AE AE15 - Get Yourself in the Huddle

[Papa Juggs]

Time for a brainstorm.

Gotta get in early if we want change. Real change, change for the better.

Somebody is bound to say, well it would have been good if you said something months ago. Well this is months ago. 100 days to kickoff.

What do I want? Well for those that don't know I want less comps being tied into CR. CR is great and has been the rock that AE is built upon but having every comp tied into CR I feel doesn't allow for enough variation in results. If you do bad in CR you lose the lot it just becomes a matter of timing.

Here is the poll from last year.

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/ae14-comp-poll.1067731/

Some good ideas there. Not sure which ones people are most keen on.

I think what we need to do is have at least one new comp so rather then having an option for "everything the same" we can just accept that CR, ND and 3XKO are going to stay and have a vote on what new comp people would like to give a go. I could do without the side events like High Roller, DZE and LCS myself, just different flavors of CR as already stated... shut up Juggs stop complaining

GG seemed keen on some of the new ideas that weren't adopted. Will be interesting to hear his thoughts a year later.

Of course Woodson would have to approve any changes as it will be some work behind the scenes I assume that all the ideas from that poll could be implemented but new ideas would be welcome.

Perhaps some would just like a more lean approach without and sideshows?

Looking forward to some discussion and getting back into it.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Subscribed

 

[Blacky]

Populated

 

[manureid]

Unloaded

 

[Rack Watts]

Enlisted.

 

[Dirty Bird]

I want 5

1- CR
2 - ND
3 - 3XKO

4 - Just outright tips. 1 for right, 0 for wrong. (It's just the basic old one)
5 - ANother knockout competition (or 2) 1xko, no reruns. You have to pick a team, if they win, you advance, you lose, you're gone, BUT you cn NOT use that team again!

I think i"ve subtly mentioned that later one here and there, but not push for it here.

 

[Papa Juggs]

I want to see something where we just tip on the spreads each week.

It's a true test of skill I reckon.

 

[Dirty Bird]

I want to see something where we just tip on the spreads each week.

It's a true test of skill I reckon.

Yeah, but haven't you noticed?
People don't like it when im right and they're wrong.
Well, the one time we did this spread competition, well, I won it so nit quickly got dissolved until a bastardisation of it was rebranded as "temptation"

 

[larkis]

Hi I want to get a Chicken Parmigiana for dinner but instead of the chips could you serve another Chicken Parmigiana and change the Chicken to Emu.

It's all good to want to change the competition but accept it for what it is as a nice BF classic instead of mutating it into something only a minority will like.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Hi I want to get a Chicken Parmigiana for dinner but instead of the chips could you serve another Chicken Parmigiana and change the Chicken to Emu.

It's all good to want to change the competition but accept it for what it is as a nice BF classic instead of mutating it into something only a minority will like.

lol.
When I joined AE it was CR, ND, 3XKO and a ''feature game''
We mutated it year after year then threw all those add ons (LCS, HRS etc.) competitions ontop of it.

CR, ND and 3XKO IS the classics. The OP says keep them. Everyone with a pulse (except maybe TS) would say keep them.

What I feel should happen is those few games that were brought in onto of the standard comps should be dissolved and we get new ones.

 

[Woodson]

Didn't have to wait long before chickens started clucking around here..

Chief clucker , Juggalo Balla , who zipped in as a 2013 rookie decided to lay an egg in 2014.. (read: Not participate) is one of very few willing to prompt a tweak for the 2015 series of side/ minor comps.

What I can say in response which already everyone knows:

The classics shall remain lock stock and barrel:
CONFIDENCE RATING
3XKO
NEXT DUEL

The secondary qualification comp of HIGH ROLLER SWEEPSTAKES may be tweaked to focus on MOST WINNERS SELECTED
ie: Tie-breaker of most winners ->> Highest CR Score but I believe the current format already allows for better RANDOM weekly qualifiers as the shrewd tipsters will more than likely 'dominate' the comp with multiple bonus nominations. Remember the ol' adage: don't fix what isn't broken.

So that leaves the other two process of ELIMINATION comps at large.

DROP ZONE ELIMINATION managed by balmainforever
LAST CHANCE SALOON managed by Sven

Both are correlated with the CR. Which of the TWO gets tweaked and how to an extent of not complicating it.

__________________________________________________________________

A complete shift last season in the LCS in regards to process in qualification - scheduling levelled the field… those high on the CR standings were no longer automatic qualifiers of the Main Draw but all qualified anyway because they know their stuff.

I welcomed this challenging process of qualification. Well done Sven.

Question is whether we keep the same process of qualification based on MOST WINNERS selected instead? Which means it's not correlated to the CR.

Something for Sven to look into if he believes this comp needs a tweaking…

___________________________________________________________________

The DZE is clinical. It's a weekly culling process from Week 4.. SURVIVAL of the most shrewd with stink bomb campaigners in any given week pushed out..

Can this comp be tweaked to incorporate as a stand alone not correlated with the CR >> yes it can. But since we already have THREE ELIMINATION process comps.. does this one deserve to get morphed 'for the sake of change' ??

