I'm only dealing in hypotheticals of course. Just sticking some ideas out there for people to consider. With 6 clans, you could always balance out the league and cup? Have 1 league fixture each, then do the cup in a Champions League / Europa Cup style format...

2 groups of 3, each play each other once. 2 group winners play the cup final, 2 runners-up play the plate final. 2 wins required to reach final, 1 win required to reach plate final. In the unlikely event of each winning 1, then frame difference.

That would give you 5 league fixtures, 4 cup fixtures (with a dead week each). 1 week each per cup fixture, 2 for finals, 2 weeks each per league fixture + 2 x 1 week transfer windows = 17 weeks.
(Or with the dead week for each clan, only 1 transfer window may be needed...)

Yeah I was recently thinking of a similar cup format with groups... I like the idea because clans aren't knocked out immediately and it could be combined with a league where teams only play each other once to fit into the 3-4 months schedule.
We'll see how many teams we get, although I suspect it will still be only 6 or 7.
Once the current finals are done, I'll post on clan threads with ideas for next season and ask for comments.

If you do do that, can you make the cup final 2 weeks from a Tuesday to a Tuesday, and the plate final 2 weeks from a Thursday to a Thursday .

I think clans should be smaller , maybe 8 to 10 players
And play 1 of each game type

This way would mean more clans more competition

True, but who will you be kicking out of your clan?

It would be a huge change. We'd also need more captains who are willing to put in the required effort. Smaller clans also have a higher risk of folding.

All of these things are possible though if enough people want this.

I think the smaller clans would lessen the challenge of each fixture. Obviously some fixtures now are pretty one sided, TD have scored 50+ twice this season, but the games between similar clans are very tightly fought. Reducing the size of the fixture just means that one big win will pretty much sort the fixture. One 6-0 win cancels out three 4-2 wins, so with a smaller fixture size each big result holds too much weighting. With 10 games in a fixture, there is always time to turn things round.

I'm a bit more worried about clans failing if fewer players are in each. A clan of 16 can stem the loss of 3 or 4 players, which does seem to happen every now and then.
A clan of 8-10 will have to fold immediately...

i like sarah's invention. if you then would do a pointing system like in football for example you would not have the problem of this huge single wins!

if there is not enough players the team with less players can try to win anyway and bring home 3 points, or sub them

Edited at 18:54 Tue 19/02/13 (GMT)

Yes, a points system would make sense with smaller teams and fixtures. But this is a very radical change! Like I mentioned before, who would you be kicking out for next season lol?

We'll see what people say once the season ends.

Lol stipud idea

Why its so stupid? Can you please explain.

Introduce smaller teams and existing clans will just split into A and B teams and, unless you have 2 divisions, you will then have teams throwing fixtures if their respective A team could win the league (like in formula 1 racing where a driver can be instructed to let a team mate pass). Split it into 2 divisions and you will then play no more games than now but of a lower standard of competition. To use the football analogy, imagine turning the premier league into a 5-a-side competition playing half hour matches. All the integrity would be gone, with no need for strength in depth or versatility.

Basically trying to turn this league into that is too big a step with the current one so well established. If you want to try it though, set up a parallel league with those rules and see how people find it. Variety is a good thing! As long as we dont end up like pool with 3 separate leagues all with different rules and deadlines!

yeah keep it at 16 players people need to remember not everyone plays carom and power so you need to think of those as well.

as for cup i was thinking of pools super league with this idea. Each clan plays once or twice in league format with football scoring and top 4 go through to Cup Semi Finals where top league team can choose their opponent then winners to Cup Final and losers to Plate Final.

well if you want a clan of just 10 players then just sign 10 up now instead of 16.. are you happy cutting 6-8 players out of your team to adjust to the changes.. 1 fixture of each type is not enough 2 good wins and its basically the fixture won. would also increase the chance of clans folding as 3-4 players going inactive would leave you 5-6 players..

Too many cons not enough pros in my eyes..

I think the format is fine at the minute games only started default after christmas which some people took abit longer to get back into it.. most defaults are from the same clans and players..

Well I understand your complaints about. I am also happy with the system atm but I am not sure if a 6-0 win should be the same worthy than three 4-2 wins. Thats why I thought about the pointing system.

I just see interest decreasing but thats general for whole funkysnooker it seems

I think there should be a change of some sort to make life more interesting.
The current format needs reviving to get more players involved. and to keep existing players interested.

I think 12 players per clan is about right with say 8 involved in a fixture.This might mean a 8 team league..or 2 divisions of 5 if we could get 10
Also i reckon most clans could lose 4 players without much stress.

A points system maybe..but then games become dead rubbers like a clan cup game once 18 points are achieved.
Maybe a bonus point for completion ..so a winning team gets 4..loser 1..as opposed to 3 and 0.

One problem I see is some of the lesser lights don't stay long because they get beaten too much..so more teams and smaller numbers and 2 divisions might give them incentives too.

A and B teams is not such a bad idea either ..but players can't be transferred during a season.

Believe me if i played for total dominatrix say..and I only made their B Team..believe me i would not deliberately lose to allow their A team to win.

Trying an alternative league or cups along side the existing won't work..i_am_cazorla tried it with adam and after an idea from me that harry took on further.....but it didn't last...whatever changes are made it needs the drive of seb and dgen to keep it going.

You will always lose players..its the nature of things..its an internet game..some get hooked, some are interested for a short time ..some last a week..some come and go..

I just think its time for a re hash and new ideas

I can honestly say i wouldnt want 4 of my players to go.. we are a team and play as 1 team not A/B.

the format is fine in my eyes.. the problem is the site not the league. activity as dropped across the site not just the league.

maybe a change to the cup format but leave league as it is..

Yeah even before these discussions I was thinking of new cup formats. I like the group stage that leads to eliminations idea at the moment.

I think that would be good. Guarantee clans more games.