Draft Rookies or Vets?
Rookie or vet? That's the theme of fantasy sports writer Matthew Hill's latest article, as he evaluates the rookie running back options.
This year's running back class is deep and talented, but drafting before the NFL draft (coming up later this month) is always a high-risk, high-reward proposition. It's not just rookies who are hard to evaluate -- it's the veterans too! Get it right, and you're set with an advantage heading into the season. Get it wrong and...well...there will be other drafts!
Renewal Deadline Next Month
DataForce's renewal deadline for multi-year leagues is about a month away. Here's a quick overview of what happens on that day, so you can plan ahead.
- May 10 is the final date to make payment before your teams become 'orphans'. The easiest way to renew is to use your shopping cart to pay for several or all at once. Alternatively, first visit the Keepers->RenewTeams to learn how much you owe for each team, then deposit money, and then return to Keepers->RenewTeams to click the PAY button on each league.
- If you have a negative balance on your account, it probably resulted from the January 1 auto-renew of one or more or your teams. You must bring your account current by depositing the money owed to keep playing at DataForce! Do this before the May 10 deadline.
- On the May 10 deadline, the Orphan Marketplace will shut down, and all orphans and unpaid teams will be moved to the Orphan Auction page. This much-anticipated event each year is a week-long, sealed-bid auction with each orphan going to the highest bidder.
- There are always a few teams that do not sell at auction. After the auction completes, the Orphan Marketplace will re-open, but DataForce will set the sale price of the teams, and they'll be bargain-basement prices! The prices will keep dropping until all orphans are gone.
- On the odd chance that we cannot find a home for an orphan in time for its annual draft, we'll assign a shill to play the team this year. (We've only had to use a shill a few times in our eleven-year existence.)
Head over to Rules->Dynasties for the full story, where you can learn everything about multi-year leagues and orphan handling at DataForce.
The Newbie Corner: Webpage Navigation
This week, we get back to the very basics: How to find your way around our website. Here's a number of hints to turn you into a pro.
- The Mobile Version. First of all, if you're viewing from a mobile device, you may be seeing DataForce's miniature mobile version. This is great for basic tasks, but if you want the full experience, switch to 'full screen' mode. Just locate the tan-colored FULL SCREEN button at the top of the page to make the switch. Most of the tips presented here today are best seen in full-screen mode.
If you decide you prefer the full-screen version to the mobile version, even when using a mobile device, you can set your preference on your My Account page. Then, even when visiting with a mobile device, you'll get the full treatment.
- Two Navigation Hubs. DataForce software is divided into two separate "hubs". One is for administrative functions like maintaining your account and buying new teams, and one is for team management of leagues that are hosted on DataForce software. Locate the buttons at the top of the page called Administration and Team Management. (On the mobile version, the latter will be called Mobile Manager.) You can bounce back and forth between the two hubs at any time.
- Using Breadcrumbs. At the top of each page is a series of breadcrumbs to show you the way back home from the page you're in. For example, if you visit the scoring page, you'll see something like Home → Rules → Scoring at the top right of the white portion of the page. You can see at a glance that your page is embedded in the Rules tab, from the Home page.
Once you start navigating (so that you have a page to "go back to"), on the top left of white section on each page is a little link that says ← Go Back. This takes you back to your previous page. Why would you use this link?
Because DataForce page design, in order to make it run as fast as possible, does not really switch webpages as it moves from page to page! It just switches content on the same page. So, quite often, your browser's BACK button won't do what you want it to do, and you'll want to use the ← Go Back feature to go backward. - Help Text. Once you start browsing, most pages have what is called "help text" or "page text". If available for the page you're viewing, you'll see a yellow HELP button at the top. Just click this text open to learn about the page, and to get hints about how to play. Here are a few pages where the help text is especially worth reading:
- The Rulebook. Here's our full rulebook, back on the Administrative page. Perhaps it's not a very intuitive place, we know, but regulatory bodies want it where everyone will see it right away as they arrive at our site.
It's a pretty big document, so you'll want to use the search function often at the top right side of the page.
Underneath the Rules tab is a number of other topics, such as the categories of games we offer, draft types we offer, scoring rules, and various lineups in more detail.
Big-Money Leagues Added
We've started adding big-money leagues to the lobby! We always start out with Standard leagues, meaning a lineup of 1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1flex, 1PK, 1Def, and 18-man rosters.
We added a Gold ($500), a Platinum ($1000) and a Diamond ($3000) to the lobby.. The Diamond league doesn't begin drafting until August 18, but the others will begin as early as June, if they fill that quickly.
Interested in joining and helping a league get started early, but struggling to justify making payment this early? Customers from prior years, just contact us, and we'll help you lock down your spot. You'll pay on the day your league fills.
