There's been a lot of conversation recently about the yatzr tools. My position on these kind of tools is that we'll allow them as long as they don't provide any information that's not already available through the user's account on this site. If there's a tool that's aggregating data from multiple user accounts, that's a big problem. I don't believe the yatzr tool is doing that. If I'm wrong about that, please let me know.

I understand both sides of this argument. Those who support the tool use it because it saves them time, which is a valid argument given how time-consuming GD recruiting can be. I'm sure there are people who simply wouldn't play anymore if the tool wasn't available.

On the other side, I can understand why others feel that it provides a competitive advantage. It's allowing people who use it to crunch a lot of data much more quickly.

A couple of notes:

• Please be very cautious when providing your login credentials to a third-party app. While I don't suspect yatzr of collecting them, it's very easy for a third-party to do that.
• I can't plan our website updates around third-party tools like this, so there's a strong possibility that future updates to the site will break the tool inadvertently, like the incident earlier this week. Since yatzr seems to have moved on from the site, this app will probably permanently cease to work at some point.
• The strong reliance on this app suggests that the current recruiting system needs a lot of work. It tells me that this recruiting system requires too much time and effort to be successful. There's a good chance we'll overhaul it in the future.

I'll monitor this thread for a while to respond to feedback, but if it devolves into unproductive name calling, then I'll lock it.

Thanks.

Thanks for the update. And you are right...there are two tools that are provided and, I for one, would not play this game without them.

1. The recruiting tool
2. The game analyzer

The game analyzer, in itself, does not really "do anything" other than gather data. Beyond that....I use my own spreadsheet tools to actually do the analysis.

The recruiting tool is similar, while it does have a true "interface" into the game. I use it about half the time to perform actions and rest of the time I do it "the old fashioned way".

I think that virtually all of the recruiting tool concepts could be incorporated into the game itself. It would be convenient of the game analyzer (data gathering tool) could be added as well.

It seems to me that the last major update to the game incorporated much of what the GUESS Reports provides. We now have tools, within the game, that were developed by persons who have an interest in the game itself and look to make it more "playable" for all who play.

This is a success story...not one that should be shamed by a group of persons that simply don't like the innovation of others.

seble, the tool automates tedious recruiting tasks. It isn't just a data cruncher.

Posted by kcsundevil on 5/18/2018 12:25:00 PM (view original):
seble, the tool automates tedious recruiting tasks. It isn't just a data cruncher.

seble, this guy doesn't play the game! Thank you for the update on where you stand with this issue. No one using the tool is trying to cheat as others imply, it simply allows them to play the game within the time they have to spend on it.

Seble, is there any chance that WIS could purchase the rights to the code and integrate it into the product, giving everyone equal access to it?

Posted by jhunterz on 5/18/2018 12:39:00 PM (view original):

Posted by kcsundevil on 5/18/2018 12:25:00 PM (view original):
seble, the tool automates tedious recruiting tasks. It isn't just a data cruncher.

seble, this guy doesn't play the game! Thank you for the update on where you stand with this issue. No one using the tool is trying to cheat as others imply, it simply allows them to play the game within the time they have to spend on it.

Boom roasted.

Like me, yatzr and bhazlewood also don't currently play. Unlike them, I have an active team in another WIS game.

Posted by hypnotoad on 5/18/2018 12:40:00 PM (view original):
Seble, is there any chance that WIS could purchase the rights to the code and integrate it into the product, giving everyone equal access to it?

Not really. It's a totally different platform and technology than what we use. We could theoretically build some comparable features.

Posted by kcsundevil on 5/18/2018 12:25:00 PM (view original):
seble, the tool automates tedious recruiting tasks. It isn't just a data cruncher.

Right, but it's not doing anything you can't do within the site. It's just allowing you to do it faster, right?

Posted by kcsundevil on 5/18/2018 12:43:00 PM (view original):

Posted by jhunterz on 5/18/2018 12:39:00 PM (view original):

Posted by kcsundevil on 5/18/2018 12:25:00 PM (view original):
seble, the tool automates tedious recruiting tasks. It isn't just a data cruncher.

seble, this guy doesn't play the game! Thank you for the update on where you stand with this issue. No one using the tool is trying to cheat as others imply, it simply allows them to play the game within the time they have to spend on it.

Boom roasted.

Like me, yatzr and bhazlewood also don't currently play. Unlike them, I have an active team in another WIS game.

True, they no longer are playing but they have contributed more to this game than you ever have or ever will. They are also not on here accusing people of cheating in a game they no longer play either unlike someone else.

Posted by seble on 5/18/2018 12:47:00 PM (view original):

Posted by kcsundevil on 5/18/2018 12:25:00 PM (view original):
seble, the tool automates tedious recruiting tasks. It isn't just a data cruncher.

