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Onderwerp: Quixotic Press |
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Quote ( Stuart Foster @ November 19th 2016,12:57:56 ) great :D Whats great about it? Who is the guy??? Never even won a race! Hardly races at all!! Never made it out of rookie...after 55 seasons!!!! Hes rubbish who ever he is!
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Quote ( Jensen Owens @ November 19th 2016,11:59:47 ) Great interview Max and Stefan thank you :)
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Quote ( Phil Maunder @ November 19th 2016,11:23:09 ) Rock climbing is good for back ache? - I might try it :)
At least for me it is. It strengthens the back muscles but it's not as boring as a gym :)
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#1114 geplaatst Dec 28 2016, 11:49:22 (laatst aangepast Dec 28 2016, 21:13:50 door Max Watson)
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Friends, GPROmans, countrymen, welcome. We know you've missed us: the excitement, the anticipation and, most of all, the notifications. Sadly time has been at a premium recently, but after a short hiatus we have returned!
This time we're chatting to a very funny chap with a name that defies pronunciation. So sit yourselves down and put your hands together for the newest member of Zebra Racing!
Hi, Miel. Tell us a bit about yourself, your hobbies, and what you do for a living.
I think i'm best described as a mixture of a 12-year old gamer and an 85 year old crazy cat lady, caught in the stunning body of a 35 year old Dutch demigod. I also happen to be very modest.
I code for a living (work at a small company that makes and distributes mobile games). Besides that, i get bossed around by the Mrs and our feline overlords. Love gaming, specifically older consoles and handhelds. Spend way too much time collecting/modding those.
Other things fo'fun (if time allows):
- watching scifi of all sorts
- kitties!
- playing piano
- sports: more a spectator than a participant, although i kick a football or bike pedals occasionally
- cooking (and eating :D)
- did i mention i like cats?
You hail from the Netherlands, in northern Europe. Tell us a bit about this great country, and give some advice out to those who might want to visit.
Great place, shitty climate. That about sums it up. There really is more to do than just the weed and red light districts, i've been told. Will let you all know once i confirm that.
You first joined GPRO in Season 11, but did not take part in any races. What was the missing ingredient at that time, and what brought you back to give the game another try?
Ah, glad you spotted that. Fairly proud of my extremely low user id :D
I joined GPRO out of frustration with another well known F1 management game that shall not be named here. That game was not bad, but it was infested with cheaters and admin DAs. At that point, someone suggested GPRO and i signed up.
For some reason, i never really got going, as the race count shows. Think it was a mixture between being completely fed up with the old game, and a lacking eagerness to dip my toes into yet another game.
Fast forward 9 years or so, and i felt it was time.
You've publicly announced that you're not the next Roland, yet you have (like Roland) joined one of GPRO's premier teams after only a very short career. Tell us a little about how you gained admittance to Tiger Racing, and about your experience of being in a top team.
I was looking for a team with experience higher up the ladder, and when the Tiger recruitment post came up, i immediately applied. I knew i didn't really have the track record to end up on top of the applicant pile, so i decided to add a revealing photo of myself. I won't go into too much detail here, but it involved a whip, an abundance of olive oil, and this very relevant piece of clothing: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0iiryr7vcdu4n5z/tiger.jpg?dl=0
Jokes aside, i have just been honest about my own ambitions in the game, my blatant lack of experience, and my hunger for data to analyse. I have a thing for numbers, and that seemed to have struck a nerve with the Tigers.
Seconds after joining, my long term plans were bluntly shot down by the Tigers, and i started reading up on 512.421 pages of team forum posts. Man, these guys talk a lot. :D
It's been quite a learning curve so far, fun ride though. And they were right to kill my long term plan, no hard feeling there!
This season you seem well placed to promote from amateur. Give us a brief overview of your season so far; has it gone according to plan?
Not at all. My initial plan (with a long term driver) did involve a promotion push for Pro this season, but as stated above: that plan was shot down for good reasons.
New plan was to stick around Amateur for a while longer, and stay clear of any hefty promo battles.
Failed again: currently find myself in quite the unexpected promotion spot.
I've been trying to sign a decent Amateur driver for less than 3M a race. Zero luck there, and with a promotion now lurking, i've halted the driver hunt and will see if i can land the promotion with trusty Brazilian Bruno, at which point we'll break up and go our own ways.
When you returned to the game in S53 you recruited a young driver to train. Do you think so-called 'project drivers' are still a viable option in the 'energy era'?
I think project drivers are still a viable option, it is the definition of the project itself that has changed.
Don't think it'll be feasible to bring a competitive driver from Rookie to Elite anymore, or even to Master.
However, if you narrow the definition of 'project' down to less racing classes, i think a project driver can still work. Rookie-to-Pro, Pro-Master only, etcetera.
Tell us about your future plans in GPRO. Are you here long-term?
