[div align=\\\"center\\\"]READY TO BE GRADED
Regal Rookie Royals Roundtable
An Imaginative Interrogative Introspective Discussion with Rookie Royals[/div]
Welcome everyone to another edition of myself helping users that are in the same position as I was last year. I came into this league on a whim, ergo I did not have much inclination on how day to day operations went. Nor did I fully understand how to take advantage of my player and become a guaranteed first round pick in the drafts. I have been steadily, often quietly, absorbing as much knowledge as I can. The league moves fast, just last month, I was a wide-eyed rookie and now I’m taking my experiences and mistakes and using those to help new(er) users that might be under similar circumstances as I was. We know how the saying goes, you want your seeds, or proteges, to become better than you were. That’s my goal, to ensure that people that came after me, will have much better rookie experiences than I did.
Which brings us to this little roundtable expose idea I decided to drum up after viewing other players interviews on the site. There are a lot of players, over three hundred, and not everyone is free to explore each team as thoroughly as they would like, even if they have designated scouts. I should know, based on how scouting went for my NSFL draft, I could joke that I must have hurt California in my past life. So instead of letting my rookies hang in the air and wait for messages, I decided to bring their stock to the public. Receive an honest view of each user’s profile and their behavior up to the past week when I pieced this together. Speaking of which, let us introduce our three guests for the day:
Our first guest, by way of reddit, standing at a towering 6’5 (1.96 m), 300 lb. (136 kg), born in Lakeland, Florida and a Florida Gator (they do the Tomahawk Chop don’t they?) --- welcome our starting defensive end, #81, Harrison Andrews (user abh89). As Harrison makes his way down to the room (social distancing, wear a mask, keep 6 feet, and practice good hygiene), let us briefly summarize his player up to DSFL week 11:
o Position – Defensive End
o TPE – 193(21st OVR, 3rd DE [only 4 DE’s > 180])
o Money - $10,753.600
o 25 TCK, 2 TFL
Some quick notes about Harrison, he grew up as a dual threat, being able to play TE and DE in high school before winning a national championship at the University of Florida. Harrison since has position switched to defensive end while with the Royals. Despite not having the gaudy numbers, Harrsion’s production has been critical to a d-line that is the Royal’s one weak point of inactivity. Harrison has always been a good teammate and never displayed any displeasure with his new career change. Harrison is not a 24/7 user but he’s always willing to help, and he was one of the first people that helped me with my other articles this season, and I had to return the favor.
The second guest joining us today is the lucid left-hander from the left coast. Gliding in all the way from Oregon, also joining the league via reddit, with one of the most interesting name combinations in the league is Wide Receiver out of the University of Oregon (that’s Beavers, right?), #13 Gunner Thornbjornsson (user Z-Whiz). The 6’2 (1.86 m), 210 lb (95 kg) route runner specialist had a slow start to the season, but his production has ramped up over the past week, averaging 5.75 rec and 69.5 yds the last 4 games. As he makes his way down (social distancing, wear a mask, keep 6 feet, and practice good hygiene), here is a brief overview of Gunner’s season:
o Position – WR
o TPE – 194 (20th Overall, 4th out of 5 total active WR)
o Money - $31,669,115
o 36 rec. | 447 yds.(12th) | long of 33 yds | 0 PENALTIES
Z-Whiz has become a known name, not simply for the uniqueness and complexity, but for his willingness to catch up and keep pace with the other players around the DSFL. Z-Whiz has tried his hand around the league to earn money, including writing several articles recapping the progress of his WR group, never sulking over the fact he has not scored a TD yet, and writing about his success in our sim challenges hosted by Slyphreni. Z also has an infatuation with graphics. I’m not a big graphics guys unless it’s MS Paint, but he has been creating a good share of graphics. Like abh89, Z has helped me on other articles so I’m helping him out too.
Our third and final guest, one half of the Royals Linebacker Legion of Loud Hits, hailing in from Topeka, KS via Alabama (that’s War Eagle, right?), measuring in at 6’5 (1.96 m) 265 (120 kg), the future sim god, Coors --- I mean Bud Lime ---- I mean Busch Light (user Crow19). As our guests all settle in (social distancing, wear a mask, keep 6 feet, and practice good hygiene), throw up the graphic of Crow’s profile:
o Position – LB
o TPE – 206 (16th OVR, 5th LB with 49 pt gap to 6th)
o Money - $13, 434, 850
o 76 TCK (2nd Team |14th DSFL | 15th LB’s)
o 2 TFL, 3 SCK, 2 FF, 6 PD (T-13th DSFL), Safety
I won’t spoil it yet, but it’s no surprise why many opponents have gotten entangled by our very own Busch. A man on a mission with big ambition to prove he’ll be in the hall of fame one day. Crow has been all positives in our locker room. One of the smartest users who likes to fiddle around with the sim in hopes of eschewing his name as one of the greatest testers in the league.
Busch is already trimming his character to perfection by completing various tests in his free time, including the “Intelligence Versus Strength” article. Theirs is no coincidence that the Royals wins up to this point have come when Busch was his biggest and covering as much area as he could to provide opponents from penetrating up the gut with ease for sleazy, cheap scores. In 3 of the Royals wins, Busch shotgunned our wild ride back to playoff contention with 22 tackles, 2 sacks, and fumble recovery, and a safety. The most unbelievable part is that he is a clear second on our LB depth chart, yet he still produces weekly, and has no qualms about sharing the load and swapping spotlight with his partner in crime.
I think I’ve talked enough at this point. My guests should be in the spotlight right now and start this conversation already. If you read up to this point, then I thank you for being a dedicated reader. If you want the too long did not read version, then you are stinky boo-boo and should not read anything before this point.
The_Kidd:
1. How much experience do you guys have with sim leagues in general? Are you all brand new?
Z-Whiz:
The day I stepped foot on the field for the prospect bowl was my first game in any sim league at all. So that would classify me as brand new. I wasn't too concerned though, as I'm a pretty quick study with these sort of things.
Crow19:
This is actually my first time. I had never even heard of this sort of league prior to joining. When all of the quarantine stuff started, I actually joined a connected franchise on Madden. Turns out I really like football, but I am really bad at Madden. That's when I started looking around for something else to do to preoccupy me and going the ISFL.
Don't worry, Madden has been trash for over a decade. They like adding a million polygons but a guy just won a huge tournament using Tress Way at QB because he was left-handed, and the game is biased to right-hand QB mechanics. I think we can agree that most game developers need a kick in the butt and stop chasing pay to win and microtransaction gambling models. But at least we have all migrated here together.
abh89:
I'm 100% a sim league newbie. I had no idea leagues like this existed. Now that I'm in the league and on the Discord servers regularly, I see that there are several simulation leagues for all different sports. Football is really my favorite sport by a sizeable margin so it's what I'm going to focus my time on now, but I could see myself giving one of the affiliate leagues a try at some point.
I'm also a newbie, we are all brand new, it’s very common around here, especially with all the change in the real world right now. I have only been here 3-4 weeks longer too, it's funny because I joined after the biggest draft class, but I joined on accident. I like to play football, but if there was a soccer sim, I'd jump on that ASAP. I help coach Junior High and Rec League bball in real life though.
abh89:
It's funny you mention coaching rec sports. I just coached flag football for the first time last year. We didn't do too well, but it was a great experience and I hope to do it again in the fall.
