Slow Drafts

[DOUGHBOYS]

Through my not-so-keen eyes, it looks like Draft Championships are filling slower this year. Maybe it was the injuries of last year. We in fantasy, say 'Tommy John' as the media says 'ebola'.
We look at Roto World news during our starters off day, see our pitchers name on the subject line and mutter, "Crap".
Any news of a starting pitcher on an off day is hardly ever good news.
For some of us, it takes time to get over injury. So, we become reluctant to enter an early draft.
Don't.

Slow drafts are the sweetest of sweet misery.
While drafting we'll target a player. As each drafter drafts, that player gets closer and closer to us.
He is almost on our roster.
I liken this to a Viagra commercial. You know, the ones where they have a beautiful woman in a semi-revealing outfit walking in slow motion. With lips parted, she tells us how they'd rather curl up at night with a good man than a good book.
It's a great hook.
I'm reaching for a phone to call my doctor.
Then....
Then...
The drafter before us takes OUR guy.
It's like Flo from Progressive following the Viagra commercial.
We put down the phone.
And worse, we were figuratively aroused for four hours, only to have the air let out of our,,,balloon.
The misery is all part of the pleasure though.
We tell ourselves that we didn't need that guy, anyway.
Screw him. And screw the guy who took him.

Sometimes, we'll hate the pace of a slo-draft. This is fixable. There are drafts run every once in awhile with a good pace in mind. Look for them if concerned about pace.
Sometimes, I enjoy the slow pace of a draft. Especially early in the season. I'll do some 'studying' on players and literally change my pick a dozen times before a guy, long on the clock picks.
And once he does pick, I still take some time in a slow draft to make sure I'm right.
The worst case scenario in a slow draft is getting upset at one sombitch who seemingly takes time on purpose.
Remember him. Look at his name. And make a note to never get in a draft with him again if he upsets us.
Luckily, there aren't too many of these procrastinators.

A Draft Championship is three weeks of mind crafting.
Does Dustin Pedroia's grit override his propensity for injury?
What if Tulo stays healthy?
Will Stanton 'get fat' with his new contract?
Is Seattle where home run hitters like Cano, to a lesser extent, and Cruz, more so, go to die?
These questions are but a few minutes of the things running through our minds for three weeks.
If you're a veteran, burned by injury or bad luck, dip your toes again.
If you're new to slow drafting, enter one. I can almost guarantee that you'll miss that draft when it concludes.
You'll want to get in another and probably, another.

[Winston's Empire]

Not sure the reason they are willing slower, but we should have the first $400 slow filled by around Valentines Day I figure

[Greg Ambrosius]

Thanks for the kind words about Slow Drafts Dan and thanks for showing the high points of the product. However, at this time last year we also had 8 full DCs and this year the season starts a week later, so interest is very similar to last season. Remember, there is this other fantasy sport called fantasy football that consumes many of our baseball customers and right now is the heart of the season over there. Once December is over, many of our customers turn their full attention to baseball and that's when we sell out Draft Champions Leagues on a daily basis.

The enthusiasm is still there for baseball even with a slew of injuries last season. It's a new season, so why not draft a whole new group of injured players, right? Good luck all and jump in when you're ready.

[Vander]

Yet another masterfully written piece. You missed your calling Dough. Shoulda been a writer. A baseball writer.

[Roger Dorn]

Are we doing Cutlines in 2015? Maybe some are waiting on those?

[Greg Ambrosius]

Are we doing Cutlines in 2015? Maybe some are waiting on those?

I thought it was a go, but it doesn't look promising now. Don't wait on those anymore.

[Navel Lint]

Are we doing Cutlines in 2015? Maybe some are waiting on those?

I thought it was a go, but it doesn't look promising now. Don't wait on those anymore.

Is the Cutline really not happening, or are you just pumping the Slow Drafts?

If it's not happening, that's disappointing. The game has been talked about for a year, rules have been posted, and a $50,000 top prize were already announced .

