I think I have read somewhere that the free cyclists will remain, like in the old game.
So, in my opinion indeed a good idea of ValarMorghulis to test that as well, also because it is very important in playing this game.
My suggestion is to add a few things in the text about the free cyclists, because in the old game I saw that new managers often already had 2 free cyclists before they were on the forum or before they had a mentor.
And in almost every case, they had very bad and too old free cyclists.
And that could even be a reason for beginners to stop after a few weeks or a few months, when they know this game a little bit better and they realize that their free cyclists are bad and very important.
One of the most things I heard beginners complain about in the past few years, because they were dissapointed in themselves that they made the wrong choices in the very important free cyclists.
Avoid dissapointment of starting managers should be very important. Many times I have said to beginners ; don't worry, almost every starting manager makes the same mistakes in picking the wrong (bad and old) free cyclists.
So, in the new game the text about the free cyclists could be better, and my suggestion is to add this in the text :
# emphasize importance of the free cyclists.
# indicate that unexperienced starting managers are smart if they accept the free cyclists in consultation with an experienced manager.
# indicate that it is smart to wait a long time before accepting the free cyclists, better choices if they are experienced/know this game better.
My suggestion is also to extend the period that a starting manager can accept the 2 free cyclists.
Now it is after 2 or 3 weeks when someone starts, if I remember correctly ( I'm not sure ).
Way better that this period is 2 months or so.
Advantages/benefits of the 2 months period =
# the starting manager has something to look forward to for a longer time. So less chance he will stop after a short while and a bigger chance he will play this game "forever" (so, also more chance he will be supporter).
# and even more important, avoid disappointment of bad chosen free cyclists. Which can lead to stopping this game.
( # in my opinion there are no disadvantages in extending the period after which a starting manager can accept the 2 free cyclists. )
Sorry, a bit of a long text about this subject, but in my opinion worth it, because I think this is one of the major "problems" of the old game.
Another subject :
The second most frequently heard complaint from beginners was that access to the forum did not work.
Also important that this will be better, because starting a game and to feel excluded is not fun, and it could be a reason to stop prematurely before knowing that this game is awesome and a lot of fun. And even besides that the forum makes this game even more fun, it is also better to learn this game faster for a starting manager when he has access to the forum. Also for the experienced managers more fun when there are more people/beginners on the forum, so the forum will be more active and therefore more fun.
But I read somewhere about why there are some forum access difficulties for beginners, and I understand that a good screening is essential to avoid software problems. If there is a possibility for beginners to access the forum more fast, it would be nice. If not, communicate with the beginner why it takes a while so he will not stop the game for the reason of feeling excluded. This communication could also be a standard text when the beginner starts the game.