Whatever Happened To High Stakes Message Boards?

[David U Kennedy]

While there's likely some truth to the notion that once the board got more polite, the lack of controversy didn't attract some readers, I think another contributor is the competing interest of using the same board to promote contests. I mentioned this last year and was told "Those aren't going away": http://nffcforums.stats.com/viewtopic.p ... 51#p186098

And I do understand the need to promote contests. But if someone comes to a Message Board, maybe they're looking to read about or interact on fantasy football topics? If they're looking for a contest, why not let them go to a separate board (and/or the Countdown Page)?

Here' a summary of message board thread totals just from July 1-Aug. 12th, comparing this year and the past two years:
Year Posts Ads Ad%
2012 107 49 46%
2013 148 100 68%
2014 174 125 72%

Seems like a classic case of not being able to have your cake and eat it too?

Love this post! Sandman you have stats for everything. How do you get all this info?

[Sandman62]

Looking a little closer at these numbers, maybe we should be thankful that the number of threads during this time period this year was 49, but only 58 two years ago, despite them being scattered across more pages? Of course, the true measure would be POSTS, not threads, but who feels like counting all those?

I suggest that ALL of the reasons mentioned here have probably contributed.

[Money]

Players come to the boards for different reasons and those reasons evolve over time. Those reasons are different for each individual. When I first came upon these leagues I got caught up in "Padilla Gate", "The DL" rule in baseball and the Calvin Johnson "Non Touchdown" catch in Chicago on opening day, I was there. I really came off wrong and wish I could have articulated my points in a different fashion. For that reason I remain cautious but am prone to the late night cocktail.

Those discussions were heated and long lasting. There was a right and wrong in most minds and it certainly brought a lot of folks around. The rules discussions were probably the best discussions. I watch the boards but don't feel the need to chime in to much anymore, I'll leave that to others now.

The bottom line is everything evolves and these boards are not excluded from that evolution.

[Marc Quitsch]

Someone last week was upset that a few of us were talking during the Cutline draft. In the CHAT section. The CHAT section. It was kind of funny because he literally called me out for being annoying, but realized he was the only one that felt this way as Jules and a few others quickly explained he's getting crickets if he's looking for someone to agree with him. The art of communication is just that...an art. A dying art, and most people just want to log on, see contests, and/or draft. Maybe get rid of the option to chat at all in draft rooms? Why even have messageboards in the leagues anymore? I'm curious, has anyone else had any leagues(outside of your hometown leagues) with an active messageboard? I haven't seen a single post by anyone in a LONG time...Maybe I'll have to jump into a BWaz DC next year so I can join in the banter.