Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

I'm asking this because some day I will try a live draft. I know how fun they are in fantasy football, and I'm sure they will be just as exciting here.

If I am a veteran of live SOM drafts, I would want the shortest time limit (45 seconds?). It moves the draft along. In fact, anything longer and the draft could take a long time to complete.

That being said, my first live draft won't be in a league with a 45-second time limit. I'm going to want more time than that. I won't need the maximum time for all or even most of my picks, but I may need more time for some of them.

So, what is the best time limit? Do you cater to the veterans or try to lure someone looking to try it for the first time?

I like 90 seconds, but I've done 60 seconds and it wasn't too bad.

Even though I find the draft being too long at the end, I prefer 90 seconds for a pick; although, as Steve said, 60 seconds is also doable...as long as you don't let your mind drift. Although I'm a veteran myself, I see no need to cater to veterans; if they want a 45 second beneficial to their superior knowledge, they can set one up. I would say the same to rookies who want a 2 minute time period to accommodate their lack of knowledge. So, in the end, the 60 or 90 second drafts are optimal as they provide sufficient time for the non-aces without completely boring the more experienced drafters.

120 really drags out. Too long IMO. 60 is plenty if people have been playing the set, but it may scare of some. You do have to stay on your toes at 45 and you definitely should not go that fast(probably not even 60) if you do not have a good knowledge of the set. You will be overwhelmed, but you are done in 1 Hour or so. 90 is probably the safest time limit.

Yes, I agree with Jerry, 120 seconds does drag on and on, though I still manage to have fun. I have been in four live drafts so far, and have done everything from 45 seconds to 120 seconds. I always have my queue filled up and can pick within 10 seconds, but that is because I spend a lot of prior time studying the cards. Another thing to consider is every once in a while you can get bumped off line during a draft, so more time can help.

Here is a tip I will share; what I like to do is make an auto draft list BEFORE a LIVE draft and then sort of work off of there. It is important to have your queue filled up so you can make those quick decisions.

The live draft link opens up 30 minutes prior to draft start time. I think it would be awesome if the link became available even earlier. In some of my fantasy leagues if the league is filled you can go onto the live draft site 24 hours in advance and set up your queue. Queue's are very important no matter what time limit you are using.