HLTB Fantasy Critic League

Welcome to the HLTB Fantasy Critic League!

This is a yearly league where we compete to see who can pick the most successful lineup of games to be released throughout the calendar year. The basic premise is that it's like fantasy football, but with video game releases. Each person selects/drafts a bunch of games that are due to be released in the following year, and then scores points based on the critical reception of their chosen games. Basically you score points for any score over 70, and lose points for any score below 70.

Signups happen at the end of the year, with the draft starting early January.

If you're interested in finding out more and want to know the finer details, here are some helpful links to get started:

The Fantasy Critic web site: https://www.fantasycritic.games
A very useful "How To Play" page: https://www.fantasycritic.games/howtoplay
The game's FAQ: https://www.fantasycritic.games/faq
Our 2020 league page: https://www.fantasycritic.games/league/dd3011cc-8a99-4aab-b97e-3a4b0ae195bb/2020
Our 2021 league page: https://www.fantasycritic.games/league/dd3011cc-8a99-4aab-b97e-3a4b0ae195bb/2021
Our 2022 league page: https://www.fantasycritic.games/league/dd3011cc-8a99-4aab-b97e-3a4b0ae195bb/2022
Our 2023 league page: https://www.fantasycritic.games/league/dd3011cc-8a99-4aab-b97e-3a4b0ae195bb/2023

I've made a couple of videos to help introduce Fantasy Critic and show everyone how it works:





Of course, feel free to ask any questions in this thread, as well as on the HLTB Discord channel.

I'm up for this! However I'm kinda worried about the draft, since I live in a kinda weird timezone. So if you guys want to do it, and I'm not available, don't worry about going ahead without me!

I'm up for this! However I'm kinda worried about the draft, since I live in a kinda weird timezone. So if you guys want to do it, and I'm not available, don't worry about going ahead without me!

was thinking about this as we're all in various time zones, but I think it could work if we let it take a week or so - just need to be able to check on it often and make picks when we'd be able to... after that the timezone thing shouldn't be a problem =)

This sounds interesting! Count me in!
Oh, do we need to make a discord group of something like that for the drafting stage?

This sounds interesting! Count me in!
Oh, do we need to make a discord group of something like that for the drafting stage?

What happened to our old Discord server, do you know?

This sounds interesting! Count me in!
Oh, do we need to make a discord group of something like that for the drafting stage?

that might be a good idea - if there's enough interest I'll look into the drafting a bit closer and see what the best way to go about it would be... I'm assuming that we won't be all available at the same times, so it might be a long draft over multiple days to allow folks to make their picks when they're available!

I'm up for this! However I'm kinda worried about the draft, since I live in a kinda weird timezone. So if you guys want to do it, and I'm not available, don't worry about going ahead without me!

That got me to look up weird timezones. I thought daylight savings time was bad enough, but there seem to be a lot of places where serious time travel is involved.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/83909374/the-weirdest-time-zones-from-around-the-world

I live in the least ‘weird’ time zone that all other time zones were originally based upon, thanks to my country’s sordid and arrogant history of colonialism and empire... GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Though now UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is considered the standard these days... though it is effectively the same thing,

Anyway, this is a cool idea, but I’ll not be taking up the offer, as I’m far too flaky and unreliable and arrogant... just like my increasingly backwards country these days ;)

What happened to our old Discord server, do you know?

You mean this one?
https://discord.gg/v5F26Dk

Sounds fun.

You mean this one?
https://discord.gg/v5F26Dk

Probably, but it's no longer linked on the forum sidebar.

Probably, but it's no longer linked on the forum sidebar.

I removed it a few weeks ago.

First of all, it has the PlayStation logo as it's icon so it appeared to me that they moved on.
There is very little activity except for a couple users.
According to those left, it's pretty much abandoned.

I removed it a few weeks ago.

First of all, it has the PlayStation logo as it's icon so it appeared to me that they moved on.
There is very little activity except for a couple users.
According to those left, it's pretty much abandoned.

I transferred the ownership to you a few minutes ago.
The server died, but frankly it was never that active anyway (i.e. having an all-time peak of 5 active users).

That's the thing with discord servers, you need at least a few constant posters otherwise it goes down the drain. ay

You can choose to delete it or try to revive it somehow I guess.

I transferred the ownership to you a few minutes ago.
The server died, but frankly it was never that active anyway (i.e. having an all-time peak of 5 active users).

That's the thing with discord servers, you need at least a few constant posters otherwise it goes down the drain. ay

You can choose to delete it or try to revive it somehow I guess.

Yeah, it was worth a shot but i think the community is just a little too small to keep it going. I do appreciate the effort and it helped the podcast live for a short bit which was really fun.

Anyway, sorry to go off topic!

We have a channel on the discord now that can be used for Fantasy Critic stuff as well as this thread - so if that's preferable, please check it out at the link pokepaw provided: https://discord.gg/v5F26Dk

Also, it looks like there are enough of us interested to give it a shot, so I'll get the ball rolling this afternoon by creating the league and sorting out invites/drafting/etc =)

Okay, I've created the HLTB League, so anyone interested can join via this link.

You'll need to have an account at: https://www.fantasycritic.games/ to be able to join.
Then once you're in the league, give yourself a publisher name to complete your sign-up.

There are a bunch of good instructions on the site's How To Play page and FAQ.

I suggest we leave it open for the rest of the week and then start the draft on the weekend if/when everyone's been able to join. The draft can take as long as it needs to take, but please consider that if you join the league, it would be cool to be fairly active during the draft so that it doesn't take forever =)

I'm thinking that if we can get it done within a week, that would be good!

