PlayTheGame

When can we access the new season competition. The web page still refers to the end of last season.

PTG - It will be with you very soon....

Hi. Really good job with last season, and now I cannot wait for this season to kick off. I really like the idea of a live draft, as there is less a sense of luck involved as everyone will be picking who they want.

Just a quick question: when are we going to be able to log in and start arranging leagues?

PTG - the site will be live very soon

Hi. I take it that a live draft, completed online - common in American Fantasy League games - is not an option here? I play with friend who live in different parts of the country and so wouldn't be able to get together for an off-line allocation.

PTG - We do not have the option to undertake a live online player allocation - but maybe you can use skype or msn to get everyone virtually in a room together?

we will be doing an offline auction - just wondering if there is an easy way to get a data dump of all the players with the positions they are eligible for so we can prepare our draft boards accordingly with everyone having the same level of info.

PTG - We are looking to provide a download of the Times Player List complete with position eligibility in the Offline Allocation Kit, so watch that space. It should hopefully be there soon. In the meantime a full list of players is available on the statistics page and individual eligibility is available on player profile pages.

Great news that this game is coming back again and I'm sure it will be even better this year with the improvements.

May I suggest that it would possibly be a good idea to allow PTG team changes right up till kick off time?

Last season I sometimes found there wasn't that much time between finding out what the actual Premiership team line-ups were and the 5 minute deadline for PTG team changes.

Those extra 5minutes would make a difference, especially if the site is running a bit slow on the day.

PTG - Thanks for your comments. We are going to investigate whether we can make the player lockdown activate closer to a games scheduled kick off time.

why are you not able to have a online draft?
the NFL are able to do it. and its a great way and its fun.
it isn't offine.

PTG - The development of an online live draft for this years game was not possible, but it is still very much in our thoughts and we will look to introduce in the future. We hope you are still able to enjoy running an offline draft.

ok. What is the best way to do the live draft? will you give a draft kit?

i have friends in the states so we cant be all in the same room.

PTG - You can look at the current offline allocation kit pages at http://www.playthegame.timesonline.co.uk/soccer/help/livedraft.asp or choose the link from the 'Home' menu. We will be adding a downloadable player list and Team sheet soon.

Hi I played last year in leagues of 20 Managers. This year most leagues are 10. Can we have some more 15 or 20 managers please.
Also PASSWORDs are required by all Managed teams.
If anyone else feels like me:
Join my 15 manager

active managers password league

The PASSWORD is active
Go to invite only
active managers
Password active join

PTG - Thanks for your comments. Public leagues have been set up to have a maximum of 10 teams as there were a lot of comments last year from users who found game play was very restrictive in bigger leagues. For those of you who do want to play in a bigger public league it looks like you have found a good solution for the time being and we will monitor the uptake.

for people with more than one teams, can it be done so that you can copy your Wish List from one of your teams to another prior to allocation?

PTG - This is a good idea. We will take a look and see what is possible.

LEAGUE INVITATION NOTICE

All Jamaicans and other Caribbean connections (hey... even if you're not... it's no problem as long as you stay active) come join the Caribbean Goal Connection league.

15 TEAMS

Represent your country!!!!

Create your team
Go To Invite Only
Caribbean Goal Connection
PASSWORD: concacaf

JOIN!!

Looking forward to a great seaon

Looking forward to the new season.

Thanks for the suggestion KITBLA.

The most annoying thing last season was being in a league of 20 where no-one else was active....and the saddest part was I still only managed runner-up!

Q for PTG....What measures, if any, can you take to release players away from inactive members,especially in public leagues?

PTG - We have now set up a post for people who want to set up leagues in this manner so there is an easy place to find the 'adverts'. Check out http://blog.stats.com/playthegame/2008/07/find_a_larger_league.html

In answer to your question there is no way for us to release players from inactive managers as we have no way of establishing whether a manager is truly inactive. We suggest using the in game email functionality to email users who you think are inactive to try and arrange a set time when all members of your league can broker deals for players in the 'inactive' team.

OK Jamaican Red Devil I'm in!
Also
Create your team
Go to Invite Only
FREE PASSWORD= active
PASSWORD: active
JOIN a DEVON UK league 20
Good luck to everyone again this year!

thanks KITBLA

I joined yours too..

good luck

I created a team and set up a private league. I then created a 2nd team and entered it into a super league.

I now just want the team in the private league. Is there a way of removing myself from the super league (SuperLeague16783)? I can't see it anywhere.

PTG - Please use the 'contact us' link under the 'Home' tab (when logged in) so that customer services can deal with queries like this.

re: releasing players from inactive teams

couldn't there be some criteria set that if somebody doesn't even log in for like 3 weeks, then 3 emails are sent in the 4th week and if no response then the player is deemed inactive and the team is dissolved and players put in the free agent pool?

just a thought, because seeing good players on teams just sitting there when the manager hasn't logged in since the first week is really sad.

Great competition last season but pathetic ending. I sent 5 emails asking "What happens now?" and got no response. What happened to prizes? Where are the stas - best overall team, best players etc

PTG - Thanks for your comments and sorry to hear you did not get an answer to your questions. we will investigate why this happened. All the prize winners are listed in a recent post on the blog. If you want to take a look at some stats on the best players from last season, the offline allocation kit has a breakdown of the 20 best players in the various scoring categories.

Why don't you add a shortlist page so that managers can keep an eye on 10 or so players that they may be interested in signing in the future?

PTG - Thanks for your comment. This is a piece of functionality that has been discussed, so watch out for future game developments.

hi guy's looking forward for the battles to begin, i played last season and enjoyed it more than any other fantasy game i have played, i have 3 teams and hope to put you to the sword! lol! tip! top!

