I have a Major problem with how the VHLM waiver system works

[nurx 914]

I know, I know it is a long title, but what else could I say? The VHLM allows new members and recreates to join teams at their own will. In my mind this creates two types of team the teams that get waiver players often and the teams that get them rarely. You can really see what type of team you are just by looking at the transaction history for the season. Halifax, Miami, and Mexico City are good examples of teams that do not get many waiver players. While Las Vegas and Houston are good examples of teams that do. I believe there are a few reasons for this and I will go into them in more depth, but I will let you know that my recommendation for fixing the issue is simply removing players ability to choose where they go in the M.

 

First of all, let's go over the types of players I believe there are when they are looking at joining teams.

 

1. The Brand Man: This member looks at a name and logo and loves it. I was one of these players and saw Miami's logo and joined simply because it was my favorite.

 

2. The Contender Only: This member wants to win cups. There is nothing wrong with that and therefore they will gravitate towards the best teams in the league.

 

3. The Minutes Hoarder: This member wants to get as many minutes as possible and doesn't care as much as the other two things.

 

I do believe that nobody is just one, which leads to a 2nd or 3rd place team gathering players who are going for contenders. However, this leads to teams not being able to control one of the bigger factors. Their brand. You can't control if players like the logo or name of your team it is as simple as that. You can control the minutes or the contending more, but if you are 4th place to 8th place you are SOL. I personally believe that the Miami brand is really good, but because of my goal of never missing playoffs. I don't get many waiver picks ever. I leave a draft and I expect that I will get one or two players max. At first, I believed this is how everyone operated until I looked at other teams deeper.

 

I understand that the VHLM is a developmental league first, but when it comes to certain rules it doesn't feel like that is the goal. We allow teams to trade draft picks in order to compete, but block them from doing it too much. We get messages from the commies saying we are allowed to try and compete, but we are also told it is developmental only. Why are we sitting in the middle? Why not just go full developmental? We sit stuck in a situation that leads GMs to answer differently to the question, "Should teams have bad seasons to compete?" There is no reason for this.

 

My proposal is this, either go full development and ban draft pick trading completely or stop this sham of allowing teams to compete while having a waiver system that unfairly hinders specific teams. I have heard arguments that when GMs are more active in the league they get more waiver signings, but why would that make sense? Maybe recreates, but it would not effect new members. Do you honestly believe that new members are going and asking random members in the community who they believe is the best GM? No they are not.

 

 

Anyways, this has been a wildly unhinged and frankly senseless argument, but I have talked to other GMs in the league and have found similar beliefs. I'd just like that we allow a conversation to occur that has input from everyone including the newest members to the league so we can understand where they are coming from. None of us involved in M GM management have joined the league recently so we are simply out of touch.

[twists 413]

I don't think the waiver system in the M is necessarily unfair, I think it rewards GMs who are more active than others. When I was a fresh first-gen several years ago I had no idea who to join (mind you this was when you got offer letters posted on your create a player page). I joined the discord to get a feel for what teams people liked, and who actually interacted with me. That night I spent basically talking to @Dil in general chat and he asked if I'd join Halifax. Of course I joined, Dil put in the effort to get to know me, we talked in discord, and then I got an offer. It wasn't the same cookie cutter everyone else gave me.  

  

There's a reason VHLM GMs are paid 4 TPE instead of 2, and recruiting is one of those main reasons. Not every player is going to be like me and instantly join the discord and want to talk, but even just shooting them a message on the forums could tip the scales in your favor.

 

Trading draft picks is an interestingly odd design choice for a development league I agree. However, you can't stop human nature of wanting to win. I'm not saying allowing trading of picks is a great solution to that, but there will be even more shenanigans afoot if you can't. Without trading draft picks teams that have players go IA are totally screwed. They wouldn't be able to recruit more active players because of your waiver changes, and they would just have to hope they can draft a bunch of actives next season. This obviously can cause enjoyment issues for the GMs, but imagine being the sole active player on a team. That would suck worse for new player retention I think.

