bigAL

Yeah, beyond a certain point it does become rather meaningless. As you're just putting it into attributes that arguably makes your player worse at doing what it *should* be doing. But more TPE earlier in a career means that you can get to where you are a difference maker quicker. So I agree that TPE eventually stops matter as much. But that doesn't make early TPE worse. That being said, having the overall stance of "if it's cool, do it" is good because it enables the community to do stuff without fear of having it shut down as a power move by the league. Which I do believe is very healthy for the growth of the league.
 
Not being the highest TPE earner in your class..How could you?! I mean that being said I'm 99.9% certain that barring some absurd Fantasy luck I have about a popsicle's chance in hell of being the max earner in my class. So I'm not really in a position to judge.😅

You don't have to pretend to like Gus or the mods, just let the hate and dictatorship flow through you!
 
I'm looking forward to the VHL Auction, this will be my first one! Merry December indeed
 
Sorry my comments are lackluster, I actually had to get work done after listening to the OzCast

Well, anyone in Moscow or anyone who was on LVA when I GM'd there can attest that most of our general conversations happen in our public chat. Any discussions specific to our team, performance or strats go in our private channel. I'm sort of putting myself on a weird pedestal here, but mainly because it is how I've set servers up and it seems to have worked so far, and the LR's have been active. It's up to the GM of a team to set that kind of system up and commit to it, or find something else they like that works. If a GM doesn't take LR activity seriously, why would their players?

I think a good retention rate for the community as a whole means that people graduate from the M and move onto the VHLE and the VHL. The M is the filter that weeds out the players who aren’t going to stick around anyways. If a member is to become a dedicated part of our community, they must pass the “test” of the VHLM. If they stay in the M for more than their one or two full seasons, they probably aren’t earning at a rate conducive to long term, sustainable activity. Clicking and presser every week (welfare+) should get you beyond the M in that time. 
 
Unfortunately, retention in the M does not equal retention as a whole. The job of the M is to prepare members for life in the broader VHL structure. 
 
The goal of the M is (should be) to get players out of there as quickly as they are able to do so. 

It's also my personal opinion that the quality of a locker room depends on the GM and the culture in place, as well as the people brought in. None of my locker rooms have been purely players, but also guests/friends/alumni. I can go off on a whole other tangent about how the main VHL server has negatively impacted the amount of time the most active members spend in LR'S, but I remain firmly of the opinion that dead LR's are solved with a commitment from the team staff to bring in active voices, even if they are not members of the team.

Out of love and friendship with Spence, he's not the same as you and I. He loves the VHLM, he loves player development, wanted to be an M GM since he joined the league, and I think even has personal irl ties to development hockey leagues. Him being that passionate about playing in the M (and he wasn't even going up to the E) is not the standard to set when treating the average member's development through the VHL league structure. 

I totally get, I really do. First gens build a connection with their first GM and first team. You always remember your first, they say. Your first LR is your entire experience and impression of the VHL. The M GMs are fantastic at their jobs, and that shows when players don’t want to leave. I regretted going up to the VHL because friggin DLamb stayed down the extra season, came up at 400 TPE, and won Rookie of the Year. Now everyone will get to the bigs at 400, which is nice, but I did have the same moral dilemma you’re having right now. 
 
Unfortunately, the structure of the league just isn’t built for the career minor leaguer. We need people to graduate the M when they’re ready to make space for new recruits and recreates. And then we need them to graduate the E to make space for the slower earners, inactives, or next-season-VHLers. 
 
I dunno how well versed you are in sim leagues, but I am determined that no one should ever stop earning TPE. In the EFL, my GM told me to just stop once I got to 199 so I wouldn’t go over and have to move up. I completely went inactive at that point. Sitting and waiting in the LR sounds like fun, but it’s really not sustainable from a retention standpoint. 
 
I know it’s all personal choice, and if you choose to stop at 199 I can’t stop you, and I can tell you it’s still a lot of fun to be a loyal VHL player (or a cut throat mercenary going to free agency at every chance) but you don’t have to believe me. Just do what’s best for you, and please for the love of Simon T, don’t ever turn down an opportunity for TPE. 