If it really isn't going to be in play for 2015, maybe you can post that in a new thread with updates so that all will see it instead of mentioned with one line inside another thread about Slow Drafts.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Are we doing Cutlines in 2015? Maybe some are waiting on those?

I thought it was a go, but it doesn't look promising now. Don't wait on those anymore.

Is the Cutline really not happening, or are you just pumping the Slow Drafts?

If it's not happening, that's disappointing. The game has been talked about for a year, rules have been posted, and a $50,000 top prize were already announced .

If it really isn't going to be in play for 2015, maybe you can post that in a new thread with updates so that all will see it instead of mentioned with one line inside another thread about Slow Drafts.

It is disappointing. Many people will be disappointed, but nobody more than me. Someone asked the question here and I answered it. It's not an easy game to program and we've had some personnel changes recently that makes it very tough to complete in time, so I will post as soon as this is final. I just heard the news this morning, so let me investigate some more, but I wish the news was better.

You are correct, this is a game I think we've perfected through input of so many current NFBC members. Everyone is excited about the format. I projected an aggressive budget with aggressive payouts. And we felt it would bring in a lot of new members. Unfortunately, it doesn't look good for 2015. I wish the news was more positive, but it's not. Sorry.

[joshguy]

The time waiting doesnt really bother me, but I would bet peoples feelings about the DCs would be improved if there was something done about the 8 hour clock. So many times I saw complaining about the 8 hours and how they hated it and werent going to do more of them.

In 2004 the 8 hour clock would have been a necessity but today in 2014, how many are drafting on smart phones, tablets, laptops that are on the go with them? Its just not needed. I say pause the draft at 1am est and restart and 7 or 8 am est. Then a two hour clock from there on out. Im two picks away and I wont be back for 3 hours...I set it on auto one rd and I dont hold up the draft. Under the current setup, there is no incentive for one to set that auto one if they are gone for any length of time.

[EWeaver]

The time waiting doesnt really bother me, but I would bet peoples feelings about the DCs would be improved if there was something done about the 8 hour clock. So many times I saw complaining about the 8 hours and how they hated it and werent going to do more of them.

In 2004 the 8 hour clock would have been a necessity but today in 2014, how many are drafting on smart phones, tablets, laptops that are on the go with them? Its just not needed. I say pause the draft at 1am est and restart and 7 or 8 am est. Then a two hour clock from there on out. Im two picks away and I wont be back for 3 hours...I set it on auto one rd and I dont hold up the draft. Under the current setup, there is no incentive for one to set that auto one if they are gone for any length of time.

+1, at least as an option (like two different sign up pages for DC...8 HR and night pause w/ 2 hr clock). No idea on IT implications, but I like the idea.

Love slow drafts when they are kicking off 5+ rounds a day, if they are 1-2 rd pace it's anti-fun (for me).

[DOUGHBOYS]

I'm pretty sure that any kind of pause would be a pain in the ass for the NFBC.
Plus, there are folks who work at nght, sleep part of the day.
I would like a choice between the four and eight hour clock.
A choice on the menu is more appealing than a special request for a 4 hour draft.

[joshguy]

I guess it could be an IT problem, I dont know the ins and outs of their capabilities. The only requirement is that they need someone to pause each draft. Thats not too different from having the help button there(and hoping someone answers).

If its not broke, dont fix it but every product in the world is always tweaked/updated and made better.

[Deadheadz]

Here's what I've been planning for months:

A separate website where NFBCers can post their preference for draft pace (ie 4, 6, 8 or 10 rounds per day) and the ability to sign up for private DC leagues with managers of like minds. When a list of 15 managers was achieved we could present a pre-filled DC league to Greg and Tom for registration.

Another feature of the website would be a star rating for drafters similar to the eBay feedback where you'd have the option to rate managers you have drafted with in 2015. This would give users the ability to opt for a private DC, join an open public (random) DC or wait for another DC where the registrants tend to draft at the speed you prefer.

