What's wrong with the VHL and why it's not as much fun anymore

[ShawnGlade 1,002]

Not even a clickbait title

 

For those that don't know me, allow me to give a brief introduction of myself. I'm ShawnGlade, member since 2018, GM'd Halifax and Davos before going MIA on the league for the last 9 months or so, popping in and out. Developed a toxic personality, apologized to everyone I beef'd with, and now here we are.

 

So recently I've been on and off with the VHL. I made SG3 and was super active, for about a season until I went semi-inactive again, which is where we are now. I've been planning a grand VHL return for any day now, but let's be honest, I've been saying that for months, and It probably won't happen soon. There's a lot of reasons why I do what I do, but I wanna list a few of them here. I really want to come back to the VHL full time, but it's just not enjoyable in this state anymore.

 

- The Culture Change. When I joined the league, it was addicting because you were so immersed in the world of the VHL. People used your player name when talking to you, and there were numerous interesting articles on players to watch or how good the second round of the draft would be and debating who goes where and shit like that. Then in late 2018, early 2019 the "meme" crowd joined and it marked the turn of the VHL from a hockey sim, to a big circlejerk. Pop in the discord for 5 minutes and you're bound to see a few dick jokes or some weird inside jokes you dont understand. It feels less like a hockey sim league and more like a group of friends who happen to be in a sim league. It's gotten so out of touch with actual hockey, that there are chatrooms in the discord server that are VHL-talk only. Not just discord either, the forums too. Stuff like the roast threads or the town of salem games. Now, I'm not the fun police and I don't have an issue with these things, they're cool and people enjoy them. My issue is I'd see discussion about a random comment in a random thread rather than people talking about the Game 7 that just happened or whatever. Idk, maybe I'm yelling at clouds but it doesn't feel immersive anymore.

 

- You ain't entitled to shit. I mentioned this in my "2 years" post a few months ago, but tenure doesn't mean SHIT on this site. Just this past summer, I was fully active for about 2 months without a job, and I got passed up on for an updater job in favor of someone who came back to being active THAT WEEK. I'm dead serious when I say I'm not convinced they don't just pick names out of a hat for jobs. The commish and BOGs hire people who are not cut out for the job and then pull a surprised pikachu face when they crash and burn. When I was a VHL GM, I was one of two GMs that wasnt a BOG. Every other GM was a BOG. Aka, I was the last to know about stuff pertaining to the job I had. I didn't know about expansion, until a full 2 MONTHS after it was approved. I would find out that we were expanding a mere 12 hours before the rest of the league knew. I was also the only GM without a second job. I'm not saying I have to have jobs or anything, but it gets ridiculous when everyone else is responsible for something important and I'm literally just a GM, and apparently not an important one either as I was always the last to know stuff. People who joined months or even years after me had better jobs than I did. I get people have skills, but fuck so do I but I was never approached for something nor given an outlet to showcase my skills. Fun fact, I'm proficient at Excel and I do VFX for money.

 

- GMs kinda suck at what they do. There, I said it. I've been in almost every VHLM locker room and none of them make me wanna continue playing on the site. I'm not firing shots at VHLM GMs specifically, but fuck, those LRs are dead and I was not once convinced that I should definitely stay. VHL GMs are no different. Beaviss and Banakcock are very good at retention (Beaviss will not leave me alone until I claim welfare :P) but nobody else is. Davos practically begged me to leave, and some of the GMs now I knew from the VHLM and they are no different, just bland, boring robots. Iunderstand this is a bold claim and someone will have something to say about how their GM is the greatest so they get more ice time, but I seriously not seen less effort anywhere more than the GMs on this site. Also side note, did you know VHLM GMs make their AGMs do everything? The recruiting messages, the PCs, the Trivia, the locker room set up, good chance it's your AGM doing the work and the GM reaping the rewards.

 

- League expanded too much. Part of the whole culture change, 16 teams in the VHL isn't even fun. I understand that it was a numbers issue, but holy fuck I've never seen my interest decline faster than when I see an expansion thread. Part of the reason I liked it was because 8 teams is a small, nice community. No matter what team you played for, it had history and almost felt like you were in a clan fighting against other clans. Now it just feels like the Be A Pro I could play on EANHL, but less developed and more amateur. This is one of the main reasons I left tbh. Now like I said, I hate the idea of expansion HOWEVER I'd be willing to look the other way for an Alaska or Colorado team as I'd most likely return to full activity just to GM the team. But 16 teams feels dishonest to the league's original culture, and I can never for the life of me understand why having people on the fourth line fighting for ice team is so much worse than forcing teams to field 2 lines of CPU players that fuck everything up.

