I agree with the overall themes here and think it comes from a great place. On DSFL lifers, I've recently joined SHL where there are a lot of intentional development league lifers. IMO it happens there because you need like 800+ TPE to be called up. I don't think it's really been an issue in this league until very recently, with the sim switch being somewhat responsible for it. It used to be the case that max earners were usually called up immediately, but ever since the S22 draft class transformed the league we've seen an increasing number of max earners sent down, and we're seeing average earners often spend two seasons sent down. The lack of space on ISFL rosters created the conditions for this, but because the sim is brutal for lower TPE players we're starting to see more players say they don't want to be called up.
I think the problem here is more structural than cultural. No one signs up to a sim league and aims to have Bennie Logan's career, I think it's perfectly understandable for someone to choose to be a DSFL lifer currently. If you rebalance the sim to make it kinder to lower TPE players you remove the incentive (but anger the max earners who want their efforts to bear fruit on the field), or if you expand at the ISFL level these players will actually be needed and they'll feel important/GMs will be trying to court them.
Kotasa and Jimi already expanded on this, but I wanted to draw attention to a specific example of DSFL winning mattering. The S21 Ultimini-winning Myrtle Beach Buccaneers drafted myself, Billybolo, Troen, NTG, Thor, Colabear and Gwdjohnson, and picked up tMuse, gbfn, Naosu and hotdog on waivers. That's eleven 1000+ TPE players, and current/former HO, GMs, department heads, RMs, graders, auditors, etc.
This is probably a unique case because of the size of the draft class, but I imagine other iconic DSFL teams like the Tijuana teams from ~10 seasons ago can boast comparatively impactful classes. It's obviously not just because of the fact we won, though, everyone who was around at the time is aware of the LR environment that Frost and Cory cultivated. I think there's a real value to taking the game sims seriously, and wanting to win inspired several of us to help out with testing and generally get even more involved with the league. You're right that competitiveness can sometimes lead to toxicity, so it's definitely important to get the right role models in those positions.
I think the problem here is more structural than cultural. No one signs up to a sim league and aims to have Bennie Logan's career, I think it's perfectly understandable for someone to choose to be a DSFL lifer currently. If you rebalance the sim to make it kinder to lower TPE players you remove the incentive (but anger the max earners who want their efforts to bear fruit on the field), or if you expand at the ISFL level these players will actually be needed and they'll feel important/GMs will be trying to court them.
Kotasa and Jimi already expanded on this, but I wanted to draw attention to a specific example of DSFL winning mattering. The S21 Ultimini-winning Myrtle Beach Buccaneers drafted myself, Billybolo, Troen, NTG, Thor, Colabear and Gwdjohnson, and picked up tMuse, gbfn, Naosu and hotdog on waivers. That's eleven 1000+ TPE players, and current/former HO, GMs, department heads, RMs, graders, auditors, etc.
This is probably a unique case because of the size of the draft class, but I imagine other iconic DSFL teams like the Tijuana teams from ~10 seasons ago can boast comparatively impactful classes. It's obviously not just because of the fact we won, though, everyone who was around at the time is aware of the LR environment that Frost and Cory cultivated. I think there's a real value to taking the game sims seriously, and wanting to win inspired several of us to help out with testing and generally get even more involved with the league. You're right that competitiveness can sometimes lead to toxicity, so it's definitely important to get the right role models in those positions.
![[Image: morisig.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/688507586177532117/1082481732604924036/morisig.png)
[OPTION]S24 (PHI): 16 GP, 73 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 FF, 3 sacks, 5 INTs, 10 PDs, 2 TDs
[OPTION]S25 (PHI): 16 GP, 67 tackles, 4 INTs, 13 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]S26 (OCO): 16 GP, 68 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 2 INTs, 10 PDs
[OPTION]S27 (OCO): 16 GP, 116 tackles, 4 INTs, 23 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]S28 (OCO): 16 GP, 84 tackles, 1 FF, 1 FR, 3 INTs, 20 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]S29 (OCO): 16 GP, 99 tackles, 3 FF, 1 FR, 5 INTs, 23 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]=============================================================
[OPTION]ISFL Playoff Stats:
[OPTION]S23 (PHI): 1 GP, 2 tackles
[OPTION]S26 (OCO): 1 GP, 5 tackles, 2 PDs
[OPTION]=============================================================
[OPTION]Trophies and Achievements:
[OPTION]Drafted 35th Overall by Myrtle Beach in the S21 DSFL Draft
[OPTION]S21 Ultimini Champion
[OPTION]S21 DSFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S21 DSFL Defensive Back of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]Drafted 4th Overall by Philadelphia in the S22 ISFL Draft
[OPTION]S23 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S23 ISFL Cornerback of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S23 ISFL Defensive Performance of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S24 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S24 ISFL Cornerback of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S25 (PHI): 16 GP, 67 tackles, 4 INTs, 13 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]S26 (OCO): 16 GP, 68 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 2 INTs, 10 PDs
[OPTION]S27 (OCO): 16 GP, 116 tackles, 4 INTs, 23 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]S28 (OCO): 16 GP, 84 tackles, 1 FF, 1 FR, 3 INTs, 20 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]S29 (OCO): 16 GP, 99 tackles, 3 FF, 1 FR, 5 INTs, 23 PDs, 1 TD
[OPTION]=============================================================
[OPTION]ISFL Playoff Stats:
[OPTION]S23 (PHI): 1 GP, 2 tackles
[OPTION]S26 (OCO): 1 GP, 5 tackles, 2 PDs
[OPTION]=============================================================
[OPTION]Trophies and Achievements:
[OPTION]Drafted 35th Overall by Myrtle Beach in the S21 DSFL Draft
[OPTION]S21 Ultimini Champion
[OPTION]S21 DSFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S21 DSFL Defensive Back of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]Drafted 4th Overall by Philadelphia in the S22 ISFL Draft
[OPTION]S23 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S23 ISFL Cornerback of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S23 ISFL Defensive Performance of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S24 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S24 ISFL Cornerback of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S26 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S26 ISFL Returner of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S29 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S29 ISFL Cornerback of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]=============================================================
Player | Update | Wiki | Twitter
[OPTION]S26 ISFL Returner of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]S29 ISFL Pro Bowl Selection
[OPTION]S29 ISFL Cornerback of the Year Nominee
[OPTION]=============================================================
Player | Update | Wiki | Twitter
![[Image: 4L0iBsK.png]](https://i.imgur.com/4L0iBsK.png)