This website would be free to all users and free of ads. It's not meant to make money for anyone other than possibly NFBC in terms of more registrations from managers who aren't drafting at a pace they aren't comfortable with.

If the site happens to spur a higher rate of registrations, the model could be incorporated into the NFBC site if they choose to do so. Otherwise it would just be a tool for managers of varying preferences to form leagues in an organized environment.

Perhaps it's too optimistic an endeavor but every time I hear complaints of too fast or too slow, this idea pops back into my head.

If I open such a site, it would be soon after the NFL season ends.

[Gekko]

guys, you are missing an important point. there is not a lot of trust in the IT department. unless it an easy fix (AND I MEAN A STONECOLD EASY FIX), i cant see anything changing

[Greg Ambrosius]

Sure, if there's a demand for 4-hour DCs we could create a special link on the Registration page for that. We already have a lot of options on Registration and even having a separate Express link confuses some folks. But if an additional DC contest is needed we can get that added.

As for adding the pause button, I don't think it's the way to go. We have leagues with folks from all three US time zones, so 8 am on East Coast is 5 am on West Coast. When the East Coast wants to shut it down, the West Coast guys are just getting home from work. It's tough to make that work. Everyone should just use their Ques if possible at night and the 1-Round Auto button. Hopefully we can have 2 rounds of Ques shortly after our new draft room goes live.

Thanks for the input. We can look at adding a second DC option if that's what is needed. Good luck all.

[Deadheadz]

I'm pretty sure that any kind of pause would be a pain in the ass for the NFBC.
Plus, there are folks who work at nght, sleep part of the day.
I would like a choice between the four and eight hour clock.
A choice on the menu is more appealing than a special request for a 4 hour draft.

In case you're unaware, the draft room at CBS pauses the clock not the draft. Picks can be made all night long if the user so choose. There's just no timing out until the clock restarts the next morning.

Pausing the clock for all drafts should be quite easy for any IT department to handle, if the management really wants to make that type of change.

Matters not to me either way.

[Bronx Yankees]

I'm pretty sure that any kind of pause would be a pain in the ass for the NFBC.
Plus, there are folks who work at nght, sleep part of the day.
I would like a choice between the four and eight hour clock.
A choice on the menu is more appealing than a special request for a 4 hour draft.

In case you're unaware, the draft room at CBS pauses the clock not the draft. Picks can be made all night long if the user so choose. There's just no timing out until the clock restarts the next morning.

Pausing the clock for all drafts should be quite easy for any IT department to handle, if the management really wants to make that type of change.

Matters not to me either way.

This would be great if the NFBC could handle that type of software change. My sense is that with emails of all picks, smart phones, auto draft, etc., many more folks would be comfortable drafting with a four-hour (or possibly shorter) clock if they knew the clock would be turned off during the overnight hours. The possibility that picks still could be made during those hours if folks are awake would be an added bonus. I'll be doing a bunch of DC leagues regardless, but your suggestion is a good one. It would address concerns many have about eight-hour clocks and interminable delays while, at the same time, also addressing the primary concern about using shorter clocks, which is the overnight hours.

Mike

[DOUGHBOYS]

Greg, what advantages is the new draft room going to have over the current draft room?
Besides the whole clock thing, there are several aggravations with the current draft room.

The double post glitch.

A time stamp in chat is needed badly.

Way too many placeholders. (Any names used as a place holder in the first draft should be added immediately for future drafts) Yasmany Tomas should have been added shortly after the first draft, if not before.
He still isn't added.

The ability to type in the name of our placeholder if choosing a place holder. This way, it is immediately known instead of using the methods of somebody recording them or listing them on a league home page.

The ability to auto any round of our choosing. For instance, if my team is on a corner, my pick is one away and my queue is filled, I could auto rounds 17, 18, 19, 20 or even just 17 and 18. Not just the next pick or all rounds, as the choices are now.

