Ideas For Fantasy Draft Match Threads (New Ways Of Playing Out Matches)

[Chesterlestreet]

A couple of us have discussed a wee bit, just throwing some very vague ideas around, so I thought it benefical for all who're interested to do the same in a separate thread.

As a starting point we could look at this:

http://www.xtratime.org/forum/showthread.php?t=308529&highlight=

(thanks to Aldo for the link).

...and then perhaps come up with ways to modify a format like this one, to suit our purposes and tastes to the best effect.

One thing which immediately strikes me as good fun is the idea of "power cards".

Discuss, lads (and lasses, should there be any).

As far as the player pool goes, for my money we should do another draft in a similar spirit to Annah's recent one, i.e. with limitations as to how many star players/vote pullers you can field, etc. But that's just my tuppence - any ideas should be put forth freely.

Another thing to discuss (which we've talked about briefly before) is the way matches are played out: can we make the matches themselves more interesting/crazy/unpredictable by introducing some new elements?

 

[Annahnomoss]

Seems brilliant count me in. Using some sort of new element for the matches would be great, judges which has a certain amount of points, goalkeeper having different penalty bonus and so forth.

 

[Skills]

2013/14 draft anyone? I wanted to start one post world cup. We had one in the newbs last year for 12./13.

Edit: I wouldn't be able to play now anyway. Don't have a lot of time, but it's still an idea.

 

[Annahnomoss]

2013/14 draft anyone? I wanted to start one post world cup. We had one in the newbs last year for 12./13.

Sounds really fun and limited. Another idea for changing the matches and possibly making them funnier is by defining what a peak is. Is it 30 matches, it is 15, is it 2 seasons is it 4 years.

Many arguments in the threads otherwise ends with "Well my definition of peak is X not Y".

 

[VivaJanuzaj]

I'm definitely in, and I'd be thrilled with a present draft for a change, not sure how it will work with the TP

 

[MTR]

Only active English player. Would love to see Lee Cattermole and Tom Cleverley duo in one team.

 

[VivaJanuzaj]

Only active English player. Would love to see Lee Cattermole and Tom Cleverley duo in one team.

we can also make united fallouts draft.
A winger pairing of Bebe and Obertan

 

[NM]

I want in.. Been out of the draft game too long

 

[Gio]

A few ideas that might be worth considering:

• All-time British draft
• Nations draft (where the largest countries get 2 managers drafting for the best players from that country, while the smaller countries have a single manager. Limited in terms of the actual draft process, endless potential in terms of eulogising about great but less familiar players and teams)
• 1990s Serie A or La Liga

My only comment in terms of the general format is not to make it too complex for the casual Caf member to follow. There is of course some scope to refine and improve certain aspects such as the valueless nature of goalkeepers and the randomness of penalty shoot-outs.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Excellent suggestions so far - keep 'em coming.

All time British draft sounds very appealing to me. Would be easy to implement a TP system too.

A purely contemparary draft is another very good shout.

@Gio You mean that two separate managers assemble two different teams from the pool(s) of the big nations? I like that too.

Also agree that it can't be too complex - that takes away from the fun, clearly. Ideally, you introduce some limitations and stumbling blocks which are easy and intuitive to grasp, but potentially very tricky to deal with for the managers.

 

[Gio]

Aye, @antohan mentioned it a couple of months ago as well. No doubt because he'd want to take over Uruguay and kill us all with his endless tales of yore. You'd need to agree which nations merited 2 managers - maybe just Brazil, Germany and Italy - but I'm mainly thinking aloud and perhaps anto further refined his thinking on it.

 

[Cutch]

Is there any way we can make the match threads less exhausting where it doesn't feel like you have to be beside your laptop all day?

I enjoy the drafting, the auction and sheep drafts recently were great, but struggle for the time and motivation to play these marathon matches

 

[Chesterlestreet]

In theory we could close the polls after 12hrs rather than 24 - but then you'd get issues with time differences and whatnot.

Another idea (just throwing it out) could be to limit the managers' input: they write up a strategy and are then allowed X posts in which they clarify things and respond to criticism - whereas the bulk of the thread would be neutrals making points.

One particular aspect of the match threads I personally would like to "reform" is the use of subs. There is no very set practice here, it seems. Making it necessary/mandatory for a manager to use subs would add a dimension to the matches.

 

[Cutch]

I'm probably in favour of most of those ideas. A 12 hour poll is probably long enough really, starting at a convenient time like 3pm would suit most timezones but can be agreed or adjusted if required beforehand. Don't think it would affect the number of votes particularly, most seem to come on near the end to vote, whatever time that is anyway. Limiting the managers votes, i would probably be in favour as matches can tend to go round in circles saying the same things. I'd like to get away with a good tactics summary/teamsheets/profiles if i've the time and a few posts through the day just to clarify any areas of confusion. Some of these tactical affairs can get a bit excessive. 90% of voters have their own mind made up probably anyway.

