SHAFT 1984

Strat-O-Matic

Home Field

Advantage

Football

Trust

General:

This is an online computer football league run during the spring using the most current version of the game (Version 4) and stock teams from a past season (1984). This league is run independently of the SHAFT Fall League as far as franchise ownership is concerned. The most important requirement for this league is a commitment from each individual coach to arrange and play their games according to our schedule (usually averaging 1 game per week). The second most important requirement is that you communicate with me and your opponent on a timely basis. If you are going on vacation or have other situations arise that prevent you from meeting deadlines you must let me know so that we can find a substitute for that week or arrange to play your game early. If you don't communicate and you fall behind I will be forced to remove you from the league and find a replacement.

Core Philosophy:

The basic premises are simplicity and also allowing everyone to play half their games each season with the options they want while being in a league setting. There will be no "PRE" and "POST" file complications. All that is required is that both coaches send me the HTML boxscore file immediately after the game. All games will be played as "Local League" games with the home team choosing whatever game options they want. There are three exceptions though.
1)"Player and QB Overusage" must always be turned OFF,
2)"Home Field Advantage" must always be turned OFF except in the playoffs, and
3)"Looser Substitution Restrictions" must always be turned OFF.

League House Rules:

Simplicity is key, and I do not want to impose in-game house rules unless I feel a strong need to do so. There are only two house rules that will be in effect during gameplay.
1)You must leave your starting Split End and/or Flanker in their starting receiver positions in all formations if either or both is in the game. In other words, you cannot move your starting Split End and/or Flanker to the 3rd and/or 4th wide receiver spots in formations with more than 2 receivers. You are allowed to remove your starting Split End and/or Flanker and replace them with backups in the Split End and Flanker starting positions if you wish, but if they return to the game they must play in their original starting spots in all formations.
2)You must leave the starting Free Safety in the Free Safety position if he is in the game. In other words, you cannot put your starting Free Safety in an extra defensive back position.

Seniority:

If someone drops out, the next coach down on the list has the option of claiming the available team or passing on it. Then the next coach down has the same option, and so on. Once a team is claimed, the claiming coach must release his current team and the process starts over again with the next coach down on the list under the newly released team. These steps will repeat until the end of the list is reached. After that, any coaches on the waiting list will be able to claim the open team based on their seniority.

Auto Save after Each Play:

Always check to make sure this option is turned ON before kickoff of each game.

Important note on injuries:

You have 2 choices regarding playing with injuries. You can either play with No Injuries selected OR with Single Game Injuries selected. There are no Multiple Game Injuries in SHAFT. If you accidently play a game with Multiple Game Injuries selected and someone goes down for more than the rest of the game you are allowed to heal them after the game by autoplaying enough "Local League" games until the player is healthy. Or, start a Local League game with your team sometime before your next SHAFT game and go into "View" then "Manager" for your team. Then find the injured player and press the "Heal" button for him.

SHAFT Regular Season:

The actual NFL schedule will be used if we have enough coaches for all teams. If we have less than a full league I will come up with a schedule and divisions that are as close as possible to maintaining actual NFL integrity AND/OR are easy for me to create without losing my mind.

For 1984 we have 22 teams. There will be 2 divisions in each conference. One division will have 5 teams and the other will have 6. You will play each team in your division twice and the rest of the teams in your conference once. You will also play one or two interconference games depending on if you are in the 6 team division or the 5 team division. Your home and away games are determined by a pattern that makes it possible for all the teams and divisions to have an equal number of home and away games for each part of their schedule (division, conference, interconference). Except, the 6 team divisions do not have an equal number of home and away games in the conference (5 games) and interconference (1 game) segments of their schedule because each of those segments is an odd number of games. However, the 6 team divisions do have an equal number of home and away games if you take the conference and interconference games together. Three of the teams in each 6 team division will have an interconference game at home and 3 will have an interconference game on the road with the other required home or away game coming in one of the 5 conference games to even out total home and away games.

