Rules? You want the Rules? You can't handle the Rules!!

Rules? You want the Rules? You can't handle the Rules!!

So here we go.  The 2011/12 season will open soon so I thought this would be a good time to go through the rules again and explain a few of the minor tweaks we’ve made.

 

First off, thanks to everyone who played last year.  2010/11 was a bit of a test year for us and while we had a few teething trouble with SkyNet I think it all worked out pretty well.

So what we’ve learned.  First off we had a bit of a disaster with scoring as the source we used to get our data was not updated as regularly as we would have like.  We are switching sources for this year and a HUGE thank you to all the FFL’ers out there who helped us out by calculating their scores and letting us know.  We really appreciate the oversight you guys provide and it’s been made clear that a few of you out there are very excited about this little game we’ve made and hopefully 2011/12 will continue to grow for you.

OK so what’s changed.  Well first off we’ve changed currency.  The prices are unaffected and you still have the same budgets to play with but we’ve moved from ƒ to our own currency, the FuffleBucks (ƒ).  We’ve done this mainly as recognition for all the international players out there and to remove us a little from reality.  This is nothing to do with the recent financial troubles and we do not recommend converting any stocks or bond you have into ƒ quite yet…

So you still have ƒ70 Million to play with and as quick glance at the price list you’ll also see that the pricings for Directors have dropped a lot. Directors tend to only make one film a year and unless they win the Oscar they did not have much chance of breaking even so we have tweaked the price.  We constantly monitor the earnings vs. price for everyone on the list and while there are currently no plans to change prices mid season we may introduce that later (thoughts on that…?)

Next up: Transfers.  We introduced transfers as a beta test toward the end of last year and we will be including it this year from pretty much the start.  The mechanics of doing a transfer remain the same.  You can pull out any member of your cast and replace them with someone else from the list.  You DO NOT recoup any of the fufflebucks you spent on them and from the next scoring round onwards (usually mid-week) they will not longer score points for you.  Their place is then taken by the new cast member and their cost is deducted from your running total.  So make sure you really want to do this as transfer are not reversible under any circumstances.

As with last year everyone will receive a small number of free transfers when we begin and you are not required to use them if you don’t want to.  There may be a few players out there who want to run with their same cast all year (providing they’ve done the research) and there’s no problem with doing that.

If you do want to use more transfers we will be bringing in something for that during the year so if you want to replace your entire cast on a weekly basis then you can.

So here below is everything you need to know about entering your cast and how the whole game works is right here.

 

So, without further ado please go ahead and ask your questions:

 

So what are the rules for playing the Fantasy Film League?

So if you’re a player from last year, welcome back.  As mentioned above we’ve tweaked the system slightly but if you are a new player don’t worry, the FFL is as easy and simple to play as you want it to be.  There are a few more tactical options if you are out to win the Number 1 spot but essentially it’s the same game.

OK, so I’m like a Producer or something right?

Yep, The Fantasy Film League game allows you to play of a producer, with your in-game budget of 70 million FuffleBucks (ƒ) you must choose six (6) Actors and one (1) Director to make your Fantasy Film. Then all you have to do is name your film (but please keep it clean people, kids play this game..) and you are ready to play.

OK, I want Johnny Depp and I’ve got a clever film based pup as a title. Give me more details.

It’s actually really simple, each time a member of your cast appears in (or directs) a film that scores in the Top Ten US and/or UK Box office, your Fantasy Film makes money.

This years games runs from the 30th of March 2001 until the next Academy Awards (Oscars) currently scheduled for February 2012 (the exact date has yet to be confirmed).

So playing time is just under 1 year.

The winner is the player with the most money at the end of that time. So in brief:

 You must have six actors and one director in your Fantasy Film. No more, no less.

  1. You must not exceed your budget of ƒ 70 million in total when buying your stars and director.
  2. You do not have to spend all of your money; any cash not spent will go toward your starting score.
  3. The scoring system is based solely on US and UK Box Office performance.
  4. Rental releases or other country’s box offices are not counted.

Just the US and UK? I live in (insert country name) that’s not fair!!

We chose the US box office as almost all blockbuster films are released there first and Hollywood is arguably the centre of the film world.  We’ve added the UK box office to allow for transatlantic success (and failures) and traditional “indy” films do better in the US than the US so your lower priced cast members may actually score very big there for you.  We did toy with the idea of adding in more international box office scores but the price list and scoring system would get very complicated very quickly and we even looked at adding in India but the sheer number of films released there weekly and the amount of data would overwhelm us.

Essentially we score on the films that most of us will actually go to the local cinema screens to see and the price list (currently just over 550 names) will have people in there that even the most casual cinemagoer will recognise.  We want to keep the game as easy and accessible as possible but with extra additions such as transfers there are options for the more “complex” player.


OK, that seems pretty straightforward, Six Actors and One Director…so any tips on cast selection?


Well it's your cast and you should feel free to choose whoever you want but from my experience:

Although you don’t have to spend all you money of your cast picking a low budget cast may net you a lead early on but if they are not scoring big in the box office you will fall behind.  Try to get a balance of megastars, up and comings and solid performers.  There are a few “hidden gems” in the price list.
Try not to pick actors who appear in the same films. Sometimes it will work and earn you loads of money, but if the film flops you can be stuck with a cast who won’t release any other films for a while. Also, it gives you a greater chance to earn cash the more film genres you cover.
People have a tendency to buy stars they fancy. This is fine, it is the Fantasy Film League after all, but if they have a questionable track record then steer clear. It may not be worth it.
Remember, this game is based only on US and UK Box Office performances.

OK so what if my Director is also in his/her film.  Do I scarce double?!

