Your Chance To Participate In A New Football Phenomenon (Sandbox Simulations)

[Rain Man]

I apologize if the mods think this is soliciting, and I guess it is, but at the same time it's beta testing a new product developed by long-time planeteers, and it's free.

cdcox and I have been developing a new football game for the thoughtful fan, where players build franchises and compete against each other. A description is below.

If you're interested, we're offering the game for free in Year 1 to Chiefsplanet members, with the goal of both giving the system a dry run and also hooking you like Phillip Morris. You can go to www.sandboxsimulations.com to sign up, and use the access code 6Lanier3.

Here's the overview:

Build and manage a full 53-player roster over multiple seasons, as an offseason activity to give you year-round football

Select your personnel to match your offensive and defensive scheme. Every position matters – even your blocking tight end.

Realistic and accurate simulations of league games based on head-to-head matchups against other teams in your league.


This is essentially a new concept in fantasy football that attempts to simulate as closely as possible the management of a real NFL franchise over a multi-year period. Unlike regular fantasy football, every position on the offense and defense contributes to your success or failure. On special teams, the punter, kicker, and kick returners matter.

In Sandbox Football you will build a team – an entire 53-man football team – via an initial draft, and will maintain it year after year in annual rookie drafts, trading periods, and free agency. You compete against teams in your league. In the first year of the game, before the start of the NFL season, you will build your roster by drafting veterans and rookies through separate drafts, and through trades with other teams in the league. Your roster is frozen at the beginning of the NFL season. During the real regular NFL season, you can focus on your traditional fantasy games and perhaps keep on eye on your Sandbox roster as our statistical models build the data on player performances. At the end of the regular NFL season, the Sandbox season begins. There will be 16 games in the season. In real time, the season will run about 8 weeks (2 alternate reality games per week).

Game outcomes will be simulated based on the performance of individual players during the just-completed NFL regular season. The simulations, developed by a PhD statistical expert, estimate how individual players will perform in the context of your alternate reality team competing head-to-head against other teams in the league and with the specific team that you have built. The simulations will consider the offensive and defensive schemes that you select. So you can build your roster to support a power running game or a high-flying passing attack. You can run a 3-4 or 4-3 base defense. You can run nickel formations or four-wide receiver sets. You can rotate your DL to keep them fresh.

The game is more about building a team than playing video games. So this isn't Madden, but you will have the ability to tweak your game plan to take the best advantage of your roster and the weaknesses of your opponent. Injuries are a factor in the game. If a player is unavailable during weeks 3 through 6 in the NFL, he is also unavailable during the same weeks in the alternate reality season. So roster depth matters. The game simulations are based on the most advanced statistics and the latest research regarding what matters in winning an NFL game. But, the outcomes of the games have a random component, just like real NFL games.

The calendar for the alternate reality league year will look something like this:
• Jan to Mid March: Alternate Reality regular season and playoffs.
• Mid-March to the beginning of NFL season: Roster building through trades, veteran draft (first year), free agent drafts (2nd year and beyond), and rookie draft.
• Beginning of NFL season to end of regular NFL season: Alternate reality league is dormant, but the NFL players are generating their performance stats for the up-coming AR league.
• Rinse and repeat.

Copyright Sandbox Simulations, all rights reserved.

We're still finalizing the cost structure, but this won't be an expensive game to play at all. It might range from a few bucks a year to $50 per year, depending on a few factors.

Year 1 will require a couple of days of drafting with rather high intensity, but we've got it set up where you can put your draft list together and do customized and automated drafting if you like.

So...go! Now! Time to get ready for the draft!




Note that we are still in beta testing, so things could change if we find problems in the system.


How Free Agency Works:

Free Agency will begin before the 2012 season after the rookie draft.

Our process is as follows for the 2012 season. In 2013 and beyond there will be minor changes as noted later.

1. We will unveil the list of available free agents so you can check out the talent pool.

2. If you look in "Standings", you will see that you have a salary account value of $1,300. You will use this to sign your veterans to contracts, sign your rookies to contracts, and (in a competitive bidding process) sign free agents to contracts.