Yeah, coaching is fun when you can instill a playbook and watch it unfold, it's just some of these children are hard-headed and spoiled. Our team crushed in football but we fell short in bball, we had a lot of egos and undisciplined players despite being one of the fastest and most athletic teams.
abh89:
You are absolutely right. It was really fun creating a playbook and watching it come to life in front of you. Balancing out the personalities was one of the more challenging aspects of coaching for me personally. I had a couple superstar divas that gave me headaches on occasion but were incredible athletes. Trying to keep everyone happy, including the parents, was more difficult than I expected.
I swear parents don’t want to commit to the actual challenge of coaching and then want to be Phil Jackson at every game. Then there are others who played semi-pro or lettered at big D1 school and you cannot suggest anything to them. Thankfully, our parents knew their children were bad, haha.
abh89:
As frustrating as it was at times, one of the most rewarding experiences though was speaking to each of the parents after the season and being told by so many of them that they would be requesting me to be their child's coach next season.
It's like a rite of passage to be put through that fire and then be rewarded with the great compliments.
2. How did all of you manage to find your own way here? I’ve skimmed through all of your prospect pages so I’m curious to hear these answers. Abh, you are a big Florida guy and Crow is a Bama fan so that’s why I have Z in the middle, to keep everything civil.
Crow19:
Actually, I was not always a big Alabama fan. I'm originally from Chicago but went to Alabama for college. They really indoctrinate you down there. I love Alabama football, and being a lifelong Chicago Bears fan, it is really nice watching a team that consistently wins. Not to mention Nick Saban runs that program perfectly. He means business and it is nice to have a coach that focuses on the football.
Yeah, the Bears aren’t the worst, but they could be better. At least they have a super bowl winning QB and don’t have to pay 500 million for him. Abh, you are blue-blood Florida to the core, right?
abh89:
Absolutely, I'm a huge Florida Gator fan and Florida sports fan as a whole, including the Miami Dolphins. I was browsing r/MiamiDolphins one day and came across a post by FuriousPanda inviting users to join the league for the upcoming season. As a football fanatic, it sounded like something right up my alley, so I dove right in.
Shoutout to Furious_Panda @[furious_panda] and the reddit recruitment team. I also joined from reddit, but from the regular r/nfl sub. I believe Z-Whiz(Gunner) also joined from r/dolphins, are you two aware of this connection?
abh89:
I am aware Z-Whiz joined from the same subreddit. It's something we've discussed a bit and I think it's part of the reason we mesh pretty well. I've also heard there are a handful of others from that same subreddit but I haven't discovered them all yet.
It’s definitely is a small world out here. Z for a person big on Oregon, how did you end up here, and then playing for London?
Z-Whiz:
Yeah, it's crazy every time I go back to Oregon, not just the Eugene area, people are stopping me to ask for pictures and autographs. I was born and raised in that area, so that's all I've known. It's so humbling. London was one of the teams that reached out to me pre-draft and, despite being half way across the world, was one of the places I was hoping would draft me. If you can't tell by my name, my family is from Norway. So we're big on the other kid of football as well. London has such a great scene and I feel at home already.
Did you know abh89 --- Harrison Andrews was also on r/dolphins? You both Phins fans?
Z-Whiz:
I knew there were a couple[Dolphins Fans] on the Royals but wasn’t sure which ones.
Yeah, we know how much the Patriots cheat and will suck now that QB #12 is gone. And people still think the Cowboys fans are the worst, ha! Anyway, I don’t want to sully this great talk with such rancid topic. Moving on, there’s something else I noticed when checking how you guys got here, and I’m looking at you Crow. You have a friendship with iStegosauruz, correct? Did that start here or from prior endeavors?
Crow19:
Oh yeah, Steg and I are actually going to be Brother in Laws next June when I marry his sister. We went to Alabama together and he introduced me to the ISFL.
Oh wow, that's cool. How did that convo start? Were you all hanging out and then he just is like "Bro, come look at this game I'm the God at?"
Crow19:
Kinda, he did not reveal how big of a deal he was in the league. He just said it was fun and there was a good group of people, great way to pass the time. He finally convinced me to join after a couple weeks.
Well I guess we know who's going #1 now, if you can’t be the Steg --- marry into his family and get as much brain power as possible, haha. I think that might be the most interesting recruitment story we'll have for some time.
Crow19:
Yeah! He helped me figure out the sim early on which was super helpful.
3. Have any of you position switched? If so, what prompted you to position switch? If a team covered it, would you switch again or switch at all for the first time?
abh89:
When creating my player to begin with, I wasn't 100% sure what position to pick. I landed on TE as that was the position I played primarily in real life. I had interest and experience with multiple other positions though, and once I heard switching was a possibility, I made it clear I was willing to switch. The need presented itself in London, so I jumped on it. I've really enjoyed being on the DL, but I wouldn't rule out switching for my ISFL team if they covered the cost.
DE isn’t as flashy as other positions, so it’s great to see some guys not warped into chasing individual numbers. Unlike you Crow, playing LB brings a lot of eyes to the stat sheet. Do you enjoy the LB position? Lots of big stats, but would you to position switch in the future?
Crow19:
Linebacker is awesome. I love seeing Busch Light rack up stats every week. So far no interceptions, but every week there's a possibility. I know he had a bunch of tackles, a handful of sacks, and even a safety. It makes the games really fun knowing how crazy his stat like could be. Not to mention on the Royals we have such a solid group of linebackers. It is cool to see who is going to come out on top every week. I do not think I want to switch positions, but I am not completely against it. If I did I would still want to be on defense, probably safety or corner. But I would rather just be a linebacker or play out of position.
Now Z, you are a WR? Offensive skill positions can be easily saturated, so why did you choose wide receiver, and do you plan to stay a wide receiver until you hang up those cleats?
Z-Whiz:
If you don't know much about me, I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm a bit of a flashy/cocky kind of guy. It's gotten me in to trouble in the past, but I've learned my lessons. The easiest place to show off in peewee and high school was WR. I was faster than everyone and there's nothing quite like making a defender trip over themselves as you high step into the end zone. My mentality is I'm better than the guy opposite of me, and I'm going to make his game a living hell. But as for staying at WR, sure that'd be great. But ultimately, I'm a well rounded team player. I'll go wherever the team needs me. One things for sure, as soon as my cleats hit the turf, I'mma ball out.
4. I’m glad you guys are enjoying everything so far, but let’s rewind a bit. I know I had problems when I first joined. Have you had any difficulties with the league? Do you keep up with any of the news or users?
abh89:
I had some difficulty figuring out everything I could do to improve my player very early on in my career, but I've settled in since then and figured out a system that works for me to not miss out on TPE opportunities. The timeline of the seasons versus real time is something I'm still adjusting to. When you think of a returning player, you think of someone that's been there for a while, when often times that may not be the case in the ISFL/DSFL due to how short the seasons are.
Crow19:
No problems so far. When I first started though it was insane. I thought the forums were so confusing, I did not know how anyone could keep everything straight. All it took was a couple weeks though and some questions in the rookie discord to get everything straight.
Z-Whiz:
Man, at first the league was really hard. I was WR3 on the depth chart and we were losing every game in a heartbreaking fashion. I came from a very successful college, so this type of thing was new to me. It was a mental grind, but my teammates and I have put in the work and we're starting to turn things around. It's been a lot more fun. I'm just as excited watching my teammates like Harrison and Busch gets sacks as I am hauling in a big reception myself. We have a really good team chemistry over here and it shows on gameday.
