10-22-2024, 06:29 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-22-2024, 09:51 PM by lemonoppy. Edited 1 time in total.)
Hello everyone!
For those of you who may not know me, I’m Saba. My first player, Hall of Fame Arizona Outlaws receiver Saba Donut, retired way back in May 2021. After that, I took a bit of a short break from the ISFL, but now I’m finally back, and wow, so many things have changed.
It’s been exciting to see all the new changes, and I thought it would be fun (and very profitable) to share my thoughts on what’s different now compared to when I left, and I think that a good place to start would be with
Rebrands and Relocations:
When I first opened the forums, I noticed something odd, two teams were missing: the Philadelphia Liberty and the Chicago Butchers. Instead, I saw a purple rhino and a three-headed dragon. After digging deeper, I found out that the Philadelphia Liberty had been rebranded as the Cape Town Crash, and the Chicago Butchers had become the Osaka Kaiju. Let's start with the Crash.
From what I understand, the Liberty became the Cape Town Crash in late 2022, but I could be wrong. At first, I didn’t like the rebrand at all. The Liberty had been a founding member of the NSFL and, in my opinion, had one of the best branding in the entire league. Dwyer, the commissioner when I first joined, once said the most important thing about an ISFL logo is that it should look professional, I completely agree, and I feel that the Liberty logo definitely had that quality.
As for the new Crash branding, I wasn’t a fan at first. The colors and logo just didn’t appeal to me, and moving away from the iconic Liberty identity felt like a loss. But I won’t lie, the new branding has started to grow on me. The idea of a team in Africa is exciting, especially in a city as iconic as Cape Town. My opinion on the logo has changed a bit since I first saw it. While I still think there are better logos in the league, I have to admit the Crash did a good job with theirs. I think my attachment to the Liberty branding clouded my judgment and kept me from fully appreciating the Crash branding at first. Overall, it's a solid rebrand, I'd give it a score of 7/10.
Next, we have the former Chicago Butchers, now known as the Osaka Kaiju. From my research, the Butchers rebranded to the Kaiju fairly recently—a decision I honestly would have expected a long time ago. During my time in the league, the Butchers were often considered the 'dumpster fire' team. They had management changes nearly every season, and new drama seemed to pop up every other day. Fortunately, the higher-ups eventually appointed general managers who were able to slowly but surely repair the team's brand image.
As for their branding, I always felt the Butchers’ branding was good but too polarizing. However, the biggest reason that should have prompted a change much earlier was simply that we didn’t have the rights to the logo. Ultimately, the Butchers needed a fresh start to establish a new identity
The Osaka Kaiju was the perfect way to achieve this. The branding is outstanding, the logo is fantastic, the mascot is spot on, and the location in Osaka is ideal, as it's an underutilized city. However, my absolute favorite part of the logo is the team colors. The combination of blue and red is perfect, and I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t been used before. Overall, it’s an amazing rebrand, arguably one of the best the league has seen, at least it is in my opinion. I’ll give the Chicago Butchers relocation an overall score of 8.5/10.
Now, let's move on to some logo changes, starting with the Baltimore Hawks. The new logo is fantastic, it's sleek, modern, and perfectly fitting for a reigning champion. It embodies the strength and professionalism you'd expect from a top team. While the old logo wasn’t bad, it felt a bit dated in comparison. This new design is a definite upgrade, with sharper lines and a more dynamic feel that really represents the Hawks. Overall, it’s a fresh look that elevates the team's brand, I’ll give the new Hawks logo a 9/10.
Another logo change that happened while I was away was the Orange County Otters changing their iconic Otter. While the new logo is decent and still represents the team well, I feel like it's a slight step down from the original. I had always thought that the original logo was one of the best in the league and the new one just doesn’t have the same appeal in my opinion. That being said, the difference is mostly negligible, it’s not a huge downgrade, just a slight change that doesn’t affect the overall branding too much. The new design is still clean and professional, and the Otters continue to have a solid look, even if I still prefer the original just a bit more. I’ll rate the Otter’s new logo a 5/10.
