Pick Em 2023 - PRE SEASON DISCUSSION THREAD

[PICK EM CREW]

Okay gentlemen - really should have put this together about 2 weeks ago but I completely forgot about it until I just started thinking about this year's Masterthread and putting together the first Pick Em of the New Year (Gonna be Tank vs Garcia only on the 7th).. So apologies to all.

However given that we ain't gonna be looking at fundamentally changing the Picking format (ie it's still gonna be winner / method/ detail - EARLY MID LATE / CLOSE CLEAR WIDE) and that the adjusted cutoffs for DEC picks brought in in 2022 (0-9, 10 - 18, 19+) seemed to work pretty well I reckon we're good to post the Davis vs Luis Garcia thread whilst any pre-season discussion is still ongoing.

2nd Pick Em of the year is looking like 2 or possibly 3 fights on the 21st so we got a little bit of time to finalise details before then if we need it. Originally we would have been having Ajagba vs Rivas on the 14th but with the Oscar's injury leaving us with replacement Shaw it just ain't worthwhile I think.

Okay.. so where are we?

We had some pretty good discussion earlier in the year with ideas ranging from changing the points balance from the current 20/10/10 (winner/method/detail) to either reward the method and detail more or less (suggesting either 10/10/10 or even I guess something like 20/5/5 which was the original system under BroBob if I recall right.

Another suggestion (and this is one I'm gunning hard to implement) is to change the multiplier system so that instead of optional multipliers being playable on any fighter at any time they would in future be only playable on the betting underdog (ie fighters whose agrregate odds are +100 or greater). This is of course the system we've already been using for the x5 multiplier but I believe it would reward player discernment better to extend that system to x2s and x3s as well.

In conjunction with the above I think it's probably also worthwhile to reduce the overall number of multipliers available - I think they do add to play and don't wish to get rid of them altogether, but I do think it may be an idea to reduce the overall impact they have on the game... putting a greater emphasis on good picking and a lower emphasis on gamesmanship. My suggestion would be a total of 10 multiplier for the year 6 x2s, 3 x3s and 1 x5, though of course I'm open to suggestion.

Other ideas? - well, same as every damn year I'm gonna try to run up a schedule for the coming month ahead of time - ideally a week or so before the end of the precedinhg month. If previous years are anything to go by we'll fall somewhat short of that but I'll continue to try... if anyone fancies putting up their hand to be head of scheduling I'll take you up on it so fast it'll make your head spin.

Another concept is splitting the year down into a few smaller chunks... I'm thinking about maybe having quarterly rankings and winners - although the possibility of quarterly prizes would be dependent on the goodwill of the Boxing Scene management and I certainly wouldn't be holding my breath. Nice idea though and I put some thought into ways in which it could be effrectively managed.

OK - Ima leave it there for now, cos I've got abunch of other stuff to do but I'd invite any Pick Em players - or prospective players - to please offer their own suggestions on how the game could be improved for 2023.

You want more fights included, less fights, more equal fights even if they're lower down the rankings or top flight televsied matches only? Please make your feelings known gents.

Kind regards gents,

Theo

And if I could just ask one of the mods to sticky this thread for the time being it'd be much apprecaited


jaded -MEGA- BostonGuy BIGPOPPAPUMP

[PICK EM CREW]

Oh yeah... and deep apologies but it's not looking like Ima have a chance to get the final updates and official 2022 Prizewinner announcements done tonight but I will find a few hours tomorrow and make sure it's done by tomorrow eve at the latest, and then get the 2023 Pick Em #1 thread up and running.

K

[ShoulderRoll]

One small suggestion I have is to include the record of each fighter. When there's an obscure boxer in the Pick 'Em the record would give you some idea of his experience level and whether or not he has any punching power.

As always I favor a change to a 10/10/20 points distribution in order to reward perfect picks more.

[SUBZER0ED]

I would say that because this is boxing and anything can happen, I believe that considerable weight should be given for picking the right fighter and method. Also, maybe have two X 5 multipliers instead of the one you are considering. Instead of quarterly awards, maybe a half-year award would work. Finally, I believe multipliers as a whole should remain, as they add another wrinkle to the game. While a well placed multiplier can propel someone up the list, a misfire is like money spent on nothing. It encourages us to choose and spend them wisely.

