theme week 2 Years Later...

[thadthrasher 1,692]

As is natural, people come to this community with all sorts of various backgrounds, experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Some of them are ones that I agree with whole heartedly, even if they aren't necessarily popular. And, some are ones that make me cringe. Nevertheless, in my two years in the VHL I have seen people come and go. I've seen a variety of new users become instantly active and then quickly fade away, and I've seen a few older members make their return. I've watched as members have stirred the proverbial pot, called one another out, and I've even been on the receiving end of one of @jRuutu's infamous articles (which, I mean, is kind of a compliment, no?). 

 

As this week's theme is about first gens, I thought it would be fitting to write about something similar to @Phil's article. Now, I don't necessarily need to write anything for theme week, but I loved the attitude of Phil's article enough that it inspired me to write my own, and it just so happens to coincide with first gen users. Ultimately, my hope is that this article serves as some form of inspiration, or even as some form of assistance to our first gen players. So, without further delay...

 

The Beginning

On October 8th, 2020 I found myself watching a Thrash94Gaming @Thrash94Gaming video on YouTube. It was a video talking about the new NHL 21 (I believe) and an advertisement came up for the VHL. Instantly I was hooked with the idea of a forum-based simulation league, and it helped that COVID had really given me a lot more free time. I signed up and created my first player, a goaltender named Thadius Sales. Upon this creation I came up with an entire story arch for him, diving deep into the lore of Thadius Sales as a hockey player. I was incredibly excited to promote myself, build a great player, and watch him be drafted early and start playing incredible hockey. The entire concept of writing, making graphics, making podcasts, all to increase the skill of my player was fascinating to me. It wasn't something I had heard of before and I found myself excited to try it out. 

 

Quickly, as my player began playing on teams and I started interacting in various locker rooms, I realized that the VHL had two sub-communities. The first community being the one that was deeply invested in the Create a Player side of the league. These people were deeply concerned with the functions of STHS, of building elite players, analyzing statistics and trends, and loved the data-side of this league. The second community seemed to be one that was interested in creating narratives about their player/team, or they were interested in being active in the community, meeting new people, and creating some bonds there. Of the two communities I viewed, I found myself relating more to the narrative/community activity side. I've never been one to deeply analyze numbers or statistics, but give me a good story and I'm all in. This is what kept me hooked early on. Sure, I cared about how my player was doing, but I loved interacting with my team even more, especially in the hay day of COVID restrictions, lockdowns, and shutdowns.

 

The Middle

On my 1-year anniversary of being in the VHL I created the Thadscape Podcast. Now, I'm not going to go back and listen to myself speak for 30 minutes, but I think @JardyB10's comment on the episode may summarize it well:

On 10/8/2021 at 7:50 PM, JardyB10 said:

This was an amazing, beautiful, and thoughtful 30 or so minutes! Even as a veteran member, it's easy for me to get caught up in "the game" of the VHL, but your points about the VHL as a community and creative outlet reminds that it really is a special place that goes beyond how many pucks I want Poopy Peepants to be blocking. Your passion for this league shows not just in this podcast, but in everything you do. It pleases me that you would one day like to expand your leadership role in the VHL because it's something I immediately recognized you'd be perfectly suited for.

At this point in time it was fairly evident that I was incredibly active, interested, and still passionate about the VHL. Now, were there days where I was like "meh, why am I still doing this?" you betcha. Life gets crazy, things change, and interests fluctuate. Yet, I still wanted to stick it out. I never thought about not having a player, and at this point I had already faded in and out of EFL and SBA. I was trying to prioritize VHL while still maintaining activity in the PBE. But, even with those phases where interest waxed and waned I stuck it out. Was I always 100% satisfied with the changes happening, the drama occurring, or sometimes even the general atmosphere of the community? Of course not. But, it wasn't enough to drive me away. At this point, I was sticking around to keep my player going, to run my team, and because I had some great connections with people. I had made friends, shared many joys and concerns from my personal life, and was invested in the league.