The last logo change, at least the last one I’m aware of, is for the Tijuana Luchadores. The main update is the incorporation of gold into the design, and I have to say, I really like this change. It may be subtle, but it makes all the difference. The gold highlights the Luchadores’ historic dominance in the DSFL and adds a dynamic feel to the logo without being overwhelming. It complements the team's signature red and green perfectly, giving the Luchadores a fresh yet timeless look. Overall, it’s a fantastic addition to their classic logo that elevates the team’s branding, and I’d give it an extremely high 9/10.
Now that we've covered the rebrands and relocations, let's move on to discuss some of the other changes that have happened since I left.
ISFL Dynasty Fantasy:
For the record, I only recently joined ISFL Dynasty Fantasy, so I’m still not very knowledgeable about it (shoutout to Lemonoppy for funding my entry), but it seems really cool so far. If you had told me back in S23 that this would become a thing, I honestly would have thought it was a dumb idea. After all, how could people be expected to track the fantasy value of fictional players for more than one season? It would have just seemed too complicated to me. But I would have been wrong. ISFL Dynasty Fantasy is an awesome concept that combines strategy and community engagement. It seems like a great way to earn money, especially if you know what you’re doing. As for me, since I don’t know what I’m doing just quite yet, I’ll try my best to figure it out as I go. I’ll rate ISFL Dynasty Fantasy a perfect 10/10.
New Bank Portal:
This is amazing! Honestly, I can’t believe this feature wasn’t part of the ISFL before. Back in my day, you had to use your team’s bank thread every week for training and buy different equipment for each stat during the offseason. Then, I would have to wait for all those purchases to get approved, ugh, so much unnecessary work! Wow, how times have changed! I have no idea whose idea this was, but the new Bank portal is the best change I’ve seen so far. If someone had told me about this league-breaking innovation earlier, I might have considered recreating way way sooner. I think it’s obvious what rating I’ll give the New Bank Portal, I’m giving it an unprecedented never-seen-before 11/10!
Combined Player and Update Page:
Now this is a change that just makes sense. While it wasn’t really "bad" having two separate pages for Player Information and Updates, it made the job more tedious for the updaters and created more "dead pages" once they got discarded. Whoever came up with the idea to combine the Player Page with the Update Page deserves a ton of credit. By merging them, it significantly streamlines the update process and dramatically reduces clutter. It’s a practical change that adds efficiency and cuts down on unnecessary work. While not a life-changing development like the New Bank Portal, the Combined Player and Update Page was a great change, I’ll give it a solid 8/10 rating.
Lemonoppy’s Updating Tool:
Continuing with the updating theme, let’s talk about Lemonoppy’s updating tool. For some context, I was a notoriously bad updater, I almost always miscalculated something, much to my updater’s frustration. But when I came back, Lemonoppy introduced me to their incredible updating tool, and it has been a game-changer. For most users, it might be just another helpful tool, but for someone like me, it’s a lifesaver. Not only does it help me calculate and allocate my TPE correctly, but it also generates the exact copy-and-paste format for my update thread. It has made the updating process so much smoother for me. This tool is now an essential part of my routine every time I update my player. Overall, I’d give Lemonoppy’s Updating Tool a 9/10.
Inflation, Inflation, and More Inflation:
This is a bit more niche compared to the logo changes or the Bank Portal overhaul, but it looks like the pay for GMs has increased. Other jobs may have seen pay bumps as well, but the only one I distinctly remember from my time in the league is that GMs were paid six million at the end of each season. So, imagine my surprise when I rejoined and found out that GM pay had increased, not by one million, not by two million, but by a whole six million sim dollars! They straight-up doubled the GM pay since I left. Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad thing at all. In fact, it’s a really positive change. However, I do have one small complaint. I think it’s only fair that the league retroactively pays all former GMs the amount they would have earned with this new rate. And yes, for those of you thinking this is a ridiculous demand, I completely agree! But still, I wouldn’t mind getting the 18 million that I am rightfully owed. All jokes aside, this pay increase is a great move for GMs, and I’m happy to see the league rewarding them more generously. Overall, I’d rate this updated job pay a solid 8.5/10
Media Grading Overhaul:
This is a change I only discovered while writing this, but apparently, the media grading system has been updated from the old, complicated method to a flat rate of 2000 per word. For those who don’t know, media used to be graded on a weird sliding scale, which created an "optimal" word count. This led users to split their media into multiple posts to maximize their payout. It was honestly an unnecessarily complicated system. The new system, however, is much better. The flat rate of 2000 per word makes it super easy for users to calculate their earnings, and the 400k bonus for hitting 2500 words is a great incentive to encourage people to write more. Overall, it's a smart and sensible change that simplifies the process. I’d give the Media Grading Overhaul a solid score of 8.75/10
ISFL Gameday:
The introduction of ISFL Gameday is something I’m really happy to see. Back in the day, we used to have live commentary for games by the legendary Sweetwater, but that ended around Season 17 (or maybe 18, I’m not entirely sure) after the infamous DylanDeluxe incident. Sweetwater stepped down, and the commentary was gone, which was a huge loss for the league. Having commentary added so much to the experience and made watching the dots on the field much more enjoyable. Gameday was introduced at some point after I had left as the ISFL’s attempt to fill that void, and from what I’ve seen, it’s been a great success. I’ve only had the pleasure of tuning in twice, but both times, I had a great experience. It brings back that extra layer of excitement that was missing for so long. All the commentators did a fantastic job, and I’m looking forward to tuning in to many more Gamedays in the future. I’ll give ISFL Gameday a solid 9/10.
