NSG

Well, here we are, just 3 games from the season from being over, and it’s clear that Henry Tucker’s been hit hard. He has 50 goals (which is 7th), 49 assists, and 99 points, and also has 101 PIM, 207 HIT, and 14 power play goals (tied for 7th). Even though these are very below where he wants them to be, he is still making progress in the Vancouver record books.

Games: 10th (429) - Just a few more games and we’ll be tied for 9th!

Goals: 4th (208) - Tucker fell back behind Zolnek this week and it’ll be a sprint to the finish, as both retire following S83.

Assists: 7th (257) - Getting 12 assists this week helped Tucker fend off J. Reinhart by 1. Thankfully, we’re supposed to trade him at the season’s end, which will eliminate some big-time competition.

Points: 4th (465) - Unless both RGN and Zolnek get traded away, there’s no hope for 1st place here. Best we can do is 3rd place, which would mean passing Su, which would mean scoring an achievable 79 points next year. Personally, I think that’s a good bet, especially since I would expect that without Jerome and (hopefully) Tyler, I’ll be carrying the scoring.

PIM: 1st (801) - Even if I can’t break records that matter, like goals, I’ll always be able to brag that I’m Vancouver’s all time leader in penalty minutes.

Hits: 1424 (1st) - I remember someone saying that a pre-portal Vanny player had 1400-so hits, well, now I’ve probably passed that, so no need to worry.

Shots: 2209 (4th) - Sadly, I lost ground to Zolnek here as well. Thankfully, he’s gonna get a lot worse than me, so I shouldn’t really have to worry about this.

Game Winners: 27 (T-3rd) - Alas, no game winner for me this week, so I still don’t have sole control over 3rd place. 

And once again, we are finished with a week of Vanny record chasing. Thanks for reading!

(Note: It seems like there’s people who, like, read these things, and I have no idea why. Especially Shindigs)

352 words

Got to 100 PTS in style

I’m gonna miss you and I have no idea why

Beanies is indeed a chad, whatever that means

Well, for the first time in a long time (Feb 8 2021), I am writing an article for VHL. And since then, a lot of things have changed. Meta has come and (basically) gone, the VHLE happened, and new faces have flooded management positions. And, obviously, Tucker has changed a lot. Once upon a time, he was an underrated, underappreciated right winger who was selected 73rd in the VHLM Draft and 26th in the VHL Draft. Now, though, he's one of the best scorers in the game, continuing to perform in a meta world with a rather un-meta build (yes, 99 SC + DF, but 70 PA, CK, and FG don't quite fit the mold). He's become one of the best Wolves players ever, and, in my opinion, deserves to have his jersey (#88, obviously) retired by the team. He's become the 2nd biggest steal in the S76 draft (his TPE ranking is 19 spots higher than his draft number. His old friend and twice over ex-teammate,Tater Tat, has him beat, with 27). However, with all these records comes old age, and Tucker is to be auto-retired at the conclusion of the S83 season. It'll definitely be a really weird, sad day for me, because he's all I've ever really known, so without Tucker, Imma lowkey feel like I have no identity in the league. And thus, the question I pose myself: Will I leave or stay? What will my new player look like? mma try and write it all out, not just because I need 6 TPE, but because the time for such decisions is nearing.

Why I'd Leave VHL: Basically, I'm not super attached to the league. Whereas in a lot of leagues, I feel like I'd be letting someone/people if I left (such as EFL, where I'm a Historian, AD, GM, Updater, Presenter, and am on the BOD), I don't feel like the league would take a big L if I left (I would reappear for Town of Salem but nothing else), nor do I feel like I'd lose a part of me if I were to just disappear into the canals of VHL user history. And without Tucker, what am I? Will I ever become invested in my new guy or will I just be trapped in the aromas of nostalgia for Tucker instead? I have a pretty busy life and I need to try and make room for what's happening out there instead having my head in the Internet.

Why I'd Stay: This is the only hockey sim league I have and although not attached with it, I'm familiar with it. I know enough about who the people are, and I want to make some sort of legacy. Tucker is not noteworthy enough for anyone to remember 10 seasons from now, save a few Vancouver homies. I'd love to have a bona fide star, and the way to do that would be to stick around. Additionally, going back down to the VHLM + VHLE would allow me to meet some new people and make some new friends, and perhaps I could get attached to the league like I never was before.

