All Good on the Horizon

Money · Post by **Money** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 2:23 pm

I've tried to say positive the entire trip with the NEW NFBC. I'm new and still believe. With that said, lets be realistic, it appears they're headed for a lot issues when the season starts.

Would like to see my super team, but I know it'll be there. The other problems everyone is bringing up I'm starting to doubt.

Good luck to Greg, Ryan, Tom and the entire team IT team. Try to get as much right as much right by Sunday as possible. I'm rooting for you!!!!!

[ April 01, 2010, 09:33 AM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 2:30 pm

Originally posted by Fast Money:

I've tried to say positive the entire trip with the NEW NFBC. I'm new and still believe. With that said, lets be realistic, it appears they're headed for a lot issues when the season starts.

Would like to see my super team, but I know it'll be there. The other problems everyone is bringing up I'm starting to doubt.

Good luck to Greg, Ryan, Tom and the entire team IT team. Try to get as much right as much right by Sunday as possible. I'm rooting for you!!!!! You're rooting for us and scare the bejeezus out of everyone?? Okay. I hope we don't let you down. I'd hate to see the posts then.

We'll get the Super League loaded. I'm not sure why the delay is happening with that league just because the results are from MDC.com. We'll continue to upgrade the FAAB system, likely before the weekend with some of the suggestions. But I understand the doubts; it's been there from Day One.

We just have to get it done.

Money · Post by **Money** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 2:55 pm

Greg,

Your're right, I apologize for the post. I've read the doom and gloom for weeks now and that and a few to many cocktails got to me.

I still believe. Thanks for everything.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 3:02 pm

Originally posted by Fast Money:

Greg,

Your're right, I apologize for the post. I've read the doom and gloom for weeks now and that and a few to many cocktails got to me.

I still believe. Thanks for everything. You can just as easily take the post down. I don't want to, but you can. It's a post that only damages anyone looking to join another Online Championship league. I'm disappointed, but it's almost as if folks are preparing for the worst and will be generally surprised when the worst doesn't happen...just like the live events. Everyone thought we wouldn't be able to handle those, and then look what happened.

You can lead the pessimistic charge, but I think you can see how I respond to posts like that and the ones that others started while I was gone. I am rooting so hard now for Fanball now, just like I was when we had STATS and it seemed like everyone hated STATS. I defended them to the end and I think we did okay together and now I'm standing behind John and his team. Again, I hope we prove you wrong.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 3:08 pm

Just so folks know, we have run 80+ satellite leagues so far and will have another 40+ online championship leagues along with our 24 Live Double Plays, 29 main events, 14 auction leagues, one Diamond, three Supers, one Ultimate and all the other leagues. I'm not asking for sympathy, but that's a lot of leagues to load. And we didn't load them soon enough because we were waiting for Player IDs from STATS.

So the pessimistic view usually comes from folks who only look at their one league that isn't loaded yet. We know that and realize that. Every league is special. But do the math above and you can see we have a lot of leagues being loaded, corrected, and unfortunately reloaded. We're not just sitting on our asses doing nothing. We're all working around the clock to get this done and done right.

But it's fine. Every little item we had on the site last year needs to be set up this year and we may not have that right away, forcing some folks to call us incompetents. But we're on it and we'll add these features as we go if we have to. That doesn't mean we're doomed for failure. I heard about failure this weekend and it wasn't at our event.

Money · Post by **Money** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 3:16 pm

Greg, tried to reach you through PM, it's full. I'll pull the post, how do I do that? I'll join another DP to make it up to you.

Damn, you've over reacted. I've supported the cause the entire way. Probably made one of the faithful mad. Go back and read my posts.

Bobby D · Post by **Bobby D** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 3:18 pm

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Just so folks know, we have run 80+ satellite leagues so far and will have another 40+ online championship leagues along with our 24 Live Double Plays, 29 main events, 14 auction leagues, one Diamond, three Supers, one Ultimate and all the other leagues. I'm not asking for sympathy, but that's a lot of leagues to load. And we didn't load them soon enough because we were waiting for Player IDs from STATS.

