1.26.2006
Consumer Reports, Fantasy Baseball Edition
member: taymasterj
league: 24-Hour Procrastination Center
Hi, I've written a number of times with questions/complaints about your fantasy game, particularly your trade review system. One of our teams anonymously protests every single agreed-upon trade and has done so since our league began. Annoying, yes, but I could live with this if ESPN's trade review process was less monolithic and inscrutable. A couple of offseason trades were vetoed this morning, as were several of our trades during last season, and as an experienced fantasy player I can honestly say I have no idea why ESPN decided they should be overturned. No explanation is provided. Many of the trades in question were described by your auto-reviewer--I'm guessing it's a machine--as "too imbalanced to maintain the integrity of your league," but looking at the players involved I simply couldn't tell which side was supposed to be favored. I have been playing fantasy baseball for 8 years now and have never seen anything like this. We are left with the feeling that it will be impossible to improve our teams via trade, which is a significant part of the enjoyment of fantasy baseball. That I actually spent money so I could endure this frustration makes it much worse. What exactly did I pay for?
I apologize for the lengthy email, I know it probably isn't fun for you the ESPN employee to read, and I know I am supposed to make suggestions, so here we go: Improve the trade-review apparatus. Have real humans inspecting the particulars, not merely algorithms or statistical projections. Give a real, non-automated reason for vetoing a trade, so we would know how to make it more fair. Give us guidelines for what types of trades will be vetoed (I can promise you there are no attempts at collusion in our league.) Allow our league to turn off trade review with a 75%, or even 80%, majority, as our lone protester isn't about to help us achieve a unanimous vote. Maybe most importantly, give a human response to complaints, so that we the paying customers feel that we have actually paid for something.
I try to be fair and reasonable in situations such as these. If our league's situation hasn't changed by the start of the '06 season, then I will have zero basis for recommending ESPN Fantasy Baseball to any of my friends in the present or future. Surely some or most of you have participated in, or at least seen, CBS Sportsline or Yahoo leagues. I can't be the only one that sees the Grand Canyon of a quality gap at this point. Most of the explanation I've received in the past for similar complaints pointed to the sheer volume of email and league activity you have to deal with; all I can say is that if these deficiencies continue then the volume will become less and less of a problem. I sincerely hope this email gets into the hands of someone who can help. Thank you for reading it.
Taylor Upchurch
league: 24-Hour Procrastination Center
Hi, I've written a number of times with questions/complaints about your fantasy game, particularly your trade review system. One of our teams anonymously protests every single agreed-upon trade and has done so since our league began. Annoying, yes, but I could live with this if ESPN's trade review process was less monolithic and inscrutable. A couple of offseason trades were vetoed this morning, as were several of our trades during last season, and as an experienced fantasy player I can honestly say I have no idea why ESPN decided they should be overturned. No explanation is provided. Many of the trades in question were described by your auto-reviewer--I'm guessing it's a machine--as "too imbalanced to maintain the integrity of your league," but looking at the players involved I simply couldn't tell which side was supposed to be favored. I have been playing fantasy baseball for 8 years now and have never seen anything like this. We are left with the feeling that it will be impossible to improve our teams via trade, which is a significant part of the enjoyment of fantasy baseball. That I actually spent money so I could endure this frustration makes it much worse. What exactly did I pay for?
I apologize for the lengthy email, I know it probably isn't fun for you the ESPN employee to read, and I know I am supposed to make suggestions, so here we go: Improve the trade-review apparatus. Have real humans inspecting the particulars, not merely algorithms or statistical projections. Give a real, non-automated reason for vetoing a trade, so we would know how to make it more fair. Give us guidelines for what types of trades will be vetoed (I can promise you there are no attempts at collusion in our league.) Allow our league to turn off trade review with a 75%, or even 80%, majority, as our lone protester isn't about to help us achieve a unanimous vote. Maybe most importantly, give a human response to complaints, so that we the paying customers feel that we have actually paid for something.
I try to be fair and reasonable in situations such as these. If our league's situation hasn't changed by the start of the '06 season, then I will have zero basis for recommending ESPN Fantasy Baseball to any of my friends in the present or future. Surely some or most of you have participated in, or at least seen, CBS Sportsline or Yahoo leagues. I can't be the only one that sees the Grand Canyon of a quality gap at this point. Most of the explanation I've received in the past for similar complaints pointed to the sheer volume of email and league activity you have to deal with; all I can say is that if these deficiencies continue then the volume will become less and less of a problem. I sincerely hope this email gets into the hands of someone who can help. Thank you for reading it.
Taylor Upchurch
