So, as part of my ongoing attempt to make sure you have the opportunity to avoid "human error" on the part of our input team when handling transactions, I am working to set up nodes from which you can enter things like Free Agent bids, Depth Chart submissions, Second-Round pick lists, and so forth.
THIS IS OPTIONAL, NOT MANDATORY. IF YOU WANT TO POST AND LET THE INPUT TEAM PUT YOUR STUFF IN THEY WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO.
It's late and I don't want to document all the procedures tonight, but if you would like to receive information on how to do this, please shoot me a PM. In your PM please include a "team password" that will be added to your team (note FBB supports a "commissioner password" that can be used in lieu of the individual team password so the input team can still input things for you if desired).
More information on this as I have time to document it.
Optional way to submit your own DC/FA Bids/etc.
Optional way to submit your own DC/FA Bids/etc.
The Cat is Back
Re: Optional way to submit your own DC/FA Bids/etc.
If you choose to use this method, you will need to access your node via TeamViewer (download it from http://www.teamviewer.com). Install TeamViewer on the device of your choice (you may use anything though I recommend a PC or laptop rather than a tablet or smartphone).
Those who have chosen to use this method will receive a PM with the TeamViewer ID and password to your node. Connect to your node via TeamViewer and follow the instructions attached below.
Instructions on how to download the latest league file
Instructions on how to Enter Free Agent Bids
Benefits of using this system:
1. You do not have to rely on the input team to put your bids in for you (removes a possible point of failure).
2. You have a chance to see what a player's "Desired Contract" is - this is useful as a baseline for "what is the absolute minimum this player will accept for a long-term deal?" (Note: players will accept 1-year deals for much less than their desired contract but generally will not accept 3- and 4- year deals that are a lot less).
3. You will see automatic corrections if your bids are "below minimum" or "above maximum."
4. Lessens the load on the input team.
Those who have chosen to use this method will receive a PM with the TeamViewer ID and password to your node. Connect to your node via TeamViewer and follow the instructions attached below.
Instructions on how to download the latest league file
Instructions on how to Enter Free Agent Bids
Benefits of using this system:
1. You do not have to rely on the input team to put your bids in for you (removes a possible point of failure).
2. You have a chance to see what a player's "Desired Contract" is - this is useful as a baseline for "what is the absolute minimum this player will accept for a long-term deal?" (Note: players will accept 1-year deals for much less than their desired contract but generally will not accept 3- and 4- year deals that are a lot less).
3. You will see automatic corrections if your bids are "below minimum" or "above maximum."
4. Lessens the load on the input team.
The Cat is Back
Re: Optional way to submit your own DC/FA Bids/etc.
A small change (a new step 9) has been added to the instructions on how to download the latest league file. Please use the updated instructions. Thanks!
The Cat is Back
Re: Optional way to submit your own DC/FA Bids/etc.
How do we enforce the 10 bid limit, and how do we prevent GMs from seeing competing bids?
Re: Optional way to submit your own DC/FA Bids/etc.
Each node is isolated from the others; bids you put in on your own node are not visible seen by other nodes (including the "main" commisisoner node - that's why we have you export them to an external FTP site). They are effectively invisible to anyone else until that FTP site is accessed, the bids are pulled off of it, and imported into the commissioner's FBB node. The "commissioner password" is required to download the bids from that FTP site and import them into the game (if you like to think of it this, way, this is the same as "The Negotiator" opening your PM and inputting your bids). So your bids are as secure as we can make them given the limits of FBB.Inner_GI wrote:How do we enforce the 10 bid limit, and how do we prevent GMs from seeing competing bids?
When bids are imported, they will be checked for total number of bids prior to Free Agency being processed - teams that submit bids in excess of 10 will have excess bids deleted (bids will be sorted alphabetically by last name for the purposes of counting which bids are "in excess" of 10).
The Cat is Back
Re: Optional way to submit your own DC/FA Bids/etc.
Is it fair to say that for round 2, you may be able to see all of round 1 bids on players that didn't sign.WigNosy wrote:Each node is isolated from the others; bids you put in on your own node are not visible seen by other nodes (including the "main" commisisoner node - that's why we have you export them to an external FTP site). They are effectively invisible to anyone else until that FTP site is accessed, the bids are pulled off of it, and imported into the commissioner's FBB node. The "commissioner password" is required to download the bids from that FTP site and import them into the game (if you like to think of it this, way, this is the same as "The Negotiator" opening your PM and inputting your bids). So your bids are as secure as we can make them given the limits of FBB.Inner_GI wrote:How do we enforce the 10 bid limit, and how do we prevent GMs from seeing competing bids?
When bids are imported, they will be checked for total number of bids prior to Free Agency being processed - teams that submit bids in excess of 10 will have excess bids deleted (bids will be sorted alphabetically by last name for the purposes of counting which bids are "in excess" of 10).
