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Previous Fantasy Sports Newsletters (FSN) by FISO - subscribe here FISO
- Fantasy & Interactive Sports Online This
issue provides an introduction to two new games (Fantasy Football Weekly and
Goalstradamus) and a summary of this year's mid-season rule change to The Times
Fantasy Game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fantasy
Football Weekly (FFW) Fantasy Football Weekly is a new weekly fantasy football game with a minimum £100 jackpot to be won every week. It's easy to play - simply check out the weekly Premiership fixtures and pick an 11 man team from the player list. The player prices vary each week depending on the fixtures and players in form, so you need to select a different 11 each week if you want to keep playing. This is not a season long game – each week there is a separate competition. Your first entry is free so there is no cost to try it out and there is a 1 in 10 chance of winning a prize every week. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GoalstradamusA
free to play season long ‘results prediction’ game with a £10,000 first
prize. Many entrants are still on zero points so there is no big disadvantage to
entering late. You
can also share in FISO’s potential mini-league prizes of £11,000 by joining
up using the following details: Mini-League
name: FISO.co.uk FORUM See
more information on our mini-league here: http://fantasyfootballuk.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=15564 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Times They Are A-Changing (their rules once again!) Many
of those managers that have seen yet another mid-season rule change in The
Times’ Fantasy Game may well have followed me in receiving a refund after
withdrawing their entries. For those that have had the fortune to not play the
Times’ game this year, here are the events as we saw them on the FISO Forum. Before
you do read on, please note that the game's rules had stated from the outset
that managers could make up to 4 transfers per week (a week ran to Thursday) but
for each half-season they were restricted to just 12 transfers, meaning a fairly
cautious approach to transfer use was tactically appropriate. On
Thursday 14 September it was posted on the FISO Forum that one part of the rules
on the game’s website did not mention the 12 transfer limit. On
Monday 18 September (in the 5th week of the competition) it came to
our attention that some managers had already made more than the maximum 12
transfers. On
then attempting to clarify with the game’s Support Help Desk (run by
Broadsystem, a News International subsidiary) managers received the following
unhelpful response: ‘We
are very sorry for the confusion caused but unfortunately we are Please
again accept our apologies for the problems you have had and please contact us
if you have any further queries’. It
was then noticed that on Friday 22 September that the games’ Terms &
Conditions were changed from: You
can make up to four player transfers per Transfer Week to your team and a
maximum of 12 player transfers in each half of the Game, making 24 transfers in
total during the Game. To: You
can make up to four player transfers per Transfer Week to your team. And
at 6pm BST
on Friday 22 September the following email was sent by The Times to managers: ‘Transfer
Changes In
mid-October The Times added a page to the game website accessed from the game
home page stating: Refunds
Available From the perspective of the typical manager,
unresolved issues arising from the rule change include: 1.
Why some managers were allowed to make more than 12 transfers prior to We
asked some of the leading managers in the Times’ Fantasy Game to comment on
the rule change. Here’s what they had to say: Shaun
Goldsmith (over 80% of the top 100 teams belong to Shaun) 'I
have mixed feelings about the change itself, on the one hand it means I'm having
to spend a ridiculous amount of time making transfers and have had to abandon
half my teams, on the other hand being aware of the change as soon as the final
decision was made (having already been thinking about the strategic
consequences, maximizing numbers of games etc.) seems to have improved my
chances of winning. I
first became aware of the possibility of a rule change some time on 14
September, having noticed a post on FISO highlighting the new wording in the
transfers section. I called and e-mailed the helpdesk, as well as writing two
letters to News Promotions Ltd. seeking clarification. The helpdesk originally
were quite sure that the change was intentional, but after a few days they
retreated to their "waiting for the game's editors" position. I held
fire with my transfers until the helpdesk informed me on 20 September at around
17:00 that the change was definitely going to be implemented. I posted this
advice immediately on the relevant FISO thread and then started bringing players
in for that night's league cup games. Up to that point, I had made an average of
around 3 transfers in my teams. I received the formal e-mail notifying the
change 48 hours later. Gary
Griggs (currently in the top 100) 'I
have played the Times game for the last 4 seasons. I have enjoyed the format,
especially the inclusion of UEFA competitions. 'The
Times has been disingenuous with rule changes in the past, however on this
occasion the whole game has been drastically altered. My belief is that as in
the past this has been done to cover incompetent programming rather than
amending it. I believe there were rumours on FISO that four changes a week were
being allowed from the 5th week of the competition. It is disappointing that the
leader (Shaun) was tipped off in advance (through no fault of his own) yet the
Times continue to deny this could have happened despite Shaun actually posting
it on FISO just before the deadline the week previous to the announcement. I
would add to that on the subject of refunds not offering partial refunds where
you would have preferred a lower entry is unfair due to the extreme change in
the rules. I cannot believe Shaun would not like the money back on the vast
majority of his teams as would I however they want to keep the rest of
anyone’s money for teams that are no longer required due to their incompetent
rule change made after the commencement of the competition. Therefore the refund
policy is not really a fair one as you would expect of the Times. There is of
course no compensation for the effort made by entrants in their competition and
never an apology of any type.' 'I
think the new rules are better than the old ones but you shouldn't change once
you've started. It’s a different game now, you can change your whole team
every three weeks! I
think my teams were only affected in that the two at the top were caught a bit
quicker than they would have been! Once I saw how many teams Shaun has I was
expecting both leaderboards to be dominated by him sooner or later! I entered a
couple of years ago and was well chuffed to reach the top 600 before finishing
in the 18000's, so I'm still "over the moon" to have been top and
"sick as a parrot" that I'm slipping slowly down. The
first I knew about the rule changes was when I was pleased to see Shaun had made
some transfers. I thought I must be doing something right to force his hand! I
don't check my email as often as I should but did so a few days later and found
the rule change email. At first I seriously thought it was some sort of spoof.
Some hacker with a bad sense of humour trying to get people to use up all their
transfers! I then used google and found FISO.co.uk. I then thought that they've
changed the rules to give others a chance to be as flexible as Shaun can with
his huge amount of teams! (How many does he have?). I don't see any evidence
that he was "tipped off". I just think he responded quickest because
he eats sleeps and dreams this stuff and paid closer attention than most. I
lost probably four, at most six transfers to him at the changeover. I'd already
made half that number because of injuries etc. So not a huge effect over a long
season. I've
played in a game with friends based on times rules but with two transfers a week
for the last five years, so I'm used to planning transfers to take advantage of
midweek games etc. It is a different game now, but one I've played before! I
think those worst affected are people who have maybe five teams or less, planned
them for the marathon of a long season, didn't check or believe the email, and
then find themselves left behind in a series of sprints! I
don't agree with changing rules after you start even if I like the new rules!'
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