(S27) Ultimus Week

[treant]

Task 6!

The issue that I have chosen to write about is going to be the success that players who have played the position of Tight End have been able to have in the league's history! This is an article that I have wanted to write for some time so I am very happy that I will have the chance to do it as part of my Ultimus Week task! I have been interested in looking at the success that the players who have played the position have been able to have because my player, James Wilkinson is also a Tight End and I have the hope that I will be able to be a successful player at the position!

The first place that I decided to look for the history of the Tight End position was in the ISFL Hall Of Fame! The Hall of Fame is where the players who have achieved the most in the history of the league are celebrated for their success but I was very surprised that there were only two players who had a place in the Hall of Fame who had played the position of Tight End. It was a big surprise to me that there are more Kickers who are in the Hall Of Fame than there are Tight Ends!

The two players who were Tight Ends who saw their success in the Hall Of Fame are Paul DiMirio and Verso L'Alto! I was not a member of the league when these players were playing in the ISFL but I can tell that they had amazing careers! They hold a lot of ISFL Records and have both won a lot of awards and Championships too so I think that they were both very important players on the teams that they played on in their careers!

I think that no one would argue with the fact that Paul DiMirio is the greatest player to ever play the position of Tight End in the ISFL! He was very successful in the time that he played in the league and was even able to set records that will be very hard for any player in the future to break! He is very high in the All Time Receiving Yards for all players which means he is even better than some of the best Wide Receivers in the league's history. I am sad that I was not able to be a part of the league when DiMirio was playing because I think that he would have been a very exciting player to watch from the things that I have been able to see about him when I've researched the position! It will be very hard for any Tight End in the league to do what DiMirio has done again so I would say that he is a very good example of how successful the position can be in the ISFL!

I have talked about how good some of the examples are for players who have played the position of Tight End in the ISFL, but I am curious why there are not more players who have been very successful when playing the position. We have seen that it can be done but I do not know why it hasn't been done more by other players. I am sure that in the seasons that are to come we will see a lot more Tight Ends who are playing in the league now get the chance to go to the Hall Of Fame too compared to the other positions of players, the Tight Ends in the league are not represented in the Hall!

The position of Tight End has always been very exciting for me because I like that the best players have to be able to be a great receiver and also a great blocker too but I understand that a lot of people don't think that it is as fun as I do, which is why we might not have seen many players who have been in the league and have been able to have a long enough career for them to get into the Hall Of Fame! It is going to be interesting to see if things will change in the future and if there are more players in the league who enjoy the position and want to spend a long time playing it!

I have enjoyed learning more about the history that the Tight End position has had in the league and I am proud to be able to join the other Tight Ends that are in the league in adding more history to the position that members of the league will be able to follow in the future! I hope that the career of James Wilkinson will one day be looked at in the same way as some of the careers that I have been able to look at here!

Total word count: 816 words!

[KamiCommie]

PBE PT  (2.5 TPE)

16) The bank now accepts ISFL currency in exchange for real money – every ISFL dollar counts as $0.50 in the real world. How much money would you exchange, and what would you spend it on?  (2.5 TPE)

If for some reason banks would accept ISFL currency as actual US tender at a 2:1 rate, I would now have $3,720,190 in my bank account.  Now provided that this massive influx of cash doesn’t set off all sorts of red flags with the Internal Revenue Service, the last place I would want to keep it is in a basic savings account due to the extremely low interest.  First thing, I’d finally buy a house.  I’ve been saving for the last few years, but that hasn’t helped since the housing market is absolutely insane out here.  Houses have risen in cost by hundreds of thousands, and people are still putting in cash offers 100k+ over asking without even viewing the property.  Other than that, call me old and boring, but I’d throw the rest of it in an investment account and just let that baby grow.  I’m young, and with time that money will grow into the 10’s of millions by the time I’m eligible to retire with my pension in 18 years.  I know it’s not the super flashy “buy tons of hookers and blow on a yacht in the Mediterranean” response, but I’d rather secure my financial security for the future.

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21) What team do you think has the best branding in the league? What team do you think could use a refresh? Why?  (2.5 TPE)

Call me a little biased, but the team with the best branding in the International Simulation Football League would be none other than the Yellowknife Wraiths!  In the land of the frozen wastelands of the North, what isn't there to like about the looming, ominous presence of a supreme undead overlord.  Sure it is a little Game of Thronesy, but that was all done really well in my opinion, with exception to the final season.  Their color scheme is solid, and the logo is on point and really puts together the overall theme.  As for teams that could use an update, that would be Chicago 100 percent.  I get what they're trying to and it's a good concept, but that logo is just something awful.  I mean, that thing looks like a kindergartener drew that with crayons during art class.  Their color scheme is flat, bland, and looks way too similar to Colorado's colors.  Since those two are in the same division, the color confusion games happen twice a season and it is extremely difficult to tell which dots belong to which team.  The fix should be simple.  The concept is good, but the colors and the logo need some work.  Things will be looking pretty good once those get fixed.

