Slow filling leagues!

Hey Everyone!
Was one of the first to play this online version when TSN launched it many years ago. Been away from the game for almost ten years now cannot resist the game any longer. I am finding out though that the leagues take forever to fill and there does not seem to be nearly the amount of people playing. Used to be leagues would fill at least one per day. Did many of the regulars not make the switch over from TSN or is it just a money thing in todays economy? Anyways, great to be back and lookin forward to getting back into the best online baseball out there!
Btw, for any of the original vets of the game reading this I used to go by the name Loobee on these boards!
Great to be back!

Welcome back Sebastian (Loobee)!

I can't speak for everyone, and all I can do is give you my sense of it. I started playing in 2008. I've always love strat but didn't know about the online game till then.

I know some people left after the changeover, and some people cut back or waited some time after the changeover (based on comments). The discussion board went through a weird metamorphosis - much criticism in the early days of the switchover, and then some rather obvious censorship, which in its own way was kind of sad. But then the glitches got fixed (for the very largest part, maybe as good as it ever was, maybe better), and then the boards livened up, and some of the players that had left returned again (again based on comments posted).

Even before the switch from TSN there were discussions on the old boards about some drop off of playing and posting on the boards. There was some discussion that the economy had something to do with that. I think there was also some discussion about signs that TSN wasn't promoting strat online much at that point, with decreasing visibility of strat on the the TSN web site. So there was some economic effect and maybe some TSN effect.

My thinking is that this was a change that Strat had to make, in order to try to take control of their destiny for the online game.

I really like what they've done with the online game, with improvements in its gaming tools and displays, and I hope that they are successful in promoting the game and attracting new gamers, as well as returning gamers like yourself.

Welcome back!!!

Geoff

Thanks Geoff!

You probably are spot on with the reasons why the decrease in players here. Having seen the product that was first introduced many years ago I am very impressed with the improvements the game has made. My hats off to TSN for bringing the game to the internet and getting it through its growing pains but I think the Strat site itself will offer even more eventually.
Guess I will patiently wait for my league to fill and see just how much I have forgotten about putting a decent team on the field!
Thanks Again!

I didn't even know about this until I received a free credit from SOM. I"m 1/3 into it and I've already paid for 5 more teams! Perhaps if the game company gave credits to all game buyers the site would be hopping! Anyway, this is a blast

Thanks Geoff!

You probably are spot on with the reasons why the decrease in players here. Having seen the product that was first introduced many years ago I am very impressed with the improvements the game has made. My hats off to TSN for bringing the game to the internet and getting it through its growing pains but I think the Strat site itself will offer even more eventually.
Guess I will patiently wait for my league to fill and see just how much I have forgotten about putting a decent team on the field!
Thanks Again!

What league are you in??

I'll enter a team!

Geoff,
I am in Auto League 329260. 3 spots left as of this morning. Jump on in , be great to have ya!

I have found over the years that leagues seem to fill slower during baseball season. Particularly during the early portion of the year as most fantasy baseball players spent more time smoothing out there teams (I do).

Welcome back,

Kevin

Did I hear free credits?? How does one get these "free credits"?? Lol

I just spent two weeks pouring over stats and learning the ins and outs and have
Drafted my first team and can't wait to get the league started and see how I've done.

I'm in!

By the way, here are some tips that have worked for me in the past, in terms of filling leagues (by the way I realize you didn't start the league) -

1. Name the league. Numbers just don't attract people's attention in the same way that a catchy name does. And hey, I'm an accountant. I should know.

2. Post a note about the league itself on this board, with a thread title that includes the words - "XXX (exciting league name) needs just ___ to fill!" Even if you start with "needs just 11 to fill", it probably gets peoples attention more than it would otherwise. (Why didn't I go into sales? But that's another story). Then, as the league fills up, you edit your thread title so that it effectively counts down to "needs just 1 to fill". Bump the thread every now and again so it stays near the top.

3. To fill a league quickly, you should either keep it very generic ($80 mil, DH) or else throw in a nifty idea of some kind that might get peoples' attention.

4. Get a sense of what people like with things like waivers or no waivers, 20% drop or 5/10/20% drop penalty. I'm a little out of touch with this, but if you pick what people are wanting lately, it's fill more quickly. Put this information in the first post on the boards.

There you go!

See you in the league!

League Filled
Thanks everyone for joining and thanks Geoff for the input. I should remember that stuff from the past but as you get older some things tend to fade haha.