Sun Nov 14, 2021 6:47 pm
Guys, I hear all the frustration here. Let me first say that it's great that there is so much fire about a simple computer game. We are clearly all very competitive and probably have 5 fantasy football teams each, fill out 10 march madness brackets, and yell at the tv when the refs make a bad call against our squad...
I want to point out a couple of things about time...I think we are quickly forgetting that there have been multiple delays throughout this season...much longer than the delays being caused by people who have EARNED the right to be in the semifinals...
It is a function of Strato not equating to real life. The reality is that this few day delay is nothing...
1. The people who were in session 5 league 1 (out of 10 leagues) have been done for over three weeks before session 5 league 10 ended. It's always going to take time to fill those last leagues, unless we limit participation. But waiting a couple extra days on a draft is nothing in comparison to the time they have waited just for the drafts to start.
2. There were deadlines listed for registering and from what I can see going back on the forums only one time was a deadline enforced...there were almost always extensions, and one league went nearly two weeks to fill AFTER being moved by Strato on the regular public leagues and the decision was made to allow non-TOC members to participate. Perhaps most of the people posting were in the earlier start leagues and didn't reallze this was the case.
3. Recall the commissioner himself has been offline for extended periods during this series. He posted an apology on Nov 6 and one in the summer... and no one blamed him. Real llfe happens. I (as well as others) posted support at the time. But it's rather hypocritical for us to give one individual the benefit of the doubt and not the next guy. We don't know why they weren't on starting Wednesday. The only date that has ever been posted was that the draft would be starting "Around Nov 15"...
4. It was great that J-pav tried to move things along with a roll call, but the reality is everyone was talking in those posts and ultimately no one could decide anything. It was all talk because the Commish(very understandably) had real life interfere. Now to his credit, Mr BBW realized it was a tough situation and himself suggested a board to prevent issues in the future.
Guys, the league chose this option. We could've simply done autodraft like all qualifying rounds were and 98% of strato leagues are. Looking back in the forums it is apparent there have been delays doing it like this in the past, even when it was only for a stadium. People wanted this for a reason, and there is no doubt it is more complex than an autodraft. Everyone left has skill. And look, one can also look in the forums and see that there are posts in the past about using knowledge about opponents gained in these mini-drafts to help them (j-pav was involved in one discussing how a #1 overall seed for the overall qualifying rounds got bounced badly in the semis when the other people in his division used his stadium choice (Coors) against him in their drafts)... so we gotta take the good with the bad. Folks wanted a more complex method and there was previous evidence it doesn't always go smoothly.
Now, i personally never have gotten that deep. Made 3 playoffs, won one title, and just hadn't gotten that sophisticated. Probably why I'll get run in this semifinal league...but guys, life happens everyone here paid for 5 sessions and earned their spot. Again, I appreciate that some of you are on the forums multiple times each day. Many people are not.
Now I prefer it this way-kinda fun-but an autodraft would solve it.
Personally, I think the best solution would be to set an actual start date and stick to it.
Have an actual date set for the draft wouldn't be hard. With an actual date, it is much easier to institute rules in the offseason such as a time limit and discuss reasonable penalties for 2022 in the offseason. This date could be announced months in advance, as I have argued for on the forums in a few posts yesterday. It's simple. Once the final league of session 5 starts, add 54 days for the season, 2 days for time before playoffs start, and another 10 days for playoffs. As an example, If the final league of session 5 starts Sept 1, then name Nov 10 as the start date. Everyone knows more than two months in advance. Max time between end of final league and the draft would likely be about 3 days on average, in the event we allow for 7 game semis and 7 game finals. In the rare even that both semis and the finals all go 4 games , the largest delay would be 6 days.
Of course we would have to decide that ALL deadlines matter. If a deadline is set for August 28 for example, we cant move it back a week. We have to say "a deadline is a deadline" and just go with the leagues formed at that time. As several folks have said on a variety of topics, we can't choose to enforce certain rules and ignore others and have consequences to some deadlines and extend other deadlines.
I appreciate the great passion here. Strato is a great game and I hope discussions can continue and we can find some solutions to make the 2022 league run even smoother. It's never easy to be a commish in a large league, and I think Mr. BBW has done a great job managing a tough situation.
Once again, good luck to all of ya!