Draft Day Sports Football 21:
Technically, I was around for the sim change, but it happened toward the very end of my career, so I didn’t pay much attention to it at the time. Now that I’ve got a whole new career ahead of me in this updated sim, I figured it was time to take a closer look, and honestly, I hate the new sim. You might be surprised to hear that, considering I haven’t even seen much of it yet. But my frustration boils down to one main issue: stat inflation. For those who weren’t around during the Draft Day Sports Football 16 era, offensive stats—specifically passing stats—were significantly lower. In Season 23, when Saba Donut won Wide Receiver of the Year, I led the league with 1,420 yards and 12 touchdowns on 77 catches. But fast-forward just a few seasons to Season 27, and William Lim topped the charts with 1,838 yards and 12 touchdowns on 121 catches. Even more shocking, eight different receivers broke 1,400 yards that season! Now, you might ask: what’s the big deal? Who doesn’t love more stats? Well, my problem was that Saba Donut retired in Season 28 and was already fading as a player in the seasons leading up to that, so I didn’t get to benefit from this new stat inflation. At the time of my retirement, I was in the top 10 for touchdowns and had crossed the 10,000-yard mark, which, in my biased opinion, should have cemented a Hall of Fame spot. But by the time the Hall of Fame vote came around in Season 34, my career numbers were completely overshadowed by the new sim’s inflated stats. Luckily, I barely made it into the Hall of Fame with 7 out of 9 votes, but I was nervous for a bit. And that’s why, even though it’s entirely irrational, I hold a personal grudge against the new sim. Now, setting aside my personal grievances with the new sim, I have to admit it’s actually a pretty good update. The trait system seems interesting, though I’ll be honest, I have no idea what any of the traits do yet. Plus, there are even incomplete passes now, which adds a layer of realism that wasn’t there before. I’m sure there’s even more to the sim that I haven’t discovered yet. Overall, Draft Day Sports Football 21 was a solid adjustment for the league. But, because of my beef with it, I’m giving it a completely biased score of 0/10.
League History:
Now let’s talk about what has actually happened in the ISFL since I left. I think the most prominent thing I keep hearing about is Outlaw dominance. Since I retired from the team, the Outlaws have won 6 whole Ultimus trophies, establishing themselves as the dominant franchise in the league. Their continued success has been nothing short of remarkable, and it seems like no other team has been able to come close to consistently challenging their reign. It's incredible to see how far they've come since Saba Donut retired, and honestly, part of me wishes I had been there to experience this era of domination firsthand. Other than the Outlaws, I’ve heard that the Honolulu Hahalua has used a unique strategy where they go all in and try to win the Ultimus for a couple of seasons and once that window is closed they sell every one of their assets off, and then repeat the process. According to the Ultimus champions page on the wiki, this strategy has been fairly successful, netting the Hahalua 4 Ultimus trophies. On the flip side, I’ve heard that two of the worst teams since I left are the Colorado Yeti and the Orange County Otters. From just glancing through the index, it looks like Colorado hasn't had a good team for at least the past five seasons (please correct me if I’m wrong), which feels a bit nostalgic for a veteran like me. It reminds me of Colorado's enormous struggles back in the 10s. It’s almost like history repeating itself. On the other hand, Orange County was kind of shocking. From the time I first joined the league toward the end of Season 15 until I retired over 10 seasons later, Orange County was always one of the strongest teams. They were consistently ahead of the curve, finding new game-breaking strategies, especially in tactics. Most notably, they deployed a 79-speed game manager quarterback in Franklin Armstrong, who is arguably the most dominant quarterback in ISFL history. Overall the ISFL landscape has dramatically shifted since I was last in the league, and due to the Outlaw's sheer dominance during my hiatus, I would have to rate the ISFL’s league history a 10/10.