Can't predict the future of course, but i'm having loads of fun, an equal amount of ambition and i'm stubborn as f***, so i guess you could safely say that i'll be here for a while! Elite is the ultimate goal, and hopefully helping the Tigers grab another title or cup along the way.
While you still have relatively few races under your belt, has anything jumped out at you that you would change if you were a GPRO admin?
Phew, good question. There's tons of small things that come to mind regarding the user interface of the game and site; but that'll just be nitpicking. Professional force of habit, sorry ;)
Bigger things that keep coming to mind:
- decide your own test track for the season (each with a price of course, otherwise everyone would pick Jyllands all the time)
- more depth in tyre strategy during the race: would be great if we can set up more than one compound to use.
The live race screen would be a nice bit of eye candy, but it won't be a game changer in a way that Driver Energy is.
What advice would you give to players who are just starting their GPRO journey now?
Get a mentor, and get yourself a team. Discussing strategies, random banter, laughing at (and with) one another. It really is the social bit that lifts a game from being just another management sim to an actual platform where you'll have a good time, next to doing some racing! Who knows, you might make some friends (and of course enemies) along the way.
Any final words for the admins or community?
I'll let the admins focus on getting the S57 calendar sorted.
As for the community: love you all buddies! Except this one guy that kept on kicking my ass in R236. ;)
Thanks for the questions Max, hope this gives you and the readers some insight in the boring matter that is my life. Cheers!
Many thanks for your time, Miel. Best of luck in all your GPRO endeavours.
Interviewer:
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I was gonna ask for one you to get your ass up and give us something to read! Missed the notification.
Zebra Racing :D
Great interview :)
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gpro Verstappen, just less older :)
nice interview, but at least next few seasons Miel will be compared with Roland, this is very high standart :)
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Thanks Max for another great interview. :-)
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Zebra? ZEBRA?!? :D
Not going to read any further until i get a proper notification.
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The pronounciation of my name is going to be a long tail thing here, isn't it?
Might even turn it into a silly game. Submit an mp3 and let's see who gets closest :D
Thanks for the interview Max!
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Quote ( Miel Soeterbroek @ December 28th 2016,12:19:30 ) The pronounciation of my name is going to be a long tail thing here, isn't it?
Might even turn it into a silly game. Submit an mp3 and let's see who gets closest :D
I agree. You will need a prize pot though.
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Finally I am feeling Quicktoxic again....
Welcome Back Max...
A Good Interview......
Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All........
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Quote ( Luke Frost @ December 28th 2016,13:35:14 ) Miel is the future 😎
We're all doomed!
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Quote ( Max Watson @ December 28th 2016,11:49:22 ) GPROers
GPROnists! :D
(Just started reading but supposedly it'll have a good taste.)
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Really good!
Quote ( Miel Soeterbroek @ December 28th 2016,11:49:22 ) (and of course enemies)
Of course.
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great chat, loved reading it :)
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Hello once again, my fellow Quixxers. Time to blow away the dour fog of a midweek in January with a refreshing blast of new interview material!
This week we're chatting to the current leader in M1. He's talkative, charismatic, and a pirate! What more could one ask for? He's also very patriotic, and anyone who studies his country's flag will cedar reason why. (The jokes don't get any better, do they - Ed)
Welcome, Ayman. Tell us about yourself, what you get up to besides GPRO, and how you make a living.
First of all I want to thank you for this interview.
Ok what can I tell you about myself…hmm, Ok let’s start from the beginning. I was born on a rainy night at New Year’s Eve, I remember the doctor holding me upside down and slapping me on my butt, from that moment on I turned into a pervert. Ok,Ok…I will not bore you with the details, lets fast forward then : )
I am married, and have one child, a boy, he is 5 and half years old now. I work at Globemed Lebanon, a third party administrator for medical insurance companies. My role is giving approvals for patient admissions to hospitals.
I loved all kinds of sports, especially football, but my passion to sports dwindled in the past few years…I still follow, but not as much as before.
I love reading. I read fantasy novels mainly, started long time ago, and still doing that.
I love games that involve thinking and solving riddles. So I love intellectual games. I still remember pc games that I played while I was still a teenager like Monkey Island, I liked that kind of games.
Later I tried many online games, but when I found GPRO, It became the only game that I play. It just stole me and mesmerized me. It was like magic. It includes what I love, being a game that needs you to use your brain, but what clinched it for me was the competition against fellow managers, I just love it.
Well that is a summary, If you want a detailed biography, you can contact my secretary, Andrea Squizzato, and he will provide you with the details for the purchase :P
You hail from Lebanon, a vibrant country with a rich history. Without getting political, please tell us a little about what it's like to live/work there.
It’s a lovely country, if not for its corrupt politicians. It’s a small country but big in its diversities, from its people to its landscapes.
