Okay gentlemen (and ladies too if there's any of you around at the moment) it's that time of year again. The festivities are over, the hangovers have been hung and we're all braced for the coming year slightly older, probably slightly fatter and hopefully, after a fantastic final quarter of boxing in 2019, with our appetites whetted for a great year of boxing in 2020.
First fights of the 2020 pick 'em are going to be next weekend, I'm reckoning on Hart vs Smith Jr and Munguia vs Spike O'Sullivan, the latter might be reasonably seen as a bit of a mismatch but does at least promise excitement and at least the possibility of upset with the sub-par Hogan performance still hanging over Jaime.
So. What that means is we only got a few days before the first PICK EM thread of 2020 will be up, and what that means is that I probably should have put this thread up about a week ago... but I didn't so we'll have to just live with it.
Thankfully we're not planning on any major changes this year, but that doesn't mean anyone with positive suggestions should keep 'em to themselves. If you got a good idea - or equally any criticisms - please share 'em. The purpose of this game is for us all to have fun and add to our enjoyment of the sport, and if there's ways of making it better you're doing us all a disservice by not sharing 'em.
Anyways... to business. First significant change we've got this year is to the CREW, and that's looking like an expansion this year from the 3 members we had in 2018 and 2019 to 5 for 2020... this is largely predicated on the expectation that we'll have more players this year due to the prizes kindly offered by the 'Scene (thanks once more BigPoppaPump) for the 2019 season. The new team will consist of last years team of Koba-Grozny, NC Uppercut and 2018 winner otrocubiche with the addition of new CREW members CauliflowerEars and HeadBodyBodyBody (who you'll most likely see refered to as HBx3 on account of it being a pain in the ass to type out in full.) both of whom contributed at various times to the running of the game in 2019.
There have been various other offers of help, and these are gratefully acknowledged, but for the obvious reasons we've prefered to keep the core team with access to the CREW account password down to a fairly small number.
In terms of actual rules changes there seems to have been fairly general satisfaction over 2019, so whilst we're still going to invite comment the only changes that are strongly anticipated right now are as follows:
An Increase in the score for a correct DRAW pick from 120 points to 150 points, to bring it more into line with the increased points possible from a perfect pick between 2018 and 2019 (up from 30 to 40).
A change in the number of optional multipliers from 10 x2s and 6 x3s, to 10 x2s, 5 x3s and 1 one-off special x5 which can only be used on fights where the underdog is no worse than +300 (ie no underdog multiplier is in play).
The system for Underdog multipliers is likely to be changed slightly, lowering the threshold at which they kick in from +400 (4/1) to +300(3/1) for x2 multiplier and from +700(7/1) to +600(6/1) for x3. The threshold for x4 will remain at +1000. This will have the effect of making the Underdog multipliers somewhat more common and likely to play a somewhat increased role in the game but hopefully without unbalancing it greatly in the favour of those who like the gamesmanship and tactics over just the stright up and down picks.
Again, if any of you strenuously object to either of these changes please do not hesitate to make your feelings known.
Oh... on a related note we're also going to codify a practice than probably wasn't made fully clear last year, although I don't recall with the situation actually arose... to wit, should more than one multiplier come into play in the score of a players picks, the multipliers will be added together before being applied to the players score and not multiplied . ie. A x3 underdog multiplier win with a x3 optional multiplier applied would net the player 6x (3+3) their regular points, not 9x (3x3) and a x2 optional multiplier on a x4 'dog would net 6x (2+4) not 8x (2x4)... thanx for the correction 'Roll.
Other possible suggestions which were also brought up last year but are very unlikely to be implemented in 2020 unless we see overwhelming support are:
Like I say though, don't worry, these are just kinda suggestions for you to mull over the course of the year and not firm plans in any way.
We're also looking for more input of how many and which types of fights players want - we did a record high of 92 Pick Ems in 2019 of which 86 were actually scored due to cancellations and NCs and such. We'd like to hear if you'd like fewer or more in 2020, whether you prefer high level mismatches over lesser known fighters in more even contests and so on. To this end we're planning on re-introducing the monthly UPCOMING PICK EMs threads towards the end of each month to allow all the players to have a degree of input into which fights they'd like to see in the game the following month. I'd encourage you all to participate in these threads as it allows us to better gauge and tailor the game to how you want it to be.
So. What else... damn sure there's something I forgot but I reckon it'll come to me in time and right now we just need to get this show on the road.
Thankyou all for your patience, and apologies to those of you who ain't familiar with my excessive verbosity, but I'm afraid you may have to get used to it..
Wishing you all the best of luck with the coming year and extending a warm welcome to all players, old and new alike.
Koba
If one of the mods could see their way to sticking this thread to the front page in place of the 2019 Masterthread I'd be most appreciative...
-MEGA-, BostonGuy, TBear, jaded, LoadedWraps, bigjavi973
First fights of the 2020 pick 'em are going to be next weekend, I'm reckoning on Hart vs Smith Jr and Munguia vs Spike O'Sullivan, the latter might be reasonably seen as a bit of a mismatch but does at least promise excitement and at least the possibility of upset with the sub-par Hogan performance still hanging over Jaime.
So. What that means is we only got a few days before the first PICK EM thread of 2020 will be up, and what that means is that I probably should have put this thread up about a week ago... but I didn't so we'll have to just live with it.
