Pale Ghosts

[McWolf 3,115]

(Panopticon again. FFO bluegrass-infused black metal)

 

Catching up with the VHL, 6-month hiatus edition.

 

- It was only a coincidence, but I thought it was pretty funny that for about half a year, I didn't miss this place, and out of nowhere, I got the itch to come back a week before the trade deadline past which I would have recreated if I had remained active throughout Zaza Colors career. I wouldn't have waited for that peak recreation time if I joined much earlier, but now it's looking like I never left, so it's pretty cool. McWolf into Hornet into Colors into Moth.

 

- Talking about Zaza, I see he continued to be as bad in his last couple seasons as he was when I was here. All he will be ever known as is being one third of the group of London rookies that all broke 100 points. And he wasn't even the best of the three. Then the attributes were overhauled and I was never able to recreate this rookie season with him. To be fair, the three rookies were widely abusing the 99/40 meta, and it's a good thing it's been abolished. I'm just sad Zaza could never stand out after the fact. When all is said and done, he won't even surpass the point total from Joseph McWolf, a mostly defensive and counter-meta defenseman.

 

- That sort of brings my next two points. Let's talk about the hybrid attributes for a second. Having known the golden era of uncapped TPE with the old attribute system, it feels weird now that I can't get a single skill straight to 80 while I'm in the VHLM. We're all in the exact same situation, and we're definitely more in line with what attributes are supposed to look like in STHS. Having half the player in the league at 99 in scoring, defense and skating was bound to give wonky result, when 99 is technically like generational talent level. If everyone is a generational talent, then I guess it's time to reconsider what we should call generational. And that's what was done basically. Now an attributes in the 70s or 80s is comparatively solid. It is definitely for the better of the league, I was just so used to see my page with multiple attributes in the 90s. I'll get used to it in due time.

 

- Final point; I remember creating Zaza and hesitating about his position. I ended up going on the wing to try something new, but a part of me didn't appreciate Hornet's career at center as much as I appreciated McWolf's career at defense. I almost made Zaza a defenseman too. But now I'm going back to it. I remember looking at McWolf's stats every sim, and being happy that he had a couple hits or a couple shots blocked, or even just seeing that we dominated the shot column. Being a defenseman is so much more than just scoring and winning. When I'm a forward, I feel like a failure everytime I'm not filling the net, but as a defenseman, I know how to celebrate the smaller details, and that makes me much more appreciative of the league in general. 3 straight years as a forward took a toll on me, but I'm glad I get to come back doing what I love. We're also bringing back the animal theme, after a sidestep with Colors. I'm loving this new player already and I'm very excited to see what she does in the next couple seasons.