Grape

I joined the VHL five years ago. So much has changed within that time that looking back, it feels like it was longer. It was a packed half decade, covering the latter half of my high school years and taking me pretty much completely through university. During that time, I’ve had varying degrees of activity. I was pretty much a pure clicker with my first player, skipping weeks here and there because I really didn’t like the manual claiming on the forum. While the forum changed to be a little more streamlined, my activity increased, becoming a consistent clicker to actually becoming active and contributing, and now with this player, doing my damndest to max earn each and every week, to some success. With the amount of time spent, either working on tasks and just being here in general, burnout does start to take place. Motivation begins to dwindle. The grind for high TPE players is especially grueling and demotivating. I mean hell, my player is in their 4th season and each week of work equates to two ratings boosts. It’s tough to stay dedicated to the grind without something there to keep things entertaining, without something to keep me coming back week after week, day after day, to not just pop in and do my tasks but to actually be a part of this community. I will say, @Spartan has done a damn good job of making the Moscow discord entertaining and engaging. I haven’t been as active in a discord like that one since probably the S60s Houston and Ottawa LRs, back in the beginning. The ability to jump in there and shitpost every now and again while also, at least attempting to, contribute to the team as an advisor and also just a player who cares about their build for once. Even still, I needed something just a bit more, one little cherry on top to keep me chugging along through the late claim slog. What started as a passing comment during an “argument” by @twists soon became something so much more. Now, contrary to popular belief, I am not a weeb. I have not watched much anime and don’t know many shows. I simply find some things funny and attach myself to the few shows I’ve watched, and even some that I haven’t (like my forum pfp). That doesn’t mean that I’m a weeb, just that I’m probably autistic, although the test says I’m not but who knows these days. Nevertheless, that comment spiraled into something more, and Moscow for a moment was blessed with custom gifs relating to current happenings and discussions like the one below: It fizzled out somewhat for a bit and it seemed like it was going to pass, with the only one being made and updated is the one above to remain accurate with the TPE gain. That changed pretty quickly when @badcolethetitan jumped on the trend and made some of his own, reigniting the gif spark within me, leading to new gifs to be created, and now they have leached from the Moscow LR into the VHL discord, blessing the sometimes stagnant channels with much-needed activity. Are they stupid? Yes. Repetitive? Also yes. Is it fun though? Definitely. Sure it can be annoying at times, however, it creates both entertainment and interaction within the channel. The most important thing it has done though, is get me involved. Going through the triple slog of late stage TPE claiming, searching and interviewing for jobs, and senior year classes would lead to the burnout of most hobbies, and I’ve dropped a couple due to real life stress, but I enjoy the VHL, and don’t want to just up and leave it, and so long as I can have this fun thing going on for me, I feel as if I can stick with it until my workload decreases, and I can contribute more. (651 words)

I've been sending the league bribe money for sims for the past 3 seasons! No wonder the sims haven't been rigged in my favor!

Spartan the rebuild is over stop acquiring more picks

Week 3 of claiming

More undeniable proof that Obuz is the MVP of Moscow

This isn't Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage to Warsaw for a conditional 7th

Would be nice to implement a Build Plan tab on the player page like the SBA has, just so people can craft a future plan and have it easily accessible.

Ottawa wins this round

Welcome

Ottawa legend

Ottawa Supremacy is back on the menu

Week 2 of claiming

Rigged

Yea the forum doesn't add up. Probably due to some far back rounding error in which the ratios aren't exactly what they say they are. I guess it's just one of those things that don't pop up often because most people don't care to check

