Soccer Fantasy League

[77topaz]

Hmm, maybe a SM league (game world) could be an interesting complement for the Fantasy Football etc. for these forums/community.

[Yoda]

I'd be up for trying anything, but I've played other sports sims, and while I enjoy them in their own way, I find them less compelling than the ones based on real game results.

[77topaz]

It does use real results, though not as directly as Fantasy sports, since the Soccer Wiki database is edited by users based on player's real performances.

Also, I'm not sure a Fantasy Football-like system would work well with association football at all, and association football is certainly known more worldwide than American football (it has a wider demographic in that sense).

[Yoda]

It does use real results, though not as directly as Fantasy sports, since the Soccer Wiki database is edited by users based on player's real performances.
Yes, I understand. :) But to be based on people's reaction to results is still very different than being based directly on those results. The latter is objective. Depending on exactly how this user editing/rating works, I would expect certain players' popularity to outstrip their raw performance, particularly older players who are past their prime but retain a lot of good will. That's what happens here with All-Star Games: players who were once great and are now merely average keep getting voted in.

[77topaz]

Theoretically, that could happen, though I can't think of any examples of that happening off the top of my head, and there's a bunch of examples to the contrary. It does seem to be the case that after any vote, an admin has to actually "enact" or deny the change, though I'm not completely sure because it doesn't seem to be explained anywhere on the Soccer Wiki.
There is one aspect that Soccer Manager uses that doesn't appear on the Soccer Wiki itself: transfer value, which I believe is computed based on rating, age and position, though which club (in the gameworld) the player is playing at also seems to make a difference in some situations.

[77topaz]

A "bump" in case Yoda et al missed the last post or it didn't show up due to all the posts being moved.

[honeykid]

I might be interested in this.

[gandalf26]

Would be up for this.

[Tacitus]

Not played Fantasy Football since the craze first started in the 90s - Young Boys Of Michael Jackson was one of the most common team names...

If I play I'll resurrect my old team name: Achtung Brian. ;D

[77topaz]

Not played Fantasy Football since the craze first started in the 90s - Young Boys Of Michael Jackson was one of the most common team names...

If I play I'll resurrect my old team name: Achtung Brian. ;D

Fantasy Football as in the American-football game? That's the other thread. :P

[Tacitus]

No, as in Football.

[77topaz]

In Soccer Manager, the team names are actually those of real clubs, but I guess you could make "Achtung Brian" your profile name or something, since profile names have "first name" and "last name" fields.
An actual Fantasy Sports equivalent for association football I've never heard of, and might not work very well.

[Tacitus]

Their popularity must have bombed in recent years then (understandable since the rise of deep computer sims) but Fantasy Football used to be extremely popular. Heck, there was even a TV show based on the format.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_66jd8OvOdw

[77topaz]

Yeah, the Fantasy format still seems to be popular with American sports (on these forums, even), but with association football, simulations seem a lot more common right now.

[honeykid]

I loved the original series on BBC2.

"Saint aaaaand Greavsie talk about the Endsleighy League as if its iiiimmmportant." That was my favourite lyric. :laugh:

[Tacitus]

Classic telly. ;)

I had mates who couldn't stand football who still loved the show.

[Powdered Water]

I'd be totally down for some kind of international fantasy football league. I know f*ck all about your teams, so I'd lean heavily on whatever ranking the system had and would be auto drafting of course, but then after I figure it out, I'd definitely be all over that mess. I can be ridiculously obsessive when it come to these things.

You know what would be really sweet? Some kind of fantasy league based on the World Cup. Or not. But yeah, I'm down.

[77topaz]

I'd be totally down for some kind of international fantasy football league. I know f*ck all about your teams, so I'd lean heavily on whatever ranking the system had and would be auto drafting of course, but then after I figure it out, I'd definitely be all over that mess. I can be ridiculously obsessive when it come to these things.

You know what would be really sweet? Some kind of fantasy league based on the World Cup. Or not. But yeah, I'm down.

Soccer Manager is not exactly a Fantasy Sports game; Yoda has described it as a "hybrid" between simulations and fantasy sports, which I find an interesting way to put it - the actual match results are determined by simulation, but all the players and clubs are real: they're taken from another site called the Soccer Wiki. The Soccer Wiki is where the players' ratings and attributes are voted on by users, so they "match" the real-life performance of the player. And there is in fact a World Cup competition in most Soccer Manager gameworlds.

[Tacitus]

Just out of interest, did anyone ever try Football Manager Online? The official Sports Interactive one.

I subscribed for a couple of months a few years ago. Fun initially but, like every other MMO I've played, soon became a drag.

[77topaz]

To found a (the) new league in Soccer Manager, one person needs to pay 15 USD or so to actually create it, if I remember correctly. However, unlike with Football Manager Online the actual joining and playing of other people is free.

[77topaz]

Now, a slight problem is that I myself most likely wouldn't be able to found a new league at the moment, because of currency/payment restrictions. However, I would of course be able to join since joining is completely free, and I'd be prepared to help anyone with founding a league (specifications etc.).

[honeykid]

This would probably be the best bet, if people want to do this.

http://fantasy.premierleague.com/?t=1

It's free and we can create our own league, although it'd be skewed, of course, because we're halfway through the season and all the values will be in flux.

[77topaz]

This would probably be the best bet, if people want to do this.

http://fantasy.premierleague.com/?t=1

It's free and we can create our own league, although it'd be skewed, of course, because we're halfway through the season and all the values will be in flux.

That uses a Fantasy Sports system, right? That seems unusual for an association football game. Also, it's limited to a single league, of course.
Indeed, starting a fantasy league midway through a real season would have strange effects. Games like Soccer Manager (probably Football Manager Online too, but I'm not counting that since it's exclusively pay-to-play as far as I can tell) would not have such a problem.

[honeykid]

That's kind of what I thought this was. I already spend a ridiculous amount of time on FM, so I'm out of this. Especially now it seems someone has to stump up some cash just so a few of us can play. Sorry. If someone wants to do a fantasy football for the start of next season (or a world cup one) I'd be up for that.

[the samoan lawyer]

That's kind of what I thought this was. I already spend a ridiculous amount of time on FM, so I'm out of this. Especially now it seems someone has to stump up some cash just so a few of us can play. Sorry. If someone wants to do a fantasy football for the start of next season (or a world cup one) I'd be up for that.

Good call on World Cup one, i'd be up for that.

[Tacitus]

Same here. A World Cup competition would be a bit more focussed. :up:

[77topaz]

That's kind of what I thought this was. I already spend a ridiculous amount of time on FM, so I'm out of this. Especially now it seems someone has to stump up some cash just so a few of us can play. Sorry. If someone wants to do a fantasy football for the start of next season (or a world cup one) I'd be up for that.

It is of course possible to just join an existing league, though that might give the same problems as joining the Fantasy Football mid-season. Then again, there is an option to specifically look for game worlds at the start of the season. And I'll try and see if there's any way around those payment-restriction-things.

[CaptainYorkshire]

Football manager is better than any fantasy league anyway...