RapidDraft .. anyone check it out? (1 Viewer)

[burd]

There's a link in today's (5/22/09) Daily Email.

I checkd out the rules and it sounds interesting ... 250K 1st prize plus a lot of other cash prizes.

I can't wait to lay the smackdown on Dodds & Joe

PLUS FBG members get one free play for May

I believe I read that this is the 1st year of a league of this kind .. sounds like it was well thought out. You're playing an on-line league BUT your playing against Dodds, Joe and other industry people, so you know that it's not like a typical on-line league where teams aren't paying attention to their team after October. They'll be paying attention.

Anyone else going to give it a shot this year?

 

[FantasyTrader]

What's the setup? How is everyone playing everyone. You just field what you believe is the best team for that week and it's a total points race or something? Is there a special FBG league or everyone that plays snapdraft is in?

 

[nightmare]

I've tried it and liked it.

First you pick your draft spot and are up against (basically) 11 other programs running

draft dominator or their(experts) version of it.

I liked the draft room- very easy, very clean, also, warp speed really helps-draft in an hour.

If your running Google chrome a message comes up about pop up blocker.

I just clicked on OK and when chrome alerted you to the pop up you just click on it.

Basically no one makes any big reaches in the draft.

I did it twice drafting from the 12th spot.

It's a VERY RB heavy draft-you get a flex player. In the first three rounds almost

every one has two RBs.

Almost every one drafts a DEF/ST and K after round 15.

At least in the two drafts I did.

I'm not sure you could use DD in warp speed but for $5 it's not a big risk.

 

[by_the_sea_wannabe]

i made the mistake of thinking i could multitask during the draft. Lets just say they love to give you qb's if you miss a pick. I do like the setup though and will do a couple more probably.

 

[cdwood]

I've read the rules and it certainly seems interesting. I'll probably be using my FBG's May free play to check it out. One thing that comes to mind though, since you're drafting against 11 other previous ranked and basically automated drafters, I think the timing could be tweaked. I'd give the 11 fantasy experts 30 seconds for their picks and give the live player drafting a full 60 seconds to make their pick. I know the concept seems to be about having a fast draft, but I think with so many automated draft picks, more time can be afforded to the live player.

Christopher

 

[David Dodds]

Everyone should use the Free promo code we sent out in that email (we will do that blast a few times) as that gives you a free May draft. I believe that excludes you from the main event prizes, but it's a FREE entry (limit 1 per person) and I think they have $10K set aside just for people that play in May. I think our guys should dominate this thing. It's the exact same rules as WCOFF so it also should be good practice for people that play in those leagues. We will be getting ADP info from these drafts soon and will start posting it around.

Footballguys, USA Today, Roto Experts, Fantasy Sharks, FF Today and others all have computer teams that you compete against. This thing is backed by Jeff Thomas (Sportsbuff fame and also the president of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association along with USA Today who will be promoting this through the paper and Sports Weekly). I think the concept is very cool and is a nice interface for mocking while giving yourself a chance to see how you stack up in expert drafts.

Best of luck to everyone in this thing. I just forwarded a new draft list and some revised plans that should be implemented soon.

 

[Maroney=Speed]

Everyone should use the Free promo code we sent out in that email (we will do that blast a few times) as that gives you a free May draft. I believe that excludes you from the main event prizes, but it's a FREE entry (limit 1 per person) and I think they have $10K set aside just for people that play in May. I think our guys should dominate this thing. It's the exact same rules as WCOFF so it also should be good practice for people that play in those leagues. We will be getting ADP info from these drafts soon and will start posting it around.Footballguys, USA Today, Roto Experts, Fantasy Sharks, FF Today and others all have computer teams that you compete against. This thing is backed by Jeff Thomas (Sportsbuff fame and also the president of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association along with USA Today who will be promoting this through the paper and Sports Weekly). I think the concept is very cool and is a nice interface for mocking while giving yourself a chance to see how you stack up in expert drafts.Best of luck to everyone in this thing. I just forwarded a new draft list and some revised plans that should be implemented soon.

Sounds interesting. Couple of questions if you don't mind. 1. Does the 11 expert's have a shot at winning the prize money as well? Another words, can a expert win the 250,000 overall 1st place prize? Or is the money all for the one 'player' going against them in each League? 2. How does the expert pickup waiver wire players? If 100,000 Leagues go off they would all have 100,000 teams.Thanks

 

[darmani]

think the timing could be tweaked. I'd give the 11 fantasy experts 30 seconds for their picks and give the live player drafting a full 60 seconds to make their pick. I know the concept seems to be about having a fast draft, but I think with so many automated draft picks, more time can be afforded to the live player.

