Triller

1. Feeling really good with our position in the standings! Should finish on top of the league with an amazing record if the trend continues! 2. I think if the line matchups keep working, we should be good! Even with our backup getting some reps, we can hold our own. 3. No surprise there. This league is volatile and their last season success seemed to come from some late waiver signings rather than a well drafted team. 4. Mexico City I'd say! Lost to them twice and they are second in or conference. Strong team! 5. With how much movement there is with the lines, I am happy with what Leonard has done so far. Either way, he is already drafted lol 6. Flat and if it is thick, I am the weirdo that will use a fork. I don't like getting messy while I eat!

I'm so confused! Lol Was this a make your own mad lib or generated by an AI?

Very nicely done! Love the giant smile of the player. Seems like you'd only get this from an All Star game image or something like that. Small details always steal the show and the collar replacement of adding the VHL logo is done perfectly! I really like that. The color composition is muted well using the grunge overlay. The signature is simple so it doesn't steal too much attention. Very cool background! If I am not mistaken that is the "Fibonacci Spiral", often used as the mathematical visualization of the "golden rule" of photography composition. Awesome stuff! 10/10 for me! Achieves its goal!

Praise be to Simon

Always have to do some animated logo's for the team! 50fps version here: https://i.imgur.com/lrWDeLG.gifv

Tried out something different than I am used to this week! I am no animator, but I decided to give facial animation a shot which is not where one should start when it comes to learning animation. I hope for a quick app solution to come out for facial motion capture that is compatible with the unreal metahumans but for now, here we go! Higher res here: https://i.imgur.com/YNSPRlF.gifv

Even if I could just claim it as a review I would be good with that.

Massive post and a very comprehensive report! I liked the abilities you came up with, very creative!

I somehow can comment a crazy amount of words but find it almost impossible to write something from scratch to claim lol Should be a discussion point task that I can claim instead of a second review!

That man is on my fantasy team! Nice work on this one!

1. Went well I think! Scoring more goals than I thought Leonard would, especially when he is supposed to be a playmaker lol 2. Nothing to improve on I'd say! Our record speaks for itself at the moment and everyone seems to be contributing. 3. Got a second hat trick and am above a point per game so I am happy. The team doing well is the main goal! 4. Not really. I am hoping to carve my own path to recognition with my graphics and activity on the forums. 5. Lower than expected. I am an Oilers fan so there is nothing but Lord Stanley's Cup ahead. Playing inconsistently and unfortunately, Campbell isn't in form yet. Skinner is playing well but we should easily be winning games by a few goals. Fun to watch though! 6. The moth joke by the late, great Norm MacDonald. It is on YouTube if anyone is interested!

Very nice graphic work! The BG is really cool and has a lot of layered FX but still stands as one cohesive BG. The player text may be my favorite. I love the grunge effect and the degredation of the bottom of the letters. Almost makes it look like a cityscape cut into the letters! The player cutout is perfect and is popped out with a small, feathered outline which is a nice detail. The color manipulation on the jersey is spot on and the FG stick laid over the logo is well done! If I had to pick one thing to improve it would be matching the logo to the style of render. These hdr toned images are quite popular in 2D graphics so if you are using one, you may need to adjust the levels or contrast of your logo to help it match the render better. Overall, 9/10! I know you do a ton of these for other members so it is impressive to see a variety of styles. A lot of people lean into one but mixing it up seems better to me. I try to mix it up as well but still stick to the 3D side. Might need to try out one of these!

Looks good to me! Thank you @DMaximus for keeping us in line! Much appreciated!

This is awesome! I am always fascinated by data like this and running dummy sims would be super cool to see! You should start your own dummy league if you do end up getting STHS. I'd tune in for those games for sure! You could base a whole podcast on your findings on a week by week basis if you wanted to make it your life lol Meta King Jacob is on the horizon!