 

I think the M is unique in how bizarrely its run, because no commish can definitively tell you if its a development league or if its a competitive league. These are just my random thoughts on the matter, so take this with a grain of salt.

[ShawnGlade 1,010]

My man, you are talking directly into my soul

 

My biggest issue since day 1 is the VHLM is a faux development league. The commish and all the GMs claim it's pure development, but that is absolutely not the case when there's a disproportionate amount of waiver signings and draft pick trading. Yes, I do agree that bringing members here from other sites or outlets means they should sign with your team, but we've seen with quite a few teams, that their first-gens just follow their lead when it comes to position and build, and that's why the same teams are competitive every year and magically have a million waiver signings. Also a magical coincidence that all these players go inactive after they win a VHLM cup and move up to the E.

 

Not to bring this up again, but I definitely am. We recently had an issue where I had a player set to sign with me, I even said PUBLICLY, "I'm at work but in a short bit ill send you a contract when I'm home." I come home to not only find out that they chose not to sign with me, BUT THEY CHOSE DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE ANOTHER VHLM GM TOLD THEM MY TEAM SUCKED. I'm not gonna go off about how good my team is, but we were in first fucking place, it's absolutely unacceptable that another authority figure would influence someone who doesn't know any better like that. I also find it appalling that said GM only got a slap on the wrist, especially when this GM has started controversy previously. I mean, how is it any different than tampering?

 

On the topic of Halifax getting so many waiver signings, I'm 110% certain there are behind-the-scenes conversations between GMs and waiver players. I do not think it's a coincidence that the same teams have the most waiver signings season in and season out. I've changed my waiver pitch, and I've even offered first fucking line minutes on a competitive team, and you're telling me every single player is magically ok playing 3rd line on a middle-of-the-pack team? Bullshit.

 

So yes, I agree wholeheartedly, this league has to pick a direction, either admit that we don't care about development or take steps that don't handcuff the teams that aren't blessed with 15+ waiver signings a season

[nurx 914]

4 minutes ago, twists said:

I don't think the waiver system in the M is necessarily unfair, I think it rewards GMs who are more active than others.

you are in the minority though

[Spartan 4,531]

Odd place to see some of these concerns since it's not my DM's or the GM chat or subforum. But whatever, I'll address some of them because I don't mind public feedback and other opinions too since the M is ever evolving and adapting to community needs.

 

The M is a development league first and foremost. At the same time, I believe (as do others) that competition can work alongside the engagement and retention goals of the M. I see first gens who joined the league this season eagerly rooting on their teams and playing up the competitive aspects of the league. However, Gus and I recognized that the balance between being a development league and allowing competition was lopsided and introduced draft pick trade limitations to try and correct that. Outside the initial adjustment period, I haven't heard any concerns about the current rules since every team has at least 3 picks in the top 4 rounds of every draft. I hear consistently from GMs that the parity in the league now is appreciated since seasons aren't over for teams before they even start. 

 

Waivers wise, I personally don't think activity matters much since it's not like they're asking around the league about who's active unless they were recruited by a friend. In the one situation above about a player being told to walk away from one team, it's been made overtly clear to all GMs that if they're involved in a similar situation in the future, there will be harsh consequences. I wouldn't be opposed to chatting with mods/Blues on receiving the ability to penalize non-management users who "tamper" players away from teams they initially intend to join. 

 

Anyways that's a general response to the thread, I'll answer specific questions or address specific concerns if there's anything else in mind as well.

Edited May 2, 2023 by Spartan

[Triller 1,688]

In regards to anyone being told a team sucks or a GM sucks in Discord... when I joined I was told to stay away from multiple teams, people I didn't know telling me to "#blamecole", to not listen to certain members, not to mention the fact that entering Discord in the general chat at the wrong time alone could cause a new member to avoid it entirely.  It all felt like joking to me and I took it as such because it didn't feel malicious.  Saying the current best team in the league sucks to a returning member can certainly be taken as a malicious attack or it can be taken as an obvious ribbing that the returning member didn't even care about because they ended choosing a team their friend was on anyways.