Guys the demotion of players to the bottom of the rankings does not seem to be saving as yet. I have tried on a couple of occasions with no luck - can you help!

PTG - Thanks for the comment. Can you please use the 'Contact Us' link under the 'Home' tab when you are logged in and report the issue to customer services. We can't see any obvious problem with this functionality, but please give customer services as much detail about the problem you are experiencing, especially your browser type and version.

The change to minutes played should make the game better as a balance will need to be made between regular performers versus stars who have to be 'rested'.

However in league OTHER2 there are three teams with seemingly the same manager. This does not seem condusive to having a truly competitive league.

I would be interested to hear what others think.

PTG - We think that the change to minutes played should mean that the number of potentially valuable players will be larger this season, with more out-of-contract players worth considering. It should be especially useful in larger private leagues.

We are aware of the issue of owners having more than one team in the same league. Action has been taken to ensure that it cannot happen going forward.

Are you really planning to not have 20 player public leagues? I don't see how it can do any harm to have them as an option for people who want to use them. In a 10 player league you would get far too many good players for there to be any skill in it!

Anyone have a 20 player league I can join please?

PTG - 20-player public leagues increase the risk of having "dead" teams, and will have a shallow pool of out-of-contract players. But if you consult the "Post Your Invites Here" blog, you should find some larger leagues who are looking for members.

how do I (as league commish) enter the offline draft results into the system?

there is mention of a league chairmans page but i cant see such a thing.

looking forward to this - am a brit living in the us and have been playing fantasy nfl with the spetics for years and really looking forward to taking them on at "proper" fantasy football.

also, if you could put a comma or something after each player in your top 200 then I could integrate it along with the player position eligibility data

PTG - there has been a brief delay in making this functionality available for technical reasons, but we expect it to up and running within the next 5-6 days - well before we expect most offline allocations to take place.

"Once all the Team Managers in your league have filled their 20-man squads, you can begin inputting their teams and yours following the instructions on the League Chairman's page."

Where do you find the League Chariman's page?

PTG - The facility to input teams for offline leagues will be available around 5th August when the first automated allocations take place.

If i have joined a league is there any way i can change out of it into a different one?

PTG - It depends what type of league you have joined and what stage the league is at. Generally the answer is no unless you have created a league that has no other members, if you have joined a friends league that has not formed or if you have joined a pre-set public league that has not yet formed. If you have entered into a matching service or your league has formed then you will not be able to leave the league.

PTG - This is a very useful tip from 'The Jamaican Red Devil'

NOTICE FOR MANAGERS WITH MULTIPLE TEAMS

For those with multiple teams.. i found a little workaround to "copy" your wishlist from 1 team to another.

i don't know if this works in internet explorer but i've done it with firefox and i have been able to have identical wishlists with my 4 teams fairly easily.

STEPS

1. make your wishlist and save it, keep the list open (list 1)

2. open your second team in a new tab and go to your player rankings screen (list 2)

3. go back to the list 1 tab and save your list KEEP IT OPEN

4. go to list 2 and refresh the list... you "should" see the content from list 1 in list 2

5. save list 2

6. rinse and repeat for other teams where applicable

hey guys

quick question regarding the fantasy system

does each team play against one another with the higher scoring team gaining 3 points?

or is it just based on a scoring system with the most points scored for and against determining league positions?

PTG - You will compete against other users in a league of between 5 and 20 managers and will be scored based on the performance of the active players in your squad. For more information on the mechanics of the game take a look at the FAQs section or for more details take a look at the game rules. Both sections are also available under the 'Home' tab.

hi are we still waiting for the new season to happen having 4 teams last year which i came top in all leagues is allocation automatic as i can not see anywhere i can look at this seasons players?

PTG - Thanks for your comment. The earliest point that an allocation can take place is August 5th. You can see all of this seasons players in the 'player statistics' page and the 'build your team' page. If you have a particular problem please use the 'contact us' facility under the 'home' tab so that your query can be directed to the appropriate team.

I have a couple of allocations coming up on 5 August, when will the allocation order be known?

PTG - Once the allocation is run, then the teams will be visible when you login. Allocations set for August 5th will begin to run in the early hours of Tuesday morning (UK Time). As a result of August 5th being the first day of allocations, there are a large number of allocations set to run on this date, and therefore it may take some time for all allocations to run.

I see this year there are no 5 team leagues, the ones i was in were quite competitive more so than the 10 team leagues which had dead teams. With 5 teams it means the good players are spread around, but it also meant there was a very large pool of players which you could dip into.

PTG - Five team leagues can be set up within the league creator functionality. You can then ask your friends to join the league or advertise on this blog to find other people who would like to join a smaller league. Take a look at this post to see others who have advertised to create bigger leagues.
http://blog.stats.com/playthegame/2008/07/find_a_larger_league.html

Thanks Jamaican Red Devil. That worked a treat, don't you love firefox!

what happened to the reject with comment option when a transfer is requested?

PTG - We have only ever had functionality to comment on a transfer as it is being proposed, however we will look to introduce the functionality to comment on a transfer when it is being rejected.

I'm not sure how early prior to each match that the (real life) managers have to submit their team sheets but I was just wondering if it would be possible for there to be team sheet information available if you click on a fixture as this could help (PTG) managers with their substitutions.

PTG - Team sheets are often not announced until very close to the kick off. The best place to find these out will be on a live television service such as Sky Sports News Soccer Saturday programme or on the BBC's Score service. PTG managers have until 2 minutes before the scheduled kick off times to add and remove active players.