I totally get, I really do. First gens build a connection with their first GM and first team. You always remember your first, they say. Your first LR is your entire experience and impression of the VHL. The M GMs are fantastic at their jobs, and that shows when players don’t want to leave. I regretted going up to the VHL because friggin DLamb stayed down the extra season, came up at 400 TPE, and won Rookie of the Year. Now everyone will get to the bigs at 400, which is nice, but I did have the same moral dilemma you’re having right now. 
 
Unfortunately, the structure of the league just isn’t built for the career minor leaguer. We need people to graduate the M when they’re ready to make space for new recruits and recreates. And then we need them to graduate the E to make space for the slower earners, inactives, or next-season-VHLers. 
 
I dunno how well versed you are in sim leagues, but I am determined that no one should ever stop earning TPE. In the EFL, my GM told me to just stop once I got to 199 so I wouldn’t go over and have to move up. I completely went inactive at that point. Sitting and waiting in the LR sounds like fun, but it’s really not sustainable from a retention standpoint. 
 
I know it’s all personal choice, and if you choose to stop at 199 I can’t stop you, and I can tell you it’s still a lot of fun to be a loyal VHL player (or a cut throat mercenary going to free agency at every chance) but you don’t have to believe me. Just do what’s best for you, and please for the love of Simon T, don’t ever turn down an opportunity for TPE. 

I totally get, I really do. First gens build a connection with their first GM and first team. You always remember your first, they say. Your first LR is your entire experience and impression of the VHL. The M GMs are fantastic at their jobs, and that shows when players don’t want to leave. I regretted going up to the VHL because friggin DLamb stayed down the extra season, came up at 400 TPE, and won Rookie of the Year. Now everyone will get to the bigs at 400, which is nice, but I did have the same moral dilemma you’re having right now. 
 
Unfortunately, the structure of the league just isn’t built for the career minor leaguer. We need people to graduate the M when they’re ready to make space for new recruits and recreates. And then we need them to graduate the E to make space for the slower earners, inactives, or next-season-VHLers. 
 
I dunno how well versed you are in sim leagues, but I am determined that no one should ever stop earning TPE. In the EFL, my GM told me to just stop once I got to 199 so I wouldn’t go over and have to move up. I completely went inactive at that point. Sitting and waiting in the LR sounds like fun, but it’s really not sustainable from a retention standpoint. 
 
I know it’s all personal choice, and if you choose to stop at 199 I can’t stop you, and I can tell you it’s still a lot of fun to be a loyal VHL player (or a cut throat mercenary going to free agency at every chance) but you don’t have to believe me. Just do what’s best for you, and please for the love of Simon T, don’t ever turn down an opportunity for TPE. 

Hi @BOG,
 
Currently the VHLM has 174 active players (17.4 per team), more than the previous 2 seasons. With that being said it is almost a guarantee that a significant % of them will go IA in the next few weeks. Given retention rates for previous seasons going back to season 75 we can approximately predict how the size of this draft class will decrease throughout their career (See figure below). This does go more into retention which I decided to put in a seperate post shortly since I'm planning on including the survey results which opens a whole new can of worms, some of which are somewhat alarming.
 

 
Across the three leagues this is how rosters break down by position:
VHLM
C
W
D
G
Total
Halifax
3
7
6
2
18
Houston
2
7
5
3
17
Las Vegas
4
9
6
2
21
Mexico
1
6
2
2
11
Miami
3
5
3
2
13
Minnesota
        0
Mississauga
0
10
5
2
17
Ottawa
2
7
6
2
17
Philadelphia
4
8
9
3
24
San Diego
4
7
7
2
20
Saskatoon
4
6
4
2
16
Yukon
        0
Total
27
72
53
22
174
Average
2.7
7.2
5.3
2.2
17.4
 
VHLE
C
W
D
G
Total
Bratislava
2
4
4
2
12
Cologne
1
5
4
1
11
Geneva
2
5
4
1
12
Istanbul
2
7
4
2
15
Oslo
2
3
3
1
9
Rome
2
6
4
1
13
Stockholm
1
8
6
2
17
Vasteras
1
5
4
1
11
Total
13
43
33
11
100
Average
1.625
5.375
4.125
1.375
12.5
 