The drafting is the fun bit, lets take our time at it. When it comes to the matches, keep it brief and to the point then we'll get through it all much quicker and not lose interest.

 

[Annahnomoss]

I'm probably in favour of most of those ideas. A 12 hour poll is probably long enough really, starting at a convenient time like 3pm would suit most timezones but can be agreed or adjusted if required beforehand. Don't think it would affect the number of votes particularly, most seem to come on near the end to vote, whatever time that is anyway. Limiting the managers votes, i would probably be in favour as matches can tend to go round in circles saying the same things. I'd like to get away with a good tactics summary/teamsheets/profiles if i've the time and a few posts through the day just to clarify any areas of confusion. Some of these tactical affairs can get a bit excessive. 90% of voters have their own mind made up probably anyway.

The drafting is the fun bit, lets take our time at it. When it comes to the matches, keep it brief and to the point then we'll get through it all much quicker and not lose interest.

I'd actually be in favour of even slightly shorter ones than that. 12 hour will effectively be similar to the 24 hour ones as people are often asleep or away half the time anyhow. If we all knew when the matches started we wouldn't need 12 hours, it would be possible to have them being 4 hours as well and it would allow it to be more intense. All the voters would know when the matches would start as well and after all if the amount of managerial votes increases in comparison it is just good in my eyes.

 

[Cutch]

I'd actually be in favour of even slightly shorter ones than that. 12 hour will effectively be similar to the 24 hour ones as people are often asleep or away half the time anyhow. If we all knew when the matches started we wouldn't need 12 hours, it would be possible to have them being 4 hours as well and it would allow it to be more intense. All the voters would know when the matches would start as well and after all if the amount of managerial votes increases in comparison it is just good in my eyes.

I think any shorter would be cutting it too much for the voters in all the different time zones to make an appearance. I'm not sure if a poll can even be less than 12 hours

 

[Annahnomoss]

I think any shorter would be cutting it too much for the voters in all the different time zones to make an appearance. I'm not sure if a poll can even be less than 12 hours

Just checked it and it is possible to use hours as the deadline.

 

[VivaJanuzaj]

I'm not too sure about the nations draft myself, I'd prefer something more simple like a 70s born and forward draft with TP and one of each country

 

[Stobzilla]

All time UK & Ireland Draft would be a great idea IMO.

 

[Annahnomoss]

I'm not too sure about the nations draft myself, I'd prefer something more simple like a 70s born and forward draft with TP and one of each country

Agreed, don't think it is the funniest format for us non brits.

 

[crappycraperson]

What happened to the final of last draft?

 

[BigDunc9]

I'd be game if there's a space and it was a current draft or a British all time one.

 

[Thisistheone]

British all-time draft sounds good. I'd be interested in that.

 

[Balu]

I'd love to watch a British all-time draft from the sidelines, should be really interesting.

 

[VivaJanuzaj]

I wouldn't want to play in a British all time one. I don't think I know enough for it. @Annahnomoss summed it up pretty well, won't be too fun for us foreigners

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Looking at the "ultimate" format again, I think it's needlessly complicated both here and there.

What I would propose - as a basic model - is to combine a transfer draft and a sheep draft (of sorts). Each manager has a budget and there will be pure transfer rounds - but there will also be rounds in which you can't buy players, where you have to be clever and come up with players who meet certain criteria.

This can also - of course - be combined with a TP system.

Depending on the pool we could also consider "banning" a handful of the usual vote pulling suspects.

 

[Annahnomoss]

Looking at the "ultimate" format again, I think it's needlessly complicated both here and there.

What I would propose - as a basic model - is to combine a transfer draft and a sheep draft (of sorts). Each manager has a budget and there will be pure transfer rounds - but there will also be rounds in which you can't buy players, where you have to be clever and come up with players who meet certain criteria.

This can also - of course - be combined with a TP system.

Depending on the pool we could also consider "banning" a handful of the usual vote pulling suspects.

Sounds good enough. You can even skip the TP system and instead just ban a the best pulling players.

 

[Theon]

British all-time draft sounds good. I'd be interested in that.

Sounds good, maybe with Ireland as well.

 

[Thisistheone]

Sounds good, maybe with Ireland as well.

Yeah def. Meant to say Ireland as well.

Will be a good pool of players.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

So, the concrete idea as far as pools/eligible players goes, which people seem keen on thus far - is the alltime British isles draft.

But some ain't so keen on that. Other concrete ideas? Serie A and La Liga have been mentioned - but how keen are people on that?

Another idea mentioned is a contemporary Premier League (2013-2014) draft.

