S79 Deadline Suggestion Drive

[CowboyinAmerica 2,880]

There's a lot here that I'm not going to read through everything, so sorry if I'm posting any duplicates. But here's a few off-the-wall ones that I think could be worthwhile.

 

1. Utilize live presentations (especially on Twitch): I think the Draft, complete with live graphics, is one of the coolest things I've seen in a sim league. Now, I know it's not particularly realistic to have a "live" game with STHS. But if we were able to able to make big games (like the Finals) more of an event - maybe pregame/postgame shows and quarter-by-quarter reveals of PBP with something resembling a live broadcast - I think it would be both good for engagement as well as draw in some of the Twitch crowd.

 

2. Adjust the VHLM Inactivity Rules: The reason the Bulls didn't have any players on their team for a while had nothing to do with rebuilding. It's that, due to the draft, the team only had 8-ish players to start. And when a few went inactive, Houston was forced to release them due to archaic rules - leaving only 5 players on the team pre-teardown. There should be some sort of minimum so that if a team has, say, 9 players or less, it doesn't have to cut due to inactivity, giving at least some semblance of a team for any new players.

 

3. Donation Transparency: I think the VHL is the best league around in terms of speaking on what's happening with donations, as well as keeping a balanced book where income = expenses. But I think more could always be done on that front. Perhaps a yearly (or every other season or something) income statement about where some of the cash was spent and what's on hand. Or revealing more on what advertising costs are to people who are interested. I'd hope that sort of transparency would even increase donations, since people are able to see more clearly how they're helping the league.

[Ben_Reformed 62]

1. More events like Double TPE Weeks

2. New ways to earn TPE, like 2 TPE for making a recap of a game

3. Allow larger files for profile pictures

[Jubo 1,839]

1) live play by play, not every sim day but perhaps a weekend dah or a couple days a week. Have a few members signed up and whoever can step in that week can play by play a game of the week. For that day of course there would be no live stream.

 

2) Reviewing can lead to too much negative criticism. I dont know how this can be fixed but something needs to change or just remove the task in place of TPE for commenting on game day threads.

 

3) Removal of the thunderdome. If a post is too controversial and drawing too much negativity just remove the thread. Comments for thunderdome still show in the live activity feed so its effectively pointless until locked. Bad look for new members to witness.

[bigAL 2,176]

Wow, this has been up for like 12 hours and the engagement is unreal. I'm so excited to dive deep into all these suggestions.

 

One thing I want people to take away from this is something I stress with my WJC GMs. "The League" doesn't exist; in 90% of the things we're talking about here you are the league. So many of these awesome ideas, from Player of the Week to creating season storylines, are things that you could/should swipe for your own media spots. If it's too big a project and you think someone above should step in, collaborate with a friend!

 

There's no way Team Blue can make all these things here happen, but I do hope that at least we can inspire you to inspire someone else to try something new.

 

Thanks for all the ideas, keep em coming, and keep building off each other. We appreciates ya.

 

[TheNeonShaman 214]

1. An all-star game sometime in the middle of the season? Just something fun to add (unless you already have it i wouldn't know). Maybe have predictions for the MVP or something like that to earn TPE.

2. A player of the week/month thing. For VHL and VHLM.

3. A simple guide that shows everything to new members. When I joined a few months ago I had to go around the forum and ask my new team what to do. I still am not sure of everything. I think if there is a beginners guide that explains everything in an easy to understand way, and then a link to that is shown as soon as someone registers, that would probably help new members to stay because they understand what is going on.

[v.2 1,401]

1.  I think generating more forum engagement should be a top priority (I know... boomer take).  But honestly it's easier to see shit here than it is to keep up with discord discussion.  Perhaps a daily discussion thread, or league trash talk thread where team members playing that day can playfully talk some shit/create rivalries could help this, even a PT help thread to gain tips/engagement before posting PTs for newer members?

 

2. Minor, but I'd like to see Trivia run through the offseason.  It's hard to know sometimes which weeks there isn't any trivia and it would make it easier just to have it bleed through season to season by having it every week no matter what.

 

3. REVIEWING SUCKS as it stands.  We need a set template to fill out.  The amount of half-assed, lazy, repetitive, or unqualified reviews I see each week is absurd, and I see myself being guilty of the same lately just tryna get them done lol.  I think if there was a set criteria we had to fill out while leaving a review, like different aspects to fill out it would make it look a little better, more organized, and force people to say more than the same things every review.

[Gustav 6,395]

Suggestions, suggestions...

 

In typical BoG fashion, I'm too lazy to read through the current list of suggestions at the moment--so if what I'm saying here has already been said, forgive me.

 

-Make VHL.com graphics worth 3 points. In my experience, it's much easier to just put out 150 words than make a graphic of any sort and this balances things out somewhat.

 

-I'd like to see press conferences reworked at some point. Instead of "wait for one person to post 6 questions and then answer them," maybe have a press conference consist of three answers (to previous questions) and three questions (to be answered later on). It takes away some of the waiting and makes it more of a team event--everyone interacts with someone else on the team every week rather than just making it an impersonal answer-generic-stuff-from-the-GM thing.

