(S41) Offseason Task

[entreri]

7. Hello. In this essay, I am going to write about the two biggest frustrations with the league, neither of which are particularly large as I think this league is amazing and fun and awesome.
The first frustration that I have is I think the playbooks are not particularly interesting or balanced, and they have remained the same for too long. I’m obviously only a rookie in the ISFL, but I have looked back at the past and seen that the playbooks have remained largely unchanged for multiple seasons. I think this is boring.
If the playbooks continue to be exactly the same for multiple seasons, it means that every GM worth their salt will sim until they figure out the optimal combinations for most of the settings. In a perfect world with perfect playbooks, there would be no “best” combinations as every setting could be countered by another playbook/setting the other team could use. I do not think that is currently the case, and I think there are some settings/playbooks that are simply better than others. Obviously I could be proven wrong, and there might be some combination of players/settings on some teams that might lead to better results, but I haven’t found them.
Setting balance aside, the same playbooks year in and year out give the league a stale feeling, both for the games and for the GM’s planning. When we compare it to something like Magic: the Gathering where people can talk about “Eldrazi Winter” in the Pro Tour or the “Companion Catastrophe” etc, each year has a clearly distinct feeling from one another. In our current system, the S40 playbooks will be virtually identical to the S41, and S42 shows no signs of changing. Ideally we wouldn’t have so many *huge* balance mistakes (ultimately it ends up being fair as all teams will have access to the same resources), but I think it is *critical* we have some changes every year.
My dream solution would be one where every team can create their own playbook for every single game, just like the NFL. GM’s could package their own plays together, and use every tool the game/sim has to create their own gameplan. I think this is unfeasible because it would require too much time from the simming team to implement. They have too much work on their hands already, and needing to create a new playbook for potentially every single game in the season for every team is absolutely insane. This won’t happen, so I’ve thought of an alternative: voting.
My proposed solution would be to have the league change their playbook at the start of every season. I think the offseason should include a “playbook submission”, where users are allowed to create and submit their own playbooks. Then, the rest of the league (or perhaps the GM’s or HO) would vote on which playbooks to actually include in the upcoming season. Every season would potentially be different, but obviously players could submit the same playbook two seasons in a row.
This solution gives us flexibility every season. If someone is submitting the same playbook every time, people are welcome to :
Vote against it, preventing it from being an option again.
Create their own playbook that is specifically targeted against the other playbook they don’t like.
I know I would love to be able to submit my own playbook, and I’d love even more to have it selected and played. I think everyone should have an opportunity to do that, and live the high of seeing people vote for their playbook! Just imagine how much fun it would be for you to create the “actual vertical” playbook where literally every pass play was a 20 yard bomb. It would be the ideal troll fiesta if you got it through. Obviously no team would actually *need* to use it if your playbook was shit.

[KlausGoatCasinos]

8.

I've really been loving the league so far. I'm someone who has never even heard of these types of sim leagues, but has always been a huge fan of football, fantasy leagues, and football-GM type games. Even other sports gm games like soccer, despite not being a soccer fan. So when I was browsing the r/nfl subreddit and saw this post, I was very interested. Reading more into it the idea of being able to draw up some creative writing for media posts, help come up with lore for this giant simulated league without needing to take said media too seriously (but also very much having the option to do so), was such a cool idea. It hooked me right away. The experience in the league has been a lot of fun, and very welcoming too. Lots of players, especially a few other s41 rookies and pretty much everyone on the Minnesota Grey Ducks, have been very helpful in introducing me to the league, how it works, and setting up all these different community games and projects. Jumping into a Town of Salem game every once in a while in the meantime has been a great side game to this group. Overall I've been happy with my first ever player's start as well, both the DSFL and ISFL drafts have been really exciting. The very beginning after starting with the prospect bowl and seeing all those players get drafted to compete against each other in the DSFL was a lot more exciting than I thought it would be, then ten fold for the ISFL with those on the Grey Ducks I've been talking with and getting to know over the last weeks, it was great to see everyone get drafted. As for any suggestions, I think the only suggestion I would have would be to somehow find a way to combine a good chunk of the different discord servers into fewer. There are soooo many servers, and especially during draft season where you get invited to a lot at once, it can be overwhelming. That was close to driving me away early on, but I was glad I stuck with it.


