Wednesday 22 December 2010

WTF?

A very worrying quote taken from the latest post by the Fantasist on the Official Yahoo Blog:

As far as points for all the postponed matches go, word from Yahoo! HQ is that these will be automatically added to your scores for this gameweek once the matches are finally played. Confirmation of this should follow soon. 
Erm...what?

It has always been the case in Yahoo Fantasy Football (as it still is in the Official Fantasy Premier League game & other fantasy games) that if a match is postponed your players in that match score zero & you do not get the points when the match is replayed. Instead, the fixture is moved to a new gameweek later in the season. It's harsh if you end up with a bunch of zeros, but everyone knows the rules & we accept them as part of the game.

This known rule meant many managers got rid of players at discounts to bring in other players who were certain to start Week 18 matches. Different people use different strategies, but they are all based around the rules. If Yahoo HQ choose to change this rule now, without warning anyone beforehand, then I'm sorry but that is absolutely crazy. In fact it would be a total mess for so many reasons I can't even be bothered to write them all down!

I'm praying the Fantasist has been given incorrect information, but we'll need to wait for an update later in the week. If they want to bring this change in for next season then fine, but if Yahoo really think about it, surely they'll realise that to change the rules now would destroy the integrity of this season's game?

Opinions?

Cheers,
AM

p.s Week 19 Player Picks will be up tomorrow. Remember the deadline is Sunday this week, rather than Saturday.

63 comments:

TwoFace said...

Fantasist has been wrong before so i don't buy the idea..it will certainly kill the game :p

Anonymous said...

I hope this is wrong. This is too messed up, if Yahoo pulls this thing!!! Me and my friends are splitting the season in 2 halves, this coming Sunday is the end of the first half of the season, and money will be distributed accordingly. If Yahoo subsequently adds points to week 19, this will mess up the whole computation. Say it isn't so!!!!

paul mac said...

i saw this post a few hours ago and it was a shocker.it will be a major kick in the ----- for a lot of fantasy managers including me.this is surely a mistake or it will devalue the game.a lot of people have mini leagues with prize momey for managers of the month.this will blow these out of the water as nobody will know where they stand for months

Pop Thy Collar said...

It's a disgrace if Yahoo start changing the agreed rules retrospectively.

If Yahoo continue to fart around I will be quitting the game at the end of the season to take up fantasy residence elsewhere (probably the Premier League official game).

It's the principle that counts.

Everyone should post a comment denouncing the potential change here. PLAYER POWER!

Anonymous said...

another instance why this wouldn't work is that people select certain players by the week based on matchups and injuries... i had somen thcoyi in my team because he was likely to play up top but is listed as a midfielder... when this match is rescheduled he is likely to lose alot of his value with the potential return of odemwingie

Miec said...

I dont buy these new rule. It's very strange and makes a lot of mess.
BTW it is unacceptable to change the game rules when game is (was?) already played.

Anonymous said...

If yahoo does that I'm done with that game. Too bad, cause imo it's the most fun epl fantasy game because of all those phantom cats. I'm in yahoo nhl/nba leagues where there are way more teams and way more games and I don't know why yff is the only game where it's that chaotic.

gman26 said...

Just like we accept the fact that matches might be postponed and we're stuck without points, we also accept the fact that yahoo! is crazy and runs this game on their own whim. While it's absurd for them to do this(if it's true), I won't stop playing. As Hyman Roth said in the Godfather, "This is the business we have chosen."

roonaldo said...

this is not logic! if the points added to gameweek 18 after the postponed game is played later means, its totally not logic bcz we dont know who will be playing, who injured, who is benched and who is not in EPL (january transfer window) in later game....EX: if i chose RVP in week 18 and if he dont play in later game(postponed game) means i will get zero and this is not LOGIC!!!!....somemore some managers scored good points in week 18 because they updated the EPL news until the deadline of that gameweek and they did last minute changes...so yahoo shud reconsider this....thanks

gman26 said...

Anon - this EPL yahoo! has no connection, except for name, with the yahoo! that runs NFL/NBA, etc. Brandon Funston himself told me that.