Christopher

I ran through this and posted a review of it here . I think the 30 seconds was well thought out and intentional, since it leaves you susceptible to timing out and potentially 'messing up' your draft. In which case, wouldn't you feel compelled to 'do it over again'. It's only 5-10 bucks right? In any case, it's a great idea, but you have to run through it a couple of times at least to get proficient at it. (Definitely use the free play as David recommends just to dry run through the interface).There's also a bit of a technical glitch that we noticed which actually gives you an extra 20 seconds or so to make a pick. But all that is in the review linked above.

 

[darmani]

1. Does the 11 expert's have a shot at winning the prize money as well? Another words, can a expert win the 250,000 overall 1st place prize? Or is the money all for the one 'player' going against them in each League?

Only RapidDraft players advance to the championship round. I'm guessing that if you don't win your league, that's the end of the road.

2. How does the expert pickup waiver wire players? If 100,000 Leagues go off they would all have 100,000 teams.

This is automated as well. The waivers run twice a week, and go by worst record. No bidding.

We'll have to wait and see to see how this part works. I wonder how aggressive the waiver pickups will be.

The artificial intelligence in drafting was very good though, so I expect the waivers will have a genuine feel to it as well.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Looks cool, but what the heck is with the crazy kicker heavy scoring system?

40 yard FGs are worth 6 points, and 50 yarders are worth 9 points?

It seems a bit odd that an idea composed of fantasy "pros" would put a large scoring emphasis on the most unpredictable position of all. Heck, for something like this I would think they'd be more apt to leave kickers out entirely than to give them this many EXTRA points beyond a traditional league.

Also, how reliable in this league? I'd have to wonder about the likelihood of a site who's forums currently comprise of "data store error" ever paying out $250,000.

 

[turfman]

It just froze up on me in the middle of a draft. It is not that easy to navigate either. I like the concept but they have some issues to work out.

 

[Titans_fan]

I finished a draft just a little while ago and had a pretty good time. Had one freeze-up where I had to close the window and relaunch, but I had a few players queued up so it didn't really hurt me that bad. I think it could be fun and I appreciate Joe and the guys getting us a freebie....I might just pony up a few bucks and enter again!

As for the computer drafters, the logic and selections were pretty solid throughout the draft. With a potential for starting 3 RBs or 4 WRs each week, they went fast and furious the first few rounds, but that was to be expected. The scoring is pretty standard (with the exception of kickers as noted above) and I'm looking forward to the week I play the FBG representative.

All in all, a good time for no out-of-pocket money!

 

[darmani]

I finished a draft just a little while ago and had a pretty good time. Had one freeze-up where I had to close the window and relaunch,

It did occur to me how the site will respond when we hit peak drafting season. With such a time sensitive application, I hope they stress tested this thing. (Everything else seems to be well thought out, so I'm sure they did). Nothing worse than having a good draft then someone turns the lights out on you, then when you get back in, you see that those players people were intentionally passing on were assigned to your team. (Ouch). It's one thing when you're running FFCalc and it's sluggish or freezes, but with people dropping 10 bucks per team, there could be some angre hombres out there. The fine print in their rules don't indicate any refunds. Seems they are not responsible for lost connections and such.As far as player selection during drafts, we are all familiar with the TE run, WR run, etc. But in this format, the computer doesn't respond like that. We drafted Witten in the 4th round (early), and the AI didn't fire off the next tight end (Gates I think) until somewhere in the 6th.

 

[Ice Grilled]

I did two drafts on this site...one only one freeze up the second one froze up the whole draft. The website disappears...I like the idea...but the site is not able to excute. They really need to get their stuff together. I would only do a free draft right now, because this site is not ready for the spotlight...which is simply unfortunate.

 

[DevilDog919]

Cool concept that I'd be willing to pay for if my initial free experience wasn't so bad. I got to make my 1st round selection, then conveniently right before each of my next picks the draft froze and I had to reboot only to come back to see my pick was made for me. In the 4th round, I ended up with Larry Fitz (my selection), Tom Brady, Terrell Owens, and Aaron Rodgers. The CPU picked the last 3 players and I quit the draft altogether.

If the site is fixed, this game seems well worth a chance. I doubt they get a dime from me though, no point in wasting money on a team that I don't even get to draft. Maybe another free experience showing that it is fixed would sway me, but I doubt that comes again.

 

[Cowtippers]

Went to go give it a try tonight....

pulled up the web site once and it froze....after that the site was down and wouldn't even load up.....

maybe I'll give it a another try before May is over, but I doubt it

 

[Raskell5]

Froze up mid draft for me too. It was my second draft and one that I paid for. Kind of blows. It's a useless team, now.

 

[nightmare]

I tried it out for a 3rd time.

When it kept freezing up -about six times-I either reloaded the

page or opened up the draft board then closed it(draft board).

I drafted all the players I wanted.

They have to do something if this thing is going to work in mid August.

 

[Novice2]

There's a link in today's (5/22/09) Daily Email.

In the Volume 10, Issue 33 (Friday, May 22nd) email?Is it a super secret link or a diff email cause im not seeing it.

