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

[Rain Man]

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!

[lostcause]

Originally Posted by Cassel's Reckoning

I had almost 400 yards against them in the reg. season finale.

They're not invincible.

Oh, he knows. Our hth in week 2 was 27-24.

[DJ's left nut]

Without Dez Bryant.

My team can score against him, they just have to actually do it.

I'm not pulling down my flag and heading home, Clearwater can absolutely win this whole thing. That said, Anchorage was the last team I wanted to play. I really like their defensive personnel and somehow Alex Smith has been a god all season.

[lostcause]

CD currently rolling the dungeon master dice over and over:
Fort Wayne 27 Independence 10... reroll, fell off the table
FW 21 IND 3... reroll, that was an accident
14-10 too close to the dungeon master screen
35-0 Blaine Gabbert is better than that, he threw for 2 tds in preseason tonight...
17-10 nah...
24-21...

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by lostcause

CD currently rolling the dungeon master dice over and over:
Fort Wayne 27 Independence 10... reroll, fell off the table
FW 21 IND 3... reroll, that was an accident
14-10 too close to the dungeon master screen
35-0 Blaine Gabbert is better than that, he threw for 2 tds in preseason tonight...
17-10 nah...
24-21...

-- Sim results are available to the public the instant they are complete.

And the sims are up.

Spoiler!

Independence is going to the Sandbox bowl!!!!

[lostcause]

I tweaked my secondary for this game - primarily safety play - trying to improve performance against Rodgers. I will let the stats alone stand for the success of this move.

[cdcox]

Clay, interesting result from league 2:

Spoiler!

Alex D. Smith bested Tom Brady, AGAIN.

[lostcause]

Originally Posted by cdcox

Clay, interesting result from league 2:

Spoiler!

Alex D. Smith bested Tom Brady, AGAIN.

Like saying rock beats scissors.

[lostcause]

Congratulations to Clearwater for dismantling my secondary and advancing to the first ever sandbox supersandbowl. Good luck against the DM!

[Branden Albert's Huge Balls]

Originally Posted by cdcox

Clay, interesting result from league 2:

Spoiler!

Alex D. Smith bested Tom Brady, AGAIN.

Engine needs an overhaul.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by lostcause

Congratulations to Clearwater for dismantling my secondary and advancing to the first ever sandbox supersandbowl. Good luck against the DM!

WOOHOO!

I let it all hang out with the gameplan. I figured I needed to get a quick lead to slow your running game and then attack like a sumbitch on defense to put Smith in situations that would give Rodgers the edge (Smith's efficiency doesn't work as well on 2nd and 15 as Rodgers aggressiveness does overall). I also started Cameron Jordan over Jaqua Parker to help my run defense and put a pass bias to my NT rotation to keep Pouha on the field during running downs (though Pouha had 2 sacks still).

I was hoping you wouldn't go to Nickle against a 2-TE set so I tried to incorporate more of those to keep your 3rd corner off the field and more of your softer LBs on the field while also giving me an extra pass catcher (and Dreissen was excellent). I also ramped up the 4-WR sets thinking that even 3 strong CBs can't cover 4 guys. My standard 3-WR set just wasn't going to work that well.

I brought Pollard in over Spievy hoping to slow your run a little more and really turned up the interior blitzes; I also brought my safety into the box on running downs. It doesn't look like either of those made that big a deal, but it also doesn't appear to have hurt.

Sandbox Bowl Bound!

[cdcox]

Nice game plan DJ. The simulation aspect of the game offers a relatively rich strategic experience, given the inability to interact during the simulation. Nice to see someone take full advantage of the strategic opportunities.

Looking forward to our match up.

[cdcox]

SB games are scheduled and rosters are available.

Super sims on Monday night.

[Rain Man]

Congrats to Independence and Clearwater in League 1, and Pompano and Oklahoma City in League 2.

The Corona-Pompano game was a real nailbiter.

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Congrats to Independence and Clearwater in League 1, and Pompano and Oklahoma City in League 2.

The Corona-Pompano game was a real nailbiter.

The Independence - Fort Wayne game was pretty exciting too.

Dwayne Bowe turned out to be the goat in that game (2 fumbles), but my defense came up strong with two sacks on what would have been their game winning drive.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by cdcox

The Independence - Fort Wayne game was pretty exciting too.

Dwayne Bowe turned out to be the goat in that game (2 fumbles), but my defense came up strong with two sacks on what would have been their game winning drive.

Yeah, it was looking bad for you for a while, but your pass rush was your strength, and it came through.