Live Chat With Greg, Tom & Darik

[Greg Ambrosius]

Just a heads up that we had 7-8 NFBC owners testing out the new FAAB and new Set Lineup pages this week and we got feedback from most of them. If anyone tested the FAAB setup and didn't send responses please do so ASAP. Thanks to everyone who tested it out.

We allowed those owners to test FAAB on their current teams, so obviously nobody has 10 or more teams right now to really see the full advantage of this while running multiple teams. But the consensus was that the new FAAB features saved time and was what we wanted. We got some great suggestions on how to tweak the features and how to make Set Lineup even better, but for the most part it was a smooth test period.

The IT team is tweaking some of those suggestions and soon we'll have Darik shoot some video so that we can explain how all of those new features work. That will help everyone understand the new features and then soon after that hopefully we can have this available for everyone on their team pages.

We still have some work to do, but we are moving forward. If anyone who tested the new software wants to make comments here, that would be fine. Any feedback from those owners would be helpful in letting folks know the hard work is done and this is going to be a time saver for owners this season.

Thanks all. We can't wait to unveil this to everyone and save you valuable time this season.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Has any thought been given, or any discussion been had, about eliminating the overall prizes for the auctions & higher dollar DC's and just treating them as Satellites and having more money in league prizes??? I know I personally would prefer that auctions & $400DC's & $1000DC's be treated as satellites & not part of an overall contest. Seeing as typically the higher dollar DC's have a higher skill level of participant, what are the numbers for the 400DC's & 1000 DC's cashing in the overall contest, my guess is not well given they're competing against the candy-ass 150's? And if you were to consider this, how much more $$$ would be allocated back into the league? And why not just make it a $500DC instead of 400 so we would then have the lottery ticket $150DC's part of the overall contest, and a $500 & $1000DC as stand-alone satellites not part of the overall contest with more money put back into the league? More options & choices without handicapping those in the higher dollar DC's. I understand it for the Main Event, the OC, & Cutline, but other than those "National" contests, I for one feel the NFBC as a whole overvalues the allure of the lottery-ticket overall prize at the expense of the allure of league prizes in these other contests.

Coz, we haven't thought about making the $400 or $1,000 DCs separate from the overall championship. Each Draft Champions league -- no matter what the price -- pays $350 to the overall prize pool. So in the $150 DC we pay out $1450 in league prizes and put another $350 toward the overall prize pool. In the $400 DC we pay out $4500 in league prizes and put $350 in the overall prize pool. We actually pay out slightly more than 80 percent for that contest, so basically there would be another $300 in prizes if we didn't include this format in the overall prizes. In the $1,000 DCs, we pay all $12,000 in league prizes and we don't put any league funds into the overall prize pool. That comes from us, so payouts for this league are really 82.33%. So nothing would change from the $1,000 DCs other than those owners wouldn't be playing for the overall prize pool.

So we really aren't hurting the league prizes in the $400 and $1,000 DC formats. Again, we would add $300 in league prizes in the $400 DC, but the chance to win $30,000 or other overall prizes is now available. People are definitely playing in that format because they like the higher league prizes, but we feel keeping them part of the overall contest helps us and them, too.

There's one owner who ALWAYS tells me that he hates that the $2,500 New York Auction is part of the Auction Championship. Yes, league prizes are smaller there and the competition is tough, so his point is that it should just be a private league. I hear him. He says nobody has a chance to win the overall prize from that format. And then sure enough Anson Chan won the New York $2500 Auction Championship and the overall Auction Championship in 2016. He won the $20,000 league prize and the $25,000 grand prize. So it can be done.

Hope this helps explain our position on all of this. Thanks for the question.

[DOUGHBOYS]

I was one of the testers of the FAAB search and other enhancements.
Admittedly, I was probably the wrong fella to test FAAB.
I've never felt that the software made FAAB tedious or timestaking (shuddup spellchecker! It's like painstaking.)
In fact, if the NFBC wants to toot a horn about an IT item over the years, it is FAAB.
I haven't seen a better FAAB set-up anywhere else
What makes FAAB tedious or timestaking for me is all between my ears.
That said, the search added to FAAB looks to be a good feature and will probably save folks lotsa time.
The rosters needed fixed and I made suggestions to Greg that were sent to IT.