VHL
C
W
D
G
Total
Calgary
2
4
4
2
12
Chicago
2
3
2
1
8
D.C.
1
3
2
0
6
Davos
4
2
4
2
12
Helsinki
2
3
4
2
11
London
1
3
2
1
7
L.A.
2
4
4
1
11
Malmo
3
3
3
2
11
Moscow
3
3
4
2
12
N.Y.
2
2
3
1
8
Prague
2
4
4
1
11
Riga
2
4
4
1
11
Seattle
2
5
3
1
11
Toronto
7
2
3
1
13
Vancouver
2
4
4
2
12
Warsaw
1
4
4
1
10
Total
38
53
54
21
166
Average
2.375
3.3125
3.375
1.3125
10.375
 
In summary here’s a quick breakdown of players per team by position; VHLM has 9.9 F, 5.3 D, and 2.2 G; VHLE has 7 F, 4.1 D, and 1.4 G, VHL has 5.7 F, 3.4 D, and 1.3 G. In addition to this it is important to note that the average VHL team currently has 1.25 IA players and the average VHLE team has 5 IA players.
 
Now you could be asking yourself what’s the problem here? And although on the surface roster sizes in the E and VHL seem fine the VHLM is in a real pickle as players who create can only be offered a spot on only a handful of teams and a GM or AGM may not be readily available to send them a waiver pitch, which results in losing a player before they ever really joined.
 
 
So now, what can we do? I do think the solution here is a fairly simple one and parts of it have been brought up previously. My suggestion is to relocate Geneva and Oslo back to the VHLM and with that to address the issues that were brought up last offseason with the VHLE roster sizes instituting a IA rule in the VHLE (previously brought up by Acyd). An IA rule in the E and returning the league to 6 teams would see roster sizes currently being 6.8 F, 3.5 D, and 1 G. This could also help increase LR activity in the E which several people have told me is an issue. Additionally this could bring up the issues that we saw last season with M rosters not having enough players, which I would say that is the M not better off prepared for massive recruitment drives than the current situation?

You C Word! 🤬

LMAO, I went to moose and goose the other night @bigAL!

I think a good retention rate for the community as a whole means that people graduate from the M and move onto the VHLE and the VHL. The M is the filter that weeds out the players who aren’t going to stick around anyways. If a member is to become a dedicated part of our community, they must pass the “test” of the VHLM. If they stay in the M for more than their one or two full seasons, they probably aren’t earning at a rate conducive to long term, sustainable activity. Clicking and presser every week (welfare+) should get you beyond the M in that time. 
 
Unfortunately, retention in the M does not equal retention as a whole. The job of the M is to prepare members for life in the broader VHL structure. 
 
The goal of the M is (should be) to get players out of there as quickly as they are able to do so. 

I think a good retention rate for the community as a whole means that people graduate from the M and move onto the VHLE and the VHL. The M is the filter that weeds out the players who aren’t going to stick around anyways. If a member is to become a dedicated part of our community, they must pass the “test” of the VHLM. If they stay in the M for more than their one or two full seasons, they probably aren’t earning at a rate conducive to long term, sustainable activity. Clicking and presser every week (welfare+) should get you beyond the M in that time. 
 
Unfortunately, retention in the M does not equal retention as a whole. The job of the M is to prepare members for life in the broader VHL structure. 
 
The goal of the M is (should be) to get players out of there as quickly as they are able to do so. 

Hello everyone, @Berocka and I are back with another episode, two weeks in a row, and today we're joined by your commissioner @bigAL! That's right our podcast is posted before yours @JardyB10 (POWER MOVE). We had lots to discuss today including the suggestion drive ideas, we fight for more TPE from our blues and learn that Berocka has had every idea the league has ever thought of 6 months in advance but they fell on deaf ears. There's some new, very relatable power moves this week and of course lots of laughs.
 
It's a long one today so thanks for listening and let us know what you think.
 
 
Berocka, bigAL and dasboot claiming for 3 weeks each

Hello VSN 
 
Welcome to the S70 VHL All Stars Competition, presented by VSN. A recording of the commentary is available for you to listen to, or read below for the results.
 
 
 
Spotify Link coming soon.
 
Results Below:
 
 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Final Results for the VHL All Stars Skills Competition S70!
 
Congratulations to all participants!
 