14.

This was the most exciting question by far, I love the idea of expansion into further areas for the sim league, and it was even the very first subject I talked about in a media post. I think mostly because I'm really interested in the NFL's possible expansions, and the idea of the NFL becoming more widely popular around the world, and not just in the US. My first idea for an ISFL expansion would be the Netherlands. The sport is becoming more popular there with the NFL games played nearby in Berlin, but I also love the Netherlands as a whole. I know spots for expansion in this league will be slim, with only two or so added at once if the playerbase expands enough, so I won't go so far as to double dip into my expectations here. But a Amsterdam or Rotterdam or The Hague based team would be great. The branding would likely go orange as most national dutch teams tend to be, and with the lions taken by London, perhaps The Hague Justice could be the league's next team. If we wanted to stay within the US for the second team of the expansion, my vote would go right away to New England.So to advocate as well for the other side of rather than only adding territories that don't see much love, add those who are already huge football fans, but are somehow missing from the league! When New York, Chicago, and Kansas City are all represented in the leagues, how is it that New England or at least Boston is missing? Or if the wish was to expand outwards more, a joint Northeast team for New England and Quebec or Newfoundland would have a ton of great branding ideas. The Northwest Mariners, the Acadia Argonauts, the Boston Beacons, the nautical themed named for this seafood-loving area are unending.

[C9Van]

I'm just doing 2 of them.

SHL Affiliate


26. if your player wasn't a professional in the ISFL/DSFL, what would they be doing instead? (Written Task or Graphic Task)

If my player weren't a professional in the ISFL/DSFL, it's tough to say exactly what they might be doing instead. As a long time member of this community now about to enter his prime seasons, I can make some educated guesses based on their personality and interests. For example, if my player is a natural leader with good communication skills, they might have pursued a career in politics or public service outside of football. If they have a strong interest in science or technology, they might have pursued a degree in engineering or computer science and gone on to work for a tech company or research organization. Yeah, that sounds good enough I feel. Alternatively, if they have a creative streak and enjoy artistic pursuits, they might have pursued a career in music, writing, or other forms of creative expression. Whatever they might be doing, I imagine that they would bring the same level of passion and dedication to their new pursuits that they bring to their work on the field. 

[172 words]

[BWIII]

23
So the sim engine has been pretty problematic pretty much from the get go but it also it probably the best one out there for our purposes, which kind of sucks. With each iteration it seems like they have removed stuff that made it possible for us to use it how we wanted to, although I think in the latest one they might have fixed that? I'm not entirely sure on that last statement as I really haven't been in the know for quite some time. Either way it is a bit of let down on the presentation side which makes for a pretty boring watch in my opinion, but it is what it is. I also think that it is very lacking on the strategic side of things and its' pretty basic and almost cookie cutter. I really wish you could go more in depth in the strategies and maybe it'd make for a bit more interesting setup there and would see a lot more unique things.

27
Well this is a pretty simple answer for me since I've been in this league for a long time so if wide receiver wasn't available to me when I recreated I would have chosen a different offensive position. Why would I have chosen another offensive position? Well simply for the fact that in this league I've played every defensive position out there and so now I'm working my way through the offensive ones. I did create a running back in here as well, but I left before it really got its chance so I would definitely most likely take another stab at that as well, but it was my last player so I wasn't going to do it straight away. I guess my next choice would have been tight end if wide receiver wasn't available. Quarterback would have been interesting, but I don't quite think I'm ready for that world yet. Offensive line would probably be the last one I'd consider making.