It looks like they are on the right track.
I'll bet that everybody would feel better if they can get a looksee into their rosters and FAAB as soon as possible.
I know that IT is still working on these items.
Do they have an expected time for everybody to see rosters and FAAB, Greg?

[Greg Ambrosius]

Thanks Dan. I don't have an exact date yet, but very soon. We agree that most people want to see all of these features and we're working hard to get them live. But we still have a bit of testing and tweaking to do thanks to all of the great input. Should be soon though.

[Edwards Kings]

I asked Dan this question directly on another post, so I will ask you guys (c'mon Darik, open up!)

Fewer starts. Shorter starts.

How is this Brave New World changing some of the drafts do you think? More pitchers early? Are greater premiums on those guys we think will average at least six innings per start? More balanced starter/reliever mix...more 7th/8th inning relievers?

And with closer turnover plus the new strategy employed by some managers to use their best bullpen arm when the meat of the order is up, regardless of whether it is the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning, is it time we saw Kenley Jansen in the first round (which I am not sure if we have seen a closer taken in the first round of the Main since Year One) or just drafting three and hoping to get 1.5...or just carving out 75% of you FAAB money for the closer lottery?

[Thurman15]

Getting back to the post by Coz, I agree with him. I'm pro NFBC 100%. Greatest thing since sliced bread. So I'm always going to enter auctions, but if I had a vote, I'd rather see more money in the individual league, than in an overall pool. I'm not complaining one bit. Just saying that as far as auctions go, that is what I would prefer. At any rate.....good news boys....3 weeks till spring training.

[Greg Ambrosius]

One of the really nice features that the new IT guys implemented this year involves online drafts and their start times. With STATS, the best we got was that a league had to sell out 15 minutes before the start time or you had to push the draft back one hour. That put a lot of stress on us selling everything out 15 minutes in advance or contacting everyone signed up for that league if they can start an hour later. We lost a lot of almost-full leagues that way.

This problem was one of the first things that SportsHub fixed for us and it worked to perfection last night. We had a Cutline Championship league scheduled for 9 pm ET and we were still 5 spots short an hour out. But we got some late signups, everyone held in there and we sold it out at 9:15 pm. The league was created quickly, draft spots were delivered quickly and we were starting in 10 minutes. We had such a good group last night that this 10-team, 42-round draft got done in under 2 minutes. GREAT JOB EVERYONE!!

A year ago we would have lost this league and wasted an evening for many of our owners. Instead everyone was patient and we filled it up. Not only did we fill it up but it was a great league with great owners. I'm so glad this portion of our online drafts has moved into the 21st century. It was an issue that really should have been addressed long ago by the developers.

Enjoy all.

[Greg Ambrosius]

One other nice thing about the new software is the drafts themselves. Again, last night we didn't have a single HELP call. I think we've had one total so far. Just amazing how much easier it is to watch drafts now with the new draft software. Just getting folks into the draft room because of Flash software was hard last year.

Keep up the good work everyone. You're making our jobs easier.

[Greg Ambrosius]

I asked Dan this question directly on another post, so I will ask you guys (c'mon Darik, open up!)

Fewer starts. Shorter starts.

How is this Brave New World changing some of the drafts do you think? More pitchers early? Are greater premiums on those guys we think will average at least six innings per start? More balanced starter/reliever mix...more 7th/8th inning relievers?

And with closer turnover plus the new strategy employed by some managers to use their best bullpen arm when the meat of the order is up, regardless of whether it is the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning, is it time we saw Kenley Jansen in the first round (which I am not sure if we have seen a closer taken in the first round of the Main since Year One) or just drafting three and hoping to get 1.5...or just carving out 75% of you FAAB money for the closer lottery?

Sorry about this Wayne. I didn't see this question.

I think the lack of 200-K pitchers these last two years has pushed those guys up in our NFBC drafts. I mean, only 15 Starting Pitchers each of the last two years has struck out 200 or more batters. As a result, you're seeing 15 Starting Pitchers go in the Top 50 right now and even closers with big strikeout potential like Jansen and Kimbrel are going in the Top 50. That's 17 pitchers in the Top 50.

I'm not sure the setup guys will ever get enough love in a straight 5x5 Rotisserie league. I don't see that trend happening now, other than people drafting the top setup guys with the idea of them eventually becoming the closers.