New Users:
Last but certainly not least, the biggest change since I last played in the ISFL has been the introduction of so many fantastic new users. When I first rejoined the ISFL server, I fully expected not to recognize anyone. But to my surprise, the very first user I saw was 82, a former python from my time with the team. While I recognized a bunch of friendly faces from my time in the league, I also saw a lot of new people to meet. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know so many cool new users, and I can confidently say that this new generation of ISFL players is just as friendly and fun as the one I knew back in Season 17. So, kudos to the ISFL for their strong recruitment efforts. I’ll give all the new users a rating of 10/10, and a special shoutout to Bamford.
Overall Changes Ranking
1. New Bank Portal
2. New Users
3. League History (Outlaw Dominance)
4. ISFL Dynasty Fantasy
5. ISFL Gameday
6. Lemonoppy’s Updating Tool
7. New Hawks Logo
8. New Luchadores Logo
9. Media Grading Overhaul
10. Osaka Kaiju Branding
11. GM Pay Inflation
12. Combined Player and Update Page:
13. Cape Town Crash Branding
14. New Otters Logo
15. Draft Day Sports Football 21
Well, that's everything. It’s very possible that I missed something or got something wrong so don’t take any of these ratings too seriously. Anyways this has been a fun write-up and I look forward to the DSFL Draft.
For those of you who may not know me, I’m Saba. My first player, Hall of Fame Arizona Outlaws receiver Saba Donut, retired way back in May 2021. After that, I took a bit of a short break from the ISFL, but now I’m finally back, and wow, so many things have changed.
It’s been exciting to see all the new changes, and I thought it would be fun (and very profitable) to share my thoughts on what’s different now compared to when I left, and I think that a good place to start would be with
Rebrands and Relocations:
When I first opened the forums, I noticed something odd, two teams were missing: the Philadelphia Liberty and the Chicago Butchers. Instead, I saw a purple rhino and a three-headed dragon. After digging deeper, I found out that the Philadelphia Liberty had been rebranded as the Cape Town Crash, and the Chicago Butchers had become the Osaka Kaiju. Let's start with the Crash.
From what I understand, the Liberty became the Cape Town Crash in late 2022, but I could be wrong. At first, I didn’t like the rebrand at all. The Liberty had been a founding member of the NSFL and, in my opinion, had one of the best branding in the entire league. Dwyer, the commissioner when I first joined, once said the most important thing about an ISFL logo is that it should look professional, I completely agree, and I feel that the Liberty logo definitely had that quality.
As for the new Crash branding, I wasn’t a fan at first. The colors and logo just didn’t appeal to me, and moving away from the iconic Liberty identity felt like a loss. But I won’t lie, the new branding has started to grow on me. The idea of a team in Africa is exciting, especially in a city as iconic as Cape Town. My opinion on the logo has changed a bit since I first saw it. While I still think there are better logos in the league, I have to admit the Crash did a good job with theirs. I think my attachment to the Liberty branding clouded my judgment and kept me from fully appreciating the Crash branding at first. Overall, it's a solid rebrand, I'd give it a score of 7/10.
Next, we have the former Chicago Butchers, now known as the Osaka Kaiju. From my research, the Butchers rebranded to the Kaiju fairly recently—a decision I honestly would have expected a long time ago. During my time in the league, the Butchers were often considered the 'dumpster fire' team. They had management changes nearly every season, and new drama seemed to pop up every other day. Fortunately, the higher-ups eventually appointed general managers who were able to slowly but surely repair the team's brand image.
