FFMD

[ChaRisMa]

Best way to convince everyone FFMD is a good idea is to grow the individual team forums activity. Tell a friend about the forums or get into discussions in some forums outside your normal routine. You'd be surprised how quick just checking into a forum about how an old favorite college player of yours is panning out turns interesting for everyone.

[ny92mike]

21 hours ago, CWood21 said:

I can't speak for others, but I can certainly speak for myself but I have other responsibilities both inside of FF and outside of FF.  Right now, we're transitioning over to a new forum so you're going to have to excuse me if my interest in discussing a mock draft that is still 6-7 months away is minimal at best.  If you want to revisit this discussion in a few months, I'd absolutely love to have a serious sit down and see if we can figure out exactly where FFMD went wrong but right now creating forum activity in the team forums is a much more pressing matter for me and many of the other mods.  As Webby has said multiple times, he wants to see forum activity go up in team forums which is something I (and other mods) have cited as one of many reasons why FFMD has had decreasing interest in previous years.  We had over a third of the teams unrepresented in the sign ups this past FFMD despite stripping it down to significantly from previous years.  I appreciate your interest in returning FFMD to it's former glory, but let's focus on creating forum-wide activity and revisit this at the appropriate time.

I get what you're saying, wasn't suggesting you guys aren't doing anything.  Pete made a post about FFMD and a few people posted replies including the webmaster about wanting to see it brought back, so I started talking about it..  With the new forum being introduced thought it was the right time to pull in some debate and excitement into the thread.  

I understand that not everyone has the time or desire to want to discuss mock drafts 24/7 and discussing something 6-7 months out is premature.  I just don't want us to wait so long to start the discussion that any real changes are shelved due to time constraints.  

I agree that part of the reason is due to individual team forum discussion and camaraderie are down and that adequate time should be permitted to research in-depth those reasons as well as enough time to fix it.  So I look forward to being involved in the sit down and researching ways to bring FFMD back in a couple months. 

 

[squire12]

I echo the others that feel the FFMD and TCMD need to be joined in some manner.   I have participated in the TCMD  process the last 2 years and it is hands down better than the FFMD process was for FA.  As others noted the blind bidding process is much more exciting and gets the entire group of GM's waiting around like it is Christmas morning to see the reveal of the free agent awardings.  Lots of discussion follows on the players won, the contracts handed out and a host of other things.  With 8-10 rounds of that, it drives the opening FA and that leads into the draft.  

 

my .02 shared on the topic

[CWood21]

19 hours ago, ny92jefferis said:

I get what you're saying, wasn't suggesting you guys aren't doing anything.  Pete made a post about FFMD and a few people posted replies including the webmaster about wanting to see it brought back, so I started talking about it..  With the new forum being introduced thought it was the right time to pull in some debate and excitement into the thread.

As Webby and other mods (including myself) have said, we want to see FFMD return and preferably at an activity level we have had in the past.  But look at the current forums, we've got 24 team forums that currently have less than 100 post and the new FF has been active for roughly a week and a half now.  The directive from Webby to not only the mods but also posters has been to create discussion in the team forums.  This is absolutely a discussion we need to have, just not right this second.  Let's focus on rebuilding our team forums and in a couple of months, let's have an honest discussion about this.  If you want to discuss this further, feel free to PM me.

[EaglesPeteC]

In other words, be like the Eagles forum because we are dominating.......

[CWood21]

43 minutes ago, EaglesPeteC said:

In other words, be like the Eagles forum because we are dominating.......

Have to give props to @Kiltman and @Phire for getting everyone active...even if 90% of the posts are just Bednarik talking to himself...

[ny92mike]

Can't promise how long it will last but I'm making an effort to post outside of the GM Mock Draft forum.  Figured I should share my vast "all knowing knowledge" to everyone rather than just keep it bottled up in this forum.

[Kiltman]

4 hours ago, CWood21 said:

5 hours ago, EaglesPeteC said:

In other words, be like the Eagles forum because we are dominating.......

Have to give props to @Kiltman and @Phire for getting everyone active...even if 90% of the posts are just Bednarik talking to himself...

Yea I take very little credit after the first couple of days

the Great Chris Debate really helped

[Tugboat]

On 7/24/2017 at 11:24 AM, ny92jefferis said:

http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=585114&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

The biggest debate within the discussion thread above stem from the guidelines for the free agency both the talent agency and shark tank.  The argument being that teams should be able to bid on who they want when they want.  Unfortunately, the current structure of FFMD and its need for "agents" to determine the likelihood of the player's landing spot simply prohibits the system from expanding the talent agencies list of available players to bid from.  The more players added to the list the greater the need for additional agents and when you have a mock draft that is limited on members as is, getting creative with the guidelines is almost impossible under the current base structure.

