Set Lineup Changes For 2019

[Greg Ambrosius]

Everyone is now setting their starting lineups for Week 1 in the NFBC and seeing that the process is slightly different than last year. This year we did move to a new platform, one that is used throughout our eco-system that includes CDM Fantasy Sports and the rest of our properties. This same Set Lineup platform was there for basketball this year and has been carried over to baseball.

So let's discuss the reasons for some of the changes you are seeing and hopefully some of the benefits. Here we go:

New Features On Set Lineup:

1) The Set Lineup page defaults to this week's schedule. If you pull down "Schedule" to "Season Stats" you will see seasonal stats for all of your players along with % Owned and % Started. You don't have to leave this page to get all of this information, which hopefully is a nice new addition.
2) Also the players' schedules are available there for every week of the season, again an upgrade for that page from last year.

The clarification on our new interface:

So the area of most concern to our users right now involves players with multi-position eligibility, right? Right. In the past it seemed like one easy click as you moved one player from one position to another and then a second player to the bench and/or to a different position.

This year, when making a switch with a player with multi-position eligibility, we are requiring team owners to make two switches in order for the lineup to be valid EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. The system is not allowing an illegal roster even before the move is saved. Last year two switches were needed; it just allowed for an invalid lineup by moving the player to a placeholder spot on the bench. This is no longer allowed because we log every lineup change.

Why do we need to log every lineup change? Here's the benefits of logging every valid lineup change:

1) Team owners can see a summary of every change that is made. There's no more calls to me or Tom saying you swear you saved that lineup and the software cost you those moves.
2) Team owners can now undo changes one by one if they made a mistake and not have to start over.
3) If the internet connection is lost, a browser window restarts, the user navigates to a different page, refreshes the window, or switches to a different device, the player change progress is not lost. Simply reloading the page brings in all the changes that are pending on any device. You can leave the office with some changes and pick them up on your phone to finish them and all is right there as you had them.
4) For a high stakes contest, this gives IT a log of every change that was made, when it was made, if and when it was canceled or confirmed, whether or not it was saved or not so we have a full reading of exactly what happened. Again, this tells us if it was user error or not when saving the lineup and has an exact reading of the time each move was made and tells us if the move was even made by that owner. With so much money on the line, as a business this is essential for us.

I know the accountability doesn't mean much to you when you're trying to move Baez from 2B to SS and you need to do that quickly, but all of these changes were done for a reason. Some features have been added to Set Lineup, but it's going to take time to get used to how you need to move Baez from one position to another. You need to clear that position first. Then move him. Then move the new guy in. We've explained why we are doing that and hopefully it gets easier once your Week 1 lineups are loaded.

The second Submit button at the bottom of the page should be there shortly as well.

Thanks and good luck all.

[Money]

Greg, With all due respect, this is terrible, just plain terrible. I am certain as we go through this tomorrow and Friday you will continue to hear a great deal of resentment toward this. Basketball has very limited positions. You really need to re-think this.

[Philippe27]

Thanks for the explanation Greg. There are a lot of nice added features on that page and the part of always having a legal lineup takes a little getting used to but it's not a huge deal. The main problem is the player disappearing when you click one player and then getting moved back to the top of the page.

I can understand in basketball why it's not an issue with 16 man rosters but with 30 or 50 man rosters in baseball it's an absolute pain and takes twice as long to set lineups. This isn't a question of getting used to it, it's time consuming to scroll down all the time and find the next player you want to move.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Thanks for the explanation Greg. There are a lot of nice added features on that page and the part of always having a legal lineup takes a little getting used to but it's not a huge deal. The main problem is the player disappearing when you click one player and then staying at the top of the page.

I can understand in basketball why it's not an issue with 16 man rosters but with 30 or 50 man rosters in baseball it's an absolute pain and takes twice as long to set lineups. This isn't a question of getting used to it, it's time consuming to scroll down all the time and find the next player you want to move.

I will talk with IT about this and see if there is an improvement that can be done here. Thanks for the thorough response as I know everyone just wants the best possible Set Lineup page that tracks everything and is easy to use for the consumer. We'll get it there.