___________________________________________________________________

Last season Broken suggested a very challenging comp of HOT STREAK.. I think it makes a LOT more sense because it doesn't have to correlate with the CR and doesn't make JD's job any harder on the AE site.

It's a very challenging tightrope-like comp because you TICK off as many selected WINNERS in any given week (very similar to the Temptation comp with choosing which teams - only without restriction) only it's all about WINNING and extending your streak of winners instead of worrying about the stupid anxiety of spreads / lines.

GG should embrace this BECAUSE it's also tactical. Do you take the safe approach of two-three safe teams a week to keep the total accumulating OR do you vary your game on home teams strictly.. but how many do you roll the dice on?

OT games would allow for a mulligan .5 push also.

So you'd have drama on both levels all season long.. the campaigner who SETS the BAR at say 22 WINNERS by week 6 and there are some slowly getting there and others who get squeezed out at 20 and need to start over. As there is 16 games on most weeks.. the opportunity for strategies are WIDE OPEN..

It's more DRAMATIC than TEMPTATION which doesn't inspire that 'true competitive edge' because everyone is having a crack instead of 30 campaigners.

Once your 'ticked' team amongst those streak selections loses.. back to the drawing board >> you re-start from ZERo. JD's Schedule listing order determines the other strategic angle.

Do you focus on two early games, one late & one prime time each week?? Towards the end of the season.. the stakes get higher.. you throw it all out hoping for 'chandelier swinging' attack on every game?? It's anyone's game…

MNF can always count for 1.5 if we elect to put a special EMPHASIS on prime time. Maybe 1.5 for SNF and 2.0 for MNF?

Something to think about. It's simple yet challenging and VERY intriguing with methods of strategy.

 

[Woodson]

I want 5

1- CR
2 - ND
3 - 3XKO

4 - Just outright tips. 1 for right, 0 for wrong. (It's just the basic old one)
5 - ANother knockout competition (or 2) 1xko, no reruns. You have to pick a team, if they win, you advance, you lose, you're gone, BUT you cn NOT use that team again!

I think i"ve subtly mentioned that later one here and there, but not push for it here.

That's something balmainforever or was it GG ?? who made mention to me that sounds quite challenging and is very much the 'bizarro world' version of 3XKO.

I think you'll embrace Broken's 2014 idea 'HOT STREAK' moreso than outright tips which is relatively the same… only more interesting - challenging.

 

[Exe Gesis]

GG will not respond yet. Much on my plate at the moment. Not in the right frame of mind to start thinking ideas for AE, or vivisecting ideas of others. Not quite yet. I am an Ideas Man. But not yet. Soon. Ish.

 

[Woodson]

GG will not respond yet. Much on my plate at the moment. Not in the right frame of mind to start thinking ideas for AE, or vivisecting ideas of others. Not quite yet. I am an Ideas Man. But not yet. Soon. Ish.

The AE playground awaits your arrival.

 

[Woodson]

I want to see something where we just tip on the spreads each week.

It's a true test of skill I reckon.

The option comp >> Temptation (spreads-lines) proved to be lacklustre for the second consecutive year. So much for the 'true test of skill'.. it was more about picking WINNERS that proved to be the catalyst (read: tough challenge) at the end.

Will frustrate many… can't afford a drop off in AE participation later in the season. That's the sting.

 

[Papa Juggs]

Who you calling chicken Woodson?



I will look into HOT STREAK.

 

[GeeCats07]

Hi I want to get a Chicken Parmigiana for dinner but instead of the chips could you serve another Chicken Parmigiana and change the Chicken to Emu.

It's all good to want to change the competition but accept it for what it is as a nice BF classic instead of mutating it into something only a minority will like.

I got a point.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Can we just pay for what games one might want to enter?


CR - I actually don't like it (as I suck) but there''s no getting rid of that.
ND - I like the structure, but I would like a little more of a random fixture. I get a little bored facing the same people year after year, be it GG or JD or SF, I know you're doing it to add to it. But after so many years I just want to face randoms. I think you just need to move on from tying the fixtures up to what team they support, ie. Me playing JeffDunne when the Falcons play the Saints, or SUperfreak when the Falcons play thE Buccaneers. Would just like it to be 100% random.
3XKO - I love it.

Make those 3 compulsory.

Now, the others.

LCS - It's stale. We''ve had it for too many years running I feel, just need 1 or 2 years off as it's a little boring. Don't get me wrong, I love a good cup, but Im just not a fan of this again/. Maybe tweak it and make it like the FA Cup (100% random, fixtures drawn midweek before the game) rather than a Tennis Grand Slam (seeds) in the draw? A tweak like that might get me in it, but I cant get behind the current model. Just need a little break.

HRS - I hate it, I don't think it ever should have been brought In. But tbh, it adds a little to week 17. If it's to remain, lower the prize money to MAXIMUM the price one would pay to enter every competition. Just cover your expenses.

DZE - I love it, I''ll be honest, this along with ND are my 2 favourite games currently. Though, I wouldn't mind a change to tiebreakers. If we're dropping 6 a week and 6th/7th last tie, I think both should be eliminated. Then either the next week we eliminate 5, or the final has 1 (or however many extra have been eliminated) less competitor.

