new global technologies: KC's Corner: Chatroom Etiquette

Welcome everyone to the inaugural edition of KC?s Corner. For those of you who don?t know me, my name is Kevin Cearnal, and I?ve played regularly under the screenname kcearnal for over a year on FanDuel. I have been graciously granted permission by FanDuel management (shoutout to my main man, Alex aka ?Zoobird?) to bring you a brand-spanking-new column that over the coming weeks will include interviews, social commentary, praise for the big winners, some gossip and anything else my not-so-brilliant mind can come up. This column is specifically designed to bring you the views and opinions of the common player, and it may even include a bit of useful strategy every once in a while.

I decided that my first order of business would be to present you with a list of chatroom do?s and dont?s. I know that I often personally become frustrated when people use the chat as their own personal sounding board and for other childish nonsense. So I talked with a few other regulars, monitored the conversations for a few days and came up with three do?s and dont?s that every player should follow in regards to chatroom use. Please utilize and enjoy!

Do?s:

Create an Avatar. I know many of you may not be confident enough to post a picture of your own beautiful mug on FanDuel, but you can still show some personality people. Especially if you plan on chatting with the crew on a regular basis. There are some guys that are long-standing players on FanDuel that have never taken the 5 minutes out of their busy schedule that it takes to find and create a custom picture for themselves. Simply pathetic and frankly, very boring. There are so many doors that can open through the use of an avatar. If I see a picture associated with the Cincinnati Reds for example, I immediately challenge them and talk smack, because of my undying love for the St. Louis Cardinals. This can be fun and can make your matches all-the-more competitive. It can also create rivalries and friendships. Simply put, it greatly enhances your user experience.

Post Close Games and Heartbreakers. This helps us to realize we aren?t the only ones sweating out games on a regular basis. We love to see and follow the trials and tribulations of our fellow players. But with that being said, we don?t want to see every single game you are playing. Not even close to all of them. If you?re?winning or losing by more than ten, please don?t post. If you can?t post the proper link, please don?t post. If you?re playing for FREE, definitely don?t post. And for the love of the lord, if you are going to ask ?Who Win?s?? every day for months, please don?t expect the chatroom regulars to answer you honestly.

Do post on the other hand, if you are close to the top of a tournament leaderboard. And please feel free to post if you are in a tight matchup, trying to knock off one of FanDuel?s elite players. It?s the heartwarming tales such as these that your fellow players can grasp on to and even sweat out with you.

Encourage & Help Others. We?ve all encountered questions and conundrums during our time playing daily fantasy. And often these problems have been encountered by others as well. So, if you see someone asking for help or screaming for Zoo, do your best to help them out. Don?t bash them for being an idiot and then continue the belittling until you have crushed their soul. Unless of course, they are in fact being an idiot. In that case, use your best judgement.

In summary, please help out where you can. Thanks so much!

Don?ts:

Type Regularly in ALL CAPS. It?s annoying, unnecessary and borderline INFURIATING. You are not important enough to post all your business in capital letters. I don?t care who you are. If a closer gives up a three-run bomb to Jose Bautista, losing you a significant amount of money, then feel free to press the caps lock button for a brief rant. But things like WHO WANTS A GAME? and JOIN MY 20-TEAM LEAGUE have no business being typed in such an aggressive, over-zealous tone. Use proper judgement and keep it courteous. Please and Thank You.

Expect and Root for the Impossible. It is okay to cheer for the players on your team through chat. It is not okay to be losing by 50 and still cheering for your players and posting your games in chat. This is a blatant misuse of the chat function, not to mention it really pisses everyone off. Have realistic expectations as the day?s games progress. If you know your team is a lost cause, then realize this, and start prepping for the next day. Don?t try to use voodoo on all-star pitchers, try to curse the Red Sox in your own way, or talk on-and-on about ridiculous things that you need to happen. It?s not funny, it is stupid and it makes me very angry. You don?t see the big profit players doing this, so maybe this should be a lesson to you.

Announce Player News. This is probably the biggest pet peeve of regular players. People do serious work, sometimes for seriously long periods of time, to determine what they think are the day?s optimum lineups. So needless to say, it angers them greatly when someone announces casually in chat that a certain big name player is getting the day off. This gives the unprepared player news they needed, while removing the competitive advantage of those who do the necessary preparation. Keep your mouth shut about real news. And to those who make false announcements, you are even worse. You are the lowest of the low. You should be ashamed of yourself. Everyone wants to win, but lets do it with class and dignity. Keep player news, both real and fake, out of the chatroom.

Those are my chatroom do?s and dont?s. Please feel free to post your own in the comments sections of this article. Together, we can create a better, friendlier and more awesome chat for all FanDuel players.

A big congratulations to all this week?s tournament and big money winners. Next week I will begin giving some kudos to those that have succeeded in a big way. So be excited for that!