[Philippe27]

Thanks for the explanation Greg. There are a lot of nice added features on that page and the part of always having a legal lineup takes a little getting used to but it's not a huge deal. The main problem is the player disappearing when you click one player and then staying at the top of the page.

I can understand in basketball why it's not an issue with 16 man rosters but with 30 or 50 man rosters in baseball it's an absolute pain and takes twice as long to set lineups. This isn't a question of getting used to it, it's time consuming to scroll down all the time and find the next player you want to move.

I will talk with IT about this and see if there is an improvement that can be done here. Thanks for the thorough response as I know everyone just wants the best possible Set Lineup page that tracks everything and is easy to use for the consumer. We'll get it there.

I think the ideal solution would be that if you click on a pitcher then just grey out every non pitcher like last year instead of making them disappear. That way we always stay at the same place on the page. If i want to move my closer to the bottom of my starting lineup but keep everyone else in the same order, I always stay in the same place on the page and I can do the 16 clicks needed in about 30 seconds instead of click, scroll, click, scroll.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Okay, these changes are being pushed live right now. Check them out:

1) We are removing the confirmation popup box

2) Once you have made your move, your screen will relocate back to the original position you had it in before you clicked the first player.
Currently, you select a player, the ineligible players you can switch with disappear, then you select a player to swap, then you are left at the top. The change will relocate you back to the original position.

Check them out and let us know if this is an improvement.

[Philippe27]

It does help a little but still not ideal. The problem is that every time the screen moves, your brain needs to readjust and you need to move the mouse to make a click.

Before if I just wanted to swap 2 players, I make the first click then I know exactly where the 2nd player is and can click on him right away within half a second.

Now if I want to swap 2 players, I click once and then the whole screen changes so I need to refocus my eyes, find that player and click on him. Once that's done, yet it helps to be back down where the pitchers are because I don't have to scroll down but I still need to refocus and figure out my next click.

[Philippe27]

It does help a little but still not ideal. The problem is that every time the screen moves, your brain needs to readjust and you need to move the mouse to make a click.

Before if I just wanted to swap 2 players, I make the first click then I know exactly where the 2nd player is and can click on him right away within half a second.

Now if I want to swap 2 players, I click once and then the whole screen changes so I need to refocus my eyes, find that player and click on him. Once that's done, yet it helps to be back down where the pitchers are because I don't have to scroll down but I still need to refocus and figure out my next click.

Just to add to this, I know it sounds stupid and it might not seem like a big deal but realigning roster is the thing I do the most. Injured players go at the bottom in DC, my top sub goes at the top of the bench so i can make a last minute change on my phone if needed, pitchers are sorted from best to worst every week in my lineup with closers at the bottom. If a switch takes 3 seconds instead of 1 second it doesn't sound like much but when you make 50 moves every week to realign for 5 teams over 27 weeks, it's a lot of time.

[Greg Ambrosius]

It does help a little but still not ideal. The problem is that every time the screen moves, your brain needs to readjust and you need to move the mouse to make a click.

Before if I just wanted to swap 2 players, I make the first click then I know exactly where the 2nd player is and can click on him right away within half a second.

Now if I want to swap 2 players, I click once and then the whole screen changes so I need to refocus my eyes, find that player and click on him. Once that's done, yet it helps to be back down where the pitchers are because I don't have to scroll down but I still need to refocus and figure out my next click.

We are discussing this now.

[Greg Ambrosius]

It does help a little but still not ideal. The problem is that every time the screen moves, your brain needs to readjust and you need to move the mouse to make a click.

Before if I just wanted to swap 2 players, I make the first click then I know exactly where the 2nd player is and can click on him right away within half a second.

Now if I want to swap 2 players, I click once and then the whole screen changes so I need to refocus my eyes, find that player and click on him. Once that's done, yet it helps to be back down where the pitchers are because I don't have to scroll down but I still need to refocus and figure out my next click.

Just to add to this, I know it sounds stupid and it might not seem like a big deal but realigning roster is the thing I do the most. Injured players go at the bottom in DC, my top sub goes at the top of the bench so i can make a last minute change on my phone if needed, pitchers are sorted from best to worst every week in my lineup with closers at the bottom. If a switch takes 3 seconds instead of 1 second it doesn't sound like much but when you make 50 moves every week to realign for 5 teams over 27 weeks, it's a lot of time.

