[HonusWagner]

Am pondering whether I want to be an online commish but before I get involved I want to know exactly what it takes timewise etc (etc means common issues, headaches, hassles). How many hours a week do you put in (separate from your own team management)? What percentage of managers comply with filing timelines? How often do you sim a season? Thats all I can think of for now. Actually, I thought there might be a sticky pertainnig to this topic. Appreciate all feedback. Oh, and I am pretty new to ootp but am a quick read. And have experience hosting fantasy leagues but nothing compared to ootp.

[satchel]

Originally Posted by HonusWagner

How many hours a week do you put in (separate from your own team management)?

If you're just beginning, it's going to take you longer than it will when you become more experienced. There are also the variables of how many days you'll sim, how many reports you choose to generate (that is, what level of detail and and quantity). Beyond that, it depends on your style as a Commish: some fly through sims, and some go very carefully, tending to things along the way. If you're just starting out, and your league is of average size, I'd budget a couple of hours to run the sim and post the results.

Originally Posted by HonusWagner

What percentage of managers comply with filing timelines?

A lot of variables go into this, too, such as how long your in-game sims are (if a league sims a month at a time, exporting a team file is more vital than if the sim only plays a week. And as teams drop out of contention, the owners of those teams are less likely to export. Different owners have different styles as well. Personally, I consider the export rate to be a sign of league health, but that's not strictly the case. So it's hard to put one general overall figure on this. I'd expect at least half of the owners in a league to be exporting for most regular-season sims.

Originally Posted by HonusWagner

How often do you sim a season?

I try to move through seasons without tarrying. My Jamaica League sims three times a week, ten days per sim. Our goal is to complete one season every six weeks. But that's a peppy pace, considering our sim schedule. I'd say that, in order to maintain interest and build up league history at a satisfactory rate, a league needs to finish a season in about two months. That's a good pace for an "average league;" some leagues sim at a particularly fast speed (a month, or even a whole season, at a time), and some sim very slowly (one sim day per one real day), so they're going to complete seasons at an unusual pace.

[HonusWagner]

Thanks for the feedback!

[RchW]

I'm not a commish so my opinion is just based on experience. You very likely need a reliable co-commish to fill in when real life gets in the way. I'm quite impressed with most of the commishes I've dealt with. They seem to be very committed to the work they do.

[snnort]

I agree. Co-commish or at minimum, a back-up simmer. One guy running the show gets burned out fast. There are exceptions, I've seen great leagues that are a "one pony show." But that is definitely the exception to the rule. Spreading some of the work around is healthy for most leagues.

[rewc27]

A co-commish is definately nice to have. I have been a commish of an online league since 2003, started with one, then another one, but the last 3 years or so I have been a one man show. It isn't easy but it can be done. It is nice to have someone else to bounce ideas off of and someone you know that can pick up the some of the slack for you.

The other thing is you have to very thick skin. You will most likely encouter people that you don't like and that don't like you. Those people may also go public about it. You will get questioned on decisions you make for the league. I try to go with majority rules when it comes to rules changes and such but sometimes that can bite you in the butt.

The thing I find is that you really have to enjoy doing it. I have been very fourtanate that I have had several GM's in my league from when we started 5 years ago. They have carried me through some tough times.

[fhomess]

It's very important for league health that there is active communication and that you are reliable in meeting expectations. If you set up a sim schedule, stick to it as much as possible. If you absolutely have to miss a scheduled sim, let people know ASAP and let them know how that affects the schedule. As suggested above, having a co-commish can help reduce the chance that a sim will be missed completely.

Even if you have strong ideas about how your league will be run, listen to your owners. They're the ones making the time you put into it worthwhile. You don't mention if you've been in an online league before or not, and if not, I'd strongly recommend spending some time as a GM in one.