Steve

Presser for week ending 11/26 1. How did you find the VHL? 2. Do you find it fun most of the time? Any suggestions? 3. Our team has won a game or two. How do you think we will do next season? 4. Anything good or bad going on in your life? 5. I am really having fun with Baldur's Gate 3, do you have a favorite game you play? 6. The hybrid system has been in place for serveral seasons, do you think it's time to maybe adjust the ratios a bit? *The best thing you can do for your player and the team is earn the most you can each week.

I like you Triller even though you have an AI avatar..........MUHAHAHAHA

I really don't like where AI is headed. It has ruined a few content creators that I know who used to be fantastic at photomanipulation but are all into AI now. I refuse to go down that rabbit hole. I enjoy making graphics too much to just enter enough prompts until you get something you want. I didn't even know there was a AI that writes shit for you. Seems like the prompts for that would take as long as just doing the task.

I upscale all the time. I don't think the issue is using programs that enhance an image but one that creates it in the first place. I save all my files but I don't think many ppl think my content is generated.

It should be fine if you are not making a profit off of someone's picture.

I have a great photo of a woman giving birth. Close up with the baby halfway out. What could possibly be wrong with something so natural. It was going to be the " Birth of a Player" theme.

I miss him in F1

Review: I am not sure how I missed this one. Great theme graphic that took a bit of work to make. I really admire the details in this graphic. Great color effect with the eyes and the overall bloody look kind of scares me while I am looking at it. I really like this style and you don't even need text to know what it is about. Very nice VHL branding and the detail work is top notch. It's all about first impressions and you nailed it with this one. I am glad I found it, really a fun one to look at. 9/10

Review: You have all the makings for a solid graphic. A render, text and a background. It really doesn't take much more than that to make a graphic. Now, a few things I think would be good to work on. Try your best to remove NHL branding. A logo of your team on the jersey would be the best choice. Your text isn't bad at all but is kind of lost. Maybe try an outline or shadow to make it more visible. Last thing is your color palette feels a bit off. All these changes take time to learn and I think you did a good job with what you had. I would suggest pushing your skills and learning new methods and make many more. Good job though. 8/10

Fifty two more games of the season. Time flies when you are having fun. Though I am not a huge fan of losing, that is where we are as a team because of the rebuilding process that we are going through. I hear that we will be good in a couple of seasons, I can hardly wait. I am sure the hard times will be a thing of the past once the skills start to level up and the team as a whole gains some badly needed skills. It's not my first rodeo though. I have been on a few teams that were in the rebuilding phase. Some pulled through just fine as I expect Moscow to do. On a side note, it's good to see Malmo on a hot streak. Eight wins in a row, way to go. The league has some great teams and it looks like some teams are making the move up the ladder. Word count: 158

Presser for the week of 11/19 1. Are you happy with your player so far this season? 2. What skill/skills are you trying to push? 3. Are you going to do anything fun over the holiday weekend? 4. How does it feel to be on a team that is rebuilding? 5. Do you think we will be contenders in the next two seasons? 6. What would you change in the league if you were in charge for a day? *I encourage everyone to do this task. It takes a minute to complete for 2 TPE.

I would think an updater would get the first shot at this job. That's just me thinking out loud.

Well done!

It's Malmo, so it has to be good.

Review: Another vibrant awesome looking graphic from you. You always seem to get the most out of what you come up with. I love the colors and the background with the text really looks impressive. Great logo swap that looks believable. Overall you did a fine job with this one. The complete package looks fun and well done. About the only thing I would suggest is, get rid of the NHL branding. Shoulder patches and collar logo could have been removed for a more VHL feel. Great job though. 9/10

Review: Man it looks cold out there. Nice player render. Fiala never looked so good. The team logo swap is perfect and fits well with the Kings jerseys. I like the theme of this. It looks like a lone wolf. The city looks good for a background. The VHL logo is there but not a focal point. The mostly black and white with a nice bright player face has a good feel to it. I guess there wasn't a reason to put a player name on this as it is more of a theme project. Well done, I like this style. I think your city layer wasn't clipped to the bottom as it has a boarder there. Not sure that would be intended but I have to say something. Great job. 9/10

The first week of big league games are done and it has been all that I expected and more. Not winning any games is hard to swallow but we never thought we were going to win much to begin with. So it will be a hang on tight and do what you can kind of season. I would much rather be on the winning side of things but all is going according to plan. Moscow has to be the youngest team in the league I would think. So the skill level just isn't there at this point. Moscow has not earned a single point in the first five games played. We have come close though, and the players are working hard to improve their players. So the team is pointing in the right direction and all signs indicate we will be a strong team in the next couple of seasons. So a bright distant future, a rather dim short term outlook. Such is life on a rebuilding team. Word count: 168

