I'd like to exercise my right to vent a little. Please bear with me, but give me a listen. If I didn't care about, respect or owe this place so much, I'd just keep silent...
Personally, I think FBG's is already OVERdoing it with all the info they are providing about the FPC, and in turn the FFPC by extension, and as a veteran high-stakes player who puts a LOT of money in play every year, I find it frustrating, personally, but I also think it denigrates both the Contest, and the Site. Here's where I'm coming from:
I've been playing FF for money for a very long time. Lots, and lots of money. To the point where I consider it an investment. Local contests and National contests. I've played multiple entries in multiple High Stakes Leagues since WCOFF opened the scene. I've been fortunate/lucky enough to have profited a fair amount over the years...but I've worked my butt off for it, and continue to do so, year-round. I put hours into research and analysis; write my own projections; mock draft, and mock draft some more, again and again. This Site has contributed mightily to my success, and for that I'm tremendously grateful. I've worked to become good at FF, and I've never met a contest format I've felt I don't have a reasonable chance of at least breaking even, and so far it's proven true. The only thing that keeps me out of certain contests is when they get too big (too many entries), which reduces the odds of winning huge money to the point where it's an unwise investment of both time and money, and increases the role of luck over skill to collect any of the worthwhile Grand Prizes. FF is one of my biggest hobbies, and it's my choice to spend hours a week on it, at the expense of other pursuits, and I'm OK with that. Since my debt to income ratio is well in the black, and it's not causing issues in my personal life, it's fine.
FPC is a contest with a mid-stakes buy in ($350 or 3 Teams/$1000), with the EXACT same rules as a bona-fide high-stakes League with a $1600 buy-in, so all the info they currently disseminate spoon-feeds Players at 2 different levels, one requiring a significantly more serious investment than the other, especially if one invests in multiple teams, which many 'staked' High Stakes Players do. Yes, some of us have investors. Personally, I don't think that's cool, but thankfully there are other Nat'l Contests at that entry price that I can play in without an established website spoon-feeding the competition, so I have a choice to invest elsewhere, and I do. On a different level, I hold FBG's in such high regard that I was disappointed that they didn't put the time and effort into developing their own unique contest, rather than piggyback an established one, but that's for another thread, and maybe the FPC is a stepping-stone to exactly that. Wouldn't surprise me...as a matter of fact, it's what I expect down the road, from Joe and David.
This Site was built around the idea of providing the tools and info one needs to become a better Fantasy Fooball Player overall, and in general. It's original purpose was to develop acumen. One way to look at it, this Site is a classroom where students are learning general skills, how to think and how to apply them. I understand satisfying the demand to tailor some of the content to address the various National Contests and I don't necessarily have a problem with advising about contests outside the FPC/FFPC...but I draw the line at tailoring instructional info to a Contest offered by this Site that also completely mimics a High Stakes Contest with MUCH higher stakes. I have to wonder how much thought was put into the ripple effect. Students here, again in my opinion, ought to be learning these general skills so they can become better players no matter the contest...by applying themselves and what they've learned, NOT by being given the answers, which seems to me to be what's happening, with the FPC/FFPC.
The FPC Contest, in my opinion, ought to be a mechanism by which Players can showcase how good a 'student' they've become, and how much they've learned, and if they've learned how to thoughtfully apply those skills, without necessarily providing a study guide. Looking at it through the same lens as above, view the Contest as an exam opportunity, requiring the students to apply the knowledge and skills they've acquired in the classroom. A competition to see who's learned the most, and learned how to apply it the best, with a handsome reward to the victor, tainted the least amount by the luck factor, which is, unfortunately, growing at a rapid pace in the FPC, with it's continued expansion.
Since there's money involved, and quite a bit of it, it's my opinion that once you bring that element into it, it shouldn't be an 'open-book' test, which is what it's starting to, if not already, become. Any more info handed out here, and FBG's might as well hand out an answer key. In my opinion, the proliferation of answer-based content being offered is cheapening the whole thing, which is unfortunate.
I wish when this Contest had been developed, FBG's had taken the stance of 'here's a chance to showcase what you've learned! Good Luck and Godspeed! May the best man win!' ... and then walked away, and let all the students figure it out for themselves, using the technical knowledge taught here along with their brains. Not 'here's our contest! Now we're going to give you a blueprint of how to be successful!', which is where things seem to be leading, in my opinion.