Why I'd Create a Forward Again: Tucker was very much a 2-way forward. He could hit, he could fight, and he could score, but there's more types of forwards than that. My next guy could be a defensive forward, focused on hitting and stuff, or I could make a guy who's all about the points. I also don't know if there's a huge difference between right wings, centers, and left wingers, so I could try and figure that out. However, this is not likely going to be what I would do.

Why I'd Do Defense: Though it wouldn't be as radical as going from forward to goalie, this would be pretty rad as well. I didn't do defense w/Tucker, obviously, and again, there's plenty of routes to go. Would I be focused on assists, hits, or goals? Maybe all 3? Could shots blocked be the thing I vibe with? I really don't know what makes you good at blocking shots, so we could see about that. I feel like D is the least sought after position, so I might have less obstacles to go through en route to complete world domination.

Why I'd Do Goalie: It'd be completely new for me and I'd be going in blind, and that's something I lowkey enjoy. "You're insane, NSG! Nobody likes to not know what they're doing!" you might say. Well, I like it like that, so clearly it's not nobody who likes a challenge. The stats I'm going for are all different, and it'd be pretty cool seeing how it all turns out. However, I hear that there's too many goalies in the league nowadays so I might not do it after all, just because there's no plausible way to be good off the jump.

And that will be that for that. Some other things I wonder about:

How valued are recreates in the M these days? Would people actually chase after a RC or would they get similar offers?

Would the M GM's even know that I had had a successful player previously? Would they see that "NSG has created a player" and actually know that I was a RC, or do they not know of my existence?

Being a RC, would I be selected in a logical place in a draft, or would I be FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY like last time? Would the GMs overvalue me?

If there's any good news about having all these unanswerable questions is that is piquing my interest in the league. If I were to just quit, I'd never be able to figure these out, and though I wouldn't lose sleep over not knowing the answers, I'd never have the satisfaction of knowing the answers. Are these types of things what keep people going back to the VHL? Do other people who are facing these types of decisions in the league also stick around because they want answers? I guess I'll never know.

Thanks for reading this weird, weird, article, hope you enjoyed, I guess. Feel free to comment, though I doubt anyone will.

1034 words

Ok, so earlier this year, I bought a Jaromir Jagr for scoring. Thankfully it hasn't been approved yet, but do I need to buy the Jagr again for one of these newfangled attrubutes?

Well, another week passed, and this one was better for Tucker. Though he is outside the top 10 in most every category, he is tied for 1st in goals (46), tied for 2nd in power play goals (13), and is tied for 3rd with 3 hat tricks. However, other stats are faltering, as he only has 37 assists for 83 points, a +31 +/-, 77 PIM, and 168 hits. He’s still pretty good, though, and he’s still climbing the Vancouver leaderboards. Let’s have a look!

Games: 10th (414) - Again, no change here, but there wasn’t supposed to be any. Unless RGN gets traded or something, Tucker will finish his career in higher than 2nd in games.

Goals: 3rd (204) - Tucker successfully passed Zolnek and is now 20 games off the team record with 18 games to go. At the very least, he can probably get 13 to tie for 2nd place.

Assists: 7th (245) - 5 assists in the last week is pretty symbolic of Tucker’s season. No way he catches RGN for assists but Tucker could prolly slot into 3rd at the end of his career if he can learn how to pass next year.

Points: 6th (449) - Tucker won’t be able to catch RGN, who’s about to pass Su for points, but 2nd place is in reach for next season. Downey and Freeman are both at 460 so if he’s gonna pass anyone this season, it’s gonna be them.

PIM: 1st (777) - Honestly, all he’s doing is extending his record at this point. Nobody’s gonna catch him and very few are courageous enough to try.

Hits: 1st (1385) - Also a matter of extending his record, though there is a distinct possibility that someone would go for this record. Most people don’t like PIM, but a few do like hits.

Shots: 4th (2150) - Tucker stands just 37 shots behind Zolnek, and though progress is slow, we’re getting closer.

Game Winners: T-3rd (27) - For like the 3rd straight week, he’s made exactly 1 game winners. Another one this week means outright second place, but he’ll need 5 to be the all-time leader for Vanny.

So that’s that for this week, tune back in for a similarly mundane recitation of my statistics as I futilely chase team records!

KOBE!!!

