Idea: abolish cycles, have seasonal competitions, count only goals

Here is a simplified version of my train of thought in the last days. Italics means a problem in the previous solution (or, in the first instance, in the game as it is), bold means the solution to that problem.

There is little fun in checking the updates to the scores.

Then let’s only count the goals. (see previous post)

OK, but the rankings would still change slowly, so this would increase the fun (in checking the updates to the scores) only marginally.

Then let’s have seasonal rankings. [Alternative idea: one ranking for each round of international matches, then a seasonal or all-time meta-ranking]

OK, but this would produce odd incentives: if everybody picks younger players, you should pick older players (so you will be the only one scoring in later seasons), and vice versa; if everybody picks South American players, you should pick European players (so you will probably win the seasons when Euros are played).

Then let’s remove cycles. I.e., cycle 9 will never end. All the players picked since August 2024 will contribute to the cycle 9 seasonal competitions.

OK, but in this way someone who joins the game will not be competitive for years.

Then let’s have new scouts join only when someone leaves the game, with the incoming scout inheriting the retired scout’s squad.

I think the general point is: can the long-term nature of Fantasy Scout be combined with a fun score checking mechanism?

Idea about how to visualize the evolution of a cycle

Scout	[Previous updates]	June 2023	September 2023	October 2023
Leon	…	1st (11 pts.)	4th (3 pts.)	1st (15 pts.)
Rico	…	4th (4 pts.)	1st (6 pts.)	2nd (7 pts.)
Sam	…	2nd (7 pts.)	2nd (5 pts.)	2nd (7 pts.)
[Other scouts]	…	…	…	…

Of course the table would be scrollable with the first column (name of the scouts) fixed, and the columns would be sortable.

Counting only goals

Just thinking aloud…

What if everything in the game remained the same, but only goals counted?

• The game would be about events, whereas now it is mainly about non-events. Goals are events, caps are not. There is 1 goal for every 5 caps.
• The scores would be far lower, therefore each point would be worth more.
• Given the latter two points, it would be more fun to follow the score.
• One could also easily track the scores in real time.
• Would it take fewer years to realize who will win the cycle? If yes, would it be bad?
• The optimal number of scouts would probably be lower than under the current rules.
• There would be an incentive to pick mainly forwards. A way to mitigate this could be to multiply the value of goals scored by midfielders (e.g. x2) and defenders (e.g. x4). But who would decide the role of a player? Idea: you pick a player as defender/midfielder/forward, and in the next 30 days any other scout can steal the player by selecting a more advanced role (e.g. “I pick Neymar as defender”, “I steal him as forward”, Neymar forever belongs to the latter scout).