FBTB Parts Draft Numero Dos!

[Gooker1]

Glad to see this draft is up and running! Good luck!

[Chief]

Oh yeah, I forgot! Hey guys, gooker1 is the awesome member who was able to snag these sets for us! Yay gooker! He and I had a sneaky rendezvous outside a locked park in the shadows of LA's skyscrapers late one night so I could get the sets from him! We felt like we were committing a crime, and it didn't help that the cops were parked nearby.

PS: ThatGuyWithTheBricks is out, and j30spiff now has a chance to get in.

[Chief]

J30Spiff has to pass this round. Dr. Cart is up!

[Swoosh Factor]

At this rate, somebody's going to have to buy in a second time to get this show on the road.

Andrew

[Chief]

We're 3 or 4 people into the wait list. Lucky for those people.

I am hoping to have the time nailed down tonight. Thank you to all the people who wrote me saying they would offer up their slot or or go proxy if it came down to them being the lone holdout...just another example of that generous, selfless community spirit I love so much here!

[MrCRskater]

Thanks for the updates, Chief. And thanks for delivering the goods, Gooker!

[Chief]

This week is a bust thanks to a busy work schedule for me and swapping out a couple members of our draft participants. I sent out a new schedule request from everyone. Assuming I get responses from everyone today, I'll post the proposed draft time tomorrow morning. Sorry, kids.

[MrCRskater]

Did the inventory list go out yet? Just wondering which parts will be split into multiple lots. . .

[Chief]

Check the email address you paypal'd me from, I sent it out yesterday afternoon! :P

[MrCRskater]

D'oh! Thanks Chief!

[Swoosh Factor]

I've found what seems to be a discrepancy with the draft inventory. The Dastan lots all include the scabbard and katanas, but they're also listed as separate lots as well. Should the Dastan lots say without scabbard and katanas or are there twice as many as the BrickLink inventory lists?

Andrew

[Chief]

On the Dastan lots it should say without ("w/o")... that's a typo on my part. Thanks for catching it, I've edited it now.

In the first draft I included the katanas and scabbards with the Dastan figures; this time I decided to make them individual lots in order to get an even 130 lots for 13 parts picks per person.

[Bubblyhai]

Thanks Gooker for the sets. Thanks Chief for all the work. Oh and an advance thanks to whoever is my proxy.

Chief: I couldn't update the gmail excel list. I sent you an attached excel list did you get it?

[Chief]

I have received prioritized inventories for Darth Mitz and Bubblyhai.

Just a reminder that the draft is tomorrow (Sunday) night at 7 pm PST in the IRC Chat. when you come into the chat you will be invited into the dedicated draft room. Participants need to come with their inventories ready. Only draft participants will be given the ability to enter messages (Voice); all others will be spectators unable to add messages.

I will be having some help on this end this time thanks to a couple of the participants who are locals. I'm expecting this draft to go even quicker than the last one.

[yohowie]

I enjoyed watching the chat, but it would have been nice to have a copy ofthe parts list to see what people were picking. Look forward to getting in on the next draft. Maybe the 2 standby guys could get first shot at the next draft???

[Chief]

I posted the inventory last time: it completely slipped my mind to do the same this time. Sorry spectators, that's completely my fault.

Next draft will be announced soon!

[Swoosh Factor]

First of all, a big thanks once again to Ryan, Katie, Ace, Gooker1, and anyone else involved with putting on a great show last night. I think overall things went pretty well, but upon further reflection, I have a couple of suggestions for next time:

Draft order: I think future drafts should use a straight draft order (1-10, 1-10, etc.) rather than the serpentine order used last night (1-10, 10-1, etc.). Everyone's wants seemed varied enough and the lots were divided equally enough that there was no great advantage to having the first pick. The double picks at the end of each round, both in person and by proxy, seemed to slow things down somewhat and the reversing order makes it a bit harder for all drafters to anticipate their turns.

Proxies and in person drafters: While it was suggested to avoid having proxies altogether, I don't see it as being a problem provided that anyone who can't be at the draft either in person or through the chat room selects somebody without any other draft responsibility (ie. not Ace or Ryan) to act as their proxy and provides them with their ranked list of lots. Similarly, I think that anyone attending the draft in person should also be in the chat room making their selections, rather than relaying them through Ryan. Looking back at the couple of hiccups I had picking lots that had already been selected, one was probably the result of an in person pick made by Ryan in the chat that got lost amidst the rest of his comments. Basically, I think that all drafters should be represented by separate entities in the chat room.

Timeclocks: This one might be a little harder to implement, but I think it would really speed up the process. It would require one person (sorter) to physically sort the lots as they are picked, a second person (moderator) in charge of draft order and announcing who picks next, and a third person to act as timekeeper. The timekeeper would need a stopwatch and a spreadsheet with the draft lots in one column and the ranked selections of each drafter in subsequent columns.

Once the moderator announces the next drafter, the timekeeper starts the stopwatch and the person on the clock would have a preset amount of time (say 20-30 seconds) to make their selection. While the clock is running, the timekeeper would use the spreadsheet's sort function to determine the drafter's highest remaining ranked lot and if the drafter does not make a selection before time runs out, the timekeeper would select that lot on behalf of the drafter. Once a lot is selected, the timekeeper would delete the entire row from their spreadsheet, ensuring no duplicate selections were made.

Andrew

[MrCRskater]

Very thoughtful suggestions, Swoosh Factor. In the interest of providing more feedback for later drafts, I'd just like to comment briefly on your comments.

