NOFL: When do we want to start and how long should the maximum time be to advance?
 

I'm thinking the other league has it right with a start around 2 weeks after release to give us a chance to get to know our teams as well as for the slider makers to work things out and for us to vote on a slider set. However, I'm not opposed to starting earlier. My proposal is to start on Saturday the 26th if we go with a week long schedule or Sunday the 27th if we go with a 6 day schedule, as I know we have fairly good weekend availability on here. So, I'm looking for thoughts on start dates and whether we want to go with a 6 or 7 day (or some other total) maximum to get games played and recruiting done for that week?

I too like the idea of spending a couple of weeks to get used to the game and our teams. The weekend of the 26th works for me.

Agreed, weekend of the 26th works. I like the whole 6 day schedule...actually I could do even less but I know some people don't have such fogiving schedules with family and kids and such. If we finish up early then I'm assuming we'll just advance ahead of schedule.

Yes, if we all finish early, we will advance early with the 6 (or 7) day time limit being from that point. I'll be checking every day to see if everyone is done their weekly activities (assuming it doesn't advance automatically.) I like the 6 day limit as it is a good compromise between those who want a quicker and longer pace while guaranteeing at least 1 weekend day to those who primarily play on the weekend.

So, you can advance the week (even off-season activities) any time?

Yes, I can. If a user hasn't finished their games/recruiting by the time that we agree upon, I will advance anyway and their team will be under CPU guidance for that week.

I vote for 2 weeks as the minimum before we start. It's not unusual for it to take at least that long for a really good set of sliders to come out. Sure this thing is supposed to be playable out of the box, but it's EA.

6 days sounds good, wouldn't be opposed to 7 either.

DOLA - for the sake of argument say there is a significant/game-killing bug that is noticed after release? Would we wait for a patch? I'm not familiar with how soon EA releases their patches on 360 after game release, but I'm guessing it's not pretty.

Patches take a long time. I wouldn't think we'd want to wait.

A 7-day schedule might be easier for everyone to keep track of.

There is already talk on OS that a patch is being worked on. According to "reliable sources" it is supposed to fix the zone coverage to help stop the short passing game, as well as make the CPU throw long more, and improve the pass rush issues. It may also address the phantom jukes and kickoff coverage issues. No idea when it would arrive, but I'd say we shouldn't hold our breath and we'll just get the benefits whenever it arrives. We'll all be playing on a level field until that time.

I'm all for a 7 day schedule if the majority agrees. I definitely think it would be easier to remember.

Dola -

Just in case I'm not being clear enough and to have everyone on the same page. Short zones are broken/near broken in the game (linebackers drop too far back.) I highly recommend limiting the calling of them and sticking to primarily man coverage.

Edit: At least that is what some of the experts have reported on other sites.

Guys, I'm good with two weeks.

I apologize for not checking in, but it seems as if Lawton, OK is one of the slowest places to get things done.

AT&T was supposed to install our DSL last Saturday. We waited at the house all day and it didn't get done (along with our phone install). We called the cable company and they told me I could get wireless out where we are and they would send someone out today. AT&T came out on Tuesday to install our phone, but said that the modem for DSL would be shipped separately from UPS. We called AT&T and they said it should be coming sometime next week.

So, I'm trying to work two internet options here. Whichever comes first and is fastest I'll go with. The cable guy came out today and told me that he didn't know if we could get a connection out here and that he would be back Monday or Tuesday to see if we could. Why did he even come out???

Anyhow, we're internet-less with the exception of my work computer which is running off AT&T's wireless service. It's taken me about an hour to log on and get to this thread and post this message. My fingers are crossed, but it'll be next year before we get internet access at the rate things are going.

It took the DirecTV guy 6 hours to install two rooms. It took the alarm system guys 5 hours yesterday to hook up two glass breaking alarms. It took the AT&T phone lady 5 hours to hook up our phone. This place is literally killing me.

I will have internet one way or the other before our season begins, so don't give up my slot!

