I’ve been playing with the updated mod since you released it and completed about 5 seasons in total. So far I’ve enjoyed all the changes. Especially those to marketability.
I think you’ve already started down the right path with the way you calculate marketability now and I don’t think tweaking the calculation is going to make too much of a difference. I think you can perfect it simply by reshuffling the sponsors a little.
I say that because I feel there’s only one problem with marketability, as it stands right now, that makes it feel like we’re being unfairly punished by the new calculations. Namely, that level 2 and level 3 sponsors often aren’t an upgrade over many of the common level 1 sponsors like Carne (200K a race) or Peach Plum (350K a race, that’s on par with many level 4 sponsors!), or the three-year Rusjet deal (In ERS and APS that works out to around 200K a race, not counting the placement bonus).
Although I know there are some very powerful sponsors to be found at level 2 and 3 (Ravelli at 400K a race for instance) these appear to be rare. Maybe the Random Number Generator Gods just hate me, but I always seem to get the crappy 150K - 175K offers. Because of that, I’m now in the crazy situation where I employ a 0% marketability reserve whom I sub in to suppress my marketability whenever a good 1-star contract is about to run out.
Finally, I think there should be high-level variants of placement sponsors like Rusjet. At level 4 or 5 there should be a sponsor with a placement bonus of something like 100K for finishing 16th or above. Nothing extravagant, just something that’s achievable, even for a newly promoted team. Because another problem I’ve run into is that high-level sponsors also have much higher placement requirements. I believe that once you’re at level 4 marketability the lowest possible placement sponsor is at 7th or better and even the upfront cash you get from them can be disappointing compared to that of low-level sponsors like Rusjet or Wan Chai.
Oh, and I also enjoy the critical parts the way they are implemented right now.