Your Chance To Participate In A New Football Phenomenon (Sandbox Simulations) - Page 203

**Rain Man** · 09:15 AM

I apologize if the mods think this is soliciting, and I guess it is, but at the same time it's beta testing a new product developed by long-time planeteers, and it's free.

cdcox and I have been developing a new football game for the thoughtful fan, where players build franchises and compete against each other. A description is below.

If you're interested, we're offering the game for free in Year 1 to Chiefsplanet members, with the goal of both giving the system a dry run and also hooking you like Phillip Morris. You can go to www.sandboxsimulations.com to sign up, and use the access code 6Lanier3.

Here's the overview:

Build and manage a full 53-player roster over multiple seasons, as an offseason activity to give you year-round football

Select your personnel to match your offensive and defensive scheme. Every position matters – even your blocking tight end.

Realistic and accurate simulations of league games based on head-to-head matchups against other teams in your league.

This is essentially a new concept in fantasy football that attempts to simulate as closely as possible the management of a real NFL franchise over a multi-year period. Unlike regular fantasy football, every position on the offense and defense contributes to your success or failure. On special teams, the punter, kicker, and kick returners matter.

In Sandbox Football you will build a team – an entire 53-man football team – via an initial draft, and will maintain it year after year in annual rookie drafts, trading periods, and free agency. You compete against teams in your league. In the first year of the game, before the start of the NFL season, you will build your roster by drafting veterans and rookies through separate drafts, and through trades with other teams in the league. Your roster is frozen at the beginning of the NFL season. During the real regular NFL season, you can focus on your traditional fantasy games and perhaps keep on eye on your Sandbox roster as our statistical models build the data on player performances. At the end of the regular NFL season, the Sandbox season begins. There will be 16 games in the season. In real time, the season will run about 8 weeks (2 alternate reality games per week).

Game outcomes will be simulated based on the performance of individual players during the just-completed NFL regular season. The simulations, developed by a PhD statistical expert, estimate how individual players will perform in the context of your alternate reality team competing head-to-head against other teams in the league and with the specific team that you have built. The simulations will consider the offensive and defensive schemes that you select. So you can build your roster to support a power running game or a high-flying passing attack. You can run a 3-4 or 4-3 base defense. You can run nickel formations or four-wide receiver sets. You can rotate your DL to keep them fresh.

The game is more about building a team than playing video games. So this isn't Madden, but you will have the ability to tweak your game plan to take the best advantage of your roster and the weaknesses of your opponent. Injuries are a factor in the game. If a player is unavailable during weeks 3 through 6 in the NFL, he is also unavailable during the same weeks in the alternate reality season. So roster depth matters. The game simulations are based on the most advanced statistics and the latest research regarding what matters in winning an NFL game. But, the outcomes of the games have a random component, just like real NFL games.

The calendar for the alternate reality league year will look something like this:
• Jan to Mid March: Alternate Reality regular season and playoffs.
• Mid-March to the beginning of NFL season: Roster building through trades, veteran draft (first year), free agent drafts (2nd year and beyond), and rookie draft.
• Beginning of NFL season to end of regular NFL season: Alternate reality league is dormant, but the NFL players are generating their performance stats for the up-coming AR league.
• Rinse and repeat.

Copyright Sandbox Simulations, all rights reserved.

We're still finalizing the cost structure, but this won't be an expensive game to play at all. It might range from a few bucks a year to $50 per year, depending on a few factors.

Year 1 will require a couple of days of drafting with rather high intensity, but we've got it set up where you can put your draft list together and do customized and automated drafting if you like.

So...go! Now! Time to get ready for the draft!

Note that we are still in beta testing, so things could change if we find problems in the system.

How Free Agency Works:

Free Agency will begin before the 2012 season after the rookie draft.

Our process is as follows for the 2012 season. In 2013 and beyond there will be minor changes as noted later.

1. We will unveil the list of available free agents so you can check out the talent pool.

2. If you look in "Standings", you will see that you have a salary account value of $1,300. You will use this to sign your veterans to contracts, sign your rookies to contracts, and (in a competitive bidding process) sign free agents to contracts.

The cost of a contract is as follows for players already on your roster (both veterans and rookies).

$0 - 1 season contract
$10 - 2 season contract
$22 - 3 season contract
$37 - 4 season contract
$55 - 5 season contract
$76 - 6 season contract
$100 - 7 season contract

You will sign your existing players to contracts using an interface that we will unveil shortly. If your 53-man roster is set you can spend your $1,300 on your current roster. However, it may be worthwhile to hold some money back so you can compete for free agents.

3. The free agency period begins.

Bidding for free agents will be open and competitive. As players come available, teams will be allowed to sign them if they are the high bidder. The contract length is automatically calculated by rounding down the bid to the chart below.

Contract Length (Seasons) Salary Points Bid
1 0 to 9
2 10 to 21
3 22 to 36
4 37 to 54
5 55 to 75
6 76 to 99
7 100 or more

For example, if you submit the winning bid for a player at a price of 25 salary points, that player becomes yours under a 3-year contract. If you submit a bid for 35 points and win, it’s also a 3-year contract. If you submit a bid for 38 points, it’s a 4-year contract. If you submit a bid for 120 points, it’s a 7-year contract.