28
Alright so If I were in charge of football and making changes to it I actually don't think it'd be much different from its current iteration as I really like how it is. Now some changes I think could aide in making a better experience overall would include a handful of things. The first thing that I would change would be the onside kick. It's definitely an old thing that just isn't relevant in today's game as it's rarely if ever executed. Because of that I'd like the long 4th down option where a team could opt to try and convert that to get the ball. Another one is the kickoff, I like the idea of the return team being pushed up a lot and basically having a huge amount of space between the returner and the other people so he gets more of a running start into whatever pile of people. Lastly I'd put in the arena rule where the one player could basically get a running start towards the line of scrimage before/at the time of the snap. I think that could lead to some interesting plays.

PBE PT

[Void_DCXI]

4.

The New York Silverbacks are an interesting franchise. Though they have only been around for 15 seasons, they have managed to win 2 ultimus’s, and a ton of valuable players have walked through those locker room doors to represent New York. Trying to create a Mount Rushmore for this team is a tall task, but I’ll certainly try to accomplish the feat.

Jack Banks
The first name on my Silverbacks Mount Rushmore is Jack Banks. Banks didn’t start his career in New York, but he ended up coming to New York via the S25 expansion draft. Though he struggled to find his footing in Honolulu, he shined in New York, becoming one of the best defensive ends in the league. He has over 100 career sacks and ranks in the top 10 in nearly every major defensive end statistical category. He may not have had the awards success as his peers, but he is clearly one of the best to ever put on the Silverbacks uniform. He is the Silverbacks all-time leader in tackles, sacks, safeties, and forced fumbles, along with being the 4th player inducted to the Silverbacks ring of honor.

Sam Howitzer
Originally a Yellowknife Wraith, Howitzer came to New York in a trade that preceded the S25 expansion draft. Had he stayed with Yellowknife, he likely would’ve been converted into a wide receiver, but with New York, Howitzer was the leading man for 2 Ultimus runs in Season 29 and Season 32 respectively, with the latter being his swan song. Speaking of his last season, it was by far his best, as he put up 5103 yards, 34 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions with a 68% completion percentage. Howitzer was never quite considered the best QB in the league, but nevertheless he remained the leader of New York, a symbol for what it means to be a Silverback. In 96 games, he completed 65% of his passes for 26383 yards, 147 touchdowns, and 75 interceptions. And as the quarterback who won the Silverbacks only 2 Ultimus’s, it is a no brainer to put Howitzer on the Silverbacks Mount Rushmore.

Tugg Speedman
The greatest wide receiver in Silverbacks history, Tugg Speedman originally came over from San Jose as a part of the expansion draft. Over the next 10 years he had in New York, he put up 1000 yard seasons in all but 2 of them, and he was a constant presence in the awards voting. The crown jewel has to be his Season 32 campaign, where he racked up 1781 yards and 13 touchdowns, as well as being a key piece in the Silverbacks Ultimus run that year. Tugg is first in every major receiving category for the Silverbacks, and he has one of the most iconic plays in Silverbacks history against Arizona, where Tugg caught the ball inside the 5, ran backwards to the 20, then ran back in for the touchdown. In 160 games for the Silverbacks, Tugg contributed 12123 yards, 938 receptions, and 79 touchdowns. He is without a doubt the greatest receiver in Silverbacks history, and another no brainer for the Silverbacks Mount Rushmore.

The last one gets a little tricky. I believe the three players I just listed should absolutely be locks for the Silverback Mount Rushmore, but the 4th spot is a little more intriguing as there are a few guys who could slot in there, so I will briefly give a rundown of each of them.

Dogwood Maple
Dogwood seemingly played for New York for about 2 millennia. He played the maximum number of years, 12, all with the New York Silverbacks, cementing himself as an absolute legend in New York. He was never quite a pro bowl caliber player, but his loyalty made him a fan favorite. His longevity was also astounding, playing in 182 games and recording an interception in all but his rookie year and his final year. In his illustrious career, Dogwood recorded 556 tackles, 9 forced fumbles, 21 sacks, and 27 interceptions. On top of being a safety, Dogwood returned kicks for a couple years too, putting up 868 return yards on 41 kick returns.

