New Time Limits

[mdecav]

1 - the 31+ round DC time limit change is not explicit in the rules.

2 - I’d assume this was checked with west coasters ahead of time but when moving to round 31+, the 8am Eastern unfreeze time is quite early for west coasters as the 2-hr. time limit could end by 7am local time. I’d be okay with adding an hour of freeze time to 9am Eastern, but not sure others would agree.

[Greg Ambrosius]

1 - the 31+ round DC time limit change is not explicit in the rules.

2 - I’d assume this was checked with west coasters ahead of time but when moving to round 31+, the 8am Eastern unfreeze time is quite early for west coasters as the 2-hr. time limit could end by 7am local time. I’d be okay with adding an hour of freeze time to 9am Eastern, but not sure others would agree.

You are correct, that language was not added to the Draft Champions or Cutline Rules pages. That will be added now to explain how the clock is halved after Round 30 for both formats. Thanks for the heads up.

Yes, with a 6-hour pause and only 1 hour between picks in those rounds the 7 hours to make a pick is shorter than we've had in the past, even when we had 8 hours and no pause. But everyone has been asking for the tools to make the Draft Champions leagues better and now we have those tools with multi-round queues and auto-pick features for one or more rounds. We are basically forcing folks to learn how to use those tools and to be prepared for when you are on the clock. If I'm on the West Coast and I have the 15th pick, I can now set a queue for Round 37 and a separate queue for Round 38. That doesn't mean I'm going to get auto-picked each time, but if I do I at least set the order of players I wanted in each round. These are tools that are easy to use and ideal for anyone who goes to bed early or who wakes up late. Take the time to analyze the available players before hitting the hay, rank them accordingly for your next pick or next two picks and sleep easily.

We all know that the DC format is fantastic, but we also know how these last 20 rounds can drag out and ruin everything. We now have the tools in place to make those last 20 rounds more enjoyable and yes we are forcing some folks to use them. These are key decisions, we realize that, but you can still make them by using the multi-round queues and still get the players you want.

Hope that helps. Don't be afraid of the technology: Use the multi-round queue feature.

[DOUGHBOYS]

Hopefully in the future, folks will get used to these tools, trust their queues, and 'the freeze' during night hours can be eliminated all together.

[fwicker]

I agree with adding 1 hour to the freeze time .... I’m on the west coast. In early rounds I don’t always feel comfortable relying on a queue.

[Greg Ambrosius]

I agree with adding 1 hour to the freeze time .... I’m on the west coast. In early rounds I don’t always feel comfortable relying on a queue.

Gregg, in the early rounds you will have the same 8 hour time limit as you had in years past before we went to an overnight pause. There is a 6 hour pause now, so that means you will have at least 8 or 10 hours between picks the way we have it (for 2 hour and 4 hour DCs). We never had people ask for more time when the clock was 8 hours and no pauses, so I'm not sure why more than 8 hours is needed at this point.

Plus, we do need folks to trust the queues. The system is set up to always take the top player from your queue, so before going to bed everyone should do that. If you sleep more than 8 hours and you are on the clock, it will always take from the top of your queue. If somehow that doesn't happen, contact us and we will fix the software immediately so it never happens again. We need to trust that this software will do this correctly every single time to keep these drafts moving. We need people to use and trust the software.

[mdecav]

The queue is not always what I want to do. Sometimes depending on who is picked before me I will choose between player X and Y. This happens often.

Example: two catchers (A & B) are on the board that I want. If both catchers aren’t taken before my pick, I’ll take player C knowing A and/or B might come back to me for my next pick. I cannot do this on autopick.

That scenario is tougher for me to do if I’m on the west coast and the picks before me are done overnight. That said, by the 31+ round they happen less often but they still happen.

[Greg Ambrosius]

The queue is not always what I want to do. Sometimes depending on who is picked before me I will choose between player X and Y. This happens often.

Example: two catchers (A & B) are on the board that I want. If both catchers aren’t taken before my pick, I’ll take player C knowing A and/or B might come back to me for my next pick. I cannot do this on autopick.