For the 2012 free agency period, we will enforce the 53-man rule. You will need to cut down to 53 players before the free agency period starts, and if you sign a player to go above 53, you will need to cut a player to stay within the roster limit. NOTE: DON'T CUT YET UNLESS YOU WANT TO. WE'RE STILL FINALIZING THE SYSTEM AND WANT TO BE SURE THAT THIS RULE WORKS IN 2012.

4. Ending Bidding and Ending Free Agency.

Bids on an individual player will begin once the first player places a bid. For the 2012 season that bid must be $1 or more. Bidding ends when the existing high bid had not been raised for 72 hours. At that point, the high-bid team is awarded the player under the contract terms described in Step 3.

The free agency period in 2012 will end once there have been no bids on any players for 72 hours.

5. Unused Salary Points

If you do not use all of your salary points in a given year, they will roll over from year to year. This is experimental and we'll have to see how it works. If it doesn't work, they'll expire each year, or maybe a portion of the points can roll over. Right now, assume they all roll over.

6. Salary Points and Roster Management

In the Sandbox system, salary points and the salary cap are used only for acquiring players. You will never have to track the number of salary points “on your roster” and you will never have to cut a player for salary cap reasons.

Additionally, you are not obligated to keep a player for the full length of his contract. You can cut him or trade him at any time. However, recognize that it’s a waste of salary points to cut or trade a player before the end of his contract. But it doesn't hamstring you going forward - it's just past money that you wasted.

7. Free Agency and Contract Length - Retaining Your Current Players

When a player reaches the end of their contract, they go back into the free agency pool and teams will bid for their services. You are eligible to bid on them to get them back, just like you can bid on any free agents.

There is one exception to the rule of free agents going into the free agency pool, as follows:

• At the end of the bidding process, you have the opportunity to re-sign your own players by outbidding the high bidder. Your bid must be the minimum points to increase their contract period by a year over the high bid. (Example: your player goes to free agency, and another team bids 50 points for him, which equates to a 4-year contract. You can keep the player by paying 55 points for him, which is the minimum amount for a 5-year contract.) If the high bidder offered a contract of 100 points or more (7-years), you can keep the player by bidding 10% more points than the high bid.

8. Free Agency and Trades

If you trade for a player, their contract length is a consideration. Trading for a player with 6 years left on his contract will give you his services for that amount of time (unless you cut him or trade him, or he retires). Trading for a player with 1 year left on his contract means that he’ll go back into the free agency pool at the end of the season. (Of course, you can still retain him via Step 7.)

9. Future Years

In future years, the process will be identical to that shown above, with the following exceptions.

a. Because you will have a lot of veteran players under contract, you won't need $1,300. You'll get a new annual allotment of signing dollars. We're still working on the exact amount, but it looks like it'll be between $500 and $600.

b. In the 2012 season, we will introduce all free agents at once to catch up. In the 2013 season and beyond, the free agency period will occur during the actual NFL season. We will sprinkle the free agents in one division at a time over the course of the season. (The divisions may be randomly selected or we may release a calendar. It doesn't matter that much.) This system should be interesting because some free agents will come available early in the season when you don't know their performance for the year - greater risk, greater reward - while other free agents will come available later in the season when you know what their performance will be, but so does everyone else.

c. In the 2013 season and beyond, you will be able to retain more than 53 players through the rookie draft and the main free agency period. You will then have a cutdown period to get to 53 and we will have a final free agency period where you can sign any players who have been cut. In that final period you will have to enforce a 53-man roster, so if you sign a player you have to cut one.

10. When you think about the schedule in 2013 and beyond, it will go like this:

a. Sandbox season goes from February through April.
b. Rookie draft in May. No 53-man limit.
c. Free agency from (likely) September through December, with free agents sprinkled in throughout that period.
d. January. Roster cuts to 53.
e. Late January. Final free agency period to flesh out rosters and sign players cut in Step d.
f. New Sandbox season begins.

allen_kcCard · 05-15-2013, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dog

I think I have figured out how to improve both of my teams. I just need to figure out how to trade some of my WRs and OLBs from the Overland Park Chiefs in L1 for some of my offensive linemen and defensive backs from the Pomona Platypi in L2.

You need an intermediary. Start with League 1 and send all of your WRs and OLBs to my team and I'll take care of the rest of the red-tape.

**Rain Man** · 05-15-2013, 05:58 PM

As a reminder to everybody, get your draft boards ready. The draft starts on Friday at noon CST.

**cdcox** · 05-15-2013, 08:53 PM

A couple more details about the draft.

1. It is worth reading Help->Draft. Seriously go read it now.

2. I don't remember the exact start-stop times but the people who go on the clock after a certain time don't have their clock expire until morning. Of course auto pick can keep things moving while you're asleep. All other aspects of the site are operational.

3. I'm going to turn on the email notification to let you know when you are on the clock. If you want to turn it off you can do so in Account Management -> email notification.