Brandon Prince
It’s time to be a little self-indulgent! Yes I am putting my old player on this list, but I think it’s fair! He’s 2nd place all-time in New York rushing, he played his entire 9 year career with New York, and as the 5th to last pick in the S28 draft, I consider him to be one of the best steals in league history. Nobody expected Prince to be anything more than a DSFL lifer who’d never get the call-up. But instead, in 144 games, Prince totaled 1283 carries for 5484 yards and 59 touchdowns, averaging 4.3 a carry for his career. He was never a very good regular season guy, only hitting 1000 yards once in his career, but he absolutely turned it up in the playoffs. In the S29 Ultimus, the Silverbacks first ever, Prince put up 126 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries, winning Ultimus MVP in the process and helping lead New York to victory. Just a few years later in Season 32, Prince put up 76 yards on 15 carries to help New York win for a 2nd time. I know he’s my player, but I do think he was important to New York’s early success.

[Gumbaman]

6. The league has a rich and fascinating history, and our perspectives on it differ from person to person. In 600 words or more, describe any significant moment in ISFL or DSFL history, whether you were around for it or not. Describe the context, the significant members, and the events. What exactly made this event so famous (or infamous) and why does it deserve to be remembered? Events might include championship wins, the inducting of players to the hall of fame, or even a league scandal.

There have been so many significant moments that have happened since I joined the league two long years ago. The first one that comes to mind is season 27, when Dallas won the Ultimini. I had joined the SHL a few months prior to joining the SHL. It was at the time that the huge crossover between the SHL and ISFL happened. Some notable names were Amid,r0tz, dewalt, numbers, and many more. Some of those name were talking about the ISFL, which as a newbie sim leaguer I wanted to join. I came into the league and was picked up quickly by Dallas. It was a great locker room, great environment, and really helped me grow as a person and as a sim leaguer. It was the start of me being here and me being so big here. I was brought into the sim team for Dallas, which then after a few games eventually led to me being in the war room. It was such a huge step for everyone on the team, and with the help of Kyle, Amid, r0tz, Zayn, and I. We led the Birddogs to being tied for the best record in the DSFL going 11-3 and being tied for best record with Portland. After the regular season ended, everyone went into overdrive to make sure we would win every game in the playoffs. Thus having us go to the Ultimini and beating KCC in a very close 23-21 win. After the Ultimini came awards. Now, this is where something amazing would later turn out to be a huge incident and something horrible. The Birddgos had one of their players and someone important to the team win DSFL Most Dedicated Member. Everyone on the team was ecstatic for the player and user because we thought he deserved it. That user would later become an HO Intern. Some time went by and everything seemed calm. A little too calm for the ISFL. Then the punishment came. That user would then be revealed as a Multi. The user, Zamir, created another account and another player respectively. Now one may ask, how did HO not realize that someone they hired was a Multi of someone was notorious for getting into trouble and causing a ruckus? We may never know the answer, but we do know that it left a huge blemish on the face and reputation of HO. It is something that they were not very happy about. Nor was anyone in the league when it came out. Everyone was talking bad about HO, more so than usual. It was warranted, of course. They hired someone that was a known problem child, someone who would cause trouble every other month just for the fun of it. He would always come back and keep trying to find a new way to piss everyone off and getting punished for outlandish things. They didn't check to see if they shared an IP with anyone, which they have the power to do. They only went off him winning Most Dedicated Member and flew with it. This sis one of many instances of our Head Office having a blemish on their face for a decision that they made. This is one blemish that is not easily wiped since they let Zamir into the behind the scenes, they let him into somewhere that should be sacred from a scoundrel, a troublemaker, a multi. It's one of the many significant parts of the league that pops into my brain. The first one for myself and one that somewhat tarnishes the reputation of HO as a whole. It's not one that will be forgotten anytime soon by everyone that was there to expierience it.

[deadlunatic]

11. Write a short biography or story about your player. This could include background about how they came to the ISFL and how they’ve done so far, a story about their role in an exciting game, or anything else related to their experience in the league.

