FOF Multiplayer General Questions

[MikeVic]

I'm going to start working in a week, which will give me some free time at home (compared to when I go to school), and I thought I'd like to try out the FOF Multiplayer feature. But I have a few questions first.

How much time is spent per day/week for a league? Is it very high involvement? How is the draft and FA handled? I would guess the draft requires ranking everyone, and sending it in?

Do most people let the computer set up gameplans and such, or do most people do everything manually, depending on who they play next week?

Thanks.

[Eaglesfan27]

The amount of time really varies on how involved you want to be. Obviously, a league is more fun when the owners are really involved. The minimum would be about 10-15 minutes/week (assuming 3 sims/week in the league) and the maximum could be as much as you want. Some leagues have websites, newspapers, etc. If you contribute to those things that enhance the MP experience, then it can take a few hours a week.

Every league has a different way of handing the draft. Tredwel has created this excellent web based utility for the eNFL drafts. Other leagues perform drafts via IM, or via preference lists. FA is usually handled directly within the game with each player exporting their team and their FA offers each stage.

I set my gameplans, rosters, and depth chart manually. The computer can make some odd choices if you let it do automatically.

[Taco]

In the CFL we sim 2 games per week. I agree with Eaglesfan that it all depends on how much time you put into it. It could range from 30 minutes/week to 5 hours/week or even more if want to.

In the CFL we are going to have some live draft chats (the draft is this week and we have some open teams if you want to join right away). If you can't make it to the chat then you can either send in a list of ranked players, a list of positions, or let your scout draft for you. It doesn't take as long as you'd think.

As far as gameplanning, I believe most people let the computer set up the game plans, but then manually tweak them from week to week.

[Darkiller]

lol, I have to say that in the IHOF, I can put up to 15-18 hours a week easily.
(and we went 2-14 in year 2....)

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Darkiller

lol, I have to say that in the IHOF, I can put up to 15-18 hours a week easily.

Good heavens. I'm in the IHOF as well... and for the most part do not tinker with my game plans week-to-week. I spent about an hour once coming up with saved game plans that reflected different defensive philosophies -- stop the run, stop the pass, and balanced. Through two seasons, I don't think I have specifically gameplanned more than two times, past the simple loading of one of the three pre-fabs based on my opponent's tendencies.

I don't think a huge investment of time is necessary to succeed. My IHOF team is pretty decent, even without a huge investment of time and effort.

[Ben E Lou]

My experience is much more similar to Quik's. I have defenses to stop the run, the pass, and a balanced attack. I review my opponent's roster and tendencies, load the appropriate gameplan, make a few tweaks if necessary, and upload. I'd imagine I spend a maximum of 15-20 minutes on my gameday export, and a little less than that going over the box score/log. We play two games per week.

Quik and I have both have been to the playoffs two years in a row with that philosophy and Darkiller is 10-22. Diminishing returns, Darky???

[albionmoonlight]

Agree with SD and QS.

There will be times when you spend a few hours a week on it (looking at the draft, negotiating trades at the beginning of preseason, setting up your depth chart and game plans at the beginning of the year, etc.) But week to week during the season it is much more of a 15 minute thing for me.

[cthomer5000]

Most my IHOF time is spent screwing around on the message board, not gameplanning. I spend a lot of time with the game file during the draft and free agency, but not so much with gameplanning.

I've got about 3-4 basic gameplans, with a number of very minor variations on those as well (opponent specific changes I made). I just load up an old gameplan about 90% of the time. I think once you've created your basic gameplans, there isn't that much time to be spend week-to-week. It really depends on how much you want to put into it.

We've gone 24-8 and won our division both seasons.

[MIJB#19]

Hmm, let's see, how many hours a week do I spent on the IHOF?

Gameday weeks:
About 5-10 mins per export (4 a week), about 2 hours on writing articles for my dynasty report.

Offseason weeks:
Uh, do I really have to be honest here?
I think since the end of the previous season, the past 3 weeks, I think I spent about 4 hours a day on the game, mainly on trade talks and figuring out how to get below the cap. Plus a bit of time to write a little article for my dynasty. Those are the active minutes, because I still had vacation and had the game and IHOF forum open about 15 hours a day...

Having talked it over a bit with Wade_moore, who plays in the CFL and peaks in on the IHOF a lot, activity seem to depend on the league.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Hmm, let's see, how many hours a week do I spent on the IHOF?

Gameday weeks:
About 5-10 mins per export (4 a week), about 2 hours on writing articles for my dynasty report.

Offseason weeks:
Uh, do I really have to be honest here?
I think since the end of the previous season, the past 3 weeks, I think I spent about 4 hours a day on the game, mainly on trade talks and figuring out how to get below the cap. Plus a bit of time to write a little article for my dynasty. Those are the active minutes, because I still had vacation and had the game and IHOF forum open about 15 hours a day...

Having talked it over a bit with Wade_moore, who plays in the CFL and peaks in on the IHOF a lot, activity seem to depend on the league.

I can concur on this. I spend about 5-10 mins per export (more in "major" games against tough opponents when I tend to tweak a bit more)... and then an hour or two per export on my dynasty...

The CFL is building a bit in active owners during this off-season.... I do not spend nearly as much time in the forums as I would if I was in the IHOF.

[Cringer]

I probably spend 15 minutes an export in the leagues I am in. I am only home usually 3 days a week and manage just fine. The off season is a little harder for me, because things are going on pretty much every day or every other day depending on the league.

Hell even the league I started I will miss some of the FA stages probably, so as to keep it from lasting too long I will have to have someone run some of it for me during the week.

About drafting, that also depends on the league, not sure how many try complete live drafts, but some like the Internet Football League do their draft on the msg board during the first FA stage, and then finish up live the last couple rounds that don't get done on the board. I am going to model my legues draft after that because I really enjoyed going through it that way, and guys only have to make a short list if they know they will not be able to get on the board when their pick is up.

I recommend jumping into a league, big time! Everyone ends up asking why they waited so long usually. If you are worried about time, try a slower league like the Imperial League, 1 game a week (my league), or the USFL may have an opening, and that is set up for 3 stages a week, game-FA stage-game, so you have 1 game one week and 2 the next.

[Gallifrey]

As you can see, you can spend very little or alot of time gameplanning or doing features for your league.

I have created gameplans for different teams. I tweak them of course as the teams change thru the seasons.

I would bet on spending 15 minutes on average after you get in the swing of it gameplanning and exporting your stage for each sim.

[GoldenEagle]

We currently have openings in the CFL if interested. Check my sig for details.