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28) We’ve now finished a whole season in the new sim. What do you think about it? Are things working well for your player and team, or are there changes you think might be made? (2.5 TPE)

While the new sim is definitely more pleasing to the eyes, it is not exactly perfect by any means.  First thing is how long the sims are now.  For teams at the end of the schedule, we're having to wait an hour plus before we get to watch our team.  This is significantly higher than the previous sim, where every game would be over and done with within 45 minutes.  Another thing I've noticed, is the overall lack of production from the Safety position across the board.  This also plays into what I think is working well with my player.  My defensive production was cut in half in the new sim...IN HALF.  I went from averaging 100 or so tackles a season to 50..  Often times I would notice my dot just literally stand in one place until a pass has been caught, then it would react to the play, despite all play recognition stats being maxed out.  I didn't see any sort of benefit from having the Competitor perk, and the Competitiveness attribute did not seem to be as important as I initially thought.  We will see what the buffs to the Safety position have in store for next season, hopefully things will work themselves out.

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207 Words

[MachineEarnedRuns]

task 1 PBE Affiliate Link
Task 17 

This is a really fun one especially for our team. The Bondi Beach Buccaneers, the Aussie Swashbucklers. Playing our home games on this side of the pond we have some pretty interesting food item in our stadium so I'll get rite into it. first up are Crab Sticks. What is a crab stick? one would think that is a bit of crab served on a stick but you would WRONG! Crab sticks are a big part of Aussie culture and it consist of pulverized white fish flesh that is shaped to resemble crab legs but not quite. Delicious if you ask me. Did you know that Aussies love Thai food? neither did I. Did you know they love pies? I guess that makes sense. Well put the two together and you get item number two. The Green chicken curry pie. This is a bit of thai chicken green curry inside a pie casting and its also very delectable. When you think of Australia what do you think of? Besides Mongo terrorizing Quarterbacks, you might think of Kangaroos, it's the national animal. Well apparently, they like to eat the buggers too. Its very low in fat and is very good grilled but prone to drying out quickly so its often served rare to medium. Kangaroo pairs well with garlic, pepper, juniper, rosemary and fruit. Don't worry, Koalas are still off limits.

Task 22

Mongo is a natural fit to endorse Nike


Task 29 Awards Season

DSFL Put Em in the Dirt Award goes to Bean Beanman for most sacks in the DSFL this season

[toivo]

+2.5 SHL PT

+2.5 (16) The bank now accepts ISFL currency in exchange for real money – every ISFL dollar counts as $0.50 in the real world. How much money would you exchange, and what would you spend it on?
I don’t have a huge bank in the ISFL, but I have a plan to fix that. I exchange all my ISFL money for real money. Then, I hire some people to start pumping out media for me in ISFL, and I mean pumping it out. I would have weekly podcasts that have great production where these guys will just take the random stuff I talk about through the week and combine it into a coherent podcast. I would have daily articles with news and notes with these guys digging deep through the archives of ISFL to make it a highly entertaining read. Folks would start to question how all this is suddenly coming from the quiet Toivo user. After building up my bank account to an ungodly amount, I would get out of the media mass production game and move into real estate. I would buy the stadiums that the teams play in and start playing hard ball with all these rich ISFL team owners. Some teams might have to pack it up and relocate if they don’t want to pay what I consider fair value for playing football in my stadium. Eventually, I would probably become what I hate. It is a vicious cycle it seems, but it’s only possible with this new ability to transfer ISFL bucks for real ones.

+2.5 (22) Your player has been paid to endorse a product/service. What is it? How do you endorse it?
Brock Bodenhamer has been approached to sell BB Guns. BB Guns, or Brock Bodenhamer Guns, are fun little toys that get children used to the idea of being gun toting folks. If you are not careful, you might shoot your eye out, and Brock Bodenhamer is totally not responsible for that. Brock Bodenhamer was considered a great candidate for this product because of alliteration. Everyone loves alliteration, it is why Brock’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bodenhamer, decided to name their son Brock. The fine people that invented the BB Gun knew they could find someone with a first and last name starting with B. After searching for likeable celebrities, they did not find one with the initials BB. Thus, they settled on Brock. It was a perfect storm of parents loving alliteration, the marketing department loving alliteration, and Brock being passable as the face of the BB gun product. The plan so far is to put a picture of Brock Bodenhamer making a reception and running, but instead of having a football in his hands, he has a BB gun. Print media is still thriving and Brock Bodenhamer has the fame for being in magazines. He isn’t the billboard type of star just yet. The Brock Bodenhamer + BB Gun combination is a match made in heaven.