The trade of all time

@LastOneUp Could've just done this instead

Had to report the performance in Philadelphia. The hate must continue

Bro wants his first back soo bad

I apply

With the draft coming in this Saturday, many teams in the VHLM are sitting in different positions. While some appear to be primed for a competitive season, and have made moves in order to all but guarantee that, while other teams are looking at next season with weary eyes, knowing that it’s going to be a long one. If there was any season to have draft picks, it’s this one. With the massive recruitment drive and a ton of retention, we’ll be looking at active players going all the way till the end of the draft. Suffice to say, this may be one of the best drafts the VHLM has had in a long time. At least this season, gone are the completely barren rosters with like two guys sitting around twiddling their thumbs in the locker room. Every team should be able to put together at least the bones of a roster. With that being said, let’s take a look at how each team looks going into this draft. (every roster was adjusted based on IAs on the roster as of 3/11/24) Philadelphia Reapers Roster: 1 Forward, 2 Defensemen Draft Picks: 1 First, 1 Second, 1 Fourth, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh The reigning Founders Cup champions are in a relatively comfortable position coming into the draft. The Jinn draft strategy last draft has appeared to pay off, as they are retaining three for this upcoming season, with two being defensemen. With a D-pair locked down, they can take advantage of the usual deep forward class and bolster an offense. There are also a large number of serviceable goaltenders in this draft, so they can fill that hole relatively easily. With the draft class being as deep as it is, they should be able to get an active player all the way to their seventh. Having spent little draft picks for their cup run, they are in a great position to attempt the repeat, and should be able to cobble together, at the very least, a winning season. Las Vegas Aces Roster: 1 Forward Draft Picks: 1 First, 1 Third, 1 Fourth, 1 Fifth, 3 Sixths, 1 Seventh Coming up short is never fun, especially when the window closes immediately after. Las Vegas seems to be primed to go into a hard rebuild, signaled with the trading of their starting goaltender and some depth picks for futures in Season 94. While they do have a handful of picks in this draft, it appears that they’ll do their damage with later round players at lower TPA levels, and hopefully retain them for the push next season, with higher TPA players likely being moved at the deadline this season. While it won’t be a long rebuild by any stretch, it’ll be a painful one going into this season. Houston Bulls Roster: 2 Forwards, 1 Goaltender Draft Picks: 1 Second, 2 Fourths, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh The Bulls are in somewhat the same position as Las Vegas, with it not necessarily looking to be a winning season next season, having basically gone all in and coming up with nothing. They are definitely in a worse spot pickwise and will likely struggle to put together a competitive roster, coupled with the fact that their goalie could very well go up to the VHLE if they so desired. The pieces they are able to acquire will likely all carry over into the next, with the exception of the second, so while this is going to be a struggling season, season 94 will see a return to the dominant Houston Bulls team. Miami Marauders Roster: Absolutely nothing Draft Picks: 2 Firsts, 2 Seconds, 1 Third, 2 Fifths, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh Miami is the first team with absolutely no players on their roster, which serves as a monumental task in terms of putting together a competitive team, as not everybody can be the worst. They do have the maximum amount of early round picks, with two picks in both the first and second round, and should be able to gather some top-flight talent. The big determining factor going into this season is the depth picks. If they can hit on their later round selections, they will at least have a competitive squad going into this season. If they miss, they may have to rely on a select few players on a very bare roster, which has been successful, but not necessarily ideal. Mexico City Kings Roster: 1 Forward, 1 Defenseman Draft Picks: 1 First, 1 Second, 1 Third, 1 Fourth, 1 Fifth, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh Mexico City is kind of a funny team. I believe they are the only team to hold a pick in every round and those only being their original picks. They also will need to use all those picks in order to put together a roster worth competing with. A rather bare roster as of now, with the threat of their defenseman moving up to the VHLE, they’re likely to come out of the draft with the skeleton of a team, but no real meat to give it an extra punch. Whoever they select will be their ride or die, with no room for adjustment. That also puts pressure on the GM to hit on each pick, as one misstep and they’ll be forced to slot a bot into the lineup. San Diego Marlins Roster: 1 Goaltender Draft Picks: 1 Second, 2 Fourths, 2 Sevenths The Marlins are cooked. Very bare on the draft picks, and only one player on the roster, this may be the worst team in the league coming into this season. It would take a monumental reach for this team to be competitive, and would likely get bounced in a sweep if they somehow sniff the playoffs. Much like Mexico City, every pick needs to be a hit, which becomes very difficult when you’re grabbing your first line forward or top pairing defenseman in the last round of the draft. The only thing they can look forward to is hopefully retaining those they do draft and build upon the foundation they set to possibly compete in Season 94. Saskatoon Wild Roster: 2 Forwards, 1 Goaltender Draft Picks: 2 Firsts, 2 Seconds, 2 Thirds, 1 Fourth, 1 Fifth, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh The Wild are in arguably the best position going into this draft. Six picks in the first three rounds puts them in a position to get a plethora of top players in this draft class and put together the best roster right out of the gate. The team is relatively bare in the later rounds, which could prove to be a disservice if any of the top picks end up drifting away, as well as put into question the competitiveness of next season, but this is the VHLM, the next season is always a question mark. There is a slight concern that one of their forwards moves onto the VHLE, but they do have the high end picks to supplement that loss if it does occur. Ottawa Lynx Roster: 1 Goaltender Draft Picks: 2 Firsts, 3 Thirds, 1 Fourth, 4 Fifths, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh Ottawa made a decent splash before the draft, acquiring a starting goaltender in exchange for two picks in the S94 draft. Goaltending has been their achilles heel for the past few seasons, being the biggest weakness on some otherwise strong rosters. They have a good mix of early and late picks, which should provide a balance of high end talent and young, growing depth, which would allow multiple seasons of competitiveness. The main concern is constructing a full roster, as they are starting with a relatively clean slate and can’t necessarily afford to miss on their picks, as this appears to be the season in which they want to compete. Halifax 21st Roster: 1 Defenseman, 1 Goaltender Draft Picks: 2 Firsts, 2 Seconds, 1 Third, 2 Fifths, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh Halifax seems to be preparing to compete this season, as they’ve built up a decent amount of early round picks and a couple in the later rounds, attempting to strike a balanced roster of capped and growing for multiple competing seasons. This would be a nice change of pace, as it feels that Halifax has been stuck in the basement of the VHLM for quite some time. Having a good goaltender and a mediocre defenseman definitely helps, and they should at the very least be able to cobble together a good squad that likely finishes in the top half of the league. Mississauga Hounds Roster: 1 Goaltender Draft Picks: 1 First, 2 Seconds, 1 Third, 1 Sixth The lowly Hounds are in probably the worst position compared to every other team in the league. After an abysmal season, one would hope the next one would yield a more competitive result, but that does not seem to be the case for Mississauga. With a small pool of picks and only a single player on their roster, it appears that the Hounds will have another down season. The best they can hope for is to sell high on their capped assets this season and build for the future. (1528 words. Three weeks of claiming)