h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've always had some issues with this format of Fantasy Football (mostly because I'm not very good at it), and I've been toying with the idea of setting up a league based around the original type of Fantasy Football (such as you get in the broadsheets).

This, I hasten to add, would not conflict interests with GD's season 8, and it would be quite possible to play both.

However, I'm obviously not going to go to all the trouble of coding up a Front Page if I don't have the interest, so GD suggested I post this thread as a testing ground.

Once you've gone through the hard bit of selecting your team (we do this by closed auction), then all you'd have to do is tot up someone else's points week-by-week (there are online sites which can help you with this). This just saves me from having to do everything, and means you'd have to do no more on a weekly basis than you do for the current FF format.

So - anyone interested?

B

I'm certainly interested in principle. I played an online version last season and sort of lost interest halfway through, but I wasn't in a friends league or anything and I had a thesis that needed finishing!

I wonder if we should consider using an online provider (I can't remember how much it cost to play last year, but I can find out) and forming a Friends league rather than trying to do it manually. However, I know this might be a problem for some....

What does everyone think?

Otto

I'll give it a bash. I'm never sure how able I am to keep this sort of thing going over a whole season, but I reckon competing against you guys would be better than just subscribing to a free one in a newspaper any day.

That said, I quite like the format of the one we have now. The predictions aspect is something you don't find in many other places.

I'll give it a bash. I'm never sure how able I am to keep this sort of thing going over a whole season, but I reckon competing against you guys would be better than just subscribing to a free one in a newspaper any day.

That said, I quite like the format of the one we have now. The predictions aspect is something you don't find in many other places.

That double post was down to my incompetence, by the way, rather than (for instance) Number Twelve making an unexpected comeback.

I don't particularly want to use an online provider because of the cost. It wouldn't take long to shortlist a couple of hundred Premiership players, and the best bit about a closed auction is that we don't have to set prices for them all.

If there's only 5 or 6 participants, it won't take long to scour the papers for scorers and assists, so all we'd have to do is work out a point-scoring scheme.

B

i don't know how this form of FF is played. i've only ever played the other one. so could you give us (ok probably only me) a more detailed explanation.

It's dead easy. We hold a closed auction (everyone sends me bids by email, and the highest bid wins by default) for any Premiership players you want, so in effect you create your own 'dream team'. There are a few limitations to your final team (it must be a 4-4-2 shape, you can't have more than three players from any club and you have a fixed transfer budget which you can't exceed).

Throughout the season, you score points for your team based on goals scored, assists made, and - for the goalie and defence - clean sheets and goals conceded.

Sound fun?

B

OK - I've decided I'm going to have a bash at this. I'm currently drawing up shortlists of all eligible players, and with luck, I'll create a Phantasy Phootball (so named to avoid confusion with Desk's inestimable competition) homepage at some point next week.

B

Or you could call it the Chel$ki Management Simulator....

I think the transfer system is quite similar. You offer enough money, and the man's yours.

B

so do you have a set budget to spend at the beginning. or can you just put in massive bids and get all the good players.

will there be a table of who owns who, so we know who to contact about transfers. i'm assuming a transfer is where you swap one of your players for one of someone elses.

sorry, you obviously think this is all very simple, but it's a little lost on me, as i've never played, or even seen this game before.

i suppose i could watch a season by lurking and work it out that way

You have a fixed budget of £50m, which you cannot exceed, even on speculative bids. The plus side is that you can pick up players that no-one else wants dirt-cheap, so you really splash out on the opening auction.

I will certainly list all the teams in full on the Homepage, and you can do as much transferring as you want during the season (as long as you let me know about it.)

Don't lurk, please! I'm trying to make this league simple enough so that even people who know next-to-nothing about football can play. I need the support of as many people as possible, and once the league's actually started, then playing the game will be a breeze.

B

OK - here it is. Please come along and sign up.

A1115191

B

re: online provider

I played the BBC fantasy football for free last year, and it was possible to set up friends leagues.

Too late.

If anyone asks, I'll say I'm making an anti-BBC protest.

B