Sounds like similar issues cycle with each wave of new people. Z, did anything off the field, in discord or the forums, throw you for a loop? I joined by accident, what about you? What pushed to this league?
Z-Whiz:
This is embarrassing, but yeah, just using discord and the forums through me for a loop. I'd never used Discord and have only been a lurker on forums, so the whole process was new to me. I missed a bunch of messages from GM's trying to scout me because I was only searching on the forum and they were only reaching out on Discord. It was only when one of them contacted me on the forum asking why I hadn't responded on Discord that I realized my mistake. I had blown off a bunch of GMs, so I tried answering quickly, but the draft was close and my stock had fallen. Oops. I wouldn't say it was an accident. I was scanning through r/dolphins and someone posted about a sim league. I've always like the "be a pro" modes in Fifa and Madden, so I figured I'd give this a whirl.
It's cool, I made almost the same exact mistakes as you and dropped in the DSFL draft but look how I managed. But we’re going to make sure you’re even more prepared than we were for the big draft.
5. Enough for now about the stressful parts of the league, what about the positive, enticing aspects of the league? What do you enjoy most about the league, and as your respective player?
Z-Whiz:
Easy question for me. I enjoy winning. That's my number 1. Again, if it's a win because the defense pitches a shutout, I'm happy. If it's cuz I have a career game, I'm also happy. At the end of the day, I just want to win. On a personal level, I've really enjoyed the impact I've made in the last 3-4 games. I haven't scored any TD's put I'm averaging 5-6 catches and 70ish yards. A few have come on 3rd or 4th downs that resulted in the team going on to score after I extended the drive.
abh89:
The excitement of gameday is easily the best part of the league for me. The short amount of time where you get to see all your efforts throughout the week get put to the test against your opponent and find out of it was enough. Not far behind that though is the friendships you develop along the way and the interactions with those people on a day to day basis about wide ranges of topics. I also really enjoy working with the other members of the London War Room and digging deep into the strategy for each game and tweaking our strategy to maximize our win percentages week by week. It really adds a new level of accomplishment when we come away with a win.
Yeah, finding another community that cares about sports on a strategical level like this that isn’t filled with hot takes left and right has been a huge benefit. And being apart of the team reminds me of when I used to tweak playbooks and design plays on the older EA games. However, sometimes seeing all these data charts give me PTSD to when I had to explain z-score and standard deviation for the 100th time, even though if you read the book and followed the example, you didn’t need me to tutor it.
Crow19:
I feel for you, as I love the statistics and simulations involved in the league. I am big into data analysis and large-n quantitative studies, and with this platform you can tweak a single attribute and see how it affects the results. It is really cool and provides a lot of opportunities for interesting experiments. It is also a great way to demonstrate a lot of basic regression techniques. As for my player, it really is all about the stats for me. That and hopefully winning some championships. I want to go out and be the best each week. Whatever scheme I can be put into to be a game changer, that is where I want to be.
6. Looking into the future, for the brighter lights, teams like people that can contribute in some fashion. As a user, do you have any skills, in any capacity, that could improve the league?
Crow19:
Well as you could probably tell, I have experience with data analysis. Life can get pretty busy, and I have a crappy computer, but when I find the time I like to run sims and analyze results of different set ups. This kind of information could definitely be helpful for rule changes in the future.
abh89:
I work in the technology world as a network engineer in real life, so I am a fairly technical person, but at this point I haven't quite identified a way I can use my skills to improve the league as a whole. Of course, as I learn more about the league and how it operates that could easily change.
Just so you know, from what I've briefly seen, there's a lot of work on the back end here. The forums, wiki, tpe tracker, index, streaming, and probably much more I'm missing. I'm sure there will be something that catches your eye.
Z-Whiz:
I'm pretty usefully with most things computers. I can't write coding or anything advanced like that, but I'm good at taking complicated things and streamlining them into an easier process. I'm a fairly creative type, so even if I can't perform the task myself, I could provide my opinion.
That’s cool too. Everybody doesn’t need to be a Spec, Exi, Steg, Jpach, IsaStar, TomHanks, or all those great people that keep the league in top shape. Just keeping everyone active and engaged in any aspect is the end goal.
7. Now for some hard-hitting questions. Aside from me (lmao), how do you generate money?
Crow19:
Haha, yeah I appreciate you helping me out. I have written some media articles in the past. What I really want to do is complete some larger scale analyses and write them up, but it really comes down to time. Other than that, I like hanging out at the ISFL casino. Hoping I can make some money from that and user bets as well. Any given week I am sure to want to bet on something.
Z-Whiz:
Yeah, I appreciate you stepping up and help us rookies generate a solid income. It was a good starting point to buy that fancy equipment. It also gave me an opportunity to show I'm willing to put in the work and grind for that cash. I've written a least one article a week and submitted about 6 graphics. Twitter is also easy money and that funds my expensive training. Not to brag, but I've managed to get up to just under $50m in my bank account in my first year in the league.
abh89:
I prefer to focus on analysis pieces but haven't been struggling to find a topic to devote my time to recently. I am also teaching myself how to create graphics using Gimp, but the time it takes me right now versus the money it returns is not very efficient for me. Of course, I also use Twitter heavily and earn as much as I can from there as its way too easy to pass up and is usually good for a few laughs.
For graphics, have you guys talked to Noka @[nokozoa], Kolt @KoltClassic, Infinite @infinitempg, and I believe Enigmatic @enigmatic? I know there are many more, but the discord is small and accessible but open and massive space where information overflows the moment we turn on. These people are the main people you want to get in touch with for graphics assistance. Sorry, if I forgot someone, I’m still new here too!
abh89:
I will definitely be on the lookout for ways to contribute that align with my skills and interests and hopefully allow me to earn money more consistently. I want to be sure I don't take away from the time I can contribute to my team too much though as our success will be the focal point for me. I haven't spoken with any of the people you mentioned, but a few of them have been recommended to me on multiple occasions so I suppose it's something I should seriously consider. I really do like the idea of creating more graphics as it's fun to do and the outcomes are thing I can use personally as sigs or profile pictures on Twitter. I know as I get better it may be easier to earn this way, but for now that's not the case.
Z-Whiz:
I haven't been in touch with any of the graphic's guys yet aside from their grading comments on my sets of graphics. Graphics are a little bit harder for me to do, but the end results is more rewarding than writing articles. With graphics, you've got something you can look at, something tangible. With media, it's a compilation of words that take a while to read and understand. It's easier money for sure, but I don't feel as accomplished.
8. I read just about all of the articles you all have written. ABH, I saw that London was your favorite team. How did that come to? Do you have a favorite ISFL team?
abh89:
That's an interesting one for me. I was scouted by other teams before I heard from London, but the fit and chemistry I felt when joined the London locker room was unmatched by that of the other teams. It also seemed fitting that London a newer team and I was a new user. I don't really have a favorite ISFL team at the moment, but there are certain teams that come to mind first. I'll keep that a mystery at the moment though. As scouting kicks into gear I'm sure my opinion will start to evolve the way it did prior to the DSFL draft, however.
Crow, after reading your stuff, I see you have a little groove flowing. How did that come to? You enjoy playing around with the sim?
