Just to start things off, I need to provide some context on a small but passionate community of Werewolf lovers with the New Orleans Second Line. Just kidding.
For real – this has been my first year playing for the ISFL, not the DSFL affiliate team. I have had a blast and I have enjoyed every minute of my time, despite my many off server time constraints (for those that do not know, I am currently in the middle of a cross country move), New Orleans has been a great place to be. I have been blessed to have an understanding team and a great General Manager (shout out Mithrandir) who have been very supportive in this time. I think the league is a great outlet for avid football fans and simmers, and this season was one to remember, especially for the Second Line. We started off the season very poorly, losing several games and dropping well behind the 500 mark. Most of our server was joking that it was another rebuilding year when we ultimately made our furious comeback to get to the Ultimus Playoffs. Through hardship and a little luck (“sim gonna sim”) we made it to the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.
Despite my enjoyment of the league, there are a number of things that I think could be improved about it. The idea of the ISFL is a grand one – an entire league of user generated players that battle it out for an imaginary championship that they can then lord over the rest of the league for the next few weeks. Really fantastic imagination and thought process. In reality, I feel at times it falls short of what I feel this league really intends. I want to enjoy the fantasy of the league, feel the gameplay and dive in to the nitty gritty of the gridiron, but at times it feels like tedious homework and constant writing assignments that take away from the excitement and camaraderie that I think should be the heart of it. Players aren’t paid enough and are expected to earn enough through voluntary media pieces, league jobs, and podcasts so that their players can buy equipment for the year. Sometimes the last thing I want to do after I leave work for the day is dive in to a 200-800 word essay.
At the same time I understand the overall need to reward more dedicated, active players for their contributions and commitment to the league as a whole. It wouldn’t be any fun if your player couldn’t shine in games against entirely inactive squads or something, so obviously there needs to be a balance. What I am suggesting is more creativity in the form of point tasks. Create rewards in the form of TPE for award winners in the ISFL and DSFL, have some of the point tasks act less as homework assignments, and create a fun element to them.
The second thing I want to point out is the recruitment of new players. I think the league does a good job of finding and corralling new, active members, but the biggest challenge is the learning curve to be successful – Honestly without the help of Southpaw as my General Manager in Portland, I may never have figured out how to update my page and create a player profile. My Wikipedia page was declined like 5 times before I was told exactly how to fix it. This steep learning curve and focus on tedium to improve highlights the wrong areas of the sim for new players, and I think it is the largest contributing factor to newbies going IA in the first few weeks / months of their DSFL careers. For new players there is a whirlwind of activity for the first several months – character creation alone can take several hours. Learning the ins and outs of point tasks and how to claim them is another difficult hurdle, and combine that with near constant messages from potential DSFL draft suitors and you can spend an entire week just getting started.
I want the league to grow and I feel it needs to be more user friendly, especially for the newest and most fragile members of the league. First impressions are everything, and if they find it to be a struggle and not worth the hassle, we lose out.
My suggestion is to create a PDF that can be sent out to all new players that clearly outlines the expectations and annotates major things that need to be done. As far as I can tell, in order to get all of the information you need to get started, you have to navigate across several different areas of the forum to get everything you need. Include major individuals (I.e. the commissioner of the league, Rookie Mentors, and General Managers of various DSFL and ISFL teams) and their discord contact information. Create a directory of newbie resources that can be leveraged.
If we are going to make it such a hassle for someone to create for the first time, the least we can do is most of the legwork. Create that roadmap so that they don’t have to figure it out all on their own.
(871 words)
For real – this has been my first year playing for the ISFL, not the DSFL affiliate team. I have had a blast and I have enjoyed every minute of my time, despite my many off server time constraints (for those that do not know, I am currently in the middle of a cross country move), New Orleans has been a great place to be. I have been blessed to have an understanding team and a great General Manager (shout out Mithrandir) who have been very supportive in this time. I think the league is a great outlet for avid football fans and simmers, and this season was one to remember, especially for the Second Line. We started off the season very poorly, losing several games and dropping well behind the 500 mark. Most of our server was joking that it was another rebuilding year when we ultimately made our furious comeback to get to the Ultimus Playoffs. Through hardship and a little luck (“sim gonna sim”) we made it to the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.
Despite my enjoyment of the league, there are a number of things that I think could be improved about it. The idea of the ISFL is a grand one – an entire league of user generated players that battle it out for an imaginary championship that they can then lord over the rest of the league for the next few weeks. Really fantastic imagination and thought process. In reality, I feel at times it falls short of what I feel this league really intends. I want to enjoy the fantasy of the league, feel the gameplay and dive in to the nitty gritty of the gridiron, but at times it feels like tedious homework and constant writing assignments that take away from the excitement and camaraderie that I think should be the heart of it. Players aren’t paid enough and are expected to earn enough through voluntary media pieces, league jobs, and podcasts so that their players can buy equipment for the year. Sometimes the last thing I want to do after I leave work for the day is dive in to a 200-800 word essay.
At the same time I understand the overall need to reward more dedicated, active players for their contributions and commitment to the league as a whole. It wouldn’t be any fun if your player couldn’t shine in games against entirely inactive squads or something, so obviously there needs to be a balance. What I am suggesting is more creativity in the form of point tasks. Create rewards in the form of TPE for award winners in the ISFL and DSFL, have some of the point tasks act less as homework assignments, and create a fun element to them.
The second thing I want to point out is the recruitment of new players. I think the league does a good job of finding and corralling new, active members, but the biggest challenge is the learning curve to be successful – Honestly without the help of Southpaw as my General Manager in Portland, I may never have figured out how to update my page and create a player profile. My Wikipedia page was declined like 5 times before I was told exactly how to fix it. This steep learning curve and focus on tedium to improve highlights the wrong areas of the sim for new players, and I think it is the largest contributing factor to newbies going IA in the first few weeks / months of their DSFL careers. For new players there is a whirlwind of activity for the first several months – character creation alone can take several hours. Learning the ins and outs of point tasks and how to claim them is another difficult hurdle, and combine that with near constant messages from potential DSFL draft suitors and you can spend an entire week just getting started.
I want the league to grow and I feel it needs to be more user friendly, especially for the newest and most fragile members of the league. First impressions are everything, and if they find it to be a struggle and not worth the hassle, we lose out.
My suggestion is to create a PDF that can be sent out to all new players that clearly outlines the expectations and annotates major things that need to be done. As far as I can tell, in order to get all of the information you need to get started, you have to navigate across several different areas of the forum to get everything you need. Include major individuals (I.e. the commissioner of the league, Rookie Mentors, and General Managers of various DSFL and ISFL teams) and their discord contact information. Create a directory of newbie resources that can be leveraged.
If we are going to make it such a hassle for someone to create for the first time, the least we can do is most of the legwork. Create that roadmap so that they don’t have to figure it out all on their own.
(871 words)