GAMEPLAN            

ROSTERS & DRAFT CHANGES

VERSION 2.17

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These changes to the standard rules are now being extended to all leagues (they previously applied only to leagues in Yeovil). See also the page of changes that were introduced at the start of 2004.

CONDITIONAL FREE AGENTS

A number of players on your draftsheet will be shown as conditional free agents. The value of free agents is apportioned (ie. it will be the same for everyone) but the selection of players is completely random (without regard to position, age/experience, value, step losses or reduced effectiveness). A player who is a free agent one season may still be a free agent the next.

For the time being I've reduced the allocation of step losses by two points, and allocated the same value of free agents as step losses. The proportion of each could change in the future. Right now it's probably going to be a bit brutal. But remember, it's the same for everyone: your opponents are having to make the same sort of decisions. Expect to come out of the draft with a weaker roster than you went in.

WHAT TO DO

You have until minicamp to decide what to do with each player. You use your special actions to decide which of your free agents to keep and which to waive.

To sign a player back, use the "fix" action (FX). The cost is the same as if he was a reduced player (ie. five LPs per nominal value). Free agents who are re-signed should be full effectiveness and free of step losses.

To release a player, use the "waive" action (WA). The LPs you get for waiving a free agent are the same as for waiving a reduced player (ie. eight LPs per nominal value and four LPs for each extra strength).

Be aware you aren't restricted to the free agents themselves when dealing with free agency. If you haven't enough LPs to sign back the guys you think are essential then you can waive other less important players who aren't free agents (at the normal rates) and recover the players you think are more important.

MINICAMP

Any conditional free agents you haven't waived or signed will be waived automatically at the end of minicamp (after your actions are processed). You still get the normal LPs, but by this time it's too late to spend them on signing the other conditional free agents and fixing step losses (they can still be spent on unconditional free agents and coaching, of course).

You will probably want to waive the guys you're going to release sooner so as to make room during the draft or raise LPs for signings and fixing.

CONDITIONAL WAIVERS

You can use the conditional waiver action (the action code is CW) to nominate a player that will be waived if a replacement is signed. Conditional waivers are remembered from turn to turn, up until the end of minicamp, and shown in your draft sheet. If the roster spot occupied by that player is needed for a draftee or a free agent signing then the player will be waived, in the same way as if a normal waive action was made in the turn when the signing is made. Any conditional waivers not triggered before or during minicamp are forgotten.

Note: The default draft routine (that makes a draft pick for you if you mess up or miss your turn) doesn't trigger conditional waivers (because it might be trying to draft someone much weaker than the guy you actually wanted). Conditional waivers only trigger for players you draft or sign with your own orders (this might mean you miss out on guys you actually wanted and could have signed in the draft, but only if you failed to get your orders in).

STEP LOSSES

A separate change is that players with only a single skill will no longer be subject to step losses: when hit by a step loss they'll be treated as reduced effectiveness instead (this means you can either leave him on your roster as he is, or fix him for only five LPs, or waive him for eight LPs). If the player was already reduced then he retires.

ROOKIES

Rookies are now not included in the normal step loss, free agency, reduction or retirement routines. Instead your rookies get equal numbers of step losses and step gains at the end of their first season. You normally have three rookies, so that makes for one gaining a step, one losing a step, and one being unaffected. A QB with the BQ bonus doesn't count for this routine (they get the bonus instead).

This means a much higher proportion of low value rookies will "bust" (see the change to the step losses rule for single-strength players) and a proportion of higher valued ones will disappoint. But equally, most of the guys that don't bust will step up and become more important players.

ROSTER TOTALS

With the roster listing in your game report there is now a section showing AVERAGE and RELATIVE strengths. These compare your combined squad and form strengths with the average for the league (so it says whether you're strong or weak in that strength) and with the average for the "opposing" strength (ie. your ORI against the average for DRI) as a measure of your "real" effective strength.

LOSING POINTS

Losing Points are a simple way of dealing with something complicated (the combination of resources like time, money, effort, opportunity and room under the salary cap). That's why you gain LPs for releasing a free agent. A real life team doesn't get any money for a free agent, but it does gain all the other stuff and room in the budget to sign the next guy.