Crow19:
That is awesome. I am glad that a couple people are reading the stuff I have written. The honest answer is if I am going to keep improving my player to be as competitive as I want him to be, I have to keep making money. I really do want to keep learning more about the sim and provide some new information that others (or at least my team) can utilize.
Do you see War Room in your future? Perhaps help with index, or the guys that head to the Wolverine Studios Q &A's to ask for simple improvements like 79 speed hack or QB penalties on pass plays?
Crow19:
Oh I want to be in the war room wherever I'm at, no doubt. I'm not sure I'm gonna reach out to Wolverine Studios any time soon. But I need a league job and I want to be involved in any team that I end up on.
The more we learn about the sim (and how broken it is) the less we know, the learning paradox we all coalesce in. Someone has to fight the good fight though. Z, is writing the easiest route for you? You seem to write a good amount.
Z-Whiz:
I appreciate the comments! I'm new here so everyone just skips over my articles which is a little annoying. Over time I hope more people start to read and digest what I have to say, because I think it's important. I've always been a good writer growing up. It comes easy to me and is a good creative outlet. I used to just keep everything locked up inside my head, but that's not healthy. I can drive a grown man insane...which may actually explain my behavior in the past.
9. What keeps all of you engaged and interactive the most with the league?
Crow19:
Probably checking those stat lines after every week. I am always checking out the top defensive players page on the index. I'm really jealous of Juan Domine sitting at the top of the leaderboard with tackles, but at the same time I am really happy it is another Royal linebacker. When I got drafted by the Royals Syl said it was a linebacker factory and he really was not kidding.
Hey there’s nothing wrong with healthy competition. That’s extra motivation to keep users on edge to make their mark in the league. I’m glad that London crafts linebackers like Arizona State would produce Girls Gone Wild prospects. Syl would agree, it is safe to say that LBoTY is staying in England this year and will remain here, There’s some wide-eyed LB that will read this and want to follow in your steps, and win LBoTY for London next season --- so know that your comeuppance is in full effect. ABH, you’re very humble but I know you got a big burning fire within you.
abh89:
For me right now it's a combination of trying to make my player the best possible player he can be and also to maximize my team's chances of winning every game possible. I really want to win that Ultimini. I also really enjoy the weekly Simmer School challenges that Sylphreni has been putting on as it's added a nice competitive dynamic amongst myself and my teammates.
Z-Whiz:
Game day. And if it's not a game day, I'm helping in the War Room to prep for the game day. I'm a big numbers/analytics guy. There's nothing like getting the results of a new strategy and it's improved your teams chance to win by 5-10%. That's just exhilarating. Sure, the sim will still sim, but percentages always even out. The Royals locker room is also really fun to be in. There's a lot of veteran capped players (like you) who have taught us new bloods the lay of the land. No one takes themselves too seriously, so it's a fun community to be around.
10. Me? Veteran? I know there’s some re-creates that are laughing with me about that, but I’m glad I been able to help. Being a locker room leader was a goal for me this season. I have to add that the simmer school was a great addition by Syl @Sylphreni to help all of us get better acquainted with the ins and out of the team(s). Do any of you have any ideas for improvement in the league or any goals for yourself? On and off the field?
abh89:
There are some old, stale components of the league like the forum hosting site that could certainly be updated or changed. There are also components such as the bank spreadsheet that seem to be at capacity in their current deployment that need to be migrated or redesigned to work more efficiently with the ever expanding userbase. My short-term goal is just to be a contributing member of an ISFL team's war room. Once you've seen behind the curtain at what goes into making a team operate, it seems like much less fun to go back to how it was when I started.
Crow19:
I think that the league looks pretty good. I wish there were more job opportunities available. I am really looking for a consistent way to make money in the league but I have not seen any available jobs in a while. As for goals, I'm going I get drafted high into the ISFL. I was drafted #14 overall into the DSFL and I hope I can beat that. Other than that, I want Ultiminis, Ultimi, MVPs, LBOTY, I want to fill my trophy case.
LB can be a highly coveted position where top dogs go up right away. Do you want to get to the NSFL as fast as you can? Are you prepared to possibly stay in our regal locker room for an extra season or two until the big boys are ready to call you up?
Crow19:
I see the positives to both scenarios. Getting called up to the big leagues right away would be awesome. I would love to compete with the best of them. On the other hand, I love the Royals and would have absolutely no problem playing for them another year. Who knows, back to back Ultiminis?
Our Royal alum, @[AcuraSkyline] Acura Skyline runs the bank, so you could ping him in our own locker room. "Ping" - that's some ISFL jargon that I have picked up since joining.
Z-Whiz:
Personal goals, I would love to win a WR of the Year award. That's probably the most realistic as if I have some crazy good year, the QB would probably win the MVP. That's just the way the league goes. More important to me is winning an Ultimus. That's the Holy Grail. No one can take that from you and once you get your hands on it, you're etched in history as a winner.
WR can be a funny position, there is a long progression curve and can be saturated at times. Are you prepared to possibly stay in our regal locker room for an extra season or two until the big boys are ready to call you up?
Z-Whiz:
Absolutely. I am loving it down here. Everyone is so supportive and I've gotten really involved with off field stuff. Now, don't get me wrong, I want to be in the big leagues, so if a GM calls and says, "we're drafting you, and you're starting right away." I'm snatching that opportunity. But that may not be reality. I was warned early on that offensive skilled players tend to stay down in the DSFL for a few seasons, so I've already wrapped my head around it. It will give me time to learn more about the league and become a better player when I eventually join the ISFL.
Well, we have a mixed bag of responses, as expected. Firstly, the forum will be migrating to a new base in the upcoming future, so we all have that to look forwards to. I’m sure jobs will open up as people move on, and non-Americans get back to regular life. I’m glad we have guys eager to clean up at the wards shows. There’s nothing wrong with being a little selfish as long as you put the team first when it matters most.
11. What do you value most in a team? Are there any teams you have found yourself gravitating towards you?
Crow19:
At this point I am really open to wherever I end up. I want to win, but I am okay with a team that is building. If I have to be on a bad team for two or three seasons to set them up for long term success I am fine with that. I want to be involved with strategy. I am really looking for a fun environment. I have been scouted by a hand full of teams, but I am still waiting to see which one jumps out at me. Before the DSFL draft I was very confident I was going to be a Royal, and I do not think I could have found a better fit. I want that when I get drafted to the ISFL.
Z-Whiz:
This is an equation to me. The end goal is winning, but how to get there is a little more complicated as talent can only get you so far. I think good chemistry goes a long way towards winning. If the team can come together for the common good and not only work hard for themselves, but also for the guys standing next to them, they will start winning.
Are there any questions about the league or any clarification you want to air out for me or for any piqued minds that read and have the power to help?
Z-Whiz:
Yeah, I've always been curious why the league sticks with DDSF16 when there's two newer versions out. Not to mention, the older version cannot be downloaded. Surely the 2020 version is better, no? Maybe I'm just a dumb rookie.
I believe that has to do mainly with the lack of fixed bugs from the older versions. Like most video games these days, especially in the sports genre, the marginal aesthetic upgrades for the current year is not worth the hefty price tag. Hasn’t been worth it for several years. Well, I think we squeezed enough out of each other this time, so for Crow19, abh89, and Z-Whiz --- I’m The_Kidd signing off hoping that you bring peace to every piece you can.
