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Word Count - 1,017So, you've made your way through the first two weeks (or one for most of you) in a simulation sports league. With the draft happening in four hours , you may be left wondering... what should I expect tonight? How can I raise my draft stock? What happens once all the cards have been dealt and the game begins? I'm writing this with the hopes that I finish before four my time (three PST) so we can all have a great time reading this useless shit but there's no guarantees. Anyways, let's answer these questions.
What should I expect tonight?
Well young one (I'm fifteen so by most regards I'm the young one here), you can expect a lot of emotions being pent up inside you as watch the draft start... and then you can be stuck with those emotions until you eventually get drafted by a team that really, you know nothing about since at this point they all have no reputation. Sounds boring? Well it's actually not. Draft night is one of the most fun times in any simulation league, because it's a night of new hopes and heartbreak for everyone present. There's plenty of players to go around in this one, so don't be surprised if as a first generation player you end up going later in the draft than you expected.
It's really nothing against you as a person, and doesn't speak to your player's success. It's more of just based upon reputation. With our entire GM team having experience in other leagues, we find safer options in selecting people we know and trust from other communities. If it sounds like we're playing favorites, take into consideration the Simulation Hockey League (our parent [?] league) has on average around a 50-60% turnover of first generation prospects from creation to their first pro draft. That's a big number, but if you make it through it's worth the climb.
How can I raise my draft stock?
If you haven't got a message from a GM, don't sweat it. I've seen guys talking on the site that no GM's have their eyes on them, but really we're just lazy. We love building the teams, but we're all kind of socially awkward and hate starting communication. On the other hand if you're to send us a message, saying who you are, what your player is all about, you instantly shoot up in our draft standings. Guys who take initiative and try to build bridges are sure fire to be incredible locker room guys, and that's always a big quality for GM's.
The other thing you should understand is that with so many first generation players, lots of us GM's are just taking wild shots in the dark on prospects. You and Joe Schmoe both have 12 posts, and your player's have nearly identical builds at the same position? While we picked Joe Schmoe who goes inactive two days later and you become the next hall of famer. We don't know how it's gonna play out with the new guys, so you might end up falling really far for no reason other than we don't see you. So long as you keep working, you can be a seventeenth round pick and then go out and kick ass, take the MVP trophy whatever you want. You've just gotta work for it.
What comes next?
Once the draft is over, you're going to be really excited for all the stuff that comes after it. There is going to be a lot of questions, and for a very short period of time there will be very few people to answer them. That's because we're all going to be super stressed while trying to get things like rosters, depth charts, line ups, strategy, spreadsheets, player pages, updates, test simulations, announcements, and point tasks ready to keep you guys engaged. So I'm going to write out some of the major points below.
1. Contract - Right after the draft, you might get a message from your GM talking about contracts. Or maybe not, that's a possibility too, some of us again are just lazy. If you don't, feel free to message us. There is some guidelines we have to follow with what we can pay and how many seasons for contracts, but it's usually pretty easy to work all of that out. The process is done through the transactions section. A GM will make a post and will tag you in it, with your player's name and the contract you agreed on beside it. All you have to do is reply with "accept" and a banker will swing by to add you to the salary index and move your player's financial information to the correct section.
2. Training Camp - Because we love rookies so much, every rookie will be gaining 10 (I think) free TPE from the Rookie Training Camp. This will be a huge boost and should be an incentive for you guys to keep active. It usually is put up 1-2 days after the draft, but depending on the rules (which I don't actually know) it could even be hours.
3. Pre-Season - Woot woot your first games! The simulations will be done the same way as they were for the Bowl, and the pre-season will take place with each in game week being represented by two days. It's a hell of a time, and pre-season let's us GM's get our shit together.
4. Regular Season - You've made it, the Regular Season. On the court as a full time player, and it's game night. These games will be simmed every other day (same as in pre-season). There will be a TPE opportunity every day a sim is not posted where you can predict the winners of the next day's games. So for example, on Wednesday I predict that 1 beats 3, 2 beats 4 and 5 beats 6 come Thursday. Depending on how many I get right, I earn TPE (1:1 to ratio).
There you have it. Good luck with the draft rookies, and keep on pushing!
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