4. Always refresh the draft page and do one final check of your draft order before checking the autopick button.

mrroandrro · 05-16-2013, 03:29 AM

A few questions just so I can clear some things up.
1: If a player on my roster did not play in 1 game the whole 2012 season, he is basically worthless correct? Better to drop that player?
2: If the daft autoselect is on, does it autopick by perceived need or best available?
3: How do we obtain free agents? Is there a waiver wire? Where can I find a list of available free agents?

DJ's left nut · 05-16-2013, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdcox

A couple more details about the draft.

1. It is worth reading Help->Draft. Seriously go read it now.

2. I don't remember the exact start-stop times but the people who go on the clock after a certain time don't have their clock expire until morning. Of course auto pick can keep things moving while you're asleep. All other aspects of the site are operational.

3. I'm going to turn on the email notification to let you know when you are on the clock. If you want to turn it off you can do so in Account Management -> email notification.

4. Always refresh the draft page and do one final check of your draft order before checking the autopick button.

So UDFA's are not draft eligible? Seems a little odd - shouldn't all rookies be in the draft pool?

patteeu · 05-16-2013, 11:05 AM

If it wasn't endearing enough for my starting guard, Evan Mathis, to be rated #1 among guards by PFF (by a huge margin), he goes above and beyond the call of duty to win my heart here:

**Rain Man** · 05-16-2013, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

So UDFA's are not draft eligible? Seems a little odd - shouldn't all rookies be in the draft pool?

The 2012 draft is slightly different since it's retroactive, but it should contain any 2012 rookies who stuck on a roster and any who were drafted, regardless of whether they stuck on a roster.

**Rain Man** · 05-16-2013, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrroandrro

A few questions just so I can clear some things up.
1: If a player on my roster did not play in 1 game the whole 2012 season, he is basically worthless correct? Better to drop that player?

In your scenario he is worthless in 2012, and it's your decision on whether to drop him or whether you think he's worth a roster spot because he might play in 2013.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrroandrro

2: If the daft autoselect is on, does it autopick by perceived need or best available?

It drafts the top player on your draft board. The draft autoselect does not pick who to draft, so you have to move names from the list on the left to the draft board in the middle. When they're in the middle, you can drag them up or down to get them in your preferred order.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrroandrro

3: How do we obtain free agents? Is there a waiver wire? Where can I find a list of available free agents?

We're going to have a bidding process for free agents. We haven't compiled the list yet, but it's anyone who played in 2012 who is not on a roster. (I guess that's the definition of a free agent, isn't it?)

**cdcox** · 05-16-2013, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

The 2012 draft is slightly different since it's retroactive, but it should contain any 2012 rookies who stuck on a roster and any who were drafted, regardless of whether they stuck on a roster.

Actually, I believe we agreed to only include rookies that were drafted in rounds 1-7 to maintain consistency with future rookie drafts. Normally our pool of draftable rookies will only be those drafted by NFL teams. UDFA will be available in free agent pools.

**Rain Man** · 05-16-2013, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdcox

Actually, I believe we agreed to only include rookies that were drafted in rounds 1-7 to maintain consistency with future rookie drafts. Normally our pool of draftable rookies will only be those drafted by NFL teams. UDFA will be available in free agent pools.

Oh. Okay. I express my sincere apologies for my misleading information.

Odd question since it's important this year. Does Josh Gordon (supplemental draft) go into the drafted rookies or the UDFA rookies?

**cdcox** · 05-16-2013, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

In your scenario he is worthless in 2012, and it's your decision on whether to drop him or whether you think he's worth a roster spot because he might play in 2013.

A slight refinement is necessary here. If the player is injured all of 2012, this answer is correct. However, a second string G or QB that never sees the field, will play slightly better than a street free agent. The assumption is that the if someone makes an NFL roster as a second stringer their ability is greater than that of a street free agent. So that might be an additional reason to keep a player who did not play in 2012.

**cdcox** · 05-16-2013, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Oh. Okay. I express my sincere apologies for my misleading information.

Odd question since it's important this year. Does Josh Gordon (supplemental draft) go into the drafted rookies or the UDFA rookies?

Seems like it would make sense to put him in the pool of draftable rookies. I'll do that tonight.

Hammock Parties · 05-16-2013, 09:07 PM

Just going to go over my roster real quick.

Green - set
Blue - could be better, but solid group
Brown - needs improvement
Red - I'm ****ed

OFFENSE

QB - Tom Brady- set here, but may look to take a guy in the draft for the future. Dumped Boller.

RB - Reggie Bush, Ahmad Bradshaw - both had good seasons in 2012 so I'm excited about what they can do. Released Ricky Williams.

FB - Owen Marecic - This guy didn't play much at all last year, and probably needs replaced. I'll keep him around just in case I feel like not playing with a fullback this year.

WR - Torrey Smith, Roddy White, Kenny Britt, Santonio Holmes, Brandon Banks, Anthony Armstrong - bad season for Santonio, but the other three should give me a fairly solid group. It'll be nice to see Britt playing this year. The other two guys are scrubs but I'll keep them around for kick returns and depth.