Obviously, the US brand has its act together. While this version is just using the name as a shell.

Thomas said...

I disagree, even though I made changes as games were being called off others were called off after the deadline, it was a farce and complete luck of a week. Its actually logical to have the rule this way and if they don't put it in for this season they definitley should next season.

Anonymous said...

i support the new rule!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Guess those Yahoo staffs have scored too many zeros :)

In fact that would be a good news for me coz I've scored only 2.5 in total last week. Anyway that's not fair to make such a change without any prior statements.

W.M. Wong

DJ PIGG said...

Shocking!

If that's the case, I want my points from the Friday evening team I posted. As I've said (twice in a row using my alter-ego) on Yahoo's blog:

"I changed as many of my team as I could in order to take into account the known postponements before the midday deadline. If I'd known that Yahoo were going to retrospectively change the rules then I'd have left my team as it was on Friday evening.

If Yahoo insist on this change then please can I have the points my Friday evening team would have scored and not the Saturday midday one?"

jack said...

I think it is logical for us to get the points for that particular week. Makes sense, BUT they should have done it with a warning. We should have known from the start...

Birty said...

in the long run i think this is better, especially for those games that were called off after the deadline. but what sucks is not telling us before - i'd have picked vdv and not nasri.

Anonymous said...

Put simply, they can't change the rules midway through the season. And even if they did put this rule in place for next season I think it would be a mistake for many of the reasons that "roonaldo" stated.

Assistant Manager said...

As I've written in the post, my issue is with them changing the rules halfway through the season. They simply can't do that!

By all means bring the change in for the start if 2011/12, but not in Week 18 of 2010!

bfar said...

anyway to protest to yahoo? as if they will listen to us...hahahaha

this is absolutely silly...

Pop Thy Collar said...

@bfar - Yahoo are dependent on advertising income which depends on people visiting their sites which depends on people like me and you going there to play fantasy games etc.

I think they will listen, they've listened before and changed the game when players used to be able to retain all of the profit made on a player (5 or 6 years ago). I remember I made a stonking profit on Arjen Robben when he came into the game at £5m and rocketed to over £40m on the strength of his first few games...

Except they changed the rule at the start of a season then, and this is the point here. They cannot change the rules midway through the season. They can do what they like at the start of a season, as long as they let everyone know how it works.

MPFC/KPM said...

If you go back to his Week 18 summary from last year, this is what he posted after a weekend with many cancellations.

"Points from rearranged games count towards the week when they are played, so if your stars had their matches postponed, hard luck. What it does mean is plenty of double weeks coming up"

Which is worrying because I was hoping it would say the same thing he said this past week. Not so much. My hope is that "confirmation" will consist of a retraction of this weeks statement. Otherwise I am going to be pissed beyond belief.

MPFC/KPM said...

And really, this needs to be sorted out before the dealine on Sunday, because I sense that more cancellations will take place this weekend and if the change in rules is a reality, it will completely change how I formulate my lineup.

Also, I just wonder if Yahoo was implicitly hinting at this change when it talked about no more double game weeks. I guess one could infer that it would be impossible to add weeks for rescheduled fixtures so the unwritten message behind 'no more double game weeks' is that the points would be taken back to the original game week.

The more I type, the more pissed off I get.

Ian Sanderson said...

I gave up on 'the fantasist' a long time ago.

MPFC/KPM said...

I tweeted/twatted Neal and Jeremy about this. I recall last time something like this came up they had a contact at Yahoo to calm everyone down. Hopefully history will repeat.

kwyjibo said...

Couldn't this be interpreted another way? The season is 38 weeks...no double weeks anymore. So, if they replay the games, they would have to add another 'YFF week'.

So, could it be that, when the games are replayed, you still get to pick a new team for those games, but the points you get do NOT make up another 'week', but get added to whatever week they were supposed to be played?

Does that make any sense?

That would be far better than forcing people into the same teams for the postponed games.

MPFC/KPM said...

I don't see how Yahoo can shoehorn extra weeks into their schedule to be honest.