 

/rant

[dasboot 521]

ITT: 

 

[ShawnGlade 1,002]

2 hours ago, dasboot said:

ITT: 

 

Yes, I am crying because a league I once loved dearly has gone downhill. Good response bro

[Baozi 1,635]

Its progression. We went from a small community to a much larger one. There are bound to be cultural changes and something akin to "small town feels" to what essentially is a larger community where people may not know everyone else even and you can meet strangers or other players you've never met before. Yes we've kind of moved form strictly only "VHL Hockey" to become a community that uses the VHL as its core but members participate in a great deal many other things and games. You may not like this but I do personally as the objective to me from day 1 was always not just "bap" but to create a long lasting community where we have a common interest but large enough to include multiple other interests. 

 

We've essentially grown from like a farm town to like a large city with multiple sectors and fields. Will everyone like it? Nope, but generally I feel we keep moving towards good stuff. I disagree with you assessment of us going downhill but since that is merely an opinion, I'll just leave it at that.

 

On a more review like stance. There is solid content here. The formatting somewhat leaves something to desire. There isn't much to help engage the reader but at least you spelt things out. No coloring, graphics but also no errors anyways. I didn't remove any marks for lack of graphics though since I feel it probably wouldn't be as appropriate for your topic. But this could've been dressed up nicely

 

8/10

Edited October 26, 2020 by tfong

[Blazzer 759]

1 hour ago, ShawnGlade said:

did you know VHLM GMs make their AGMs do everything?

I have to disagree with this, at least on my end. I've seen GMs doing everything in the club and the AGMs only need to be active. In Yukon, I do majority of the stuff u listed but that's because the lines (clearly more important) is done by my boss. 

 

1 hour ago, ShawnGlade said:

just feels like the Be A Pro I could play on EANHL

This was the reason I'm staying so HAHA, good to see other's opinion on this one

 

That's all I can say as I only knew you during your inactivity

[bigAL 2,176]

3 hours ago, ShawnGlade said:

You ain't entitled to shit

 

3 hours ago, ShawnGlade said:

I was also the only GM without a second job. I'm not saying I have to have jobs or anything, but it gets ridiculous when everyone else is responsible for something important and I'm literally just a GM

[bigAL 2,176]

The more I think about this, the grumpier I get.

 

4 hours ago, ShawnGlade said:

It feels less like a hockey sim league and more like a group of friends who happen to be in a sim league.

Yes. Full stop. Like we said in the forum/discord debate, we can be both. Surprise, the sim league experience is more fun, rewarding, and retaininging(?) when you bond and become friends with the people around. I think it's been extra important as our lives outside the house have shut down because 2020. If your first complaint is that people have brought their social lives into the VHL, then that's super shitty. We're not some 9-5 job where we're all "coworkers" and can't share our personal lives, interests, and hobbies with each other. We're all here because we are similar people. Similar people will naturally socialize with other similar people. Yeah, the VHL General discord isn't much about the VHL, but the other channels (esp. the VHLM one) is used to talk league stuff. Ask the mods to create you a new channel where you can just talk about the VHL - that's a good idea approached a good way.

 

4 hours ago, ShawnGlade said:

You ain't entitled to shit.

 

4 hours ago, ShawnGlade said:

I'm literally just a GM

Now I mean this with all due respect, and I mean with all due respect, but fuck you man. There's a thread with 100 people who would kill to be "just a GM". Stop being entitled, stop always wanting more. Take a look at what you had and realize that that's a special privilege. You aren't entitled to shit. Your tenure doesn't entitle you to shit. This place is like the real world - any monkey can be trained to do any job, so hiring managers look for people they like to be around and people they can work well with. I'm sure you'd be a fantastic updater or an involved Governor, but you're not entitled to that. Quit blaming others.