Why are agents needed?  We all know any decision made that doesn't favor the highest contract amount being offered is going to create bickering, complaining and disgruntled members which is something that none of us enjoy dealing with.    By removing the need for the agent, and simply using the highest offer wins approach, they can't call you out for being bias but only can be upset with themselves for not offering more money.  Trust me, its much easier to deal with.

In my opinion, general managers want the ability to game plan and strategize beyond just showing up to the shark tank to outbid any team with a weaker cap space.  I'll be the first to tell you that the system I use in my mock drafts isn't perfect.  However, it does create an excitement among the gm's, I'm told.  It allows teams regardless of their available cap space to sign free agents from start to finish.  The results of each bidding round are automatic so the turnaround is quick and easy allowing the gm to game plan for the next round of bidding.  The shark tank results could take days to figure out if you've landed the player(s) you bid on.  It also doesn't require the gm to glue themselves to the monitor to track if a player was outbid by another team.  

My personal opinion is that the current system is asking too much of the casual poster, there are only a few team sub forums that get enough members involved that they are able to spread out the workload required of them.  When you see gm's posting their war room a large number of their staff are signing up to scout the draft, or to be a cheerleader.  Most simply don't have the time to commit.  Reducing the amount of time required of them would go a long way in getting more people signed up.

Going full circle and back to talking about the free agency, I was never a fan of its guidelines.  Thought the system only favored team's with money and left the other teams or sub forums without a decent sized staff limited and not really having much fun.  

To bring FFMD back I believe you've got to make the system fair and enjoyable for everyone.  

 

My proposal for a revised FFMD

Free Agency

•  Resigning Free Agents
  • Moderators would still control which free agents resigned using "pitches" & "agents".
    • They would either accept the offer from the team or be moved to the UFA, where the previous team would still have the ability to bid on them.
      • This drastically reduces the amount of time & number required for "agents" as well as decreases the need for sub forums with limited staff to have to write pitches for every talented player they are bidding on. 
• Unrestricted Free Agents
  • Those that have participated in TCM know how it works but we use this platform to manage the UFA.
    • A single free agency
    • Offer contract to any player you wish
    • All players have a set min contract length, contract amount to include bonuses.
    • You get three bids per round.
    • Highest offer wins
    • After each round of bidding their min values decrease 10%
    • Each bidding round last roughly two days with the results being announced that evening and the next round opening up shortly after.
    • Additional items could be discussed.
      • You would know if your offer was within the top 3 offers being made, prior to the announcement.
        • This would give you a sense that you wasn't wasting a bid for a lesser amount when the target player was receiving far greater offers.
      • Could include which team's were making the offers, without disclosing the amounts.
      • Personally, I'm not a fan of the second option but I do like the first addition.

This system is similar to what I use minus the reserve bidding for resigning players.  

• Capologist for each team subforum isn't required, FFMD will manage everyone's salary cap.  So the GM can spend more time game planning with their staff rather than chasing other gm's around to make sure that they are cap compliant.    

 

Personally, i see how many complaints and grievances and just general whining and complaining tends to come out of the Free Agency aspect of FFMD seemingly every year, and i tend to lean toward a more drastic solution.  Basically, just running it along the lines of FFMDII.  Drafting, some trades here and there...just cut the hornets nest that is Free Agency altogether, and hopefully avoid all the disgruntled bickering nonsense it inherently seems to bring.

I could be way off base, but my impression is that all the ridiculous whining, politicking, and drama of everybody coming out of Free Agency unhappy tends to really kill the spirit of the mock game.  It becomes less about the board coming together as a community, and the individual team boards collaborating and discussing things...and more just about forming these angry mobs because they were done wronged by whoever decides who the imaginary players sign with.  By the time the actual drafting part comes around...half the participants are too up in arms or disenfranchised to even pay much attention to the core of the whole game.

 

Taking a step back and looking at it...that kind of angry disgruntled chaos can't be attractive to those on the outside looking in.  Prospective new or more casual participants on the fence are going to look at that fracas and take a pass.  Nobody wants to wade into that kind of pointless mudslinging and end up caught in the crossfire.  If i were just coming to the boards/game today, i probably never would've jumped in to participate.  That can't be good.

