Slow pokes and Draft Champion Leagues

[DOUGHBOYS]

We'd be back to square one, no matter the time rule, if admin changes players for drafters who time out.

[KJ Duke]

We'd be back to square one, no matter the time rule, if admin changes players for drafters who time out.

That should not happen. Time out is well-deserved punishment. But we'd still be ahead of square one because the draft would be moving.

[DOUGHBOYS]

i'm not in the league, so i'm basing this on the posts in this thread; however as a neutral party, i have to assume one of the exceptions was invoked (maybe offline?); otherwise a player change would not be allowed under the rules.

6:21 Drafter times out and receives Honeywell

6:23 Drafter on chat asks, "Commish, are you able to sub out Honeywell for Tommy Joseph?"

6:34 Another drafter states, "I'm not ok with that because he has timed out"

7:04 Drafter has Joseph, Honeywell released.

[meanguy]

KJ, yes, that would be a more fair way of doing things However, no offense to anyone, that is not realistic at all given the clear tech limitations here. It takes months, if not years, for the most minor of technology 'upgrades' to be made. Might as well ask for a rocket ship to be built so we can have a draft on the moon. The 2 hour clock makes things bearable and was a great and much needed change. I think it's the best we can expect. With the other issue I think there just needs to be a better practice for changes to be made by administration "in draft". The administrator seems to pop in after a request is made and they make the requested changes w/o seeing if it was a technical issue or time out, etc. Pretty simple solution to enforce an important rule would be to quickly assess why the request is being made, then do it only if it was a technical issue.

[Greg Ambrosius]

KJ, yes, that would be a more fair way of doing things However, no offense to anyone, that is not realistic at all given the clear tech limitations here. It takes months, if not years, for the most minor of technology 'upgrades' to be made. Might as well ask for a rocket ship to be built so we can have a draft on the moon. The 2 hour clock makes things bearable and was a great and much needed change. I think it's the best we can expect. With the other issue I think there just needs to be a better practice for changes to be made by administration "in draft". The administrator seems to pop in after a request is made and they make the requested changes w/o seeing if it was a technical issue or time out, etc. Pretty simple solution to enforce an important rule would be to quickly assess why the request is being made, then do it only if it was a technical issue.

Wow!!! Okay then. I'm glad I left this thread to respond on the other one you started. You can rip us on that one too if you'd like. Or just carry on here. Either way.

[KJ Duke]

KJ, yes, that would be a more fair way of doing things However, no offense to anyone, that is not realistic at all given the clear tech limitations here. It takes months, if not years, for the most minor of technology 'upgrades' to be made. Might as well ask for a rocket ship to be built so we can have a draft on the moon. The 2 hour clock makes things bearable and was a great and much needed change. I think it's the best we can expect. With the other issue I think there just needs to be a better practice for changes to be made by administration "in draft". The administrator seems to pop in after a request is made and they make the requested changes w/o seeing if it was a technical issue or time out, etc. Pretty simple solution to enforce an important rule would be to quickly assess why the request is being made, then do it only if it was a technical issue.

This is a new tech team implementing a whole lotta stuff this year, clearly ahead of the STATS team even with the first year hiccups. Greg can and hopefully will chime in on the viability of a total time clock, but my guess is that it could be implemented from an IT standpoint for next season if he comes to believe it's good for both us and them.

[meanguy]

KJ, yes, that would be a more fair way of doing things However, no offense to anyone, that is not realistic at all given the clear tech limitations here. It takes months, if not years, for the most minor of technology 'upgrades' to be made. Might as well ask for a rocket ship to be built so we can have a draft on the moon. The 2 hour clock makes things bearable and was a great and much needed change. I think it's the best we can expect. With the other issue I think there just needs to be a better practice for changes to be made by administration "in draft". The administrator seems to pop in after a request is made and they make the requested changes w/o seeing if it was a technical issue or time out, etc. Pretty simple solution to enforce an important rule would be to quickly assess why the request is being made, then do it only if it was a technical issue.

Wow!!! Okay then. I'm glad I left this thread to respond on the other one you started. You can rip us on that one too if you'd like. Or just carry on here. Either way.

Greg,

Take it for what it is, the NFBC is a great site with a great format, but the tech limitations just happen to be a fact, no malice directed towards anyone. Don't take it as 'ripping' anyone, I'm sure the tech guys are swell fella's and do what they can. You guys have obviously always done a good job running the site or else it would not be thriving as it is, don't take the tech criticism and sarcasm personally. Your post in the other thread addressing the 'time out' issue is appreciated and all that is requested in order to maintain the fairness and the integrity of the game. Thanks.