The ability to draft by cell as we would on a computer. The queue disappears for some cell services. Chat is burdensome.
This should be a fun experience, no matter the device used.

Personally, I would only like to get the 'auto e-mails when I am up. Auto e-mails clutter my inbox and I tend not to give them import simply because of the quantity received.

An update as to who is in the draft room. It shouldn't be up to us to refresh to see who is in. For those that don't know about refreshing, it leads to angst.

The 'Draft Board' refreshes every 45 seconds. It is a nuisance and not needed.

The 'Draft Board' should have a color distinction separating Starters from relievers.

I am hoping that these concerns will be addressed by the new draft room. A better, more streamlined draft room can only enhance the experience for new folks and veterans alike.

[MadCow Sez]

Greg, what advantages is the new draft room going to have over the current draft room?
Besides the whole clock thing, there are several aggravations with the current draft room.

The double post glitch.

A time stamp in chat is needed badly.

Way too many placeholders. (Any names used as a place holder in the first draft should be added immediately for future drafts) Yasmany Tomas should have been added shortly after the first draft, if not before.
He still isn't added.

The ability to type in the name of our placeholder if choosing a place holder. This way, it is immediately known instead of using the methods of somebody recording them or listing them on a league home page.

The ability to auto any round of our choosing. For instance, if my team is on a corner, my pick is one away and my queue is filled, I could auto rounds 17, 18, 19, 20 or even just 17 and 18. Not just the next pick or all rounds, as the choices are now.

The ability to draft by cell as we would on a computer. The queue disappears for some cell services. Chat is burdensome.
This should be a fun experience, no matter the device used.

Personally, I would only like to get the 'auto e-mails when I am up. Auto e-mails clutter my inbox and I tend not to give them import simply because of the quantity received.

An update as to who is in the draft room. It shouldn't be up to us to refresh to see who is in. For those that don't know about refreshing, it leads to angst.

The 'Draft Board' refreshes every 45 seconds. It is a nuisance and not needed.

The 'Draft Board' should have a color distinction separating Starters from relievers.

I am hoping that these concerns will be addressed by the new draft room. A better, more streamlined draft room can only enhance the experience for new folks and veterans alike.

I second the motion

[Roy's Outlaws]

Is the Cutline really not happening, or are you just pumping the Slow Drafts?

If it's not happening, that's disappointing. The game has been talked about for a year, rules have been posted, and a $50,000 top prize were already announced .

If it really isn't going to be in play for 2015, maybe you can post that in a new thread with updates so that all will see it instead of mentioned with one line inside another thread about Slow Drafts.[/quote]

It is disappointing. Many people will be disappointed, but nobody more than me. Someone asked the question here and I answered it. It's not an easy game to program and we've had some personnel changes recently that makes it very tough to complete in time, so I will post as soon as this is final. I just heard the news this morning, so let me investigate some more, but I wish the news was better.

You are correct, this is a game I think we've perfected through input of so many current NFBC members. Everyone is excited about the format. I projected an aggressive budget with aggressive payouts. And we felt it would bring in a lot of new members. Unfortunately, it doesn't look good for 2015. I wish the news was more positive, but it's not. Sorry.[/quote]




Greg, Is the biggest problem with the IT department programing the CUTLINE game, being the best line -up scoring system? IF, YES ,then why can't they just program the game with the team owners being able to set their own line-up after the week is over. Set a line-up deadline like Noon on Tuesday for setting the Cutline line-up for the previous week. It should take less than 5 minute to set your own line-up.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Greg, what advantages is the new draft room going to have over the current draft room?
Besides the whole clock thing, there are several aggravations with the current draft room.

The double post glitch.

A time stamp in chat is needed badly.

Way too many placeholders. (Any names used as a place holder in the first draft should be added immediately for future drafts) Yasmany Tomas should have been added shortly after the first draft, if not before.
He still isn't added.

The ability to type in the name of our placeholder if choosing a place holder. This way, it is immediately known instead of using the methods of somebody recording them or listing them on a league home page.