TE - Delanie Walker - I'm in bad shape here and I released Kellen Winslow, who currently isn't even on an NFL team. Definitely need to grab someone in the draft.

LT - Donald Penn, J'Marcus Webb, Jason Peters - Penn solidifies this position. Webb is a decent backup who may end up playing RT for me if I can't find one. I'll keep Peters around to see if he recovers this season.

LG - Evan Mathis - Mathis was the top G in football last season.[/B]

C - Lyle Sendlein, Brad Meester - Sendlein was injury prone and had a poor season. Brad Meester started every game and was god awful. I'm up shit creek here, give me a paddle that can snap the ball.

RG - Josh Sitton - It's nice to have Sitton back for another All-Pro level season.

RT - Jeremy Bridges, Brandon Keith - Kareem McKenzie's broke dick has been released. Bridges and Keith didn't play in 2012 so I'm ****ed. I need a RT. Perhaps I could flip Zane Beadles for one? Anyone?

Analysis: I'm in good shape apart from C and RT.

DEFENSE

DE - Charlies Johnson, Julius Peppers, Andre Carter, Sam Acho - I'm good here. Prepare for another year of tons of pressure from my defense, sandbox.

DT - Barry Cofield, Antonio Garay, Antonio Dixon - Cofield had a strong season, but Garay only gives me half a year and Dixon just 3 games. I'll need to add a body.

MLB - D'Qwell Jackson, EJ Henderson - Jackson was pretty bad and Henderson didn't play. I'll keep Henderson around just in case he signs with someone, but this looks bad.

OLB - Michael Boley, Thomas Davis, Dontay Moch - Fine here with my starters, and glad to see Davis back on his feet after missing almost all of last season. Need depth. Gonna keep Moch around for at least one more year as he's young.

CB - Devin McCourty, Josh Wilson, Captain Munnerlyn, DJ Moore, Michael Huff - Sean Smith is gone forever, hahaha! With the trade for Devin McCourty, I feel much better about this group.

FS - Dwight Lowery, Ronde Barber - I'm set here, as both players had good seasons. Please note that Barber switched to safety for his 2012 season, so please make that change in the database.

SS - Quinten Mikell, Husain Abdullah - Mikell had a huge bounce back year in 2012 and played all 16 games, so I'm happy with that. I'll keep Abdullah on the roster in case he does well in 2013. He didn't play in 2012.

Analysis: I really need a decent starter at MLB and another DT.

Team needs: C, RT, MLB, DT, K

Ideally I can flip a high pick for a C before the draft. I can get a kicker in free agency.

**Rain Man** · 05-16-2013, 10:07 PM

Following the same code, here are the Duluth Pillagers.

QB - Phillip Rivers, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bruce Gradkowski

I was better off when Rivers was good and Fitzpatrick was promising, but whatever. It's not a terrible roster group. Anyone want Fitzpatrick as a one-year starter?

HB - Frank Gore, Leon Washington, Rashard Mendenhall, Tim Hightower, Maurice Morris

Sure, I gave up my 1st round pick for a 29 year-old running back, but this is my year, and I turned a weakness into a strength. Gore will shoulder the load and Washington will be around on third down.

FB - Jerome Felton, Spencer Larsen

Felton was a pro bowler this year. Good shape.

Randall Cobb, Desean Jackson, Hakeem Nicks, Harry Douglas, Eddie Royal

Jackson and Nicks had off years, but lo and behold, a new star has arisen from our ranks.

TE - Greg Olsen, Rob Housler

They're not the biggest stars, but they will actually do quite nicely.

LT - Jordan Gross

He's all I need.

G - Alex Boone, Stephen Peterman, Jason Pinkson, Vince Manuwai

Two strong starters, and Pinkston is there for depth.

C - Ryan Kalil, Kyle Cook

Now, this is a problem. These guys were supposed to be good, and they both missed much of the season. I need help here.

RT - Gosder Cherilus, Jeremy Trueblood, Ryan Harris, Lydon Murtha

Picked up Cherilus in a trade to strengthen this spot. I'm happy.

K - Nick Folk

Should do fine.

P - Brian Moorman

Should do fine.

FS - Chris Prosinski, Jim Leonhard, Reggie Smith

Need help here bad.

SS - William Moore, Bob Sanders

Moore is fine. Sanders is fictional.

CB - Corey Webster, Javier Arenas, Rashean Mathis, Andre Goodman

Um, little help? Webster is solid at one corner, but this once-strong unit fell apart this year.

OLB - Shaun Phillips, Jameel McClain

No depth, but my starters are fine. I wouldn't mind upgrading McClain and Phillips is on his way down.

[COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]MLB - Demeco Ryans, Bruce Carter, Pat Angerer
[/COLOR]
I like my depth and hope Carter can take the job. Willing to trade Ryans for the right price.

DE - Elvis Dumervil, Justin Tuck, Adrian Clayborn, Da'Quan Bowers, Daryl Tapp, Dave Tollefson, Eric Moore.