If you are in a 5 team division you have 8 divisional games plus 6 more conference games plus 2 interconference games. If you are in a 6 team division you have 10 divisional games plus 5 more conference games plus 1 interconference game. Since teams within a conference but in different divisions will have a different number of conference games we will have to use win percentage if conference game tiebreakers are needed for anything.

The home team chooses the options they want to play with for each game. But, "Player and QB Overusage" must always be turned OFF, "Home Field Advantage" must always be turned OFF, and "Looser Substitution Restrictions" must always be turned OFF during the regular season. All other options are determined by the home team including the "Rules Through The Years" options. (Note that it does not matter which Rules Through The Years option you choose when playing recent seasons because they will all be the same. However, older seasons can be played with 2 point conversions on if you choose "Use Current Rules".

SHAFT Playoffs:

The playoff teams and seedings will be determined as they are in the NFL unless I make some minor adjustments as I see fit (see the next paragraph relating to the 1984 playoffs). The home team chooses the options they want to play with for each game. But, "Player and QB Overusage" must always be turned OFF and "Looser Substitution Restrictions" must always be turned OFF. All other options are determined by the home team, including the use of the "Home Field Advantage" option.

For 1984 we will have 5 out of 11 teams in each conference make the playoffs. Tiebreakers will follow the same steps as the present day NFL does. The two division winners will be seeded #1 and #2. Seeds 3,4,5 will be the wildcards with seeds #4 and #5 playing against each other to determine who goes on to play the #1 seed in the divisional round. #3 will also play #2 in the divisional round.

SHAFT BOWL:

The SHAFT Bowl will be played at the end of the SHAFT Playoffs between the winners of each conference. The SHAFT BOWL Game Rules and Options will be determined by the 2 coaches and by SHAFT BOWL rules in the following manner:

These are always OFF in the SHAFT BOWL:
- Player Overusage
- QB Overusage
- Home Field Advantage
- Looser Substitution Restrictions
- Injuries

The 2 coaches alternate designating whether the remaining 12 Rules will be on or off in the SHAFT BOWL. The coach of the conference team that was designated as the home team in the NFL Super Bowl will pick 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th, and 12th. The other coach will pick 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 10th, and 11th.

The remaining 12 Rules are:
- Penalties
- QB End Run Limits
- Running Back Fatigue
- Linebacker Run Containment
- Use individualized fumble ratings
- Do not allow exceeding longest run
- Do not allow exceeding longest reception
- Dumpoff Rule
- Updated Sack Rule
- Emphasize 6-rated LBs
- Empty flat pass = guessed wrong
- Rules Through The Years (pick one of the 3 options)

To clarify -
- the "Home" coach goes first and picks ANY 1 of the remaining 12 Rules and says if it will be turned on or off.
- the "Visiting" coach then picks ANY 2 of the remaining 11 Rules and says if they will be on or off.
- the "Home" coach then picks ANY 2 of the remaining 9 Rules and says if they will be on or off.
- the "Visiting" coach then picks ANY 2 of the remaining 7 Rules and says if they will be on or off.
- the "Home" coach then picks ANY 2 of the remaining 5 Rules and says if they will be on or off.
- the "Visiting" coach then picks ANY 2 of the remaining 3 Rules and says if they will be on or off.
- the "Home" coach then picks the last Rule and says if it will be on or off.

Note that only when playing with older seasons will the Rules Through The Years option have an effect on the game rules. For example, select "Use Home Team Rules" or "Use Visiting Team Rules" to prevent 2 point conversion attempts in older seasons (before 1994?). Choosing either will prevent them for both teams. But, this option will have no effect on the rules for more recent seasons.

SHAFT Overachievers' League Playoffs: (aka S.O.L.

Even if you have a bad team, you can still make the overachievers' playoffs. All you need to do is finish with more wins than your team did in the real NFL and also not qualify for the regular playoffs. (For some seasons this may change depending on if we have a full league or not - see paragraph below for 1984.) Everyone who qualifies will participate in the S.O.L. tournament playoffs. Home field advantage will be determined by the amount of games "won" (see paragraph below) greater than that team's actual NFL games won. The tiebreakers will be: 1)actual games won greater than actual NFL games won, 2)worse NFL record, and 3)strength of actual victory %. Seeding in the S.O.L. tournament will disregard conference. Home field advantage will apply to all games in the S.O.L. Bowl tournament, even the title game. The only options that must be turned OFF are "Player and QB Overusage" and "Looser Substitution Restrictions". Everything else is up to the home team, including the "Home Field Advantage" option.