 

4 hours ago, ShawnGlade said:

16 teams in the VHL isn't even fun

L literally O L. Expansion is fun. New things are shiny and exciting. There's been so much hype about setting franchise records, and building a team and a legacy from scratch. 16 teams makes you look less at the league in general, sure, but there's divisions and conferences and a balanced schedule if you're looking for an 8-team focus to direct your energy at. We've got playoff races. We had expansion drafts. We have rookie stars killing it on brand new teams. Expansion is fun if you want it to be fun.

 

4 hours ago, ShawnGlade said:

Now like I said, I hate the idea of expansion HOWEVER I'd be willing to look the other way for an Alaska or Colorado team as I'd most likely return to full activity just to GM the team.

Aaaand finally, the truth comes out. "I hate all these changes because they aren't the changes I want". Also, check the entitlement there - what makes you think you'd automatically be given the GM job for a new team? Someone who hates expansion and thinks it's dumb is literally the worst person for that job. 

 

That's the blow-by-blow analysis from just bigAL, your local nobody. This is where I'd usually put a disclaimer that this isn't personal, just friendly passionate discourse about something we both care about. But the vitriol and personal attacks you threw out this morning can't go unchecked. Freedom of speech /=/ freedom from judgement or repercussions. I strongly disagree with every single point you make because they are selfish, entitled, and negative towards the thing I love. I could (should?) go full @IamMOOSE and do a media spot, but I'm curious where the rest of the community falls on this.

 

TLDR: no. Just... no.

[Beketov 8,642]

12 minutes ago, bigAL said:

I could (should?) go full @IamMOOSE and do a media spot, but I'm curious where the rest of the community falls on this.

When in doubt, write it out. Discussion is always interesting.

[Quik 4,113]

I won't cut too deep into your points Shawn, but a few thoughts that I do have:

 

• The league has always been primarily about the community, with banter and shit talking, and trying to be the best player you can. It's what you want it to be, whether that's the BAP aspect that you seemingly do want in having everyone only care about the results, a community of like-minded people that you can find in pretty much any corner of the league, and/or an escape from the grind of day-to-day life. At the end of the day, on a personal level, the league is exactly as fun, or not, as you make it
• The hypocrisy of talking entitlement, before delving directly into saying what you were entitled to was too much for me, I'll just leave this point as it is
• @bigAL I did a word count, and you actually could use your post as a Media Spot if you'd like.

 

At the end of the day, Shawn Glade, I think you'll find a lot more people who disagree with your arguments, than those who will agree. Because if the league really was as poorly cared for as you imply, it would not be where it is today. It would be a lot closer to the time just before you joined it, where shutting down was a legitimate possibility, if not shut down altogether.

[Quik 4,113]

Also, having been in basically every damn locker room with ACL, I can confirm that I have not seen one GM who I find unfit for the job. @GustavMattias gets memed into oblivion, but, he has done an amazing job with that Davos locker room, and drives activity for plenty of members. I've joked about stripping him of GM, but ultimately, he is one of many fantastic GMs who make the league a great experience for anyone who comes into contact with him.

[Beaviss 4,949]

[Dil 1,744]

6 hours ago, ShawnGlade said:

Also side note, did you know VHLM GMs make their AGMs do everything

Shawn in your last 2 seasons as my AGM all you did was trivia and that too I had to remind you. You would barely get them up in like a Friday/Saturday. 

[Esso2264 772]

[JeffD 648]

7 hours ago, ShawnGlade said:

GMs kinda suck at what they do. There, I said it. I've been in almost every VHLM locker room and none of them make me wanna continue playing on the site. I'm not firing shots at VHLM GMs specifically, but fuck, those LRs are dead and I was not once convinced that I should definitely stay. VHL GMs are no different. Beaviss and Banakcock are very good at retention (Beaviss will not leave me alone until I claim welfare :P) but nobody else is. Davos practically begged me to leave, and some of the GMs now I knew from the VHLM and they are no different, just bland, boring robots. Iunderstand this is a bold claim and someone will have something to say about how their GM is the greatest so they get more ice time, but I seriously not seen less effort anywhere more than the GMs on this site. Also side note, did you know VHLM GMs make their AGMs do everything? The recruiting messages, the PCs, the Trivia, the locker room set up, good chance it's your AGM doing the work and the GM reaping the rewards.

 

If every locker room you enter smells like dog shit maybe check the bottom of your own shoe.