 

I think a good retention rate for the community as a whole means that people graduate from the M and move onto the VHLE and the VHL. The M is the filter that weeds out the players who aren’t going to stick around anyways. If a member is to become a dedicated part of our community, they must pass the “test” of the VHLM. If they stay in the M for more than their one or two full seasons, they probably aren’t earning at a rate conducive to long term, sustainable activity. Clicking and presser every week (welfare+) should get you beyond the M in that time. 
 
Unfortunately, retention in the M does not equal retention as a whole. The job of the M is to prepare members for life in the broader VHL structure. 
 
The goal of the M is (should be) to get players out of there as quickly as they are able to do so. 

So, Ottawa is still kicking ass and taking names. Have only 1 regulation loss to start the season, which is pretty good. As I'm writing this, I wonder what the VHLM team with the most points and/or the least regulation losses is. I have to imagine in Old VHL(M) some team must have come close to a perfect season. Lots of chatter about the moderating survey. As I said in the thread, I don't want to dismiss the survey (and I honestly don't - I think it raises some valid points) but it is important to remember that generally speaking, those who are going to respond to a voluntary survey are those that feel strongly in either direction. On the whole, I think the moderating team does a good job, but like any of us, there are maybe some things that could change or be more consistent. However, I want to scream this as loud as I can to people on a variety of topics: THIS IS A SIM LEAGUE FULL OF VOLUNTEERS - NOT EVERYTHING WILL BE PERFECT

Venus Thightrap has announced their retirement.

P R E A C H
 
This might be an unpopular opinion to some, but I fully agree. You'll see why getting rid of it isn't realistic at the moment soon enough (spoiler alert!) but you'll also see the issue I have with that.

December to March is the prime podcasting season for our boi bigAL, and one quick look at the calendar says it's time to get talking again.
 
None of my podcast appearances have published yet, so I need to do my own point task for this week. Here's 30 mins of updates around the league, including:
 
- The Podcasting Tournament (courtesy of my humble hero Berocka)
- The Moderation Quality Control Assessement (courtesy of my intellectual idol Gustav)
- The Recruit & Retain Reassessment (courtesy of my big brained brother Alex_J)
- The Holiday Charity Auction 
 
Not tagging people cause shrug emoji
 
Someone should learn how to make a spotify playlist that auto adds episodes from all our different feeds.
 
Sziastok, hallo!
 
https://anchor.fm/bigal4/episodes/Its-podcasting-season--baby-e1b91sb 

Damien Walec - Class of S79
 
Joined: S12
Jobs Held: VHL Magazine Writer, Grader, VHL GM, VHLM Commissioner, BoG
HoF Players (at time of writing): Tukka Reikkinen (S25)
 
Presently known as @.sniffuM, S79's Builder induction points its finger at a member known by many names across many different leagues. Though some know him as BBD, some as Dennis, and some as Crittenden, the VHL colloquially knows him as Muff, and as great as his sim league accomplishments may be as a whole, what he has been able to bring to the VHL in particular is sufficiently significant to warrant the highest level of individual recognition our league can bestow.
 
First entering the VHL scene shortly after the conclusion of the league's first decade, many muffins were left unbaked in the '10s. It took Muff an unusual amount of time to initially catch on--first drafted by Calgary in the third round as an inactive who remained inactive, he would subsequently recreate as Optimus Prime in S14 and be drafted a round earlier. Just before the midpoint of Prime's career (in his prime, one might say), though, things had dropped off again and Muff was recreating for the S18 draft with Joey Clarence, at first under an alias.
 
At this point, things started to take a turn for the better. Clarence would make Muff, once he was playing as Muff again, a well-known member with a good player--though not quite a Hall-of-Fame player, he would still legitimize Muff's name among the league's active members and keep Muff interested in league goings-on, as it was at this point that he would pick up his first league job as a writer for the VHL Magazine. And since the Magazine was still fairly young at the time, Muff proved central to its continued success, serving as a faithful member of the staff for almost 100 issues. It was during his time as a writer, though, that Muff would make his single greatest player.
 