I appreciate the response and am glad to have a discussion. I know from what I have seen that new users suggesting ideas can get on longer serving members nerves. I don't know where I suggested that they get a special reward. I actually said that they have to maintain community engagement but can only claim their job TPE if they have no player. No media spots, graphics, press conferences can be claimed. Just their job TPE can be banked to a point. And as you said, if they can't do their job, they shouldn't have it. A bad GM with a player is not better than bad GM without one. Sounds like a problem with the system as you said but it is unfortunate that past and possibly present GMs don't realise what this is that they are attempting to exploit. Without diminishing the efforts of everyone who keep this league running, it is a sim game. It also sounds like some of those GM exploits in regards to their players would be solved if they didn't have one! Can't complain about your player situation if you ain't got one! I wonder what this would be like the other way around? If a GM decided that they could be a much better GM and serve their team and community better if they were allowed to focus without a player? Maybe they have had enough of the meta of player builds and find managing to be the best way for them to contribute to the community. Again, this is all reliant on a GM being good but that is relevant regardless of the situation. I know a lot about burnout as my industry is notorious for it, so it sucks to see people burnout on a hobby that is supposed to offer a fun experience and in some cases, an escape. Again, I appreciate the discussion! It helps me learn more about the league and those who keep it running!

Never said that a GM should not be active in the community and if you are implying that a GM needs to have a player to be active in the community then I simply have to disagree. GMs have to have knowledge of all teams and all leagues plus players who are active on the forums to help inform their decisions of draft picks, trades, and simply who would be fun to have in the LR. They comment and react on posts and overall have to help keep people who ONLY have players, engaged in the community and their LRs. All of that on top of managing their lines and strategizing for sims. I would argue a comment on a player graphic is more valuable to the overall community and the user who posted than if the GM posts a graphic of their own player to show their "engagement" in the forums. I have to say as well that you seem to have the opinion that GMs would abuse any system put in place to help them focus on being a GM and that they would collect their, "free TPE for doing nothing" as if their overall contributions to the VHL as only GMs are considered, "doing nothing." From what I have experienced in my short time here, GMs contribute far more to this league than any individual who is posting to simply make their player better and earn what they need. If a GM isn't doing all those things I listed above then them having a player isn't going to fix that. I guess I put more value in what they do as GMs since it seems to be a lot harder than simply having a player. Do they need to have had a player go through the system, absolutely, but do they need to drag one along cause you think so, no. This would also bring up the question, how good does their player need to be and how much should they earn for you to consider it good enough for them to continue to be a GM?

This is something I thought about before I even decided to make my player after I joined. Will I be as interested in this whole deal in season 8 as am now? I set a high precedent for myself when it comes to earning. Creating the graphics that I do are also a bit more involved and sustaining that for a whole career is likely not super reasonable though I will continue to try. Earning rep was certainly an initial driving factor but after seeing how little attention most posts get, my motivation shifted to just trying to create stuff I was happy about and any attention would just be a bonus. Eventually it will start to feel too much like work and after this player, I will definitely take a break. As for the GM stuff, it was very interesting to see the dedication that you all put in to the roles. Sure you get some TPE for your troubles but to do that and maintain a competitive character would be too much for me. I wonder if there is a solution that could be discussed for those who might want to lean into GMing without a player character but be able to bank only their job pay to later apply it to a player if they want to get into it again. I am relatively new so there may be something like that already in place but I haven't heard anything about it. You get your job pay but that is the only TPE you can bank. You can still participate in graphics and articles and all that but you can't earn on that as you wouldn't want someone max earning and banking for multiple seasons to come in with a 1000 TPE player. Someone could still possibly do that after a lot of seasons of just job pay but maybe the total is capped? That way, GMs can focus on GMing and not feel like they need to have a player until they are ready to do both or take a break and just be a player. Again, if this basically exists then let me know where I can read up on it lol

G - Ben Dahl @InstantRockstar

Not boring at all! A nice, clear summary of an interesting career so far! Hopefully Jason continues to make strides in his development and becomes a successful player with a long career!

Like a "Where's Waldo" of graphic details!

D - Erlantz Jokinen @DMaximus

Here we go! New season and a new team playing in the sun! Leonard plays in San Diego and is but one piece of an amazing looking team! Hopefully the jersey design is worthy of the team's performance. Tried something new with a gradient on the lower part of the sleeves. May experiment more with this! Hope you enjoy! The GIF at 50fps: https://i.imgur.com/BqFB8QL.gifv

F - Nils Godlander @InstantRockstar