The cost of a contract is as follows for players already on your roster (both veterans and rookies).

$0 - 1 season contract
$10 - 2 season contract
$22 - 3 season contract
$37 - 4 season contract
$55 - 5 season contract
$76 - 6 season contract
$100 - 7 season contract

You will sign your existing players to contracts using an interface that we will unveil shortly. If your 53-man roster is set you can spend your $1,300 on your current roster. However, it may be worthwhile to hold some money back so you can compete for free agents.

3. The free agency period begins.

Bidding for free agents will be open and competitive. As players come available, teams will be allowed to sign them if they are the high bidder. The contract length is automatically calculated by rounding down the bid to the chart below.

Contract Length (Seasons) Salary Points Bid
1 0 to 9
2 10 to 21
3 22 to 36
4 37 to 54
5 55 to 75
6 76 to 99
7 100 or more

For example, if you submit the winning bid for a player at a price of 25 salary points, that player becomes yours under a 3-year contract. If you submit a bid for 35 points and win, it’s also a 3-year contract. If you submit a bid for 38 points, it’s a 4-year contract. If you submit a bid for 120 points, it’s a 7-year contract.

For the 2012 free agency period, we will enforce the 53-man rule. You will need to cut down to 53 players before the free agency period starts, and if you sign a player to go above 53, you will need to cut a player to stay within the roster limit. NOTE: DON'T CUT YET UNLESS YOU WANT TO. WE'RE STILL FINALIZING THE SYSTEM AND WANT TO BE SURE THAT THIS RULE WORKS IN 2012.

4. Ending Bidding and Ending Free Agency.

Bids on an individual player will begin once the first player places a bid. For the 2012 season that bid must be $1 or more. Bidding ends when the existing high bid had not been raised for 72 hours. At that point, the high-bid team is awarded the player under the contract terms described in Step 3.

The free agency period in 2012 will end once there have been no bids on any players for 72 hours.

5. Unused Salary Points

If you do not use all of your salary points in a given year, they will roll over from year to year. This is experimental and we'll have to see how it works. If it doesn't work, they'll expire each year, or maybe a portion of the points can roll over. Right now, assume they all roll over.

6. Salary Points and Roster Management

In the Sandbox system, salary points and the salary cap are used only for acquiring players. You will never have to track the number of salary points “on your roster” and you will never have to cut a player for salary cap reasons.

Additionally, you are not obligated to keep a player for the full length of his contract. You can cut him or trade him at any time. However, recognize that it’s a waste of salary points to cut or trade a player before the end of his contract. But it doesn't hamstring you going forward - it's just past money that you wasted.

7. Free Agency and Contract Length - Retaining Your Current Players

When a player reaches the end of their contract, they go back into the free agency pool and teams will bid for their services. You are eligible to bid on them to get them back, just like you can bid on any free agents.

There is one exception to the rule of free agents going into the free agency pool, as follows:

• At the end of the bidding process, you have the opportunity to re-sign your own players by outbidding the high bidder. Your bid must be the minimum points to increase their contract period by a year over the high bid. (Example: your player goes to free agency, and another team bids 50 points for him, which equates to a 4-year contract. You can keep the player by paying 55 points for him, which is the minimum amount for a 5-year contract.) If the high bidder offered a contract of 100 points or more (7-years), you can keep the player by bidding 10% more points than the high bid.

8. Free Agency and Trades

If you trade for a player, their contract length is a consideration. Trading for a player with 6 years left on his contract will give you his services for that amount of time (unless you cut him or trade him, or he retires). Trading for a player with 1 year left on his contract means that he’ll go back into the free agency pool at the end of the season. (Of course, you can still retain him via Step 7.)