Temptation - I said at the time iT was bad, I stand by it. At least Woodson listening to this being an optional game so I didn't have to fund others prizepool when I didn't Give 2 shits about the game.

Now, the new proposal.

HS _ good idea, but im not sold. And nothing you say now will flip that. I want to see this in action. My worry is the logistics of if a streak ends and someone wants to start their next one. Could be a rush, or hard, or technical glitches to start a new streak that weekend. Say one ends Sunday 4pm games and someone wants TO Start their next one on SNF. I hope it goes Ahead, and I hope it works as id join next year if my worries are unvalidated

 

[Dirty Bird]

1xko is probably too similar to 3xko to get passed, but ensuring you can not select a team twice would make it good I feel. Keeping it conference specific can increase your chances of winning if you play both conferences together, but with that, the logistics could be a nightmare later in the season depending on byes or something (Havent looked into that, but it is plausible)

Spread games I think should come back. THe idea behind it at the time was to make them monthly competitions starting every 4 weeks. This was probably the best game at making people stay until the last week.

My other idea I pushed a few years ago, BigFooty Champions League. Just copying the UEFA Champions League model. Divisional winners of last year would get automatic qualification to the group stage (hey, it is champions league afterall), while the rest go through qualification. Then a little group stage, then 2legged knockout stages (sudden death final though). It has the best of ND (group stage to get to knockout) for 3-6 weeks (depending on when in the season you start it), you get the best of LCS (knockout for the final 16 (top 2 of each pool)) then you add the extra suspense of 2 legged draws. Say larkis makes it to the rd of 16 and is drawn against GG. larkis has his average game and scores 60, while GG has his once in a blue moon 100+. H2H, knockout larkis would be mad, now imagine it's over 2 weeks. How does GG play it? go safe or go how he normally does? Does he try and hang onto his 50 point lead, or does he play how he normally does? Adds another form of tactics to it. What does one do. In these days GG would back up that 100 with a 20 and larkis would have a 70 while any reasonable poster has a 90. That reasonable poster would walk into the next round, however, having this over 2 legs could make a good story if Larkis wins 130-120 over 2 weeks coming back from a 60-100 deficit.
I think this idea I've pushed in private to Woodson has it's flaws. However, it's something different and mixes things up a little. Variety is what makes this competition great.

When I joined, we had 4 competitions. The normal 3 and Spread games. The following year, the feature game (previous year spread game) was replaced with something else (don't even ask me what it was, it was forgettable). The year after that we went up to 6 games, those 6 have stayed ever since until Temptation was added.

We're not seeing anything else and the status quo is a little stale. Some culling needs to occur and a new game or 2 should come in. I don't care if it's for one year only. If it's only for 1 year, I'd probably push everyone to play it and give it a go out of respect for the person who had the idea for said game, but if it's going to be a more permanent thing (ie. Temptation) you better be getting it right from the get go, because I wouldn't be keen for it until it's fully fixed.

 

[Sven]

I'm thinking of completely rejigging LCS and not making it a knockout competition at all as we already have Next Duel.

I like the idea of LCS kicking in after around midseason and would like to keep that, but am open to running it all season.

What I'm thinking is to change LCS to be a competition based around who can pick the most winner in the last 10 rounds of the season (round 8 to 17) with CR ranking as the tiebreaker. I think a lot more people would be in the mix and it is a statistic that we already record.

thoughts?

 

[Sven]

1xko is probably too similar to 3xko to get passed, but ensuring you can not select a team twice would make it good I feel. Keeping it conference specific can increase your chances of winning if you play both conferences together, but with that, the logistics could be a nightmare later in the season depending on byes or something (Havent looked into that, but it is plausible)

I played Survivor on nfl.com last year and it was a great comp and a bit like 3xko. You start the season with 3 lives, pick one winner each week, but can't pick that team again during the season. Each incorrect pick uses up a life until you're out.

 

[Exe Gesis]

I played Survivor on nfl.com last year and it was a great comp and a bit like 3xko. You start the season with 3 lives, pick one winner each week, but can't pick that team again during the season. Each incorrect pick uses up a life until you're out.

Thats what I proposed too, after we played that in Empire league on mfl.com

Reckon it's much better than 3xko..

 

[Rack Watts]

s**t, this isn't fantasy football, what is all this lingo!?

 

[Exe Gesis]

Just on survivor....

Use my tweak idea.
There are 32 teams. 17 weeks. So every week you have to choose two teams. Obviously a team can only be chosen once. So the comp runs from week 1 to week 16 (all 32 teams have been chosen). If there's a tie, we use week 17 for that.

 

[Broken]

On the Hot Streak idea, it's something that has been running on another tipping site for a number of years and it's a nice wrinkle on normal tipping while you are the hunted/hunter.

As Woodson detailed the amount of strategy involved is a point of difference from the other AE competitions without investing too much extra time. It also allows this to be wide open up until the last round where a number of AE competitions see a lot of players knocked out by the time the last weeks roll around.