Connecting the Present with the Past

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New VHL Members Face Uphill Battle when Trying to Wade Through 40 Seasons of History

 

 

One of the biggest challenges that face new VHL members, is finding a way to access and use old historical data in their Media Reports.  A big advantage to using Graphics as a Point Task for the Week is that, while they take a very specific skill set to carry out, they rarely require in-depth historical research. 

 

On the flip side, being able to to write a well-researched Historical Media Article can be a real challenge for new members.  Recently, I attempted to write an Historical Article on some players from Seasons 11 and older.  This turned out to be a struggle as the old website was littered with broken links that led nowhere, or lists of players names that I had no connection to as well as no understanding of who they were.  In the end I gave up on the task, and forfeited the chance to make double TPE for the week.  A shame, though an experience that I am sure I was not alone in.

 

The question then becomes, 'What can we do to help new members in this area?'

 

 

The biggest thing that could be done would be to create, and organize, a dedicated Historical area in the forums.  This already exists, to a degree, with the VHL Hall of Fame, as well as access to the old website, and Links to older seasons.  For that, the VHL should be applauded.  However, as someone who has had a couple players here in the past, but never really been connected to the larger community of players, it can be a real struggle finding ways to connect the dots with all of the older data that is kicking around.  There are a couple possible ways to improve this.

 

1) Create a  Forum space entitled 'Historical Data'

 

This area in the Forums would take some work to set up. The Links that already exist would need to be checked and confirmed that they exist.  For those that don't, it would be helpful to create a little Write-up on the specific Season with key highlights, or important players.  This way, new members would have a way to quickly, and easily, check to see the bullet points of VHL History.

 

2) More of a focus could be placed on pointing new players towards the older data

 

When a new member signs up, the focus of their Articles is almost always about themselves.  This is not a bad thing in and of itself, as it allows new players the chance to sink their teeth into what the league offers, and how to find their place in it.  Inevitably, there comes a time when narcissistic writing begins to wear on a person, and they will want to start looking elsewhere for their writing muse.  A document, or a video, that clearly laid out how to do VHL Historical Research, would be an invaluable resource for new members who are struggling to find ideas for Articles.  This would take some serious work, but could go a long way towards keeping new members connected to the league.

 

New members are tiny little fish in an ocean of 40 VHL seasons worth of history and inside jokes.  Feeling like you don't understand the lingo, or the history, is a normal part of joining any new community, but if we can find ways to ease that feeeling, we can go a long way towards keeping out newer members connected to the community for a much longer period.

 

 

 

[HawksFan19 89]

Content: 3/3

 

Great insight on the historical aspect of the league, as well, ways we can help newer members learn about the history of the VHL! 580 words.

 

Grammar: 2/2

 

to to = to

an historical = a historical

players = player's

to = too

feeeling = feeling

out = our

 

Appearance: 1/1

 

Looks good, pictures are nice!

 

FINAL: 6/6