How to Get More Involved – Tips for First Gens

[DMaximus 1,045]

How to Get More Involved – Tips for First Gens

 

Now that I’m in the middle of my third gen player, it seems like forever ago that I discovered this site and made my first player. In actual time it was almost 4 years ago. Thankfully for this article, I do remember what it was like to be a first gen. I hope to share some of the knowledge I’ve learned during my time here.

Personally, I think the best parts of this league open up once you become involved and invested in the league. Here’s some suggestions for how to become more involved.

 

Read the game results – The game results are the only information we get from the sim. To better understand your player, your teammates, your team, the league, you need to read the game results. By this I don’t mean just clicking on the results link and reading the box score. I mean clicking on the Full Game link and reading the detailed report. Search for your player’s name and read what they’re actually like on the ice. I think this detailed information is helpful because you can come up with better ideas for how to build your player. You also learn what teammates your player works well with. All this helps you become closer to your team and your teammates. That closeness will naturally pull you in more and get you more involved.

 

Write articles – Articles are a great way to get your brain thinking about the league. Of course, they also have the added benefit of earning you sweet, sweet TPE. Write zany stories about your character if you want to focus on role-playing. Write about results/stats if you’re more mathematically inclined. Take on the role of a beat reporter and cover your team, reporting on players and stories from the locker room. A really good way to get involved is to have a reoccurring article or theme. Maybe a weekly summary of the league, or your team, or player that you handle like a newspaper article. Or maybe create a long, over-arching storyline that plays out over the course of many articles. It doesn’t really matter what you actually write about. Just the act of spending the time dedicated to it will increase your involvement.

 

Answer Press Conference Questions – By this, I don’t mean the all-too-standard, mumble out a partial sentence that answers a question in as few words as possible. I mean use the question as an opportunity to breathe life into your player. Think of the scene, you’re sitting at your locker stall with microphones all around you, or you’re up at the podium staring out at a room full of people. They’re expecting you to elaborate on your answer. If they ask something like “How did the last game go?” You answering “Good.” Is not sufficient. Pull out a specific moment to reference to add depth to your answer. Also, you can use this as an opportunity to flesh out your character, maybe they have a certain uniqueness to them, like they say the first word of their answer twice, or continually mispronounce common words. Little nuances like that can really go a long way to create a complete person. Press conferences are the perfect opportunity to go deeper with your player.

 

Keep trying to get a job – I titled this like I did, because I think persistence is extremely important for a first gen to get recognized enough to get a job. A job is a great way to get involved in the league, because you’re forced to be more involved by contractual obligation! But really just the act of seeking a job will get your more involved.

 

 

I hope this gives you some good ideas and helps you become a contributing member of the VHL community!