The king of slow drafts

[Gates]

I'm in a draft that started Tuesday and we only are in the middle of the 6th round. There was actually only ONE pick made in the last 9 hours...only 6 teams are online as we speak...very discouraging...anybody wants to buy me out...painful!!!

Gates

[The Mighty Men]

Between Wednesday night at 10 and today around 2, I went 40 hours without making a pick, from the 12 spot.

[Gates]

Between Wednesday night at 10 and today around 2, I went 40 hours without making a pick, from the 12 spot.

Ooops, we might have a new king...

[Greg Ambrosius]

I'm in a draft that started Tuesday and we only are in the middle of the 6th round. There was actually only ONE pick made in the last 9 hours...only 6 teams are online as we speak...very discouraging...anybody wants to buy me out...painful!!!

Gates

Let me know what league this is via email Gaetan and I'll email the group a reminder to be ready to draft. These leagues filled up so fast this week that it looked like everyone was eager to draft. It's okay to take your time to make a pick, but EVERYONE shouldn't be taking the full 8 hours. Time to get excited and be ready to draft. Give me a shout and I'll push the needle a little here.

And the same goes with all of the Slow Drafts. We're not trying to be pushy, but then again there is a courtesy involved with these Slow Drafts to at least got into the Chat room and let other owners know when you'll be able to draft. It just keeps things moving. Plus the One Round Que has been added to allow you to put some players in your Que so that you are ready when your turn is up. None of us needs a full 8 hours to decide among three players. So let's be courtesy, let's be ready when our turn is coming up and let's keep these moving. These are YOUR leagues, so treat everyone with respect.

[Outlaw]

@Gates
Day 6 in mine and we are not through 9 rounds. You are well ahead of our pace. 3 days and 6 rounds is pretty darn good. the two i completed were 24 days and 28 days. auto 1 pick has helped a little, but not like i thought. the surprsising thing I've noticed is that weekends seem to be even slower in the 2 I completed. Also when you have people on both coasts, the three hour time difference wreaks havoc, especially at night and people need to understand that. All in all these have been great, and a lot of fun. they make one do thier hoemwork if they are really interested.

I wonder what the effect on the economy is and worker productivity is with so many people drafting during the week -lol

[papa's nine]

greg, is it possible to have an east coast and a west coast slow draft. this would definetly eliminate the time diference delays. there seems to be enough teams from both coast to fill up a split draft.

[Ryan C]

greg, is it possible to have an east coast and a west coast slow draft. this would definetly eliminate the time diference delays. there seems to be enough teams from both coast to fill up a split draft.

I will second this - it does make it tough sometimes - and I think having a draft with all East Coast/West Coast would be worth an experiment. It can be tough to be the one east coast guy (or vice/versa) stuck in the middle of a pack of west coasters and midnight/1 am rolls around for you - but they are all in prime time. I personally think it makes sense. If you get the right group of guys - you can at least hopefully congregate at set times everyday to bang out a bunch of picks and some chat as well.

[Baseball Furies]

Greg,
As you can see with the ever-growing popularity of this product, there is going to be the need for some extra attention put on the customization and protocols around Slow Drafts in the NFBC come next season. There have been a ton of great ideas and suggestions on several different threads and in the many chat rooms of these drafts that warrant major consideration for next season. Many of these have been made by some of the top players and therefore "investors" in the NFBC, and they will help in creating an even better product and experience for all involved next year. The way it has been going, it is not inconceivable that there could be as many as 40 or more slow draft leagues of various types held next year, which will allow for a lot more flexibility in terms of what you can offer as far as these drafts encompassing more than just the various levels of cost and winner's compensation. I think it would make sense right now given all that has transpired this season around the Slow Drafts, that you start a thread asking for suggestions, feedback, and ideas based on the myriad of pro's and con's your customers have been experiencing this year in their drafts. With the exploding popularity of this type of league, which in my opinion not only serves as a much more desirable option for most of us than mock drafting in preparation for the Main Events and other higher stakes competitions that you offer, but also for you as an introductory product for obvious up-selling into your other events, it would be well worth it to hear from people now while it is still fresh in their minds so that you gather the information that you will need for 2013 season. Just my two cents.

[Greg Ambrosius]

I think it's time to resurrect my "Slow Draft Protocol" thread!! The natives are getting restless.

