Today Fantasy League is back for 2013/14, but somehow, I'm not as enthusiastic as the previous season. Yes, the game may have expanded to include our regional neighbours from Malaysia & Indonesia, but it's negated by other changes.
- Last season, TFL started on Week 4, which is after the international break. This season, TFL will begin on start of Week 1....with the same amount of 30 transfers.
This game is created by Original Fantasy League, and this game also has a limit of 30 transfers, but managers will have to select 16 players from £75mil budget. 30 transfers limit actually makes sense here, as you can rely on the depth of your squad to make weekly decisions.
However, you can only select 11 players from £60mil budget in Today Fantasy League. Once you hit your transfer limit for the week/month, there will be no further incentive for managers to log in.
Of course, one might argue that managers should have made long-term decisions, looking ahead on players' schedule prior to transfers. I agree with this point, but game-makers should also take note of mass audience participation and playability.
The mass popularity of Fantasy Premier League is due to managers having active discussions on how to tweak/improve their squad & who to field. I didn't see much discussions occurring for Today Fantasy League after the 2nd half of the season.
I've followed Today's editorial private league last season, and found that their top manager did not make a transfer after November. Only 1-2 managers were actively managing their teams, though they ran out of transfers before the end of season.
- Also, with an increase budget of £5mil to £60mil, it decreases the challenge of forming a team, and increases the luck factor of the game.
Case in point, I just formed a team with the highest scoring GK, 3 highest scoring Defenders (Agger was the 4th, but Toure is likely to be his 1st-choice partner), 4 of the top 6 highest scoring Midfielders, and 2 of the top 3 highest scoring Strikers. (FYI, this is not my finalised team)
Where's the challenge in discovering this season's Michu prior to the start of the season? Where's the challenge in trying to balance your squad with players from lesser clubs, when you have enough budget to purchase Bale & RVP AND still have enough budget in filling the rest of your team from the Big 6?
Nevertheless, I've created a team for Today Fantasy League, though I'm likely not to be spending as much time as previous season. I've also created a league for TFLTalk, PIN: 3695840
Good luck to all managers!!