[Greg Ambrosius]

You are pitching fastballs at the wrong IT team Meanguy. You haven't seen enough of what the SportsHub guys are doing and how they CARE about this product. I'll say flat out your criticism is not up to date.

You know the passion that Tom, Darik and myself have for this product and this site. Now imagine a tech team with the same passion and the same desire to make this all first class. That's what we have now. Make no mistake about it, they have turned this site from 20th century to 21st century. Everything that everyone was comfortable with before was designed in 2002 and was rarely updated at all. It's now being completely updated and improved by a new team. It all takes time and yes there will be hiccups along the way and improvements to be made. But we're not drafting on Flash anymore and we're adding things like online auction software, easy Admin tools at the live drafts and auctions, much improved FAAB tools and more. That's the new IT team doing that that you want to take shots at.

I'm defending them as part of this new team that has every intention to take our high-stakes products to a new level. We all have more important things to do than defend ourselves or read every stupid shot at us, so let's all get back to work. But again, this is a new year and hopefully you're already seeing new tech improvements. If not, call me and I'll direct you to where you can find them.

[meanguy]

You are pitching fastballs at the wrong IT team Meanguy. You haven't seen enough of what the SportsHub guys are doing and how they CARE about this product. I'll say flat out your criticism is not up to date.

You know the passion that Tom, Darik and myself have for this product and this site. Now imagine a tech team with the same passion and the same desire to make this all first class. That's what we have now. Make no mistake about it, they have turned this site from 20th century to 21st century. Everything that everyone was comfortable with before was designed in 2002 and was rarely updated at all. It's now being completely updated and improved by a new team. It all takes time and yes there will be hiccups along the way and improvements to be made. But we're not drafting on Flash anymore and we're adding things like online auction software, easy Admin tools at the live drafts and auctions, much improved FAAB tools and more. That's the new IT team doing that that you want to take shots at.

I'm defending them as part of this new team that has every intention to take our high-stakes products to a new level. We all have more important things to do than defend ourselves or read every stupid shot at us, so let's all get back to work. But again, this is a new year and hopefully you're already seeing new tech improvements. If not, call me and I'll direct you to where you can find them.

Greg,

I'll let it die with this post, but do feel the need to defend myself as well for taking "stupid shots" at anyone. For the record, I believe the IT guys 'care' but I do think my criticism is 'up to date' even if it is dismissed. I know flash is no longer used, and in theory that's an advancement but personally, flash was functional and did work for me. As you may remember, I can not even draft on my phone this year b/c I'm told LG phones cause issues that were unable to be resolved this year. Maybe criticizing a new team who have, I'm sure, had a lot of work to do is unfair but I hope you can understand the frustration b/c for me, due to technical issues, the drafting experience has gotten worse. I realize that everyone involved would fix any issues if the resources were available and that ongoing improvements are being made much more quickly than in the past. Also, If I'm mistaken and KJ's "shot clock" type suggestion could be implemented in the future, I second the idea. If not, it's not a big deal. Thanks.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Of course Flash worked. But very few newer computers even have Flash installed. Its death in the NFBC was inevitable, whether at SportsHub or had we stayed at STATS.

Correct, as I emailed you phones are a different beast than computers as you are creating different software for each phone. You upgraded your LG phone, but it's the same software. We will try to address, but we're sorry that this wasn't a quick fix.

Let's move on. I like the team we've assembled. I love all of you players. We all want the best software, the best draft experience. The best contests. We're doing all we can to reach the same goal that you have. Good luck this season.

[thepats]

Going back to slowpokes, I've always thought the time out penalty should be nobody. Just an empty slot for that pick.

[rkulaski]

So did everyone in the league not complain when Honeywell was replaced with another player?
After reading the last few pages here, I am unclear as to how admin/commish justified allowing a replacement for Honeywell.

[DOUGHBOYS]

It was complained about, as noted in an earlier post.
Greg responded in another thread about how busy admin is with a lot of drafts going on.
What is humorous about this draft is that another drafter timed out and Honeywell was replaced yet again.
Now, another drafter has timed out and received Honeywell in the 50th round.
Hat trick?

There is no intention by the NFBC to do something wrong here.
In the past, if there was a help button pushed, they would fix the problem by swapping out players. Simple.
Now, I believe that they should ask if the drafter timed out or look at the time stamp before making a change.
Enabling timed out drafters would be a bad precedent.

