FUTD Phase 2 testing update - what we've been doing!

Hello!

We’re firmly into Phase 2 of testing our new MLS game with hundreds of testers putting Fantasy Utd through its paces! We’re extremely appreciative to everyone who has signed up as a tester.

If you would like to test Fantasy Utd in a future testing phase, please sign up by CLICKING HERE!

We’ve been busy developing and fixing bugs guided by the feedback from our testers. Here are some of the things we have done…

Rolling locks

After Phase 1 of testing, it became clear there was a desire for a more nimble system of locking in players for the gameweek.

We initially used a FPL-style blanket lock - i.e. a single lock time for all players in your team before the first fixture of the gameweek.

However, this was costing managers when players were injured or missing from matches later in the gameweek.

Now, we have a rolling locks system where each player in your squad has an individual lock time.

Some of our testers have proposed we introduce a bench. However, we find benches in fantasy soccer to be extremely inefficient (how many times has your third sub ever made it into your FPL team?).

New countdown style

Rolling lock countdowns were initially displayed days-hours-minutes until 24 hours before kick off when it changed to hours-days-minutes.

Testers told us this was confusing, so we changed it to a text deadline - e.g. Saturday 3 May 7.30pm - until 24 hours before kick off when it now changes to hours-days-minutes. This is much clearer.

Tutorial slides

For Phase 2 of testing, we introduced tutorial slides to the app. These help guide first-time managers through the game and can be found when entering various pages. We’ll continue to add to them.

Average Joe

In Phase 1, the head-to-head structure of leagues meant that leagues had to feature an even number of entrants.

To combat this, we developed Average Joe. This is a team entered into leagues with an uneven number of entrants with its score an average of the other teams across the league. We have yet to develop the UI for this, but it’s in place for Phase 2.

Development to-do list

We are developing a number of new features as Phase 2 of testing continues. These include…

Bidding budget

Our testers suggested the introduction of a bidding budget when making bids for players.

At present, managers have a budget of $150m, but are free to make bids to an unlimited amount.

While we like the freedom this gives managers, it’s been pointed out that some managers could game the system by placing unrealistically high bids to put others off players before cancelling close to the deadline and picking them up for cheaper.

A bidding budget of 150% of the transfer budget will be implemented for Phase 3 of testing.

Marketplace redesign

The Marketplace page in the Transfers section in the app is currently a placeholder. It’s not really serving a purpose at the moment.

Eventually, Marketplace will be redesigned into something completely different that combines stats and transfer market information, but that won’t happen until a few testing phases from now.

Player statistics

Many testers have noted the lack of player statistics. There’s quite a lot of work involved to add this to the game, but clearly it is necessary for any fantasy sports platform.

It will be added as quickly as possible, as was always our plan (unfortunately we can’t do everything all at once).

Notifications

At present, the push notification system isn’t clear enough. This will become more intuitive as we continue to test.

In-app notifications are also not currently working. This will be addressed to improve the communication of information within the game.

Team names

We introduced user profiles for Phase 2 of testing, giving users the ability to pick a username and upload a profile picture.

For Phase 3, we will be allowing users the ability to pick and edit their team names.

Deadline countdowns

Phase 2 testers pointed out how confusing it was to have a transfer deadline countdown on the lobby page and a gameweek deadline countdown in the Transfers action. We will change this for Phase 3.

Bugs

A number of bugs have arisen in Phase 2 of testing, which is to be expected. Some of these include...

- Ability to buy players when over budget

- Two of the same player appearing in the same teaM

- Two of the same player appearing in different teams

- Second bidder fallback in transfer market not working

- Various text being cut off on certain devices

Phase 3

We plan on starting the next phase of testing in the next few weeks.