+2.5 (27) You’re in charge of entertainment for the Ultimus or Ultimini half-time show. What would you do?
I feel like there aren’t enough robot fighting competitions anymore. I heard that the Olympics in Japan that were postponed were supposed to have some robotic fighting demonstrations or competitions. Essentially, the way I see it, the two teams competing for the Ultimus should have huge robots made in their mascot’s likeness or theme. Then during halftime, let them tear each other apart in the middle of the field. My major concern is about the robots falling apart and suddenly metal is all over the field. This can be fixed with a field wide magnet that workers will use to sweep the field of any metal objects. Why do I think this is the best idea for a half-time show? Well, we don’t really see any feats of strength at these shows. I love a good music performance as much as anyone else, but now I think some action is appropriate. Fighting robots is part of the future so now is the time to capitalize and join the trend that is going forward. If this plan does not work, then oh well, we all say we gave it a good try and go back to music performances. The potential memes that could arrive from this plan is worth it alone. Dare to be entertained? Bring the robots.

[Billybolo53]

6) Write 800 words or more on something about anything in the league that interests you. It could be related to statistics, a league issue that 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 participation on a Werewolf server or something.

Going into the season, everyone in the Sailfish Locker room felt pretty good about our prospects. We felt like we were in the upper tier of teams. Arizona, Yellowknife and Chicago being the others in that tier. Through the season we played very very well. Never losing by more than a touchdown all season. That is very indicative of a good team. Being able to play close when you lose and still having blowouts that go your way.
We finished a close race with the #1 one seed. The first time in franchise history. So heading into the playoffs we were feeling really confident especially with the bye and HFA throughout the playoffs.

Before I go into the actual playoff run. I want to spend sometime going over how the team was built and what got the Sailfish to this point. I'll go over the construction of the offense and then the defense as well.

On offense, the main factor is Raphilia "don't call me Dax" Chan. Chan exploded and became one of the top running backs in the ISFL. Chan was an original expansion pick (gm pick) and after a slow start has become a corner stone of the franchise. Adding to the supporting cast are two incredible receiving options in Michael Witheblock and James Angler. Both were acquired in the S22 draft much later than the should. I think they have formed one of the best WR/TE tandems the league has seen. I would not be surprised to see both of them in the Hall someday. This supporting cast is rounded out by good support players on the OL and back up TE and WR. that have been acquired in the form of trades and draft picks. It's not possible to fill a team with stars so the support players are just as important as the max earning players. The Sailfish did really well in this regards with Smitty, Blast, Megclaw and Stallworth. All of this resolves around the QB, Mike Boss Jr. Boss Jr was an interesting prospect coming out of the draft. He came out of a very QB rich draft and for some reason was seen as a step below some of the other prospects. This worked out so well for the Sailfish because they were able to wait till late in the draft and pick up Boss Jr. Without having to give up any additional draft capital. Boss Jr has outperformed all of the QBs chosen before him. A huge theme with this Sailfish Roster is the amount of players who have outperformed their draft position. The Sailfish scouting room has always been amazing and honestly is still miles ahead of where it was just a few seasons ago.

On the defensive side of things, I have to start with Jamie Nkiah. Nkiah was the first official member of the Sailfish roster after being acquired from Arizona. He was the day one started and has been the leader of the secondary every since. One of my favorite parts of watching this team grow was watching Nkiah's evolution. Despite not seeing the production he was looking for, he provided so much value off the field. Great leader. The core of the Sailfish defense is built around their S22 starters. 4 starters are from the S22 regression class. Clemente, Dimiballs, Panda, and De ville are a great group of players all peaking at the same time. 3 were drafted and De ville was acquired via free agency ( One of the few players the Sailfish were able to woo). I won't go into detail about each person, but having a group like this that is peaking together is such a huge part of being successful. Players compliment each other and having one star players is worse than having 11 solid ones. The defensive line is the most impressive unit on the Sailfish defense. Just complexly destroying the run game. LB, Mojo, Goku and the aforementioned Dimiballs formed an absolute wall for the opposing teams. Very few teams even dared trying to run against us. Last but not least is the secondary. The Sailfish drafted Cbs in back to back years in the first round netting Harrison Andrews and Patrick Peterson. Both these players have played up to their draft position and set the Sailfish up for a shutdown secondary for years to come. they are joined by Teddy in the defensive backfield. He was an absolute steal as a 5th round pick. He has been a more than reliable started and will be able to fill the shoes Nkiah left with no drop off.