So let's talk about the reserves now. Before they were listed alphabetically for Hitters and then alphabetically for Pitchers. You could move them around. Now YOU have the flexibility you want. If you want to put all DL players at the bottom, YOU can do that with both hitters and pitchers. There are no restrictions. In fact, you can set your Reserves up any way that you want and it will save them that way. Yes, the first time might take a little time to get them in the order you want, but this new setup is giving each owner the flexibility to do it anyway they want. And the reason for this new flexibility is because, like you just said, everyone lists those reserves differently.

So everything you mentioned above can now be done. Put those closers at the bottom. Put those pitchers at the top so that you can easily make this switch. Seems like this change could save you time, not cost you time.

[Philippe27]

It does help a little but still not ideal. The problem is that every time the screen moves, your brain needs to readjust and you need to move the mouse to make a click.

Before if I just wanted to swap 2 players, I make the first click then I know exactly where the 2nd player is and can click on him right away within half a second.

Now if I want to swap 2 players, I click once and then the whole screen changes so I need to refocus my eyes, find that player and click on him. Once that's done, yet it helps to be back down where the pitchers are because I don't have to scroll down but I still need to refocus and figure out my next click.

Just to add to this, I know it sounds stupid and it might not seem like a big deal but realigning roster is the thing I do the most. Injured players go at the bottom in DC, my top sub goes at the top of the bench so i can make a last minute change on my phone if needed, pitchers are sorted from best to worst every week in my lineup with closers at the bottom. If a switch takes 3 seconds instead of 1 second it doesn't sound like much but when you make 50 moves every week to realign for 5 teams over 27 weeks, it's a lot of time.

So let's talk about the reserves now. Before they were listed alphabetically for Hitters and then alphabetically for Pitchers. You could move them around. Now YOU have the flexibility you want. If you want to put all DL players at the bottom, YOU can do that with both hitters and pitchers. There are no restrictions. In fact, you can set your Reserves up any way that you want and it will save them that way. Yes, the first time might take a little time to get them in the order you want, but this new setup is giving each owner the flexibility to do it anyway they want. And the reason for this new flexibility is because, like you just said, everyone lists those reserves differently.

So everything you mentioned above can now be done. Put those closers at the bottom. Put those pitchers at the top so that you can easily make this switch. Seems like this change could save you time, not cost you time.

Last year we were able to do that as well if i'm not mistaken. At least for the starters, I didn't have a DC last year so didn't care as much about reserves. I just know last year when I was realigning my starters it was a lot quicker.

[DOUGHBOYS]

What has been done is taking something that wasn't broke from our perspective and 'fixing' it for IT, et al.
IT cannot record the multiple moves made before hitting 'submit'?
It has to be broken down move by move?
We have to take our time to make it easier on IT? I thought it was supposed to work the other way around.
We also have to 'bench' starting players temporarily with these moves.
You just know that a great starting player will be on the bench when the deadline hits for a drafter. Bound to happen.
The steps forward in FAAB over the last couple of years have been absolutely wonderful.
What's happened to the 'Set Lineup' page is taking two steps backward.
While giving the NFBC more clarity in tracking moves, that clarity is provided by inconveniencing the drafter.

This is going to be difficult for owners of many teams.
I know that the purpose is to solve problems.
It will also create problems.
We will work with it because we have no choice and it's what we do.
But it is not good.
Thanks for trying to work with us, Greg.
We appreciate it. We really do.

[Le Grand Orange]

Greg,

On the set lineups page for the mobile "app", it requires you to click on the "show schedule" box. I think that should be the default option and require you to click the box if you DON'T want to see the schedule.

Thanks!
Marc

[Gb2715]

What has been done is taking something that wasn't broke from our perspective and 'fixing' it for IT, et al.
IT cannot record the multiple moves made before hitting 'submit'?
It has to be broken down move by move?
We have to take our time to make it easier on IT? I thought it was supposed to work the other way around.
We also have to 'bench' starting players temporarily with these moves.
You just know that a great starting player will be on the bench when the deadline hits for a drafter. Bound to happen.
The steps forward in FAAB over the last couple of years have been absolutely wonderful.
What's happened to the 'Set Lineup' page is taking two steps backward.
While giving the NFBC more clarity in tracking moves, that clarity is provided by inconveniencing the drafter.