Draft order: I think future drafts should use a straight draft order (1-10, 1-10, etc.) rather than the serpentine order used last night (1-10, 10-1, etc.).

While I agree that everyone's interests were pretty varied and left little advantage to being first to pick, I disagree that the serpentine method was either difficult or slower. The serpentine method creates advantages and disadvantages to being in any particular spot in the order, and therefore necessitates a bit of strategy in the drafting process. To me, it's more interesting than a cyclical draft order (and more fun) but is still pretty straight-forward.

Proxies and in person drafters: . . . I think that anyone attending the draft in person should also be in the chat room making their selections, rather than relaying them through Ryan. . . Basically, I think that all drafters should be represented by separate entities in the chat room.

Agreed. This was a bit confusing for me at times, too. I think last night's draft may have flowed a little better if everyone had their own voice in the chat room.

Timeclocks: This one might be a little harder to implement, but I think it would really speed up the process. . . The timekeeper would need a stopwatch and a spreadsheet with the draft lots in one column and the ranked selections of each drafter in subsequent columns.

Once the moderator announces the next drafter, the timekeeper starts the stopwatch and the person on the clock would have a preset amount of time (say 20-30 seconds) to make their selection. While the clock is running, the timekeeper would use the spreadsheet's sort function to determine the drafter's highest remaining ranked lot and if the drafter does not make a selection before time runs out, the timekeeper would select that lot on behalf of the drafter. Once a lot is selected, the timekeeper would delete the entire row from their spreadsheet, ensuring no duplicate selections were made.

Again, I respectfully disagree here. This seems like a tactic to speed up the process, but I can also see it taking more time. Also, it's much too business-like for my taste and would suck all the fun out of doing a draft. This could be equated to playing a friendly board game with your friends/family, but your mother-in-law takes your turn for you because she thinks you're taking too long. Or when your opponent is badgering you to "just play already!" while weighing your next Scrabble play. Out of 130 total turns in last night's draft, I felt there were only 2 or 3 turns where there was some waiting.

Also, this method would essentially require one person (the time keeper) to act as a proxy for all 10 parties, which would be a real headache!

My own input to improve the draft process would be to have the start order put together beforehand so that the draft can start right on time. The mods/admins/organizers had anticipated the draft would take 2 hours, and that's just what it took (including a 15 min. intermission). But we were drafting until late in the evening because we didn't actually begin until 7:30 PST or so. Also, it would've been fun to do a "guess the last lot" game and so forth. Keep those in mind next time!

[Inzane]

I didn't partake in draft # 2, but I hope those that did had as much fun as we did during draft # 1.

I wasn't able to be around to spectate for #2, but I can only offer an opinion (for what its worth) based on my participation in draft # 1.

Coles notes:
- serpentine draft order just fine. (That's how I've often seen hockey pools done as well)
- proxies are fine, provided they are adequately prepared.
- timing/clocks should not be incorporated. I agree with MrCRskater on this, that it would take away a certain amount of fun.

There were definitely some efficiencies to be found after our first draft, but I wouldn't say a huge amount. Cutting it down from 3 hrs to 2.5 hrs, or 2.5 hrs to 2 hrs, might be beneficial. But I see no reason to try and cut a 2+ hr draft down to an hour or less. Half the fun of it was the social aspect, spending time online with the rest of the group. There's a certain amount of fun-ness that shouldn't be rushed. IMO.

Jason

[Chief]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

On draft order: serpentine is by far the preferred method in live drafts and so far it sounds like it is also preferred for the FBTB drafts. I'm not planning to change this without a much larger appeal from our membership.

On picking the participant draft order ahead of time: I will absolutely be doing this in future drafts.

On in-person participation: The help that the in-person participants proved in the physical draft was beyond helpful. It made a hectic event much more manageable for me and definitely sped things up on this end. At the same time, you're right, things slowed down when the in-person participants were making their choices, despite having prioritized lists. If in-person participation continues, I am on board with having them enter them into the chat, and finding other volunteers (I'm not promising Mrschief can be there every time) to place the parts in the participants' boxes, or having a clearer method of communicating their draft choices to the chat.

On proxies: for the next draft, there will be no official FBTB proxies- I will not be taking lists from people for Ace to read from during the draft. If you sign up for the draft, you're agreeing to be present in the chat at the announced time. I concur on this next point: if circumstances dictate that you cannot be present, you will be responsible for finding a trustworthy member (who has no prior draft duties) to draft using your proxy list.

On timeclocks: I've heard of some strict LUG drafts that institute a 30-second-per-pick rule. While this would drastically speed up the FBTB draft time, as MrCrSkater says, the headache involved just doesn't seem worth it. We're trying to cut out or eliminate proxies altogether: to make one person responsible for all ten prioritized lists is asking far too much. This also all but nullifies the point of the live chat community draft. If I have prioritized list for all 10 of the participants, I can produce out a spreadsheet with all 130 (or whatever) lots all chosen and assigned. This is sterile, and completely cuts out the community involvement. Again, without massive appeal from our membership, I'm going to nix this idea. Thank you for putting thought into speed fixes though, Swoosh, I genuinely appreciate it.

The next draft will probably be on a Saturday in the very early afternoon. This should provide a large number of interested members the draft window they've been waiting for. Also, as teased, the set is a 50% off set from Atlantis, and they were purchased by Ace before the second draft's sets.