This should probably go in the Suggestions subforum, but the last couple of suggestions to go there recieved minimal engagement. So, for visibility purposes I decided I wanted to put it here instead. Additionally, I wanted there to be some permanence to these suggestions, which is why I decided not to just throw them in the suggestion-box Discord channel. Most people probably have that muted anyway.
I want to start off by saying that I really enjoy the ISFL. When I joined in April of 2022, I never imagined that this sim league of ours would take up as much of my (precious little) free time that it does. At it’s core, the ISFL is a great concept that has a foundation of awesome people to keep it organized and running smoothly. It is a generally stable “product” that provides you and me with entertainment - whether that be in the form of the competitive nature of sports (me), or a more community based aspect. While I have grown more appreciative of the community, after almost two years I have felt the staleness of my player experience setting in.
Many of us have a similar ISFL weekly schedule. Buy Weekly Training, do the Activity Check, make your predictions, maybe do your Point Task, maybe watch the sims, and update your player. Rinse and repeat for the season. That’s basically it. Sure, some opt to do media and of course the other TPE opportunities as they present themselves, but in terms of “gameplay” - that’s it. There are of course other options to involve yourself in the league: Jobs, discord, community events, etc. But not everyone can - or wants - to do that.
This often leads to me thinking of new ways to add to the player experience. How can we improve the League from a gameplay perspective? Below I’ll identify a couple of the ideas I’ve had. Let’s face it - some of these might be terrible. Some are more fleshed out than others, but the point is, I want to engage with everyone. Tell me why these ideas are stupid. Let’s hear your ideas. Let’s work together to make the improvements we hope to see.
Let’s brainstorm some new ways to use ISFL Bucks. Currently, it’s basically TPE (Equipment and Traning), Positional stuff (swaps), and Forum stuff (name changes).
•What if - due to the miracles of modern medicine - a player could purchase a new type of equipment. One that could potentially slow the inevitablity of regression? $X for X% reduction in TPE. This might not prolong a players career, but could allow moderate or even max earning users to keep their players relevant for longer. This still basically falls into the TPE bucket, but it puts a new spin on something we all hate (regression).
•Why don’t we incentivize less played positions (like OL) with a small multiplier to their contracts?
•Im too dumb to come up with anything, but why don’t we revamp the salary cap to allow for more unique contracts?
I’ve heard people describe the ISFL as “Dungeons and Dragons but with football”. I wish that were the case, because then there would be more creativity infused into the gameplay. Roleplaying exists, sure. I’ve seen (at least) one team Locker Room have a channel dedicated to RP, and players are free to RP in things like PTs, Media, their Wikis, whatever else. But what can we do to make our players really feel different than the last great Speed Receiver or Pocket Passing QB?
•What if we introduced something like “Player Tags” to character creation? These tags - small descriptors of different tropes in sports - could add a little flavor to individual players and offer slight bonuses to league related things. A couple examples I have thought of:
“Diva” - 1.25x media payout on all Media that critizes their own team, player usage, etc. Could create issues with subjectivity of the media.
“Hometown Kid” - Provides team opportunity to sign player to (Max TPE contract -$1M). This is only available to users who have previously had a player on their current team.
“Face of the Franchise” - once per league season, allows user to claim full media payout for a Presser.
“Journeyman” - something to incentivize players going to new teams.
Hopefully you get the idea. None of these Tags should be game changing, just enough to incentivize the RP aspect of the game.
With league contraction coming up again, why not require a 2 season minimum stint for the DSFL? More extreme, why not legalize multis? (Gasp) With reasonable rules, one offensive and defensive player per user (created in tandem, if one goes IA they both go IA [Soul-Linked], no War Room access for user if players are on different teams).
There are more, but I’m on a time crunch and really just want to get some conversation started that we can look back on later.
I want to start off by saying that I really enjoy the ISFL. When I joined in April of 2022, I never imagined that this sim league of ours would take up as much of my (precious little) free time that it does. At it’s core, the ISFL is a great concept that has a foundation of awesome people to keep it organized and running smoothly. It is a generally stable “product” that provides you and me with entertainment - whether that be in the form of the competitive nature of sports (me), or a more community based aspect. While I have grown more appreciative of the community, after almost two years I have felt the staleness of my player experience setting in.
Many of us have a similar ISFL weekly schedule. Buy Weekly Training, do the Activity Check, make your predictions, maybe do your Point Task, maybe watch the sims, and update your player. Rinse and repeat for the season. That’s basically it. Sure, some opt to do media and of course the other TPE opportunities as they present themselves, but in terms of “gameplay” - that’s it. There are of course other options to involve yourself in the league: Jobs, discord, community events, etc. But not everyone can - or wants - to do that.
This often leads to me thinking of new ways to add to the player experience. How can we improve the League from a gameplay perspective? Below I’ll identify a couple of the ideas I’ve had. Let’s face it - some of these might be terrible. Some are more fleshed out than others, but the point is, I want to engage with everyone. Tell me why these ideas are stupid. Let’s hear your ideas. Let’s work together to make the improvements we hope to see.
Let’s brainstorm some new ways to use ISFL Bucks. Currently, it’s basically TPE (Equipment and Traning), Positional stuff (swaps), and Forum stuff (name changes).
•What if - due to the miracles of modern medicine - a player could purchase a new type of equipment. One that could potentially slow the inevitablity of regression? $X for X% reduction in TPE. This might not prolong a players career, but could allow moderate or even max earning users to keep their players relevant for longer. This still basically falls into the TPE bucket, but it puts a new spin on something we all hate (regression).
•Why don’t we incentivize less played positions (like OL) with a small multiplier to their contracts?
•Im too dumb to come up with anything, but why don’t we revamp the salary cap to allow for more unique contracts?
I’ve heard people describe the ISFL as “Dungeons and Dragons but with football”. I wish that were the case, because then there would be more creativity infused into the gameplay. Roleplaying exists, sure. I’ve seen (at least) one team Locker Room have a channel dedicated to RP, and players are free to RP in things like PTs, Media, their Wikis, whatever else. But what can we do to make our players really feel different than the last great Speed Receiver or Pocket Passing QB?
•What if we introduced something like “Player Tags” to character creation? These tags - small descriptors of different tropes in sports - could add a little flavor to individual players and offer slight bonuses to league related things. A couple examples I have thought of:
“Diva” - 1.25x media payout on all Media that critizes their own team, player usage, etc. Could create issues with subjectivity of the media.
“Hometown Kid” - Provides team opportunity to sign player to (Max TPE contract -$1M). This is only available to users who have previously had a player on their current team.
“Face of the Franchise” - once per league season, allows user to claim full media payout for a Presser.
“Journeyman” - something to incentivize players going to new teams.
Hopefully you get the idea. None of these Tags should be game changing, just enough to incentivize the RP aspect of the game.
With league contraction coming up again, why not require a 2 season minimum stint for the DSFL? More extreme, why not legalize multis? (Gasp) With reasonable rules, one offensive and defensive player per user (created in tandem, if one goes IA they both go IA [Soul-Linked], no War Room access for user if players are on different teams).
There are more, but I’m on a time crunch and really just want to get some conversation started that we can look back on later.