Lebanese loves life here in Lebanon, and even with all the setbacks we face, people in Lebanon knows how to take the bright side and live life to the fullest.
PS: This note is for Gareth love. Lebanese is not Lesbanese...It’s not a land full of Lesbians....I just wanted to make that clear for him once and for all.
You're a member of the Nuvolari Pirates. For those who might not know, could you tell us about Nuvolari, and how the family of teams works together?
"Italians have a little joke, that the world is so hard a man must have two fathers to look after him, and that's why they have godfathers" - Mario Puzo, The Godfather.
Our godfather is Marco Predappio :)
The Nuvolari family started with Nuvolari Racing, which is an all Italian team. After that Nuvolari expanded its vision and started a project to include managers from all over the world. That's when Nuvolari Pirates was established (Season 33), and after that Nuvolari Predators. The 4th team in the Nuvolari family is Nuvolari Classics which consists of Nuvolari family members that gave a lot to the family, who still love the game, but real life has taken them away and as tribute to them Nuvolari classics was established.
Our Vision is:
Nuvolari's Home Rules
#1. Nuvolari is a unique Family composed of brothers aimed to become the best GPRO managers.
#2. Nuvolari's fundamental values are brotherhood, loyalty and fairness.
#3. Each Nuvolari contributes to the Family's needs with his/her best abilities.
We have an external forum where everything (GPRO related, and all other stuff) are communicated. We also have a Telegram group for chatting.
As a summary, I want to say that Nuvolari has become a real family for me. And what members share is so beautiful that we became brothers. The atmosphere is great, and I am grateful and happy to be a member of this family.
You're currently leading your master group using Michelini tyres. Talk us through your season so far; did you anticipate the large proportion of premium tyres?
Yes I did anticipate that, otherwise I would not have chosen Michelini tires. And with driver energy introduction the option of premium tires in Masters increased because of the lower risks used in races.
From last season I knew that I was going to face this decision about tires. I knew that Mehdi El Fathy was going to, and I knew that it was the promotion season to Stefan Gommans and Karl-Martin Müür and had a feeling that they were going to use premium tires. In addition to Carlo Merli who is always choosing premium tires lately.
So it was either Dunnolops or Michelini for me...I did a budget plan for both tires, obviously Dunnolops was the better plan financially, but I had doubts about how my driver will develop if I chose Dunnolops. Taking into account that there will be some strong opponents with premium tires, I knew that I was going to be forced to use so many Spa trainings. I didn't want to get to Elite with a driver that is not ready, and you don't know how the driver market will be then.
So I chose Michelini tires, and things are going very good, I only did 1 Spa training this season and I will not do another. I had a small setback with a tire puncture that cost me around 13M, but I adapted and did little changes in my car upgrades. I am doing testing regularly, doing all the staff and facilities improvements needed, and should finish this season with around 60M. And that is very good for me as I do not like to pay taxes, and you can see that when you look at my manager’s profile page, I always try to finish seasons with not much more than 50M. I prefer investing money rather than paying taxes.
Your driver has been with you since S48. Talk a little about if/how the introduction of driver energy has affected your long-term plan, and what you think about the feature in general.
I like Driver energy introduction so far, it gave the game a forward push, and it was time to introduce a big change to the game.
I do have some doubts about Spa training though, because it is hindering drivers development. It looks like the driver market will have bad times in the future.
But will Spa training kill long term drivers development completely? If you think of it, I think the answer will be no. Or in other words it will diminish long term drivers. I think from Rookie to Pro there will not be a problem in training a long term driver. When in masters it will be possible to continue, but a bit difficult. For example in my situation, I am able to continue my long term driver plan, but to do so I am with a premium tire.
Also there is the question, isn’t it better now to get a ready driver, train Spa all season, and use Dunnolops for example, than choosing to continue training driver and use premium tires? Or if in Elite isn’t the best option is to get a ready driver, use Spa, and push in all races. Even if a ready driver is much more expensive than a long term trained driver.
Another question arise, will there be ready drivers in the future to choose the above option?
In my situation I chose the premium tires option, and continuing my long term driver training. As I said above I do not know how the market will be next season, and my driver’s low salary is helping, and is an incentive to try and keep for Elite (for a couple of seasons anyway, as his age does not help to keep him more). And in my case, I am keeping an open option, I may still try to get a driver next season if one was available, but I need this driver to be as a backup if I failed to find or sign one.
As a conclusion, I like this feature because it brought a new challenge to the game.
You've been in the elite tier previously, from S40 to S43. How do you think your situation now compares to what it was back then? Do you feel better prepared?
In S43 (My last Elite season) I chose Pipirelli tires and started my preparation for my Elite comeback. From that time onward I was improving my package on all aspects.
So for sure my package is much better than my last Elite visit. Last time I was in Elite, my package was very bad actually, and I only survived because of OBP tires and strategies.