So the pessimistic view usually comes from folks who only look at their one league that isn't loaded yet. We know that and realize that. Every league is special. But do the math above and you can see we have a lot of leagues being loaded, corrected, and unfortunately reloaded. We're not just sitting on our asses doing nothing. We're all working around the clock to get this done and done right.

But it's fine. Every little item we had on the site last year needs to be set up this year and we may not have that right away, forcing some folks to call us incompetents. But we're on it and we'll add these features as we go if we have to. That doesn't mean we're doomed for failure. I heard about failure this weekend and it wasn't at our event. I think most of the pessimism and negative posts are based on the general flow of things this year. Things have not gone smoothly at all and it is very frustrating for new players as it is for old players. Many of the changes that took place this year seemed to take place much later than anyone expected, thus the situation we are in now. Why it took until less than a week before the season starts to get the software correct is beyond me.

With that said, I trust things will be correct by opening day. But to expect everyone to not be worried is a tad unrealistic if you ask me.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 3:46 pm

I'm curious to know what's so perilous about the "situation we are in now." That doesn't make much sense to me. EVERY year we have had roster issues to sort through when the leagues are set up. This isn't a new development by any means so blaming it on "The New NFBC" is wildly off base. This is part of the process when you have hundreds of leagues and have to manually load them. We still have several days before the season begins. That's MORE than enough time for everyone to get set up, prepare for FAAB if they desire and enjoy the start of the season.

The sky is falling posts really baffle me because we are doing so many things better than we ever have before. As Greg said, we realize people care a lot about their leagues and we certainly appreciate and welcome that. But there isn't anything happening this week that hasn't happened at some point in our event's history before. So it is frustrating to see so many gloom and doom posts when so many great things are happening and being unveiled. But there's nothing we can do about that and we'll just keep working hard to make sure everyone and everything is set up when the season begins.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 3:46 pm

Originally posted by Bobby D:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Just so folks know, we have run 80+ satellite leagues so far and will have another 40+ online championship leagues along with our 24 Live Double Plays, 29 main events, 14 auction leagues, one Diamond, three Supers, one Ultimate and all the other leagues. I'm not asking for sympathy, but that's a lot of leagues to load. And we didn't load them soon enough because we were waiting for Player IDs from STATS.

So the pessimistic view usually comes from folks who only look at their one league that isn't loaded yet. We know that and realize that. Every league is special. But do the math above and you can see we have a lot of leagues being loaded, corrected, and unfortunately reloaded. We're not just sitting on our asses doing nothing. We're all working around the clock to get this done and done right.

But it's fine. Every little item we had on the site last year needs to be set up this year and we may not have that right away, forcing some folks to call us incompetents. But we're on it and we'll add these features as we go if we have to. That doesn't mean we're doomed for failure. I heard about failure this weekend and it wasn't at our event. I think most of the pessimism and negative posts are based on the general flow of things this year. Things have not gone smoothly at all and it is very frustrating for new players as it is for old players. Many of the changes that took place this year seemed to take place much later than anyone expected, thus the situation we are in now. Why it took until less than a week before the season starts to get the software correct is beyond me.

With that said, I trust things will be correct by opening day. But to expect everyone to not be worried is a tad unrealistic if you ask me. [/QUOTE]Bobby, what is the general flow of things? We never held drafts one week before Opening Day. So hosting 20-30 live drafts the week before and not being able to load previous leagues because Player IDs weren't in the system has never happened before. We've never had this many leagues or loaded this many drafts in a day's notice. And the expectations have never been higher.

The software for FAAB, Conditional Bids and the rest is in place. Tweaking it and making it better for our users is unfortunately part of the process, just like it was at the beginning with STATS. But we'll get through it.