1 hour ago, Minion said:

I could have but by choice is doesn’t make sense for what I want to do

Well what do you want to do then

1. We’re still in 1st, but LA is 2 points back. Can we prevent them from overtaking us?
2. Are you more into jazz or military march music, and why?
3. Who’s your role model (can be a sim league dude or a real life person)?
4. If your player were caught using a banned substance, what would it be?
5. Is there anything in particular that makes you nostalgic?
6. What’s the worst experience you had on a sim league team?

1 hour ago, Spartan said:

P sure you can turn off notifications from the people you follow. I just use follower/following like Facebook friends LMAO, I don't actually get notifications anytime they post.

Oh

Well that’s a lot more work than clicking on my notifications

On 2/21/2022 at 2:12 PM, Spartan said:

VHL Wordle 
https://vhl-wordle.herokuapp.com
 17 4/6

 

throwback damn

Imma have to stop following you cause you’re flooding my notifications lol

The title is pretty explanatory. The aging captain of the Vancouver Wolves, Henry Tucker, now in his 6th campaign, has had a pretty normal week. He did neither well nor poorly, if we’re honest. Though he has slipped out of the top 10 in points, Tucker is tied for 4th with 32 goals, but sadly 33 assists isn’t enough to get him on the points leaderboard. His 128 hits and 60 PIM aren’t enough to get him in the top 10 for those categories, but at least he’s 3rd in power play goals, with 11. Vancouver, though, continues to lead the league in points, with 64, so it’s all OK in the end. Now, for a look at Tucker on the Vanny leaderboards, as we do every week.

Games: 10th (400) - No change there.

Goals: 4th (190) - Tucker is only 2 goals away from catching the still-active Zolnek for 3rd, but he has not quite done so.

Assists: 9th (240) - It says 10th for last week, but that’s dumb counting by me. If Tucker can get 3 assists this week, he will catapult himself up to 7th!

Points: 6th (431) - Henry still has a ways to go to catch the next best guy (29 points away), but he could do it if he has a bopper of a week.

PIM: 760 (1st)

Hits: 1345 (1st)

Shots: 2068 (4th) - This is another one where he’s trying to catch Zolnek, but Tucker keeps pulling closer.

Game Winners: 26 (T-4th) - Another week, another game winning goal. If he gets 2 this week, he’ll be in sole possession of 3rd place.

Well, that’s it for this week, stay tuned for next week’s edition.

285 words

Henry Tucker - Scoring

48 minutes ago, Beketov said:

We’re only human; this takes time.

Just be superhuman then

Ez

3 hours ago, Spartan said:

I agree, it sucks that we can't just implement something easily and quickly. However I think the league is having a fun time bashing Vancouver. Good way to bring us all together lol. 

I mean I don’t particularly enjoy getting bashed, especially when the whole team, which is full of excellent people who have done nothing to exacerbate this problem, getting bashed together. Especially poor Thad. He’s a Wolves player, and thus he’s being bashed for building an build that he can’t build.

3 minutes ago, Daniel Janser said:

I think what bothers some people is that the one who is running all the tests (as I understand it) is the one who at the moment is exploiting this meta the most (I am not saying he is the only one). Now, I am not saying that he does sabotage the testing or rig it or deliberately prolong the meta existence. All I am saying is, if you are from the outside looking in, it doesn't give you a fuzzy feeling about it, due to the apparent conflict of interest.

 

Imagine Exxon gets a monopoly to find an alternative fuel, with everyone else being benched on the problem. So Exxon is working on this alternative fuel on a (perceived) snail pace, while everyone else is forced to watch and twiddling thumbs, while Exxon is still selling oil and makes a shitload of money. Every now and then there is a PC from the Exxon brass 'We are working on it, a solution will be ready when it's ready, we cannot rush these things', while ripping everybody and their mothers off at the pump.

 

During my NCO training I was taught that a mediocre solution (or even a bad one) in time is a better solution than the perfect solution too late.

 

I appreciate that BOG wants to make the right moves and to spare a 'trial and error' phase. And honestly I my self do not give a damn about the meta, I play my player as I see fit and do not define myself over success in a virtual sports league at all. 

 

I think there will be a point of no return where so many players will have meta builds, because they are sick and tired of being in the passenger seat when not doing it that we can as well throw a dice at the beginning of the season for all the trophies. At that point we can as well nuke the VHL and restart from square one. I hope it will not come to that.

