ESPNsoccernet EPL Game

[Not So Special One]

With only a month until opening day, I e-mailed them to ask when registration for the new season will open. The reply yesterday said:

As far as next season is concerned, registration usually opens about 2 months before the season begins. Check back closer to that time for more information and any updates.

I replied to inform them that they're already a month late and time is running out.

[blessedbrian]

I'm hoping that they might offer some decent prizes in this game for a change, now that ESPN have some of the EPL TV rights

[DrBunker]

Nice of them to check the auto-reply before sending it back to you!

[grob]

well they are Americans,so we must make some allowances.

[blueprint]

This game is now open.

They have graphically re-vamped the game, not for the better in my opinion. Still I'm sure I will get used to it (in time).


http://premierfantasy.soccernet.espn.go ... /start.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[blueprint]

Also the game is much more like the Barcleys game as far as I can see.

Subs will play if main squad players don't and it seems to be games weeks rather than games being played day by day as in the past.
Which for me was what made the game different from the rest.

They have also added a 'double points for Captains' option.

[Not So Special One]

As said, they've made Soccernet's rules much like Fantasy Premier League's. Maybe they're impressed by the huge number of FPL players.

Several big differences: prize money, far fewer players (100,000 last season compared with 2 million in FPL), tighter limits on transfers and automatic substitutions, and point scoring weighted more toward the offense.

Formerly, you could own as many players from one team as you liked. Now the maximum is three, as in FPL.

Should one of your starting 11 not actually play in that gameweek, then the best player from the same position on your bench will automatically come on. Only a player from the same position on the pitch can come on.

Which means that if you play 5 defenders and one doesn't start, the gap won't be filled. It will be risky to play any formation but 4-4-2. This rule would seem to limit automatic substitutions to one per game, but later the rules say, "which players, if any, have automatically been substituted."

What does it mean, the "best player" from the same position, if you have two on your bench? The one with the most points, says the FAQ, but is that the most points for the gameweek or for the season? I guess we'll find out. And if you stick to 4-4-2, it won't arise.

Does this mean that only one automatic substitution will be made, even if two or more of your players don't start? Apparently not, as the rules later say, "which players, if any, have automatically been substituted from the bench." Unless "players" is a mistake.

The new design isn't as eye-catching as the old one, in fact it's ugly. But making substitutions by moving those Russian doll figures was fidgety and I made one or two mistakes - shouldn't be a problem now. What I wanted, and ESPN doesn't provide, is more performance stats to help with transfers, as in FPL and Can You Kick It. No such luck.

[grob]

I've been playing this game for years,but maybe due to the new game producers,it doesn't recognise me this year

Despite numerous attempts to login,trying different combinations, (including even the pin number id they gave me last season,which I've never had to use) I've just about given up now, although I've e-mailed them for my registered username, which "takes 1 business day".

When I attempted to register from scratch the site kept finding a reason to reject my attempts, and then finally, when I typed my christian name and surname into the 2 boxes, I got "Name fields must contain valid characters = letters, hyphens,and/or apostrophes" - of which there were none except letters in either my first or surname !

I even tried typing my names in every combination - upper case,lower case, upper first initial etc etc until I decided that faced with such obstacles, I could live without playing the game, despite the apparent improvements described above,bringing it closer to FPL.

Incidentally,after the first week playing the previous version by moving the little "soldiers" around to perform my transfers,I did them all on the data page instead thereafter I wouldn't have had the patience to persevere otherwise.

Have they said what the prizes will be this year ? Despite big promises,they didn't do so last season until ages after the season was underway - I think they were very poor when they finally revealed them.

[DrBunker]

Have they said what the prizes will be this year ? Despite big promises,they didn't do so last season until ages after the season was underway - I think they were very poor when they finally revealed them.

No. I went to check both for my team and for a potential FISO ML but there's nothing on there yet...your comments are a bit worrying though.

[hammerddh]

I have created a mini-league
FISO Forum
password - FISO

[GM]

Grob - I logged in with last years.


Not SSO - With regards to 5 defenders if you have a total of 6 and one of your 5 don't play the auto sub should kick in surely

[grob]

Grob - I logged in with last years.

perhaps they're cat lovers; I'll see what they say in response to my e-mail GM

[Malrom]

After 6 attempts I managed to create my account.
I couldn't use last year's login name and pw
I encountered the same problem with name/surname
I didn't let me use last year's email address

Oh dear, I'm not sure if I should continue to play fantasy football,
it seems they are making it difficult for me to play, not only here, but
also in TFF and TFFOSM.....