The chef Gore Done Ram Say was originally a soccer player as a kid who then turned to football. He was a talented quarter back who could make all the throws and was actually pretty athletic. But he was also a well known chef, actually better known for his cooking abilities than his football skills. Well he made some mistakes one afternoon and ended up damaging his throwing hand to the point of now being able to throw a good spiral anymore. So it was time to hang up his football career as surely there wouldn't be another position he could easily swap to. I know some well known quarter backs have swapped to tight end or even some have been talked about being a running back. Well it turns out the chef is actually a pretty solid safety. So he position swapped to safety after gettin the call up to the ISFL. So far he has done pretty decent considering he spent all his previous time playing quarter back and only quarter back, heck all of his stats in the DSFL are at the position, well except for that one season where he was forced to do some punting. And let me tell you for a former soccer player, he is not a good punter at all. Good thing he was at least mediocre as a quarter back for his DSFL career. Hopefully he will be a better safety than he was a quarter back. But there remains quite a few years left in his career to see if he can manage to go down somewhere in the history books as at least a servicable player. Heck maybe he can even get some awards consideration later on his career. He did kind of phone it in for a few seasons after the injury and position swap. Kind of takes a mental toll realizing you got to change your dreams just like that.

14. Expansion Expansion Expansion! Tell us why you think the league should expand / not expand or include any ideas (in words) for team branding ideas you have or team locations.

I love the idea of more teams in the league. The only realy issue I have with expansion or even staying the same size is we need to address parity. It seems like users want to go play with the same people with each player they make. Now I am aware I managed to end up on both the same teams with my second player, but I did not force anyone's hand. To be honest I was very up front about the fact that I would play for what ever team drafted me no problem. I have and will never tell anyone I will only play for one team. That is against the spirit of what the whole league should be about. But on to my point, the only way I would be against expansion is if it just concentrates the upper talent in to one or two super teams and leaves the rest just not as good. In theory every team should have a window that they are competitive in. And they should also have rebuilding windows. The problem is some teams manage to always be in the mix due to getting players only wanting to come to their team and free agents teaming up with their friends. In theory the salary cap should limit the amount of max or high earners any one team can afford to have. But it does not really seem to be that effectice at making the teams more even. As for ides on where we could place some expansion teams, I would say we could use some more world teams out there. Too many teams over here in the United States. I would say a western europe team would be cool, or a Japan based team where there are a lot of options on name and theme. India has a large population plenty of choices there, or pick some island nation out there and attract all the beach lovers to come join them.

[Akoustique]

1. The Season 40 Ultimus and Ultimini have officially come to an end. Congratulations to the the Bondi Beach Buccaneers and Arizona Outlaws for each winning their respective championships. How did each of the finalists in either the Ultimus or Ultimini arrive at the playoffs? Were there any teams that surprised or disappointed during the playoffs? Did the outcome of either championship game surprise you at all?

The run-up to the Season 40 Ultimini might have been one of the greatest Cinderella stories in all of the league. Bondi Beach, a season before this, was selected and primed for contraction. The GMs at the time, Eric Belmont and Adam, were about to lose the team, and have it be replaced by bots. All of the send-downs were about to be sent away in an extra contraction draft to other teams. It was only by the grace of a large recruiting class that they were spared this fate. Over a hundred new users were brought into the DSFL, a number not yet rivaling the Season 22 surge, but an impressive number anyways. The S41 class had saved Bondi Beach from contraction, and with a new GM in Thor, they were about to roar back into relevancy.

If that wasn’t enough, the team that they faced off against had narrowly been spared the same exact fate. The Portland Pythons were the second team selected for contraction, and they were about to roar back with the same ferocity that the Bondi Beach Buccaneers had. Inserting a brand new GM from the S41 class in UptownCord, the Pythons tore through the division, leading in Points Against and Points For. The only thing that stood in their way as the playoffs began were the scrappy London Royals, who had tied the Pythons in their regular season record, falling into second place only due to their conference record.

As the playoff match between Portland and London began, Portland’s defense shone through the rest. Led by the sack record-tying Bruce White, Portland soared over the Royals with a 49-28 victory, using every available weapon they had in order to stamp their ticket to the Season 40 Ultimini.