The last person to go over is Jacob Small. Another S22 draft pick, small has been one of the best kickers in the game from his first day and in my opinion the best punter in the game.

So with all this being said. Once we made the playoffs with the #1 seed we felt really good and everything went much better than we could have hoped. We dominated both our opponents and everyone had a time to shine. The Sailfish are the champs.

Wc:852

[.simo]

9) If you could create a team using any active players in the league, what would that team look like? Would you build a group of all-stars to contend in the next Ultimus, or a team full of jokesters for the fun of it? Describe the roster and why you chose the players you did.

So for my team I am just going to put together a team of people I most want to play with. I don't care about winning or building for X or Y season, I just want to play together with these people and have them all in the locker room with me cause this is a game and I want to have fun playing it. This would kinda be my second all time favourite team cause I am already on my first, the Berlin Fire Salamanders. So I didn't include anyone from there. Some of these also I just couldn't narrow down so my CB room is kinda crowded. Fuck it it's my team.

QB - Chika Fujiwara, @jackets28 - One of the first and most helpful people in my time in the ISFL. One of my GMs when I first joined the ISFL way back in S22 and has been a great friend ever since.
QB - Dexter Zaylren, @Laser - Gotten to know Laser a lot more recently but absolutely one of the best people around. Always love chatting to Laser.

RB - Mike Rotchburns, @SchoolboyShue - Fellow PBE minors GM and bet connoisseur. Always enjoy our teams doing well in the regular season and then both our teams shitting the bed together in the playoffs.
RB - Raphtalia Chan, @Frostbite - I feel people know Frost. Great person though even if he gives shit betting advice.
RB - Dante King, @shadyshoelace - Shady also one of the best ever. Always keen to chat and give some advice or ideas on graphics.

WR - Eleven Kendrick-Watts, @124715 - Numbers might be one of the best people in these leagues. There are a lot of great people but Numbers is outstanding.
WR - Kai Sakura, @DarknessRising - Maybe the best Aussie on the forum. Sorry everyone else.
WR - Michael Witheblock, @sakrosankt - Sakro is more quiet so I don't think as many know him but he is one of the greatest people I have met. I always appreciate our talks late at night when everyone else is asleep in America. Always love talking to you mate.
WR - Schumi Hulkenvettel, @Bauer - Also love this guy even though I didn't go to his PBE team. Always keen for a chat and a laugh.

TE - Heath Evans, @Thor - Another Aussie so I get to know them from being in the same timezone. Will be an interesting mix with some others I am picking soon.

OL - Alexander Franklin, @Hordle - Hordle is one of the greatest people on this site. Really looking forward to what he does in Portland with Zeagle.
OL - Bruce Buckley, NicholasTheGreat - Another Aussie and another top....person.
OL - Connor Quigley, @WhatAmUs - WAU is another person with a fucked sleep schedule so they are usually around when I am around most and got to know them really well.
OL - Felix Archstone, @GlimsTC - Was my KCC GM partner and I loved every day I got to GM with this guy. Even though it was basically him waking up to 10 messages every morning with random thoughts from me about the team.
OL - Marlon Alexander, @platanocat - Plat is one of the best people. Always happy to answer my dumb questions on pokemon cards.

KP - Matthew McDairmid, @Matty7478 - Wasn't my GM when I first joined the Coyotes but was my kicking build mentor and is an absolutely amazing person. Always a good day when you get to talk to Matty.

DL - Chuck Roth, @zeagle1 Thor, NTG and now Zeagle. The plan is coming together.
DL - Ernest Lover, @Mojojojo - I've been on two teams that could have drafted Mojo and didn't, not missing out a third time.
DL - Leonard Taylor, @Tayjay - One of the absolute best. Always so nice and friendly and a pleasure to be around.
DL - Patrik Money, PMoney - Another one of the KCC people that was great to me when I first joined the league.

LB - Brach Thomaslacher, @RDBSouthPaw - If I was GM like a week earlier in KCC I wouldn't have traded you South. I would have just made you GM instead of me.
LB - Gary Goodman, @ShnarlyDude - What an amazing guy. Just love to be around Cody and you can see how much people love him from what they are doing in Philly.
LB - Makoto Otawara, @TubbyTim69 - Didn't have a player but was around Philly when I was there and just one of the best blokes ever. Sad I missed out getting them to Berlin cause they are always fun.

