A VHL Story

[BladeMaiden 1,807]

A VHL Story

 

A recent conversation got me thinking about what the VHL story has been over the years. There is much that goes into the success of a sim league and I believe that longevity is often due to the dedication of the members. For me specifically this makes me think of long-time members that have dedicated so much of their lives to running teams or listening to players who bare their souls in the early hours of the mornings. My thoughts drift to all the players of the team I have managed in my short tenure as a VHLM GM. All the stories that I shared with them, the stories they shared with me and what we created together. 

 

The VHL theme week gave me an opportunity to look back and think how much long-time members, specifically ones that have been around from Season One, must have seen throughout their seemingly endless VHL careers. The Article I would have loved to have had the opportunity to write here is one that I can not tell as a recent member. I would tell the back story of the league, but the truth is that those are not my stories to tell nor could a new member do them justice. There are indeed some things that the “ole boys” know best and this topic is one of them. The things I am referring to are not necessarily tracked on the forums these days. They are the VHL narrative. To explain this thought fully you must understand that there is a  story that is told on each sim site. Simplified, it is both the interaction of users and their players. Basically,  it is they dynamic created when a bunch of people who throw their sticks in a pile and decide to play a game of pick up hockey. You find friends and enemies. People who are smart or dumb, maybe that one annoying person who is just waiting for you to fall so they can laugh or even the person who leaves halfway through the game for no reason. You find all that and everything else in-between, to say the lease it makes for a riveting story that gets it's hooks into even the most somber person.  I can honestly say that I doubt this perspective gets explored much. As it is a sideshow to what is usually seen as the main event, I am of course talking about the sim. However, in my personal experience I can say that a printout of what happened in fake hockey is not what keeps me around. To this day I can say the users and their stories, whether fictional or real is what keeps me coming back for more.

 

So in my attempt to honor the old boys, I am using this VHL.com to reach out and inspire the new guys to write their own narrative. Reach out and create a story. Make connections with the people you meet and have some fun. after all, that is what the VHL has been since inception and that is what we as new members should continue to do in order to honor those who have put so much into a seemingly simple sim site.

Edited October 21, 2019 by BladeMaiden

[Beketov 9,140]

I’ve always said the VHL is about the community, the sim just just a small part of it; numbers on a screen that maybe 10% of the league is happy with at any given time. The sim isn’t enough to keep people around, and it certainly wasn’t back in the day when it received 3 updates at best per season. Maybe that’s how Scotty was so good, maybe he updated himself every week. Anyway, I digress.

 

Its actually kinda tough to reminisce about the early early VHL years purely because of how long ago they were. 12 years is unheard of in sim league terms. Like I was 15 when the VHL started. I was partway through high school. Meanwhile I graduated university 6 years ago, Got a job, got married, movies cities for work, bought a house, and have a kid on the way. Meanwhile the VHL is still here, chugging away.

 

What’s kinda funny is how accurate is “ole boys” are when we say new people couldn’t have survived back in the day even though no one wants to hear it. It’s not to say people couldn’t have adapted but it is true. Waiting around 3-5 days for your grades, then up to a week for the updater, then what could be months before it went into the sim. Hitting 100 TPE a season, so about 800 total, was something only for the most adamant TPE whores; now it’s not even a landmark and can easily be doubled. If we had these systems now the league would be dead in a month, it’s just too strict. And that’s just the league, let alone the members. We were fucking animals, ripping each other apart. Was quite brutal to be honest. There’s no rose tinted glasses here, the league was a rough place way back when.

[Gustav 6,481]

Quik and Bek be like

[Guest]

Even as a person new to Sim leagues VHL being my first experience back in Season 4...it was dog eat dog. Like there where cliques, nobody did there jobs and OMG the flaming and roasting that went on. 

 

The forums where toxic but at the same time people needed to do SOMETHING while we waited for Updates and Sims, not saying I don't love or miss those days but it would not be sustainable today like @Beketov Had said. Frankly we adapted and became better. 

 

 

[BladeMaiden 1,807]

@Reverb and @Beketov I think it is clear that the longest standing members of this leauge are the ones who have been forged by fire. Guys like @Bushito , @Advantage and yourselves will always have my respect because over my year here I have come to learn more and more of leauge history. I will always a respect a person who is a survivor, who faces a battle head on and deals with the consequences.  I think when I hear those stories it makes me see all the fire i have faced and stayed through as a right of passage. And maybe just maybe it gives me a bit of VHL street cred lol

 

I might as well thank @diamond_ace for inspiring this whole thing  in this tag fest as well lol

Edited October 21, 2019 by BladeMaiden