Credit: 32% equally to abh89 / Z-Whiz / Crow19 / and the other 4% to The_Kidd
WC: 6755
Regal Rookie Royals Roundtable
An Imaginative Interrogative Introspective Discussion with Rookie Royals[/div]
Welcome everyone to another edition of myself helping users that are in the same position as I was last year. I came into this league on a whim, ergo I did not have much inclination on how day to day operations went. Nor did I fully understand how to take advantage of my player and become a guaranteed first round pick in the drafts. I have been steadily, often quietly, absorbing as much knowledge as I can. The league moves fast, just last month, I was a wide-eyed rookie and now I’m taking my experiences and mistakes and using those to help new(er) users that might be under similar circumstances as I was. We know how the saying goes, you want your seeds, or proteges, to become better than you were. That’s my goal, to ensure that people that came after me, will have much better rookie experiences than I did.
Which brings us to this little roundtable expose idea I decided to drum up after viewing other players interviews on the site. There are a lot of players, over three hundred, and not everyone is free to explore each team as thoroughly as they would like, even if they have designated scouts. I should know, based on how scouting went for my NSFL draft, I could joke that I must have hurt California in my past life. So instead of letting my rookies hang in the air and wait for messages, I decided to bring their stock to the public. Receive an honest view of each user’s profile and their behavior up to the past week when I pieced this together. Speaking of which, let us introduce our three guests for the day:
Our first guest, by way of reddit, standing at a towering 6’5 (1.96 m), 300 lb. (136 kg), born in Lakeland, Florida and a Florida Gator (they do the Tomahawk Chop don’t they?) --- welcome our starting defensive end, #81, Harrison Andrews (user abh89). As Harrison makes his way down to the room (social distancing, wear a mask, keep 6 feet, and practice good hygiene), let us briefly summarize his player up to DSFL week 11:
o Position – Defensive End
o TPE – 193(21st OVR, 3rd DE [only 4 DE’s > 180])
o Money - $10,753.600
o 25 TCK, 2 TFL
Some quick notes about Harrison, he grew up as a dual threat, being able to play TE and DE in high school before winning a national championship at the University of Florida. Harrison since has position switched to defensive end while with the Royals. Despite not having the gaudy numbers, Harrsion’s production has been critical to a d-line that is the Royal’s one weak point of inactivity. Harrison has always been a good teammate and never displayed any displeasure with his new career change. Harrison is not a 24/7 user but he’s always willing to help, and he was one of the first people that helped me with my other articles this season, and I had to return the favor.
The second guest joining us today is the lucid left-hander from the left coast. Gliding in all the way from Oregon, also joining the league via reddit, with one of the most interesting name combinations in the league is Wide Receiver out of the University of Oregon (that’s Beavers, right?), #13 Gunner Thornbjornsson (user Z-Whiz). The 6’2 (1.86 m), 210 lb (95 kg) route runner specialist had a slow start to the season, but his production has ramped up over the past week, averaging 5.75 rec and 69.5 yds the last 4 games. As he makes his way down (social distancing, wear a mask, keep 6 feet, and practice good hygiene), here is a brief overview of Gunner’s season:
o Position – WR
o TPE – 194 (20th Overall, 4th out of 5 total active WR)
o Money - $31,669,115
o 36 rec. | 447 yds.(12th) | long of 33 yds | 0 PENALTIES
Z-Whiz has become a known name, not simply for the uniqueness and complexity, but for his willingness to catch up and keep pace with the other players around the DSFL. Z-Whiz has tried his hand around the league to earn money, including writing several articles recapping the progress of his WR group, never sulking over the fact he has not scored a TD yet, and writing about his success in our sim challenges hosted by Slyphreni. Z also has an infatuation with graphics. I’m not a big graphics guys unless it’s MS Paint, but he has been creating a good share of graphics. Like abh89, Z has helped me on other articles so I’m helping him out too.
Our third and final guest, one half of the Royals Linebacker Legion of Loud Hits, hailing in from Topeka, KS via Alabama (that’s War Eagle, right?), measuring in at 6’5 (1.96 m) 265 (120 kg), the future sim god, Coors --- I mean Bud Lime ---- I mean Busch Light (user Crow19). As our guests all settle in (social distancing, wear a mask, keep 6 feet, and practice good hygiene), throw up the graphic of Crow’s profile:
o Position – LB
o TPE – 206 (16th OVR, 5th LB with 49 pt gap to 6th)
o Money - $13, 434, 850
o 76 TCK (2nd Team |14th DSFL | 15th LB’s)
o 2 TFL, 3 SCK, 2 FF, 6 PD (T-13th DSFL), Safety
I won’t spoil it yet, but it’s no surprise why many opponents have gotten entangled by our very own Busch. A man on a mission with big ambition to prove he’ll be in the hall of fame one day. Crow has been all positives in our locker room. One of the smartest users who likes to fiddle around with the sim in hopes of eschewing his name as one of the greatest testers in the league.
Busch is already trimming his character to perfection by completing various tests in his free time, including the “Intelligence Versus Strength” article. Theirs is no coincidence that the Royals wins up to this point have come when Busch was his biggest and covering as much area as he could to provide opponents from penetrating up the gut with ease for sleazy, cheap scores. In 3 of the Royals wins, Busch shotgunned our wild ride back to playoff contention with 22 tackles, 2 sacks, and fumble recovery, and a safety. The most unbelievable part is that he is a clear second on our LB depth chart, yet he still produces weekly, and has no qualms about sharing the load and swapping spotlight with his partner in crime.
I think I’ve talked enough at this point. My guests should be in the spotlight right now and start this conversation already. If you read up to this point, then I thank you for being a dedicated reader. If you want the too long did not read version, then you are stinky boo-boo and should not read anything before this point.
The_Kidd:
1. How much experience do you guys have with sim leagues in general? Are you all brand new?
Z-Whiz:
The day I stepped foot on the field for the prospect bowl was my first game in any sim league at all. So that would classify me as brand new. I wasn't too concerned though, as I'm a pretty quick study with these sort of things.
Crow19:
This is actually my first time. I had never even heard of this sort of league prior to joining. When all of the quarantine stuff started, I actually joined a connected franchise on Madden. Turns out I really like football, but I am really bad at Madden. That's when I started looking around for something else to do to preoccupy me and going the ISFL.
Don't worry, Madden has been trash for over a decade. They like adding a million polygons but a guy just won a huge tournament using Tress Way at QB because he was left-handed, and the game is biased to right-hand QB mechanics. I think we can agree that most game developers need a kick in the butt and stop chasing pay to win and microtransaction gambling models. But at least we have all migrated here together.
abh89:
I'm 100% a sim league newbie. I had no idea leagues like this existed. Now that I'm in the league and on the Discord servers regularly, I see that there are several simulation leagues for all different sports. Football is really my favorite sport by a sizeable margin so it's what I'm going to focus my time on now, but I could see myself giving one of the affiliate leagues a try at some point.
I'm also a newbie, we are all brand new, it’s very common around here, especially with all the change in the real world right now. I have only been here 3-4 weeks longer too, it's funny because I joined after the biggest draft class, but I joined on accident. I like to play football, but if there was a soccer sim, I'd jump on that ASAP. I help coach Junior High and Rec League bball in real life though.
abh89:
It's funny you mention coaching rec sports. I just coached flag football for the first time last year. We didn't do too well, but it was a great experience and I hope to do it again in the fall.