CB - Albert Ruschmann, @katarn22 - I feel I say this a lot but Katarn is also one of the greatest people I have met here. Always so happy to chat and answer questions I have on things.
CB - Andrew Witten, @mithrandir - Always one of the friendliest people even if I don't make as many Dotts cards as I need to.
CB - Brandon Booker, @MementoMori - Like Hall, one of the people from Philly that really helped me in the league and has always been one of my favourite people ever since then.
CB - Doy Fieri, @Punter715 - Similar to Cody, Pat is just outstanding and together they are making Philly into a great destination.
CB - Peter Patterson, @slate - Should have stepped down 2 days earlier to keep you in KCC and give you that GM job.
CB - Richard Leaking, @ReverandOReily - What is not to like about Rev, apart from the whole OCO thing. Will make your day better if you get to talk to Rev.
CB - Tayshawn Crunk, @Crunk - One of the best people I have ever met that is British. Haha. No for real Crunk is amazing, I GM them in the PBE and you will never get a better person to GM for.

S - Bob Roberts, @zaynzk - Zayn is one of the best. Now that I have got him, Zeagle, Thor and NTG on the same team I am going to need replacements when they all kill each other.
S - Jeremiah Zelos, @Hallmonitor_20 - If this team was only 1 person big Hall might be the person on it. Drafted me way back to Philly and I have loved the man ever since.
S - Tony Yeboah, @frazzle14 - Great bloke and with his timezone I have got to know him really well in out KCC days. The best of all his friends.

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16) The bank now accepts ISFL currency in exchange for real money – every ISFL dollar counts as $0.50 in the real world. How much money would you exchange, and what would you spend it on?

So the first step here is to check the balance. $143,653,137. Divide that amount by two and I am left with 71,826,568. You better believe I am checking every single dollar of that out and I am never coming back to this game. The first thing I would do is pay cash for this house we are saving for. That seems like a logical and smart move that will make the wife happy. In fact I'd probably even buy a better one, buy a mountain and build a house on a precarious peak of it somewhere. Let's be generous and say that costs me 10m all up which is a lot of money for my part of the world. The real smart move then with no debt is to just invest it all and live off 10% of the interest cause that amount of money is going to generate a lot. Instead though I would probably just buy a big bridge and keep it stocked with every kind of alcohol I could find and do a fuckload of cocaine and pay someone to build mountain biking trails on my mountain and put in a ski lift to the top so I don't have to pedal cause fuck that shit and just ride my mountain bike all day. I would also go back to my old work that I left a week back and they think I'm coming back and give them all the forks.

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244 words not including prompt.

26) Your team has made it to the playoffs! Put together a pre-game playlist and explain how those songs will hype your players.

1. Horses | Darryl Braithwaite - We have to start always with a couple of songs that bring the whole team together as we start getting strapped and putting our gear on. We go for two songs straight up that everyone just can't help but join in singing and feels great to all get in doing something together.

2. You're the Voice | John Farnham - Similar reason as stated above. Both of these songs really bring the team together as we start arriving into the locker room for gameday.

3. Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! | Vengaboys - This one while also being a great sing along isn't so much in the playlist for that reason. We wanted something here to start to get up and moving to and this banger by the Vengaboys does exactly that while transitioning us to the next theme of our last two songs.

4. Remember the Name | Fort Minor - Get pumped, get psyched. That is what we are going for with the last two songs. Everyone who has ever seen a youtube highlights video knows there is a good chance this song is the backing. This is the beginning of our build to game time.

5. Through the Fire and Flames | Dragonforce - This is the last thing we listen to. We put this on 15 minutes before the game starts because the song somehow goes that long. At this point it is shut up and focus time. No chit chat. Just think about your game and zone in while getting pumped the fuck up as it builds to a perfect place to run out and smash people.

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267 words not including prompt.

[SchoolboyShue]

PBE  +2.5

Another PBE  +2.5

[Troen]

8) Write about a potential new recruitment strategy for the league. How can we attract more new players, and what can we do to retain them better?

