6) Write 800 words or more on something that interests you. It could be related to statistics, to a league issue you take seriously, or a niche part of history that doesn’t fit neatly into either of the above categories. This must be directly related to the league, so don’t wax 800 words about your team’s Werewolf server. Be warned that freedom comes with risk, and this category will be judged especially stringently for anyone trying to spew complete nonsense.
The ISFL has a massive issue when it comes to diversity in player builds and team strategies. The biggest issues I will discuss in this post are centered around position build viability and team strategy.
Issue 1: Very little diversity within Player Archetypes
There are a few positions I will be looking at to illustrate how the league has become very Meta due to the limitations of the DDSPF 16 sim engine and the relative power of a specific attribute - Speed: Running Back, Wide Receiver, Defensive Tackle, and Linebacker
Archetype breakdown for those selected positions (this takes into account ALL players in the TPE Tracker as of 11/11/2020)
Running Back
Speed Back - 37
Receiving Back - 8
Power Back - 8
All-Purpose Back - 7
Blocking Back - 1
Wide Receiver
Speed Receiver - 52
Route Runner - 27
Red Zone Threat - 12
Possession Receiver - 7
Linebacker
Speed Rusher - 37
Balanced - 23
Coverage Linebacker - 8
Power Rusher - 5
Run Stopper - 1
Defensive Tackle
Interior Rusher - 28
Run Stuffer - 11
Nose Tackle - 9
Balanced - 5
Notice a pattern? By and large, the most popular builds by these positions (and these four are not unique) are the ones that have the highest base and starting speed attributes. The league is currently in an arms race to see who can employ the most 100 speed players, and for good reason. In DDSPF16 speed it hands down the most important attribute for every position, even positions that should in theory be able to operate well with lower straight line speed, like a Defensive Lineman. Like any semi-competitive online game, the, "Speed Kills" meta became a thing, and it's pretty well known that for a number of positions if you don't adhere you're in essence hurting yourself and your team. I personally think it kills competition and makes the league less fun. This is supposed to be a place where you can come to live out your fantasy of being a football player, and if your fantasy doesn't include going zoom zoom, then you will be looked down on by a portion of the league population.
Now, I believe that if you are going to complain you need solutions, too. What's my solution, you ask? Make speed-dominant player builds worse. I do not think we need to remove them, as players that are all about speed do exist in the NFL (see: Oakland Raiders' draft strategy 1972-2011), but the problem with our league is that the drop off in other attributes between the non-speed builds and the speed ones is so miniscule, while the difference between even 5 speed at higher levels is night and day. If you want to be a Speed build there NEEDS to be a drawback. I propose that any positional archetype that has 100 maximum speed needs to be noticeably worse in EVERY relevant attribute than the other archetypes. For example, a Speed Back RB is bigger and faster than a Receiving Back, with the same strength, and marginally worse hands. If I'm looking to make a Running Back, Receiving Back holds no value to me when there is a 100% better option available. When one attribute is clearly better than the others, it makes character builds meaningless.
When we move into the new sim engine (yay it's been announced!) I believe the biggest focus of those testing and vetting to prepare for the move MUST be getting all of the player archetypes in line. Yes, this is a dot football league and not real life, but there is no reason that different player types shouldn't have their uses. You don't see everyone in the NFL drafting based solely on 40 times, why should we?
Issue 2: There are pretty well-defined (or at least perceived) "good" and "bad" playbooks
This issue might be informed a little bit by the lack of player build diversity outlined in Issue 1 above. Due to the way DDSPF16 works and values different attributes and positions, obviously the playbooks that give you more of those positions on the field at a time are preferred. When is the last time you saw a team trot out a 4-3 or a 3-3-5 defense? What's that? Oh. Never? That's right, the only two viable defenses in ISFL currently are the 3-4 and the Nickel. It makes things boring. Hell, when people are coming up with strategies they never even bother adjusting defense because it doesn't matter. The same goes for offenses - but albeit to a lesser extent. I think the biggest issue there is simply the game code is older and especially some of the defensive formations can just get to be a little too strong if you don't keep things in check. For instance, with how important speed is, it's not hard to imagine that if you had five maxed out defensive backs sitting in a 3-3-5 and were allowed to run blitzes half the time you would probably see Quarterbacks running for their lives.