9. Future Years

In future years, the process will be identical to that shown above, with the following exceptions.

a. Because you will have a lot of veteran players under contract, you won't need $1,300. You'll get a new annual allotment of signing dollars. We're still working on the exact amount, but it looks like it'll be between $500 and $600.

b. In the 2012 season, we will introduce all free agents at once to catch up. In the 2013 season and beyond, the free agency period will occur during the actual NFL season. We will sprinkle the free agents in one division at a time over the course of the season. (The divisions may be randomly selected or we may release a calendar. It doesn't matter that much.) This system should be interesting because some free agents will come available early in the season when you don't know their performance for the year - greater risk, greater reward - while other free agents will come available later in the season when you know what their performance will be, but so does everyone else.

c. In the 2013 season and beyond, you will be able to retain more than 53 players through the rookie draft and the main free agency period. You will then have a cutdown period to get to 53 and we will have a final free agency period where you can sign any players who have been cut. In that final period you will have to enforce a 53-man roster, so if you sign a player you have to cut one.

10. When you think about the schedule in 2013 and beyond, it will go like this:

a. Sandbox season goes from February through April.
b. Rookie draft in May. No 53-man limit.
c. Free agency from (likely) September through December, with free agents sprinkled in throughout that period.
d. January. Roster cuts to 53.
e. Late January. Final free agency period to flesh out rosters and sign players cut in Step d.
f. New Sandbox season begins.

[Rain Man]

Interesting analysis.

If you think you only need 42-49, then do you put more money in those guys or are your last roster spots speculative developmental guys?

[brorth]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Interesting analysis.

If you think you only need 42-49, then do you put more money in those guys or are your last roster spots speculative developmental guys?

Me, personally? I don't think the value is there to hold developmental guys as it stands. The burden of one whiff hurts because of the contract implications, why would I risk it repeatedly?
My money will be spent on my best players. The fewer of them I have to field, the more they all get. That's why if the 34 requires one fewer named player, I'll move to it.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by brorth

Me, personally? I don't think the value is there to hold developmental guys as it stands. The burden of one whiff hurts because of the contract implications, why would I risk it repeatedly?
My money will be spent on my best players. The fewer of them I have to field, the more they all get. That's why if the 34 requires one fewer named player, I'll move to it.

Why would the 3-4 require one fewer named player?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by brorth

Or is that just stupid?

Not stupid, but you are forgetting something.

CD has advised on on a couple of occasions that D-lineman and RBs can and will wear out with overuse.

I think you're understating the value of having several decent D-lineman you can rotate in and out. Additionally, you're welcome to try to get by with only one swing tackle if you'd like, but as someone that watched 3/5 of his line miss 1/2 the season or better last year, I'd advise against it.

I think you can get away with 48-50, but if you can get 53 quality players on your roster, you'd be well served to do so.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by brorth

Me, personally? I don't think the value is there to hold developmental guys as it stands. The burden of one whiff hurts because of the contract implications, why would I risk it repeatedly?
My money will be spent on my best players. The fewer of them I have to field, the more they all get. That's why if the 34 requires one fewer named player, I'll move to it.

And if you're moving to the 3-4, I've got a nice 3-4 ILB I'd gladly send your way in Brook Reed for a MLB as I'm switching over to the 4-3 (purely personal preference).

[brorth]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Why would the 3-4 require one fewer named player?

The 43 makes use of backups at both T and E for 8 linemen and 3 LBs for a total of 11
It would appear there are only 6 linemen and 4 LBs in the 34,making 10
DBs being equal, you have to plug one less name into your Sandbox lineup if you run a 34.

[brorth]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Not stupid, but you are forgetting something.

CD has advised on on a couple of occasions that D-lineman and RBs can and will wear out with overuse.

I think you're understating the value of having several decent D-lineman you can rotate in and out. Additionally, you're welcome to try to get by with only one swing tackle if you'd like, but as someone that watched 3/5 of his line miss 1/2 the season or better last year, I'd advise against it.

I think you can get away with 48-50, but if you can get 53 quality players on your roster, you'd be well served to do so.

That's the point I'm getting at. The Dline and RB attrition is accounted for by our naming backups at those positions. Get good T2 and E2 and good HB 2 and 3, but you can't play more than that any given week.
I hear you about Oline, two would be my bare minimum.