Yeah, coaching is fun when you can instill a playbook and watch it unfold, it's just some of these children are hard-headed and spoiled. Our team crushed in football but we fell short in bball, we had a lot of egos and undisciplined players despite being one of the fastest and most athletic teams.
abh89:
You are absolutely right. It was really fun creating a playbook and watching it come to life in front of you. Balancing out the personalities was one of the more challenging aspects of coaching for me personally. I had a couple superstar divas that gave me headaches on occasion but were incredible athletes. Trying to keep everyone happy, including the parents, was more difficult than I expected.
I swear parents don’t want to commit to the actual challenge of coaching and then want to be Phil Jackson at every game. Then there are others who played semi-pro or lettered at big D1 school and you cannot suggest anything to them. Thankfully, our parents knew their children were bad, haha.
abh89:
As frustrating as it was at times, one of the most rewarding experiences though was speaking to each of the parents after the season and being told by so many of them that they would be requesting me to be their child's coach next season.
It's like a rite of passage to be put through that fire and then be rewarded with the great compliments.
2. How did all of you manage to find your own way here? I’ve skimmed through all of your prospect pages so I’m curious to hear these answers. Abh, you are a big Florida guy and Crow is a Bama fan so that’s why I have Z in the middle, to keep everything civil.
Crow19:
Actually, I was not always a big Alabama fan. I'm originally from Chicago but went to Alabama for college. They really indoctrinate you down there. I love Alabama football, and being a lifelong Chicago Bears fan, it is really nice watching a team that consistently wins. Not to mention Nick Saban runs that program perfectly. He means business and it is nice to have a coach that focuses on the football.
Yeah, the Bears aren’t the worst, but they could be better. At least they have a super bowl winning QB and don’t have to pay 500 million for him. Abh, you are blue-blood Florida to the core, right?
abh89:
Absolutely, I'm a huge Florida Gator fan and Florida sports fan as a whole, including the Miami Dolphins. I was browsing r/MiamiDolphins one day and came across a post by FuriousPanda inviting users to join the league for the upcoming season. As a football fanatic, it sounded like something right up my alley, so I dove right in.
Shoutout to Furious_Panda @[furious_panda] and the reddit recruitment team. I also joined from reddit, but from the regular r/nfl sub. I believe Z-Whiz(Gunner) also joined from r/dolphins, are you two aware of this connection?
abh89:
I am aware Z-Whiz joined from the same subreddit. It's something we've discussed a bit and I think it's part of the reason we mesh pretty well. I've also heard there are a handful of others from that same subreddit but I haven't discovered them all yet.
It’s definitely is a small world out here. Z for a person big on Oregon, how did you end up here, and then playing for London?
Z-Whiz:
Yeah, it's crazy every time I go back to Oregon, not just the Eugene area, people are stopping me to ask for pictures and autographs. I was born and raised in that area, so that's all I've known. It's so humbling. London was one of the teams that reached out to me pre-draft and, despite being half way across the world, was one of the places I was hoping would draft me. If you can't tell by my name, my family is from Norway. So we're big on the other kid of football as well. London has such a great scene and I feel at home already.
Did you know abh89 --- Harrison Andrews was also on r/dolphins? You both Phins fans?
Z-Whiz:
I knew there were a couple[Dolphins Fans] on the Royals but wasn’t sure which ones.
Yeah, we know how much the Patriots cheat and will suck now that QB #12 is gone. And people still think the Cowboys fans are the worst, ha! Anyway, I don’t want to sully this great talk with such rancid topic. Moving on, there’s something else I noticed when checking how you guys got here, and I’m looking at you Crow. You have a friendship with iStegosauruz, correct? Did that start here or from prior endeavors?
Crow19:
Oh yeah, Steg and I are actually going to be Brother in Laws next June when I marry his sister. We went to Alabama together and he introduced me to the ISFL.
Oh wow, that's cool. How did that convo start? Were you all hanging out and then he just is like "Bro, come look at this game I'm the God at?"
Crow19:
Kinda, he did not reveal how big of a deal he was in the league. He just said it was fun and there was a good group of people, great way to pass the time. He finally convinced me to join after a couple weeks.
Well I guess we know who's going #1 now, if you can’t be the Steg --- marry into his family and get as much brain power as possible, haha. I think that might be the most interesting recruitment story we'll have for some time.
Crow19:
Yeah! He helped me figure out the sim early on which was super helpful.
3. Have any of you position switched? If so, what prompted you to position switch? If a team covered it, would you switch again or switch at all for the first time?
abh89:
When creating my player to begin with, I wasn't 100% sure what position to pick. I landed on TE as that was the position I played primarily in real life. I had interest and experience with multiple other positions though, and once I heard switching was a possibility, I made it clear I was willing to switch. The need presented itself in London, so I jumped on it. I've really enjoyed being on the DL, but I wouldn't rule out switching for my ISFL team if they covered the cost.
DE isn’t as flashy as other positions, so it’s great to see some guys not warped into chasing individual numbers. Unlike you Crow, playing LB brings a lot of eyes to the stat sheet. Do you enjoy the LB position? Lots of big stats, but would you to position switch in the future?
Crow19:
Linebacker is awesome. I love seeing Busch Light rack up stats every week. So far no interceptions, but every week there's a possibility. I know he had a bunch of tackles, a handful of sacks, and even a safety. It makes the games really fun knowing how crazy his stat like could be. Not to mention on the Royals we have such a solid group of linebackers. It is cool to see who is going to come out on top every week. I do not think I want to switch positions, but I am not completely against it. If I did I would still want to be on defense, probably safety or corner. But I would rather just be a linebacker or play out of position.
Now Z, you are a WR? Offensive skill positions can be easily saturated, so why did you choose wide receiver, and do you plan to stay a wide receiver until you hang up those cleats?
Z-Whiz:
If you don't know much about me, I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm a bit of a flashy/cocky kind of guy. It's gotten me in to trouble in the past, but I've learned my lessons. The easiest place to show off in peewee and high school was WR. I was faster than everyone and there's nothing quite like making a defender trip over themselves as you high step into the end zone. My mentality is I'm better than the guy opposite of me, and I'm going to make his game a living hell. But as for staying at WR, sure that'd be great. But ultimately, I'm a well rounded team player. I'll go wherever the team needs me. One things for sure, as soon as my cleats hit the turf, I'mma ball out.
4. I’m glad you guys are enjoying everything so far, but let’s rewind a bit. I know I had problems when I first joined. Have you had any difficulties with the league? Do you keep up with any of the news or users?
abh89:
I had some difficulty figuring out everything I could do to improve my player very early on in my career, but I've settled in since then and figured out a system that works for me to not miss out on TPE opportunities. The timeline of the seasons versus real time is something I'm still adjusting to. When you think of a returning player, you think of someone that's been there for a while, when often times that may not be the case in the ISFL/DSFL due to how short the seasons are.
Crow19:
No problems so far. When I first started though it was insane. I thought the forums were so confusing, I did not know how anyone could keep everything straight. All it took was a couple weeks though and some questions in the rookie discord to get everything straight.
Z-Whiz:
Man, at first the league was really hard. I was WR3 on the depth chart and we were losing every game in a heartbreaking fashion. I came from a very successful college, so this type of thing was new to me. It was a mental grind, but my teammates and I have put in the work and we're starting to turn things around. It's been a lot more fun. I'm just as excited watching my teammates like Harrison and Busch gets sacks as I am hauling in a big reception myself. We have a really good team chemistry over here and it shows on gameday.