Presser 11/5 1. Anyone get a chance to listen to our leaders podcast? If so, how can we get him to do more? 2. We are winless so far. I know we are rebuilding and we all knew it would go like this, but do you still hate losing? I do. 3. The lines are getting moved around and the boss is seeing who plays better with each player. Is this a good strat since we really are lacking in builds and things are going to change the way we play anyway? 4. Everyone has a hobby. Some hobbies are kind of stupid and I don't tell anyone. Do you have any hobbies that others might not understand why you like it? 5. Quiz time: What skill should every player on the team have a high level of tpe invested in? Only correct answers count. 6. If you had to make a new player all over again, like right now, what would you change if anything? Bonus question/comment: Have you ever reviewed graphics for you weekly tasks? If not, there are so many that need reviewing and go unnoticed that it should be a real fast task to do. A simple review will sometimes make a member even more motivated to be active. Active=Good.

Axle Gunner Rookie Experience It has been a long road to make it to the big league. Knowing the Moscow Menace picked me in the draft really lit a fire under my ass to make sure I would be ready for the big jump into a league filled with big nasty veterans that will look to exploit the lack of experience from a rookie. I am sure it will take a good part of the season to figure out how to play the in the league. The journey to the VHL has been positive for the most part. The VHLM was hectic to say the least. The roster was full and it seemed like it was total chaos for most of the time. It actually wasn't bad and the team did very well in the regular season but fell fast in the playoffs. Such is life. It did prepare me for my next step into the VHLE. A little bit bigger players but Axle Gunner held his own for the most part. Another crowed lineup saw a lot of line mates come and go. It was a learning experience as well. It let me learn some skills that I would not have had if I didn't go into that league. I appreciate the time I was there. Knowing I would only be there for one season really put the pressure on to not only perform but to learn as much as I could. I like to be prepared and even though it will be a big change in Moscow, I can at least be certain that I will have ice time and players to learn from. Moving on with my career in Moscow is a huge step. The team will have several rookies that I am hoping we all come together and really work to make the team and our players succeed. It will not be very easy for the first season or two but if we learn and earn, we should have a team that will be a very serious contender. It will take a lot of work and a GM with the right vision. I am not worried about the Moscow GM's experience. He has shown that he can put together very strong teams in the past and he almost seems to be well liked around the league. The kind of coach that you want to play for. Axle will be all ears when it comes to learning. He is a hard worker and I expect to have a good rookie season despite the lack of high end skills at this stage in his career. So my goals for the season are two fold. We need to play as a team and win games. Finding the right lines will not be something I need to worry about. Second, I need to be in the best position to learn the skills it takes to do good in the VHL. It takes work but Axle has never been one to let training slip away. He is looking to earn his keep and will be loyal to the team. I might feel different after I get my butt kicked a few times but as it stands, I am ready for the VHL. Word count: 541

We are coming down to the wire and with only a few days before we all get to hit the ice and forge our future, I must admit, I am a bit anxious. This will be either an easy move into the big league or a reality check for Axle Gunner. He has worked hard and should be ready when the puck drops but you just never know for sure until it happens. Like going on a blind date, you never know what you have until it happens. For good or bad, a player has to start a career somewhere and even though it's not with the Malmo team that Axle was aiming for, Moscow seems like a good alternative and should be a good fit for the new center in his first season. It will be a fun time and I hope for a half decent rookie season. That was the whole point to going into the E. Earn more and enter the big league with more skill and experience to compete out of the gate. Only time will tell if that was the correct direction to go. I feel it was and there are many other elements to success other than what a single player has done. It is a team sport and I will rely on my line mates to add a layer of protection. What could possibly go wrong? Oh, it is Simon that will have the final say but you have to show up with the right tools if you want a chance to have a good showing. Good luck to everyone this season. Stay safe. Word count: 271

Review: I must say that this is a very interesting graphic that has a real good feel to it. Your choice of background and color overlay really stands out with a high contrast render. This has a fun look to it and I am a big fan of this style. I like the text in the lower right but wonder if the other text was really needed. Logo swap looks the part and works with the rest of the render's high contrast. I would really like to see more graphics that are this style. Great job. 9/10

Review: Another fine looking graphic that follows in a long line of good looking graphics that you produce. This one keeps with the same design theme you use and looks like it was done very well. The multi render graphics are hard to pull off and only a few can manage to do a fair job of it. This one looks like it could have had the single render and still be outstanding. I like how you stay within the color palette you use. Very easy on the eyes to look at for being so busy. Nice text and the overall format looks balanced. One thing I would have done is remove the NHL branding. Well done, looks great. 9/10