For 1984 I am going to try something new. You still have to get more "wins" than your NFL team did, but you can get partial "wins" even when you lose. You will get an SOL "win" every time you win a game as usual. You will also get 1/2 win for every tie as usual. But, now you also get 1/2 win if you lose by 1-7 points and 1/4 win if you lose by 8-10 points. To make it to the SOL Playoffs you still need to exceed your NFL wins, but now you increase your chances of doing so if you keep your losses close.

Next Season:

  1. At some point close to the start of next season we will determine which coaches are returning and, of the returning coaches, which ones want to keep their current franchise.
  2. Returning coaches that keep their current franchise will be moved to the top of the seniority list.
  3. Returning coaches that want a different franchise must release their current team and will be temporarily removed from the list. They will then be immediately added back on the list in reverse order of finish based on the prior SHAFT season.
  4. The returning coaches that wanted a different franchise will then draft a new team from the available teams based on their new seniority. In other words, if you want a new team and you had the worst record of the coaches that want a new team then you will get first pick of the available teams.
  5. New coaches will then claim the remaining teams on a first come first serve basis.

Disclaimer:

This is my current plan for the league and I intend on following it. But, I reserve the right to change anything and everything at any point in time. Circumstances change, unforeseen problems arise, philosophies migrate, etc. I will do what I can to keep this fun for everyone, including myself. If we have coaches that I perceive are causing problems, and/or not communicating, and/or repeatedly missing deadlines, I will kick them out of the league. On the other hand, if you realize that you cannot commit to keeping this enjoyable for everyone by staying current, then, by all means, let me know that you want out. I will hold no animosity towards anyone who tells me they want out in a timely manner. Don't get several games behind and disappear. If you need help let me know sooner rather than later. I want everyone to make an effort to be flexible to accommodate the different schedules and time zones that we all have. Above all, enjoy the game, even if this league turns out to be not for you.

SHAFT Game Day Procedures and Notes:

1) Double check the schedule to make sure you are playing the proper opponent.

2) Double check the schedule to make sure the proper team is the Home (Server) Team.

3) Launch Strat-O-Matic Computer Football Version 4.

4) Home (Server) Team Procedure:

  1. Click on "Options" and verify that "Player and QB Overusage" are NOT checked.
  2. Under "Options" also verify that "Home Field Advantage" is NOT checked.
  3. And also under "Options" verify that "Looser Substitution Restrictions" is NOT checked.
  4. As the Home Team you may now set up the remaining "Game Options" however you want.
  5. Older season Note on "Rules Through The Years": Choose "Use Current Rules" if you want 2 point conversions. Choose "Use Home Team Rules" or "Use Visiting Team Rules" if you do not want 2 point conversions. For example, the 1990 season did not have 2 point conversions, but you may choose to have them for your home games if you wish.
  6. Click "OK".
  7. Make sure that "Local" is highlighted on the left-hand side of the screen.
  8. Choose the appropriate "Visiting (Join) Team" and "Home (Server) Team".
  9. Click on "Launch New Game Server" under "Network Launch Types".
  10. Click the "Launch" button.
  11. Choose the 2nd option "Internet TCP/IP Connection For DirectPlay" in the "Connections" box.
  12. Click "OK".
  13. Type in whatever you want as the "Player Name" and the "Server Name" in the "Create Server" box.
  14. Click "OK".
  15. "Waiting for opponent to arrive…" should now appear on your screen.
  16. Signal to your opponent that you are ready for them to join, preferably by an instant messenger program. You also need to tell your opponent the IP address of your PC. To get this you can click on "Start" on your desktop, then "Run", then type in "winipcfg" in the box and hit "OK". Your IP address is NOT "0.0.0.0". If this is all you see, click on the drop down menu and select the next item.
  17. If you have Windows XP do the following to get your IP address: Go to Control Panel and choose Network Connections. Left click on the Connection and choose Properties. Choose Status and then go to the Support tab. The IP address is there. After doing this once an icon will appear in your system tray at the bottom of the screen. It looks like two monitors. All you have to do is right click that icon and choose Status, then Support to get your IP address.