[12345678]

ytm malrom?

andy

[blueprint]

I have created a mini-league
FISO Forum
password - XXXXXX

Mod edit: password removed because if there's a cash prize admin will need to run the official FISO league.

So what is happening about a FISO league?

[DrBunker]

I haven't checked - have they said what the prizes will be yet?

[blessedbrian]

It still says prizes to be announced

It said to be announced for a long time last season and then turned out to be a copy of Fifa09 or something like that

[DrBunker]

Was there a minileague prize in the end last season?

[blueprint]

Does it matter that much, what the prize is?

Most of us play Fantasy Football for fun, not because we have a hope of winning a prize. Not that we'd turn it down if we won.

So can't a league be started ASAP on the understanding that any prize(s) are divided in whatever way is selected at a later date. The game is made better by having a big list of teams to compete against in a league. The sooner a league is up and running the more chance we have of getting it noticed and more teams in the league(?)

[DrBunker]

If only it was possible to be that relaxed about it blueprint

On the assumption that the prizes were weak last year and as the league creator is a very well established member of FISO I guess there's no need to be quite so cautious. I've edited the post to include the password again.

[blueprint]

If only it was possible to be that relaxed about it blueprint

On the assumption that the prizes were weak last year and as the league creator is a very well established member of FISO I guess there's no need to be quite so cautious. I've edited the post to include the password again.

Thanks, I'm in and ready to Rock n' Roll.

[frattonender]

I have put a team in. Thanks

[Not So Special One]

More about the rules.

Formerly, you could make substitutions every game day, so in a good week you could have all 15 players scoring points for you. I liked that - it made squad players more important and made strategy more interesting. Now, your substitutions can only be made before the first game of the gameweek, same as FPL. Offsetting this is ESPN's new automatic substitution rule, also as in FPL, but in many gameweeks the squad players won't be used.

As for that deadline, ESPN's rules include two paragraphs where there should be one, and they don't agree:

There is ONE deadline for every gameweek. This deadline is the first kick-off of the gameweek. Any changes to your team (substitutions, transfers, formations) will come into effect on the deadline. If you don`t make any changes to your team, the team for the previous gameweek will continue to score points for you. The gameweek fixtures are displayed to the right of your pitch.

There is ONE deadline for every gameweek. This deadline is 15 minutes before the first kick-off of the gameweek. Any changes to your team (substitutions, transfers, formations) will come into effect for the deadline selected, provided you go through the Save Team process. If you don`t make any changes to your team the current team will continue to score points for you. The gameweek fixtures are displayed to the right of your pitch.

The second paragraph is probably correct about the deadline, but that bit about "the deadline selected" suggests you can save teams for future gameweeks as well as the current one, and I don't see how to do it. I've e-mailed ESPN about this.

[blessedbrian]

Could someone point me in the direction of where on the site it says what dates the gameweeks cover, or a T & C's page for that matter... I'm probably being blind
thanks

[abc]

Could someone point me in the direction of where on the site it says what dates the gameweeks cover, or a T & C's page for that matter... I'm probably being blind
thanks

Gameweeks start Saturdays 15 minute before first kick-off.You can see the first game week fixture and GW countdown on your "Team overview" page.
It also says "Deadline for next Gameweek: 08/15/09 12:45 BST" on your team page.

[blessedbrian]

thanks for your reply, but what i meant was what dates are all the gameweeks?

I'm assuming they are the same deadlines as FPL, but wanted to be sure

on FPL they provide a nice page like this which lists them all

http://fantasy.premierleague.com/M/help ... =deadlines

[Not So Special One]

Could someone point me in the direction of where on the site it says what dates the gameweeks cover, or a T & C's page for that matter... I'm probably being blind
thanks

Good point. The rules don't say what a gameweek is, or when it starts. The closest to it is this:

Each gameweek will be different based on the fixture list, so you have to chose the best 11 to score the most points on a week-to-week basis.

To me, "week-to-week" suggests a 7-day gameweek, rather than a 10-match gameweek, and so does the lack of a deadline calendar. If that's so, then every gameweek should begin before the first match on Saturday. But they don't actually say this. Time for another e-mail to Soccernet Central.

[DrBunker]

As an FPLer this game is starting to look more and more interesting.

[Mintman]

"Insert Team Name Here" are entered in for a crack at the title!!

[Not So Special One]

One reply from Soccernet Central:

Thank you for contacting us.

We apologize for the confusion. The 'gameweek' indeed refers to the week beginning with first match on Saturday and flows through till the end of the last match on Friday.

For live assistance with this or any other issue, please call Customer Care at 1-888-549-3776 (ESPN) between 7:00 am and 2:00 am EST.

Regards,

Patrick
ESPN.com Customer Care

One more reply to come.