Hello all,
As you may know, I am a big proponent of expansions and exciting new features to add to the league. While this has turned it into a meme sometimes, it's not just a meme. While I'm not right all of the time of course, (trivia answer sharing punishments) I do believe a lot of my ideas and theories have been good for the league or at least entertaining to discuss. While I was gone the League and the BOG implemented and announced a brand new league that being the VHLE! While many people thought it would be something I'd look forward to (expansions) you would have been right at first; unfortunately, the deeper I looked into the entire E system and the effect it would have on the rest of the user-base, I started having my doubts. On the surface, the E looks like a great fix for an "issue" the league has, which would be roster room. What it does not do is help the average member stay engaged and active in the league. The "clickers" as they have been more recently called are being kind of put to the side. While some people may like this idea I believe it will be detrimental to the league's health. Having a league entirely dedicated to housing the "clickers" will damage the retention of said "clicking" members. Some may not care about those members, some of which may stay or not, but I personally believe they are crucial to the league(s) to survive. While the E is just a theoretical stop along the way of a career it also delays the average member by at least a season or two it creates the vision of the end goal (of making the VHL) that much more distant. If I had joined the league and had been told that I had to go through two different leagues and that it would take an entire real-life year to reach the VHL I might not have stuck around. Because of this very simple idea, I think the long-term ramifications of having the third league make the VHLE a bad idea.
The fact that I have seen many well-known members in discord posts about skipping the E in by any means possible, is just a small example of how this league will be seen as a home for the "clickers". Here are a few things I was able to find quickly while searching on discord.
This is in no way just an "I don't like the E and these are my thoughts" below are some extra negative effects the E may have on the league's health overall.
1. The VHL Drafts will become barren (2nd and 3rd round picks mean nothing)
2. The STHS engine will struggle to deal with 99's vs 99's (were test sims done?)
3. Disengaging new members
4. Produces mediocre players that don't try to earn more TPE (activity)
This is not simply a manifesto, I also have an idea on how to fix the issues that the VHLE was aimed at fixing.
1. Increase the VHLM cap to 350 TPE
2. incentivize VHL General Managers to roll more lines (uncap Endurance stat)
3. (yes I know) Expand the VHL by a couple more teams
These are just a few little edits that could have been made that would make a 3rd league unnecessary.
Overall I think the theory of the VHLE makes a lot of sense, although realistically it does not. Having members that will feel isolated and discouraged no how small of an aspect of the league you think this may be, is bad for the website's health overall. All it would take is a couple of bad draft classes and the VHL may suffer the same fate that it had when it had to remove Cologne. With the positive experience that new members and returning members have had with the VHLM why not leave them there for one more season instead of uprooting them for theoretically a single season? That, combined with the "unwatered down" talent that will be the VHL, will greatly reduce overall scoring across the league and recreate another "dead puck era", similar to what the VHL suffered through roughly 20 seasons ago. Take one of my previous players, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, as an example. He is currently 2nd of all time for TPE. In season 71 he scored a total of 88 points, which led the entire league that season. That is just a small example of what could happen when the talent at the highest level is not pitted against the weaker players. You may be thinking by this point "well getting no points isn't fun either" and that is something I'll agree with you on. Most new players or members would most likely come into the league expecting to go through some growing pains as their player gets better and gains more experience. This is like in the NHL, where most players go through some growing pains as they get used to the increased competition that the new league brings.
No matter what stance you have on the VHLE, it's in my opinion that the "clickers" are what keeps the league alive. The fresh faces and the mediocre players that provide the fodder for the best of the best to feast on, and the inspiration that said "clickers" might take from this that causes them to develop more and more investment into this fantastic league and community we have here, is, in my opinion, something that lets the league continue to run the same way.
Now, the moment we have all been waiting for; my prediction and foresight for what the E will become and how long it will last. I believe the E will become something that most "active" members will try to avoid. Not because of the General Managers or anyone running the league, but because of the time and impatience that most members have for anything not named the VHL. Without the boost from the most active members helping swell the numbers and drive the activity of the league, they may become stagnant and the majority of members around the league will not care what happens in it. I predict the league will run for 5 seasons before dying a horrendous yet somehow spectacular death.
This is the Beaviss manifesto regarding the VHLE
-Muff
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