How Active and Engaged are your leagues?

[psfox2010]

Curious to hear from other people on this...

I've played redraft for years and last year some guys I've known for awhile started a 10 team dynasty league, so this is the league's 1st off season. The off season has been dormant besides 3 or 4 teams making trades and the activity wasn't crazy during the season, but much more than it is now. I'm completely bought into the dynasty format and love everything about it, but I'm feeling frustrated by the lack of activity.

I'm just trying to get a feel if this is normal for most dynasty leagues and I need to lower my expectations or if I need to try to look to join a league that's more suited to my interest level.

[Madadamus]

I'm in 13 right now and it's a full sprectrum as far as activity goes. My newer leagues and leagues with guys I know on DLF are active year round.

I'm also in leagues that are dead, a few haven't even logged on the 2017 site and there are no trades or even rejections sometimes.

And some leagues are only active draft season and after training camp starts.

My recommendation is to join leagues with guys you know. It's a better chance the league is competitive and doesn't die.

[Kramer]

In my superflex league with people I know, we've only had 1 trade since our trade deadline in November. People are focused on other stuff this time of year. I would say it'll pick up around draft season (both NFL and your rookie ones). It definitely depends on the league and the owners. I've sent out trade offers and gotten offers and have had discussions with various owners, but we're all in a holding pattern until the NFL draft to see landing spots and whatnot first before we do anything.

[onetwothree]

I see owners from one end of the spectrum to the other in my leagues. Some scour every site and forum for details and you can see in their transactions. Others are more casual and will be more involved once the season gets going but this is just a hobby and a way to interact with friends.

There's so many variables in football that neither approach guarantees anything. You could over manage the team and cut guys too early right before a break out or you could luck into a surprise breakout from a handcuff that wasn't waived because you weren't actively managing the team at the time.

[moishetreats]

Great question, but let's not confuse "active" with "good". Some active leagues are good, and some are not. Some good leagues are active, and some are not.

If you think that your league is good -- by whatever measure you want -- then don't sweat if/when it is active. On the other hand, if being active year-round is important for you to consider a league good, then make sure to consider that when starting/joining/staying in a league.

[skip]

Great question, but let's not confuse "active" with "good". Some active leagues are good, and some are not. Some good leagues are active, and some are not.

If you think that your league is good -- by whatever measure you want -- then don't sweat if/when it is active. On the other hand, if being active year-round is important for you to consider a league good, then make sure to consider that when starting/joining/staying in a league.

Exactly. Some of the worst owners are also the most active... My question would be - are they responsive? That is much more important to me than the number of moves teams are making.

[GridironGuerilla]

I'm in 13 right now and it's a full sprectrum as far as activity goes. My newer leagues and leagues with guys I know on DLF are active year round.

I'm also in leagues that are dead, a few haven't even logged on the 2017 site and there are no trades or even rejections sometimes.

And some leagues are only active draft season and after training camp starts.

My recommendation is to join leagues with guys you know. It's a better chance the league is competitive and doesn't die.

This is my experience 100%.

[Kramer]

Great question, but let's not confuse "active" with "good". Some active leagues are good, and some are not. Some good leagues are active, and some are not.

If you think that your league is good -- by whatever measure you want -- then don't sweat if/when it is active. On the other hand, if being active year-round is important for you to consider a league good, then make sure to consider that when starting/joining/staying in a league.

Exactly. Some of the worst owners are also the most active... My question would be - are they responsive? That is much more important to me than the number of moves teams are making.

Yes, I think this is huge. If there is one or more owners who aren't responsive to trade offers or what they'd want/need in any trades, that is the most frustrating part of any league I think. They could have a player/pick that you want/need and are willing to pay for or work something out and if they don't even respond to anything, it's super frustrating (I have an owner in my SF league like that and I sent him like 5 different offers together to see what might work for him and he never responded with anything yet).

[Goirish374]

also, and the DLF forum seems particularly prone to this line of thinking, in addition to the distinction between active and good there is the critical distinction that "active" is not defined by number of completed trades.

[MARKinMI]

also, and the DLF forum seems particularly prone to this line of thinking, in addition to the distinction between active and good there is the critical distinction that "active" is not defined by number of completed trades.

Yeah, Some of the most active owners I know are the least likely to make a trade. I play with a few guys that are just scared to lose a deal so the only ones they'll make are the ones that look totally lopsided in their favor on paper. Yet they're on the site every day and always respond which as a commish is all i really care about. The owner in me hates knowing that if that owner gets a player that I like that player is probably off limits for years to come... Stuck in no trade black hole. But nobody has a right to tell an owner how to manage his team if hes following all the rules.

[psfox2010]

Appreciate all the responses. I might not have used "active" correctly in my original post. Engaged and interactive are more accurate. I'm not gauging it by number of trades, but more in the going back and forth with other owners. Another poster brought up responsiveness and that has been a problem in the league I'm in. There are 3 or 4 members who simply don't respond to anything and that is a hit in a 10 team league. I'm concerned the league will gradually become stagnant due to 30% - 40% of the league being unresponsive to everyone else in the league. Hopefully things will improve in time because I had high hopes for the league with the guys who are in it.

