Taking PBL into the future of online gaming?
Apr 23, 2017 22:49:35 GMT -5
Tim_GiantsGM, Sean_RedsGM, and 1 more like this
Post by Derek _ Red Sox on Apr 23, 2017 22:49:35 GMT -5
Just wanted to touch base with the league on something I been thinking about. As you all know, I started another league, American Baseball Legion and it is off and running with pretty good success. Every new league is a learning experience and we got a great group of current PBL members, former PBL members, OOTP newbies, very established OOTP veteran and even some online commissioners as well. I continue to learn from the game and what can make a league even better.
We are just a few weeks in and there is one thing extremely clear, SLACK is the future of OOTP online leagues. I was hesitant to use it but the demand on the forums were strong so I gave it a go and I need to be honest, I LOVE IT!
So for those who do not know what SLACK is, it is essentially a set of #channels created by the league and it acts as a chatroom essentially. There is the ability to 'direct message (dm)' other members of the league as well and can talk about anything. You can even set up group chat and discuss topics among a select few people.
As far as the #channels in the ABL, for me its a work in progress. I have some like #general (everyday ABL chat among the league),#random (non-ootp talk about the league, which has been mostly NBA Playoffs right now), #amateurdraft (we are conducting the draft on slack, more on this in a minute), #files (easy access to links for files, jerseys, etc), #tradeblock (teams looking to deal in a hurry post on here), #simupdates (I announce when we sim and live sim it), etc.
Teams can also create their own channel which they can use for their own trade block, write about their teams, etc. It truly is fantastic. Even uploading files, images, documents is literally as simple as drag and drop.
Now, what does this have to do with the PBL?
I think SLACK could be the thing that keeps the PBL alive and brings more life to the league. Now before you panic, I cannot stress enough how I DO NOT INTEND TO HAVE SLACK REPLACE THE FORUMS whatsoever. In the ABL, it is and will continue to be more of the lifeblood of the league (as soon as I get more organized with my ideas on how I want to fully utilize it).
What I think about the PBL and its use is to have two channels set up for right now. They would be #general and #simupdates. I figured we could use the general channel to keep daily communication within the league going and it can be about anything. The simupdate channel is set up to watch sims **LIVE** while I am simming each night.
Here is an example of what it looks like:
You can click on each team score and see the boxscore while the sim is ongoing. You can also click on a player to see their player bio page.
As far as the forums, I plan on keeping it exactly the same. Commissioner announcements, Sim Updates, Trade blocks, Trades, Articles, Draft, etc. will be done on the forums. The history of the league is so strong and that is to the immense amount of information at our disposal from the archives. That being said, down the road we could always do more with SLACK and could archive it to the forums.
I will be 100% honest, when I started the league one thing that got me nervous is the draft each year. Ron does such an amazing job of keeping it organized for me that I was hesistant I could do a job as good. Kendall has helped me in the ABL but we run the league on SLACK and it is so simple, efficient and quick.
Despite announcing it a day ago, we officially started the draft Today (SUN 4/23/17) and are already through pick 16 of the first round. Having people have the app on their computer running in the background, their phone or even in their browser makes everyone connected and when a team is up you simply @gmname him and it sends him a heads up. We do that along with a @team1, @team2 and @team3 to let them know who is on deck. We had two lists submitted so far and they were on to make their picks before we used the list. Its fantastic!
I would not bring this up if I truly did not feel strongly that this is the future of online gaming and I think the PBL could even be stronger with its use.
I ran this last sim on SLACK #simupdates to test it out. You can download the app for your phone or leave it on your computer. You can also have multiple leagues at once and its as simple as ⌘+ 1,2 or 3.
To join the PBL group just follow this link: PBL SLACK CHANNEL
We are just a few weeks in and there is one thing extremely clear, SLACK is the future of OOTP online leagues. I was hesitant to use it but the demand on the forums were strong so I gave it a go and I need to be honest, I LOVE IT!
So for those who do not know what SLACK is, it is essentially a set of #channels created by the league and it acts as a chatroom essentially. There is the ability to 'direct message (dm)' other members of the league as well and can talk about anything. You can even set up group chat and discuss topics among a select few people.
As far as the #channels in the ABL, for me its a work in progress. I have some like #general (everyday ABL chat among the league),#random (non-ootp talk about the league, which has been mostly NBA Playoffs right now), #amateurdraft (we are conducting the draft on slack, more on this in a minute), #files (easy access to links for files, jerseys, etc), #tradeblock (teams looking to deal in a hurry post on here), #simupdates (I announce when we sim and live sim it), etc.
Teams can also create their own channel which they can use for their own trade block, write about their teams, etc. It truly is fantastic. Even uploading files, images, documents is literally as simple as drag and drop.
Now, what does this have to do with the PBL?
I think SLACK could be the thing that keeps the PBL alive and brings more life to the league. Now before you panic, I cannot stress enough how I DO NOT INTEND TO HAVE SLACK REPLACE THE FORUMS whatsoever. In the ABL, it is and will continue to be more of the lifeblood of the league (as soon as I get more organized with my ideas on how I want to fully utilize it).
What I think about the PBL and its use is to have two channels set up for right now. They would be #general and #simupdates. I figured we could use the general channel to keep daily communication within the league going and it can be about anything. The simupdate channel is set up to watch sims **LIVE** while I am simming each night.
Here is an example of what it looks like:
You can click on each team score and see the boxscore while the sim is ongoing. You can also click on a player to see their player bio page.
As far as the forums, I plan on keeping it exactly the same. Commissioner announcements, Sim Updates, Trade blocks, Trades, Articles, Draft, etc. will be done on the forums. The history of the league is so strong and that is to the immense amount of information at our disposal from the archives. That being said, down the road we could always do more with SLACK and could archive it to the forums.
I will be 100% honest, when I started the league one thing that got me nervous is the draft each year. Ron does such an amazing job of keeping it organized for me that I was hesistant I could do a job as good. Kendall has helped me in the ABL but we run the league on SLACK and it is so simple, efficient and quick.
Despite announcing it a day ago, we officially started the draft Today (SUN 4/23/17) and are already through pick 16 of the first round. Having people have the app on their computer running in the background, their phone or even in their browser makes everyone connected and when a team is up you simply @gmname him and it sends him a heads up. We do that along with a @team1, @team2 and @team3 to let them know who is on deck. We had two lists submitted so far and they were on to make their picks before we used the list. Its fantastic!
I would not bring this up if I truly did not feel strongly that this is the future of online gaming and I think the PBL could even be stronger with its use.
I ran this last sim on SLACK #simupdates to test it out. You can download the app for your phone or leave it on your computer. You can also have multiple leagues at once and its as simple as ⌘+ 1,2 or 3.
To join the PBL group just follow this link: PBL SLACK CHANNEL