Thankfully we're not planning on any major changes this year, but that doesn't mean anyone with positive suggestions should keep 'em to themselves. If you got a good idea - or equally any criticisms - please share 'em. The purpose of this game is for us all to have fun and add to our enjoyment of the sport, and if there's ways of making it better you're doing us all a disservice by not sharing 'em.
Anyways... to business. First significant change we've got this year is to the CREW, and that's looking like an expansion this year from the 3 members we had in 2018 and 2019 to 5 for 2020... this is largely predicated on the expectation that we'll have more players this year due to the prizes kindly offered by the 'Scene (thanks once more BigPoppaPump) for the 2019 season. The new team will consist of last years team of Koba-Grozny, NC Uppercut and 2018 winner otrocubiche with the addition of new CREW members CauliflowerEars and HeadBodyBodyBody (who you'll most likely see refered to as HBx3 on account of it being a pain in the ass to type out in full.
) both of whom contributed at various times to the running of the game in 2019. There have been various other offers of help, and these are gratefully acknowledged, but for the obvious reasons we've prefered to keep the core team with access to the CREW account password down to a fairly small number.
In terms of actual rules changes there seems to have been fairly general satisfaction over 2019, so whilst we're still going to invite comment the only changes that are strongly anticipated right now are as follows:
An Increase in the score for a correct DRAW pick from 120 points to 150 points, to bring it more into line with the increased points possible from a perfect pick between 2018 and 2019 (up from 30 to 40).
A change in the number of optional multipliers from 10 x2s and 6 x3s, to 10 x2s, 5 x3s and 1 one-off special x5 which can only be used on fights where the underdog is no worse than +300 (ie no underdog multiplier is in play).
The system for Underdog multipliers is likely to be changed slightly, lowering the threshold at which they kick in from +400 (4/1) to +300(3/1) for x2 multiplier and from +700(7/1) to +600(6/1) for x3. The threshold for x4 will remain at +1000. This will have the effect of making the Underdog multipliers somewhat more common and likely to play a somewhat increased role in the game but hopefully without unbalancing it greatly in the favour of those who like the gamesmanship and tactics over just the stright up and down picks.
Again, if any of you strenuously object to either of these changes please do not hesitate to make your feelings known.
Oh... on a related note we're also going to codify a practice than probably wasn't made fully clear last year, although I don't recall with the situation actually arose... to wit, should more than one multiplier come into play in the score of a players picks, the multipliers will be added together before being applied to the players score and not multiplied . ie. A x3 underdog multiplier win with a x3 optional multiplier applied would net the player 6x (3+3) their regular points, not 9x (3x3) and a x2 optional multiplier on a x4 'dog would net 6x (2+4) not 8x (2x4)... thanx for the correction 'Roll.
Other possible suggestions which were also brought up last year but are very unlikely to be implemented in 2020 unless we see overwhelming support are:
Banning the use of optional multipliers in fights where there's a heavy underdog (ie where theres an underdog multiplier in play)
Banning the use of multipliers on DRAW picks, the odds of getting a successful DRAW pick are high but the potential score from a multiplied DRAW could be seen as unbalancing.
Increasing the number of DEC picks from 2 (CLOSE and WIDE) to 3 (SPLIT, CLOSE and WIDE) possibly with DRAW results incorporated into the SPLIT category.
Changing the scoring balance to weigh more heavily towards correct method and detail over just the correct winner. Suggestions might include 20/20/20 or 10/15/15. Alternatively changing the scoring balance back closer to the 2018 pick em is also possible such as 20/5/5 or 20/10/5 perhaps
Banning the use of multipliers on DRAW picks, the odds of getting a successful DRAW pick are high but the potential score from a multiplied DRAW could be seen as unbalancing.
Increasing the number of DEC picks from 2 (CLOSE and WIDE) to 3 (SPLIT, CLOSE and WIDE) possibly with DRAW results incorporated into the SPLIT category.
Changing the scoring balance to weigh more heavily towards correct method and detail over just the correct winner. Suggestions might include 20/20/20 or 10/15/15. Alternatively changing the scoring balance back closer to the 2018 pick em is also possible such as 20/5/5 or 20/10/5 perhaps
Like I say though, don't worry, these are just kinda suggestions for you to mull over the course of the year and not firm plans in any way.
We're also looking for more input of how many and which types of fights players want - we did a record high of 92 Pick Ems in 2019 of which 86 were actually scored due to cancellations and NCs and such. We'd like to hear if you'd like fewer or more in 2020, whether you prefer high level mismatches over lesser known fighters in more even contests and so on. To this end we're planning on re-introducing the monthly UPCOMING PICK EMs threads towards the end of each month to allow all the players to have a degree of input into which fights they'd like to see in the game the following month. I'd encourage you all to participate in these threads as it allows us to better gauge and tailor the game to how you want it to be.
So. What else... damn sure there's something I forgot but I reckon it'll come to me in time and right now we just need to get this show on the road.
Thankyou all for your patience, and apologies to those of you who ain't familiar with my excessive verbosity, but I'm afraid you may have to get used to it..
Wishing you all the best of luck with the coming year and extending a warm welcome to all players, old and new alike.
Koba
If one of the mods could see their way to sticking this thread to the front page in place of the 2019 Masterthread I'd be most appreciative...
-MEGA-, BostonGuy, TBear, jaded, LoadedWraps, bigjavi973
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