*In Favor of Draft Questionnaires

[TheMemeMaestro]

The Yeti utilize the form system a lot, but I would like to reach out more personally to some members. We are likely going to start doing a combination of the 2.

[7hawk77]

Great points.

I remember having to reach out to prospects during my short lived co-gm status and I would generally ask 4-5 generic questions.

However, I would always ask a very specific question about their archetype, how they could possibly fit in to what we are doing in San Jose and their thoughts about that. I found this super useful because some prospects wouldn't really fit with what are strategy was accomplishing.

Overall, I think one set of survey questions for all prospects to fill out would be a great starting point and that would allow more personal follow-up questions.

[TheMemeMaestro]

Great points.

I remember having to reach out to prospects during my short lived co-gm status and I would generally ask 4-5 generic questions.

However, I would always ask a very specific question about their archetype, how they could possibly fit in to what we are doing in San Jose and their thoughts about that. I found this super useful because some prospects wouldn't really fit with what are strategy was accomplishing.

Overall, I think one set of survey questions for all prospects to fill out would be a great starting point and that would allow more personal follow-up questions.

That's what I try to do. We also include a lot of questions about how they would feel fitting in to Colorado and stuff specific to the Yeti's situation.

[Beaver]

Questionnaires are great, a standardized set of questions so that you can directly compare different prospects' answers is a valuable scouting tool. But, that said, it's only one pretty minor piece of the puzzle and if a prospect's entire interaction with a team/GM is answering "Name? Position? Are you willing to position switch? How active will you be?" that's definitely a problem and reflects poorly on the team. If that's the prospect's entire interaction with half or more of the teams that's a huge problem and reflects poorly on the league. I think the reason that they get a bad reputation is because teams don't do it correctly.

I've told this story before and I'll tell it again. When I joined the NSFL, the Legion had like 5 of the first round picks in the draft and I've known Keygan (then co-GM and running point on the draft) for nearly 10 years now so I (and everyone) knew I was headed to Las Vegas. @JuOSu sent me a scouting message on behalf of Orange County anyway, which bemused me. We traded back and forth a series of messages that left me with a positive impression of her personally, the team, and the league as a whole because she did it right.

First, she led off with a personalized little bit. For me it was about an article I wrote so right off the bat I knew this wasn't just a mass message to every draftee. Then she had a list of questions that were boilerplate stuff but asked in a way that were open-ended and it was nothing that could easily be found on my player page. I want to emphasize the "open-ended" in there. That gives prospects a way to show their personality and insight instead of just putting a series of "Y/N" answers which is really the goal of scouting, no? Finding someone who's going to fit into your team on the field but more importantly in your locker room?

After I answered those standard questions she sent me a message back and we had a nice little back and forth where we expounded on a few of the answers and talked about the league and such. It didn't feel like filling out paperwork at the DMV, it felt like a conversation, like someone trying to get to know me - which is how it should be. Had I left Las Vegas in free agency, Orange County would've been one of my top choices just because of that chain of messages so scouting can have positive benefits beyond just figuring out your draft board.

Likewise, when I scout in the SHL I like to ask prospects other teams that have made a positive impression on them and @JKortesi81 's name invariably comes up season after season as someone who's reached out, put in the effort, and left a good impression. I'm sure that's paid dividends for him beyond just on draft night.


tl;dr
use questionnaires effectively, don't make them like the SHL IP threads
I like @timeconsumer 's idea about having one scouting thread where prospects can fill out the boilerplate questions that every team is going to ask anyway and which teams can use as a starting point for more personalized interactions

[JKortesi81]

Likewise, when I scout in the SHL I like to ask prospects other teams that have made a positive impression on them and @JKortesi81 's name invariably comes up season after season as someone who's reached out, put in the effort, and left a good impression. I'm sure that's paid dividends for him beyond just on draft night

100 times yes. To me, sim leagues are a bit more than "watching my dot on the field", "how many HRs did I hit" or "how many goals did it score". I want the players I talk to (especially people who could be doing their first sim league ever) to have a fantastic experience, especially in the beginning of their career. Player retention is huge for any sim league. It a lot more fun to feel wanted and treated like a young superstar in a sport than just another new person. Even when I have zero time IRL, I still make time to message new players in SHL.

[AdamS]

can we go back to the part were TC actually suggested ADDING tpe?

[JuOSu]

Thank you again for the shoutout @Beaver It was a pleasure and I still do this as GM in the PBE now. Every draftee gets a personalized message. I highly value that.

[Ramero]

As a DSFL GM, I choose not to send out questionnaires because 1) it's not a good gauge of activity as many active users do not reply to them and 2) you don't really have a solid chance to probe deeper into a prospect, as mentioned above

EDIT: also, I'm a slacker