5) Visiting (Join) Team Procedure:

  1. Make sure that "Local" is selected on the left-hand side of the screen.
  2. Choose the appropriate "Visiting (Join) Team" and "Home (Server) Team".
  3. Click on "Join Server" under "Network Launch Types".
  4. Click the "Launch" button.
  5. Choose the 2nd option "Internet TCP/IP Connection For DirectPlay" in the "Connections" box.
  6. Click "OK".
  7. Type in the IP address of your opponent in the "Locate Session" box.
  8. Click "OK".
  9. Wait for the connection to be established.

6) Before Kickoff:

  1. Both Players should click on "Game", then "Options" and verify that "AutoSave after Each Play" is ON.
  2. Both Players should verify that "Player and QB Overusage" are OFF.
  3. Both Players should verify that "Home Field Advantage" is OFF.
  4. Both Players should verify that "Looser Substitution Restrictions" is OFF.
  5. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that both players put checkmarks in "No Play Animation" and "Do not allow play animation replay". If these boxes are unchecked the game takes a LOT longer to play. The animation is fun to watch at first, but it REALLY adds to the length of the game. Most of us do not have a lot of leisure time so anything we can do to speed up the games is appreciated by all. I ALSO STRONGLY RECOMMEND that both players leave "Scroll play by play text output" unchecked. The scrolling of the text also adds significant time to the game and has been associated with some bugs and some locking up of PC's.
  6. Click "OK".
  7. If you have injured players and you have not healed them yet, click on "View" then click on the appropriate manager. Find the injured player in the "Depth Charts" and highlight him. Now click the "Player" button. Then click the "Heal" button. Click "OK" to exit. I strongly recommend you heal all players that are injured BEFORE you hook up with your opponent. Doing so will prevent unnecessary delays and eliminate any problems that may still exist with injury bugs.

7) NO CHEATING!:

  1. DO NOT EVER USE the "Delete Last Play" button no matter what! If someone does let me know and disciplinary action will be taken.
  2. If the game is being played with injuries DO NOT EVER USE the "Heal" button during that game except before kickoff to heal injuries from a previous game. I strongly recommend that you heal players before you even connect by launching a "Local" game with your team and going in and using the "Heal" button as outlined above.
  3. DO NOT INTENTIONALLY DISCONNECT after a big play or a key injury and try to restore back to the play before the event. Disconnects happen, but if they happen immediately after a key event and the game is restored and resumed starting with the play before the key event, let me know. It will not take long to identify anyone who is intentionally doing this. Do I even need to say that you will be removed from the league if I see a pattern develop?

8) SPORTSMANSHIP:

  1. Play your games until the clock expires. Few things stink more than winning a game and having your opponent bail before the game actually ends. I will be able to tell if this happens because the time of possession will not add up to 60 minutes. Offenders will be removed from the league. Also, do not ever tell your opponent to finish a game himself or play a game with autoplay. This is unacceptable. All games are to be played to their conclusion and live, head to head, over the internet. No exceptions! If you don't have time to play in a particular week then get a sub coach.
  2. Use discretion with the chat feature. Not everyone likes to chat during the game. If you do not get any responses after a couple of messages, then get the hint. On the other side, if you don't want to chat, either say so or ignore the messages. I do not want to police the chat function. Everyone please keep the comments good-natured when you use the feature. Excessive swearing and/or ranting about luck are tiresome.
  3. Always enjoy the game and give your opponent an honest effort no matter what the score or the odds are.
  4. Have fun.

9) IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE GAME BOTH TEAMS SHOULD SEND ME THE HTML BOXSCORE FILE TO AVOID ANY CONTROVERSY OR LOST FILES:

  1. The file is located here: C:\Program Files\Strat-O-Matic\Strat-O-Matic Football\leagues\local\Week0\reports\