I believe they are stuck on 38 weeks and either the made up games become part of an 'artificial' double week OR the Fantasist is correct and those of us who scrambled to change their lineups on Saturday are effed.

Papa Bear said...

Yeah more and more i think this yr will b my last yr in yahoo fantasy football..was a great 7 yrs...but instead of getting better just getting worse each year

Doctor Teeth said...

I will quit if this happens...I gutted my side at five minutes before the deadline based on the existing policy. This is insane.

Anonymous said...

my opinion: WTF?

chi

Anonymous said...

why was nothing said when the blackpool v man utd game was postponed? I'm sure that yahoo will sort this out at it does put the integrity of the game into question...we have a private league competition with bi-weekly prizes based on points scored over 2 weeks, this will be a catastrophy for our league...change it next year, don't change the rules mid-season!!!

MPFC/KPM said...

Interesting (and contradictory) snippet from the Fantasist's chat the day Blackpool/Man U was postponed.

15:51 *BREAKING NEWS*

Friday December 3, 2010 15:51
15:52 Blackpool v Man United has been called off! At least that should settle plenty of your selection problems!

Bradley said...

It's ridiculous. You get points (potentially) if your player takes to the pitch in that gameweek, none if he doesn't. The reason doesn't matter. If he gets injured in warm-ups, if he gets unexpectedly benched after an argument with his manager, or if the match is postponed because another load of snow gets dropped on England, it's all the same. At least it always has been.

I'm also not holding my breath that YFF will have their act together enough to crank out points for so many gameweeks in quick succession. (Granted I'm speaking as someone who'll be in London over New Year's with gameweeks falling during both transatlantic flights and uncertain internet access in between, so I'm annoyed they didn't stick with the one-deadline-a-week format.)

rwlwhite said...

First off, I agree with most that this is a travesty that they are doing this

Secondly, I actually support the rule, but only if the start it from the beginning of the season.

I remember weeks when games have been rescheduled for one reason or another into new gameweeks, and that has meant only 1 or 2 games played in that gameweek. There is nothing wrong with that. As the official Fantasy Premier League site did, as and when games were called off, they took them off that gameweek. This is one of those things that as a fantasy player you are expected to cope with. The games will be replayed, so you don't lose out.

The rule itself about getting points later on for postponed matches is not a bad rule, but it should only be done if it brought in to begin with and in the official rules. If they go changing the rules as and when they feel like it, it is no longer a game. You don't see the Premier League saying half way through a season, ok, theres now a bonus point for scoring more than 3 goals, but sorry to those who have already done that, you won't be getting them

To finish, I would like to say to Yahoo, like it or lump it! I don't turn around and request that points be uploaded because my internet goes own just before the deadline. Games were postponed because of weather. We had warning. Yes some people were disadvantaged, but they will have a chance to get those points back later in the season so they won't miss out. Some people weren't disadvantaged because they were on the ball and made changes at the last minute to compensate for the loss of games. They are the keen players of the game and congratulations to them. But if they add points retrospectively against there own rules, then I will no longer be playing this next year as what's to stop them changing more rules

rwlwhite said...

oh, and thank god it wasn't a blog cup week! how bad it be if AM had to calculate the blog cup for this week as and when the rescheduled games are played as they will no doubt be rescheduled at different times!

Ironically, this week was the first knockout cup round in the FPL official game! Ha!

Bradley said...

Admittedly the traditional rules disadvantage people who'd have to get up at ridiculous hours to monitor last-minute weather news (possibly while "sleeping one off" -- I'm just saying...). Nevertheless, YFF is still struggling to process normal points updates in a timely fashion. What are the chances they'd actually be able to track all the players in all the postponed matches for all the 150-200K teams?

Regardless, as has been said many times above already, you don't announce a rules change in the middle of a competition.

LC said...

Its all a load of bollocks if you ask me.

It looks like they have implemented the change. Look on the fixtures which Yahoo give and look to the bottom of January 2011.

:-(

This is only my 2nd season playing so im not sure if they did that in the past or not!

Thanks
LC

Anonymous said...