A big part of my real-life job as a Chef is to be a teacher - in restaurant kitchens, Culinary Schools, Farmer's Markets, and in client's homes and workplaces. I LOVE sharing knowledge, and watching my students work to apply it and personally grow and succeed. Over the years as an active participant and sometimes contributor on this board and others, I'd like to think I've put some thought-provoking material out there that inspires people to engage in exercising critical thinking skills...
...but it seems to me that we're going down the road here where we're starting to focus more on GIVING people fish than maintaining focus on TEACHING them HOW to, stopping there and letting them loose to sink or swim the best they can, and you all know how that ends up...on top of that, it's just doesn't seem cool to do to the people who actually work for their dinner.
Welfare - It's a hand UP, not a hand OUT.
Also, like some of the other National Contests, this one has gotten too big (as in, too many entries allowed). I'm looking at #'s based on THREE THOUSAND entries! At this point, I can say with confidence that I've personally interacted with upwards of 50 people who have their own 3-pack or more (multiple 3-packs, that's what a lot of high-stakes players do - I know at least 5 who have 3 or more 3-packs each, and several more who have 2), who are now looking at this contest, and the FFPC as well, with a short-view lens of: "I'm in it to win my sub-League prizes, and then hope for the best and get lucky in the Championship Bracket".
Yes, 'Get lucky in the Championship Bracket'. Maybe it's just me, but that's not a positive thought process to be developing in your contestants. When you change the odds of winning to the point it's at now, luck becomes a HUGE factor in determining who walks away with the Grand Prize. The more entries, the more chance of roster/player replication, and the longer the odds of recovering from a slow start with more Teams to leapfrog. Flawed model, which, putting the interest of having as many participants as possible at the forefront, doesn't appear to have the ramifications being completely thought through. For me, individually, it's a turn off, but again, there are other Contests to compete in if I choose, but lots of Players can't, for various reasons.
In my opinion, any contest involving a substantial amount money ought to be limited in entry enough that every entrant feels like they have a reasonable chance to win the Grand Prize...AND win it based primarily on their SKILLS/ACUMEN, not on dumb luck...and I'd challenge anyone to factually dispute my statement that a contest approaching 3000 entries isn't moving towards being based more on luck than skill when it comes to winning the Grand Prize.. As it currently stands, the FBG's Contest Championship Round, and the FFPC too, is starting to look like a lottery...and we all know who lotteries are geared towards...
...which is why, outside of invitational sub-Leagues like Red vs Blue, I won't be investing any of my stake money in it. If I could afford, and had the sanity to manage 30 Teams (1% of total projected Teams), maybe. It's just not a wise time/money investment at this point, for me.
I'm not going to ##### and run, though. I have an idea on how to adjust it, and not lose out on all the money it's generating for the Site.
My suggestion is this: Instead of one big Contest, break it down into multiple Contests. Perhaps each comprised of 12 12-Team Leagues that compete for their own individual Grand Prize. Every 12 Leagues that fill, start a new contest. That's 144 Teams X $350 per Contest for each one. That's a nice prize pool, but heck, at that point, you could probably raise the Entry Fee a small amount, say $500, and have just as many participants - because by limiting the # of entries in each Contest to a reasonable number, everyone involved feels like they have a better chance at a Grand Prize, and adds to the attraction. You could lower the sub-League prizes too, and make the Grand Prizes a larger percentage of the cash intake, because the odds would actually improve that each of the Teams that makes it to the Championship Round would have a better shot at being in the running. At that point, you're talking about roughly 30 Teams on average competing in each Championship Bracket - much less chance of player replication, and less room from top to bottom to have to leapfrog hundreds of Teams if you get a rough start out of the Championship Round gate. Theoretically more Teams would have 'hope' through the length of the Championship Bracket at coming out with something more than their individual League prizes, hence, you can lower the League Prizes and raise the Grand Prizes in each smaller Contest. You could even offer some substantial cash prizes at the end, ranking the multiple Contest Champions against one another and producing an attractive top-down prize structure from that. There are existing large Leagues 24 Teamers with 2 separate 12-Team sub-Leagues now which offer larger prizes to the semi-finals winners, and have the Finalists compete for a smaller cash prize. I'm in one. This would be similar to that, on a larger scale.
Under these parameters, I think there's a very good chance you might wind up with an increase in net entries, as well, stemming again from not just the perceived, but real opportunity, to have better odds to win some serious money.
...vent over. I'm really not trying to be an ###. Just that folks asking for even more help struck a chord in me. Just my .02 alternative view, and maybe some things to consider...
Best Wishes and Good Luck to everyone!
