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| Notes from RealTime Fantasy Sports |
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2009 is our 15th season providing the best, most comprehensive
fantasy football commissioner service on the planet, with customer
service that is unmatched anywhere!
In 1995 we introduced a simple website with a simple concept: Allow
fantasy football players to track their games completely via the web.
No downloading software, no scouring stats in a newspaper, no more
waiting days to get results. 13 years later we have evolved -- thanks
to your support and suggestions -- into the fantasy football service
thousands of leagues enjoy today. Providing services for users who
range from Majors in the Armed Forces to Major League Baseball players,
we have added tons of new features, rule enhancements, and much more.
This year is no exception.
Like yourself, we cannot wait for the 2009 NFL season to begin.
If you are a returning member, welcome back! If not, welcome aboard!
This page is provided for us to keep you posted on the latest
developments to our site, or to answer any popular questions (besides
those we answer in our Frequently Asked Questions -- "FAQs"
-- page.) If you have a question or are curious about
features of this site, look here and the FAQs page. Of
course, you are always welcome to send questions to us at support@rtsports.com,
or call us at 636-447-1170. We will be happy to talk with you about
our service.
Don't forget about our extremely popular King Of The Mountain contest game. Play for the $25,000 Grand Prize!
Just pick one winner per week, no spreads. If your team wins, you advance.
Last person left is "King of the Mountain" and wins $25,000! Too easy? Did we
mention you can only pick a team to win one time all season?
Congratulations to our 2008 winners:
Mark Sierpien, "Junior Crusher 2", was our $25,000 King of the Mountain Winner!
Anthony Wright, "TonyTheJr1", was our $10,000 King of the Mountain 2 Winner!
As you know we receive our stats from Stats, LLC. They get the scoring plays a few seconds
after the fact and updated game stats a few minutes later as the games
progress. This allows us to have your league's scores updated shortly
after the play actually happens, a favorite feature many of our users
enjoy. However, there are some stats that will not be distributed
to us the by Stats LLC until after they are official, about 1 hour
after the end of the game. They are:
- Tackles
- Assists
- Passes Defensed
- Kickoff and punt return yardage
- If you are a returning member your teams, rules, schedule, etc. have been saved for this year. In addition, we have archived your
last standings, rosters, scores, and more. If you stated that yours is a "keeper" league, then your last rosters will be present
this year.
- If you are an owner or commissioner and have a personal account, your password can be retrieved using the Forgot ID/Password link on our home page.
- As always, we are offering our customers a 10% discount if payment is made online or postmarked by August 15th, 2009.
We have been listening to our customers suggestions and are working hard in the offseason to improve your Fantasy Football experience. Check back often, this is just a sampling of things we are working on for this year:
General
- League Wide Notification of Completed Trades
All team owners can now be notified via email of completed trades. Commissioners can activate this feature via the Commissioner -> Manage League -> Trades page.
- Show scores of other league games on Gamecast
Display a strip containing the scores of other fantasy games in the league at the top of each GameCast. For Platinum leagues with multiple conferences show the scores in your conference.
- Display Lineup Composition on Lineup Page
A Lineup Composition check block is now displayed on the Lineup page and shows the min/max # of starters at each position as well as the overall maximums.
- Message Board - Add Quote feature
The Message Board now has a "Quote" feature where users can quote a previous post when creating a new message.
KotM
League Mgmt
- Add Option to Automatically Schedule Additional Game Against League Avg
When generating a schedule for their league, commissioners now have the option to create a regular head-to-head schedule and additionally schedule everyone in the league to play the league average each week.
This option is for leagues wishing to ensure that high scoring teams will get at least one win each week, even if they are playing another high scoring team.
It also ensures that low scoring teams get at least one loss each week, even if they are lucky enough to beat another low scoring team.
- One and Done Format for Commissioner Leagues.
A One-And-Done league style is now available. Commissioners can use the Commissioner -> Manage League -> League Identity set up page to configure this option. In a One-And-Done style league, players can ONLY be used one time.
- Give commissioners bigger info message after schedule adjustments
After a commissioner changes their league to start after NFL week or extend longer than originally planned, give the commissioner a bigger, more noticeable information message to advance their league to the next week.
- Draft Masters and Best Ball formats for Commissioner leagues
Draft Masters and Best Ball league styles are now available. Commissioners can use the Commissioner -> Manage League -> League Identity set up page to configure these options. In both styles, specific starting lineup moves are not allowed as the "best" lineup is calculated and used for team scoring each week. The Best Ball style allows free agent moves while the Draft Masters style does not.
- Fixed amount salary cap adjustment
Commissioners can now adjust the salaries of all players currently on a roster by a fixed dollar amount as well as by a percentage via the Commissioner -> Salary Cap page.
- Use WYSIWYG Editor for League By-Laws
Commissioners can now use the WYSIWYG editor when adding/editing their league by-laws if their preferences are setup to use it via the Teams -> Preferences page.