[siablo14]

Reduce multipliers, yes. No multipliers should be allowed to be used on a heavy favourite. Multipliers should only apply to true 50/50 or close 50/50 fights. Roll's suggestion about rewarding perfect picks with higher points makes sense too.

[Idunnoshet]

I like the idea of Less multipliers.
Having as many as we got right now puts a Big focus on the multipliers IMO.

I don't think there's a need to break the year down into quarters or half.
It might encourage the players that get discouraged and drop out after a bad early start.
But I like the idea of this being a yearly competition.
Maybe a shout out to the top 3 every quarter ?

Suggestion : have a mini poll to determine if the mid level fights should be included.

Thanks again for the hard work guys.

[Tatabanya]

Agree on the decreasing of multipliers overall, whatever the percentage of that reduction is.

I will respect any decision in any case, and conform to eventual new rules in the whole game without a problem.

[SteveM]

I'd encourage more players to play - the more the better. As it stood this year I think maybe only 20 were picking regularly by year end. If there were more players then NSB may likely offer more prize money - that makes sense to me - imagine if there were 50 or 100 players regularly?

One thing I think makes people drop out early is they fall behind. and give up. Another is they see the comp 3,4,5 months in and they have no chance of winning. So I'm all for a 6 month competition then a reset as I think that would encourage more participants and also any drop outs in the 1st 6 months can always get enthused come July 1st for the 2nd comp.

Multipliers - they could be reduced and I'd definitely like them not available for heavy favourites.

Points - picking the winner is easy for at least half the fights where there is a heavy favourite. I'd like to see 10 for winner and 15 for method and 15 for timing/margin of victory. There are some very good pickers on here, better than me for sure, and this is a game that should reward skill but have that gaming element that gives you a chance if you fall behind some.

[Citizen Koba]

I'd encourage more players to play - the more the better. As it stood this year I think maybe only 20 were picking regularly by year end. If there were more players then NSB may likely offer more prize money - that makes sense to me - imagine if there were 50 or 100 players regularly?

One thing I think makes people drop out early is they fall behind. and give up. Another is they see the comp 3,4,5 months in and they have no chance of winning. So I'm all for a 6 month competition then a reset as I think that would encourage more participants and also any drop outs in the 1st 6 months can always get enthused come July 1st for the 2nd comp.

Multipliers - they could be reduced and I'd definitely like them not available for heavy favourites.

Points - picking the winner is easy for at least half the fights where there is a heavy favourite. I'd like to see 10 for winner and 15 for method and 15 for timing/margin of victory. There are some very good pickers on here, better than me for sure, and this is a game that should reward skill but have that gaming element that gives you a chance if you fall behind some.

Yeah getting player participation up would be brilliant and any ideas which could reduce player attrition throughout the year would be gratefully considered. Same every year - we'll start with maybe 35 - 40 regualarish pickers and end the year with about 20.

I will run up a quick recruitment thread today, hopefully get a few more players in and I'll do my usual rounds of just flat out asking posters I think might enjoy it if the want to join in, but it'd also be great if the current regular polayers took the initiative in inviting other posters who they click with to join in too.

I may have to put away my ego and go cap in hand to BPP about the possibility of secondary prizes at the halfway point but like you say I'd be imagining it might be a case of showing the site mangement that they're getting an ROI in terms of poster engagement and clicks - bit of a chicken and egg situation.

The scoring balance is a tricky one and we got some strong opinions on both sides... I'm a bit wary of weighting it too heavy on method and detail - and even if we do move in that direction I'd be inclined to do it incrementally to see how it effects play balance rather than going the whole hog in one go. My inclination - if we do it at all - would be to start at 10/10/10 (W/M/D) for 2023 and then to see how it effects the game before taking it any further.

The multiplier thing is one in which thankfully there ain't much controversy - pretty much everyone seems on board with the idea that multipliers should not be playable on heavy favourites - the only real question is just where to draw the cut-off and I'd invite further input on thaT topic from anyone who might be interested too.

[Tatabanya]

imagine if there were 50 or 100 players regularly?

I'd have to give up updating the standings in that case