Nobody sounds like they expect it to be fine by Opening Day. so yes, that's why I am a tad bit surprised.

Bobby D · Post by **Bobby D** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 4:43 pm

I can only speak for myself and my experiences. First, I had expected to pay for 1 of my 3 leagues via check so that I didn't have to worry about charging 3 leagues to a credit card. But I was told different places to send the check and decided it would be better to just have the 3 leagues charged to a credit card instead of dealing with trying to figure out where to send the payment to. At that point, I wasn't even confident the check payment would be listed appropriately and didn't feel like having my card charged for 3 teams instead of 2. That was the first issue I dealt with this year.

The 2nd issue was not receiving my draft order until 3 days before one of my sat drafts. The league had been filled for weeks, maybe a month before the actual draft. If that is what our expectations are to be, please state so in the rules. I think most would expect a week or more advance notice for draft orders. I believe the main event teams were afforded that luxury? You claim all leagues are equal, but actions are louder than words. I am not the only person who expressed displeasure in this.

Also, emails were supposedly sent out to teams to have their KDS rankings set by a certain date, but I never received that email. Actually I have missed quite a few emails that others have received and that I should have received. So email lists are not quite up to par, not sure why this is an issue?

The draft software was introduced halfway through the drafting season and implemented on the spot. Again, not sure why this could not have been finished before the drafting season? Changes to the software are still being implemented as we speak, days before the season starts. Again, not sure why the software changes could not have been made in the off-season and tweaked BEFORE the drafts started based on player input?

Why was the software not made to replicate last years model or at least have all of the features that people knew and liked? The fact that this years software fails to allow people to set lineups for future weeks is ridiculous? Was there ever anyone who complained about this feature?

Sorry if I sound a little irritated, but I personally think the staff is asking for a lot to expect everyone to just sit back and say big deal when there were more than a few issues this year to deal with.

Either way, I am here, I am a customer. I may not like how some stuff was handled this year, but I am hoping things will get better and will be better next year. I just feel we all have the right to be worried due to what I feel has been a somewhat disorganized season so far.

sportsbettingman · Post by **sportsbettingman** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 5:04 pm

"E"...he's clean shaven.

Tommy...he's a blonde.

Geoff...he's still a young bird.

But Gregory...my poor, poor Gregory...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTcu7MCtuTs

captain · Post by **captain** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 5:10 pm

Guys:

I wish you knew how hard Greg,Tom,John in the IT department and all the rest of the Fanball staff is working. When they say everything will get fixed just trust them. Do you think all the bitching on the message boards is making things better. In the last 4 plus years these guys have done nothing but be the BEST high stakes fantasy league going from all aspects. So for once let's give them some credit and the opportunity to get everything accomplished, as I know they will.

Chris

Money · Post by **Money** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 5:18 pm

STOP. I started this stupid thread because I had a few cocktails and was buying into some of the stuff I read. I WAS WRONG. I'm signing up for another DP right now to show how much I believe.

Anyone reading this should do the same. This is a Great group and the ONLY place to be for Fantasy Baseball!!!!

Thunder · Post by **Thunder** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 5:23 pm

i can't speak for anyone but myself, but i'll be tuned in to my PC Sunday morning from beautiful historic Savannah. i'll be researching the internet to get all the latest news from MLB so to acquire any FA's that i might possibly need for the first week of what should be a GREAT season of fantasy baseball. i don't expect any problems and i wish everyone would get off NFBC/FANBALL's "butt" about potential problems. i have all the faith in the world that everything will be just fine.

JMO

Gekko · Post by **Gekko** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:54 pm

I'm receiving PM's, emails, texts, phone calls from fellow NFBC'ers about the faab system specifically. MOST (if not all) feel the system out there RIGHT NOW is going to require a lot more time on Sunday, and they (including me) don't like that.

Will the system be upgraded by Sunday...sounds like it should be. But for people who won't be around on Easter weekend, this presents a problem.