When the new sim engine comes out, I wholeheartedly hope that there will be no defined, "meta" and that teams can be successful running whatever schemes they want, given they have the personnel to do so. I want there to be more player type diversity and not just one or two pretty set in stone ways to build your character.
The ISFL has a massive issue when it comes to diversity in player builds and team strategies. The biggest issues I will discuss in this post are centered around position build viability and team strategy.
Issue 1: Very little diversity within Player Archetypes
There are a few positions I will be looking at to illustrate how the league has become very Meta due to the limitations of the DDSPF 16 sim engine and the relative power of a specific attribute - Speed: Running Back, Wide Receiver, Defensive Tackle, and Linebacker
Archetype breakdown for those selected positions (this takes into account ALL players in the TPE Tracker as of 11/11/2020)
Running Back
Speed Back - 37
Receiving Back - 8
Power Back - 8
All-Purpose Back - 7
Blocking Back - 1
Wide Receiver
Speed Receiver - 52
Route Runner - 27
Red Zone Threat - 12
Possession Receiver - 7
Linebacker
Speed Rusher - 37
Balanced - 23
Coverage Linebacker - 8
Power Rusher - 5
Run Stopper - 1
Defensive Tackle
Interior Rusher - 28
Run Stuffer - 11
Nose Tackle - 9
Balanced - 5
Notice a pattern? By and large, the most popular builds by these positions (and these four are not unique) are the ones that have the highest base and starting speed attributes. The league is currently in an arms race to see who can employ the most 100 speed players, and for good reason. In DDSPF16 speed it hands down the most important attribute for every position, even positions that should in theory be able to operate well with lower straight line speed, like a Defensive Lineman. Like any semi-competitive online game, the, "Speed Kills" meta became a thing, and it's pretty well known that for a number of positions if you don't adhere you're in essence hurting yourself and your team. I personally think it kills competition and makes the league less fun. This is supposed to be a place where you can come to live out your fantasy of being a football player, and if your fantasy doesn't include going zoom zoom, then you will be looked down on by a portion of the league population.
Now, I believe that if you are going to complain you need solutions, too. What's my solution, you ask? Make speed-dominant player builds worse. I do not think we need to remove them, as players that are all about speed do exist in the NFL (see: Oakland Raiders' draft strategy 1972-2011), but the problem with our league is that the drop off in other attributes between the non-speed builds and the speed ones is so miniscule, while the difference between even 5 speed at higher levels is night and day. If you want to be a Speed build there NEEDS to be a drawback. I propose that any positional archetype that has 100 maximum speed needs to be noticeably worse in EVERY relevant attribute than the other archetypes. For example, a Speed Back RB is bigger and faster than a Receiving Back, with the same strength, and marginally worse hands. If I'm looking to make a Running Back, Receiving Back holds no value to me when there is a 100% better option available. When one attribute is clearly better than the others, it makes character builds meaningless.
When we move into the new sim engine (yay it's been announced!) I believe the biggest focus of those testing and vetting to prepare for the move MUST be getting all of the player archetypes in line. Yes, this is a dot football league and not real life, but there is no reason that different player types shouldn't have their uses. You don't see everyone in the NFL drafting based solely on 40 times, why should we?
Issue 2: There are pretty well-defined (or at least perceived) "good" and "bad" playbooks
This issue might be informed a little bit by the lack of player build diversity outlined in Issue 1 above. Due to the way DDSPF16 works and values different attributes and positions, obviously the playbooks that give you more of those positions on the field at a time are preferred. When is the last time you saw a team trot out a 4-3 or a 3-3-5 defense? What's that? Oh. Never? That's right, the only two viable defenses in ISFL currently are the 3-4 and the Nickel. It makes things boring. Hell, when people are coming up with strategies they never even bother adjusting defense because it doesn't matter. The same goes for offenses - but albeit to a lesser extent. I think the biggest issue there is simply the game code is older and especially some of the defensive formations can just get to be a little too strong if you don't keep things in check. For instance, with how important speed is, it's not hard to imagine that if you had five maxed out defensive backs sitting in a 3-3-5 and were allowed to run blitzes half the time you would probably see Quarterbacks running for their lives.
When the new sim engine comes out, I wholeheartedly hope that there will be no defined, "meta" and that teams can be successful running whatever schemes they want, given they have the personnel to do so. I want there to be more player type diversity and not just one or two pretty set in stone ways to build your character.