As for their branding, I always felt the Butchers’ branding was good but too polarizing. However, the biggest reason that should have prompted a change much earlier was simply that we didn’t have the rights to the logo. Ultimately, the Butchers needed a fresh start to establish a new identity
The Osaka Kaiju was the perfect way to achieve this. The branding is outstanding, the logo is fantastic, the mascot is spot on, and the location in Osaka is ideal, as it's an underutilized city. However, my absolute favorite part of the logo is the team colors. The combination of blue and red is perfect, and I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t been used before. Overall, it’s an amazing rebrand, arguably one of the best the league has seen, at least it is in my opinion. I’ll give the Chicago Butchers relocation an overall score of 8.5/10.
Now, let's move on to some logo changes, starting with the Baltimore Hawks. The new logo is fantastic, it's sleek, modern, and perfectly fitting for a reigning champion. It embodies the strength and professionalism you'd expect from a top team. While the old logo wasn’t bad, it felt a bit dated in comparison. This new design is a definite upgrade, with sharper lines and a more dynamic feel that really represents the Hawks. Overall, it’s a fresh look that elevates the team's brand, I’ll give the new Hawks logo a 9/10.
Another logo change that happened while I was away was the Orange County Otters changing their iconic Otter. While the new logo is decent and still represents the team well, I feel like it's a slight step down from the original. I had always thought that the original logo was one of the best in the league and the new one just doesn’t have the same appeal in my opinion. That being said, the difference is mostly negligible, it’s not a huge downgrade, just a slight change that doesn’t affect the overall branding too much. The new design is still clean and professional, and the Otters continue to have a solid look, even if I still prefer the original just a bit more. I’ll rate the Otter’s new logo a 5/10.
The last logo change, at least the last one I’m aware of, is for the Tijuana Luchadores. The main update is the incorporation of gold into the design, and I have to say, I really like this change. It may be subtle, but it makes all the difference. The gold highlights the Luchadores’ historic dominance in the DSFL and adds a dynamic feel to the logo without being overwhelming. It complements the team's signature red and green perfectly, giving the Luchadores a fresh yet timeless look. Overall, it’s a fantastic addition to their classic logo that elevates the team’s branding, and I’d give it an extremely high 9/10.
Now that we've covered the rebrands and relocations, let's move on to discuss some of the other changes that have happened since I left.
ISFL Dynasty Fantasy:
For the record, I only recently joined ISFL Dynasty Fantasy, so I’m still not very knowledgeable about it (shoutout to Lemonoppy for funding my entry), but it seems really cool so far. If you had told me back in S23 that this would become a thing, I honestly would have thought it was a dumb idea. After all, how could people be expected to track the fantasy value of fictional players for more than one season? It would have just seemed too complicated to me. But I would have been wrong. ISFL Dynasty Fantasy is an awesome concept that combines strategy and community engagement. It seems like a great way to earn money, especially if you know what you’re doing. As for me, since I don’t know what I’m doing just quite yet, I’ll try my best to figure it out as I go. I’ll rate ISFL Dynasty Fantasy a perfect 10/10.
New Bank Portal:
This is amazing! Honestly, I can’t believe this feature wasn’t part of the ISFL before. Back in my day, you had to use your team’s bank thread every week for training and buy different equipment for each stat during the offseason. Then, I would have to wait for all those purchases to get approved, ugh, so much unnecessary work! Wow, how times have changed! I have no idea whose idea this was, but the new Bank portal is the best change I’ve seen so far. If someone had told me about this league-breaking innovation earlier, I might have considered recreating way way sooner. I think it’s obvious what rating I’ll give the New Bank Portal, I’m giving it an unprecedented never-seen-before 11/10!
Combined Player and Update Page:
Now this is a change that just makes sense. While it wasn’t really "bad" having two separate pages for Player Information and Updates, it made the job more tedious for the updaters and created more "dead pages" once they got discarded. Whoever came up with the idea to combine the Player Page with the Update Page deserves a ton of credit. By merging them, it significantly streamlines the update process and dramatically reduces clutter. It’s a practical change that adds efficiency and cuts down on unnecessary work. While not a life-changing development like the New Bank Portal, the Combined Player and Update Page was a great change, I’ll give it a solid 8/10 rating.