 

Either way, I picked Saskatoon when I joined. Didn't care about the logo, didn't know anyone and didn't check the standings.  I lived in Saskatoon before so I joined, despite all the comments about how crappy Saskatchewan is and how I should have joined other teams.  I've not witnessed any straight up malicious attempts to sway a waiver but I have witnessed plenty of team trash talk.  I take it as such but if it is an issue then everyone should refrain from talking down about any team.  Seems a bit much though!

[twists 413]

55 minutes ago, ShawnGlade said:

Not to bring this up again, but I definitely am. We recently had an issue where I had a player set to sign with me, I even said PUBLICLY, "I'm at work but in a short bit ill send you a contract when I'm home." I come home to not only find out that they chose not to sign with me, BUT THEY CHOSE DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE ANOTHER VHLM GM TOLD THEM MY TEAM SUCKED.

 

I know this is obviously a serious issue that shouldn't happen.....but thats hilarious

[Berocka 2,263]

1 hour ago, twists said:

When I was a fresh first-gen several years ago I had no idea who to join (mind you this was when you got offer letters posted on your create a player page). I joined the discord to get a feel for what teams people liked, and who actually interacted with me. That night I spent basically talking to @Dil in general chat and he asked if I'd join Halifax. Of course I joined, Dil put in the effort to get to know me, we talked in discord, and then I got an offer. It wasn't the same cookie cutter everyone else gave me.  

Not at all what happened but ok cool story

[twists 413]

Just now, Berocka said:

Not at all what happened but ok cool story

 

I mean I thought thats what happened. It was something like that idr. I know me and Dil had a falling out, but i'm pretty sure it started like that

[ShawnGlade 1,010]

23 minutes ago, twists said:

 

I know this is obviously a serious issue that shouldn't happen.....but thats hilarious

I am able to take a step back and realize that the incident itself is funny when you think about it, but it's also not funny that a GM did that and changed the outcome of a situation that they had no part in and frankly should not have been involved with at all

[ShawnGlade 1,010]

29 minutes ago, Triller said:

In regards to anyone being told a team sucks or a GM sucks in Discord... when I joined I was told to stay away from multiple teams, people I didn't know telling me to "#blamecole", to not listen to certain members, not to mention the fact that entering Discord in the general chat at the wrong time alone could cause a new member to avoid it entirely.  It all felt like joking to me and I took it as such because it didn't feel malicious.  Saying the current best team in the league sucks to a returning member can certainly be taken as a malicious attack or it can be taken as an obvious ribbing that the returning member didn't even care about because they ended choosing a team their friend was on anyways.

 

Either way, I picked Saskatoon when I joined. Didn't care about the logo, didn't know anyone and didn't check the standings.  I lived in Saskatoon before so I joined, despite all the comments about how crappy Saskatchewan is and how I should have joined other teams.  I've not witnessed any straight up malicious attempts to sway a waiver but I have witnessed plenty of team trash talk.  I take it as such but if it is an issue then everyone should refrain from talking down about any team.  Seems a bit much though!

It's been dealt with so I'm not trying to start anything else or really talk about it more, but that's a legitimate issue the league has. Joining the discord is appealing, but it's fucked up how you can have these 14 year old members who are trying to be "edgy" and swaying impressionable new members before GMs or anyone serious gets the chance to make a legitimate effort

[Spartan 4,531]

1 hour ago, Triller said:

In regards to anyone being told a team sucks or a GM sucks in Discord... when I joined I was told to stay away from multiple teams, people I didn't know telling me to "#blamecole", to not listen to certain members

You're not obligated to do so, but if you'd like to reach out to myself or Gus to let us know more about this, we'd try to funnel the info into meaningful monitoring and guidelines for GM conduct. There's not much we can do when things happen in DMs out of our sight unless we're informed about it.

