The Doktor's Office: VHLM Thoughts

[DoktorFunk 810]

 

I’m going to talk about this week a subject that had been on my mind was my time as a General Manager and my current role as an Assistant General Manager. I don’t think I really had much of an appreciation for how much work goes into it. When I started in the league, Gustav only had about one more seasons worth of experience than me, and yet he was trusted to run an entire VHLM team. That must have been crazy for him, especially considering the success he had in retaining people. The Gustav Effect, indeed. What made season 66 and 67 such a good year? What exactly encouraged so many of us to stick around, because it clearly wasn’t just people from Mississauga. Hell, most of Seattle was from one of those seasons, and we didn’t all start on the same VHLM team. So really, since the job of a VHLM GM is to help new players through their orientation and smooth their transition into the VHL proper, how can we crystallize this into a true strategy and make it easier for all VHLM GMs to do across the board?

 

Time and time again, we hear from players that were successfully retained that the reason they stuck around was the locker room. Sure, success in a season makes people more interested in the game and gets them more involved, but a thriving community is the key to making this site a more engaging thing and not a “check on it every once in a while” sort of thing. So, questions:

 

1. What makes a good locker room?

2. Are the qualities represented by a good locker room inherent to a General Manager’s success in the VHLM?

3. How can we distill this philosophy to make it easier for everyone?

 

Now then, what makes a good locker room? I would do research for this, but I’d really rather have everyone sound off in the comments. I feel like, for a good locker room to exist, you need to have the right people engaged and involved. The General Manager and Assistant General Manager need to be engaged and active, willing to help new players and also just to be present and willing to chat with the players about anything. Also, they need to be careful about who they select to be involved. I know in Seattle we had a toxic personality in our first year together, and it caused everyone a lot of stress. It was much better once that person left. But, I’m not endorsing every locker room purge what they perceive to be toxic players, because a player that is toxic in one locker room might be a perfect fit in another. I guess, in those instances, a trade wouldn’t be a bad idea.

 

Next, Discord seems to be the generally accepted format for a locker room, so what makes a good Discord server? I’ve been in quite a few, and some of them tend to be overwhelming with options and places to chat or post. Speaking from a management perspective, it can be a ton of work and stress going through each and every channel to make sure that someone’s question gets answered in a timely manner. In a way, I actually think Berocka having a North American AGM is perfect, because the differences in timing make it so that someone in management is always online to help while the other is sleeping. But, anyway, organization and precision of the Discord server, I think, is very important. I’m sure there are other factors, but these are the only ones that I can think of.

 

Second, are the qualities represented by a good locker room inherent to a General Manager’s success in the VHLM? Well, that depends on what you define as “success” in the VHLM. I always viewed the VHLM’s goal as retention. We want players to stick around and become invested. The answer to this question, then, is yes, for a number of reasons. As listed above, an organized, concise, attentive locker room makes players better and more invested in the game and keeps them coming back. Plus, having a full, high-quality locker room, makes management’s job easier. Players and management helping players is much better than just management helping players. I don’t think winning the Founder’s Cup is required to be a successful GM in the VHLM, because although it can make the new players excited by having a taste of success, the real goal of the game is to get to the VHL, and nobody ends their careers with a Founder’s Cup only and calls it a successful time. 

 

Third, how can we crystallize this and make it easier to replicate? I’m not sure, honestly, and I’m sure there are smarter people than me that can put the pieces together.. A lot of locker rooms allow alumni to stick around in them, which is a good thing, because it keeps people who can help constantly there. However, having too many alumni could be a bad thing, because the chat can become deeply flooded by old inside jokes and things that would be inaccessible to new players. There has to be a good balance. Maybe set a limit on how many years removed an alumnus may stick around after graduating would be a good solution. 

 

My point is, I guess, that having a consistent strategy across the whole league can really improve a lot and allow the league to expand even more. Then we can have more teams and more personality, more innovation, fresh eyes on the site that can help us improve it overall! But, none of that will happen if players immediately become disinterested in the game because of a poorly run VHLM. Not calling anyone out at all here. In fact, this is more a reinforcement of my own strategy and thoughts as far as what I’d like to accomplish as an AGM.

 

It’s a complicated task, because everyone is going to be really shy the first time that they start on here. No one likes being outside of their comfort zone, and no one likes appearing stupid, so whatever we can do to help them become more successful and start having fun at this game, we should do. 

 

 

 

 

1044 Words, claiming for two weeks

[Cxsquared 455]

@GlowyGoat makes a LR good. That's the only acceptable answer here.

[Gustav 6,407]

Step 1: Absorb the sheer radiance of the Gustav Effect

Step 2: ???

Step 3: Profit

[Cxsquared 455]

2 hours ago, GustavMattias said:

Step 1: Absorb the sheer radiance of the Gustav Effect

Step 2: ???

Step 3: Profit

Step 1: Absorb the sheer radiance of the Gustav Effect Bring Glowy into your LR and claim all of her hard work.

Step 2: ???

Step 3: Profit

[Gustav 6,407]

1 minute ago, Cxsquared said:

Step 1: Absorb the sheer radiance of the Gustav Effect Bring Glowy into your LR and claim all of her hard work.

Step 2: ???

Step 3: Profit

This picture needs to be a standard VHL reaction at this point

[DoktorFunk 810]

Week 2