The issue I see is comparing the BOG and Nyko to Exxon. Exxon, in this example case, has everything to gain by not doing anything. The BOG has nothing to gain my going this slow. Nyko? Not sure about that situation, but I think there’s enough public scrutiny that he understands that he has to actually do something. And going back to the monopoly, Nyko does not have a monopoly on the league. He’s not in charge and can be disciplined if needed. I do, however, agree that the time is very near where everyone will have meta builds, so they need to come up with something pretty soon.

Help me God

Sorry for the slander Nyko 

1 hour ago, Nykonax said:

wait this just isnt true.

 

also @Daniel Janser the meaning behind that "wheres all the meta posts guys" was in every single playoff thread every1 spammed fuck meta, then we lose 2 games and no one posts about meta in that thread, its funny af imo

Oh right I’m dum that was Fonzi but it was just 99 SC at that point

5 minutes ago, jRuutu said:

Shame on Nyko for doing something like that, but it's not a surprise that something like that happened. That is why we are where we are. I agree with you, BOG and league leadership of the league should step in. I would even say BOG and leadership should punish users like Nyko, but we all know that is not going to happen as Nyko has graciously volunteered to help fix the mess Nyko created.

Reactions like that always divide me

Optimistic side of NSG: “He realized his mistake and is offering to help! Good on him!”

Pessimistic side of NSG: “No no no! Don’t believe him, stupid! This is what politicians do every day!”

Anyways, I don’t think it was specifically mentioned as “meta”, but in retrospect, I was just getting instructions for doing meta, at least as much meta as I could do with 70 checking and fighting (For me, an Alabamian who barely ever sees hockey, I originally chased two things: hits, PIMs, and fights).

9 hours ago, jRuutu said:

Using a meta build and ''meta team'' to get those rings and stats is cheap. You are not competing in a fair way. You are not putting together a honest team. You are competing by doing as little as possible. You are competing by exploiting something. That is cheap. Your team and anybody else doing it or thinking about doing it are losers. You are losers. There is nothing wrong with being a loser, but your cups and stats mean very little.

 

You are just above simmers manually writing 60+60 to every players stats in the index.  Simmers could give you the cup before season started. Still you celebrate like you did something great or you are somehow now part of VHL history. You think you are like teams that at least tried to compete in a honest and fair away.  You are losers.  Worst part of it is that you think it's somehow ok to compete using cheap tactics. You invite others to do the same and they are doing it. I can't even imagine how anybody finds meta vs meta games interesting. That is where we are slowly heading. You are competing who's red circle is the most red. Who cares?  ''Hey, let's build the exact same player and see which team is the best'' - every meta player.

 

You do point tasks, you chat in locker rooms, you are part of the community, you do all these things just to build a meta. Can you imagine? All that effort to exploit and cheat. Oh wait a minute, you don't put in the effort because you are losers. You cut corners and think you should be applauded for it.

 

 

Trolling in this article is a little cute thought about meta build being something that most would see as ''annoying'' or something they would prefer not to see. So when Vancouver players and anyone else builds towards the meta, you could technically say it's trolling as the effects of building meta build brings out similar results than trolling in traditional sense. Some people might be upset and annoyed = trolling.

 

Maybe I misphrased my last comment so let me put it shorter

You say that we’re not “fair and honest”, I say “legal”. These are not the same. I never claimed that the team that I play for is winning fairly and honestly, nor do I think that I am a part of VHL history or great. If I were to leave the VHL today and never come back, I think there’d be about 3 people who’d remember me and know of my existence 5 years from now. Also, I never built meta knowingly, Nyko told me to build meta. I had no idea what meta was then and didn’t know at all until mid last-season. I never knowingly cheated/exploited the system, it was just that me, who never checks VHL Discord/forum, was being told by a trusted authority to do so in Season 77. 
 

Ultimately, I guess my point was way simpler than the 500-so words I wrote in the last quote: I don’t think that meta is fair or honest, I don’t think it’s quite trolling, and I think that the BOG would need to make a rule to stop meta.

2 hours ago, Zack said:

A player ok.. A team no

 

If it's basic human instinct to be a cheater why don't you have the basic human instincts to be a fun person and respectful to be around? Thia isn't about life.. It's about having a good time

 

Kitson really feeding the jaha over in Vancouver, 100% CBD

If 1 player becomes meta and succeeds, another player does meta, then another, so on so forth, then a team build meta. So from my view

Player no, team no

I prefer to have fun and be respectful to be around but I also do beleive that it’s important to stand up for your beliefs. So I admire @jRuutu for making a well-informed, persuasive case that meta is trolling, even though I don’t agree with it. 
 