Seriously, I will post a series of Do's and Don'ts when it comes to the Slow Drafts. I realize that we have a veteran group of drafters and some newbies, some East Coasters and some West Coasters, but that still shouldn't stop all of us from being on the same page when it comes to these drafts. These don't have to be done in 14 days, but they shouldn't take 35 days, either. There is one draft that is in its fifth week; THAT'S TOO LONG!! We have some people saying they are using their whole 8 hours as strategy; THAT'S NOT THE INTENT OF ALLOWING 8 HOURS!! It's set up that way so you can sleep at night and not be tied to the computer when it's your pick. But you are getting EVERY pick emailed to you, so when your turn is up, c'mon, you should know who you're going to pick. If you can do that in a timely fashion, everyone would appreciate it.

Again, for the most part these are going very well and the One Round Que is there for you to use now, especially when you are 3 or 4 picks away. C'mon, it's easy when I'm 3 or 4 picks away to know which 4 players I want and to be ready to rank them in order on who I want. Set that que up, click the One Round Auto button and your pick will be made from that que when you're up. It's as easy as that, you get the top player you wanted and the draft moves along nicely.

There's no reason why these drafts can't be done in 21-24 days. Two rounds per day should be the average. That's not so difficult. Please sign up going forward with that timeline in mind and if you really do need 8 hours of research per pick, then maybe a 50-round draft isn't for you (or at least the other 14 guys in your league).

Best of luck all and I have no problem addressing any individual owners with a phone call if we need to move things along. Just email me and I'll look into it.

[gpchurchill]

what if we all were given a max allotted time for the entire draft? 8 hrs for an individual pick, but no more than...i don't know...100 hrs for all 50. or less

[Highrollers]

I say we go back to 12 hours between picks. That way 8 hrs will seem like a short time.

[Gates]

@outlaw
Your draft indeed has quite a slow pace. We are now in our 6th day in we are in the middle of the 8th round, so we slowed down more. Up until yesterday, we had 3 "players" that slowed us down quite a bit, the rest of the gang is doing real good. Greg gave a warning to the whole group, thank you sir. Now let see how hat plays for the next few rounds.

Maybe i reacted like this because I've been so extremely lucky with the first two drafts I did this year, the pace was simply amazing. In one draft, our record was 6 rounds in one day, picks were flying left and right. The email draft in November was also amazing, great bunch of guys, courtesy to the max, picks left to others, etc...

I remember last year when we had 2 shifts on the draft and it workout surprisingly quite good (day and night).

All that said, thanks Greg...let see how it goes from now on.
Gates
Gates

[Dak]

Call out the slow drafters and put 'em in the same league next yr.

[Baseball Furies]

Call out the slow drafters and put 'em in the same league next yr.

LOVE this idea! Put the draft challenged people together in the same draft and let them take all winter to draft if they want.

[meanguy]

what if we all were given a max allotted time for the entire draft? 8 hrs for an individual pick, but no more than...i don't know...100 hrs for all 50. or less

This is the answer. If people run out of their allotted time, they would just need to be on top of their Que, having their top ranked guys ready to be drafted when it's threir turn (you know, kinda like the way youre supposed to conduct yourself in these drafts). It's fair and FORCES people to be considerate. Unfortunately, with some people that's the only way it's going to happen.

[JohnP]

what if we all were given a max allotted time for the entire draft? 8 hrs for an individual pick, but no more than...i don't know...100 hrs for all 50. or less

This is the answer. If people run out of their allotted time, they would just need to be on top of their Que, having their top ranked guys ready to be drafted when it's threir turn (you know, kinda like the way youre supposed to conduct yourself in these drafts). It's fair and FORCES people to be considerate. Unfortunately, with some people that's the only way it's going to happen.

While I love this idea, it might not be the easiest to implement on the programming side? Overall, I think it is hard to complain about how these have gone. Surely we have all been frustrated from time to time and maybe there are some tweaks in the communication portion of the software that could happen to make things better (who is on, who is off, date / time stamp the chat, etc.) but what a cool concept this has been. The $150 price point is perfect and gives you a great chance to research players, practice strategies, win a thousand bucks by winning your league, and have a shot at a 10k or greater jackpot.

[Captain Hook]

Some interesting ideas, but from an overall point of view - the system is not broken, it is just trying to accomodate some broken drafters.

[Winston's Empire]

Some interesting ideas, but from an overall point of view - the system is not broken, it is just trying to accomodate some broken drafters.

Could not agree more. There are a couple of guys in my 3rd slow draft of the year I will be avoiding in years to come. They have timed out during the day / evening several times, don't communicate with the group, leave the draft room as soon as its there turn - leaving everybody hanging for hours on end etc. etc....