In a completely unbiased suggestion, I think that the approach used for the S22 recruitment class on reddit was just about optimal from a 'when to approach other sites' interest. The post went up a week after the super bowl - enough time for the post-game analysis articles to finish up but before the offseason FA moves and mock draft had all gotten really to swing into gear. I presume that was more coincidence with the timing of the league offseason than a deeply planned strategem, but I think it worked super well to hit a lull in reddit activity which let it attract a lot of attention. However, there's only one super bowl each year while there are more like 6 offseasons, so that plan can't work out every time. So, from an actionable recommendation related to this, I think that the timing on external league recruitment posts should be considered strategically to try and hit maximum visibility.
While I think the timing of the recruitment post was great, my personal experience is that it led to a lot of excitement in the short term - creating a player, trying to figure out how everything worked, etc. - but then there was a lot of nothing to do for weeks. Improving that is a lot harder - recruitment is designed to get people in over the offseason so that there's time to process them, fix any mistakes, and all that, but it felt like there was a ton of twiddling thumbs after the initial rookie tasks. I think there are a lot of possible options to improve that but unfortunately not a lot of easy ones. Here are a few more concrete ideas to try and keep players who create accounts more interested so they stick around.
First idea: For rookie tasks, have people look over their posts for it before the player's first updates. I found in my old thread looking at the S22 class that a ton of players didn't do the rookie tasks correctly. I think those were the first non-instant claim tasks that I ran into a rookie and so I along with a lot of other people put them on my update page once I finished them. Only after I went and began looking at what other players were doing did I understand the 'post and then link to claim page in update thread' approach to everything. Having members of the rookie team looking over update pages before the updaters' normal cadence could help people understand what's going on and maybe re-engage anyone who left.
Second idea: Another post-rookie task time sink for new players. I think the wiki page is conceptually a decent idea for that but it took approximately 8 years to get that graded (completely unrelated to the giant backlog of pages I'm sure). In a world where someone else does all the work for me, I think some sort of team builder/testing game could be neat (maybe integrate with dotts? and giving all new players a free pack?) Imagine being able to create teams of players and see how they'd do against other teams of players in a really simple game/simulation thing. And of course the crazy out-there idea would be something like OOTP's perfect league but that's a whole nother quarry of marbles.
Third idea: Less time from recruitment posts to something happening. What if the prospect bowl was 3 times per week of the offseason? I'm not on the sim team so it's easy for me to say that. But as a goal, try to get new players from creating a player to seeing that player play against other rookies in 3 days or less (worst case eg create on friday, see player in a sim on Monday). Sure, those games might be for temporary teams and not count, but it seems like it would help to me. Also, getting new players into a team discord soon seems like a great way to keep them interested.
Fourth idea: Do DSFL teams proactively invite new creates to a public part of their discord servers? If not, why not? Seems like an easy way to get people more engaged, though I guess I could see it being overwhelming to have like 10 new servers all at once.

11) What is it that keeps you interested in the league? Is it your love of dot football, your locker room, a specific job or role you play, or something else? What do you like most about it? What could be improved?

A large part of my enjoyment comes down to the complexities of how it works out as a system. I spent a lot of my early time in the league analyzing the players based on the data available (the TPE tracker is amazing, especially with its history). Understanding career arcs, salary cap limitations, trying to see how TPE and player numbers going up actually led to in-game stats and wins is all really interesting. Even just seeing a "sport" league where player movement is driven much more by entertainment and personal interest rather than money as in the professional league is really interesting. The game played in the ISFL itself is far enough away from NFL football that I don't know that I really learned much to make watching that more fun directly and honestly I'd say this is basically a different sport for all it's related conceptually.
Beyond the league rules and what strategies and tactics evolve out of that, the sim itself is of course another fascinating element of the league. In a lot of ways I could say it's detracted from my enjoyment of the league with its tiebreakers in S26, its clock management that's somehow inferior to Andy Reid, and its insane punt decision making. But like I said - I think it's just best to accept that it's a different game. If an NFL team is down by 1 score with 2 minutes left on their own 10 yard line, they have a solid chance. If an ISFL is in the same position, they pretty much need a giant play immediately or they're in trouble. So in that sense, the ISFL is unrealistic to football, but I'm just considering it "different and y'all have to deal with it" rather than something that should be improved.
Some of the things that I think could be improved boil down to automation/integration. As long-term ideas/rhetorical questions:
* What if players didn't have to post claim/updates and instead had access to a webpage showing their available TPE to spend? And available TPE was automatically updated when eg the predictions were done because those are done with forms that know your username? The ISFL is an impressive feat of operating in a forum, but I don't think a forum is the best way to do a lot of these things. However, it would require a lot of time and testing (and trust or more work to make all the info publicly visible) to move to what I'm suggesting.
* Similarly, what if fantasy was like NFL fantasy with a website showing available players for your groups, points in real time, etc. (well actually realtime would probably be impossible but...)
* I mentioned this above, but what if there was a way to play games with your dotts cards and/or any snapshot of players. The fullest version of this (actually letting you sim the games) seems like it would be hard for anyone other than the sim devs, but maybe there's a way to get historical exports of players for the sim? Or of dotts cards? I have no cards and I haven't bought the sim so I don't know if these are realistic ideas but they seem neat conceptually.
* Seeing stats and how my team/player do is always something that keeps me interested, even like this year where we were terrible. The new sim index with its individual player stats is really cool. What if those were updated to pull in historical info for S1-26?
* Could the sim index automatically put things like stats leaders into the wiki? That would be cool too.

