Great GM recipe

[DMaximus 1,046]

Great GM recipe

 

Being a great GM isn’t all that difficult. You really just need a few key ingredients in the right proportions, some time to let everything combine, and maybe some ideas cooking in the brain, and boom you have a great GM.

 

Here’s my recipe:

1 cup of passion – This is far and away the most important ingredient. If you don’t have passion for the position, or passion for position, or passion for the league, or passion for the community, or passion for the people on your team, or passion for the other people in the league, you’re doomed before the whole thing even takes off. You have to care in order to even have a change to succeed. I think everyone has passion when they first start, but, for some, it goes away. GMing is sometimes a thankless job, it’s sometimes burdensome, it’s sometimes a drag, it’s sometimes a letdown. All of that wears on you. The only way to combat that is with passion. Caring about you and your team.

½ cup of time (add in small increments) – Let’s face it performing all the GM duties takes time. But (unlike the writing of this article) it’s not like you can handle all the duties in one big clump on Sunday night. To be a great GM, you need to check in here and there throughout the week. You need to be around to help anyone or answer questions. You need to be around to sign players. You need to be around to motivate your players. You need to be around to represent you team. Each of those things don’t take a lot of time individually, but collectively being a great GM requires a dedication of your time.

¼ cup of personal skills – The crazy thing about the VHL and the reason it’s so different from CPUs in video games is that the VHL is comprised of real people. To be a great GM, you need to be able to interact with people. You need to be able to find ways to motivate them. You need to find ways to keep them interested. Then you also need to be able to interact with all the other GMs. You have to be able to communicate with them when trying to figure out a deal. You have to be able to find ways to understand what is import to someone else and use that to make a deal that helps our you and your team. All of those things rely on your personal skills.

1 tsp luck – A little luck never hurt anyone especially when it comes to STHS.

¼ tsp hockey knowledge- Yes this is a hockey sim, but really you need almost no knowledge to be a great GM. Let’s face it STHS is not a sophisticated sim engine. There are very basic elements at play here that barely represent actual hockey. Essentially if you know what offense and defense is, you’re good to go.

 

The instructions are to combine all of those things into yourself and apply for a GM job. Keep at it until you’re a great GM.