Sounds like similar issues cycle with each wave of new people. Z, did anything off the field, in discord or the forums, throw you for a loop? I joined by accident, what about you? What pushed to this league?
Z-Whiz:
This is embarrassing, but yeah, just using discord and the forums through me for a loop. I'd never used Discord and have only been a lurker on forums, so the whole process was new to me. I missed a bunch of messages from GM's trying to scout me because I was only searching on the forum and they were only reaching out on Discord. It was only when one of them contacted me on the forum asking why I hadn't responded on Discord that I realized my mistake. I had blown off a bunch of GMs, so I tried answering quickly, but the draft was close and my stock had fallen. Oops. I wouldn't say it was an accident. I was scanning through r/dolphins and someone posted about a sim league. I've always like the "be a pro" modes in Fifa and Madden, so I figured I'd give this a whirl.
It's cool, I made almost the same exact mistakes as you and dropped in the DSFL draft but look how I managed. But we’re going to make sure you’re even more prepared than we were for the big draft.
5. Enough for now about the stressful parts of the league, what about the positive, enticing aspects of the league? What do you enjoy most about the league, and as your respective player?
Z-Whiz:
Easy question for me. I enjoy winning. That's my number 1. Again, if it's a win because the defense pitches a shutout, I'm happy. If it's cuz I have a career game, I'm also happy. At the end of the day, I just want to win. On a personal level, I've really enjoyed the impact I've made in the last 3-4 games. I haven't scored any TD's put I'm averaging 5-6 catches and 70ish yards. A few have come on 3rd or 4th downs that resulted in the team going on to score after I extended the drive.
abh89:
The excitement of gameday is easily the best part of the league for me. The short amount of time where you get to see all your efforts throughout the week get put to the test against your opponent and find out of it was enough. Not far behind that though is the friendships you develop along the way and the interactions with those people on a day to day basis about wide ranges of topics. I also really enjoy working with the other members of the London War Room and digging deep into the strategy for each game and tweaking our strategy to maximize our win percentages week by week. It really adds a new level of accomplishment when we come away with a win.
Yeah, finding another community that cares about sports on a strategical level like this that isn’t filled with hot takes left and right has been a huge benefit. And being apart of the team reminds me of when I used to tweak playbooks and design plays on the older EA games. However, sometimes seeing all these data charts give me PTSD to when I had to explain z-score and standard deviation for the 100th time, even though if you read the book and followed the example, you didn’t need me to tutor it.
Crow19:
I feel for you, as I love the statistics and simulations involved in the league. I am big into data analysis and large-n quantitative studies, and with this platform you can tweak a single attribute and see how it affects the results. It is really cool and provides a lot of opportunities for interesting experiments. It is also a great way to demonstrate a lot of basic regression techniques. As for my player, it really is all about the stats for me. That and hopefully winning some championships. I want to go out and be the best each week. Whatever scheme I can be put into to be a game changer, that is where I want to be.
6. Looking into the future, for the brighter lights, teams like people that can contribute in some fashion. As a user, do you have any skills, in any capacity, that could improve the league?
Crow19:
Well as you could probably tell, I have experience with data analysis. Life can get pretty busy, and I have a crappy computer, but when I find the time I like to run sims and analyze results of different set ups. This kind of information could definitely be helpful for rule changes in the future.
abh89:
I work in the technology world as a network engineer in real life, so I am a fairly technical person, but at this point I haven't quite identified a way I can use my skills to improve the league as a whole. Of course, as I learn more about the league and how it operates that could easily change.
Just so you know, from what I've briefly seen, there's a lot of work on the back end here. The forums, wiki, tpe tracker, index, streaming, and probably much more I'm missing. I'm sure there will be something that catches your eye.
Z-Whiz:
I'm pretty usefully with most things computers. I can't write coding or anything advanced like that, but I'm good at taking complicated things and streamlining them into an easier process. I'm a fairly creative type, so even if I can't perform the task myself, I could provide my opinion.
That’s cool too. Everybody doesn’t need to be a Spec, Exi, Steg, Jpach, IsaStar, TomHanks, or all those great people that keep the league in top shape. Just keeping everyone active and engaged in any aspect is the end goal.
7. Now for some hard-hitting questions. Aside from me (lmao), how do you generate money?
Crow19:
Haha, yeah I appreciate you helping me out. I have written some media articles in the past. What I really want to do is complete some larger scale analyses and write them up, but it really comes down to time. Other than that, I like hanging out at the ISFL casino. Hoping I can make some money from that and user bets as well. Any given week I am sure to want to bet on something.
Z-Whiz:
Yeah, I appreciate you stepping up and help us rookies generate a solid income. It was a good starting point to buy that fancy equipment. It also gave me an opportunity to show I'm willing to put in the work and grind for that cash. I've written a least one article a week and submitted about 6 graphics. Twitter is also easy money and that funds my expensive training. Not to brag, but I've managed to get up to just under $50m in my bank account in my first year in the league.
abh89:
I prefer to focus on analysis pieces but haven't been struggling to find a topic to devote my time to recently. I am also teaching myself how to create graphics using Gimp, but the time it takes me right now versus the money it returns is not very efficient for me. Of course, I also use Twitter heavily and earn as much as I can from there as its way too easy to pass up and is usually good for a few laughs.
For graphics, have you guys talked to Noka @[nokozoa], Kolt @KoltClassic, Infinite @infinitempg, and I believe Enigmatic @enigmatic? I know there are many more, but the discord is small and accessible but open and massive space where information overflows the moment we turn on. These people are the main people you want to get in touch with for graphics assistance. Sorry, if I forgot someone, I’m still new here too!
abh89:
I will definitely be on the lookout for ways to contribute that align with my skills and interests and hopefully allow me to earn money more consistently. I want to be sure I don't take away from the time I can contribute to my team too much though as our success will be the focal point for me. I haven't spoken with any of the people you mentioned, but a few of them have been recommended to me on multiple occasions so I suppose it's something I should seriously consider. I really do like the idea of creating more graphics as it's fun to do and the outcomes are thing I can use personally as sigs or profile pictures on Twitter. I know as I get better it may be easier to earn this way, but for now that's not the case.
Z-Whiz:
I haven't been in touch with any of the graphic's guys yet aside from their grading comments on my sets of graphics. Graphics are a little bit harder for me to do, but the end results is more rewarding than writing articles. With graphics, you've got something you can look at, something tangible. With media, it's a compilation of words that take a while to read and understand. It's easier money for sure, but I don't feel as accomplished.
8. I read just about all of the articles you all have written. ABH, I saw that London was your favorite team. How did that come to? Do you have a favorite ISFL team?
abh89:
That's an interesting one for me. I was scouted by other teams before I heard from London, but the fit and chemistry I felt when joined the London locker room was unmatched by that of the other teams. It also seemed fitting that London a newer team and I was a new user. I don't really have a favorite ISFL team at the moment, but there are certain teams that come to mind first. I'll keep that a mystery at the moment though. As scouting kicks into gear I'm sure my opinion will start to evolve the way it did prior to the DSFL draft, however.
Crow, after reading your stuff, I see you have a little groove flowing. How did that come to? You enjoy playing around with the sim?
