dogwatch
Premium Platinum
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- #601
Thanks Xbox. I was thinking along the same lines of time restriction. I had a few different options in mind:
1. Close off all entries and updates 60 minutes before the bounce (when do they come out for the warm-up? is 60 minutes enough?) Seems a slight overreaction to the problem, but I'd be prepared to consider it if there's nothing better. People who miss the cutoff would still have their carryover team.
2. Not allow any multiple players (2x or 3x) to be entered in those last 60 minutes, whether it's a new entry or a change to a team already posted. That is, if you enter or change a team in the last 60 minutes you may only enter a 5x1 (chump) team. If you post multiples in spite of that rule you will be given Pieman subs for your excess multiples until you are back to a 5x1. You would however be allowed to retain a multiple if it was posted before the 60-minute period as long as the change you are making is elsewhere. eg if you had posted much earlier in the day that you wanted 3x Bont + McNeil + VDM you could change to 3x Bont + JOD + VDM. Or you could change it to 2x Bont + JOD + McNeil + VDM.
3. Cap the handicap value at say 20 for any multiples entered in the last hour. Not keen. Too crude a measure and it's harder to program and administer each week.
4. A different approach not based on time limits could be for me to allocate a maximum of say 35 for ANY players handicap every round. Not keen on it as it's an over-reaction - it's the baby and bathwater problem.
There could be other variations of course.
My preference is #2 (no multiples allowed in the last hour) although it might require me to apply a bit closer scrutiny to posting times each week. And if I'm away it might require people to observe the "honour system" because I think the timestamp disappears after a few days. I guess I could get a mod to track down when a specific post was lodged but I'd rather not have to do that.
Note that this does not stop anyone from changing their team to include a single instance of the player in question (say JOD), even 5 minutes before the bounce. So what I'm saying is that it's OK to get a little bit of an advantage if you see a defender warming up with the forwards. However getting that advantage as a 2x or 3x seems a bit excessive and could spoil the Pieman - possibly for the rest of the season - for those not able to get to the game. Imagine if I'd left JOD at 55 and he kicked 4 goals (could easily have happened if we had got the upper hand in the midfield). You'd have got 660 points which would pretty much have killed interest in the Pieman for the rest of the year (except for StringyDog!)
I'm not keen on your penalty % idea because it seems a very inexact response. It's also too broad a brush - people who are genuinely busy and rushing to get their team in, get hit with the same penalty regardless of whether there is a warmup change at all. They'd be better off just letting their team carry over from last week and not cop any penalty at all.
tl;dr - option 2 is the lightest touch, easy enough to administer, requires no code change and still allows a lesser benefit for anyone with last minute knowledge of important changes. A bit like Kermit's late entry (156 pts).
Further comments and ideas welcome.
I'm glad you were able to cash in with the bookies on JOD. I wasn't watching the pre-match coverage but I knew something was up when I saw the rush of Pieman interest in O'Donnell from about 7pm.
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