My first 2 slow drafts went great, but a couple of guys in my latest draft have been added to my DO NOT DRAFT WITH LIST!

There is ZERO wrong with the draft setup by NFBC and the service Tom / Greg give is amazing.

[Atlas]

Just thinking out loud here....

I wonder if there is a way to track the average pick time for each drafter?

I know Greg and Tom have enough on their plates, but if the IT guys built this in and could produce a running list
so that it could be made available, it might not only help make a decision if we wanted to join a particular group, but might also act as a deterrent for those that abuse the system.

I know, I know...by the time we see the stats the damage has already been done. You don't want to necessarily deter patrons.
Not particularly politically correct. A lot of effort for something common sense dictates we should be able to police ourselves.

Just a thought.

[Winston's Empire]

Just thinking out loud here....

I wonder if there is a way to track the average pick time for each drafter?

I know Greg and Tom have enough on their plates, but if the IT guys built this in and could produce a running list
so that it could be made available, it might not only help make a decision if we wanted to join a particular group, but might also act as a deterrent for those that abuse the system.

I know, I know...by the time we see the stats the damage has already been done. You don't want to necessarily deter patrons.
Not particularly politically correct. A lot of effort for something common sense dictates we should be able to police ourselves.

Just a thought.

I have thought of this idea too!
I have also thought of the idea of having a BLOW HORN BUTTON that guys can hit that screems at the Slow Guy, "HURRY UP DUDE... YOUR HOLDING UP THE WHOLE DRAFT, AGAIN!!!!!" This blow horn can not be silenced and will wake the guys neighbors!
I know this isn't something most would vote for, but I thought of it while watching a guy time out at the turn the other day, only to be followed by 4.5 hours for his second pick!

[Jarbel]

This was my 1st year in a draft. Thinking about another now that my daughter is born, anyways i think with all the resources available with computers, ipad, smartphones, tablets, etc i dont see any reason that you cant make your picks in 8 hours. I think if you're active and in your chatroom give out your number and let ppl text u your turn. Helped me a ton. I probably did 90% of my draft on my phone.

[Cocktails and Dreams]

One idea is to have different lengths of slow draft allowance. You have two clocks. The 8 hours or whatever you get to make a pick. Then another clock that runs when it is your turn. If the slow draft is a 15 day one then everyone gets a total of 24 hours. When it is up, you get autopicked the rest of draft so you better have a list. If a slow draft designed to take 10 days then everyone gets a total time clock of 16 total hours. People can then decide what time frame suits them the best and understand the consequences of not making timely picks. Can't remember if clock shut off for a period at night or not, but if so these hours would need to be adjusted slightly but you get the point. Not sure if it would work or not, but is an idea. I am not playing them this year even though I would like to, because I found that a few people not as respectful of everyone's time as the majority were. Took the fun out of it.

[BK METS]

There are 1 or 2 in every slow draft that I have been in, that seem to ruin the fun for everyone else. When asked if they could maybe use the auto pick one round option or maybe use their cell phone to draft, their answer is "I am playing within the rules". After that, they make it even harder by taking more time due to spite. The one in our current draft says he cannot draft at all during the day, will not use the auto pick one, and will not use his cell phone. When approached, he flipped out on everyone. Currently, he is on hour 7. He rarely gets online until 7:00 PM. Then, we have others leaving at 10:00-10:30 and will not use the auto one round. But, there are probably 9-10 members of the league who use auto one nearly every round or draft in under 10 minutes. This has helped us get through the draft pretty good.

There will always be one person who will be un-cooperative. There is really nothing that can done other than make suggestions, but in their mind, they have 8 hours.

My suggestion for the future.... Give each owner a maximum time clock for the entire draft. If they go over, they auto draft for the remainder of the draft, able only to set their que. This will stop the 1 or 2 for ruining it for everyone else.

[BK METS]

One idea is to have different lengths of slow draft allowance. You have two clocks. The 8 hours or whatever you get to make a pick. Then another clock that runs when it is your turn. If the slow draft is a 15 day one then everyone gets a total of 24 hours. When it is up, you get autopicked the rest of draft so you better have a list. If a slow draft designed to take 10 days then everyone gets a total time clock of 16 total hours. People can then decide what time frame suits them the best and understand the consequences of not making timely picks. Can't remember if clock shut off for a period at night or not, but if so these hours would need to be adjusted slightly but you get the point. Not sure if it would work or not, but is an idea. I am not playing them this year even though I would like to, because I found that a few people not as respectful of everyone's time as the majority were. Took the fun out of it.

Just saw this response as I was writing mine. Same basic concept.