No worries about giving up your slot, Raiders Army. Thanks for letting us know what is happening.

I vote we make the advance time like Saturday night at midnight eastern (or something). That way people who have busy weeks will have Friday night and all-day Saturday to finish up the previous week's games & recruiting...and they will be able to play the following week's game on Sunday, another traditional day off in our society's job system.

Of course, I usually work Fridays & Saturdays, but I know I'm the exception :)

Just to make sure I'm understanding you, Kingneb. Let's say we advanced the Weds before a deadline because everyone is done everything and there is no reason to wait. Then, with your proposal, we'd wait up to 10 days for everyone to finish the next week? I'm not opposed to that, just wanted to make sure I understand it. I do like the idea of having a consistent deadline each week, but if we finish one week early and have just 1 straggler the next week, it could be a long 10 days hypothetically. Then again, not that much difference from 7 days.

Other people were saying that we want to be consistent in the day we advance to avoid any errors. Personally, I'd love to do 2 sims a week, but I know that's probably not possible with everyone's lives and families and whatnot.

I would be okay with any method that advances the speed of our sims. I think you'd have to do some sort of charter where we all agree to check this FOFC sub-forum at least twice per week. That way we could avoid confusion and always be very clear when our games are due.

I do agree that 10 days would be a long time to wait. I was just trying to go with the flow, or something :)

I'm not opposed to sending out PM's to remind the stragglers that the deadline is approaching if we just go with a consistent 7 days from the time that we last advanced. Also, I would hope that everyone would check this forum at least twice a week without putting it into any formal charter ;)

Either way is fine with me, I just want to keep good momentum while avoiding confusion.

I'm good with starting two weeks after the game comes out. As far as weekend availability goes, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are my busiest times at work.

HA's input:

i just want to say i want whatever results in the most games being played. if we all finish our games ahead of time we should do the most logical thing and proceed to the next week. if that is too much for people to keep on top of then they should consider maybe doing an online dynasty is not for them and play at their own pace solo. 2 weeks after the game comes out is when the league should start and the week should be advanced every 6 days.

I feel like Cringer is HA's agent, demanding the Yankees pay him $100 million. :)

I think the 2 week wait, 7 day time frame is good.

Ok, unless there are any good reasons to change this, I'm planning the Start date will be Saturday July 26th with a mandatory advance every Saturday at midnight. Any further thoughts on this?

I whole heartedly concur. I think the 26th is a good start date along with a week at a time.

I'm a little confused on one point, and would like to make sure I'm not assuming wrong.

As it stands, we plan to have a Saturday to Saturday timeframe to complete the week's tasks. I guess what I'm not clear on is what happens if we finish everything earlier than that. Say all of the games are played by Tuesday. So we just sit around until Sunday to continue, or do we advance, and the week window would now be Tuesday to Tuesday?

The latter. We'll advance as soon as all of the games are complete. Let's try and keep this moving so we can do more than 4 seasons before NCAA 2010 :)

Exactly. Going to go with the latter unless there are good objections to not do so. If the game doesn't advance automatically, I'll check it every night and advance it if everyone is done their weekly activities. I'll then post the new deadline in a scheduling thread. I'm also going to send out PM's approximately 3 days before a deadline to anyone who hasn't done their weekly activities, unless that person tells me they don't want/need the PM reminders.

Cool, thanks for the info. I figured that would be how it works, but I just wanted to make sure.

Thanks! The good news is that I have internet access right now. The bad news is that I'm in Dallas at a conference and won't get home until Thursday. Tomorrow AT&T is supposed to turn on our DSL.

A new post by the developer on OS has said that a patch for the roster editing issues will be out in 5-10 days, hopefully. He has also said that current rosters may corrupt dynasties or cause other problems. Therefore, I think we should delay the start of this dynasty only until this 1st patch is out and a "clean" roster is released. I'd hate to have corruptions in our online dynasty start appearing after months of playing a season or two.

Sounds good to me... I'd rather have solid rosters with no problems anyway.