Re: Optional way to submit your own DC/FA Bids/etc.
Just FYI, I am replacing the nodes with a more optimal build this weekend. Those of you with existing nodes are probably going to get new TeamViewer IDs and any customizations to Windows you may have done to your node will be reverted.
On the positive side, the nodes are also being outfitted with access to FBCB in case we decide we want to allow access to that (or allow owners to coach a college team or two in FBCB). It's much easier to do it now and give ourselves the option when I'm doing other maintenance anyway than try to add the feature later.
On the positive side, the nodes are also being outfitted with access to FBCB in case we decide we want to allow access to that (or allow owners to coach a college team or two in FBCB). It's much easier to do it now and give ourselves the option when I'm doing other maintenance anyway than try to add the feature later.
The Cat is Back
Re: Optional way to submit your own DC/FA Bids/etc.
Node updates are complete. If you use a node and didn't get a PM from me with your new TeamViewer ID, or if your node isn't working, let me know via PM.
The Cat is Back
Re: Optional way to submit your own DC/FA Bids/etc.
Reminder for those inputting bids via TeamViewer...
1. When you hit the "Max" button, the "Submit" button may remain greyed out. This is because the game code that determines the dollar amount on max contracts can round up when the game code that checks if raises are legal rounds down (yes, I know... I didn't code it).
2. If you get into a situation where the computer won't let you hit "Submit" because it thinks your raises are illegal, you can get the game to automatically fix your bid to make it legal by repeated presses of the "Tab" button. You will eventually see the left hand column (where your bid dollar amounts are) highlighted. Hit tab while one of these years is highlighted and it skips to the next year... and adjusts the bid down (if over max) or up (if under min) to make your bid legal. That means if you repeatedly press "Tab" until all four years have been highlighted, it will adjust your bids and the "Submit" button should become pressable as soon as you tab away from the final contract year.
This is a known bug in the Fast Break program and given it's been years since a patch I doubt it is in line to get fixed any time soon.
ALSO:
You may notice on TeamViewer that a player's "max contract" amount may be higher than what is listed on the contract checker page. In almost every case I have seen, this is due to the "raise over last salary" rule - trial and error suggests a max is either wat is on the salary checker page OR 105% of previous year's salary, whatever is larger (this is not in the FBB documentation). For example, in the 2018 offseason, the salary checker (http://pbsl.ijbl.net/check.htm) says a player with 9 years of experience has a max salary of $27,041,171; however, if you look at James Harden's page, you will note the max for him starts at $31,133,658 instead. If you check his 2017 player page (http://pbsl.ijbl.net/2017/players/player421.htm) you will note his salary was $29,651,103 in 2017. 105% of $29,651,103 is ... that's right, $31,133,658. So please remember that some players may be eligible for bigger "maxes" than others thanks to the 105% rule. This is laid out in the UFA post but since I've had a couple of people ask me about it, I thought it was worth re-iterating.
1. When you hit the "Max" button, the "Submit" button may remain greyed out. This is because the game code that determines the dollar amount on max contracts can round up when the game code that checks if raises are legal rounds down (yes, I know... I didn't code it).
2. If you get into a situation where the computer won't let you hit "Submit" because it thinks your raises are illegal, you can get the game to automatically fix your bid to make it legal by repeated presses of the "Tab" button. You will eventually see the left hand column (where your bid dollar amounts are) highlighted. Hit tab while one of these years is highlighted and it skips to the next year... and adjusts the bid down (if over max) or up (if under min) to make your bid legal. That means if you repeatedly press "Tab" until all four years have been highlighted, it will adjust your bids and the "Submit" button should become pressable as soon as you tab away from the final contract year.
This is a known bug in the Fast Break program and given it's been years since a patch I doubt it is in line to get fixed any time soon.
ALSO:
You may notice on TeamViewer that a player's "max contract" amount may be higher than what is listed on the contract checker page. In almost every case I have seen, this is due to the "raise over last salary" rule - trial and error suggests a max is either wat is on the salary checker page OR 105% of previous year's salary, whatever is larger (this is not in the FBB documentation). For example, in the 2018 offseason, the salary checker (http://pbsl.ijbl.net/check.htm) says a player with 9 years of experience has a max salary of $27,041,171; however, if you look at James Harden's page, you will note the max for him starts at $31,133,658 instead. If you check his 2017 player page (http://pbsl.ijbl.net/2017/players/player421.htm) you will note his salary was $29,651,103 in 2017. 105% of $29,651,103 is ... that's right, $31,133,658. So please remember that some players may be eligible for bigger "maxes" than others thanks to the 105% rule. This is laid out in the UFA post but since I've had a couple of people ask me about it, I thought it was worth re-iterating.
The Cat is Back