In addition, the players in the FAAB pool right now, are they 100% correct? Are the position eligibilities 100% correct right now? Will players that are there now, disappear before 8pm this Sunday? Will their positions change? For example, I see Tony Abreu is currently listed in the FAAB pool as only Utility. I know that is WRONG. What happens when people don't bid on him because they thought he was only Util eligible?

Esp for newbies and people traveling this weekend, my previous paragraph could prove very problematic.

Rolling out a FAAB system with less than a week to go isn't in any best practice manual i know of. You guys need to understand the skepticism from our end is 100% warranted whether you like it or not.

My advice: Have a person dedicated to checking the position eligibility of EVERY hitter that should be available in the free agent pool for this Sunday. HAVE THEM CHECK THE ELIGIBILITY TODAY!!! Probably will take them 5 or 6 hours to do it, but this is such an important part of our game, IT HAS TO BE DONE PRIOR TO WEEK ONE IMO.

Come 8pm Sunday night, we will know one way or another. The backend/FAAB system is what can carry this event to the next level. Let's just hope that level is UP.

DOUGHBOYS · Post by **DOUGHBOYS** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 1:33 am

Greg,

Deep down, I think everyone knows that everything will be fine.

This year has been very tough on the customer end. Everything is different with the purchase by Fanball. We usually have everything right, with no worries, almost 100% of the time before we even start studying for a draft. This year with changes and waiting for the changes to take place, it has created angst amongst the customers.

I can understand the apprehension. The only way some can feel as if they are doing 'something about it', is to type their fears on the Message Board. It isn't a slam at Fanball or even just a little distrust in things that will be done, it is more the need to 'do something about it'.

I can only say to these folks that deep down you know everything will be ok. One thing that has contributed to the angst this year is drafting one week before the draft. This has not been brought up anywhere. In the past, the NFBC has had two weeks to make sure all rosters are tight. One week has driven the fear factor that much higher.

In the end, we have to trust the process. Not only the process, but Greg, Tom, Geoff, and the rest of the staff. They have met every challenge leading up to this point and I know they will knock this out of the park as well.

JamesH · Post by **JamesH** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 2:04 am

There were a lot of broken promises this year. I can't remember how many time the next new feature would be ready tomorrow, but it showed up a week, two or five later. The NFBC has over promised and underdelivered so far this year. With so many changes, some unnecessary, in a short period of time it was inevitable. I still have faith things will work out, the software will improve, but I am anticipating lots of problems come Sunday. I hope all goes well, but Fanball needs to realize that they've thrown a lot at their customers this year and most of it has not gone well. Why should we expect things on Sunday to work when nothing else has without some major fixes?

DOUGHBOYS · Post by **DOUGHBOYS** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 2:21 am

Originally posted by Jules Winnfield:

There were a lot of broken promises this year. I can't remember how many time the next new feature would be ready tomorrow, but it showed up a week, two or five later. The NFBC has over promised and underdelivered so far this year. With so many changes, some unnecessary, in a short period of time it was inevitable. I still have faith things will work out, the software will improve, but I am anticipating lots of problems come Sunday. I hope all goes well, but Fanball needs to realize that they've thrown a lot at their customers this year and most of it has not gone well. Why should we expect things on Sunday to work when nothing else has without some major fixes? My post above dealt with the angst that customers face. This is another.

You say that Greg and the NFBC have under delivered and over promised.

What has been under delivered?

As of now, besides a few glitches with rosters and such (normal), we are in the same position as last year. The over promising you refer to, is timeframes.

Greg had more confidence in the timeframes than he should have. What is the big deal? There has been nothing hurt, so far, in getting something later than sooner.

As of now, we are basically in the same position as last year, only with the angst of a new FAAB. With new ownership, and without the aid from STATS and going on their own, that is pretty damned good.

