit faster?
What if this new injection of revenue ensures Jack can pay the bills again and everyone can keep playing the game without being forced to pay anything?

I know we live in a world where everything is free and the above seems truly far-fetched, but what if...?

Dom WagnerBut this like an absolute money grab in every facet.
What I'm going to write now will probably sound crazy, ridiculous and totally unrealistic, but try stepping into my fantasy world while reading:
What if running a game like this and at this scale needs servers, storage and network? What if the host of these servers is a b*st*rd who doesn't want to give that for free and sends Jack a monthly bill that he needs to pay with real money?What if maintaining a game like this needs people? What if these people have families and all of those want to eat daily? What if they are very spoiled and also want to live in a house with heating and electricity and running water? What if they for some crazy reason don't get this all for free from someone and expect Jack to pay them a salary with real money to be able to pay for all this luxury?What if keeping the game fixed in the previous state meant close to all maxed out players had no incentive whatsoever to spend any money to progress faster, because there was simply nothing new to progress through and the free money and tokens received every race covered more than enough?What if this meant that the revenue was lower than the money needed to cover the costs to keep the game running and Jack was spending his own money to keep the game alive because he loves his "baby" and has still many dreams to expand it further?What if introducing new levels and features gives maxed out players a path to progress through again and tempts several to spend some money on tokens to progress a bit faster?What if this new injection of revenue ensures Jack can pay the bills again and everyone can keep playing the game without being forced to pay anything?
I know we live in a world where everything is free and the above seems truly far-fetched, but what if...?

What I'm going to write now will probably sound crazy, ridiculous and totally unrealistic, but try stepping into my fantasy world while reading:

What if running a game like this and at this scale needs servers, storage and network? What if the host of these servers is a b*st*rd who doesn't want to give that for free and sends Jack a monthly bill that he needs to pay with real money?
What if maintaining a game like this needs people? What if these people have families and all of those want to eat daily? What if they are very spoiled and also want to live in a house with heating and electricity and running water? What if they for some crazy reason don't get this all for free from someone and expect Jack to pay them a salary with real money to be able to pay for all this luxury?
What if keeping the game fixed in the previous state meant close to all maxed out players had no incentive whatsoever to spend any money to progress faster, because there was simply nothing new to progress through and the free money and tokens received every race covered more than enough?
What if this meant that the revenue was lower than the money needed to cover the costs to keep the game running and Jack was spending his own money to keep the game alive because he loves his "baby" and has still many dreams to expand it further?
What if introducing new levels and features gives maxed out players a path to progress through again and tempts several to spend some money on tokens to progress a bit faster?
What if this new injection of revenue ensures Jack can pay the bills again and everyone can keep playing the game without being forced to pay anything?

I know we live in a world where everything is free and the above seems truly far-fetched, but what if...?

What I'm going to write now will probably sound crazy, ridiculous and totally unrealistic, but try stepping into my fantasy world while reading:

What if running a game like this and at this scale needs servers, storage and network? What if the host of these servers is a b*st*rd who doesn't want to give that for free and sends Jack a monthly bill that he needs to pay with real money?
What if maintaining a game like this needs people? What if these people have families and all of those want to eat daily? What if they are very spoiled and also want to live in a house with heating and electricity and running water? What if they for some crazy reason don't get this all for free from someone and expect Jack to pay them a salary with real money to be able to pay for all this luxury?
What if keeping the game fixed in the previous state meant close to all maxed out players had no incentive whatsoever to spend any money to progress faster, because there was simply nothing new to progress through and the free money and tokens received every race covered more than enough?
What if this meant that the revenue was lower than the money needed to cover the costs to keep the game running and Jack was spending his own money to keep the game alive because he loves his "baby" and has still many dreams to expand it further?
What if introducing new levels and features gives maxed out players a path to progress through again and tempts several to spend some money on tokens to progress a bit faster?
What if this new injection of revenue ensures Jack can pay the bills again and everyone can keep playing the game without being forced to pay anything?

I know we live in a world where everything is free and the above seems truly far-fetched, but what if...?