 

-This is controversial and I don't necessarily agree with it (and I also don't know of any easy way to enforce it), but purely objectively speaking, it makes a lot of sense to require at least one post of any sort on the forum before any TPE can be claimed in any given week. It doesn't have to be a point task, doesn't have to have any real meaning (so long as it isn't saying "posting for TPE" or something stupid like that), but it shouldn't be too much to ask that someone who would like to engage with our community should be engaging with it on some level and it's something that most people here who we'd think of as legitimately "active" do anyway.

[McWolf 3,115]

19 minutes ago, GustavMattias said:

I'd like to see press conferences reworked at some point. Instead of "wait for one person to post 6 questions and then answer them," maybe have a press conference consist of three answers (to previous questions) and three questions (to be answered later on). It takes away some of the waiting and makes it more of a team event--everyone interacts with someone else on the team every week rather than just making it an impersonal answer-generic-stuff-from-the-GM thing.

 

I'm stealing that for London. Thanks.

[Gustav 6,395]

11 minutes ago, McWolf said:

 

I'm stealing that for London. Thanks.

 

Let me know how it works. I'm not sure how well it will work unless it becomes an official guideline, but I am interested.

 

A leaguewide presser thread would probably work really well informally though.

[fromtheinside 1,289]

1) I already proposed this a season or so ago, but I think either one or both of a First Gen of the Year award or a a Rookie of the Year in the VHLM. I think either way an award or two awards like these would help drive up some extra hype in the M and especially amongst new users.

 

2) Changing to a newer version of STHS or straight up finding a different simulation system. The version of STHS we currently used feels super outdated and antiquated and feels off alot of the time. I'd love to see us try something new out at some point.

 

3) I really think we would all benefit from adding more simmers and instead of having one simmer for each league, have a team of simmers that can work cohesively. Having extra simmers would make for some extra consistency for sim times which would be nice.

 

[Matt thunder 444]

hello VHL, my ideas are:

 

1 Add an all start game for  VHL VHLM and VHLE, we have the divisions why we just can't make it, it would be really cool  to unite new players that never met before.

2 Add a minigame for the training facility, for exemple if you do 10 points you will get 1 tpe, 20 points 2 tpe, 30 points and you will get 3 points, and so on untill you reach the maximum of 50. (of course the more you will go one the more it will be hard)

By doing so all the members that claims only welfare and training facility will gain more tpes and of course the league will be more competitive and less people will leave.

3 the final one is to add the top five 5 or  10 of the week, making this list would help player to always get better and earn more tpe (so more activity in the forum) to gain a position in the top 5/ 10 of the week.

[Acydburn 1,607]

9 hours ago, frescoelmo said:

1) live pbp in the discord

 

2) new member spotlight article weekly

 

3) VHL hosted weekly game night in discord

 

4) bring back Jardy as non-paid commish

 

1. Fresco and Acyd Podcast...

 

2. Fresco and Acyd Podcast...

 

3. Fresco and Acyd Podcast...

 

[Garsh 1,179]

6 hours ago, Josh said:

 

Since this was easy I just did it.

[MetalToday 266]

1. I think it would be cool to be able to request things from you teams, such as more minutes, different line mates, etc. This can make it more realistic especially for star players not playing with that playmaker to feed him the puck to snipe the puck, and could be more interesting for the gms. Trade request button could also make things interesting. This may be a thing already but idk. I think it could make things difficult, but very fun and realistic for gms. 

 

2. Having contract negotiations could be fun if you think your getting underpaid, this could be a thing for stars, but idk, I've never got a chance to do something like this lol, I think that would be fun negotiations, and for people who wanna win the cup, you can persuade them to take less.

 

3. Having a place to check the lineups as a player would be nice, and checking for captains and such.

 

I feel like these might be a thing but idk where lol

[Lazarus 62]

1. An All star break where there are three lines of forwards and defense. I think it would be better if it was just the best of the best and not one per team like the actual NHL.

 

2. Maybe more of a backstory for players such as junior team, hometown, favorite VHL player growing up or something that would make each player have some more personality. 

 

3 A short preseason to let younger VHL players and prospects have a chance to play to see how they stack up against the other teams younger players. It could also be tournament style, similar to that of the NBA's summer league. It would allow some good competition for players just starting their careers.

[Peace 1,518]

Alright here's at least one controversial suggestion... 

1. Less Discord integration... healthier the forum might be? I've seen programs like Discord, or Discord itself, completely kill forum-based communities I've either been a member of or wanted to become a member of; gaming communities, post-by-post RPs, hockey forums, hell even a place where aspiring authors could go to share their stories no longer exist. All gone in this modern age of impatience and instant access, really.