Right, but it's not doing anything you can't do within the site. It's just allowing you to do it faster, right?

That is correct, it just does things faster than WIS. Same numbers, same data just faster!

Posted by seble on 5/18/2018 12:47:00 PM (view original):

Posted by kcsundevil on 5/18/2018 12:25:00 PM (view original):
seble, the tool automates tedious recruiting tasks. It isn't just a data cruncher.

Right, but it's not doing anything you can't do within the site. It's just allowing you to do it faster, right?

Well, let's tease that out.

Recruiting cycles are three hours. How much can a human analyze and input in three hours (assuming they have a full three hours in the middle of a weekday to devote to nothing but that) versus what your bot can analyze and input?

Posted by seble on 5/18/2018 12:45:00 PM (view original):

Posted by hypnotoad on 5/18/2018 12:40:00 PM (view original):
Seble, is there any chance that WIS could purchase the rights to the code and integrate it into the product, giving everyone equal access to it?

Not really. It's a totally different platform and technology than what we use. We could theoretically build some comparable features.

I hope you investigate that further. I bet that would help with customer retention if you could mimic some of the features of yatzr's tool and make them available to everyone who was interested in saving some time.

Posted by jhunterz on 5/18/2018 12:48:00 PM (view original):

Posted by kcsundevil on 5/18/2018 12:43:00 PM (view original):

Posted by jhunterz on 5/18/2018 12:39:00 PM (view original):

Posted by kcsundevil on 5/18/2018 12:25:00 PM (view original):
seble, the tool automates tedious recruiting tasks. It isn't just a data cruncher.

seble, this guy doesn't play the game! Thank you for the update on where you stand with this issue. No one using the tool is trying to cheat as others imply, it simply allows them to play the game within the time they have to spend on it.

Boom roasted.

Like me, yatzr and bhazlewood also don't currently play. Unlike them, I have an active team in another WIS game.

True, they no longer are playing but they have contributed more to this game than you ever have or ever will. They are also not on here accusing people of cheating in a game they no longer play either unlike someone else.

Two snaps in a Z formation!

Posted by kcsundevil on 5/18/2018 12:43:00 PM (view original):

Posted by jhunterz on 5/18/2018 12:39:00 PM (view original):

Posted by kcsundevil on 5/18/2018 12:25:00 PM (view original):
seble, the tool automates tedious recruiting tasks. It isn't just a data cruncher.

seble, this guy doesn't play the game! Thank you for the update on where you stand with this issue. No one using the tool is trying to cheat as others imply, it simply allows them to play the game within the time they have to spend on it.

Boom roasted.

Like me, yatzr and bhazlewood also don't currently play. Unlike them, I have an active team in another WIS game.

They also don’t spend their lives getting into ******* matches on a fantasy game forum

Posted by seble on 5/18/2018 12:47:00 PM (view original):

Posted by kcsundevil on 5/18/2018 12:25:00 PM (view original):
seble, the tool automates tedious recruiting tasks. It isn't just a data cruncher.

Right, but it's not doing anything you can't do within the site. It's just allowing you to do it faster, right?

Yes and no. I'm not going to support either side here but here are some of the features.

FREE
1. "See a rundown of which schools are closest to that recruit and how your distance compares" - I cant really do this within WIS but I could open up Google maps and enter all the data so ok

2. "See number of scholarships and how many recruits a school has green or yellow" - finding out how many scholarships is easy enough, seeing how many recruits are green or yellow is a little more difficult. I would have to open up every single recruit to see who they are considering. This is often used as an advantage in going after a school that has multiple yellow recruits with other users on them

3. "Export all recruits to a spreadsheet" - I wish this was built into GD already but again you could do a search and then copy and paste the information

4. Recruit action scheduler - allows you to pull your watchlist and assign a value to each action. The tool will then submit the actions for you. More of a time saver since you dont have to open each recruit individually. Also there is a way to set a time delay that will allow you to submit recruit actions while you are away.

5. Compiling and filtering ect is something you can easily do on the website.

PAID
1. "Mass recruit options. You have to select recruits using the far right checkboxes, just like with "Update Multiples". The options available are "Add to Watchlist" (only available before recruiting starts), "AC Phone Call", and "AC Scout". When you do AC Phone Call or AC Scout, it will only do one phone call or scout per recruit. Note that the popup tells you how many recruits it's about to do recruit actions for." - Really a time saver. Using just the website you would have to send a scout to each recruit individually

2. " ability to grab recruit messages and auto-assign a value for potential." - You dont have to read your scout reports as the tool does it for you and assigns a value based on your preferences. Again more of a time saver.

3. "Shows all schools the recruit is considering instead of the word "multiple"." - On the website I would have to open each recruit to find out who they are considering

4. "Grab GPA and Formation IQs for recruits" - You could figure this out by opening each recruit so definitely a time saver.