[InstantRockstar 1,221]

@ShawnGlade I just want to say how disappointing it is to hear you bash the VHLM GMs. For a guy that left Dil in the dark for months I think you have NO wiggle room to even contemplate bashing anyone for doing anything. You didn't help Halifax whatsoever and left Dil to do everything, and you just did nothing. 

 

I do also want to say that there is a majority of us GM's that do our own recruiting, but of course we're going to ask the AGM to do it too, it a) helps them prepare for GMing and having to do pitching on their own and b) keeps them busy and engaged and more importantly c) helps them introduce themselves to new members. 

 

It's really sad to see someone I looked up to as a GM back when you were actually active with Davos just shit on everyone. If you're so miserable, leave. But the VHLM GM's despite turnovers have been awesome overall, every single one. We may bicker, we may disagree, but at the end of the day you have NO right after your shitty track record to run ANY of them through the mud. 

 

S....M....H. 

 

@VHLM GM ily all  

[eaglesfan036 4,583]

If you don’t enjoy the league this much than just leave - and I don’t say that out of any malice just you seem miserable here so don’t do it, this is supposed to be fun and if it’s not fun why are you doing it?

 

Hard disagree on the culture change argument. As anti discord as I am, every night you see people hanging out in voice chats playing video games together and socializing, then we had our tremendous donation drives for charitable causes. VHL community is doing a ton of good for people here even if I wish people posted in game threads

[Spartan 3,997]

lol go join the svhl

[Ricer13 2,592]

Why is anyone even wasting their time acknowledging this? Go read Moose’s article it’s a lot more accurate.

[Jayrad28 369]

Mr. Glade, what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Edited October 26, 2020 by Jayrad28

[DoktorFunk 810]

Gets tagged.

 

Sees it's Shawn being dramatic again.

 

Closes VHL.

[fonziGG 1,065]

So uh, it's playoff time can you please put this in as a media spot. Would like to see Shawn Glade III become something better then a VHLM player.

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

This shit ain't hard, dude. 

 

Just be a nice guy and not give a flying fuck.

 

Don't expect anything to come your way, and you can become a BoG, Head of PT, ex-GM, make fuckin ballin ass players, and enjoy your time on the VHL like me. 

 

Your post is full of contradiction all over the place. Chill, dogg. 

[thadthrasher 1,692]

Now, I'm new to the league, but I can't say I agree with your assessment. Sure, I haven't been here long at all, but I'm having a blast. I'm able to write things that are semi-serious while throwing in a bit of humor and doing so makes my player progress. I think it's awesome!

 

The discord community is a bit different, sure, but it's fun to have a place to go where discussion often changes. Yea, there are inside jokes and it can be hard to understand, but that's not the end of the world. There are jokes that are super NSFW, but that's the risk you run when being a part of an online community.

 

The GM's that I've talked to while being here have been nothing but pleasant and helpful, reaching out to me even though I'm not one of their players, simply seeing if I need help or have questions.

 

I'm sure that it is odd to see how this league has changed over the years, but that doesn't mean what we have now is bad. With that, tenure is a pretty dumb thing to mainly consider for jobs. Those who decide should be looking at qualifications, not simply tenure. The whole tenure idea is why we have unqualified people in areas of work where more qualified people could go.

 

Overall, I appreciate your honesty in this forum. It takes a lot to share what you actually feel about what is going on, and that's a valuable thing.

8/10

[fonziGG 1,065]

27 minutes ago, DollarAndADream said:

This shit ain't hard, dude. 

 

Just be a nice guy and not give a flying fuck.

 

Don't expect anything to come your way, and you can become a BoG, Head of PT, ex-GM, make fuckin ballin ass players, and enjoy your time on the VHL like me. 

 

Your post is full of contradiction all over the place. Chill, dogg. 

You be givin Shawn a dollar and hopefully a dream.

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

you make me embarrassed to be named Shawn with this post. You cry about people being entitled to nothing but yet want to be a GM of a Alaska or Colorado team? maybe i read that wrong or maybe i just can't wrap my head around the stupidity of this post. I would say I feel bad for everyone dragging you, but I dont. I can't tell if this was a serious article or not. If you just wanted people to just pay attention to you for awhile. Either way, job done i guess. you got dragged and people paid attention to you. i bet youll come back and say this was a joke article now because of how hard you got dragged tho. cheer up. sim leagues are for fun.