In the long run, I really like this group. In the short run, they were savaged by injuries so much that I had to trade for Tuck to plug the dyke. I'm happy, though.

DT - Kevin Williams, Kyle Williams, Corey Williams, Peria Jerry, Terrell McClain

I like my version of the Williams Wall.

ChiefAshhole20 · 05-16-2013, 11:31 PM

**** it, why not.
High Point Knob Hills:

QB: Flacco, Daniel, Dixon, Brunnel
Flacco should be able to take advantage of the weapons this year
HB: Thomas, Goodson, Torain, Graham
I forsee alot of screens in my future
FB: Peyton Hillis
The only way this bitch stays on my roster
TE: Clark, Scheffler
I plan on upgrading this position in the draft
WR: Wayne, Maclin, Moore, Baldwin, Smith
Solid corp that I think Flacco can take advantage of.
OT: Staley, Clabo, Clary, Carpenter
Solid
OG: Iupati, Kemoeatu, Gibson, Green, Hangartner
I'll be fine for now
OC: Pouncey
Need to get one in the later rounds to develop
DE: Clemons, Smith, Starks, Martin, Wooton
I can live with this for now
DT: Ratliff, Okoye, Casey
Mehhhhhhhhhh
OLB-Williams, Taylor, Studebaker, Anderson, Watson, Diles
Ughhhhhh
ILB-Willis, Woodyard,Hayes
I think I'll be fine here for now
CB- Samuel, Porter, Westbrook, M. Lewis, Powers, Lewis
I plan on drafting another one pretty high
SS: Sean Jones
Draft
FS:Jenkins, Elam, Jarrett, Grimm
I don't even know what to think here...