[Pifferfish 597]

2 hours ago, Triller said:

 

Either way, I picked Saskatoon when I joined. Didn't care about the logo, didn't know anyone and didn't check the standings.  I lived in Saskatoon before so I joined, despite all the comments about how crappy Saskatchewan is and how I should have joined other teams.  I've not witnessed any straight up malicious attempts to sway a waiver but I have witnessed plenty of team trash talk.  I take it as such but if it is an issue then everyone should refrain from talking down about any team.  Seems a bit much though!

I think this kind of follows the logic I have about it. Like I'm from a place where sports and rivalries are king. Like that the life blood of sports is being competitive with other teams. So when I joined and people were throwing shade I saw it just the competitive spirit and nothing more and I didn't let any of it sway me. I wouldn't say any of it was nearly the level of calling HFX and L team. (And to be clear @ShawnGladeI loved playing for your team. I had a great time with you and when people actually ask me about you I say I enjoyed my time in HFX. ) But I didn't really at the time consider that how I see that and how someone else sees that could be different. I mean it as just trash talk because this is somewhat competitive, and trash talking the top team is what you should do (bc trash talking the down bad teams is lame). But that's how I saw it. I'm not everyone and sometimes it's tough especially when there aren't real faces to see thing to understand that not everyone thinks like me. So sorry Shawn, I didn't mean for that, I appreciate you brother. If I hadn't like truly apologized at the time bc it would have felt like I hadn't really considered my actions, then this is it. I'm sorry for doing that. Also, #blameCole FRFR... Coincidence he steals that waiver and is now at the top?!?!?! I think not. This is a joke btw. Don't take that seriously.

[frescoelmo 1,282]

Are we complaining about a development league being... a development league?

[Sjin 188]

4 hours ago, twists said:

I don't think the waiver system in the M is necessarily unfair, I think it rewards GMs who are more active than others. When I was a fresh first-gen several years ago I had no idea who to join (mind you this was when you got offer letters posted on your create a player page). I joined the discord to get a feel for what teams people liked, and who actually interacted with me. That night I spent basically talking to @Dil in general chat and he asked if I'd join Halifax. Of course I joined, Dil put in the effort to get to know me, we talked in discord, and then I got an offer. It wasn't the same cookie cutter everyone else gave me.  

  

There's a reason VHLM GMs are paid 4 TPE instead of 2, and recruiting is one of those main reasons. Not every player is going to be like me and instantly join the discord and want to talk, but even just shooting them a message on the forums could tip the scales in your favor.

 

Trading draft picks is an interestingly odd design choice for a development league I agree. However, you can't stop human nature of wanting to win. I'm not saying allowing trading of picks is a great solution to that, but there will be even more shenanigans afoot if you can't. Without trading draft picks teams that have players go IA are totally screwed. They wouldn't be able to recruit more active players because of your waiver changes, and they would just have to hope they can draft a bunch of actives next season. This obviously can cause enjoyment issues for the GMs, but imagine being the sole active player on a team. That would suck worse for new player retention I think.

 

I think the M is unique in how bizarrely its run, because no commish can definitively tell you if its a development league or if its a competitive league. These are just my random thoughts on the matter, so take this with a grain of salt.

 

I completely agree, @jacobcarson877 reached out to me so quickly from the point of me registering my account and the decision was easy for me at the time I knew nothing about the league. There was a great locker room full of active guys. Which when I ended up getting drafted by a different team I quickly realised that wasn't the norm across the league. Certain GMs create environments players want to be a part of, and whilst most players will only spend 1-3 seasons in the M the cyclical nature of trading picks is a great concept, sure it can be considered quite counter intuitive for a development league, but it means teams that have been struggling in the regular season and aren't in contention for a play-off position will have a much stronger chance the year after. Whilst the team that sold their assets to get stronger has a better push at the cup. With the turn-over of players moving up the leagues and going inactive it's good to see different teams winning the cup each year and this helps aid that as most teams pushing to win cups will not have assets in the following years draft.