Crow19:
That is awesome. I am glad that a couple people are reading the stuff I have written. The honest answer is if I am going to keep improving my player to be as competitive as I want him to be, I have to keep making money. I really do want to keep learning more about the sim and provide some new information that others (or at least my team) can utilize.
Do you see War Room in your future? Perhaps help with index, or the guys that head to the Wolverine Studios Q &A's to ask for simple improvements like 79 speed hack or QB penalties on pass plays?
Crow19:
Oh I want to be in the war room wherever I'm at, no doubt. I'm not sure I'm gonna reach out to Wolverine Studios any time soon. But I need a league job and I want to be involved in any team that I end up on.
The more we learn about the sim (and how broken it is) the less we know, the learning paradox we all coalesce in. Someone has to fight the good fight though. Z, is writing the easiest route for you? You seem to write a good amount.
Z-Whiz:
I appreciate the comments! I'm new here so everyone just skips over my articles which is a little annoying. Over time I hope more people start to read and digest what I have to say, because I think it's important. I've always been a good writer growing up. It comes easy to me and is a good creative outlet. I used to just keep everything locked up inside my head, but that's not healthy. I can drive a grown man insane...which may actually explain my behavior in the past.
9. What keeps all of you engaged and interactive the most with the league?
Crow19:
Probably checking those stat lines after every week. I am always checking out the top defensive players page on the index. I'm really jealous of Juan Domine sitting at the top of the leaderboard with tackles, but at the same time I am really happy it is another Royal linebacker. When I got drafted by the Royals Syl said it was a linebacker factory and he really was not kidding.
Hey there’s nothing wrong with healthy competition. That’s extra motivation to keep users on edge to make their mark in the league. I’m glad that London crafts linebackers like Arizona State would produce Girls Gone Wild prospects. Syl would agree, it is safe to say that LBoTY is staying in England this year and will remain here, There’s some wide-eyed LB that will read this and want to follow in your steps, and win LBoTY for London next season --- so know that your comeuppance is in full effect. ABH, you’re very humble but I know you got a big burning fire within you.
abh89:
For me right now it's a combination of trying to make my player the best possible player he can be and also to maximize my team's chances of winning every game possible. I really want to win that Ultimini. I also really enjoy the weekly Simmer School challenges that Sylphreni has been putting on as it's added a nice competitive dynamic amongst myself and my teammates.
Z-Whiz:
Game day. And if it's not a game day, I'm helping in the War Room to prep for the game day. I'm a big numbers/analytics guy. There's nothing like getting the results of a new strategy and it's improved your teams chance to win by 5-10%. That's just exhilarating. Sure, the sim will still sim, but percentages always even out. The Royals locker room is also really fun to be in. There's a lot of veteran capped players (like you) who have taught us new bloods the lay of the land. No one takes themselves too seriously, so it's a fun community to be around.
10. Me? Veteran? I know there’s some re-creates that are laughing with me about that, but I’m glad I been able to help. Being a locker room leader was a goal for me this season. I have to add that the simmer school was a great addition by Syl @Sylphreni to help all of us get better acquainted with the ins and out of the team(s). Do any of you have any ideas for improvement in the league or any goals for yourself? On and off the field?
abh89:
There are some old, stale components of the league like the forum hosting site that could certainly be updated or changed. There are also components such as the bank spreadsheet that seem to be at capacity in their current deployment that need to be migrated or redesigned to work more efficiently with the ever expanding userbase. My short-term goal is just to be a contributing member of an ISFL team's war room. Once you've seen behind the curtain at what goes into making a team operate, it seems like much less fun to go back to how it was when I started.
Crow19:
I think that the league looks pretty good. I wish there were more job opportunities available. I am really looking for a consistent way to make money in the league but I have not seen any available jobs in a while. As for goals, I'm going I get drafted high into the ISFL. I was drafted #14 overall into the DSFL and I hope I can beat that. Other than that, I want Ultiminis, Ultimi, MVPs, LBOTY, I want to fill my trophy case.
LB can be a highly coveted position where top dogs go up right away. Do you want to get to the NSFL as fast as you can? Are you prepared to possibly stay in our regal locker room for an extra season or two until the big boys are ready to call you up?
Crow19:
I see the positives to both scenarios. Getting called up to the big leagues right away would be awesome. I would love to compete with the best of them. On the other hand, I love the Royals and would have absolutely no problem playing for them another year. Who knows, back to back Ultiminis?
Our Royal alum, @[AcuraSkyline] Acura Skyline runs the bank, so you could ping him in our own locker room. "Ping" - that's some ISFL jargon that I have picked up since joining.
Z-Whiz:
Personal goals, I would love to win a WR of the Year award. That's probably the most realistic as if I have some crazy good year, the QB would probably win the MVP. That's just the way the league goes. More important to me is winning an Ultimus. That's the Holy Grail. No one can take that from you and once you get your hands on it, you're etched in history as a winner.
WR can be a funny position, there is a long progression curve and can be saturated at times. Are you prepared to possibly stay in our regal locker room for an extra season or two until the big boys are ready to call you up?
Z-Whiz:
Absolutely. I am loving it down here. Everyone is so supportive and I've gotten really involved with off field stuff. Now, don't get me wrong, I want to be in the big leagues, so if a GM calls and says, "we're drafting you, and you're starting right away." I'm snatching that opportunity. But that may not be reality. I was warned early on that offensive skilled players tend to stay down in the DSFL for a few seasons, so I've already wrapped my head around it. It will give me time to learn more about the league and become a better player when I eventually join the ISFL.
Well, we have a mixed bag of responses, as expected. Firstly, the forum will be migrating to a new base in the upcoming future, so we all have that to look forwards to. I’m sure jobs will open up as people move on, and non-Americans get back to regular life. I’m glad we have guys eager to clean up at the wards shows. There’s nothing wrong with being a little selfish as long as you put the team first when it matters most.
11. What do you value most in a team? Are there any teams you have found yourself gravitating towards you?
Crow19:
At this point I am really open to wherever I end up. I want to win, but I am okay with a team that is building. If I have to be on a bad team for two or three seasons to set them up for long term success I am fine with that. I want to be involved with strategy. I am really looking for a fun environment. I have been scouted by a hand full of teams, but I am still waiting to see which one jumps out at me. Before the DSFL draft I was very confident I was going to be a Royal, and I do not think I could have found a better fit. I want that when I get drafted to the ISFL.
Z-Whiz:
This is an equation to me. The end goal is winning, but how to get there is a little more complicated as talent can only get you so far. I think good chemistry goes a long way towards winning. If the team can come together for the common good and not only work hard for themselves, but also for the guys standing next to them, they will start winning.
Are there any questions about the league or any clarification you want to air out for me or for any piqued minds that read and have the power to help?
Z-Whiz:
Yeah, I've always been curious why the league sticks with DDSF16 when there's two newer versions out. Not to mention, the older version cannot be downloaded. Surely the 2020 version is better, no? Maybe I'm just a dumb rookie.
I believe that has to do mainly with the lack of fixed bugs from the older versions. Like most video games these days, especially in the sports genre, the marginal aesthetic upgrades for the current year is not worth the hefty price tag. Hasn’t been worth it for several years. Well, I think we squeezed enough out of each other this time, so for Crow19, abh89, and Z-Whiz --- I’m The_Kidd signing off hoping that you bring peace to every piece you can.
Credit: 32% equally to abh89 / Z-Whiz / Crow19 / and the other 4% to The_Kidd
WC: 6755