[Philippe27]

My personal opinion is that there seems to be a lot of complaining to Greg, Tom and Darik when they're doing their best to create a great product. Obviously they have because everyone complaining on here shows how passionate they are, if the product wasn't great everyone would just stop talking and go elsewhere.

They're doing the best they can and when there's a bunch of drafts going on with a bunch of help buttons being clicked, it's easier to just replace the player especially if that's how it's been done so far. Would be unfair to do it once and then not do it again.

With that said, there probably needs to be a stricter rule for how it will be managed from now on but honestly there seems to be a lot of complaining for a 39th round pick or whatever it was.

One of the reason I don't sign up for these Draft Champions Leagues is that I don't know if 2 weeks from now I'll be away for a week-end and won't be able to check my e-mail for 36 hours and I'll time out once, get a bad player and get everyone pissed off.

If it can be programmed I think the idea of a total time clock for the entire draft is brilliant. I know that about 90% of the time I could make my picks in about 15 minutes but that one time where I may need 12 hours because I'm away for awhile and my queue runs out is what's preventing me from signing up for these. At the same time I think the owner who needs 12 hours once or twice in the draft isn't what's causing the frustration but more the owner who takes 2 hours for every single pick.

[DOUGHBOYS]

My personal opinion is that there seems to be a lot of complaining to Greg, Tom and Darik when they're doing their best to create a great product. Obviously they have because everyone complaining on here shows how passionate they are, if the product wasn't great everyone would just stop talking and go elsewhere.

They're doing the best they can and when there's a bunch of drafts going on with a bunch of help buttons being clicked, it's easier to just replace the player especially if that's how it's been done so far. Would be unfair to do it once and then not do it again.

With that said, there probably needs to be a stricter rule for how it will be managed from now on but honestly there seems to be a lot of complaining for a 39th round pick or whatever it was.

One of the reason I don't sign up for these Draft Champions Leagues is that I don't know if 2 weeks from now I'll be away for a week-end and won't be able to check my e-mail for 36 hours and I'll time out once, get a bad player and get everyone pissed off.

If it can be programmed I think the idea of a total time clock for the entire draft is brilliant. I know that about 90% of the time I could make my picks in about 15 minutes but that one time where I may need 12 hours because I'm away for awhile and my queue runs out is what's preventing me from signing up for these. At the same time I think the owner who needs 12 hours once or twice in the draft isn't what's causing the frustration but more the owner who takes 2 hours for every single pick.

There is usually a post like this in threads such as these.
They are well-intentioned, but miss the mark.
We all want the NFBC to be the best in every phase.
The NFBC has gotten better each year, in part, because of threads like this. It is portrayed as 'complaining' to some.
What it does is bring attention to a problem that will be fixed and made better for future play.
Greg, Tom, and Darik know this and they'll try to make things better for the future.
THAT is how things get better year after year.

For years, there have been 'complaints' about the NFBC tech and IT staff.
In effect, SportsHub IT have mostly shut those 'complainers' up.
There has not been any threads lately questioning NFBC tech or the IT department.
Less comments about IT signals to Greg and staff that they are doing a great job.
And they have.

There are still things that need to be ironed out with Draft Champions Leagues and the slow drafters that use these leagues.
Be it, with admin vetting whether a drafter has timed out or the rearranging of clocks.
They're not 'complaint's as much as an alert that these leagues can be even more enjoyable to those that participate.
Something we all want.

[Philippe27]

I agree that's how things get better and that's what we all want hence the suggestion I brought up in my post which someone else brought up earlier as well. However the comments with good suggestions in this long thread get lost in the middle of people whining and acting like a 30 something round time out pick being switched is the end of the world as well as a random shot at the new tech team and at customer service.

Phil

[DOUGHBOYS]

I agree that's how things get better and that's what we all want hence the suggestion I brought up in my post which someone else brought up earlier as well. However the comments with good suggestions in this long thread get lost in the middle of people whining and acting like a 30 something round time out pick being switched is the end of the world as well as a random shot at the new tech team and at customer service.

Phil

Really, whether it happened in round 5 or round 35 is of no importance.
That a timed out drafter was rewarded by not having the pick assigned is the problem.
It is something that should not happen for the slow drafter.
We can't see it happening now, but if Tommy Joseph (the player who was given to the drafter replacing Honeywell) has a huge year and leads that team to near the top of the DC Overall, this thread will look miniscule in comparison to the threads coming if that happens.

