How Can I Improve My Draft Stock? - A Guide For New Players

[Patrik Tallinder 1,087]

Hello everyone, I figured I would contribute something to theme week with recruitment and retention, so I'm going to put together a bit of a guide for new players who want to rise in the draft rankings. This can often be a difficult task for new players, and we all have varying amounts of free time we can spend on here. I will be splitting this article into 3 parts, trying to cover the best ways to improve your player relative to your time schedule. Let's get started.

 

Not Much Free Time / Not Interested in Investing Much Time Into the VHL

Spoiler

Now, not everyone has the time to max out every week, claim all the available uncapped TPE, and everything else that some members are able to do. Others just don't want to, and that's completely understandable as well. But the key to improving your draft stock as a less active member is simple: consistency. I will give you a few easy tasks for each week, and if you complete them consistently, week after week, you will be a highly coveted prospect by the time the draft rolls around.

 

Task #1: Welfare

This is the most important thing for a less active player. Welfare earns you a minimum of 4 TPE every week, or 6 if you are active in other sim leagues. You can find out how any information about partnerships with other leagues here. Claiming welfare every week will prove to be extremely helpful with your improvement as a player, and I cannot stress enough how important it is for less active players.

 

Task #2: Practice Facility

The practice facility is the easiest update to make, as it is automated, rather than manually approved by updaters. You should see the practice facility button in the player management page, and it will allow you to claim 2 uncapped TPE each week. Not too much, but it definitely adds up. Because it's so easy, some members end up only claiming this, which isn't the route you should go. If nothing else, at least claim this and welfare, as neither of them take much work.

 

Task #3: Trivia

On the surface, this may seem hard, but it's really not. Often times, trivia answers will be public knowledge in locker rooms, and you can just find the answers there. Despite this, I do recommend trying to find the answers yourself for fun, though I do understand that could be pretty tough for a newer member. Getting both right gives you another 2 TPE, adding up to 8 already when including the previous tasks. It likely won't even take you 10 minutes to do all of these, and everyone has at least 10 minutes of free time each week.

 

Task #4: Press Conference

Every team has weekly press conferences in which you can answer 6 quick questions and earn 2 TPE. This won't take you long at all either, and brings you up to 10 total TPE on the week. If you don't have a team, post a player press conference for yourself, and have members from around the league ask you questions.

 

Task #5: Reddit Recuruitment

For this one, you will be pinged every time there's an opportunity to do this, and it's very easy. Just click all the links and upvote the posts, make a comment saying that you did it, and claim it on the portal for 1 free TPE. If you don't have a reddit account, you can make one pretty quickly.

 

That's it, 10-11 TPE a week in around 15-20 minutes, though that number could be lower or higher depending on how fast you are with this stuff. I really encourage members to establish a routine of what they will claim every week, so that you don't end up just claiming 1 or 2 things, or even going inactive. Best of luck to you guys, and stay consistent!

 

Moderate Amount of Time / Pretty Interested in the VHL

Spoiler

So this is for the people who really want to see their player do well, but maybe don't have the time or overall desire to be the best of the best. The main thing I want to focus on here is maxing out in capped TPE. Every week, you can earn a maximum of 12 capped TPE, and the goal is to get to that as much as possible. 

 

Task #1: Point Task (Graphic/Media Spot)

There are 2 options here. The first is a league-related graphic, which you can make with programs like Photoshop, GIMP or Paint. Personally, I use superimpose on my phone, but it is $2, and a lot of people wouldn't necessarily pay for their graphics program. With these, just get creative, and show some effort. The updaters don't look for perfection, they just want to know you put some thought into it. A media spot is a 500+ word article about anything league related. Make an article about your player, your team, or the draft you'll be in. These will take some time, but nothing crazy. They can also be a great way to be noticed, if you make interesting articles or graphics. This will give you 6 capped TPE.

 

Task #2: Practice Facility

The practice facility is the easiest update to make, as it is automated, rather than manually approved by updaters. You should see the practice facility button in the player management page, and it will allow you to claim 2 uncapped TPE each week. 

 

Task #3: Trivia

Often times, trivia answers will be public knowledge in locker rooms, and you can just find the answers there. Despite this, I do recommend trying to find the answers yourself for fun, though I do understand that could be pretty tough for a newer member. Getting both right gives you 2 capped TPE, giving us 8 of our 12, on top of the 2 uncapped as well.

 

Task #4: Press Conference

Every team has weekly press conferences in which you can answer 6 quick questions and earn 2 capped TPE. If you don't have a team, post a player press conference for yourself, and have members from around the league ask you questions. This will bring you up to 10 capped TPE.

