PlayTheGame

How many active teams in these leagues?

Average of second in all categories (190 pts) implies either little competition, fortunate inital allocation, or candidate for the next England Manager.

In my own league there are only eight teams actively managed and the leader has 169 pts, second 142 and then two on 133.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of teams are being actively managed and what other managers think about this.

Also how many leagues with all teams being actively managed.

PTG: This list is of limited value in large part because of all the unknowns you describe. Also while it is one thing to differentiate between active and inactive players, it is quite another to identify the actively poor managers whose decisions help other teams in their leagues gain more points.

I support everything that Bob has raised and share his interest in the % of teams in a league that are being actively managed,whether badly or well. My experience mirrors his in that only nine of twenty teams are active in my league. I'm sure that you will be looking for improvements for next year and one would be to devise a system that would bring together the active managers in the public leagues so that they can be assured of being in a league where all twenty managers are trying.The data you will have available in the Owners List and the Transactions category should make this a fairly simple task for your computer programme.

I agree with Bob and Frank re. the number of actively managed teams in the leagues. I don't know how many have given up due to a poor start or a runaway leader, but the number of inactive teams does mean the competition is somewhat watered down. It would be good if some leagues could be devised next year for those who have participated actively throughout the season - a sort of Champions League system whereby the top teams (who I presume in the main will be actively managed teams) could compete against each other. I am sure that the managers who are actively playing will have realised how the point system works now in practice (I thought I understood it but now can see where my performance can be improved, particularly from the ranking of players).
The transfer system fails in my opinion, particularly in a league where some participants have already given up. Very few transfers have been agreed in my league and managers are forced to switch their squad by picking up out-of-contract players. Maybe the January transfer window will become busy as new players join the Premier League but it still does not solve the problem of key players not being an active part of the game

I am enjoying the experience..but I think it could be made better next year.

Frank, that's a great idea

why don't you just scale these scores by the size of the league the team is in? so each score is essentially a % of the maximum possible score (=100 in a 10 team league).

there are still issues surrounding league degree of difficulty, but that's not really the point.

This league is too difficult to understand and frankly no fun at all. I've been plugging away here since August and still can't understand the scoring system think I'll stick wity Yahoo Fantasy Football instead.

I play in a fantasy NHL league on Yahoo and it's a similar format to this league.

Anyone who wins their league gets invited to a Winners League the next season which virtually ensures that you'll be playing against a league of active managers the next season.

I am in a league comprising ten teams. Only three of these teams appear to be actively managed! Nevertheless, I have managed to accrue 82 points. I feel it would have been more but for the transfer system which requires each proposed transfer to be 'agreed' by 50% of league members. If over 50% of the teams are inactive then no transfer deals can be done. The rule should be 50% of Active Teams.

PTG: Jim, while it is true that transfers require the approval of 50% of the teams in a league, inactive teams whose managers do not cast a vote are counted as votes in favour of a transfer. This is because the game considers doing nothing as approval of a proposed transfer. The problem with inactive teams is that it is impossible to agree a transfer with any of them. We are investigating a number of potential improvements to the game to deal with this and other problems raised by the presence of inactive teams.

Further to my last point regarding transfers. The current rules also mean that many excellent players are stagnating in 'inactive' teams without a hope of being transferred to an 'active' team. I've never received a satisfactory answer from PTG to this query.

PTG: Jim, we are aware of the problems associated with the scenario you describe and are working on a number of improvements to the game that will deal with this and other issues.

Well, you guys are lucky.

My league (Hand of God) has a whopping THREE active teams....

70% braindead managers.

Hmmm, waitaminnit... maybe thats a fair reflection of the EPL.

Why are my contributions never posted? Have I upset somebody?

Initial allocation method grand but it would be a lot better to remove all those players who are unavailable eg moved to lower division or foreign transfer out.

This would simplify the add/release lottery for those of us who thought they had a great team. Then we lost some through long term injury and also club transfers away from premiership. We have to sift through reams of inactive players to find the few pickings left.

In my league I have 2 active teams. One is consistently in the top 4 or thereabouts the other is in the bottom 2 and with both teams no matter how much shuffling I do with the players I can't break the positional stalemate!!

The only players left in add/release are 'crap' and no good when looking a major impact on your squad.

With a view to next season's PTG: If transfers of any kind were limited to a single week every month after the transfer windows had closed & the size of the squad was reduced to 16 in total, I think it would help maintain interest & competition.

I have four teams two in five team leagues and two in ten tem leagues. The five team leagues are much more competitive because everybody gets decent players in their allocation, but leaves players available to pick up. I only have ten of the players I started out with. I now have the following: Reina, Cech, Garrido, Arbeloa, Gallas, Corluka, Beletti, Eboue, Sagna, Nani, Petrov, Leiva, Fabregas, Kranjcar, Blumer, Hleb, van Persie, Babel, Mwarumari and TORRES. Gallas was picked up when injured, but it paid dividends.