 

2. Time to take the chance with a new sim engine. Nearly eight seasons using STHS is enough, can't change a setting or two and call it a fresh coat of paint anymore. We all know EHM won't work, and I've yet to see any transparency on the apparently ongoing tests of FHM or another similar sim engine. When it comes to something supposed to be fun more often than not people will abandon that when it starts to feel long in the tooth. 

3. More portal features would be neat. Retired numbers on the team page, simple front/back of each teams' jersey with adaptive text for individual name and numbers, a simple cartoonish avatar generator for each player page, allow teams to set who their rivals are and have those games highlighted in the schedule, display an icon on who's hot and who's not on a teams' roster page, just some ideas to throw arond.

[Beketov 8,996]

1 minute ago, Peace said:

Retired numbers on the team page

As far as I’m aware that’s actually been ready for awhile. Last I heard it was just waiting on the images which I did. @Dil or @Josh would know more as they were the ones building it.

[Eynhallow 412]

A few suggestions:

1.)  My pet whine.  The STHS engine is just not realistic.  Last season (I think) Isau (my player) was getting second line minutes as well as some PP time and PK time.  However, in several games his actual time on ice was less than that of a fouth line player.  How is that even possible.  My suggestion...a different sim engine or a "retweaked" version of STHS.  This might eliminate some of the frustration.

2.)  The "off-season" or the time that there is no activity for those players whose teams did not make the playoffs can be pretty deadly.  My suggestion:  Have some other kind of simmed tournament to keep those players involved.  It might me a consideration to have something like a <550 TPE tournament and a >550 tournament to keep those people active.

3.  Bring back an iteration of the Lady Byng Trophy.  I have spelled out my reasoning here.

[BOOM 8,722]

Well after hitting 3 pages of suggestions, I fear that I'll be repetitive here. I apologize in advance.

 

1. Bring back the magazine. I know we have VSN who do amazing articles but I miss the weekly format thing we had, with articles, interviews and ads. I used to look forward to reading it when it was posted, but alas the VSN has improved the concept anyway so it won't return. Maybe add more contributers to VSN so that the volume of content is increased?

 

 

2. As some others have said, what about contests(even for bragging rights, not TPE....because the same few would win it) like GFX or article of the week? I think it might increase forum activity that is currently losing the battle with discord, and get more users posting and maybe improving the quality of their point tasks.

 

3. Also mentioned previously, add more TPE items to the store, like equipment etc. The big ticket items are regression fighters, but what about users like myself that usually don't bother with level 2/3 regression and end up with contracts dollars left unspent. I'd rather buy equipment for some TPE to be honest.

[Beketov 8,996]

1 minute ago, Eynhallow said:

The "off-season" or the time that there is no activity for those players whose teams did not make the playoffs can be pretty deadly.  My suggestion:  Have some other kind of simmed tournament to keep those players involved.

That already exists, has for a few seasons now. Non-playoff teams enter the lottery tournament.

[Eynhallow 412]

  3 minutes ago, Eynhallow said:

The "off-season" or the time that there is no activity for those players whose teams did not make the playoffs can be pretty deadly.  My suggestion:  Have some other kind of simmed tournament to keep those players involved.

That already exists, has for a few seasons now. Non-playoff teams enter the lottery tournament.

 

Very little hype.  I agree that you don't want to detract from the playoffs, but I still believe that more must be done to keep people interested and involved.  This is not just about player activity, but, also retention.

[Beketov 8,996]

Just now, Eynhallow said:

  3 minutes ago, Eynhallow said:

The "off-season" or the time that there is no activity for those players whose teams did not make the playoffs can be pretty deadly.  My suggestion:  Have some other kind of simmed tournament to keep those players involved.

That already exists, has for a few seasons now. Non-playoff teams enter the lottery tournament.

 

Very little hype.  I agree that you don't want to detract from the playoffs, but I still believe that more must be done to keep people interested and involved.  This is not just about player activity, but, also retention.

Okay but that doesn’t change that it exists. We can’t force people to pay more attention to it if they don’t want to. The players outside the playoffs still have something to look at, how exactly would we make it more appealing to them?

[Eynhallow 412]

2 minutes ago, Beketov said:

Okay but that doesn’t change that it exists. We can’t force people to pay more attention to it if they don’t want to. The players outside the playoffs still have something to look at, how exactly would we make it more appealing to them?

Maybe throw in a few EXP points ??  BTW, I think you guys do a great job overall, so please don't take what I write as anything more than the ravings of a hockey fanatic.

[Beketov 8,996]

1 minute ago, Eynhallow said:

Maybe throw in a few EXP points ??  BTW, I think you guys do a great job overall, so please don't take what I write as anything more than the ravings of a hockey fanatic.

I’m not taking it as anything more than it is, I assure you. I’m just trying to kinda filter out the stuff that’s already done.

[Eynhallow 412]

24 minutes ago, Beketov said:

I’m not taking it as anything more than it is, I assure you. I’m just trying to kinda filter out the stuff that’s already done.

OK, I get it.  Do you want that I should submit another suggestion ???  Or will my over/under 550 TPE Tourney idea be good enough ??