Maybe one thing we're seeing is guys who always seem to get no more than 150 innings getting a little more love than they did in the past. I mean Alex Wood is still a Top 100 pitcher in the NFBC even though 150 innings is a high water mark for him. Maybe owners realize now that those could be 150 good innings and they know they have to find replacements for every other pitcher they own too, so they might as well grab him and take what he gives you. I don't know, but it does seem like we realize that finding anyone who goes 200+ innings today is something special, so we're treating almost everyone as a 150-180 Inning Pitcher and knowing we have a lot of work to do during the season.

If anything the 7th and 8th inning guys could be good pickups in Rounds 24-30 so that when you do need a replacement for a Pitcher you can insert someone who won't hurt you rather than picking up a third-line SP for a bad start or two.

Just my two cents.

[Edwards Kings]

Thanks Greg. I think you are correct, with teams only interested in high octane/high stress/shutdown innings from its starters, fewer innings (per year/per start) seems to continue to be the vogue. All things baseball run in cycles, but this one seems to still be on top until we start seeing some top-rated arms in the minors noted more for their control than their gas.

Another thought...how many "shares" would you commit to Melancon? Everybodies All-American last year, Rodney Dangerfield this year.

Anyone else want to chime in...i.e. talk some baseball?

[lrr]

A new piece of information that I haven't seen anyone mention is a great addition. Below your KDS preference after the order is chosen is something called "Choice Order'. In my league it says "12". I Had the seventh pick. I think that means I was the twelfth picked out of the hat so to speak. I think this is the first time in the history of the NFBC that this info has been given. if I am wrong about this let me know.

[Tom Kessenich]

A new piece of information that I haven't seen anyone mention is a great addition. Below your KDS preference after the order is chosen is something called "Choice Order'. In my league it says "12". I Had the seventh pick. I think that means I was the twelfth picked out of the hat so to speak. I think this is the first time in the history of the NFBC that this info has been given. if I am wrong about this let me know.

Correct. That's a nice new addition our tech team made. Just some more info for you to see how KDS ran and how you got your spot. Thanks for noticing.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Thanks Greg. I think you are correct, with teams only interested in high octane/high stress/shutdown innings from its starters, fewer innings (per year/per start) seems to continue to be the vogue. All things baseball run in cycles, but this one seems to still be on top until we start seeing some top-rated arms in the minors noted more for their control than their gas.

Another thought...how many "shares" would you commit to Melancon? Everybodies All-American last year, Rodney Dangerfield this year.

Anyone else want to chime in...i.e. talk some baseball?

We grabbed Melancon in the FSTA Draft we're doing now as our second closer. Definitely some risk there after he had surgery in September on his right forearm, but he seems to be pitching already and should be ready for spring training. You have to take some gambles when looking for Saves, but I think the upside there is strong. We're on him.

[Philippe27]

Last year Syndergaard was the 4th pitcher off the board with an ADP of 17.68 but in the main even his ADP was about 15.4.

This year Kluber is the 4th pitcher and has an ADP of 13.51.

Do you think it's the rest of the drafters catching up to the way people have been drafting in the main event or do you expect the same kind of jump as last year (and I assume previous years as well) where the top 4 pitchers will be gone in most drafts by pick 11?

[Greg Ambrosius]

I posted this on another thread, but thought I'd post here as well to keep everyone up to date on our tech side:

I apologize for the delayed response on the launch of our online auction software, but I wanted to make sure I had all the facts before posting. I knew that the testing went well last week, but I knew we were still building out the auction board and had some other priorities to take care of first. So I waited to respond before I knew for sure.

The good news is that the software is working well and we are excited to bring online auctions to all of our contests this year. However, that is likely to start in football now for online auctions, not baseball. As much as we'd like to roll this out for use in the next few weeks, we're going to have to finish baseball on RTSports.com for the remaining NFBC online auctions. That includes the Beat Greg, Tom & Darik Auction league.

What we HAVE to finish first is the auction Admin software we need for the live auctions. That is critical for the live auctions and it's a different component than what we use for drafts. We need to display the auction values and make sure the software allows each owner only $260 to bid on players while also showing Max Bids and Remaining $s. We are also reconfiguring the auction board so that you can see what each team has per position. So we'll show the auction board similar to what RT Sports has, showing the two catcher positions first, followed by 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, MI, CI, UT, 5-OF and 9-Pitchers. This is so much easier to use during a live auction because you can easily see which owners need a second catcher, which owners need a first baseman, etc. Having the players listed by order of acquisition makes it very difficult to tell what each owner still needs with their final acquisitions.