 

It'd be sweet if Free Agency could be done with maturity and acceptance as it certainly adds a big dimension to the game...but it just seems like the mess it always causes maybe isn't worth it.

 

Just my 3 cents though.

[Forge]

8 hours ago, Tugboat said:

Personally, i see how many complaints and grievances and just general whining and complaining tends to come out of the Free Agency aspect of FFMD seemingly every year, and i tend to lean toward a more drastic solution.  Basically, just running it along the lines of FFMDII.  Drafting, some trades here and there...just cut the hornets nest that is Free Agency altogether, and hopefully avoid all the disgruntled bickering nonsense it inherently seems to bring.

I could be way off base, but my impression is that all the ridiculous whining, politicking, and drama of everybody coming out of Free Agency unhappy tends to really kill the spirit of the mock game.  It becomes less about the board coming together as a community, and the individual team boards collaborating and discussing things...and more just about forming these angry mobs because they were done wronged by whoever decides who the imaginary players sign with.  By the time the actual drafting part comes around...half the participants are too up in arms or disenfranchised to even pay much attention to the core of the whole game.

 

Taking a step back and looking at it...that kind of angry disgruntled chaos can't be attractive to those on the outside looking in.  Prospective new or more casual participants on the fence are going to look at that fracas and take a pass.  Nobody wants to wade into that kind of pointless mudslinging and end up caught in the crossfire.  If i were just coming to the boards/game today, i probably never would've jumped in to participate.  That can't be good.

 

It'd be sweet if Free Agency could be done with maturity and acceptance as it certainly adds a big dimension to the game...but it just seems like the mess it always causes maybe isn't worth it.

 

Just my 3 cents though.

I think that you can get it to go either way - you can go the FFMDII route, with just the draft and trades, and I think that would work and it'd be a fun diversion. If you want to do the full season mock, which can be a total blast, I lean toward the TCMD way of doing it with the blind bidding. It is insane how fun that can be, particularly if you're doing the full on "unveiling". Yes, there are some kinks to it, particularly with the calculations, but those issues are nominal, and most of the time when they arise, the people who missed out on their player are generally  easy going about it. Those are some really good times within those mock drafts. Plus, its a lot simpler to just draw up your contract and put in the offer than it is to write an entire proposal and whatnot. 

[MKnight82]

From my understanding the original FFMD was just like FFMDII was, with only a mock draft.  That is probably the way any future FFMD should be run.  The complexity of managing free agency and the salary cap is not something that works well on a large scale.  That is better for mocks like nyjeffries runs, where a single poster controls a team with little to no input from no one else.  

I do like the idea of having mods run each war room for the first year.  I think that would be a good way to get every forum to participate and maybe attract new members.  

[MKnight82]

From my understanding the original FFMD was just like FFMDII was, with only a mock draft.  That is probably the way any future FFMD should be run.  The complexity of managing free agency and the salary cap is not something that works well on a large scale.  That is better for mocks like nyjeffries runs, where a single poster controls a team with little to no input from no one else.  

I do like the idea of having mods run each war room for the first year.  I think that would be a good way to get every forum to participate and maybe attract new members.  

[EaglesPeteC]

I think if FFMD II is forum wide and we do Total Control instead of FFMD I. Maybe TCMD can grow forum wide. Maybe it won't but it's an option for people who like doing it. 

 

I think focusing on the draft only mock as forum wide is good idea to rebuild it.

Edited August 9, 2017 by EaglesPeteC

[ny92mike]

@EaglesPeteC 

I don't think that the forum would have any issues getting enough personnel to conduct FFMD 2.  @The LBC conducted one a few years back and it worked out pretty well, at least up until the final rounds of the draft where things slowed down a bit, but nonetheless I don't recall it being too hard to get enough members to participate.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BringinDaPain]

On Wednesday, August 9, 2017 at 7:32 PM, EaglesPeteC said:

I think if FFMD II is forum wide and we do Total Control instead of FFMD I. Maybe TCMD can grow forum wide. Maybe it won't but it's an option for people who like doing it.

 

I think focusing on the draft only mock as forum wide is good idea to rebuild it.

I would have to agree with EaglesPeteC , maybe hold off with FFMD I replace it with TCMD (using Mods) and FFMD II (same using Mods) for the year. The new forum is so new and cool once it takes off with new/old blood everyone gets on board. Atleast give it a try for a season. For those that haven't tried TCMD, I haven't missed a mock in it yet. It's super cool, fun just a really cool mock to be in. This is mock that would bring FFMD back to life.  Just my 4 cents though.

Edited August 18, 2017 by BringinDaPain