Usual rule is 4 hour drafting window per person. Once all the drafting are done, then games can start. Each team should play about 2 games on any given weekend.
Added benni... This is what our tournament would look like with 12 teams in 4 groups. https://challonge.com/bigsoccerfmdraft
Just as a heads up I'd not want to be picking between 9pm and 7am, although could leave some proxy picks where easily done when my turn is close. I'd be ok with the window being a bit longer, but with encouragement to pick ASAP most of the time (I guess we are not doing big profiles for this draft, but just naming the player?). Most days I'd be able to pick within 4 hours in the day time though myself I'm sure and likely much quicker than that.
Shit I am drawn in the group of death with two other powerhouses while @benni... gets the easy group???
Im not sure, but I believe @Holy__Joe and @PDG1978 have won drafts in the past. At the very least, they are draft veterans. I guess thats why this draft is so intruiging. Because all past draft knowledge isnt as useful as other drafts.
How do you know who the powerhouses are, before the draft even begins? Also, in this current style, don't worry about needing to hit the ground running. With 4 groups of 3, everyone advances to the knockout stage. The first placed teams simply get byes, while last placed teams get matched with 2nd placed teams from other groups.
The 4-hours window only counts if it falls within your waking hours. Obviously, anyone can PM me their shortlist. I might request the timezones of each player. So instead of complete random listings, I'll probably cluster people from the same timezone together, and then randomize. This is to smooth out the drafting. This is particularly important since we'll be drafting 18 players, which is a lot more than usual.
Yeah, Excape Goat used timezones when he ran a draft once. I guess you could just number a list based on timezones chosen, and then randomly select which person drafts first in round 1 (or which timezone does and then do a list randomiser for each timezone or something). Yeah, it'll work nicely with you being able to take lists by PM won't it, since you're not even drafting yourself. Although obviously you won't be awake for every timezone yourself either (maybe if a shortlist gets really short it's ok for you to 'pass it on' to the next drafter in line sometimes though even).
I'm thinking that since we have a lot of non-fm players I'll set up 4-5 rounds of friendlies so people can try out different tactics. The friendlies will all be against teams outside your group, so you don't give anything away and gets a chance to play with different teams even if it's just friendlies. It'll also be a good chance to check for activity level before the actual tournament starts.
I also just PM'd Puck this, which could be helpful for people to study I think: http://www.guidetofootballmanager.com/tactics/roles-and-duties
Don't be using those brilliant strategic points you learned from me the last draft you conniving wanker!
I'm limiting the tactical options to just team strategies and player roles, no individual instructions as the more options allowed, the bigger the gap between FM and non-FM players. It is easy enough for non-FM players to set up a competitive team using cohesive football concepts, but it's not so easy for them to know what the effects of each individual instructions are, so no one gets that privilege. In the tactical form which will be provided to everyone, everything will be clear. As the host, I will also: 1. Prevent any engine abuse. If anyone submits a tactic that I know is abusing the match engine (knowingly or not) I reserve the right to demand that they change it. There's only one I'm really looking out for, as all the others are prevented by the mere fact that individual instructions aren't allowed. 2. Provide assistant manager services via PM. While I won't tell you whether it will be effective or not (you will need to use your own football knowledge for that) I can help you configure your team to play as you envisioned. So if you want to play tiki-taka football for example, I can help you set it up. However, I won't tell you if it'll be effective against your next opponent, or whether the players you chose fit the roles, or not.
I appreciate the enthusiasm. As I said, the draft only works if everyone's active, but just as importantly, the draft is only fun if everyone gets involved in the forum. The other people I play with, we playvia a chat-messaging app, and the amount of trash-talking that goes on in there is really what makes it all worth it lol. It won't be fun if it's just me posting results every week is what I'm saying. I think with these drafts, the more people collectively put into into, the more they get out of it. I've been doing this since FM13 so I got a lot of ideas on how to create content throughout the week between games, to spice things up. I might ask some people who are not participating in the game, to act as skysports pundits, providing commentary.
I wouldn't be so sure about that lol! The game can still 'vote' against me when I line up 3 trequaristas haha (actually during my only proper go at FM in recent years I did occasionally give 3 players that role with some success, but I was playing as All-Time Nottingham Forest having edited my players I guess slightly on the good side if anything). When I played Championship Manager (which didn't have the player roles in the same way) in an all-time context with more of a balanced playing field (having handed out all the all-timers amongst Premier League teams before taking one myself while my mate took another) my achievements were limited to some top half finishes with Aston Villa, but after a few seasons I had a narrow escape from relegation after things fell apart a bit including Cruyff handing in a transfer request after I'd already accidentally upset a couple of Brazilians in previous seasons (Zico by playing him right wing I think, and Romario by taking off before half-time although he was clearly injured - my own fault for editing him with a volatile personality and forgetting about it maybe!). I had used Hidegkuti well as a false 9 at one point! My mate had a slower start in the league in the first season but won a trophy at Middlesbrough (the League Cup), and by the time I was sacked at Aston Villa I think he'd also qualified for Europe via the league. He had gone with the immediate sale of Ronaldinho and Bobby Moore to the highest bidder and then brought in Roberto Baggio and Deyna to compliment the likes of Littbarski and Igor Belanov who became Middlesbrough cult heroes I suppose. When we had a second try I do seem to recall I'd done better with Tottenham though, while my mate had been sacked by Arsenal and taken another job. I'd made an FA Cup Final, had led a league season for quite a while, and was at the top and looking like winning the league when my computer decided to break (or the screen stopped working, so that I couldn't take it to my mates house lol)! This was all before I joined Big Soccer anyway, but in general I have had more experience playing the old Championship Manager series (93/94, 97/98, 03/04 I think I had) compared to Football Manager as it is today. It's possible Puck and me might even draft and manage a team jointly anyway, but we're seeing how things are including how many people have signed up by the time Poetgooner kicks things off (if just another one did I guess it'd make sense to do a joint team so we have 12 teams taking part still). Puck had suggested it before I sent the link with player roles etc.
Yes, certainly. If there's a 13th, I would prefer you pairing up actually. I think 12 is a good number for now.
The database has been updated with the latest feedback. There is one more minor round of updates coming this weekend, where I'll add some of the best current players. The draft is set to begin on Monday, so I need to do some activity check before we move on. Please, in this thread, provide me with the following information: 1. Your timezone 2. Your preferred club. I'm limiting to any team in the top division of the following leagues in 2016/2017: England, Scotland, Netherlands, France, Portual, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina. This is purely for aesthetics reasons, such as jersey colours,, will not affect gameplay, 3. Your preferred avatar: Pick a relatively well-known manager, whom I can google their pictures. Again, does not affect gameplay. This is only for the weekly content. Your preferred club and avatar is on a first come first serve basis. Please answer by Sunday night at the latest, preferably sooner. @msioux75 @J'can @PuckVanHeel @EnnatzIsTheMan @thebigman @La-Máquina @Blueallthru @annoyedbyneedoflogin @Karloski @PDG1978 @Holy__Joe @benni...