3 years on the site

[ShawnGlade 1,010]

You probably got PTSD flashbacks just from the title, but don't worry. If you're new, I probably don't need an introduction, I'm that guy. I made a name for myself by being one of the fastest up and comers on the site and looked like I was headed for VHL greatness, until I threw it all away and became one of VHL's most hated and made fun of members. As you can tell by the title, today is my 3 year anniversary since joining the VHL. Last year for my 2 year article, I did a lot of bashing, but I'm going completely  off-brand here and making an article on what I like about the site.

 

- The "leaders" are always welcoming. I've tarnished any reputation I ever imagined having here, and quite honestly it was well deserved. However one thing I've come to appreciate is how welcoming and (more or less) understanding when it comes to sensitive topics such as mine. I cannot count the number of times I've told Quik, Bana, Beaviss, fong, Josh, and others that I've been considering a VHL return and to my surprise, every time I've been met with nothing but positivity. Every time I'm encouraged to recreate and re-immerse myself in the community. Understandably, I have become Trifecta 2.0 so there are always questions about my activity and whether I can stay committed, but even when I lie through my teeth and claim that I'm back for real this time, they still support me. Now each of these people I've mentioned, I've beefed with at some point or another, but I can really appreciate how the leaders in this community can make you feel good and encourage you to do great things even when sometimes you don't deserve it.

 

- A lot of people are really forgiving. This kind of goes hand in hand with my last point, and sometimes I hate to admit it but a lot of people here are very deserving. I've had more than my fair share of battles with people where words are hurled and nothing good comes out of it. Yet a huge example comes to mind where last summer I apologized to quite a few people who I had bickered with for months, and I received 100% positive responses. A great example was how me and Doomsday would fight on a daily basis on the forums, discord, LRs, you name it. I don't think I've used stronger words towards someone more than I have with doomsday, yet I PM'd one day apologizing for everything, and hoping for forgiveness. Of course doomsday being the stand-up guy he is, not only accepted my apology, but offered to work together on a few VHL projects. Fast forward not even a year later, I chose to sign with the VHLM team he manages, and now we talk daily like nothing ever happened. And Doomsday is not an isolated case, just off the top of my head I can remember apologizing to Sonnet, Dil, Nyko, diamond_ace, and a few others. These are people I've said some pretty vile things to and still ended up on decent terms with them.

 

- Admittedly, I was proven wrong about GMs and jobs. One of the biggest claims I've ever had on the site were that jobs were a popularity contest and that GMs suck at what they do.  After actually interacting with people over the last few months, I'll admit I was wrong about GMs. While there are obviously some GMs who could use some more spring training, there's no way around that but yknow what, they're (hopefully) trying their best and that's all you can ask for. I've always looked at GMs through a different lens because they are arguably the front line of this league. They are the first ones you meet and the ones you spend the rest of your career with, so while they definitely are open to more judgement than normal members, I did truthfully criticize way too much and I'm sorry about that. Turns out, a lot of GMs are nice people who are more than willing to just chill and chat with you. Again, I do think there are a few GMs who I'm not fans of, but I don't see the behind the scenes of their work and there's a good chance I'm in the minority, so who cares what I think? I used to hate Gustav with everything I have when I lost my GM job to someone from the "meme crowd" and while he still gets meme'd he's actually a pretty decent guy who has repeatedly stuck up for me when I was always rude to him and he's always willing to help others. Hopefully I get to watch him win a cup with Davos. Jobs, I still feel somewhat the same about but I definitely have a new perspective on it. While I do feel like some jobs are given out in a "first come, first serve" type manner, I know that's obviously not the case and I know that the people in charge are doing what they think is right, and you can't blame em for that. I've learned to just accept the process and trust it.

 

-Dark theme option.

 

- Growing playerbase. I've always felt weird about this one as I don't like change and I talk so much about missing the good ol days when it was a small, tight knit community. I do miss the small community vibes, but at my core I want to see the VHL succeed and grow, and that's exactly what it's doing. It's hard not to appreciate the effort of the recruiters and VHLM GMs when the league has grown 5x as big compared to when I joined in 2018. I mean I joined the site in S61, and we're in in S80 almost. Time feels like it's flying but also moving at a snails pace at the same time. What blows my mind the most though, was when I joined it was near impossible to find someone still around from say S40, but  even coming back to the VHL, the most active people from like S63 are still the most active a whole 16 seasons later (woah, that was 16 seasons ago? Jesus). I'll always have a soft spot for those who first welcomed me into the league and are still around because VHL burnout is a very real thing and sometimes these guys don't get the credit they deserve for sticking with it for so long and growing the community every day.