The league has been set up for 10 game picks in total, with an initial draft of 6 per person. That leaves 4 picks that can be bid on during the year. Each of us also has 1 counter pick that gets made at the end of the draft. The counter pick is where you pick the same game that someone else drafted, but you're betting that it will fail, instead of succeed. Again, everything is outlined really well on the site's help pages linked above.

Hope that makes sense - let's treat this as a bit of a test run for now, so feel free to discuss anything or ask questions where needed. I'll also pop the invite link in the original post in case that helps.

Let's have fun with this!! =)

I transferred the ownership to you a few minutes ago.
The server died, but frankly it was never that active anyway (i.e. having an all-time peak of 5 active users).

That's the thing with discord servers, you need at least a few constant posters otherwise it goes down the drain. ay

You can choose to delete it or try to revive it somehow I guess.

I take full responsibility for its death. I have a habit of integrating myself so tightly within communities that my absence causes them to collapse. I don't mean for it to happen, it just does.

FWIW, I'd also be willing to take full ownership of it with Everdred (the current owner's) permission. I went back a month or two ago to resume my role of linchpin only to find it deserted. It seems only natural that I be the one to nurse it back to health.

Okay, I've created the HLTB League, so anyone interested can join via this link.

You'll need to have an account at: https://www.fantasycritic.games/ to be able to join.
Then once you're in the league, give yourself a publisher name to complete your sign-up.

There are a bunch of good instructions on the site's How To Play page and FAQ.

I suggest we leave it open for the rest of the week and then start the draft on the weekend if/when everyone's been able to join. The draft can take as long as it needs to take, but please consider that if you join the league, it would be cool to be fairly active during the draft so that it doesn't take forever =)

I'm thinking that if we can get it done within a week, that would be good!

The league has been set up for 10 game picks in total, with an initial draft of 6 per person. That leaves 4 picks that can be bid on during the year. Each of us also has 1 counter pick that gets made at the end of the draft. The counter pick is where you pick the same game that someone else drafted, but you're betting that it will fail, instead of succeed. Again, everything is outlined really well on the site's help pages linked above.

Hope that makes sense - let's treat this as a bit of a test run for now, so feel free to discuss anything or ask questions where needed. I'll also pop the invite link in the original post in case that helps.

Let's have fun with this!! =)

So, how do we determine if a game succeded? By points, by sales or both? Can a niche game that is loved by its little community be considered a "success", or score a decent amount of points, for example?

I am in, looks pretty fun. I will join sometime this week and I should be available this weekend for the draft.

So, how do we determine if a game succeded? By points, by sales or both? Can a niche game that is loved by its little community be considered a "success", or score a decent amount of points, for example?

Scores are all determined by critical reception - so this can be good for a niche little game that scores well critically, even if it's not "popular" or has many sales

You score 1 point for every point over 70 the game receives on opencritic.com - so if your game gets 92, you score 22 points.
Same goes for points UNDER 70 - so if your game scores 62, you LOSE 8 points.

I checked out a couple of other leagues last year and some of the games that scored the highest weren't necessarily the "big blockbuster" sure-things, so when drafting your selections, think about what games will probably get a good score, regardless of whether they are popular or not. Likewise, a super popular game might get a low score even if it's a really big release - think something like Fallout 76, which scored badly, even though it was a big AAA release.

The actual scoring is done by the site though, so we don't have to worry about determining scores - we just have to try and pick the ones that will get the best =)

I am in, looks pretty fun. I will join sometime this week and I should be available this weekend for the draft.

Awesome! Hopefully we might have at least 4 or 5 people which will be enough to get it going =)

Scores are all determined by critical reception - so this can be good for a niche little game that scores well critically, even if it's not "popular" or has many sales

You score 1 point for every point over 70 the game receives on opencritic.com - so if your game gets 92, you score 22 points.
Same goes for points UNDER 70 - so if your game scores 62, you LOSE 8 points.

I checked out a couple of other leagues last year and some of the games that scored the highest weren't necessarily the "big blockbuster" sure-things, so when drafting your selections, think about what games will probably get a good score, regardless of whether they are popular or not. Likewise, a super popular game might get a low score even if it's a really big release - think something like Fallout 76, which scored badly, even though it was a big AAA release.

The actual scoring is done by the site though, so we don't have to worry about determining scores - we just have to try and pick the ones that will get the best =)

Okie dokie! And thanks for the explanation! Everything is much clearer now!

Okie dokie! And thanks for the explanation! Everything is much clearer now!

I'll probably post some more info about the actual draft/etc as we get closer to it, just to help anyone out who might be confused =)

Does the draft have some notification by email or some other way to let you know it's your turn to pick? Couldn't find that, and since it is developed as if people were drafting at the same time "live" I don't think they would. But just so I know if I just need to keep going back into the page or just check my inbox.

Does the draft have some notification by email or some other way to let you know it's your turn to pick? Couldn't find that, and since it is developed as if people were drafting at the same time "live" I don't think they would. But just so I know if I just need to keep going back into the page or just check my inbox.

Yeah not sure about that one - we'll have to find out when the draft is live - I'm hoping there might be a notification thing, but either way it might be worth posting in this thread or on the discord to let others know when we've made picks and who's next perhaps... but it might be better just checking the site

This is why I think we'll let the draft go for a while because we're probably not all going to be on at the same time - it might be slow, but once it's done, everything else should be pretty straight forward =)