[Will3 467]

I have an interesting idea to add. What if VHLM GMs were allowed to sign one or more of their waiver players going into the next draft at the cost of a draft pick. It would work like restricted free agency where you give up a higher pick the higher TPE the player you want to sign has. If draft picks are no longer traded, it could result in interesting decisions. Might just expand this idea in a short article.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Will3

[Ozzy Batty 293]

I guess I might have a unique experience in that I started last year, got signed as a waiver pick by a very active GM in the M, but had to step away from the league due to a family issue so I was never able to follow any of my career past that initial season. During that 1st season I agreed to be traded to a contender where I, honestly felt like an outsider, and I saw my production drop as I moved from 1st line to 4th. Like I said, I didnt see anything past that first season so I cant speak to anything beyond the M.

I returned this year before the M draft, talked to some of the GMs and ended up being drafted by Saskatoon. I am happy with my career there and am excited to see what comes next. But even with this tough season we are having, the conversation turned to the possibility of trading some of us to contenders. What I see, from this side and my experience, is the better players from "not-so good" teams are traded to the contenders so they keep being contenders. Even if some of us "TPE" out of the M, it is not normally all of the players. 

 

So the contenders of this season start next season with a cadre of veteran players. While the team with the most draft picks last season, start the next with another huge haul of draft picks they were able to get from trading their top players. 

 

The cycle continues. So the challenge becomes trying to break that cycle. Is it possible? I dont know. I will agree that my sample size is VERY small...but Saskatoon had a shit-load of draft picks when I was selected...and if they had traded any of us (which in all fairness didnt happen) what would they have next season? A shit-load of draft picks. But now, they are going to see the majority of the team TPE out of the M and they will start from scratch again.

 

I get the desire to win, who doesnt want to win? But how does the trading of draft picks foster that? Does it allow for different teams to experience the thrill of winning the cup? What is the history of which teams have won? Are there teams who seem to own the M? I cant answer these questions and in all fairness, if the facts contradict what I have said, then I will fully admit I am wrong. But I do think it is something that bears checking out.

Lastly, activity does matter. Who wants to join a team that is super-quiet? If we wanted to play a solo game, we wouldnt join a sim league. Recruiting isnt easy, but in this world if free-for-all waiver signings, being active and more importantly, active at the right time, is vital.

And that my friends...is my 2 cents...

[nurx 914]

1 hour ago, frescoelmo said:

Are we complaining about a development league being... a development league?

I'm complaining that the developmental league sits in this in between situation that harms both competitiveness and development in different ways 

[nurx 914]

14 minutes ago, Otis Boudreaux Jr said:

I guess I might have a unique experience in that I started last year, got signed as a waiver pick by a very active GM in the M, but had to step away from the league due to a family issue so I was never able to follow any of my career past that initial season. During that 1st season I agreed to be traded to a contender where I, honestly felt like an outsider, and I saw my production drop as I moved from 1st line to 4th. Like I said, I didnt see anything past that first season so I cant speak to anything beyond the M.

I returned this year before the M draft, talked to some of the GMs and ended up being drafted by Saskatoon. I am happy with my career there and am excited to see what comes next. But even with this tough season we are having, the conversation turned to the possibility of trading some of us to contenders. What I see, from this side and my experience, is the better players from "not-so good" teams are traded to the contenders so they keep being contenders. Even if some of us "TPE" out of the M, it is not normally all of the players. 

 

So the contenders of this season start next season with a cadre of veteran players. While the team with the most draft picks last season, start the next with another huge haul of draft picks they were able to get from trading their top players. 