 

[David Dodds]

Sounds interesting. Couple of questions if you don't mind. 1. Does the 11 expert's have a shot at winning the prize money as well? Another words, can a expert win the 250,000 overall 1st place prize? Or is the money all for the one 'player' going against them in each League?

No, If we win a league, no one advances.

2. How does the expert pickup waiver wire players? If 100,000 Leagues go off they would all have 100,000 teams.Thanks

We will have Top 200 forward lists so it will look to give us our best player while dropping our worst (while maintaining needed positions for that week)

 

[David Dodds]

I sent the link to this thread to Jeff Thomas so he knows about the freezing situations

 

[RapidDraft]

Hey Footballguys...

Totally understand the comments above - all good and bad. We had been experiencing 100% SOLID performance for most of May and then decided to do some maintenance this weekend. Bad idea. It was the cause of several draft freeze issues yesterday.

Please note that the issue has been identified and is in the process of being corrected. We hope to have it corrected by this evening (Sunday).

FREE DRAFT PROMISE. Anyone drafting in the last day that experienced a freeze issue, please contact assistant@worldfantasygames.com and we will issue you an additional free May draft.

We are looking forward to a great football season and we hope you enjoy RapidDraft 2009. Our experienced team has worked very hard to develop a game that innovates on many levels (you choose your draft position, no logistics issues when coordinating a draft time, drafts that are always full, draft and league competition from real tested Pros including Dodds/Bryant as Slick Willie, no collusion possible, nobody in your league quits during the season, and all of this for less than $10).

We will do our best to come back and visit the Footballguys forums and interact with you. If you have a true customer service issue, the "World Fantasy Game Ops" crew would like to take care of it ASAP. To ensure we provide quality customer service, please email assistant@worldfantasygames.com or go to the RapidDraft web site and Contact Us... so that we make sure your RapidDraft experience is challenging, enjoyable, and hassle free.

Also - remember to go to the Footballguys RapidDraft site so they receive credit for your business. And, of course, we want to be able to tell the world that a Footballguys subscriber was the first RapidDraft Grand Champion.

Remember, the site is down temporarily to correct the freeze issue. We're hoping to be back up this evening.

Cheers, JT and the RapidDraft Team

 

[DevilDog919]

Hey Footballguys...

Totally understand the comments above - all good and bad. We had been experiencing 100% SOLID performance for most of May and then decided to do some maintenance this weekend. Bad idea. It was the cause of several draft freeze issues yesterday.

Please note that the issue has been identified and is in the process of being corrected. We hope to have it corrected by this evening (Sunday).

FREE DRAFT PROMISE. Anyone drafting in the last day that experienced a freeze issue, please contact assistant@worldfantasygames.com and we will issue you an additional free May draft.

We are looking forward to a great football season and we hope you enjoy RapidDraft 2009. Our experienced team has worked very hard to develop a game that innovates on many levels (you choose your draft position, no logistics issues when coordinating a draft time, drafts that are always full, draft and league competition from real tested Pros including Dodds/Bryant as Slick Willie, no collusion possible, nobody in your league quits during the season, and all of this for less than $10).

We will do our best to come back and visit the Footballguys forums and interact with you. If you have a true customer service issue, the "World Fantasy Game Ops" crew would like to take care of it ASAP. To ensure we provide quality customer service, please email assistant@worldfantasygames.com or go to the RapidDraft web site and Contact Us... so that we make sure your RapidDraft experience is challenging, enjoyable, and hassle free.

Also - remember to go to the Footballguys RapidDraft site so they receive credit for your business. And, of course, we want to be able to tell the world that a Footballguys subscriber was the first RapidDraft Grand Champion.

Remember, the site is down temporarily to correct the freeze issue. We're hoping to be back up this evening.

Cheers, JT and the RapidDraft Team

I'll give it another try after the corrections take place then, and if all goes well probably end up spending a fortune on it as I do like the idea.

 

[by_the_sea_wannabe]

thx for the prompt response always nice to see

 

[RapidDraft]

Everything is looking great now... we've just completed several drafts and things are back to normal. We found an issue with Free Agents and how they were being handled by the artificial intelligence engines, causing the draft room to freeze yesterday.

Good luck during your RapidDrafts!

 

[Cowtippers]

Went to go give it a try tonight....pulled up the web site once and it froze....after that the site was down and wouldn't even load up..... maybe I'll give it a another try before May is over, but I doubt it

well...I went back to give it a try tonight and I'm happy to report it ran very smooth. No freeze ups, no glitches....pretty easy to navigate...I enjoyed it.......hope it continues to run smooth as it picks up more and more traffic/volume....

 

[DevilDog919]

Another previously dissatisfied customer here. Went back after the problems were fixed and everything went smoothly, not one freeze up! Enjoyed the draft, it takes about an hour and half or so. May do a few more in the coming weeks.

 

[Qmaster]

Memorial Day...4:00 PM EST...frozen up at 4.09 (my pick) and wont move forward

Q