It is something that is fixable.
And I am sure that in the future, in part because of this thread, more diligence will be assessed by admin before changing a pick.
A good thing for all.

[Gb2715]

I agree that's how things get better and that's what we all want hence the suggestion I brought up in my post which someone else brought up earlier as well. However the comments with good suggestions in this long thread get lost in the middle of people whining and acting like a 30 something round time out pick being switched is the end of the world as well as a random shot at the new tech team and at customer service.

Phil

What pick was Judge last year? Bellinger? Shall I continue?

[Gb2715]

I agree that's how things get better and that's what we all want hence the suggestion I brought up in my post which someone else brought up earlier as well. However the comments with good suggestions in this long thread get lost in the middle of people whining and acting like a 30 something round time out pick being switched is the end of the world as well as a random shot at the new tech team and at customer service.

Phil

And yes the only way to win a league or the overall is to rock the first part of the draft? I mean no late rd pick or undrafted player ever helps win the overall titles!!!!
Give me a break!! It's the only way you win those is late picks and for the leagues with FAAB you get "30 something rd" players that go off and win you the title. I can't believe anyone would be ok with a pick getting switched out after timing out in a high stakes contest. What next are we going to switch out Players that get hurt 5 min after you draft them? Where's the line? What are the rules? And why are they not being enforced?

[Gb2715]

Simple solution take both teams that timed out, give them both Honeywell or a place holder and the 2 picks they got them changed to don't go back to player pool. Seriously this is not ok!

[Philippe27]

I agree that a rule is a rule and it needs to be fixed or followed but I'm just saying it's getting blown out of proportion.

If you timeout in the 15th round, you get the the best available player who might be Aaron Sanchez and if you timeout in the 20th you get Brent Honeywell.

You could also argue that it's unfair to everyone else in the overall contest because if there's 10-15 timeouts in one league then every own in that league benefits more than those in a league that has no timeouts. There's no perfect solution.

[Thurman15]

I have something to say to the IT department. I'm amazed at how good you guys are, and I just know that it is hard to hear complaints when you are working your ass off. Man (Men, gals), I'd recommend your group anytime. Great work. Not nearly enough credit. You deserve a few cases of Beer and pizza for life !!

Meanguy, sorry, but there was no call for that outlandish sarcasm. That will never help. I doubt you and I would appreciate people looking over our work, and picking it apart with sarcasm. I appreciate you have calmed down and hope you enjoy the season, the pools, drafts and everything good.

Greg, Tom, and Darik.......Yes we are customers, but you guys go above and beyond. Man I try not to send too many questions when I'm confused but I swear Tom has the answer for me as fast as I can ask the question. I'm proud and happy to be a card carrying member of the NFBC. (OK I don't really have a card) I love baseball pools and if I come last in each one, I'll still love 'em. Great work guys.

Andy - wow, the mountain of work and organization you put into these on line auctions and drafts is amazing. Talk about "above and beyond the call of duty" The small reward you get from it is payed back 20 times over. Thanks.

Baseball is back guys, life is good, pools are so much fun, and hey....we are all tied for 1st place. I'm going to a Bar tonight and I'll be bragging about all this. Smile guys....smile

[BartoloColonsFitbit]

In a league now where we don’t have a guy who times out a lot but about 8 guys take 2 hours to pick. It’s rough. Spent 15 hours on the turn the other day.

Two years ago I was in a 15 team DC that finished in around 4 days. Everyone signed up for the draft actually checked in on the draft. Pretty wild concept. It can be done!

[Southern Comfort]

Simple solution is to introduce a 1-hour Draft for the guys that need it

I’ll stay with the 4-hour, as long as we not drafting on opening day I’m good. Currently on my 10th DC Draft and have had a slowpoke in every one...Hell I’ve even timed out myself couple of times (signals suck when I’m out in the field with my unit). There are no advantages or disadvantages to a Draft lasting 2 days or 2 months...Just a test of patience for some.

However....If somebody did request to switch out Honeywell after timing out to him....And was able to replace him.....Ah well Greg explained the error to my satisfaction. Seriously those guys are in every Draft do they even sleep.

Awesome job NFBC....You are now my one and only hobby.

[Bama]

We need to go to a total time clock to fix this shit of everyone taking 3 to 4 hrs on every damn pick. I'm in a league​ where 10 plus guys are taking 2 hrs to timeing out on every f' in pick which is ridiculous. 10 days in and we just finished Rd 16 4 rds in the last 4 days and no chance in hell of finishing before opening day without some serious sped up time clock and the sooner we do that the better.