- Use Same Schedule From Year to Year
We advancing the site to the next NFL season, do not reset league schedules. Save the schedule the league used last year. Leagues that use complex scheduling will be able reuse their schedule. Leagues wishing to have a new schedule can create one as before.
Live Draft
- Allow selections while draft is paused
Commissioners can now state whether or not owners can draft players while the draft is paused. Note that instant auto-picks will NOT be performed while the draft is paused and picks will still not be allowed if the draft is waiting for the commissioner to start it.
- Include Draft Round, Pick No, and Clock Time in Draft Email
In leagues using email notification for draft picks, the emails have been enhanced to include Draft Round, Pick No, and the time on the clock for each pick.
Money Leagues
- Fantasy Faceoff Money League Game
Offer a bracket style fantasy game. 8-team bracket single elimination. Just win 3 games to be the champion. The game is one-and-done style with no draft. Start a new bracket each week of the football season.
- Add prize money amounts to league rules
The leagues rules page of money leagues now clearly list prize values for league champion, and if applicable 2nd and 3rd.
- Players Released after Week 10 Protected for Rest of Season
Rules now clearly state that all players dropped after NFL week 10 become protected free agents for the remainder of the season. The rule has not changed, but it is now more clearly stated, especially for leagues starting in week 2.
- Sticky notes when trade vote required
Put a yellow Post-It note on a team's home page when there is a trade they have not voted on.
- Change high stakes rules to allow 16 player rosters
Since All-American and All-Pro leagues that use high stakes rules formats have a dedicated lineup spot for tight ends and the NFL started have 6 teams on a bye in a single week, increase the roster size to 16 players. Leagues using standard rules format will remain at 14 player rosters.
- Increase the Number of Objections Required to Block a Trade to 5
In All-American and All-Pro leagues that permit trading, five (5) owner objections are now required to block a trade. Previously 4 objections were required.
- Advertise Trade or No Trade Before Registration
All-Pro and All-American money leagues will now advertise themselves at trading or no trading leagues before a player signs up for a league.
- Add Explanation of Approval and Execution to Trade Page
Add a note to the trades page to explain the 24 hour review time period, five or more owner objections rejects a trade, and trades are generally approved and executed within an hour after the conclusion of the 24 review period.
Reports
- Column For Position in Top Players Report
For Top Player reports displaying players from more than one position, such as Top 200 players, add a column to display player position.
- Add W/L to Schedule Page
When displaying the league schedule "By Team", add the win-loss record of the teams.
- Add per team index of links at top of Injury Report
Index added to the top of the injury report to make it easier to find the report for a specific team.
- Archive each weeks roster with starters indicated
Add individual team's weekly rosters to the archive. Record starters and points scored. Retroactively apply to the 2008 fantasy football season.
- Top Players Report - Make Individual Weeks Sortable
Allow users to sort by each weekly point total column on the top players report.
- Add Weekly High Scorer Report
A "Top Performers" report has been added that displays the top weekly fantasy players for each valid position in a league. Additionally, the report will show the top scoring fantasy teams of each week and if applicable the top scoring starters and bench players of each week.
- Top Players Report - Filter by Conference
For leagues that use conferences, allow owners to filter the top players report by individual conference or all conferences. This allows teams to see free agents or free agent trends in other conferences of their league.
- Top Players Report - Expand to 200 players
Display the top 200 players on the first page of the top players report.
Scoring
- Change Fantasy Standings when Fantasy Game Final
When a fantasy game goes final immediately update the fantasy standings for the league to reflect the results. Previously standings were updated at the start of the next week.
- Add option for Bench Players to be Game Tie Breaker
Added Bench Players as a new automatic game tie-breaker option.
- Add an Expanded Link to Total Points Standings
Add an expanded link to the Total Points Standings. The expanded link will show total points standings plus the total number of points scored by each week of the season.
Trades
- Confirmation button to accept/reject trades
Added additional confirmation messages when Accepting or Rejecting trade proposals. The "Reject" button is also now the default action to further decrease the possibility of an accidental trade acceptance.
- Send Trade Proposal Emails to All Team Addresses
Trade proposal emails are now sent to all emails defined for a team.
- Comment Section for Owner/Commish Accepting/Rejecting/Vetoing Trade
There is now an optional comment field for owners when they accept or reject a trade. In addition, the Commish can make a comment when approving/vetoing a trade request.
Transactions
- Warning when leaving Lineup and Add/Drop pages
Added a warning to the Lineup and Add/Drop pages that gets displayed when leaving the page if changes were made but the Submit button was not pressed.
- Yearly Max for Free Agent Pickups
Leagues can now set a yearly maximum for free agent pickups. Commissioner can set this parameter via the Commissioner -> Manage League -> Free Agent Transactions area.
Waiver Wire
Live Draft
- Audible Alert When Owner On Clock
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