 

The cycle continues. So the challenge becomes trying to break that cycle. Is it possible? I dont know. I will agree that my sample size is VERY small...but Saskatoon had a shit-load of draft picks when I was selected...and if they had traded any of us (which in all fairness didnt happen) what would they have next season? A shit-load of draft picks. But now, they are going to see the majority of the team TPE out of the M and they will start from scratch again.

 

I get the desire to win, who doesnt want to win? But how does the trading of draft picks foster that? Does it allow for different teams to experience the thrill of winning the cup? What is the history of which teams have won? Are there teams who seem to own the M? I cant answer these questions and in all fairness, if the facts contradict what I have said, then I will fully admit I am wrong. But I do think it is something that bears checking out.

Lastly, activity does matter. Who wants to join a team that is super-quiet? If we wanted to play a solo game, we wouldnt join a sim league. Recruiting isnt easy, but in this world if free-for-all waiver signings, being active and more importantly, active at the right time, is vital.

And that my friends...is my 2 cents...

I find it interesting how you are explaining a similar situation to the boom-bust cycle of yesteryear. I think the final part is new members don't know what teams are active or what GMs are active. Instead that are forced to pick between the 3 archetypes I originally noted.

[v.2 1,412]

*Sigh* can we go back to only complaining about the E please.

[Ozzy Batty 293]

As I said, my sample size is very small, just my personal experience. But yes, I agree that there a mix of those archetypes. I think most people are a mix, but there is obviously a stronger element for everyone. I think it goes back to what they are looking for out of their experience. It creates a unique challenge for someone completely new to know how things are with the different teams. I remember being overwhelmed with the whole forum set-up...so many topics...let alone trying to determine which team to sign with.

Dont get me wrong, I think the league has a great structure. I just think that sometimes it is good to step back and ask what the purpose is behind something...and then making sure that purpose is being achieved. It is isnt, change the desired purpose...or change how things are done

 

[badcolethetitan 938]

I'll say this coming from my perspective, I don't really have any problems with the VHLM Waiver System.

 

Now I'm going to put a little bit of a disclaimer here, but almost every season I have been on the low end of waivers. But that really isn't due to the fact that my "brand" is Mexico City, or that I don't really have a "good pitch." It's because of the fact that I'm able to draft active players and keep them around.

 

I've consistently finished top 4 every single season since I've joined and I have yet to have a single season under 40 wins. I don't get waivers because my team is basically full every season recently, which I think is a good sign that I'm keeping players around and doing a good job of drafting. 

 

Should the waiver system change? Maybe. I'd be down to listen to changes that people think should be implemented, but I believe that getting "waivers" aren't really necessary if you draft well and have built a good team from the beginning. The whole point is to teach new players and retain them, right? If you're able to retain your draft picks, you don't need waiver players and instead they can go to other teams to help them out.

 

Also, I'm not trying to take a dig at any GMs in this league. A lot of them are fantastic and do an amazing job overall. 

 

Another thing that people say the M is a developmental league, I believe truly it is. However, you can also be a competitive team each season if you play your cards right. You have to be creative with the new rules and draft smart to be able to keep that "contending" status, while also helping newer players. It also helps when you're a good team, retention seems to be a little bit easier because you're at the top.

 

What's my best advice to GMs? Reach out to your players each week. Even if it's just a "Hey, how's it going?" or something simple. Take that extra step. Engage in the locker room. Get your team hyped. Do everything you can to keep players around even if they're just doing practice facility + welfare each week. Make them feel unique and like they belong in your organization.

 

Hope this gave some insight into GMing from my eyes, I'm also hyper active and always on discord due to my ADHD and I cannot expect every GM to be the same. I remember a couple weeks ago when a first gen joined and I had about a two and a half hour conversation with them in text with easily over 300+ messages to teach them how the league works. 

Have a great day all!

Edited May 3, 2023 by badcolethetitan

[badcolethetitan 938]

15 minutes ago, nurx said:

I find it interesting how you are explaining a similar situation to the boom-bust cycle of yesteryear. I think the final part is new members don't know what teams are active or what GMs are active. Instead that are forced to pick between the 3 archetypes I originally noted.