 

The Now

After another year and some months I have a second player, a few awards, am a VHLE Commissioner, a VHL GM, work on Recruitment, and I'm a member of the dreaded Board of Governors. Admittedly, I'm not nearly as publicly active as I used to be. Am I in VHL Discord every day and talking to everyone like I did a year, or even two years ago? No. However, since then I've had a child, finished a Master's Degree, and started a new full-time job. Needless to say, my circumstances don't allow for me to be as publicly active as I once was. Yet, I still find myself incredibly active "behind the scenes" so to speak. Some may see the list of responsibilities I have and say, "Well, Thad, of course you're still around. You're one of the 'good 'ol boys' that gets jobs.'" First, no job will keep me from stepping away from something I genuinely dislike. If I wasn't happy in the VHL, I wouldn't be here. Sure, I get frustrated at some things, like we all do, but it's not grand or anything. Second, I would hardly consider myself a 'good 'ol boy. But, to some, perception is reality. However, the point here isn't to refute 'good 'ol boy' claims, or argue for my ability to do multiple jobs, but to discuss why I'm still here and plan on being here for a while.

 

Despite all of the ups and downs I've seen in my 2+ years here, which is incredibly small when compared to the VHL's 15 year life span, I'm still here. The reason for that is rather simple, I love this place and it's crazy, broken people. Maybe it goes along with my IRL job, but dealing with people is just something I do, and I enjoy it. That's why I've not stepped away from the VHL. I'd rather stick around through my various frustrations to ensure a good place for people. Is it possible that this may change some day? Maybe. But, not in the foreseeable future. Instead, I find myself wanting to keep up my work here in the VHL to ensure that the league be a place that people join, want to stick with, and thoroughly enjoy. It wasn't that long ago that I was a first gen player who was trying to figure out how drafting worked, what the rules were, or even how to apply my TPE. But, don't worry, I'm probably still pretty clueless in certain areas...

 

 

Final Point

If you have read all of this and are a first gen player, thanks for giving me your time and attention. I hope that you are enjoying the VHL so far, and if you are not, please let me know. I'm always open to have a discussion, hear your concerns, and help you learn. I don't feel like I'm one of those people who intimidate others, and if that's the case, please come to me anyways. I promise that I'll be up front, honest, and graceful with you. Finally, if you find yourself frustrated, angry, and just plain old ready to give up on the VHL, shoot me a message. I'd be happy to talk with you about what's going on, try to offer any solution I can, and help you work through it. I promise that if you stick with this league, if you stick with this community, you'll garner some great friendships and I really don't think you'll regret it. I know I don't regret it at all.

 

And, if you're someone reading this who isn't a first gen player, I'm glad you're still here. Even if we don't see eye-to-eye, even if you don't like me, I'm glad you're here. A community that is 100% homogenous in all thinking isn't a diverse community by any means. So, if I'm someone who disrupts that homogeny, well, then I'm okay with that. And, if you are that person, good, keep it up (however, do so with an open mind, an understanding heart, and a willingness to be corrected). 

 

I look forwarding to being in the VHL for many more years to come, and I look forward to seeing which direction it goes. 

 

Thanks again for reading!

 

 

---

idk how many words. Not claiming.

 

[BOOM 8,818]

2 hours ago, thadthrasher said:

And, if you're someone reading this who isn't a first gen player, I'm glad you're still here.

 

[Phil 5,129]

Brilliant Spot. I do love the narrative side of players for sure! Also just connecting with people for a few seconds a day. 
 

Congrats on all your accomplishments irl over the past two years btw! Huge life milestones  

[Dom 1,445]

@thadthrasher that title was copyrighted!

[thadthrasher 1,692]

3 hours ago, Dom said:

@thadthrasher that title was copyrighted!

You can place your formal complaint in my personal complaint file…

 

[Guest]

What a coincidence that Jardy made that comment you quoted on ur 1 year anniversary  

 

Also I had no idea that you joined a week before I did, I thought you were much much much more seasoned than I