[mrroandrro]

Rain Man or CD. As the owner of the Chula Vista squad, I am based out of Shreveport, LA.North Louisiana has been begging for a team sine the Shreveport Pirates of the CFL left, an alternative to the non Saints fan. Is relocation to Shreveport an options, and if so, can we be called the Shreveport Mudbugs or Shreve City Crawdads?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by mrroandrro

Rain Man or CD. As the owner of the Chula Vista squad, I am based out of Shreveport, LA.North Louisiana has been begging for a team sine the Shreveport Pirates of the CFL left, an alternative to the non Saints fan. Is relocation to Shreveport an options, and if so, can we be called the Shreveport Mudbugs or Shreve City Crawdads?

We can take care of that. Name changes are a lower priority right now, but we'll put it on the list.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

We can take care of that. Name changes are a lower priority right now, but we'll put it on the list.

Just a heads up for now, but the Pembroke Pines Patteeus are thinking about changing both the name and the official color of our fanchise to the Pembroke Pines Periwinkle Patteeus. I'll let you know if anything official is decided. Until then, no action is required.

[TambaBerry]

I think the 53 man is a little much in this because you don't have the special teams only players on your roster also. I am good with it and all but I agree you wont need to use all 53 even though I will.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by tambaberry

I think the 53 man is a little much in this because you don't have the special teams only players on your roster also. I am good with it and all but I agree you wont need to use all 53 even though I will.

I've got several special teams specialists on my team. I'm going to win it all with kicks and coverage. Well, as soon as I find a kicker, that is.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by brorth

That's the point I'm getting at. The Dline and RB attrition is accounted for by our naming backups at those positions. Get good T2 and E2 and good HB 2 and 3, but you can't play more than that any given week.
I hear you about Oline, two would be my bare minimum.

I figured out what you were saying there when you broke it down to patteau.

You're essentially saying that, since D-line has a fatigue element to it but LBs don't, you're better served with only having backups at the 3 D-line positions (where they're needed) w/ no backups at the 4 LB (where they aren't) than vice versa. Essentially, the 4-3 requires 8+3 in the box (4 starters, 4 backups and 3 linebackers) whereas the 3-4 requires 6+4 (3 starters, 3 backups, 4 linebackers).

It makes some sense, though ultimately I think you can have 1 extra DE to give your 2 DEs a breather and 1 extra DT to give your 2 DTs a breather. So really, you're talking about 4+2+3 = 9 (4 starters, 1 backup DE, 1 backup DT, 3 LBers) vs. 3+2+4 = 9 (3 starters, 1 backup DE, 1 backup NT and 4 LBers).

Where I really think there's an advantage right now anyway, is that the NFL has migrated to a 3-4 league, as such, there are simply more 3-4 players available in the pool.

It's actually very much in contrast to how the real NFL works. In the real NFL, I think a team would be wise to switch to a 4-3 right now because there would be a little bit of a surplus of good 4-3 pass rushers and quicker DT that would be playing DE in a 3-4. Whereas in this league, you're punished for not playing a guy how the NFL actually played him, so the relative dearth of 4-3 teams means a shortage of 4-3 personnel and thus inflation of their value and an increase in the position 'penalties' that come by playing them out of position.

It's a little frustrating to me, but I figure this will eventually work itself out. I figure eventually attributes and skill-sets will be more important to the performance of the players than their listed position in the prior season. But that's going to take a lot of work.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Just a heads up for now, but the Pembroke Pines Patteeus are thinking about changing both the name and the official color of our fanchise to the Pembroke Pines Periwinkle Patteeus. I'll let you know if anything official is decided. Until then, no action is required.

Periwinkle is an underused color in professional football uniforms. That'll be a good niche for you.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by rageeumr

Maybe Richmond, but the other 2 of you have 12 or 13 spots to fill with your $700-$800. I've got 3 spots to fill with my $300. Who do you think can afford to go higher on a single player?

I don't plan on having a 53-man roster. It's not needed.

I can get by with 47.