 

I also think it's pretty easy to get out of the "boom-bust" cycle, but that's just me.

[badcolethetitan 938]

5 hours ago, Triller said:

In regards to anyone being told a team sucks or a GM sucks in Discord... when I joined I was told to stay away from multiple teams, people I didn't know telling me to "#blamecole", to not listen to certain members, not to mention the fact that entering Discord in the general chat at the wrong time alone could cause a new member to avoid it entirely.  It all felt like joking to me and I took it as such because it didn't feel malicious.  Saying the current best team in the league sucks to a returning member can certainly be taken as a malicious attack or it can be taken as an obvious ribbing that the returning member didn't even care about because they ended choosing a team their friend was on anyways.

 

Either way, I picked Saskatoon when I joined. Didn't care about the logo, didn't know anyone and didn't check the standings.  I lived in Saskatoon before so I joined, despite all the comments about how crappy Saskatchewan is and how I should have joined other teams.  I've not witnessed any straight up malicious attempts to sway a waiver but I have witnessed plenty of team trash talk.  I take it as such but if it is an issue then everyone should refrain from talking down about any team.  Seems a bit much though!

 

The #BlameCole still haunts me to this day. LOL

[jacobcarson877 2,563]

19 minutes ago, badcolethetitan said:

I'll say this coming from my perspective, I don't really have any problems with the VHLM Waiver System.

 

Now I'm going to put a little bit of a disclaimer here, but almost every season I have been on the low end of waivers. But that really isn't due to the fact that my "brand" is Mexico City, or that I don't really have a "good pitch." It's because of the fact that I'm able to draft active players and keep them around.

 

I've consistently finished top 4 every single season since I've joined and I have yet to have a single season under 40 wins. I don't get waivers because my team is basically full every season recently, which I think is a good sign that I'm keeping players around and doing a good job of drafting. 

 

Should the waiver system change? Maybe. I'd be down to listen to changes that people think should be implemented, but I believe that getting "waivers" aren't really necessary if you draft well and have built a good team from the beginning. The whole point is to teach new players and retain them, right? If you're able to retain your draft picks, you don't need waiver players and instead they can go to other teams to help them out.

 

Also, I'm not trying to take a dig at any GMs in this league. A lot of them are fantastic and do an amazing job overall. 

 

Another thing that people say the M is a developmental league, I believe truly it is. However, you can also be a competitive team each season if you play your cards right. You have to be creative with the new rules and draft smart to be able to keep that "contending" status, while also helping newer players. It also helps when you're a good team, retention seems to be a little bit easier because you're at the top.

 

What's my best advice to GMs? Reach out to your players each week. Even if it's just a "Hey, how's it going?" or something simple. Take that extra step. Engage in the locker room. Get your team hyped. Do everything you can to keep players around even if they're just doing practice facility + welfare each week. Make them feel unique and like they belong in your organization.

 

Hope this gave some insight into GMing from my eyes, I'm also hyper active and always on discord due to my ADHD and I cannot expect every GM to be the same. I remember a couple weeks ago when a first gen joined and I had about a two and a half hour conversation with them in text with easily over 300+ messages to teach them how the league works. 

Have a great day all!

I was going to write a whole thing, but Cole said my thoughts perfectly.  If waivers are going to be your primary source of player addition, then you have to be insane, and pumping your team's brand out all over the discord and the forum at all time, and ready to accept interest at any time. That isn't everyone's approach (and shouldn't be, it's not great for one's mental health), and I think a lot of the M changes recently have helped to encourage some healthier habits, which involves having more picks and reducing the amount of time one needs to be on the forum. Yeah the waiver system brings some new variables to the forefront but those will always happen even if everyone had cookie cutter logos and identical rosters. People might just like the colour green, or be from Saskatoon, or think Marauders is a cool name.