JamesH · Post by **JamesH** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 2:58 am

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

quote:Originally posted by Jules Winnfield:

There were a lot of broken promises this year. I can't remember how many time the next new feature would be ready tomorrow, but it showed up a week, two or five later. The NFBC has over promised and underdelivered so far this year. With so many changes, some unnecessary, in a short period of time it was inevitable. I still have faith things will work out, the software will improve, but I am anticipating lots of problems come Sunday. I hope all goes well, but Fanball needs to realize that they've thrown a lot at their customers this year and most of it has not gone well. Why should we expect things on Sunday to work when nothing else has without some major fixes? My post above dealt with the angst that customers face. This is another.

You say that Greg and the NFBC have under delivered and over promised.

What has been under delivered?

As of now, besides a few glitches with rosters and such (normal), we are in the same position as last year. The over promising you refer to, is timeframes.

Greg had more confidence in the timeframes than he should have. What is the big deal? There has been nothing hurt, so far, in getting something later than sooner.

As of now, we are basically in the same position as last year, only with the angst of a new FAAB. With new ownership, and without the aid from STATS and going on their own, that is pretty damned good. [/QUOTE]I agree with most of your post dough, but there has been a pattern of saying a something will look amazing and is going to work and be an improvement from last year. When the actual product arrives its a let down. The NFBC would be better served to temper our expectations and explain that there will be growing pains. Not come out saying things will be great. Our expectations, as a result of Greg's posts, were very high. I think that is where the angst comes from. Greg should do hisself a favor and underpromise and overdeliver.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 3:09 am

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

Greg,

Deep down, I think everyone knows that everything will be fine.

This year has been very tough on the customer end. Everything is different with the purchase by Fanball. We usually have everything right, with no worries, almost 100% of the time before we even start studying for a draft. This year with changes and waiting for the changes to take place, it has created angst amongst the customers.

I can understand the apprehension. The only way some can feel as if they are doing 'something about it', is to type their fears on the Message Board. It isn't a slam at Fanball or even just a little distrust in things that will be done, it is more the need to 'do something about it'.

I can only say to these folks that deep down you know everything will be ok. One thing that has contributed to the angst this year is drafting one week before the draft. This has not been brought up anywhere. In the past, the NFBC has had two weeks to make sure all rosters are tight. One week has driven the fear factor that much higher.

In the end, we have to trust the process. Not only the process, but Greg, Tom, Geoff, and the rest of the staff. They have met every challenge leading up to this point and I know they will knock this out of the park as well. I would agree with you Dan, but you forget all of the posts in past years about how STATS sucks, how we didn't enter rosters fast enough, how MDC.com sucks, how this and that. I just think the level of bitching has been raised to a new level this year and when it's done on the public forums where we try to sell upcoming leagues it makes me mad. Nobody has called me all week to ASK about how things are going. I even see people I call my friends acting like my 8-year-old. I'm beyond frustrated with my customer base and if you guys are beyond frustrated with me, so be it.

We haven't failed anyone YET. Bitch at me when I fail. I can take that. Don't bitch yet because we're not done.

DOUGHBOYS · Post by **DOUGHBOYS** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 3:19 am

I agree, the bitches have been taken to a new level this year. I think if given the opportunity, that most posters would not have made some of the posts that they made.

I know customers and the NFBC alike cannot wait for the first pitch to be thrown so that we can get down to what goes on the field rather than technical aspects.

We are in the same place as we were at this time last year. In my mind, the NFBC has delivered.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 3:29 am

Originally posted by Gekko:

I'm receiving PM's, emails, texts, phone calls from fellow NFBC'ers about the faab system specifically. MOST (if not all) feel the system out there RIGHT NOW is going to require a lot more time on Sunday, and they (including me) don't like that.

Will the system be upgraded by Sunday...sounds like it should be. But for people who won't be around on Easter weekend, this presents a problem.

In addition, the players in the FAAB pool right now, are they 100% correct? Are the position eligibilities 100% correct right now? Will players that are there now, disappear before 8pm this Sunday? Will their positions change? For example, I see Tony Abreu is currently listed in the FAAB pool as only Utility. I know that is WRONG. What happens when people don't bid on him because they thought he was only Util eligible?

