VHL at 15 - Remembering the First impressions back in S65 and Renewed Impressions in S84

[FrostBeard 2,061]

VHL at 15... I do have to say that as a person who has been around the league for over 3 years now, 15 seems to be like an incredibly long time for any this sort of a community to exist. 
I remember clearly the first day I joined this community. I was never a person that wanted to be a part of something like this - a community where everyone plays a game and everything in the community is just about the game. I have been in numerous gaming communities before but they always felt a step away from what VHL embodies - I guess that is what this Theme week article is going to be about!

So, first impressions back in S65. 

I was still studying, having my extended love for politics and regional development take over all my thoughts and ideas and yet I still managed to find a way to watch every single Tampa Bay Lightning game (And those were amazingly played at around 3 AM for me in Latvia). I had energy to lose sleep and to be ready for studies, work, hobbies and hockey. While studying in the University Library I usually either listened to music or had a Twitch Stream/YT video going for a chance to have something in the background bothering my most inner thoughts and there it was a lovely advertisement for a lovely community that loves hockey, on CynFTW channel, on one of those Library sittings. I stopped what I was doing and decided to give it a chance. 

Created an account, logged in, created a player and waited for a GM to respond and there it was - BladeMaiden and InstantRockstar - both offering me a chance to join their teams. Blade managed to write her (highly possibly copy/paste) message to me first so I decided to give Philadelphia Reapers a chance and WOW what a feeling it was for a person that doesn't know anything to be thought everything I needed to know, my GM did something I never expected - she pushed me to write and explore ideas and create a story, make VHL feel like a true RPG. I remember her saying that the community lacks the RPG aspect and I thought instantly that I will do my best to keep it going, she supported any idea I had and yet even though I did in the end have some trouble with the way certain things happened, it still was a wonderful experience. That said, I know that some others weren't that lucky. I have talked to few people from that time throughout the time I have been in the league and there is a sentiment that VHLM back then wasn't a too great of a place and I do agree. There was a lot of hatred (fun but still sometimes a bit too much) and a bit too little enthusiasm from our GMs. I remember that when VHLM expanded and GMs like Gustav, Rayz, came to prominence the league shifted and became a far more newcomer friendly. Commissioners adapted very well to this new VHLM look with super active and involved GMs. 

How is it now?

Well, I have a good hunch that we don't have those issues anymore. At least mostly we can say that. The league has become a lot bigger, a lot more user friendly and a lot more open to people with a passion to get a league job and be a service to the community. I looked through few of those VHLM GMs we have now and I can clearly say, without hesitation that we surely have improved on GM combo we have, they are more dedicated and are more up to speed on how a VHLM GM should be. Our league now has so many experienced people that want to help that a GM might have a bit of a easier going than some of those older guys had back in 2019. I feel like the only real thing that is missing from the first gen experience right now would be the quality, non-toxic trash talk we had back then. I think it is an integral part of any hockey community and we need to be ready to say what needs to be said - we need to have fun and take a stab at some players and their fighting abilities, we need more laughs that are targeted at funny role play situations, we need more character introduced in the First gen experience. 

But I guess all this is just my thoughts on the past time. I believe that back in 2007, the league was a completely different beast too, people who are here from the start probably could tell us all quite a few interesting stories about toxicity, word usage that we have gotten rid of in this community and league almost dying out. There is so much history here. I can only look back at the last 19 seasons and yet I think that the league has changed and become a great place, still not perfect, still a place where I sometimes can't understand the decisions made and yet I understand that we will get there one day.