[Tesla]

Task 9 - Tier 2 - 400+ Words - 5 TPE

This is quite the fun one for me as I absolutely love the idea of assembling dream teams. So I am probably going to go overboard with this, but that is allowed.

The key to a team in football is the quarterback and I would pick my personal favorite Ben Slothlisberger to fill the role. He is coming off of an MVP season, he is top five in training points earned, he is outside of regression, and the user Slothfacekilla is legitimately one of my favorite people in the league. Easiest choice of the day for me.

The next position I am going to address is protecting said quarterback and so I need five top of the line offensive line players. First is Bruce Buckley as the top in TPE, and a user I have gotten along with well through our interactions. Then Greedy Sly as the number two and another player who I have had pleasant interactions with during my tenure in the league. Third is Calvin Golladay as the next name I distinctly recognize and someone I remember being a stalwart supporter of fighting in the trenches. Then Adam Mellott as a top tier offensive line player from S25 and another of my favorite players in the league. Going to finish it off with Ananda Adyan as another good offensive line player from S25 and someone whose company I have enjoyed in the Norfolk locker room. Five human offensive lineman who are all over 600 training points earned should make for quite the solid offensive line. (Note: I wrote this before Sly retired and just in case that would not count I will replace him with Dorfus Jimbo Jr as he might be low in TPE, but Scorp's locker room presence is invaluable to me. Thank you!)

The next step is weapons and based off the league average that means three wide receivers. Michael Witheblock is the top active wide receiver in terms of training points earned, and I remember having some good conversations with Sakrosankt so they get the first nod. William Lim is second as a person who helped me win fantasy this season, second in training points earned, and someone who has been incredibly pleasant as a member of the rookie mentor team. Third is Kai Sakura who is the next highest active outside of regression, and whose user DarknessRising has made several media pieces I have enjoyed if I am remembering their name right.

James Angler is the current leader in training points earned among tight ends and is also controlled by tMuse who is one of the few people I distinctly recall putting out statistical analysis in my time as a media grader.

Running back is a bit of a tough one for me as I know all the top actives, and so I will go with the two I remember the most. Tatsu Nakamura as the lightning back and one of the top speed backs in the league and controlled by qWest known for their pleasant podcast. Then Richard Gilbert as the thunder by virtue of being the top power back, and being someone I still remember for their nice bold mock draft.

Regarding defense I will start with the line and move out as that is where my player plays. Defensive tackle is obviously going to start with Magnus Rikiya as he is coming off a pro bowl caliber season, and I can guarantee the user puts in the work. Second would be Patrik Money who is second in training points earned of those who are not about to face regression, and whose user is PMoney an incredibly pleasant user to interact with in my experience. First defensive end is Troen Egghands controlled by Troen who is top among S22 defensive ends, and who is a fun person in my experience. Then Medicinal Toblerone controlled by the legendary JuOSu, is well outside of regression, and who has one of the best player names in the league.

I am now on linebackers and I will go with four so that I can run 3-4 just fine. Lawrence Bass and Derred de Ville are my first two as they are top tier in S22. Plus they are controlled by RussDrivesTheBus and Exilizer who have been quite friendly in my experience. Then I would take the duo of Adélie de Pengu and Melvin Murder-Moose as they are high tier in terms of training points earned, and their users IsaStarcrossed and SchwarzNarr are two of my favorite people in the league.

Given the propensity to play nickel and my personal preference for it I am going to go with two cornerbacks. Brandon Booker and Andrew Witten the players of Memento Mori and Mithrandir respectively; two of the top in training points earned and both general managers which should make for a solid support for the team. The first safety has a huge advantage over the rest in terms of training points earned and that is Cuco Clemente controlled by Billybolo53 who is one of my friends in the league from back when his player was a defensive tackle. Then it would be DB Jadakiss as the next highest training points earned safety whose user I vividly remember. Third is another along that train of thought as we pick up Davriel Lavigne to be the nickelback as a younger safety who is controlled by Raven a historic user.