We didn't realise how significant this was to people or how it was used in role-playing leagues etc. So after a discussion with our testers I have immediately removed the cost for changing the colour or the team emblem. I now have a better understanding of the concerns there, e.g. it's often necessary to change colour if someone joins the league, not because you necessarily want to.

The cost remains for the name changes because our other motivation there was to stop people changing the team name frequently, to make it more of a considered decision. It isn't a feature which will generate meaningful revenue.

There are plenty of other areas for that in this update, but each has been built with the intention that they don't unbalance the core gameplay substantially, and they are not required to progress through the game. Becoming an engine manufacturer is entirely optional. If you don't want to be one, you can simply use someone else's engines and pay cash. No tokens required, and you get exactly the same engine as a customer of the manufacturer.

Special abilities were tested against regular drivers such that the advantages do not place them without of reach of those without, for example. Balancing will likely continue in the weeks ahead, because nothing can prepare you for a live rollout and the amount of feedback you get on this scale.

In the meantime I'm working through all issues with the update, and there are a bunch, but I'm aware of most of them now. Things should be settled by tomorrow, we're getting through them quickly.

The BMI addition absolutely botched the game. Makes absolutely zero sense that my 5’9 118 lbs driver is slower than my 5’9 140lbs driver. 

If anything you should’ve just adjusted everyone’s drivers weight that spent the time training before the update to the low end of the correct BMI. 

And now my 3 level 20 drivers are absolute throw a ways.

you’ve also forced people to spend 100 tokens on brand new drivers just to be competitive again with now level 30. 

I’ve spent money on this game yes. But really just to be supportive of it because I play almost every day. But this like an absolute money grab in every facet.

It has become a money grab, they haven't bothered to advertise and bring new players into the game. Go onto play store and search and you will see many racing type games that have 10+ million  players, yet here it's reported to have 1+ million. A couple of months ago I seen F1 clash been advertised on YouTube constantly for days, I actually installed it and played for a few weeks, I haven't seen any advertising for here. 
New people bring revenue to a game but because they haven't concentrated on advertising they are now milking the existing players. Once those players reach level 30 the whole process will begin again, then they will increase levels to 40.
Before getting drivers was easier, now its 50-100 tokens without any special talent, that's another 100 per driver. You get 3 tokens per race which isn't enough. In a 2 car league it will take over 60 races just to purchase drivers, but you have to use tokens given to get new engines and supplement the income as it's never enough, those 60 races turns into 100+. Increase tokens per race and money earnt from sponsors etc. Performance shouldn't be based on how many tokens you have. I'd rather pay a yearly subscription and have everything free.

It has become a money grab, they haven't bothered to advertise and bring new players into the game. Go onto play store and search and you will see many racing type games that have 10+ million  players, yet here it's reported to have 1+ million. A couple of months ago I seen F1 clash been advertised on YouTube constantly for days, I actually installed it and played for a few weeks, I haven't seen any advertising for here. 
New people bring revenue to a game but because they haven't concentrated on advertising they are now milking the existing players. Once those players reach level 30 the whole process will begin again, then they will increase levels to 40.
Before getting drivers was easier, now its 50-100 tokens without any special talent, that's another 100 per driver. You get 3 tokens per race which isn't enough. In a 2 car league it will take over 60 races just to purchase drivers, but you have to use tokens given to get new engines and supplement the income as it's never enough, those 60 races turns into 100+. Increase tokens per race and money earnt from sponsors etc. Performance shouldn't be based on how many tokens you have. I'd rather pay a yearly subscription and have everything free.

Nobody is forcing you to play the game. Take it or leave it

No one is forcing you to pay to play. Only to win)

I don’t spend my money on this game. Also even if i did. It’s my money what are you gonna do about it?

Well said Gert.

As an aside I find it mildly amusing that for all the years I have played this game people have constantly criticised it for a lack of "realism".
The Devs have just injected a big dose of realism, the teams who spend the most will tend to be fastest. It's taken F1 a long time to address the problem, so maybe in years to come IGP will introduce budget caps ?

Meanwhile, please can I persuade a manager in my league to shell out for engine points and XP boost so that I can piggyback off their spend ? 

I'm talking about the fact that now you can just buy an advantage over other players. This kills the competitiveness and turns the game into a wallet competition.