The simple fact of the matter is that to survive the International Simulation Football League, you essentially have to find success beyond Draft Day Sport Pro Football. Brooks Piggott cares nothing for you, no does he seem to understand a single thing about the game that has brought us all together. To me, that means that finding success in this league is dependent on being able to derive enjoyment from the activities we partake in week to week and from the camaraderie of a team locker room. It is the users who make this league enjoyable, and it is development as users that makes us successful. That, of course, can take a variety of different forms; running a team, getting a league job, making graphics, writing media, recording podcasts, or even simply engaging with teammates and rivals across our league’s many Discord servers can qualify as success for any given user. I have tried my hand at each of these, and personally, I enjoy nothing more than building a team that vibes well together, a team that can sit around the locker room just gabbing for an hour, because at the end of the day, the Ultimus means nothing if you have to play with people you struggle to get along with to get there.
This is quite easy to answer technically, but is much harder to answer in a way that is satisfactory as a point task answer given the word count requirement. The league is a hobby and needs to be treated as such which means priority number one is fun. So long as you are enjoying yourself without hurting other people there is no wrong way to enjoy the league I would say, however as listed there are several different ways that people do that. That said so long as you are enjoying yourself here without hurting others I am comfortable saying that you are succeeding in the league.
I succeed in the league as I enjoy the character creation process in terms of backstory, and have in fact been looking forward to my recreate since I first made the jump from DSFL to ISFL. By being able to watch my player do decently at least since the sim change, although I would rather my team not be quite so sim smacked. The way I succeed the most though is by getting to spend time with some of the lovely people in this league quite a few of whom are thankfully on my team. Actually as a fun fact for the point task I think one of my favorite moments from the last while was the off-season point task as that was an incredibly enjoyable process for me, and by extension something I would consider as a success.
I mean, I always love success. Winning titles is awesome, and it's a great feeling. It tends to be the long road to it that makes it special, the work everyone, including yourself, but also others, put in to get there as a team. And it is even more special when you are the GM of a team and make it happen. That just feels so awesome. It's a great feeling when you built a team that wins a title. And even success as a player is cool, not just winning titles but having good stats or winning an award. Being MVP is a really special feeling. But ultimately, I think in this league and similar leagues, the true success is making friends and having a great time with people. I have met some incredible people in these leagues and formed some great friendships where you can talk about a lot of different things with people and really make it a special thing. That's what real winning is like. There is no better feeling than making that kind of connection with people and it's really awesome when you can do that with people on your team or even another team and get that feeling of community. It's awesome the league provides a place to do that.
Success is a subjective thing. Almost everyone has different interpretations of it. But my meaning of success is a lot of things. Winning an ultimus or multiple is obviously successful, and so is getting in the hall of fame, but I don’t think that success is only narrowed down to these two elements. As long as I’m having fun, I consider it a success. If suddenly I’m not having fun anymore then I need to get back on track with my definition of success. In this league, very few players are stars, so I consider just being on an ISFL roster a success. But that’s the bare minimum for me. If I want to be actually successful in my eyes, I’ve got to get to 1000 TPE or close to it. Even if my player doesn’t get good stats, if I have that much TPE I can at least blame it on the sim. Another goal of mine is to make at least 3 pro bowls. I know pro bowls aren’t the most prestigious award, but I’m probably never gonna win running back of the year or offensive player of the year, so I have to shoot for where I can reach. And finally, my biggest goal that would make me consider myself a success in this league is that everyone else enjoys my presence. After the attitude I had in the DSFL was noticed, I’ve been trying my best to be everything that my past self wasn’t. If I can do that, I consider my career a success.
I think that success in the ISFL can come in a number of forms. Winning on the field is the best form it, and usually the most satisfying. Losing can affect all people differently. Some choose to find humor in it, and some channel anger and negativity. When you lose, the locker room plays an even more important role. In the past, I have seen it all too easily become a breeding ground for drama. Aside from that, personal achievements are extremely rewarding if you are on a weak team. I would rather win, but if I am gonna lose, I might as well rack up stats in the meantime. There is a nice feeling that comes along with knowing that despite losing, you are actually playing well and helping the team. I want nothing other than a championship, but performing well or seeing your teammates succeed can be great as long as you do not get jealous of their play on the field. I haven’t been a part of many winning seasons (1 or 2 maybe), but enjoying the company of teammates and management is a nice aside to the trials and tribulations of both sim and real life. In the end, there are many forms of success, and you just have to enjoy the ones that happen to come your way.
The meaning of success to me is the way you do your duty for your community ! When you've been drafted by a team, they expect you to become a good player and the best way to manage it is to be the man expected and more !
May i tell you some stories about my first interceptions in the DSFL, but what about sharing those big plays with your friends, your team mates and having the true conviction that you did the job and you made your duty for the team that drafted you ! This success means to train with hunger and be a dog ( ) on each play you can get involved.
And i think the success in the league is something that you get as a reward, an honor, and you can finally share it with friends and family. Nothing is more important than being proud of yourself, as a worker, as a human and also as a ISFL / DSFL player because it means that you didn't miss anything in your career and for that point, people must say "GG" .
To finish this french-translation article which may have some weirds sentences, i would say that you do have success when you play for yourself but it serves the entire team/community you are playing for. Best wishes to the next generations, time will come for us all.
Winning is definitely up there, don't get me wrong. I am out there giving 110% every single game because I want to win as many games as I can, even in seasons like this one where the team is out of playoff contention and we may be better off losing instead to get a better draft pick slot. I care too much about my teammates to not give everything I have to try to achieve this on field success for all of us. Pancakes are a pretty crappy measure of success, but I do also consider keeping my sacks allowed and penalties committed low as at least a small measure of personal success on top of that as they relate to protecting my QB and playing by the rules. Most of the rest of my measures of success would involve the off the field stuff. A successful team lifts each other up after the tough games and lifts up their opponents when they had a tough game, no question about it. We have that in Chicago, and I would also highlight the group of offensive linemen that behave much in the same way as an actual team, always supporting each other and recommending the new best training methods, things of that nature. So even without the real on field success in Chicago this season, I would still consider us as an organization and myself as a player as successful by many of these other metrics and the connections we have made as a team and around the league as a whole.