That scenario is tougher for me to do if I’m on the west coast and the picks before me are done overnight. That said, by the 31+ round they happen less often but they still happen.

Correct and in that scenario where others are picking before you then you'll have 8+ hours to make that decision (6 hour pause plus 2 or 4 more hours). I think the biggest complaint last year was that some owners got 12 hours to make that decision, whether on the East Coast or the West Coast.

And remember, you can load your queue without going on auto-pick. You can also load multiple rounds without going on auto-pick to be ready for any scenario that comes up before your pick.

[mdecav]

The queue is not always what I want to do. Sometimes depending on who is picked before me I will choose between player X and Y. This happens often.

Example: two catchers (A & B) are on the board that I want. If both catchers aren’t taken before my pick, I’ll take player C knowing A and/or B might come back to me for my next pick. I cannot do this on autopick.

That scenario is tougher for me to do if I’m on the west coast and the picks before me are done overnight. That said, by the 31+ round they happen less often but they still happen.

Correct and in that scenario where others are picking before you then you'll have 8+ hours to make that decision (6 hour pause plus 2 or 4 more hours). I think the biggest complaint last year was that some owners got 12 hours to make that decision, whether on the East Coast or the West Coast.

And remember, you can load your queue without going on auto-pick. You can also load multiple rounds without going on auto-pick to be ready for any scenario that comes up before your pick.

Sometimes others are picking at 5am west coast time when you have a decision to make within two hours. That all said, the 6 hour pause is better than what we had before. But what would be optimal is to have an owner-specific freeze clock so that every owner can choose a 6 hour window based on their own timezone to freeze the clock.

[DOUGHBOYS]

What would be optimal is to have an owner-specific freeze clock so that every owner can choose a 6 hour window based on their own timezone to freeze the clock.

Personal 'freeze windows' would lead to much, much longer drafts.

[Thurman15]

Come on Mdecav. Yes it is tougher for west coast guys, but this is only round 31 on. The majority wanted quicker drafts, and we should not make exceptions. I'm in Canada, but if I was west coast I could easily live with it. The queue's work perfectly. Numerous people use them. We do get your point, but I'm asking....just live with it. I know I would. Of all the great things the NFBC provides, can we not live with a little inconvenience. Everything can't be perfect. The NFBC is awesome. I'm ready to go in my 4th draft. #7 is the BEST i've received. I'm not cursing, I just accept that is the way it is. Once again, I agree with you that there is a "very slight" disadvantage for West Coasters. But these drafts and auctions just get better and better and Greg, Tom and Darik listen intently to suggestions, and if the majority wants them, they do their best to implement them. All good in the NFBC.

[WOODERSON]

Personal opt would create a longerrrr draft. The quene works perfectly and correctly for the whole draft as I personally can attest to by doing a complete 50 round draft by auto pick. I hate to say it but I dont look at it as a disadvantage for west coasters at all because to me there is no disadvantage because It almost seems like a must that east coasters are expected to stay up til 11, 12pm, 1,2 am to draft when most have to be up at maybe worst 6am to go or prepare for work when really those late hours would have been their time for rest in preparing for their next work day so why penalize them. I think it's respectful that if an east coaster is expected to carry on those late hours drafting to appease west coasters 3 hr time zone delay that west coasters should in turn be expected to carry on those early hours for east coasters whose day has already been live for those hours. I just think its a wash, I dont mind staying up til 1 or 2am to help the west coasters, but I want them to do the same for me in the morning. its not perfect for either, but we have to give and take together. The only way to appeal perfectly would be to have drafts which were set up for west coasters only and drafts for east coasters only and mid america coasters would have the best of both worlds by being able to pick which time zone they preferred better for their life style.

[Big League Wood]

I agree with WOODERSON.

I am EST and typically 10 PM bed and 5:15 rise. I made it work late night in the 2 Hour draft I recently competed. Also used the new Rounds que and it was effective.

Based on my schedule, although I like the pace of 2 hours better, I am more likely to draft in the 4 hours moving forward.
There are plenty of options now to make these DCs fit schedules.