 

That's really it for this article, I'm sure there's a lot more I'm thankful of but I'm tired and the ideas have stopped flowing.

 

Members mentioned:

@Quik @Banackock @Beaviss @tfong @Josh @Doomsday @Sonnet @Dil @Nykonax  @diamond_ace  @GustavMattias

 

1,122 words

Week ending 6/27

Week ending 7/4

[diamond_ace 3,112]

Honestly man that's one of the things that's so great about this place - even if you leave us 10 times, you can always come back the 11th time and make a decent guy and have your fun with it. Hope this one sticks for you. I suspect you may ultimately not like your draft spot this time around as people might be understandably hesitant to use a high pick, but hey it's all motivation to stick it out and prove this time is different. We've seen what the successful version of you looks like, and frankly that is a guy I'll always want here, even if the unsuccessful versions have manifested more recently.

[Beketov 9,025]

Today I learned I’m not leadership anymore

[diacope 1,696]

Been a fan of the Glade name when I first joined and you showed me a lot of love in Halifax, never read anything negative until the recent article bringing it up again but that doesn't change my opinion of the hardworking man behind the profile. Happy to see you posting again

 

Not gonna lie when I was making my new character I wanted to help extend the Glade family (one of the first family trees that I knew of) but you weren't around to ask, if it's cool with you in a few seasons time I don't mind being a cousin or something 

 

Anyway it's nice to see your prospective on things, this site is very forgiving and I also had similar views when first joining, a lot easier to earn without having conspiracies in the back on the head 

 

 

 

[bigAL 2,176]

Very cool Glade. I’m pumped you’re finally coming around to having a bigger community because I don’t think it was ever as bad as you thought. I still feel like it’s a tiny group, or at least you end up building your own tiny group. It’s the same 20-40 names I see hyper active on the forum, and that helps make things feel tight knit. 
 

I think it’s great you’ve worked hard to realize that people are genuinely doing their best. No one is out to get anyone, and with the exception of a few S-tier trolls, no one wakes up each morning with the intention of pissing people off. When you approach a situation with a good mind and an assumption that the other person has the an equally “we’re all in this together, hate you on the ice / love you in the pub” mentality, things end up way more productive and positive. It’s totally fair to see some things people like GMs do and say “hey, I don’t like that”, but if you believe they are doing what they think is best, you can empathize with them a bit (and find a constructive way to tell them/the community that what they’re doing is BS, because the place is better when people feel they can call out the bad shit). 
 

If this is the Shawn that’s back, awesome. It’s funny how people grow and change each time they dip and come back. Life is strange, but we’re always moving forward. 
 

I’m happy to have you back!

[ShawnGlade 1,010]

4 hours ago, bigAL said:

I think it’s great you’ve worked hard to realize that people are genuinely doing their best. No one is out to get anyone, and with the exception of a few S-tier trolls, no one wakes up each morning with the intention of pissing people off. When you approach a situation with a good mind and an assumption that the other person has the an equally “we’re all in this together, hate you on the ice / love you in the pub” mentality, things end up way more productive and positive. It’s totally fair to see some things people like GMs do and say “hey, I don’t like that”, but if you believe they are doing what they think is best, you can empathize with them a bit (and find a constructive way to tell them/the community that what they’re doing is BS, because the place is better when people feel they can call out the bad shit).

I've always viewed GMs differently because I still feel as though I'm a pretty good GM. Anyone with eyes can see that once my activity dipped and Davos wasn't getting any better I sort of stopped trying. I still feel like 100% trying Shawn is still a good GM. I doubt I'll ever get a GM role again but it's why I've always viewed people with important jobs in a different light because I've been there myself

[Gustav 6,415]

16 hours ago, ShawnGlade said:

I used to hate Gustav with everything I have when I lost my GM job to someone from the "meme crowd"

 

And this is perfectly understandable! For what it's worth, I've always had some respect for the fact that we had a few nice convos after I got moved up, and that you were willing to help me out even though I assumed you'd much rather not be involved.

 

Thanks for the kind words; I'm glad to hear that some of the tension has healed up. Best of luck this time around!

[Renomitsu 934]

Review

Most people enjoy a redemption arc, and I'm certainly among them. This is written well, offers sincere appreciation for members that do hard work, and more importantly offers constructive criticism both for the site/community and self-reflection presented in a manner that flows logically from paragraph to paragraph.

 

I think it's incredibly important to examine your past actions whether you're well-respected or even beloved in the VHL -- or, as you've ostensibly personally experienced, feeling looked down upon or even turned away at your low points. Both the VHL as a whole and you seem to have grown in the last year or so and I'm looking forward to whatever future impact you have on the site. =]