I understand all that, but you understand how the alternative (as it was this time a year ago) would’ve been worse, right? Because it would’ve allowed a few teams to corner the SP market and completely snuff out over half the league by throwing as many IP’s as possible at every matchup…
As frustrating as the 2 SP rule is (was), the fact is that everyone else in the league was in the same boat. As a game designer/product manager, surely you’re able to appreciate how setting limits like this was meant to keep everyone playing on the same level field…
So then owners like yourself had to find that ‘replacement level’ for SP’s- or at what point it didn’t benefit you to carry more SP’s and instead use your resources elsewhere. This wouldn’t have been the case with additional SP slots- even if there was just one additional slot the entire format would’ve been a joke because of how pitching-heavy every single league would’ve devolved into.
If that “wrecked” your season, well… sorry not sorry, because I’m sure it also helped many more owners who would’ve been on the wrong side of a pitching-dominated format if the alternative was used.
I think choosing which two SP’s to start on any given day IS a “meaningful choice”. If you choose wrong, it affects your matchup. Just like if an MLB MGR chooses the wrong matchup it can affect the game. In fact, I would argue that your choices have MORE meaning in a 2 SP format; any schmuck can start every SP who’s scheduled for that day, but taking the time to evaluate each pitcher/matchup and making your informed decision (nevermind your ability to manage your roster around your SP’s MLB usage) is what makes this a true “fantasy sport”.
OBVIOUSLY there’s differences here between this and real life, but in real life you still can’t just decide to steamroll the other team by having an abundance of pitchers or being able to start your #1 and #2 on the one day for the one game that you really need both pitcher’s production (‘Game 7’s’ notwithstanding.
NONE of us have control over how MLB managers use their players, or how the MLB schedules its games, or when an umpire crew will decide to call a rain delay, etc… And THAT is what’s at the heart of your discontent; not that you didn’t have control over who to start, but that the boundaries of the design kept you from using all of your players according to their MLB usage. I can’t choose to start a player for only one game of a double-header, or choose to swap-out the stats when a SP only gets 2 IP in a game delayed by weather. The 2 SP rule was no different of a limitation than any of those- it’s just maybe more extreme than what you were expecting. But everyone is entirely at the whim of how players are used in the MLB…
I agree, and props to Niv for designing something that better allows for that. But a 2 SP format didn’t keep you from making “smart” decisions relative to your matchups; they were simply decisions that carried more competitive weight.
You missing out on a huge game by the guy you didn’t start doesn’t necessarily mean it would’ve affected the outcome, and that’s because your opponent was playing with the same limitations. Maybe the guy he didn’t start has a bad game, but then if both of you could’ve started all three under different rules then it all would’ve been a wash anyway. So all we’re talking about is how the activity and lineup decisions of each manager affected your matchups… and again, my opinion is that a 2 SP rule encourages more activity and better fantasy matchups.
If we’re talking about “feel”… then, again, how would it ‘feel’ to be the owner who drafted heavy on Hitters and reasonably on Pitchers, only to get hammered by the people who were quick to shed quality Hitters on their bench for a bunch of bottom-end SP’s in order to get the edge in IP?
Heck yea, man- and now ottoneu is the only fantasy format with such an innovative fix to an industry wide problem!
So, thanks a TON to Niv.
But also, realize that before now no one had coded an answer to this problem- and that’s why the 2 SP rule was appropriate last year.
Yes, I agree. My point at the time was more how you can’t please everyone, as my response here was chiefly because of how upset people were over the 2 SP rule in the first couple months last season. But as to “playtesting” 2 SP’s versus more SP’s with H2H leagues using this type of scoring, I’ve personally already done plenty of that… and that’s why I was so emphatic in my defense of the format.
ALL THAT SAID, and because of all my own “playtesting”, I stand by my point that RP’s are STILL dramatically undervalued, relative to MLB’s usage, because of how SV’s/HLD’s are scored. So while Niv has fixed one problem with SP usage, I am still skeptical that you’ll see the sort of Hitting/Pitching balance that’s in Total Points leagues because of the RP scoring issue. Which is to say, hoarding an excess of SP’s will still have some competitive value next season.