08-08-2011, 02:01 PM
Rain Man Seize life. Be an ermine. Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $1458491 VARSITY	Your Chance To Participate In A New Football Phenomenon (Sandbox Simulations) I apologize if the mods think this is soliciting, and I guess it is, but at the same time it's beta testing a new product developed by long-time planeteers, and it's free. cdcox and I have been developing a new football game for the thoughtful fan, where players build franchises and compete against each other. A description is below. If you're interested, we're offering the game for free in Year 1 to Chiefsplanet members, with the goal of both giving the system a dry run and also hooking you like Phillip Morris. You can go to www.sandboxsimulations.com to sign up, and use the access code 6Lanier3. Here's the overview: Build and manage a full 53-player roster over multiple seasons, as an offseason activity to give you year-round football Select your personnel to match your offensive and defensive scheme. Every position matters – even your blocking tight end. Realistic and accurate simulations of league games based on head-to-head matchups against other teams in your league. This is essentially a new concept in fantasy football that attempts to simulate as closely as possible the management of a real NFL franchise over a multi-year period. Unlike regular fantasy football, every position on the offense and defense contributes to your success or failure. On special teams, the punter, kicker, and kick returners matter. In Sandbox Football you will build a team – an entire 53-man football team – via an initial draft, and will maintain it year after year in annual rookie drafts, trading periods, and free agency. You compete against teams in your league. In the first year of the game, before the start of the NFL season, you will build your roster by drafting veterans and rookies through separate drafts, and through trades with other teams in the league. Your roster is frozen at the beginning of the NFL season. During the real regular NFL season, you can focus on your traditional fantasy games and perhaps keep on eye on your Sandbox roster as our statistical models build the data on player performances. At the end of the regular NFL season, the Sandbox season begins. There will be 16 games in the season. In real time, the season will run about 8 weeks (2 alternate reality games per week). Game outcomes will be simulated based on the performance of individual players during the just-completed NFL regular season. The simulations, developed by a PhD statistical expert, estimate how individual players will perform in the context of your alternate reality team competing head-to-head against other teams in the league and with the specific team that you have built. The simulations will consider the offensive and defensive schemes that you select. So you can build your roster to support a power running game or a high-flying passing attack. You can run a 3-4 or 4-3 base defense. You can run nickel formations or four-wide receiver sets. You can rotate your DL to keep them fresh. The game is more about building a team than playing video games. So this isn't Madden, but you will have the ability to tweak your game plan to take the best advantage of your roster and the weaknesses of your opponent. Injuries are a factor in the game. If a player is unavailable during weeks 3 through 6 in the NFL, he is also unavailable during the same weeks in the alternate reality season. So roster depth matters. The game simulations are based on the most advanced statistics and the latest research regarding what matters in winning an NFL game. But, the outcomes of the games have a random component, just like real NFL games. The calendar for the alternate reality league year will look something like this: • Jan to Mid March: Alternate Reality regular season and playoffs. • Mid-March to the beginning of NFL season: Roster building through trades, veteran draft (first year), free agent drafts (2nd year and beyond), and rookie draft. • Beginning of NFL season to end of regular NFL season: Alternate reality league is dormant, but the NFL players are generating their performance stats for the up-coming AR league. • Rinse and repeat. Copyright Sandbox Simulations, all rights reserved. We're still finalizing the cost structure, but this won't be an expensive game to play at all. It might range from a few bucks a year to $50 per year, depending on a few factors. Year 1 will require a couple of days of drafting with rather high intensity, but we've got it set up where you can put your draft list together and do customized and automated drafting if you like. So...go! Now! Time to get ready for the draft! Note that we are still in beta testing, so things could change if we find problems in the system. How Free Agency Works: Free Agency will begin before the 2012 season after the rookie draft. Our process is as follows for the 2012 season. In 2013 and beyond there will be minor changes as noted later. 1. We will unveil the list of available free agents so you can check out the talent pool. 2. If you look in "Standings", you will see that you have a salary account value of $1,300. You will use this to sign your veterans to contracts, sign your rookies to contracts, and (in a competitive bidding process) sign free agents to contracts. The cost of a contract is as follows for players already on your roster (both veterans and rookies). $0 - 1 season contract $10 - 2 season contract $22 - 3 season contract $37 - 4 season contract $55 - 5 season contract $76 - 6 season contract $100 - 7 season contract You will sign your existing players to contracts using an interface that we will unveil shortly. If your 53-man roster is set you can spend your $1,300 on your current roster. However, it may be worthwhile to hold some money back so you can compete for free agents. 3. The free agency period begins. Bidding for free agents will be open and competitive. As players come available, teams will be allowed to sign them if they are the high bidder. The contract length is automatically calculated by rounding down the bid to the chart below. Contract Length (Seasons) Salary Points Bid 1 0 to 9 2 10 to 21 3 22 to 36 4 37 to 54 5 55 to 75 6 76 to 99 7 100 or more For example, if you submit the winning bid for a player at a price of 25 salary points, that player becomes yours under a 3-year contract. If you submit a bid for 35 points and win, it’s also a 3-year contract. If you submit a bid for 38 points, it’s a 4-year contract. If you submit a bid for 120 points, it’s a 7-year contract. For the 2012 free agency period, we will enforce the 53-man rule. You will need to cut down to 53 players before the free agency period starts, and if you sign a player to go above 53, you will need to cut a player to stay within the roster limit. NOTE: DON'T CUT YET UNLESS YOU WANT TO. WE'RE STILL FINALIZING THE SYSTEM AND WANT TO BE SURE THAT THIS RULE WORKS IN 2012. 4. Ending Bidding and Ending Free Agency. Bids on an individual player will begin once the first player places a bid. For the 2012 season that bid must be $1 or more. Bidding ends when the existing high bid had not been raised for 72 hours. At that point, the high-bid team is awarded the player under the contract terms described in Step 3. The free agency period in 2012 will end once there have been no bids on any players for 72 hours. 5. Unused Salary Points If you do not use all of your salary points in a given year, they will roll over from year to year. This is experimental and we'll have to see how it works. If it doesn't work, they'll expire each year, or maybe a portion of the points can roll over. Right now, assume they all roll over. 6. Salary Points and Roster Management In the Sandbox system, salary points and the salary cap are used only for acquiring players. You will never have to track the number of salary points “on your roster” and you will never have to cut a player for salary cap reasons. Additionally, you are not obligated to keep a player for the full length of his contract. You can cut him or trade him at any time. However, recognize that it’s a waste of salary points to cut or trade a player before the end of his contract. But it doesn't hamstring you going forward - it's just past money that you wasted. 7. Free Agency and Contract Length - Retaining Your Current Players When a player reaches the end of their contract, they go back into the free agency pool and teams will bid for their services. You are eligible to bid on them to get them back, just like you can bid on any free agents. There is one exception to the rule of free agents going into the free agency pool, as follows: • At the end of the bidding process, you have the opportunity to re-sign your own players by outbidding the high bidder. Your bid must be the minimum points to increase their contract period by a year over the high bid. (Example: your player goes to free agency, and another team bids 50 points for him, which equates to a 4-year contract. You can keep the player by paying 55 points for him, which is the minimum amount for a 5-year contract.) If the high bidder offered a contract of 100 points or more (7-years), you can keep the player by bidding 10% more points than the high bid. 8. Free Agency and Trades If you trade for a player, their contract length is a consideration. Trading for a player with 6 years left on his contract will give you his services for that amount of time (unless you cut him or trade him, or he retires). Trading for a player with 1 year left on his contract means that he’ll go back into the free agency pool at the end of the season. (Of course, you can still retain him via Step 7.) 9. Future Years In future years, the process will be identical to that shown above, with the following exceptions. a. Because you will have a lot of veteran players under contract, you won't need $1,300. You'll get a new annual allotment of signing dollars. We're still working on the exact amount, but it looks like it'll be between $500 and $600. b. In the 2012 season, we will introduce all free agents at once to catch up. In the 2013 season and beyond, the free agency period will occur during the actual NFL season. We will sprinkle the free agents in one division at a time over the course of the season. (The divisions may be randomly selected or we may release a calendar. It doesn't matter that much.) This system should be interesting because some free agents will come available early in the season when you don't know their performance for the year - greater risk, greater reward - while other free agents will come available later in the season when you know what their performance will be, but so does everyone else. c. In the 2013 season and beyond, you will be able to retain more than 53 players through the rookie draft and the main free agency period. You will then have a cutdown period to get to 53 and we will have a final free agency period where you can sign any players who have been cut. In that final period you will have to enforce a 53-man roster, so if you sign a player you have to cut one. 10. When you think about the schedule in 2013 and beyond, it will go like this: a. Sandbox season goes from February through April. b. Rookie draft in May. No 53-man limit. c. Free agency from (likely) September through December, with free agents sprinkled in throughout that period. d. January. Roster cuts to 53. e. Late January. Final free agency period to flesh out rosters and sign players cut in Step d. f. New Sandbox season begins. Last edited by Rain Man; 05-27-2013 at 09:15 AM..
Posts: 143,131

