(S23) - PT 5 - A New Leaf

[Baron1898]

(S23) - PT 5 - A New Leaf

Complete the weekly Point Task to earn 4 TPE! All written responses must be at least 200 words. All graphic responses must show at least some effort.

Do not claim this TPE until it has been graded and posted to the S23 claim thread.

Written and graphic responses must be posted solely in this thread and not for additional media credit. Also, if you try to build your word count by being super repetitive and rambling on, you will not get full credit.

We’ve had a number of recent incidences involving PT plagiarism. If you are caught stealing someone else’s work, you will be punished as HO sees fit, including the potential loss of TPE or money. Do your own work please.

This task is due next Sunday, July 19th, at 11:59 EDT. Have fun and get writing!

Written Option: The league has made a major change recently, one which will hopefully prevent future accidental Discord incursions by neo-Nazis getting confused by our less-than-appropriate name. In your view, what are some other changes you think need to be made to the league, its rules, or how it runs? Are there any pressing changes or issues that you think should be fixed?

Graphic Option: Create a graphic outlining some changes that you think the league could benefit from and the potential benefits of doing so.


As always, you can link your affiliate PT:
SHL;
GOMHL;
PBE.

[tMuse]

Pass 5/5

[Cheech65]

I'm new to the ISFL league and to forum-based sim leagues in general. But I do think that I have some proposals that could be useful if implemented:

1) Change the sim so it stops bullying us down in Sarasosta

2) More transparency (maybe?). It could just be me because I'm new but I really have no clue how anything is really run. I couldn't name any HO members, or even tell you what the HO does. I know that they set the rules, but shy of that it's pretty unclear to me what happens on the macro level with the league. And I understand the need for privacy and discretion in regards to major decisions. But I think some more clearly definitions could be useful. Maybe like an information page about the league and its setup. If that exists, I have not seen it and I apologize. Then again, if its exists and I haven't seen it, that too is an issue that needs to be resolved. Make things like that more obvious.

3) I would say more teams could be a welcome addition, since we could then break the conferences down further, into divisions, which could add a new dynamic to the league: legitimate rivalries. As I said, I'm pretty new here, but I don't think that the competitive aspect of the game is really all there. By adding another 2 teams per conference and creating divisions, the league could develop as a competition much more. This could help with retention and recreation rates. I understand that this will take time, but I think it's a change that would be well worth the effort.

[tMuse]

1) Change the sim so it stops bullying us down in Sarasosta 

[Matty7478]

First of all, I will start this off by saying that I am glad for the change in name overall. It makes sense for the league from an image standpoint and as such I feel this change was something that had to be done. It’ll be tough to stop calling it the ‘NSFL’ but we’ll get there eventually and grow better because of it.

Now, onto what I feel is next on my list of importance for changes, and I am choosing to focus on something that is already being implemented behind the scenes; that is, the changing of website and move away from Jcink. Jcink definitely has its issues as the home of our league in many different ways, and it goes without saying that we have all but outgrown its constraints by this point. With a change in forum towards a new website - similar to ones used by affiliates like SHL - we can grow at an improved pace and get new players more interested in the league without getting turned away by outdated, clunky website design.

On top of this, another system I would like to be implemented (and I know is likely on the docket for management as well) is the automation of tasks that are currently unnecessarily manual. Namely, one of the biggest things that we should look to automate is that of the Banking system; being able to track your bank account from the site and make transactions automatically would serve to make things easier for both sides of the table - banking team and players alike - and once again, make it easier for new players to keep track of.

Code:

276 words

Oh another thing outside of word count cause I don’t know how to fix this one easily: change sim pls lmap

[slothfacekilla]

I'm definitely not the person to ask about making important league changes, I think the powers that be have it well in hand and are all way smarter than me. I really can't think of any pressing things I would want to change, I'm enjoying the league right now. I guess one thing I would change if it were easy would be to get a new sim engine. A small change, I know! But with the media series looking into the sim engine's code, the engine is pretty alarming to me especially with the rules attached to speed which is king in our league. I feel like in a way things are made "worse" now that the general population knows about the weird nuances of the code (I certainly didn't know it before the media). Now people are going to be able to optimize their speed even more. We've seen how OP Armstrong is keeping his speed at a certain point, and it will probably only be more widespread to other positions now with the code out there. So I would see if there would be a better engine we could switch to. But I know it is a pipe dream, and I wouldn't even really necessarily want to do it. I just needed to fill out this PT.
Also I would make it so Slothlisberger was MVP every season, that's an important one.

