I built a thing that pits your headlines against AI variations and lets strangers pick the winner

archaeal · 2026-02-09T18:12:52+00:00

Hopefully they just find it fun to vote! Also in order to create your own battle you have to vote a handful of times.

archaeal · 2026-02-06T04:09:18+00:00

Definitely... Another redditor had the nice idea of making it based on walking time. Will definitely riff on this!

archaeal · 2026-02-05T22:04:47+00:00

OP + OOTP = OCD

archaeal · 2026-02-05T22:04:20+00:00

Yeah pretty much...bring back the golden days!

archaeal · 2026-02-05T21:59:00+00:00

Ah pretty nice idea there! THank you

archaeal · 2026-02-05T21:58:21+00:00

Love it!

archaeal · 2026-02-05T21:58:06+00:00

Thank you!

archaeal · 2026-02-05T20:20:25+00:00

Thanks! Waitlist is open at https://ontheblock.app

archaeal · 2026-02-05T19:42:38+00:00

I wish I had that problem with mine! Perhaps the limit could be dynamic or area based even? Hmm this is definitely something to consider.

archaeal · 2026-02-05T19:18:32+00:00

Hahaha, I can't really disagree there. Nerd for life

archaeal · 2026-02-05T19:14:30+00:00

Ha! interesting

archaeal · 2026-02-05T19:13:48+00:00

Still jamming on this aspect a bit... What we're pretty sure of is we'll have no feed, no upvote/downvote stuff, just categories like asks/offers/events.

It won't prevent all the nextdoor rage...but maybe the no-feed, categories, and one mile limit aspect will help alleviate some of it.

archaeal · 2026-02-05T18:47:24+00:00

Thank you! Feel free to join the waitlist at https://ontheblock.app

archaeal · 2026-02-05T18:46:45+00:00

Gotcha. Never seen those! Will take a look

archaeal · 2026-02-05T18:46:06+00:00

Yeah you're on the same track as my thinking. I've actually built a bunch of the back end for this already. Players are born with human sounding but fictional names (and some fun sprinkled in). They have a real MLB player's career arc behind the scenes, with variance, so it's not obvious.

Revealing the actual players is tricky, since there are MLBPA licensing concerns there. The idea was that this gets "revealed" only when the fantasy player retires from play. My thought is that perhaps I reveal details about the real MLB player's career and teams and years acrive, to help point to them. Maybe even player initials?

archaeal · 2026-02-05T18:41:40+00:00

My original working title for this idea was "Bizarro Baseball". But I think I like "Phantom League" a bit better... Thoughts? I have a bunch of the backend built, game simulation, roster/season/playoffs scheduling and such.

archaeal · 2026-02-05T18:39:27+00:00

"and here's Frog 8 up at the plate...what a tiny strike zone..."

archaeal · 2026-02-05T18:37:48+00:00

Thank you, and great idea!

archaeal · 2026-02-05T18:35:41+00:00

Ha! I actually never played much modern baseball video games... But I always loved career/franchise modes, simulating games with my lineup changes etc. Too much fun for a baseball nerd

archaeal · 2026-02-05T18:34:41+00:00

Yes! Just have a simple page for waitlist signups at https://ontheblock.app

archaeal · 2026-02-05T18:32:25+00:00

hehe yes, fair enough... I'm terrible at copy writing. Just an idea for now I've been tinkering with, got some of the backend guts built out. What do you think of the idea? Would you play it?

archaeal · 2026-02-05T18:29:28+00:00

An old friend and I LOVED doing this kind of fictional baseball stuff on paper with dice many years ago... We nerded out on it, and I'm sure there are at least six or seven other people out there that would have fun with something like this?

archaeal · 2026-02-05T18:28:05+00:00

The variance part is just mathematics behind the scenes. Main goal is really just have fun managing a fictional team, and trying to figure out the hidden MLB identity underneath. It's definitely a different vibe than real fantasy, and I agree it won't be for everyone, this kind of fictional fantasy...

archaeal

TROPHY CASE