This is going to be difficult for owners of many teams.
I know that the purpose is to solve problems.
It will also create problems.
We will work with it because we have no choice and it's what we do.
But it is not good.
Thanks for trying to work with us, Greg.
We appreciate it. We really do.

I just spent an hour and an half setting lineups. Granted I have an ass ton of teams but something that took 15 min last season is now taking too long. And when news like Lindor, Correa and Morales comes out it’s like starting all over. This will be brutal this year

[mdecav]

To add to the suggestions... it would be very very helpful if we can either “drag move” or “arrow key” players on reserve like in our queues.

To give a DC example, my 50th player listed I’d like to move to the 40th slot, moving all players in between down one slot. Right now I have to:

Click 40 & 50 player
Then click 41 & 50 player
Then click 42 & 50 player
Then click 43 & 50 player
...and so on.

Way way way too much work.

[mdecav]

To repeat this again: if a player gets injured I have to search each individual DC roster for him.

There should be the ability somewhere that shows the teams in ALL of my leagues who has the player, not just those leagues with FAAB.

[JohnP]

To repeat this again: if a player gets injured I have to search each individual DC roster for him.

There should be the ability somewhere that shows the teams in ALL of my leagues who has the player, not just those leagues with FAAB.

There is a search box above your list of teams once in a lineup. Search a name and it shows bench or active position. Not sure if this works on mobile or not but it does on laptop. The search includes DC teams.

[Philippe27]

To add to the suggestions... it would be very very helpful if we can either “drag move” or “arrow key” players on reserve like in our queues.

To give a DC example, my 50th player listed I’d like to move to the 40th slot, moving all players in between down one slot. Right now I have to:

Click 40 & 50 player
Then click 41 & 50 player
Then click 42 & 50 player
Then click 43 & 50 player
...and so on.

Way way way too much work.

Agreed!

[mdecav]

To repeat this again: if a player gets injured I have to search each individual DC roster for him.

There should be the ability somewhere that shows the teams in ALL of my leagues who has the player, not just those leagues with FAAB.

There is a search box above your list of teams once in a lineup. Search a name and it shows bench or active position. Not sure if this works on mobile or not but it does on laptop. The search includes DC teams.

“above your list of teams”

Where? If I do a player search on the My Teams page, I only see the “Free Agents” option on the player page. This is via mobile FYI.

[JohnP]

To repeat this again: if a player gets injured I have to search each individual DC roster for him.

There should be the ability somewhere that shows the teams in ALL of my leagues who has the player, not just those leagues with FAAB.

There is a search box above your list of teams once in a lineup. Search a name and it shows bench or active position. Not sure if this works on mobile or not but it does on laptop. The search includes DC teams.

“above your list of teams”

Where? If I do a player search on the My Teams page, I only see the “Free Agents” option on the player page. This is via mobile FYI.

Yes. You are correct. Doesn't look like that search box is avail on mobile. At least I can't find it. It is there on desktop - same search box as last year.

[DOUGHBOYS]

And, we are back to confirming the confirm....

[DOUGHBOYS]

And, fixed

[Daren E]

The ability to arrange our reserves in any order we like is nice, but why can't the default order be by primary position like last year? Right now it's completely random with P, C, etc. all over the place so I have to manually reorder all 27 reserves for each DC.

[DOUGHBOYS]

Ugh. I just realized something.
In having to temporarily bench some regulars, we cannot bring those regulars back into our lineup under another position if their game has started.
Multi-positionality will take a hit with this new way of rostering.
This, this is not good.

[Money]

Ugh. I just realized something.
In having to bench some regulars, we cannot bring those regulars back into our lineup under another position if their game has started.
Multi-positionality will take a hit with this new way of rostering.
This, this is not good.

I am certain this will be corrected very soon. At least it should be. Now we need to go back and make sure we have the proper players in the Utility position.