The ability to auto any round of our choosing. For instance, if my team is on a corner, my pick is one away and my queue is filled, I could auto rounds 17, 18, 19, 20 or even just 17 and 18. Not just the next pick or all rounds, as the choices are now.

The ability to draft by cell as we would on a computer. The queue disappears for some cell services. Chat is burdensome.
This should be a fun experience, no matter the device used.

Personally, I would only like to get the 'auto e-mails when I am up. Auto e-mails clutter my inbox and I tend not to give them import simply because of the quantity received.

An update as to who is in the draft room. It shouldn't be up to us to refresh to see who is in. For those that don't know about refreshing, it leads to angst.

The 'Draft Board' refreshes every 45 seconds. It is a nuisance and not needed.

The 'Draft Board' should have a color distinction separating Starters from relievers.

I am hoping that these concerns will be addressed by the new draft room. A better, more streamlined draft room can only enhance the experience for new folks and veterans alike.

Put me down as +1, +2, +3 or + any number on all of these.

Here's the situation now: We are using the same online draft room that we were using when we asked STATS to run the NFBC back in 2004. Back then we didn't have online drafts, but we used the same software to enter in the draft picks after the live drafts and auctions. When we added Satellite Leagues in 2006, this was our draft software. We added some tweaks to allow sorting by categories and a few other items since then, but for the most part very little has changed. It's worked, but it needs to be upgraded.

We are creating a new online draft room not specifically for Draft Champions Leagues, but for the NFBC as a whole. That means getting draft software off Flash and completely on HTML, where folks using Apple products can also draft on it. The first step is to get our online draft room modernized, which includes better draft tools and even pictures of players so there is no confusion on who you are drafting. Some good things will come as a result of the new draft room like a better draft board, a Chat room that opens into its own window and can be moved anywhere on your screen, no refreshing of the board and hopefully better identification of who is in the draft room.

I haven't seen the finished product yet, but that's the hope. Once we have things live, please offer enhancements that need to be added for DCs and other live online drafts and we'll get to them. But first thing is just to get this modernized, up to speed and away from Flash.

As for Placeholders, our goal is to have as many available players in the system as we can for the 750-player DCs. As for unsigned International players like Tomas, they aren't in the STATS system until they are signed by an MLB team and have a Player ID number. That's why he wasn't in the system in early November. We don't just add names into the system; when you are done drafting all of those players they are identified by their Player ID so that their stats can be attached to them. That being said, once Tomas was signed by Arizona he should appear in our system shortly. However, we are drafting very early and that hasn't been completed yet, but it should be in the next week and then all newly signed International players should follow shortly after they sign with a team. As for the Class AA and even A guys being drafted now, I'll ask IT to add them once we have a good list of guys being drafted. We definitely have fewer Placeholders this year than any previous year (although more unsigned International players), and as we've said before we can't have every minor-leaguer in the draft room right now. But we'll add these guys that are being drafted soon so that you don't have many Placeholders going forward. But it's tough to nail every one of the minor-leaguers you guys are drafting in these DCs in November, but each time we get a new name we'll ask to get them added.

We'll have 1-Round Auto when the new draft room opens, but we agree that having at least 2 rounds of setting your Que makes sense. This is definitely on the To-Do list.

Drafting off your cell phone can be done, but it isn't set up specifically for that. But yes that's the goal.

I'll look to see if the new draft board has relievers as white stickers and starting pitchers as a different color. I think they do, but will double check.

The DCs are very important to all of us and we'd love all of these suggestions to be there. But again the new software is meant to improve everything about our online drafting tool. It's outdated for all of our sports as it is. Football was finished in late August, too late to debut for the NFFC, but that is done. Now we need to finish this one for baseball and we're close. Then the same for basketball. It should help all of our online drafting, including the DCs, but it won't be perfect right out of the gate. But like we did with FAAB, we'll improve it with your input.

