FanGM

If there is going to be unlimited bids you might as well throw out the salary cap as well. If an owner has the ability to bid on 15 or 20 FA at once money dosen't seem like an issue. I like the 5 max per day because it prioritizes your needs for your roster plus there is some fiscal responsibility involved, do I spend it on player A or player B. NFL owners just don't throw money around they have priorities they have to set as well.

Fish wrote: It is disappointing that a phrase like "we will never ___" comes up in a thread specifically for discussing possible changes, really sets a good tone for discussions and exploration.

Thanks though. That does answer my earlier question as to whether the league has ever had unlimited bidding so for all we know it wouldn't ruin the league.

My point is that this particular topic is something that should be considered hard-wired to the game in a sense. It is so central to Troy's vision of the game that changing it could be paramount to eliminating the draft and being assigned a real team's picks every year.

It's just a waste of your time to be continuing to bring it up.

bpboguta1483 wrote:If there is going to be unlimited bids you might as well throw out the salary cap as well. If an owner has the ability to bid on 15 or 20 FA at once money dosen't seem like an issue. I like the 5 max per day because it prioritizes your needs for your roster plus there is some fiscal responsibility involved, do I spend it on player A or player B. NFL owners just don't throw money around they have priorities they have to set as well.

Why? Why does it have to be all (everything regulated) or nothing (no rules). The cap and roster limits are why we shouldn't need an arbitrary limit on the number of bids because the GM is already limited by the amount they can spend and the number of players they can sign. Granted it would work better if GMs couldn't go over their cap, but I think it would still be fine.

I think there is a case to be made that the current system may already be inflating top tier talent because it opens the door for lower level players (that may be plans B-E) to be signed below market while some teams are focused elsewhere leaving no choice but to continue bidding past the comfortable point.

Ben C. wrote:My point is that this particular topic is something that should be considered hard-wired to the game in a sense. It is so central to Troy's vision of the game that changing it could be paramount to eliminating the draft and being assigned a real team's picks every year.

It's just a waste of your time to be continuing to bring it up.

Why would unlimited FA bids eliminate the draft or change it in any way?

You are correct there doesn't seem to be much movement at least this year on the issue. Perhaps Madden FA has changed since I gave up console gaming, but that is kind of what I have always envisioned. Problem has always been having a site that can automate (weighing the bids and keeping track of the timeline) and regulate (cap and roster limits) which Troy has already built. I just feel like the framework is already in place to make FA more realistic.

"make FA more realistic"


There's nothing realistic about talking to more than 5 FA's in one day. Think logically. How long does it take to convince a player to sign? How many people do you think you can successfully woo in a 24 hour period? 5 might even be a little high. If a GM spread himself out, talking to 20, 25 FA in a day, he would sign 0 players. This isn't madden.

In RL? I'm always surprised when anyone signs after the first 24-hours of the off-season. The vast majority of players are going to want to talk to several teams and the top players are unlikely to be in a hurry.

No it isn't Madden, but the whole game engine is designed off its ratings so you don't really have an argument that there is no comparison.

I suggest every year, we put it to a vote. Just to end nonsense. Fish is fighting alone here so let's just put it on paper, where all the leagues stand on unlimited bids. I would be absolutely shocked if five people voted for it. Not to be rude, just want everyone to drop this topic.

It IS realistic though. A real team doesn't bring in unlimited free agents. They aren't bidding on a piece of property like you do on eBay. They are negotiating with real people who are trying to make a major life decision. 5 bids per day simulates that to a very good extent.

And my comment about the draft was to compare changing the number of bids to changing the draft. These are central parts of the game here that Troy has created and that will not and should not change. I'm not saying that changing bidding would change the draft; only that either change would be a major change to the core game.

Okay, wasn't sure where you were making the connection, thanks for clarifying.

Still disagree football GMs only make 5 phone calls per day, but that seems to be the consensus. Personally, I would want to gauge the market of every player I'm interested on, probably sit back a little to see if anything changes, then open negotiations with my plans A-C at EVERY position of need pulling and adjusting offers as things progress from there. If I only had 1 or 2 needs, probably would be more aggressive. However, is what it is...just don't be surprised if it comes up again. With any luck, our baseball league's interface will be fully functional by the off-season and we can open things up.

Don't think of it as 5 phone calls per day but 5 full on visits with a workout and then internal discussions to put together a contract offer.

A simple phone call to a player in real life is like when you look at a players page here to see their current highest bid.

I really dislike the majority of the winter league meetings in the baseball leagues every single year where the same crap is suggested every year, and where others want to change every conceivable rule every year.

The last thing I want to see here is rules discussions 24/7/365, but maybe that's just me. Stop complaining about every damn thing, and just play within the rules.

We don't need to re-invent the wheel all the time.