There are a bunch of other users I could add who I am friends with or have high training points earned totals, but this is already over 800 words and so I am going to call it here. Thank you for a terrific prompt!

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Word Count: 946

Task 16 - Tier 3 - 200+ Words - 2.5 TPE

I have a super fun time with this one because I would convert my ISFL bank account to $224,000,000. Now I have spent a lot of time looking at real estate sites as I have been wanting to move for a while, and also looking at underground bunkers because I am a writer. Based on that I have an approximate price tag for a ridiculous dream facility of about $16,000,000.

Step two is to outfit the dream facility. That starts with a supercomputer and I do not know the prices of those off the top of my head, but a quick search shows an approximate price tag of about $1,000,000 for what I would want. They can handle heavy 3D design work and so should be perfect for me to run even the fanciest of games that I would want to run on it. Should be able to run Skyrim at the highest of settings without trouble at the very least. The rest of my ideal home decor would cost significantly less as I am not that fancy a person, but I will round it up to another $1,000,000 and just say any extra budget can go to swords.

After that it depends on if ISFL currency will still be able to be converted as if so I am going to dedicate my life to writing thousands of words a day to become the richest person on the planet. If so I invest in all the necessary boons to help me meet my targets as I should be able to earn billions a year to help people while still covering my own expenses. (I would admittedly put a couple hundred million towards making Hellboy 3 if Ron Perlman is still up to it as well, but I believe that to be a net good for humanity.)

If not I bank just enough to make sure all my future needs are met and then use the approximately $190,000,000 left to reduce suffering as much as possible. Most likely by buying up a bunch of medical debt for pennies on the dollar and forgiving it as erasing a billion dollars worth of medical debt would go a long way towards making the world a better place in my mind.

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Word Count: 377

Task X - Tier 3 - PT Affiliation - 2.5 TPE

Affiliate PBE PT

[MrStennett]

1. PBE PT Affiliation

2. TASK 16

I hear that I can trade in my ISFL cash at half value for real world money, and you're asking how much I trade in? I absolutely trade in EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR I have! Why would you not? I would end up with round about 15 million dollars. 15 MILLION. That would be more than enough for me to retire right now at the ripe old age of 30. I gotta be honest with you: even if you only have one million in your bank account, if you don't trade that one million in for 500 thousand, I don't have any idea what is happening in your head. Just let me trade in for my 15 million and I'll go happily on my way to put an extension on my house or some shit. Hell, I'll buy a bigger house and get a new car while I'm at it. I could pay for my 4 month old son's future college career and probably my grandson's while I'm at it. This is just such an outlandish question to me. Like, not that someone would ask it, but just to think that anyone in their right mind would ever do anything but trade in every single ISFL dollar they have for cold, hard cash.

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212 words

3. TASK 10

This was certainly an interesting season for both my own player and the Arizona Outlaws as a team. We, as a team, expected to compete for the ASFC crown, but the season certainly didn't start like that was going to be the case. We lost both of our first two games by a total margin of four points. Week one was a 23-20 loss to the San Jose Sabercats, and then we lost again in week two to the Austin Copperheads by a point. It was incredibly frustrating because we knew in both cases that we were definitely the better team but just couldn't seem to put it all together. After that, things really started to go right for the team. We rattled off nine wins in a row, with the offense scoring 30 or more points in four of those contests. We were finally playing like the team that expected during preseason to compete for an Ultimus berth. We would go on to lose three of our final five games, and finish in second to the Honolulu Hahalua. This disappointment would be closely followed by an even greater one as we would lose our first playoff game due mostly to a disastrous performance by my own player, Charlemagne Cortez. Having thrown more than one interception in a game only four times during the 16 game regular season, Cortez would toss three picks in what turned into a blowout loss against the New Orleans Secondline. While none of us were particularly happy with the way the season ended up, in hindsight, I have to say that I'm proud of how well this team played and that we should only continue to get better in the future.

The high point of the season for me would definitely have to be the blowout win over the Baltimore Hawks. It was a 51-20 drubbing that saw Cortez have his only four touchdown game of the season. The offense was running on all cylinders, as not only was the passing game clicking, but Nakamura and Thorbjornsson combined for three rushing scores as well. It was a great example of how dangerous this team could be when everything was going according to plan. As far as the low point of the season, that certainly had to be the playoff loss to the Secondline. That was just a bad game all the way around. On top of Cortez's awful day, the defense looked bad as well. It was about the worst way to end what had been a fairly successful season.

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425 words