parsh wrote:
Fwiw, there was an instance in one of the leagues I was in where an owner cut a bunch of players because they felt they had a "power team" and wanted a more competitive balance in the league. They ran up a dead salary cap over 70 million .. then left.
New owner comes in, jdb was made aware .. he changed the dead cap to match the 2nd highest in the league so that team can be active in FA .. my point is, if the dead cap is excessive, it can be dealt with promptly .. you just have to make the "MFN guru" aware.
On another note (and please understand I'm not calling you out Coach when I say "you"), here's the easier way to prevent trade and dump prevention .. you don't treat people like ****.
- If they don't do a trade you think is more than fair, then that's their decision.
- If they do a trade with someone, you don't think is fair, remember it takes 2 to make a trade.
- Don't make a public accusation that "Owner A" is a multi unless you have concrete proof .. and even then, don't make it public and alert jdb.
In other words, simple kindness and respect will keep owners around .. in general, pissed off owners are the ones dumping players then leaving. Thats their way of giving you the finger on the way out.
EDIT: I wanted to add to my "bullet points" to be genuinely nice from the start. I truly think a lot of the credit as to why league 62 took off quickly is because Bryno goes out of his way to welcome new owners. Simple gestures like that mean a ton to some new owners.
You're right that a little hospitality goes a long way. Many moons ago my grandfather taught me this when i undertook to start a town chess club. i concentrated on the chess and the competition; he concentrated on greeting people and making them feel welcome and important. Mostly by his approach and efforts our club blossomed into a thriving group of 75 people when most other area clubs had 5 or 6 members.
As far as to the point i was making about the efforts to "maintain a competitive balance", i think a lot of people are missing the point.
These leagues are not 1 on 1 affairs. In a 2 player game, if one player makes horrible decisions he will lose - no biggie. Learn for the next time.
In a group activity like this where up to 32 people are competing at the same time, it is in the best interest, for the maximum enjoyment of the group, to maintain a set of rules and conditions so that all the participants have an equal chance. This also affects not just the present competition (season), but also many in future.
Consider the following scenarios:
A) 'GM A' joins a league and takes control of franchise A. Using multiple accounts he also takes control of teams B,C,D,E,F,G,H, I and J and trades all the best players to team A; or
B) Makes dubious trades of lousy players for all of team B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I and J's top 3 draft picks for the next three years, filling his roster from the FA pool for the present year.
Cheating? Obviously.
C) Instead of the above, 'GM A' gets 9 of his friends to sign up and accomplishes either of the above through their assistance. Perhaps they don't really care about the game and just want to do a friend a favor. Perhaps 'GM A' helps those guys out by similar activities in other games/leagues.
Cheating? Practically, yes. Technically, no. Or
D) GM A finds nine really green or unknowledgeable owners and swindles or convinces them to do essentially the same thing.
Cheating? Absolutely not.
But the problem is that exactly the same result has occurred whether it was cheating or not, i.e. the competitive balance in the league has been wrecked and unless all the damage can be reversed the effects will continue on and affect all the other GMs until the results of all those unbalanced trades (or foolish transactions) fizzle out (basically by all those guys retiring 12-15 seasons from now).
The point is - this is a multiplayer activity and it is in the interest of fair and enjoyable competition to maintain a fair and competitive balance. A thing that, considering human nature, is not all that easy to do but should be put on the highest pedestal, even higher than fixing bugs or game engines.
This was and is my entire point concerning these issues.
