7 things that make the VHL the VHL

[diacope 1,567]

Hello and welcome to my theme week article. It's actually hard to believe the league has been around for so long and when you put a number on it.. 15 years is a huge achievement! Today I wanted to give some appreciation for some of the things we have today that make the gears move smoothly and keep everybody happy, time and time again

 

     Starting with expansion.. It's not easy for a league to grow and since I was part of one around the same time before all of this start with only a few thousand members it must have been a huge grind. Looking back at some of the franchises and how quickly things grew over the years it's been a joy to meet managers who can share stories from past ventures and learn about how far things have came since. That's one thing that definitely changed the league for the better and the more teams that were added only solidified things down the road for newer players trying to be the next big player.. If it was trying to beat a record from Season 1 or being a team leader on a newer established franchise.

 

Another thing that comes to mind is community, obviously having teams and a league will have a community no matter what but ever since joining over half of the league has been helpful throughout my career, I've had managers who wanted to see my player do better, some who like to chat and others that like to chill and enjoy the whole experience, no matter what at the end of each week if it's reactions or funny comments it seems like everybody wants to get along and has been ever since the start, definitely something that kept the league going during inactive times because it's almost like you've met a friend on here. 

 

Proper career length is next up and kind of because I haven't even played a full career myself so that means the 8 (now 9) seasons is perfect for anybody trying to have fun but not have to wait forever for noticeable differences in your performances night in and night out, not sure how long they were from the start but I honestly haven't heard anything different so that means whoever planned it out at the beginning definitely knew what they were talking about. All it takes is a couple of seasons of solid earning and you can be making your VHL debut, even as a rookie you can change a whole franchise down in the VHLM/VHLE but even when it feels like time is flying the VHL seems to fill a void for many, character after character and new stories are formed every season.

 

Constant updates is something I also love and they are almost everywhere, like notifications, league/team announcements, trades, drafts, events.. You name it, the league is always trying new things and implementing new rules, if you take a week off you better be ready to catch up! This is something more drawn by the community and thankfully the staff are on the same vibe because it feels like we've came so far in just a few seasons when you think about it! The best updates of all though are the simmed games and the simmers should be thanked more for keeping the flow of the league going consistently while doing a lot of background work in the process. 

 

The VHL bot on the forum and Discord. Pretty sure this is one of the newer updates with coding getting more reliable over the years and it's made a huge difference in how things work, starting with trades it seems like as soon as a few teams agree on a deal and the thread is released it always attracts attention and because it makes things a little big easier for both parties in that regard there's definitely been more deals over the seasons, especially at odd times, add in contracts, statistics, retirements and games it seems like the VHL bot wont be getting a break anytime soon.

 

Tasks have always been pretty solid and we've seen plenty of good ideas for media spots, vhl.com and graphics for the most part but the addition of reviews and recaps in the last little bit has really helped more members get involved and show off their skills in difference areas, even if you cannot do some of the stuff above they have even more options once you get more involved so nobody should worry about earning TPE each week if they're active. The best part about tasks on here is they are easy! That doesn't mean the requirements should be jacked up because I'm sure a lot of people are part of this league, it's a lot more chill and relaxed.. I know that's why I landed here, it just makes me still feel apart of something while being able to enjoy it at the same time. Lastly I think career tasks have improved since the last update and are a lot more memorable but they could still use a little bit more creativity to break them apart from point tasks, nonetheless they still are a crucial part to a career and give new and old players a little guide for their next step.

 

Now the last thing I want to talk about is the portal and I saved the best for last, not only does it has information everywhere and organized in a way to easily navigate through.. It's like another website where you can get lost have fun without being part of any discussions, kind of like a video game! Maybe for some of the noobs who haven't been able to get things down yet it could be confusing but once you figure it out it can also be very very handy like the player search for example, I go there to find recreates, first gens, check my draft class and find free agents, anything you may need for an article is waiting for you! I don't know how many times I've opened the portal and got an idea xD

 

I ended up writing more than I thought but the idea was open and gave a lot of options to write about, hopefully this is on par with what the league was looking for.. That's all for now, thanks for reading

[Beketov 8,689]

2 hours ago, Frozen Block said:

not sure how long they were from the start

It was always 8 until the recent shift to 9 happened. However back in the day you were incentivized slightly to retire earlier so there were higher carryover amounts in season 6 and 7 of your career meaning you had people either chasing records or retiring early for the payout. 

[Quik 4,113]

14 minutes ago, Beketov said:

It was always 8 until the recent shift to 9 happened. However back in the day you were incentivized slightly to retire earlier so there were higher carryover amounts in season 6 and 7 of your career meaning you had people either chasing records or retiring early for the payout. 

 

Early days 4-5 seasons were so normal. 6+ and you were a hardo

[diacope 1,567]

6 more tpe please