[ChuckCecil26]

also, and the DLF forum seems particularly prone to this line of thinking, in addition to the distinction between active and good there is the critical distinction that "active" is not defined by number of completed trades.

Yeah, Some of the most active owners I know are the least likely to make a trade. I play with a few guys that are just scared to lose a deal so the only ones they'll make are the ones that look totally lopsided in their favor on paper. Yet they're on the site every day and always respond which as a commish is all i really care about. The owner in me hates knowing that if that owner gets a player that I like that player is probably off limits for years to come... Stuck in no trade black hole. But nobody has a right to tell an owner how to manage his team if hes following all the rules.

Man, does that hit home. I've found that 40 - 50% of owners operate like that. Doesn't help that many owners view trading as a competition, motivated to rob people of their assets so they can beat their chests like Kong while screaming, "I won!" Terrible philosophy that further discourages trade-jittery owners from dipping their toes into the pool.

Best traders in my leagues are the guys who enjoy the negotiation aspects of dealing and understand that "winning" a trade is less important than finding common ground that potentially solves roster issues for both sides.

[Dr.Graffin]

Sounds pretty normal to me what you're describing. I love trading probably most of all aspects in dynasty football (so I do it as often as I can) but the reality is most won't actively trade outside of the regular season. Responding to offers though is the expectation, as it takes only a few seconds to do so on a smartphone. That's the basic thing I ask from everyone in any league I run. It's also going to vary from league to league based on the format and history you have together (general owner activity that is). Can't force owner participation but you can definitely encourage it.

I've found using the groupme app helps a lot with league engagement. But of course there's no magic answer.

[sloth8u]

Appreciate all the responses. I might not have used "active" correctly in my original post. Engaged and interactive are more accurate. I'm not gauging it by number of trades, but more in the going back and forth with other owners. Another poster brought up responsiveness and that has been a problem in the league I'm in. There are 3 or 4 members who simply don't respond to anything and that is a hit in a 10 team league. I'm concerned the league will gradually become stagnant due to 30% - 40% of the league being unresponsive to everyone else in the league. Hopefully things will improve in time because I had high hopes for the league with the guys who are in it.

in your op, i thought you mentioned that it was a group of friends, id think you could communicate anything via personal relationship. in person, text, work....you get the idea.

offseason trading is very dangerous. ive seen teams completely killed by it. whether that be buying or selling. it works both ways. i would never fault anyone if they chose not to make a move unitil after their draft or even right before the season.

a group of 14 local redraft buddies wanted me to start a dynasty league for all of us after showing them mfl and this site. we got together on saturday afternoon and went over how everything works in terms of "value" both with future picks and players. i stressed the importance, of knowing whether we would all be active in the offseason or just the season. i didnt want t start a league with varying levels of commitment. ultimately here we just stuck to our redraft league. we were about 50/50 on the commitment end of it. key issues that were brought up:

-continuously losing, some didnt want to lose every year and not be able to have a chance for several years. they wanted a bad year to be erased and have a chance the next season. cant blame them to be honest.
-they didnt want the league to be open for trading year round. those that didnt feel they had the time to put in the research felt it was very unfair. cant disagree there. those that were all aboard, wanted it open all year.

ultimately we just stuck with the redraft league. dynasty is not for everyone. leagues can get out of control if everyone isnt on the same page.

i commish a dynasty league that is essentially nothing but playing the game. not much chat or anything. trades are open, they happen whenever, but all members are active in other leagues and all we ask is that you respond in a timely manner if you receive an offer, show up for the draft and season. pay your dues....and have fun. all members are from this site, and all are aware of whats going on. i think some may like it to be more "active", but everyone is busy with life and other leagues. we try to get our fantasy football fix however we can

[TheDogPound]

I can definitely relate!

I have been playing fantasy for 4-5 years now. I am looking for a FREE dynasty league to join.

I use NFL.com's platform for 2 IDP keeper leagues that I am in.

I noticed that the average or normal fantasy player doesn't get into fantasy mode until after the draft or even pre-season. So the avid 365 year round players are abnormal people, IMO. (Myself being one of those abnormalities. Lol) This is part of the reason I joined this forum, to interact with more avid fantasy players.

So if you are lucky to find a league where there is activity year round then cherish that. Lol Otherwise, I think you should expect some fluctuation between rapid activity and the lack thereof, IMO. I also think that you could maybe use forums like this to recruit potential year round active owners.

I love the idea of playing with friends as that makes it more competitive, however, sometimes friends aren't as avid as you may be and it sometimes may not even be competitive because they may lack the intuition that you've gained due to your year-round activity and upkeep on happenings. So there is some level of patience and coaching they may need to go into playing with friends.