- Posts: 2173
- Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 4:53 pm
- Location: Earth
Fri Jul 10, 2015 2:07 pm
Managers,
I am opening this post for your comments on the 2015 Tour and your suggestions for the 2016 Tour. Having a debrief thread at the conclusion of the tour would likely suffer from lack of interest as everyone moves on.
First off, regarding the Commissioner duties. I've been happy to fill the role of Commissioner for 2015. I would really like to resume playing in the tour next season, and politely ask for somebody to volunteer to take over the duties. Whether or not that manager wants to participate as an active manager I leave to the conscience of the next Commissioner. Truth be told, I have encountered zero problems that would qualify as a conflict of interest if I were participating. However, making randomized league assignments, etc. opens up the "appearance of impropriety". Personally, I did not mind watching from the sidelines for one season in order to avoid even potential conflicts.
For next year's Commissioner I would offer this: do not volunteer if your personal life takes you far from the game for long stretches. As with most jobs, 80% is just showing up. This role is closer to 95%. If you're just here to respond within a day or so, the decision making part is relatively easy. So, in other words, if you are the chief surgeon at the city hospital, please don't volunteer. But if you're a regular, the admin part is easier than you probably think.
Ping me at any time with questions, etc. regarding my experiences this season.
Observations about the Tour from the Ivory Tower.
1. Salary dumping: the 5/10/20 free agent drops and the threat of punishment for salary dumping have appeared to completely mitigate the problems we have all seen in the past. Managers have been allowed the flexibility to make roster moves without going below the 90% of starting salary threshold. There have been no violations I have been made aware of to date.
My opinion: Keep this, it works.
2. One Win Equals One Point: across the board, the race to be in the top 36 and qualify for the semi-finals remains extremely competitive. And when managers can drop their low score from the standings, we should see some additional movement from the guys who simply got out of the gate slowly with a weak Event One. The standings are slightly skewed by managers who skipped an event and are therefore "not registering on the radar yet". I expect the race to remain close to the very end, and I don't think there is any question that managers are staying engaged longer as a result.
My opinion: Keep this, it works. Why we ever had any "bonus points" to begin with looks to me, in hindsight, questionable at best.
3. Mandatory, Randomized League Assignments: we have completely avoided having Leagues 1-2 populated with the same two dozen managers. This is a win. There is still an issue with the "wandering" managers who have to be hunted down. This is just part of the job.
My opinion: I like this, but wonder if it's entirely necessary. Opening eight leagues one at a time might be okay, as long as we adhere to required deadlines. NO ONE wants an event one league starting in August.
4. Overbooking Leagues: part of this is simply a function of the number of managers involved, but oversubscribing the leagues has, overall, been a good idea. It does not completely remedy the managers who go off the grid, but it does help move things forward better than having just 12 managers assigned to one league.
My opinion: Continue to do this as necessary.
5. Hard Deadlines: we lose folks who meander off the grid from time to time, but it appears that around 95% of managers eventually find their way home.
My opinion: It's intolerant and inflexible, but it's a necessary way to herd the cats.
6. Juice boxes: every new event I swear I'm done putting out requests for search parties, fillers, etc. but eventually I succumb to my role as The Big Toe and do it anyway.
My opinion: I really like my "countdown" post stickied in the Players Championship thread. Can you really do more than remind people every single day when the next event begins??? But I'm engaged daily in how to be less actively engaged.
Lastly, I have a lot of good communication with John at onlinegamesupport. We have enthusiastically discussed off-topic improvements like MANAGER RATINGS(!) I am actually a pretty strong advocate for this game, so I just want you guys to know, they ARE hearing you over there. Hopefully we'll see some progress regarding that (very) soon! (No promises, though...)
Okay, so that's it for me. Please throw out your suggestions and opinions as you'd like. Being Friday and with Event 4 opening in just 10 hours, I'm pretty happy today...so even strether can post here if he wants to throw in!
I am opening this post for your comments on the 2015 Tour and your suggestions for the 2016 Tour. Having a debrief thread at the conclusion of the tour would likely suffer from lack of interest as everyone moves on.
First off, regarding the Commissioner duties. I've been happy to fill the role of Commissioner for 2015. I would really like to resume playing in the tour next season, and politely ask for somebody to volunteer to take over the duties. Whether or not that manager wants to participate as an active manager I leave to the conscience of the next Commissioner. Truth be told, I have encountered zero problems that would qualify as a conflict of interest if I were participating. However, making randomized league assignments, etc. opens up the "appearance of impropriety". Personally, I did not mind watching from the sidelines for one season in order to avoid even potential conflicts.
For next year's Commissioner I would offer this: do not volunteer if your personal life takes you far from the game for long stretches. As with most jobs, 80% is just showing up. This role is closer to 95%. If you're just here to respond within a day or so, the decision making part is relatively easy. So, in other words, if you are the chief surgeon at the city hospital, please don't volunteer. But if you're a regular, the admin part is easier than you probably think.
Ping me at any time with questions, etc. regarding my experiences this season.
Observations about the Tour from the Ivory Tower.
1. Salary dumping: the 5/10/20 free agent drops and the threat of punishment for salary dumping have appeared to completely mitigate the problems we have all seen in the past. Managers have been allowed the flexibility to make roster moves without going below the 90% of starting salary threshold. There have been no violations I have been made aware of to date.
My opinion: Keep this, it works.
2. One Win Equals One Point: across the board, the race to be in the top 36 and qualify for the semi-finals remains extremely competitive. And when managers can drop their low score from the standings, we should see some additional movement from the guys who simply got out of the gate slowly with a weak Event One. The standings are slightly skewed by managers who skipped an event and are therefore "not registering on the radar yet". I expect the race to remain close to the very end, and I don't think there is any question that managers are staying engaged longer as a result.
My opinion: Keep this, it works. Why we ever had any "bonus points" to begin with looks to me, in hindsight, questionable at best.
3. Mandatory, Randomized League Assignments: we have completely avoided having Leagues 1-2 populated with the same two dozen managers. This is a win. There is still an issue with the "wandering" managers who have to be hunted down. This is just part of the job.
My opinion: I like this, but wonder if it's entirely necessary. Opening eight leagues one at a time might be okay, as long as we adhere to required deadlines. NO ONE wants an event one league starting in August.
4. Overbooking Leagues: part of this is simply a function of the number of managers involved, but oversubscribing the leagues has, overall, been a good idea. It does not completely remedy the managers who go off the grid, but it does help move things forward better than having just 12 managers assigned to one league.
My opinion: Continue to do this as necessary.
5. Hard Deadlines: we lose folks who meander off the grid from time to time, but it appears that around 95% of managers eventually find their way home.
My opinion: It's intolerant and inflexible, but it's a necessary way to herd the cats.
6. Juice boxes: every new event I swear I'm done putting out requests for search parties, fillers, etc. but eventually I succumb to my role as The Big Toe and do it anyway.
My opinion: I really like my "countdown" post stickied in the Players Championship thread. Can you really do more than remind people every single day when the next event begins??? But I'm engaged daily in how to be less actively engaged.
Lastly, I have a lot of good communication with John at onlinegamesupport. We have enthusiastically discussed off-topic improvements like MANAGER RATINGS(!) I am actually a pretty strong advocate for this game, so I just want you guys to know, they ARE hearing you over there. Hopefully we'll see some progress regarding that (very) soon! (No promises, though...)
Okay, so that's it for me. Please throw out your suggestions and opinions as you'd like. Being Friday and with Event 4 opening in just 10 hours, I'm pretty happy today...so even strether can post here if he wants to throw in!
Last edited by J-Pav on Thu Jul 23, 2015 10:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