Lemonoppy’s Updating Tool:
Continuing with the updating theme, let’s talk about Lemonoppy’s updating tool. For some context, I was a notoriously bad updater, I almost always miscalculated something, much to my updater’s frustration. But when I came back, Lemonoppy introduced me to their incredible updating tool, and it has been a game-changer. For most users, it might be just another helpful tool, but for someone like me, it’s a lifesaver. Not only does it help me calculate and allocate my TPE correctly, but it also generates the exact copy-and-paste format for my update thread. It has made the updating process so much smoother for me. This tool is now an essential part of my routine every time I update my player. Overall, I’d give Lemonoppy’s Updating Tool a 9/10.
Inflation, Inflation, and More Inflation:
This is a bit more niche compared to the logo changes or the Bank Portal overhaul, but it looks like the pay for GMs has increased. Other jobs may have seen pay bumps as well, but the only one I distinctly remember from my time in the league is that GMs were paid six million at the end of each season. So, imagine my surprise when I rejoined and found out that GM pay had increased, not by one million, not by two million, but by a whole six million sim dollars! They straight-up doubled the GM pay since I left. Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad thing at all. In fact, it’s a really positive change. However, I do have one small complaint. I think it’s only fair that the league retroactively pays all former GMs the amount they would have earned with this new rate. And yes, for those of you thinking this is a ridiculous demand, I completely agree! But still, I wouldn’t mind getting the 18 million that I am rightfully owed. All jokes aside, this pay increase is a great move for GMs, and I’m happy to see the league rewarding them more generously. Overall, I’d rate this updated job pay a solid 8.5/10
Media Grading Overhaul:
This is a change I only discovered while writing this, but apparently, the media grading system has been updated from the old, complicated method to a flat rate of 2000 per word. For those who don’t know, media used to be graded on a weird sliding scale, which created an "optimal" word count. This led users to split their media into multiple posts to maximize their payout. It was honestly an unnecessarily complicated system. The new system, however, is much better. The flat rate of 2000 per word makes it super easy for users to calculate their earnings, and the 400k bonus for hitting 2500 words is a great incentive to encourage people to write more. Overall, it's a smart and sensible change that simplifies the process. I’d give the Media Grading Overhaul a solid score of 8.75/10
ISFL Gameday:
The introduction of ISFL Gameday is something I’m really happy to see. Back in the day, we used to have live commentary for games by the legendary Sweetwater, but that ended around Season 17 (or maybe 18, I’m not entirely sure) after the infamous DylanDeluxe incident. Sweetwater stepped down, and the commentary was gone, which was a huge loss for the league. Having commentary added so much to the experience and made watching the dots on the field much more enjoyable. Gameday was introduced at some point after I had left as the ISFL’s attempt to fill that void, and from what I’ve seen, it’s been a great success. I’ve only had the pleasure of tuning in twice, but both times, I had a great experience. It brings back that extra layer of excitement that was missing for so long. All the commentators did a fantastic job, and I’m looking forward to tuning in to many more Gamedays in the future. I’ll give ISFL Gameday a solid 9/10.
Draft Day Sports Football 21:
Technically, I was around for the sim change, but it happened toward the very end of my career, so I didn’t pay much attention to it at the time. Now that I’ve got a whole new career ahead of me in this updated sim, I figured it was time to take a closer look, and honestly, I hate the new sim. You might be surprised to hear that, considering I haven’t even seen much of it yet. But my frustration boils down to one main issue: stat inflation. For those who weren’t around during the Draft Day Sports Football 16 era, offensive stats—specifically passing stats—were significantly lower. In Season 23, when Saba Donut won Wide Receiver of the Year, I led the league with 1,420 yards and 12 touchdowns on 77 catches. But fast-forward just a few seasons to Season 27, and William Lim topped the charts with 1,838 yards and 12 touchdowns on 121 catches. Even more shocking, eight different receivers broke 1,400 yards that season! Now, you might ask: what’s the big deal? Who doesn’t love more stats? Well, my problem was that Saba Donut retired in Season 28 and was already fading as a player in the seasons leading up to that, so I didn’t get to benefit from this new stat inflation. At the time of my retirement, I was in the top 10 for touchdowns and had crossed the 10,000-yard mark, which, in my biased opinion, should have cemented a Hall of Fame spot. But by the time the Hall of Fame vote came around in Season 34, my career numbers were completely overshadowed by the new sim’s inflated stats. Luckily, I barely made it into the Hall of Fame with 7 out of 9 votes, but I was nervous for a bit. And that’s why, even though it’s entirely irrational, I hold a personal grudge against the new sim. Now, setting aside my personal grievances with the new sim, I have to admit it’s actually a pretty good update. The trait system seems interesting, though I’ll be honest, I have no idea what any of the traits do yet. Plus, there are even incomplete passes now, which adds a layer of realism that wasn’t there before. I’m sure there’s even more to the sim that I haven’t discovered yet. Overall, Draft Day Sports Football 21 was a solid adjustment for the league. But, because of my beef with it, I’m giving it a completely biased score of 0/10.