234 words

[SchwarzNarr]

There are a lot of things the league already does well, but I think there are a lot of changes that could be beneficial as well. One of the biggest, which I know the league is working on, is to have a better navigation on the forums and websites. Hopefully, with a migration over to a new site, this will be achieved.

One of the next and biggest things that I think the league could benefit from is more open communication. There are many people who have a lot of jobs and moving pieces, and yet sometimes it seems as though those parts are busy putting out fires and can’t necessarily communicate it. The biggest piece that comes to mind was when the sim was late this season. While Bex is trying to figure out what is happening as Commish (and as is her job) she’s also having to manage the ISFL chat and attempt to communicate what happened. The ISFL community deserves the open communication, but the Commish also deserves to fix the issue without trying to do both - you can’t do both. By creating a team of community managers, it allows players to contact someone knowing their sole job is to chat. Community admin can moderate between all of the moving pieces in the league, and it allows players ONE (or one team) of people to chat with, as opposed to every person within each party. I see questions all the time about who they should ask or talk to. By allowing users one set answer, it can ease user frustrations.

I also would love to see a tweak to Trivia, where users opt in, get random questions messaged to them, and then need to respond to them. I think it would be a great way to make Trivia more than just a copy and paste point task. The idea of removing trivia completely is one that makes me sad, and by creating a situation where users wouldn't inherently have the same questions actually allows for conversations and discussions about how to navigate the site, the wiki, and the history of the league.

[Rusfan]

Watching all games this season I have noticed that HFA is very inconsistent in how it seems to effect the games, sometimes a team who has no business beating a different team blows them out, sometimes it doesn't seem to give much of an advantage at all. If I had one suggestion it would be to do whatever possible to balance that out.

I would also like to see the OT rules updated, assuming that's even possible. We saw this most recently play out In the NOLA AZ game, wherein just one drive a NOLA field goal ended the contest. I would like to see those rules updated to either an NCAA-style rule set or modern NFL rules where first drives can only end after a TD.

Finaly, I would also like a speed up in the offseason schedule. The few weeks doesn't need to be quite as long as it is, and one way I would do that is just dump the preseason entirely. Its uses in real life don't exactly apply to a virtual simulation, and thus we could save a few days without it being on the schedule. That or just shortening certain gaps, like taking out the community events in the offseason and putting them over the weekends during the year, to bridge the 2-day gap between games not he weekends.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[Memento Mori]

I think that, overall, our HO does a really good job. The league is in a great place and is continuing to grow. But something has bugged me ever since I joined the league. I think the fact that HO decides who should join HO is a deeply flawed system. I understand the pros of this – HO needs to know that they can work with the prospective new member, etc. but a system like this will inevitably lead to current HO appointing new members who are similar to themselves. You’re more likely to want to work with Candidate A, who you’re very close with on account that the two of you are similar people who share similar opinions, than Candidate B who you’re not as close with because while their views aren’t incompatible with yours, they are distinct. This isn’t a criticism of HO, it’s an unconscious bias that afflicts almost everyone (see this article for a great explanation).

Why is this a problem? Because everyone is flawed. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. If HO ends up being comprised of five very similar people, HO may excel in one or several ways but be much weaker in another. Two very obvious, extreme examples: HO could be five techies who bring huge improvements to the index, banking, the forums etc. but who lack good communication skills and don’t communicate effectively enough with the community and don’t implement the improvements the community actually wanted. Or, HO could be five excellent communicators who are great at listening to the community’s thoughts and concerns but lack the practical skills to act on them.

I think some sort of hybrid system where another body (some sort of committee of long-time users perhaps? But how would we select those?) works with HO and the community – with a community vote being a part of it, possibly – to appoint the best candidates to HO. I’m not sure exactly what that process should look like. But I think the current system is a potential problem, and solutions are worth exploring.

(like 300 and something words I don't remember)

[SaborTheWaverunner]

PBE PT