My car level was not good as my CCP gain from testing was terrible, I was not ready sponsor wise and could not sign new sponsors because of OBP strategies. So I learned my lesson, and it was only inevitable that I start to have financial problems.
I am glad that I stayed 4 seasons in Elite last time with all the problems I had and my inferior package, but I got the Elite experience I wanted. I hope this time around I will do better.
Much has changed since your last visit to elite: not just the introduction of driver energy, but the retirement of the first-generation TDs and the ever-shifting roster of players in the top tier. Are you anticipating it being a different world to what it was back in S40? Do you think the (usually) quick turnover of players in elite is good for the game, or should more be done to help the midfield?
I wouldn’t say a different world, but nothing stays the same, so yes it will be different. My strategy this time will be different than last time because of my better package, so yes it will be different from this aspect too.
As for the second part of the question, I think turnover is not a bad thing. When you say helping the midfield I can only think of better sponsor toleration, because if you are in the midfield of the Elite tier, you should aim to pass that position in a couple of seasons.
In a couple of seasons you can use your available sponsors, improve your driver, and package and try to have better results after that. If you were not able to achieve this, then there is no point in staying there and it will be better to go back to masters and come back stronger and aim for a better than a midfield manager.
At least that is what my approach will be. Last time I needed to go back to amateur because I needed a lot of seasons of preparation, but if you already have a good package, going back to masters for a few seasons is not a bad thing.
If you were a GPRO admin, what would you be looking to change about the game?
I really do not know, as for me the game is perfect, or I would not have stayed all this time playing this game. But maybe there should be a tweak in the spa training effect. I am not sure how, but I feel that something need to be done about that. And I would have said that I would like a better race screen interface, but that is already being worked on, so that is amazing.
Ohh, there is one thing I like GPRO admins to change, and that is to correct my most head to head losses against Flo, I am sure that number is wrong :P
Are you excited about the changes Vlad intends to make to the game in the future, or do you believe new features to be less useful than stability for keeping players interested?
I think any change is always good, otherwise things can become stagnant. I do not think that a change can make players to lose interest, on the contrary it will give new challenges and the game will become more interesting.
But unlike how the driver energy was introduced, I think it will be better for that kind of big changes to be announced at the start of a particular season, saying that this will happen as of next season.
Mehdi El Fathy was admitted to Nuvolari in S50. Did someone press the wrong button?
It is all Andrea’s fault (as always), he is responsible for that button. I do not know what happened actually, we were going to look for the next applicant and all of a sudden, Mehdi was admitted.
Accounts say that it had something to do with nude pics and fantasies realized. But all I really know is that Andrea was happier after Mehdi joined.
Any final words for the admins or community?
I want to thank the admins for this great game. I have been playing this game for over 6 years now, and I don’t remember a day without logging in.
For me it is a place where I put the pressures of life behind me, where I have fun and enjoy playing a wonderful game.
Also I want to thank the community, because if it weren’t for them this game would not have continued all this time.
Thanks again for the interview Max, it’s been a pleasure.
Many thanks for your time, Ayman. Best of luck to you in elite!
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It bloody well is Lesbanon!! Some say scissoring was invented very close to Aymans hut, it is scientifically proven that female tongues are an inch longer there and finally, Mia Khalifa.
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Quote ( Max Watson @ January 4th 2017,10:59:21 ) Ohh, there is one thing I like GPRO admins to change, and that is to correct my most head to head losses against Flo, I am sure that number is wrong :P
I knew this was gonna come up in the interview :D, sweet child o'mine :P
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Quote ( Max Watson @ January 4th 2017,10:59:21 ) Accounts say that it had something to do with nude pics and fantasies realized. But all I really know is that Andrea was happier after Mehdi joined.
Usual Mehdi stuff.
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Quote ( Max Watson @ January 4th 2017,10:59:21 ) Mehdi El Fathy was admitted to Nuvolari in S50. Did someone press the wrong button?
Not in the team for sure. :)
Nice interview BTW. Enjoyed reading it
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I enjoy reading these interviews but as some constructive criticism. There tends to be a lot of acronyms, and subject matter that without context make s no sense to me as a new player.
Also it would be nice for some links to further reading. Such as it mentions some work being developed on the race screen. A link to the devoper post on this would be cool.
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#1136 geplaatst Jan 4 2017, 14:58:17 (laatst aangepast Jan 4 2017, 14:58:51 door Jon Day)
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Nice interview Max and Ayman. Enjoyed that. :-)
Quote ( Ayman @ January 4th 2017,10:59:21 ) It’s a lovely country Its a Beautiful country.
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See Ayman, two guys didn't like that you call me your secretary. Twenty guys loved to know that I touch Mehdi's button.
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Dammit Batman. No mention of me at all (Starts fuming) :D. You gave Meg too much attention. :p
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