Why I Particularly Hate the Offseason

[JigglyGumballs 1,056]

Let's face it, the offseason sucks. We're honestly lucky that our offseasons are short in the VHL. You're out here, patiently waiting for the new season to start. You've got nothing to really do, especially if you're a player, and it's overall just a bit uneventful. Sure I'm AGM, I have scouting and a draft to help in, but that's probably the only benefit of being a person in management. So why do I hate the offseason? Well that's what the rest of the article is about so uh...

 

When I mention offseason, I also incorporate the postseason to a degree as well. Being a VHLM AGM, part of my job is to help new members get hooked into the league. During the regular season, as all of you should know, teams make offers to these new players as waiver signings so they can properly get the information needed on what the fuck they're doing. A big reason as to why I hate the offseason is that you can't sign new players. I do understand why waiver signings aren't allowed. It's the playoffs and teams acquiring new players while they are competing in a cup gives them a huge advantage over other teams. Plus the VHLM Dispersal Draft also exists and making these new players who create in the offseason draft eligible allow for GMs to take a much closer look at later round picks instead of just throwing them out as even more of a crapshoot than they are now.

 

In all honesty, I'm mostly fine with how the offseason/postseason is formatted and run. Though not everything is perfect. Through personal experience, and what I've seen over my time here, people get the most understanding on how the league works as soon as they join a team. You might already see where this is going. Since you can't sign new players during this period right after the regular season, it makes it a lot, lot harder for new players to properly learn how the league works unless GMs or AGMs actively reach out to them personally, or they invest themselves enough to look it up themselves. The latter of which is something I doubt most new players would throw themselves into without guidance. As an AGM, the offseason makes it a bit more difficult to give new players these information only after they get drafted by a team. This to me has problems in player retention. To me the best way to retain a new member is to get them hooked right off the bat. The offseason doesn't really allow that and it risks new players simply losing interest because no one's actively reaching new guys out.

 

Luckily recruitment drives are timed close to the beginning of the new season and post drafts instead of the offseason so new players are actually pretty low during this time. Though in a league like this, I honestly wish you can retain every new member until they make it to the VHL at least. Maybe I'm just lazy and I don't like the hassle of actively reaching out to new players personally. Maybe I'm just too reliant on waiver signings despite the fact that Vegas barely has any room to sign new guys to begin with. Nevertheless, the offseason sucks and thank fuck VHL offseasons are short.

 

(556 words)

Edited January 17, 2021 by JigglyGumballs
I'm stoopid and can't English again

[Spartan 4,402]

5 minutes ago, JigglyGumballs said:

Through personal experience, and what I've seen over my time here, people get the most understanding on how the league works as soon as they join a team. You might already see where this is going. Since you can't sign new players during this period right after the regular season, it makes it a lot, lot harder for new players to properly learn how the league works unless GMs or AGMs actively reach out to them personally, or they invest themselves enough to look it up themselves.

100% agreed. In the regular season, there's always GM's reaching out to help and potentially sign them, but the offseason just has every GM focusing on the draft. Even in the postseason, very few teams personally reach out to players since there's only so much we can do for them. I'd really like for there to be some kind of rookie mentor team to help onboard new members with basic information. The SHL has that so every new player has at least a few names to go to if they need help.

[bigAL 2,176]

ctrl-F "WJC" no results found

[bigAL 2,176]

But for real, I hear ya. Offseason is a tough time as the "active player" pool gets whittled down throughout playoffs. I really only got 2 hours worth of enjoyment out of the draft, because I had no real reason to follow or prep for it as "just" a member. The forums were dead and, probably because of the holidays, even the discord was eerily quiet during the offseason. I woke up every morning and pressed the New Content button and found myself drinking coffee and just staring out the window. Feedback and input like this is always excellent. Thanks for doing your part as an AGM and as the WJC GM to try to make this lull in the calendar exciting for as many people as possible!

[JigglyGumballs 1,056]

1 minute ago, bigAL said:

ctrl-F "WJC" no results found

Not gonna lie, A hlinka gretzky cup style tourney all for new players would be fun. Though not a lot of new people join during offseason anyways.

[bigAL 2,176]

1 minute ago, JigglyGumballs said:

Not gonna lie, A hlinka gretzky cup style tourney all for new players would be fun. Though not a lot of new people join during offseason anyways.

Oh I like that, a Prospect Showcase game where all the VHLM Draft Eligible players get together in front of the GMs and scouts!

[Dom 1,445]

57 minutes ago, JigglyGumballs said:

Not gonna lie, A hlinka gretzky cup style tourney all for new players would be fun. Though not a lot of new people join during offseason anyways.

I like that idea and the lack of new players is not a big problem really. Just 2 teams even if its only 1 line of active players on each team is enough imo. The goal is just to get them hooked.

Edited January 17, 2021 by domg5

[JigglyGumballs 1,056]

1 minute ago, domg5 said:

I like that idea and the lack of new players is not a big problem really. Just 2 teams even if its only 1 line of active players on each team is enough really. The goal is just to get them hooked.

Yeah but the main issue is actually getting someone to actually sim the games. And my point here is that new players lack a bit of guidance, throwing them into a tourney with other draft eligible players when they're still trying to figure out what TPE is exactly is going to be a bit of problem. Unless of course you actually put even more effort to show them how things work around the league. I'm all for the idea but there are a lot of issues that come with it as well even though it might be fun.

[Fire Tortorella 2,653]

2 hours ago, JigglyGumballs said:

I do understand why waiver signings aren't allowed. It's the playoffs and teams acquiring new players while they are competing in a cup gives them a huge advantage over other teams. Plus the VHLM Dispersal Draft also exists and making these new players who create in the offseason draft eligible allow for GMs to take a much closer look at later round picks instead of just throwing them out as even more of a crapshoot than they are now.

 

The reason it's not allowed is that STHS doesn't allow you to add any additional players to the roster after the end of the regular season - doesn't have anything to do on our end or from a competitiveness standpoint.

[JigglyGumballs 1,056]

9 minutes ago, flyersfan1453 said:

 

The reason it's not allowed is that STHS doesn't allow you to add any additional players to the roster after the end of the regular season - doesn't have anything to do on our end or from a competitiveness standpoint.

Oh I wasn't actually aware of that. Thanks for that btw.