On the other side of the league, Bondi Beach had come face-to-face with one of their biggest rivals in the Norfolk Seawolves. In their two regular season games against each other, the Buccaneers simply did not have an answer for the Seawolves and their blistering offense, falling 24-20 and 21-20; both exceptionally close games where taking one mistake, or even one play away might have changed the outcome. Now, they met in the conference championship. How would the Buccaneers fare against the team they hadn’t had an answer for all season?

The Buccaneers shot out in front early, ending the first quarter up 14-7. They never gave the lead back afterwards, and Bondi’s defense truly showed up for this momentous game, keeping the Seawolves at 16 points while Smokin’ Jay and the offense did their damndest, scoring 27 points and the victory. The stage was set for what would be known as the Contraction Bowl; a fight between two teams that weren’t expected to be here just a season ago.

The matchup in the North Pole was a nailbiter, but you wouldn’t have thought that after the first half. Portland had simply dominated Bondi Beach, scoring 21 points, only answered by a field goal at the start of the second quarter. It wasn’t looking good for the Buccaneers, but something snapped in them after halftime. As it turned out, those 21 points were the only points Portland was going to score. And that field goal would prove to be essential, as the Buccaneers charged forward, two point conversions flying from Smokin’ Jay’s hand, until the last four minutes of the game, where a touchdown pass to Kairo Knight finally put Bondi Beach ahead. Portland couldn’t respond, and the game ended 24-21. Bondi Beach had come from contraction to champion.

Now, I have the opportunity to lead this team forward into the future. The Buccaneers are a franchise that have had their differences with other teams in the past; I’m not afraid to take that mantra and use it as fuel for the fire that burns within Bondi Beach. See you in the S41 Ultimini.

Word Count: 647

[McGriddy10]

OT Pass

[nasbase]

8.

My experience in the league so far has been up and down. I am new to sim leagues in general and have made one of the easiest mistakes. I got caught up in the hype of finding something "new" and going in a little too hard. I found ISFL through the PBE, and thought why not have players in both? It's been a challenge to stay engaged with ISFL, I think part of the problem for me is the viewing experience. It's really not exciting to me. I can't really blame ISFL for that because it's really the game. The problem is I can't blame the game either, because GOD EA has a death hold on football video games rendering all other games kind of useless. It's frustrating because football could be so much better if that changed. In the meantime, there are things I do like in the ISFL. One of my favorite things is the checklist right there on the homepage. It works automatically and helps forgetful people like me... even though I still have forgotten some predictions from last season. That is one thing I am still adjusting to, some of the tasks end at the same time compared to PBE, while others end on different days. Specifically predictions, those always throw me off since they end on different days, it makes it hard for people like me who may check in once a week (and happen to check on a wrong day). Also, I still forget to update my player before Saturday rather than Sunday for PBE. I will eventually find a routine that works for me, while also finding a way to earn money as that is another thing I have struggled with so far. Thankfully, I nudged my PBE GM to draft me in ISFL which has been cool so far. It gives me a reason to stay engaged with ISFL despite the big growing pains so far. Really the only thing working for my player is switching to LB which seems to be good for low-moderate earners like me. Six sacks in 2/3 of a season are pretty good in my book, with a TD on top of that!

32.

My player's podcast would be called "Shades and Shakas". It would be a lifestyle kind of podcast, ideally somewhere on the North Shore, Hawaii. I would have all kinds of celebrities from ISFL teammates to lesser-known Hawaiian figures. The podcast would be about an hour long, and it would have many different segments. There would be an interview portion, a "talk-story" (small talk) portion, and even some quick-fire questions! Hope they can cook too because there's also a cooking segment! The podcast would start or end by taking the guest to a lesser-known part of the island and showing off the natural scenery and providing an educational and/or cultural fact to make it a well-rounded podcast. The first guest would be someone my player considers a role model, race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ryan may be a football player, but he is a lifelong racing fan as well! In fact, a lot of racers from across the world would be featured on the podcast (maybe even sneak in a race at the local go-kart track!).


36. 

PBE Affiliate PT