Esp for newbies and people traveling this weekend, my previous paragraph could prove very problematic.

Rolling out a FAAB system with less than a week to go isn't in any best practice manual i know of. You guys need to understand the skepticism from our end is 100% warranted whether you like it or not.

My advice: Have a person dedicated to checking the position eligibility of EVERY hitter that should be available in the free agent pool for this Sunday. HAVE THEM CHECK THE ELIGIBILITY TODAY!!! Probably will take them 5 or 6 hours to do it, but this is such an important part of our game, IT HAS TO BE DONE PRIOR TO WEEK ONE IMO.

Come 8pm Sunday night, we will know one way or another. The backend/FAAB system is what can carry this event to the next level. Let's just hope that level is UP. Oh boy. okay, thanks. got it. very helpful.

Seriously, here's a few quick updates:

** The player pool will be cleaned in full today. Someone did not uncheck some players not on 40-man rosters and that's why we have some retired players in the list. That will be done quickly today. Thanks for the heads up there folks.

** Position eligibility is matched to our draft software and our Resources list that we've had for months. When we switched the pages loading process in FAAB, it screwed up a few players. That will be corrected this morning and the Jeff Clements will go back to what we had. Sorry for the confusion yesterday, but this will be fixed.

** % Owned and sorts and everything else is being done today as well. Of course, folks may not believe us, but we'll have it done. These are not complicated fixes and they will be done.

Keep the doom and gloom coming.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 3:32 am

Originally posted by Jules Winnfield:

There were a lot of broken promises this year. I can't remember how many time the next new feature would be ready tomorrow, but it showed up a week, two or five later. The NFBC has over promised and underdelivered so far this year. With so many changes, some unnecessary, in a short period of time it was inevitable. I still have faith things will work out, the software will improve, but I am anticipating lots of problems come Sunday. I hope all goes well, but Fanball needs to realize that they've thrown a lot at their customers this year and most of it has not gone well. Why should we expect things on Sunday to work when nothing else has without some major fixes? Broken promises?? Okay. I can't respond anymore. Sorry Jules. Sorry nothing has gone well.

Next caller please. The hotline is open.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 3:37 am

Originally posted by Fast Money:

STOP. I started this stupid thread because I had a few cocktails and was buying into some of the stuff I read. I WAS WRONG. I'm signing up for another DP right now to show how much I believe.

Anyone reading this should do the same. This is a Great group and the ONLY place to be for Fantasy Baseball!!!! Since Joe admits that alcohol was involved and I believe his alcohol-related rant has cost us signups, I've taken the liberty of changing the name of this thread to "All Good on the Horizon." If you have a problem with that Joe, I'll change it back to what you had.

Joe admits that he read the doom and gloom posts and couldn't contain himself anymore. This to a guy who is already in two Supers and a main event, yet he's scared out of his wits. And then he puts another scary post up to scare even more people.

I'm sorry I'm taking it out on you Joe, but as we discussed last night, you wrote me the best PM about how much fun you had in the Super League on Sunday and how you would be in LV every year going forward and then two days later you tell the whole community that the NFBC world is coming down. So we're all torn now and I guess we just have to see if Fanball can get the job done or not. We'll see.

DOUGHBOYS · Post by **DOUGHBOYS** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 3:55 am

This thread has more than illustrated to me, how much the NFBC needs one of our own.

Walla Walla has been sorely missed during all the bitching and moaning going on amongst customers. John, you have completely fallen down on the job.

Without your posts, there is nothing for other doomsdayers to compare their posts. Thus, some of them don't see how silly some of their posts really look.

Instead of coming down on Walla Walla, they are trying to be Walla Walla. While Walla Walla wows with his complaints, others just tend to annoy. There is only one Walla Walla.

John, come back and restore the sanity