League History:
Now let’s talk about what has actually happened in the ISFL since I left. I think the most prominent thing I keep hearing about is Outlaw dominance. Since I retired from the team, the Outlaws have won 6 whole Ultimus trophies, establishing themselves as the dominant franchise in the league. Their continued success has been nothing short of remarkable, and it seems like no other team has been able to come close to consistently challenging their reign. It's incredible to see how far they've come since Saba Donut retired, and honestly, part of me wishes I had been there to experience this era of domination firsthand. Other than the Outlaws, I’ve heard that the Honolulu Hahalua has used a unique strategy where they go all in and try to win the Ultimus for a couple of seasons and once that window is closed they sell every one of their assets off, and then repeat the process. According to the Ultimus champions page on the wiki, this strategy has been fairly successful, netting the Hahalua 4 Ultimus trophies. On the flip side, I’ve heard that two of the worst teams since I left are the Colorado Yeti and the Orange County Otters. From just glancing through the index, it looks like Colorado hasn't had a good team for at least the past five seasons (please correct me if I’m wrong), which feels a bit nostalgic for a veteran like me. It reminds me of Colorado's enormous struggles back in the 10s. It’s almost like history repeating itself. On the other hand, Orange County was kind of shocking. From the time I first joined the league toward the end of Season 15 until I retired over 10 seasons later, Orange County was always one of the strongest teams. They were consistently ahead of the curve, finding new game-breaking strategies, especially in tactics. Most notably, they deployed a 79-speed game manager quarterback in Franklin Armstrong, who is arguably the most dominant quarterback in ISFL history. Overall the ISFL landscape has dramatically shifted since I was last in the league, and due to the Outlaw's sheer dominance during my hiatus, I would have to rate the ISFL’s league history a 10/10.
New Users:
Last but certainly not least, the biggest change since I last played in the ISFL has been the introduction of so many fantastic new users. When I first rejoined the ISFL server, I fully expected not to recognize anyone. But to my surprise, the very first user I saw was 82, a former python from my time with the team. While I recognized a bunch of friendly faces from my time in the league, I also saw a lot of new people to meet. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know so many cool new users, and I can confidently say that this new generation of ISFL players is just as friendly and fun as the one I knew back in Season 17. So, kudos to the ISFL for their strong recruitment efforts. I’ll give all the new users a rating of 10/10, and a special shoutout to Bamford.
Overall Changes Ranking
1. New Bank Portal
2. New Users
3. League History (Outlaw Dominance)
4. ISFL Dynasty Fantasy
5. ISFL Gameday
6. Lemonoppy’s Updating Tool
7. New Hawks Logo
8. New Luchadores Logo
9. Media Grading Overhaul
10. Osaka Kaiju Branding
11. GM Pay Inflation
12. Combined Player and Update Page:
13. Cape Town Crash Branding
14. New Otters Logo
15. Draft Day Sports Football 21
Well, that's everything. It’s very possible that I missed something or got something wrong so don’t take any of these ratings too seriously. Anyways this has been a fun write-up and I look forward to the DSFL Draft.
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![[Image: TubaDeus.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/TubaDeus.gif)
![[Image: SymmNSFL.gif]](http://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/SymmNSFL.gif)
![[Image: dreamSloth.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/dreamSloth.gif)
![[Image: WackaWacka.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/WackaWacka.gif)
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