As for the last sentence… Huh? The web tells me that this means

”Kitson really feeding the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA) over in Vancouver, 100% Cannabidiol“

Can you explain to me what that means?

2 minutes ago, Daniel Janser said:

As long as there is no rule against sarcasm, that is perfectly fine, this is how humans work. There is a rule against baiting/trolling though...

Yeah. Honestly that comment is very easy to interpret as either so I totally understand how you could think “trolling”, me and my sarcastic 14 yo brain sees that and thinks “sarcasm”. 

On 2/14/2022 at 2:56 AM, jRuutu said:

We have played over 25 games of season 82. Plenty of hockey is left, but still, a sizeable chunk is in the past already. Before the season started many were hoping Vancouver would not do what they did in the previous seasons. The Wolves have been a dominant team for over two seasons now. Unfortunately, Vancouver has continued their winning ways in season 82 as well. The Wolves have won 22 games out of 26 so far. 

 

Based on this statement alone, we can find clear evidence of excessive and malicious trolling.

From “this statement alone”, all you can really figure out is that we have played over 25 games in Season 82 and that Vancouver has won 22 of their 26 games

On 2/14/2022 at 2:56 AM, jRuutu said:

Vancouver Wolves have been using the same method for over two seasons now. The trolling is malicious as the rest of the league has started to speculate if it's ok to cheat. The integrity of the league is challenged. An increasing number of teams are starting to look like Vancouver Wolves, and there is no reason to believe the trend is stopping. As a result, the league leaders are forced to work on changes to prevent the meta build from being used. Not only is building a meta disruptive but it can also be viewed as destructive. 

 

You mention that apparently people think it’s OK to cheat, but Vancouver is not cheating. When there is something that is OP, who are you (or anybody) to expect that it will not be taken advantage of when left unregulated? This is how humans work. Of course there’s no reason to believe that the trend is stopping, because, again, not how human nature works. The GMs want rings, and the players want stats and rings, and meta satisfies all of these wants. As I saw in the SBA with Freak Point Guards, if you want to get people to stop doing something OP, you have to prohibit it.

On 2/14/2022 at 2:56 AM, jRuutu said:

The meta build was put in systematic use unprovoked. Nobody asked Vancouver Wolves to do it. Nobody forced Vancouver Wolves into a corner. Still, Vancouver Wolves decided to come in and started actively doing something that will greatly annoy a large number of users. It's baiting. Vancouver Wolves are baiting users to voice their annoyance and anger. That is textbook trolling. The worst part of baiting is encouraging others to join creating further chaos and anger. That is what is happening in VHL right now.

 

As pointed out, other teams and users outside of Vancouver Wolves are also using the meta build. Due to the vast publicity meta build has received, the odds of someone unknowingly building the meta are extremely small. Arguments about limiting users' ability to build a certain way can be disregarded as propaganda spread by the meta users. You know what you are doing. You are breaking the rules. Anyone who is building the meta is actively taking part in trolling. Anyone who is building the meta build should be punished for trolling. The rules are being broken. 

 

Instead of worrying about the general chat in Discord, and how welcoming or safe that space is, how about turning your attention towards the league as a whole? Users and teams using the meta build is a textbook example of trolling. The trolls can keep on going because you allow them.

 

Again, I don’t really understand how our legally allowed success is trolling, and how are we beating people to voice their annoyance and anger? Have we legally won a socially unacceptable amount of games? And again, nobody should be expected to stop using OP tactics because “the users told them so”. No, there has to be a rule about it to get anyone to stop meta.

Now, I honestly don’t agree with OP tactics. I’m fine with getting rid of meta and doing capped attribute stuff. This is the only league I’ve been in where nothing is capped. But until there is a physical rule change requiring no meta, expect nothing to change. 
 

I’m willing to discuss this over PMs with you, because I’d like to try and fathom this opinion in a more personal way, but I think we may have some fundamental disagreements on these things.

On 2/14/2022 at 3:27 AM, Daniel Janser said:

I mean one could argue that the below post is a troll/bait attempt...

 

 

I mean one could ague that the above post is sarcasm…

1. We’re in first by 7 points as I speak. Do you think that we can go all the way, again?

2. Who’s been the most outstanding player on the team this year, and why?

3. What’s the best joke you’ve told (that is appropriate)?

4. Are you an overachiever, underachiever, or achiever?

5. What’s your biggest strength and weakness?

6. In your eyes, what’s the meaning of life?