05-15-2013, 05:58 PM	#3032
Rain Man Seize life. Be an ermine. Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $1458491 VARSITY	As a reminder to everybody, get your draft boards ready. The draft starts on Friday at noon CST. __________________ Active fan of the greatest team in NFL history.
Posts: 143,131

05-15-2013, 08:53 PM	#3033
cdcox www.nfl-forecast.com Join Date: Sep 2000 Casino cash: $1061769	A couple more details about the draft. 1. It is worth reading Help->Draft. Seriously go read it now. 2. I don't remember the exact start-stop times but the people who go on the clock after a certain time don't have their clock expire until morning. Of course auto pick can keep things moving while you're asleep. All other aspects of the site are operational. 3. I'm going to turn on the email notification to let you know when you are on the clock. If you want to turn it off you can do so in Account Management -> email notification. 4. Always refresh the draft page and do one final check of your draft order before checking the autopick button.
Posts: 45,717

05-16-2013, 03:29 AM	#3034
mrroandrro Starter Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Haughton, LA Casino cash: $10011424	A few questions just so I can clear some things up. 1: If a player on my roster did not play in 1 game the whole 2012 season, he is basically worthless correct? Better to drop that player? 2: If the daft autoselect is on, does it autopick by perceived need or best available? 3: How do we obtain free agents? Is there a waiver wire? Where can I find a list of available free agents?
Posts: 324

05-16-2013, 11:05 AM	#3036
patteeu The 23rd Pillar Join Date: Sep 2002 Casino cash: $10019237	If it wasn't endearing enough for my starting guard, Evan Mathis, to be rated #1 among guards by PFF (by a huge margin), he goes above and beyond the call of duty to win my heart here: __________________ “Boy, you all want power. God, I hope you never get it.” - Lindsay Graham
Posts: 110,871

05-16-2013, 09:07 PM	#3043
Hammock Parties I'll be back. Join Date: Nov 2002 Casino cash: $2850478	Just going to go over my roster real quick. Green - set Blue - could be better, but solid group Brown - needs improvement Red - I'm **ed OFFENSE QB - Tom Brady- set here, but may look to take a guy in the draft for the future. Dumped Boller. RB - Reggie Bush, Ahmad Bradshaw - both had good seasons in 2012 so I'm excited about what they can do. Released Ricky Williams. FB - Owen Marecic - This guy didn't play much at all last year, and probably needs replaced. I'll keep him around just in case I feel like not playing with a fullback this year. WR - Torrey Smith, Roddy White, Kenny Britt, Santonio Holmes, Brandon Banks, Anthony Armstrong - bad season for Santonio, but the other three should give me a fairly solid group. It'll be nice to see Britt playing this year. The other two guys are scrubs but I'll keep them around for kick returns and depth. TE - Delanie Walker - I'm in bad shape here and I released Kellen Winslow, who currently isn't even on an NFL team. Definitely need to grab someone in the draft. LT - Donald Penn, J'Marcus Webb, Jason Peters - Penn solidifies this position. Webb is a decent backup who may end up playing RT for me if I can't find one. I'll keep Peters around to see if he recovers this season. LG - Evan Mathis - Mathis was the top G in football last season.[/B] C - Lyle Sendlein, Brad Meester - Sendlein was injury prone and had a poor season. Brad Meester started every game and was god awful. I'm up shit creek here, give me a paddle that can snap the ball. RG - Josh Sitton - It's nice to have Sitton back for another All-Pro level season. RT - Jeremy Bridges, Brandon Keith - Kareem McKenzie's broke dick has been released. Bridges and Keith didn't play in 2012 so I'm ed. I need a RT. Perhaps I could flip Zane Beadles for one? Anyone? Analysis: I'm in good shape apart from C and RT. DEFENSE DE - Charlies Johnson, Julius Peppers, Andre Carter, Sam Acho - I'm good here. Prepare for another year of tons of pressure from my defense, sandbox. DT - Barry Cofield, Antonio Garay, Antonio Dixon - Cofield had a strong season, but Garay only gives me half a year and Dixon just 3 games. I'll need to add a body. MLB - D'Qwell Jackson, EJ Henderson - Jackson was pretty bad and Henderson didn't play. I'll keep Henderson around just in case he signs with someone, but this looks bad. OLB - Michael Boley, Thomas Davis, Dontay Moch - Fine here with my starters, and glad to see Davis back on his feet after missing almost all of last season. Need depth. Gonna keep Moch around for at least one more year as he's young. CB - Devin McCourty, Josh Wilson, Captain Munnerlyn, DJ Moore, Michael Huff - Sean Smith is gone forever, hahaha! With the trade for Devin McCourty, I feel much better about this group. FS - Dwight Lowery, Ronde Barber - I'm set here, as both players had good seasons. Please note that Barber switched to safety for his 2012 season, so please make that change in the database. SS - Quinten Mikell, Husain Abdullah - Mikell had a huge bounce back year in 2012 and played all 16 games, so I'm happy with that. I'll keep Abdullah on the roster in case he does well in 2013. He didn't play in 2012. Analysis: I really need a decent starter at MLB and another DT.** Team needs: C, RT, MLB, DT, K Ideally I can flip a high pick for a C before the draft. I can get a kicker in free agency. __________________ Chiefs game films Last edited by Hammock Parties; 05-18-2013 at 07:41 AM..
Posts: 288,100