To me personally the most appealing one would be the alltime British/Irish one - but I understand the reservations very well.

Another twist which I like very much on paper, so to speak, is the "one player per nation" draft. But how practicable is this? Does anyone have any experience with it? Can you end up with interesting teams for sixteen managers, say, with this premise?

 

[VivaJanuzaj]

So, the concrete idea as far as pools/eligible players goes, which people seem keen on thus far - is the alltime British isles draft.

But some ain't so keen on that. Other concrete ideas? Serie A and La Liga have been mentioned - but how keen are people on that?

Another idea mentioned is a contemporary Premier League (2013-2014) draft.

To me personally the most appealing one would be the alltime British/Irish one - but I understand the reservations very well.

Another twist which I like very much on paper, so to speak, is the "one player per nation" draft. But how practicable is this? Does anyone have any experience with it? Can you end up with interesting teams for sixteen managers, say, with this premise?

Yeah I've done a one player per nation draft twice, once all time with it and no other rules and one with some rules and I enjoyed it a lot. Makes things a little more complicated. I think doing this with current players maybe or born 70s forward can be really fun.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Yeah I've done a one player per nation draft twice, once all time with it and no other rules and one with some rules and I enjoyed it a lot. Makes things a little more complicated. I think doing this with current players maybe or born 70s forward can be really fun.

I like the idea very much, I must say.

I'm thinking all time - but with the likes of Pele and Maradona banned.

 

[RoadTrip]

Count me in as always. Will read through properly and come up with ideas at some point.

 

[VivaJanuzaj]

I like the idea very much, I must say.

I'm thinking all time - but with the likes of Pele and Maradona banned.

I'd make it 70s forward, seems like more interesting than endless pool imo

 

[RoadTrip]

Well I had always planned on bringing forward a draft I played in the newbies - @VivaJanuzaj will remember. It was the first draft id played.

Essentially it's a snake draft. However, by the end of the draft your team of players must meet 12 criterion, and 1 player can only count towards 1 criteria. Examples could be -A player who has won a double, or -A player to have never played in Europe, or -A player never to play in a World Cup, or -A player who represented an African country. Etc etc.

It's simple and straight forward. Similar to Aldo's sheep draft however the challenge here is the order in which you recruit players so as to not end up with a tough category to fill at the end where the player pool remaining is shit.

Can add recent varieties too, such as a TP system, transfers etc.

 

[Thisistheone]

That sounds good Trippy.

 

[VivaJanuzaj]

Yeah I remember that trippy it was a superb idea, I think we need to have better criterias than what we had in the newbies but it was a superb one with really intense research which always adds to the fun

 

[RoadTrip]

In respect of match days, here is my summary of how I feel:

I absolutely love the debate. Yes I get heated and annoyed sometimes @antohan knows only too well, but that's because I love discussing football.

However my biggest issue we currently have is scan voters. I hate that they can swing a match which shouldn't be close when reading a tactical analysis.

Options I would propose to counter this:

Manager votes count double. I.e, those who play and likely read and analyse your team in depth should have a greater impact on the result.

Or

Only managers can vote. All managers need to vote before the deadline.

I appreciate the latter closes out the rest of the forum which is a large issue.

Also, I'm very much against the idea of limiting discussion in matches. To me that's one of the best parts of the game. The tooing and froing of opinions is what makes it good. However I appreciate the endless discussion is frustrating.

So suggestion:

Managers submit their teams a minimum of 24 hours before the match. The host of the draft submits the teams to every manager/a list of people actively interested in the draft. These people then list any relevant questions they have for the managers they feel will help decide their vote or what they feel is their most important discussion of the match (e.g how would you cope with situation x). There can be a limit of 3 for example. The host then removes any duplicates and when opening the draft, lists these questions for the managers to reply to cover all the key points instantly. That way managers don't have to sit around for the whole day as the key points to those interested are covered in one post. You could even PM the managers the questions before the game and include their response in the opening of the match. This way a manager won't feel like they haven't made their key points and don't have to sit around all day. Then, we can either ban managers from talking and let the other thread watchers discuss their responses or we can not ban them and they can contribute as well.


Sorry I don't know how clear all that was but I hope I got my point across. Haven't thought about it in depth so if there are obvious flaws to the idea please do critisize.

 

[RoadTrip]

Yeah I remember that trippy it was a superb idea, I think we need to have better criterias than what we had in the newbies but it was a superb one with really intense research which always adds to the fun

Definitely. We can draft up ideas as a group.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Aye - I like it. It's very straight forward and should be fun. Go for this format now - and then meditate some more on other variations by and by?

I'll definitely brew up something down the line - but I'd rather we do Trip's thing now.

Do you want to host this thing, Trip?

@rpitroda