Tukka Reikkinen was drafted 4th overall to Vasteras in S25, and got off to a solid start team-wise by participating in the team's championship win in S26 (Vasteras' last cup ever). The following season, Reikkinen won the Funk and led the league in goals and points (with 152!)--and Muff became GM of the team, thereby establishing himself as the face of the franchise on multiple levels. Though Muff's run as Vasteras GM would not come with a great amount of critical acclaim, it was around this point that he may have hit his early-career peak, with a Writer job (soon to become a Grader job) and a GM job while managing a player who, per his Hall of Fame article, qualified at the time as "one of the top five forwards ever". Reikkinen was a beast--outside of the championships and the awards, he put up 825 points, with four seasons over 100, and nearly 1,900 hits with a level of physical play not usually seen among elite scorers. 
 
Though the late 20s represented the most noteworthy aspects of Muff's career as a member, that's not to say that he dropped off or became insignificant. One career or one short period of time as a hugely active and influential member of the league will not lead to an induction--and Muff receives this induction as such a member with longevity. With a long-standing run of activity from the distant past to the present, the culmination of Muff's efforts to make the league a better place are just as impressive as anything anyone would find on paper. Today, and for a great length of time, Muff has been someone with a top-tier sense of humor who can always be relied upon to provide support or serious discussion, and has had a significant influence on the league's general atmosphere and dynamics.
 
Most recently at the time of writing, Muff has continued a legacy of building in the portal era with defenseman Marvin Harding, goaltender A Red Guy (who enjoyed a brief run among the league's elite), and role-player Muffbeav, and finally distinguished himself as a GM. 44 seasons after his Vasteras tenure ended, Muff was ushered in as the first-ever GM of the Warsaw Predators as part of the league's largest expansion ever in S73. Within a few seasons, in remarkable contrast to his tenure with Vasteras, Muff had flipped Warsaw around into a powerhouse and a perennial contender. Though he would once again leave the GM world after 6 seasons, this did not come until after he won a championship, his first ever as GM, in S78.
 
At the time of writing, Muff is a member of the BoG, and one who can always be counted on to provide honest, thoughtful responses to whichever issues are presented. Though he is no longer part of the new generation of VHL members, he is now a monument to what a fresh, new member may become, and will be remembered with this induction for VHL eternity as such.

Yeah, let me clarify that I'm not against having people share who they voted for. I'm only against making it required.

Personally, I'm with Gus and FTI - it's super important to be able to justify your votes, that extra layer of accountability forces you to think deeper and more seriously when you're voting. As a whole BoG though, I do see all the pitfalls and dangers with releasing ballots and names. I always like to believe the best of people, but we know it'll be an utter shitshow if we release awards votings.
 
So what about a compromise? FTI, Gus, ADV, someone who does feel comfortable sharing their ballot could do so on behalf of the whole BoG. Scotty can write one of his famously in-depth articles about how he voted Duncan Idaho for the Boulet for these reasons, and the arguments against Idaho from the other voters were those reasons. It'd provide just a peek into the discussion around award, which is really all we want to give away. People genuinely think we're either a) a cabal bent on upending democracy and giving all the awards to blues (Dood deserved Boulet last season!!11!1!!) or, b) a completely disengaged and incompetent electorate that doesn't put any thought or energy into awards voting. Sharing a ballot or two WITH some analysis of the general BoG discussions would be the perfect level of sharing I think.

Personally, I'm with Gus and FTI - it's super important to be able to justify your votes, that extra layer of accountability forces you to think deeper and more seriously when you're voting. As a whole BoG though, I do see all the pitfalls and dangers with releasing ballots and names. I always like to believe the best of people, but we know it'll be an utter shitshow if we release awards votings.
 
So what about a compromise? FTI, Gus, ADV, someone who does feel comfortable sharing their ballot could do so on behalf of the whole BoG. Scotty can write one of his famously in-depth articles about how he voted Duncan Idaho for the Boulet for these reasons, and the arguments against Idaho from the other voters were those reasons. It'd provide just a peek into the discussion around award, which is really all we want to give away. People genuinely think we're either a) a cabal bent on upending democracy and giving all the awards to blues (Dood deserved Boulet last season!!11!1!!) or, b) a completely disengaged and incompetent electorate that doesn't put any thought or energy into awards voting. Sharing a ballot or two WITH some analysis of the general BoG discussions would be the perfect level of sharing I think.