Not anymore, sorry. In the old system we had a rule that if your chosen director (for example Clint Eastwood) appeared in a film as an actor he would score half points for acting  Likewise if you had an actor (for example Ben Stiller) who direct a film he score half point as a director. This in no longer the case.

 If your chosen Director (again for example Clint Eastwood) turns up in Dirty Harry: The Next Generation as it’s star you will score NO POINTS.  However if you have him in one of your actor slots he would score as normal.
Likewise if you have Ben Stiller as an actor then when “Tropic Thunder” came out he would score for acting but would score NO POINTS for also directing.

The reason we put this in was because we found that only about 5 directors were regularly chosen in the old game and we felt it was a waste of a slot. So with this change we think that you will have to consider directors more in your choice.  After all they are as important as the actors.
Of course there are some actors out there who are just as successful as directors and if you really want them you can still have them occupy space in your cast.  For example is you want Jon Favreau as your director he will cost you say ƒ 12 million but if you want Jon Favreau the actor he will only cost you ƒ 8 million. So you can have the same person occupying an actor slot as the one occupying the director slot but from the game point of view they are treated as different roles.
So if you feel that Cowboys and Aliens (directed by Jon Favreau) was going to be a hit you can buy him as a director but if he turns up in his own or anyone else film as an actor you will not score points.
Finally on directors there are some directors who almost always work as a team.  Notable examples are Joel and Ethan Cohen, Larry and Andy Wachowski and Neveldine/Taylor.  Sometime we will list them as one “collective” Director but if either half of your directing team directs a film solo you would score full points for them.  Also if directors who normally work alone collaborate on a film then both are allowed score full points.  This is quite common in animated films too.


OK, that seems fair.  So how do I make money from my Fantasy Film?
Stars and directors make money for your Fantasy Film by appearing in, or directing, a real life movie. But just like in real life they don’t make the same amount of money by starring or co-starring in a film. The exact amount of money is determined firstly by the position of your Fantasy Film member in the actual film, then by the position of the film in the Box Office Top Ten. The higher up the Box Office chart then the more money the member makes for your Fantasy Film.

Er, OK so like the star of the movie makes more than the supporting cast then? How’s that worked out?

Exactly, in real life all the actors and actresses appearing in a given movie are not paid exactly the same amount of money. This is reflected in the game; the position of your star in a real movie’s cast list affects how much money they make for your Fantasy Film. So a George Clooney will cost you a lot more than a Pee Wee Herman but he’ll usually appear much higher up the cast list and so bring in more money.


So, stars appearing in the top two positions of a real movie’s cast list are referred to as Top Billing for that film, as are directors.
The supporting cast (i.e. the next five people in the cast list) are referred to as Supporting Cast.
Finally, any other stars appearing in the movie (whether credited or not) are referred to as Hey! Isn’t That… or HITs for short.
There will always be exceptions to these rules and in these cases the FFL Team’s decision is final. For example a film with an “ensemble” cast may all score as supporting cast etc.
 
So, a star’s exact earnings (according to the movie’s chart position and their billing in that movie) can be determined from the following table:
 
Position    Top Billing      Supporting Cast    Hey! Isn’t That…      
1                 ƒ1,500,000    ƒ750,000                  ƒ400,000      
2                 ƒ1,350,000    ƒ675,000                  ƒ360,000      
3                 ƒ1,200,000    ƒ600,000                  ƒ320,000      
4                 ƒ1,050,000    ƒ525,000                  ƒ280,000      
5                 ƒ900,000       ƒ450,000                   ƒ240,000      
6                 ƒ600,000       ƒ300,000                   ƒ160,000      
7                 ƒ525,000       ƒ262,500                   ƒ140,000      
8                 ƒ450,000       ƒ225,000                   ƒ120,000      
9                  ƒ375,000      ƒ187,500                    ƒ100,000      
10               ƒ300,000        ƒ150,000                   ƒ80,000

     

ARGH too much maths, give me an example. Preferably one using a film that is recent and proves that I read this last year and you’ve updated it (I love in-jokes)


Right you are. Sit down, grab a cup of coffee and a calculator and follow the example below.
Suppose your Fantasy Film is directed by Jon Faverau and stars Robert Downey Jr, Sam Rockwell and four other random people.

When the real life film Iron Man 2 is released it goes straight into number one at the US Box Office. Jon and Robert are both Top Billing with Robert being first on the cast list and Jon being the director.
So, they make ƒ1,500,000 each for your film. Sam is supporting cast so he makes ƒ750,000. This totals to ƒ3,750,000 in one week.


The next week Iron Man 2 drops to number three in the US charts. Therefore Robert, Jon and Sam score ƒ1,200,000, ƒ1,200,000 and ƒ600,000 respectively

Week three sees Iron Man 2 drop to number seven in the US charts but it debuts at number two in the UK charts. Therefore the scores are ƒ1,312,500 (ƒ525,000, ƒ525,000 and ƒ262,500) for the US charts and ƒ3,375,000 (ƒ1,350,000, ƒ1,350,000 and ƒ675,000) for the UK.
So, in three weeks your cast have scored you a very impressive total of ƒ10,862,500. Well done!

Ah but Jon Faverau is in that film as well as like the driver or something I get extra points right…?

No…  As a director he scores you points for directing the film but you get no points for him appearing in it.  However conversely if you have him occupying one of your Actor slots he’d score for acting in Iron Man 2 but not directing it.  We covered this already, were you not paying attention…? 

 Yeah sorry, thought I’d make sure..

OK, is that it?

That's it. It's that easy.  So pick your cast and watch them make you millions (please note: FuffleBucks are not usable as real currency).