Technically, I think Yahoo will be able to add the points from the postponed games, back to week 18, without too much problem.

Guess this rule CHANGE benefits the lazy, who just throw up 11 players. Hurts those eager beavers/idiots like me who woke up at 0400 to check the fu' ing weather reports 10000 miles away. That's the last time I do that nonsense.


The best players (not me) are screwed because part of the joy or chore of YFF is checking lineups, status, even the opposing team's projected lineup. When Chelsea finally plays ManU, the whole season may be locked up one way or the other and Lampard (or whoever you picked) might not play. And who knows about injuries and transfers- doubt we get to make a substitution.

MPFC/KPM said...

Good catch LC

Bojan said...

i will quit this season if that happens...

MPFC/KPM said...

Anonymous made a good point about transfers. What happens if somebody your original lineup is transferred and doesn't play, because his new team is Katmandu FC OR doesn't have a rescheduled fixture?

A weird year seeming gets infinitely weirder.

MPFC/KPM said...

That last post was a grammatical disaster. My apologies. Typing way too fast.

Anonymous said...

LC- good comment , here's the YFF fixture extract:

"Tuesday January 25 - Day 16
25 Jan, 19:30 Blackpool v Manchester United Bloomfield Road, Blackpool"

-------------
From Arizona

Anonymous said...

I should have added the emphasis on "DAY 16".
So this rule change is in FULL effect and the technical guys at YFF have the tech solution.

Some players (not me) were quite savvy and played half-vast players from Sunderland or Bolton or Blackburn just to post a score. ( I hope I am not overreaching here.) Now they are disadvantaged because some new player idiot like me, despite getting up at 0400 to check the weather kept in Lampard. I already got a big advantage when the BD was open for five days in GW2, when I didn't know what one was.
Arizona

Guy said...

This surely isn't be a well-thought through change. It means that by the time the fixture comes along it's all a matter of chance as to who happens to be playing or suspended - getting caught out by late cancellations is annoying but at least there's some information available as to what could happen. It seems to take a level of skill out of it (this might help me but that doesn't make it a good idea).
As pointed out above a player might have been transferred out which wouldn't be any different to any other reason for them not playing and Yahoo are normally OK at giving out zero points.
But what if a player in your team is now playing for a different team? Andy Carroll could be at Spurs for example (and that is just an example - I have no reason to think he would be) - would there be points for their game if he played? And if say Tevez transferred to ManU (OK, flight of fantasy but stick with me) - would you get points again for him playing, effectively twice in the same week?
It seems that Yahoo are really excelling themselves (negatively) this year. I'm struggling to think of anything that's been an improvement this year.
Just seen AM's comment - I can completely relate to it. It's a stupid decision as a rule and it's completely idiotic to introduce it part-way through the year, especially just after players had made decisions based on previous understanding.
Bring back double-weeks I say. Can we start a campaign?

greginho said...

it seems odd not to have let anyone know ahead of time. it can be a bonus, because players that might not have played, like van der vaart, should be back and healthy by the time these games are replayed. it may repay people who picked up players who might not have played, but will be.
it can go against too, if players like nasri and tchoyi are not in the same form.

Assistant Manager said...

If Yahoo follow through with this then I'll have a long hard think about whether I continue with this blog after this season, or maybe even sooner. It takes up a lot of time but I do it because I love the game & we all love competing against each other in a game that has the best rules out of all the fantasy footy games. A mid-season rule change like this would be a joke and all motivation to put the effort in to a game that is a joke would evaporate very quickly.

Assistant Manager said...

Also just realised, this rule change would be the end of all Blog Cups - I wouldn't be able to calculate results until postponed games were replayed, which could be months in the future, well after the scheduled quarter finals/semi finals etc.

Anonymous said...

The problem here is not *changing* the rules. It's that there *are no* written rules. If you go to the rules tab on the website you get paltry information. This is my first season and I only learned about the "barndoor," "double weeks," and the (old) postponement rule by reading AM and other websites. What Yahoo needs to do is actually write down some rules and not do the whole thing by the seat of their pants. Without reading online I would have assumed that postponed games add points to the week in which they were originally scheduled. However, changing the rules post-facto is certainly worse than having sub-optimal rules. The only real solution is for the rules to be written down so that anyone can check them.