 

Task #5: VHL.com Aricle/Graphic

This is basically the same as a point task, but with less work. An article only needs to be 250 words long, and a graphic can just be a custom player card. This will cap out our capped TPE, and you now have 14 total on the week.

 

Task #6: Fantasy Zone

You will be pinged whenever there is an opportunity to participate, and it is very helpful for your player to do so. All you have to do is guess the winners of a few games, and the score of one of them. If you don't feel educated enough to give a good answer, just take a look at the standings on the portal and see who the better teams are. There's no reason to not at least take a guess, so just go for it, and maybe you'll end up with a few extra uncapped TPE.

 

Task #7: Reddit Recruitment

For this one, you will be pinged every time there's an opportunity to do this, and it's very easy. Just click all the links and upvote the posts, make a comment saying that you did it, and claim it on the portal for 1 free TPE. If you don't have a reddit account, you can make one pretty quickly.

 

Task #8: Career Point Tasks

These are uncapped point tasks that you can do once in your career, and they aren't a ton of work. Make a scouting report of your player or a junior review to start, and get yourself some valuable uncapped TPE.

 

Task #9: Player Store

When you get your first VHLM contract, use the money to get free TPE from the player store!

 

And that's all, folks. 14 guaranteed TPE, and possibly close to 20 with fantasy zone and reddit recruitment. This stuff will take some time, but definitely nothing you can't manage most weeks.

 

Lots of Time / Very Interested in the VHL

Spoiler

This section is for the people who want to do the absolute most to improve their chances to go high in the draft. The main point here is establishing yourself in the community. You want people (especially GMs) to know who you are, and I'll give you a few ways to do so. I'll save myself from repeating what I said in the last section, so I'll point out that for earning TPE, you should do everything in that section. Here, I would like to focus on the main point that I previously mentioned.

 

Idea #1: Be Active in the Locker Room

Every team has a locker room on discord, and being active in there can make you stick out from the other draftees. This won't improve your player, but it will make GMs more confident in picking you if they know you're an active member of the community. 

 

Idea #1.5: Ask Questions

This goes with the last idea. Asking questions in the locker room shows your desire to improve, and will bring you valuable information from people who have been on here for quite a while. Everybody is always happy to answer any questions you have, so don't be afraid to ask anything.

 

Idea #2: Apply For Jobs

Getting a job in the VHL is a tremendous boost to your draft stock. Apply for any position that interests you. If you're active on the forums/discord, you've got a better shot than you would think. With the main point being establishing yourself, you could argue that nothing does the job (no pun intended) better than this.

 

Idea #3: Keep An Eye Out For Uncapped TPE Opportunities

This one is simple enough. There's one going on right now, being theme week. That's some extra TPE that, along with other uncapped opportunities, will add up to a lot for your player. They are not hard to find either, so just keep your eye out for them.

 

Idea #4: Be A Guest On A Podcast!

This one obviously isn't for everyone, but being a guest on a podcast will bring attention to your name, you'll get to know more members in the VHL, and it brings with it multiple weeks of 6 capped TPE to replace your point tasks. You can even make your own podcast if you'd like.

 

Well obviously I'm no expert, but this is just based on my observations over the last few seasons. Best of luck to all the prospects that have been recently recruited, and I hope this helps someone out. If anyone has any questions at all about any of this, don't hesitate to PM me about it.

[McWolf 3,114]

What if mock drafts rank you the best overall prospect for the next draft, but you still want to improve your draft stock?

[Patrik Tallinder 1,087]

6 minutes ago, McWolf said:

What if mock drafts rank you the best overall prospect for the next draft, but you still want to improve your draft stock?

I’m gonna have to say go inactive for a week, and then earn back your spot as the top prospect, proving your resiliency and determination. 

[McWolf 3,114]

Just now, Patrik Tallinder said:

I’m gonna have to say go inactive for a week, and then earn back your spot as the top prospect, proving your resiliency and determination. 

 

Going on a hiatus is a pure McWolf move. It works 100% everytime.

 

On a more serious note, good article bud!

[Doomsday 4,120]

Great article, I have the feeling that this will wind up being pinned in many VHLM locker rooms!

[Ricer13 2,776]

REVIEW: This a very insightful article that shines light on the different activity level of members. It is hard to preach this to a lot of new members but it is nice to have an article I can send then to that explains in greater detail like this. You laid this out incredibly well and it is very easy to understand. You did a great job and this will help many teams in the future. Rating 10/10