They've stuck it out for years -- are the pandemic users here to stay forever?

[Renomitsu 934]

It’s not news to say that the COVID-19 pandemic brought a significant uptick to online sim league participation back in 2020 – and I think even up to a year or 18 months ago, baseline activity was still above the baseline we’d come to expect after over a decade of sim leagues’ existence. Over the last year and a half, though, the delineation doesn’t seem quite so clear – tightly-managed sim leagues have seen periods of substantial expansion (across the SBA, VHL, and EFL each), and more recently some contraction for each of the very same.

 

The question I’d want to pose is this: how much of current sim league participation is persistent, true user base, and how much is going to continue to wane? I doubt the VHL goes back to the S50 numbers any time in the next dozen-plus seasons, and perhaps the VHLE goes away as a result of natural drops in the user base (heck if I know). The VHL still has plenty of players – and a plethora of high earners, especially in the last few seasons, who have recreated and continued to be super active. The SBA has similarly made some adjustments to the number of available players and their filler system which, at least from my view, makes the league a bit more interactive too.

 

So what do you think? Are we in for further contraction in the next few seasons, or are all of our teams (and many of our users) here to stay after the most recent changes and as we get further out from the pandemic?

[Gustav 6,430]

It’s encouraging that our big boom actually started in late 2018-early 2019, so I think it’s certainly possible to keep things running at a healthy level for a very long time. The huge one that led to us creating a third league was a COVID-time thing—and I wouldn’t be surprised if that were an influence. My dream answer to this is that our healthy baseline was what we had right before the S75 class and the E stuff, and that we’ll eventually get rid of the E because we’re back near that level (which I’ve shown that we can do just fine! Not everyone wants to take that step yet, though). 
 

To try to think more critically about it, some circumstances have changed with Reddit recruitment (our main source for the first boom) becoming much more of a challenge. There’s precedent for large amounts of members joining from YouTube ads pre-pandemic (S69), but there really isn’t for large numbers actually being retained. It’s also arguable that a year or so isn’t enough sample size, especially when the methods are different. So, while I think it’s possible to keep it running fine, there are issues that have to be kept in mind. Luckily, we have lots of space to work with—the VHL can afford to lose some members or some teams (or maybe a league ) before I get really concerned. 

Edited August 12, 2023 by Gustav

[Laine 1,361]

I haven't been around for a while (I started May 2020, so I consider myself a pandemic user) and I would say I am pretty fond of the VHL. I may not be as active as my busy University life has taken over, but I do have a spot for the VHL in my heart. I'm coming that some day I can come back and stay put but for now it doesn't seem likely.

I think a lot of pandemic users will end up staying, and I even think about the VHL from time to time. Some users tend to go and come back in waves like myself and I think that in itself has an impact on league expansion and contraction.