So the auction board is being finalized now, along with the auction Admin. The online bidding portion of this is done, tested and good to go. But we're finishing the rest of the items we have left and will debut the online auction software in football.

Sorry about that, but thanks to Andy and Todd for still pushing and running the online auctions. Tom is getting rosters entered into the NFBC site shortly after those are done and we'll finish out on RTSports.com. Thanks again to Mark and Tim at RT for allowing us to use their great online auction software during this interim. We look forward to debuting in football and even rolling it out in basketball before making our first appearance in baseball in 2019.

Thanks all and best of luck in future online auctions and we look forward to seeing everyone at the live auctions.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Just a heads up that we did unveil a slightly new look on your My Teams page. We did break out your teams by contest and you can move the teams within each contest category. We will allow you to drag 'n drop each contest category shortly as well so that your Main Events are at the top of your My Teams list rather than your $125 DC Auction. That will come shortly.

We've also added in a Status category that shows you where you are in your current Draft Champions League. I can see one owners' team page that shows a green button that he is On Deck in one DC and another DC where he it says "21 picks away." So that's a nice addition to the My Teams page.

Check it out when you have time. Enjoy.

[Yah Mule]

Just a heads up that we did unveil a slightly new look on your My Teams page. We did break out your teams by contest and you can move the teams within each contest category. We will allow you to drag 'n drop each contest category shortly as well so that your Main Events are at the top of your My Teams list rather than your $125 DC Auction. That will come shortly.

We've also added in a Status category that shows you where you are in your current Draft Champions League. I can see one owners' team page that shows a green button that he is On Deck in one DC and another DC where he it says "21 picks away." So that's a nice addition to the My Teams page.

Check it out when you have time. Enjoy.

Bravo! Please pass along my thanks and appreciation to IT for this beautiful and functional redesign.

[ChipChopChip]

Thanks for the update on the auction leagues

[76erfan]

Thanks for the update on the auction leagues

I will continue to live in rtsports land:) all good but look fwd to next year on nfbc

[Greg Ambrosius]

Just one more item to update today: We had hoped to have a video showing the new FAAB features out this week, but one of our original testers saw a couple of features that would make FAAB even easier to use. We are adding those features now and will shoot the video after we've added these tools. They were great suggestions as we will make sure Ownership Percentage is more prominent on FAAB, we are making sure that a conditional bid can't be higher than the primary bid, and we're improving the conditional bid feature to have the dollar amount change more easily.

Once we have those features finalized we'll test again and make the video. We'll then make available soon after on your team pages. Sorry for the delay, but I think these extra features will help, especially the last one. Thanks all.

[Yah Mule]

The design changes to the draft board and roster grid pages are very well done. They're an improvement aesthetically and very functional. Each page is easier to read, while also providing more information on the screen without scrolling.

[Gekko]

The design changes to the draft board and roster grid pages are very well done. They're an improvement aesthetically and very functional. Each page is easier to read, while also providing more information on the screen without scrolling.

This!

[Greg Ambrosius]

The design changes to the draft board and roster grid pages are very well done. They're an improvement aesthetically and very functional. Each page is easier to read, while also providing more information on the screen without scrolling.

Thanks. We are still testing out the draft board for live events too, so expect a few more changes before mid-March. The latest changes are made for 30-round and 50-round drafts, but could change as we approach the live drafts, where ideally we need the stickers big enough to see from 25 feet back. Expect a few slight changes going forward.

Rosters and Roster Grid looks more organized now. We just updated My Teams as well so that you can drag 'n drop the contest headers along with the teams within each contest category. Check it out.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Sorry for the delay on this, but owners who now time out twice in a row in Draft Champions Leagues will go on Auto Pick. We thought we had it set up that way originally, but apparently not. It is now set up to put that owner on Auto Pick going forward, so here we go.

Let's keep these Draft Champions Leagues moving and get through 2-4 rounds per day. Thanks all and good luck.

[Gekko]

Woot woot. Thanks GREG! Just for that, i’ll Sign up for another league today