DB

Ian Sanderson said...

It doesn't need to be the end of the Cups, Nic.
They're your cups and your rules.
If YOUR cup rules state games played that week are all that will score then I'm sure we'll all be happy.
I know it's an emotional time, but one thing at a time.

manutd said...

hi guys!does anyone how yahoo ff determine a prices for players

Anonymous said...

Good point, AM.

Even if you kept the old rule for Blog Cups and explained to all of us it wouldn't work perfectly because opposite strategies.

Most would retain a discounted player to hopefully play in the future makeup game, instead of dropping him for a half-vast Blackburn player just to post a score and stay in the Blog Cup. Kind of an uneven result, but it is just a fun game.

Anonymous said...

DB, very good point, I couldn't find the rule either- I barely found any rules, guess it's just a well established custom and unwritten rule.

BTW what's the rule for this weekend, I'd like to know for certain when deciding on Liverpool players- Gerrard and Torres.

Arizona

Jimmy said...

screw u guys! im going home!

Anonymous said...

But I reckon Yahoo wouldnt do such a stupid thing to ruin the whole thing and screw themself up...I think the fantasist was bullshitting. As i think Yahoo Fantasy Football has the most players compare to other fantasy sports. They wont be so dumb to do it by just changing the rule in the middle of the season. Come on Yahoo !!! Man you guys are genius!!!....dont let us down.

Anonymous said...

Just a suggestion. I think is time for us to voice out to yahoo of what we think. Can everyone here who support the rule not to be changed in the middle of season go to

http://surveylink.yahoo.com/wix/p6790352.aspx?country=UK&l=9

to send your feedback to Yahoo. at least they will know what we think. be nice when you write your feedback. Thank you

Anonymous said...

I understand why people are so concerned, and maybe we should all just relax until an official statement is made?

Once we know either way then we can decide if we play etc

no point getting worked up about an issue we don't even know exists yet

Have a great Xmas in the mean time
EV

Anonymous said...

If Yahoo goes through with this change it will probably be to simplify their own record keeping at the expense of the average player. I'm keeping a running points log too, and keeping to a set number of gameweeks would be good for me. But I sympathize with those whose seasons could be ruined by this. What's more I don't trust Yahoo to pull this rule change off without screwing it up somehow.

Anonymous said...

The other possibility is that Yahoo is throwing out this change as a trial balloon via The Fantasist, and if there's enough opposition to it on their message boards they won't do it.

Anonymous said...

Okay ladies, please continue your hissy fits.
I'm not going to play...give me a break.

Why can't you take on the rules change as another unexpected element in the fantasy game like all other hamstring injuries, snowed out games, lineup picks, etc.

You sound like shoppers being told there is a limit of two per customers at a brand name shoe sale....you didn't tell us that in the advertisement!?!!

Genius's Father said...

W T F !!!

The Greek said...

It's not a rules change since there was no rule about postponed games, as someone correctly said earlier. We were just used in another way of playing from previous years. But in previous years the week ahead would be a double week but it isn't. As there was no double week earlier this year although we had midweek games.
I don't like it but that's the way it is. I lost my discounts on Torres, Meireles, Skrtel too for no reason.

MehicoRadio said...

It seems like yahoo is trying this year to make a joke of the entire game. imo its a idiotic policy NO ONE is doing, and for damn good reason. Hell, if Chelsea/United isn't rescheduled until may, that is what, almost 3-4 months since week 18 when you'll get the points?

Well at least I lost sleep and wasted time checking fucking weather reports until 5am here to avoid getting screwed. Apparently I should of just stayed with the best team for that week and complained to yahoo to change the rule when i see "most games postponed."

IF this policy is what they do, and IF they keep it for next season, I'm going to ditch the yahoo game for FPL (which in 2 seasons of playing, has yet to do anything thing idiotic) and maybe try Metro or another game.

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