The new online draft room has been a big project for all of our sports, but it's needed. We look forward to your input to help us get it the way you want it through time. Look for it soon.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Greg, Is the biggest problem with the IT department programing the CUTLINE game, being the best line -up scoring system? IF, YES ,then why can't they just program the game with the team owners being able to set their own line-up after the week is over. Set a line-up deadline like Noon on Tuesday for setting the Cutline line-up for the previous week. It should take less than 5 minute to set your own line-up.

It's more than that Roy. I wish we could debut the NFBC Cutline Championship as much as you folks, but it doesn't look good. We were shooting for the optimal scoring format in this contest, along with adding 5 free agent players each of three FAAB periods with no cuts (something we don't have now), while also adding a unique playoff format. It's not a small task to finish all of that in time with other items we're working on. I love the format and I think it would be popular with the optimal scoring lineup and minimal free agent time needed to improve your team. We know how we want to do this and the format has been a huge success in football, but can we get it done in time? That's the issue.

[JohnP]

1. When will the new draft room / software be functional?
2. How come players and positions are identified differently in the draft room vs. the draft board? Example - gattis shows C in the draft room but OF on the board so...I am thinking that draft room is more up-to-date / accurate than the board but then.....I draft Andrew Miller and it shows that he is Balt in the room but NYY on the board.
3. Adding the signed players - Tomas, etc. How come this takes so long? It benefits both parties to get them added right away? I am thinking it has to be a pain in the butt to chase these all down later? It seems like Tomas signed at least a couple weeks ago already? A little work now will save a lot of work later and make it better for everyone? Maybe I don't understand the process.

Anyways....slow drafts are awesome despite the complaints. Just frustrating to deal with some of the same issues each season. In the drafter's mind the thought process is "duh, didn't they know that baseball slow drafts would be starting by now - this should be done."

[Gekko]

1. When will the new draft room / software be functional?
2. How come players and positions are identified differently in the draft room vs. the draft board? Example - gattis shows C in the draft room but OF on the board so...I am thinking that draft room is more up-to-date / accurate than the board but then.....I draft Andrew Miller and it shows that he is Balt in the room but NYY on the board.
3. Adding the signed players - Tomas, etc. How come this takes so long? It benefits both parties to get them added right away? I am thinking it has to be a pain in the butt to chase these all down later? It seems like Tomas signed at least a couple weeks ago already? A little work now will save a lot of work later and make it better for everyone? Maybe I don't understand the process.

Anyways....slow drafts are awesome despite the complaints. Just frustrating to deal with some of the same issues each season. In the drafter's mind the thought process is "duh, didn't they know that baseball slow drafts would be starting by now - this should be done."

so it's been a couple of weeks since drafts have started and players are still listed on the draft board with WRONG positions?? is that true??

if i was STATS I would be 100% embarrassed. it simply cant take that long to change something so simple. this is a change that takes MINUTES!!!! integrity of the draft board is a joke if there are still wrong position being listed. cant imagine being a new player to this format and seeing something so simple be wrong. get it cleaned up guys. PLEASE

[Deadheadz]

so it's been a couple of weeks since drafts have started and players are still listed on the draft board with WRONG positions?? is that true??

if i was STATS I would be 100% embarrassed. it simply cant take that long to change something so simple. this is a change that takes MINUTES!!!! integrity of the draft board is a joke if there are still wrong position being listed. cant imagine being a new player to this format and seeing something so simple be wrong. get it cleaned up guys. PLEASE

I'm not pointing fingers since I have no idea where to point but I can understand your frustration.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't NFBC just a tiny part of STATS?
I'm curious to know if the ratio of IT work done on NFBC is proportional to the ratio of income generated by NFBC as compared to the rest of STATS.

Heck, the seat availability page for Draft Champions still refers to a game @ $375 and an overall prize of just $10,000.

Is STATS taking the profit but neglecting the needs of NFBC customers -OR- is too much of the money going into prizes with too little profit being generated to warrant using IT resources on it?