05-16-2013, 10:07 PM	#3044
Rain Man Seize life. Be an ermine. Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $1458491 VARSITY	Following the same code, here are the Duluth Pillagers. QB - Phillip Rivers, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bruce Gradkowski I was better off when Rivers was good and Fitzpatrick was promising, but whatever. It's not a terrible roster group. Anyone want Fitzpatrick as a one-year starter? HB - Frank Gore, Leon Washington, Rashard Mendenhall, Tim Hightower, Maurice Morris Sure, I gave up my 1st round pick for a 29 year-old running back, but this is my year, and I turned a weakness into a strength. Gore will shoulder the load and Washington will be around on third down. FB - Jerome Felton, Spencer Larsen Felton was a pro bowler this year. Good shape. Randall Cobb, Desean Jackson, Hakeem Nicks, Harry Douglas, Eddie Royal Jackson and Nicks had off years, but lo and behold, a new star has arisen from our ranks. TE - Greg Olsen, Rob Housler They're not the biggest stars, but they will actually do quite nicely. LT - Jordan Gross He's all I need. G - Alex Boone, Stephen Peterman, Jason Pinkson, Vince Manuwai Two strong starters, and Pinkston is there for depth. C - Ryan Kalil, Kyle Cook Now, this is a problem. These guys were supposed to be good, and they both missed much of the season. I need help here. RT - Gosder Cherilus, Jeremy Trueblood, Ryan Harris, Lydon Murtha Picked up Cherilus in a trade to strengthen this spot. I'm happy. K - Nick Folk Should do fine. P - Brian Moorman Should do fine. FS - Chris Prosinski, Jim Leonhard, Reggie Smith Need help here bad. SS - William Moore, Bob Sanders Moore is fine. Sanders is fictional. CB - Corey Webster, Javier Arenas, Rashean Mathis, Andre Goodman Um, little help? Webster is solid at one corner, but this once-strong unit fell apart this year. OLB - Shaun Phillips, Jameel McClain No depth, but my starters are fine. I wouldn't mind upgrading McClain and Phillips is on his way down. [COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]MLB - Demeco Ryans, Bruce Carter, Pat Angerer [/COLOR] I like my depth and hope Carter can take the job. Willing to trade Ryans for the right price. DE - Elvis Dumervil, Justin Tuck, Adrian Clayborn, Da'Quan Bowers, Daryl Tapp, Dave Tollefson, Eric Moore. In the long run, I really like this group. In the short run, they were savaged by injuries so much that I had to trade for Tuck to plug the dyke. I'm happy, though. DT - Kevin Williams, Kyle Williams, Corey Williams, Peria Jerry, Terrell McClain I like my version of the Williams Wall. __________________ Active fan of the greatest team in NFL history.
Posts: 143,131

05-16-2013, 11:31 PM	#3045
ChiefAshhole20 Starter Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Houston, TX Casino cash: $10005862	**** it, why not. High Point Knob Hills: QB: Flacco, Daniel, Dixon, Brunnel Flacco should be able to take advantage of the weapons this year HB: Thomas, Goodson, Torain, Graham I forsee alot of screens in my future FB: Peyton Hillis The only way this bitch stays on my roster TE: Clark, Scheffler I plan on upgrading this position in the draft WR: Wayne, Maclin, Moore, Baldwin, Smith Solid corp that I think Flacco can take advantage of. OT: Staley, Clabo, Clary, Carpenter Solid OG: Iupati, Kemoeatu, Gibson, Green, Hangartner I'll be fine for now OC: Pouncey Need to get one in the later rounds to develop DE: Clemons, Smith, Starks, Martin, Wooton I can live with this for now DT: Ratliff, Okoye, Casey Mehhhhhhhhhh OLB-Williams, Taylor, Studebaker, Anderson, Watson, Diles Ughhhhhh ILB-Willis, Woodyard,Hayes I think I'll be fine here for now CB- Samuel, Porter, Westbrook, M. Lewis, Powers, Lewis I plan on drafting another one pretty high SS: Sean Jones Draft FS:Jenkins, Elam, Jarrett, Grimm I don't even know what to think here...
Posts: 575