Rookie Guide (START HERE)

[SwagSloth]

Welcome to the International Simulation Football League!

If you haven’t already, please join our league discord here!

Our Rookie Discord is here!. Please hit up the role request section with your season or just let us know you’re a new player and you’ll receive chat permissions!

Table of Contents

League Overview

Creating your Player

Improving & Updating your Player

Earning TPE

Earning & Spending League Cash

Position & Archetype Swapping

Player Retirement

Important Links

FAQs

[TeyonSchavari]

League Overview

The ISFL is a player-based sim league. Each team is comprised of players created by real people, who have complete control of their skills, player type, and career choices. Each season, these teams face off in competition. The games are simulated using Draft Day Sports Pro Football 2021 and broadcast on Youtube.

Once a player is created, they will have the opportunity to rise from rookie status to become a veteran superstar. Your player will start off in our development league, the DSFL, and have a chance to prove themselves before being drafted by one of the 14 existing ISFL teams. Once drafted by an ISFL team, the player will have the chance to negotiate their contract, playing for up to three seasons, before getting the opportunity to continue with their original team, or signing with a new one. Just like the NFL, ISFL players negotiate with interested teams and can participate in Free Agency. For more information about contracts and our rules, please refer to our Official ISFL Rulebook.

If you need any assistance or have any questions while going through this process, please feel free to contact one of our Rookie Mentors for help.

[TeyonSchavari]

Creating a Player

1. Head to the Create a Player section and select “Create a Player Tool" to begin your journey. You can learn more about each position and archetype HERE

NOTE: If you’d like, take a moment and check out the Position Tracker so that you can see which positions are in high demand. You are granted 1 free position switch while you are in the DSFL, so don’t stress too much over your choice.

2. Fill out the top portion of the creation tool with your players First and Last name, their birthplace, college, jersey number and more.

3. Each new player is given 50 TPE (Training Points Earned) to start out with. You cannot lower any of the starting values of your stats when creating a player. The ISFL uses TPE to track the points you earn to improve your player. The creation tool will update with how much TPE you have left to spend as you apply it. Check out the scale and what it might look like below:

4. Your Birthplace will determine your World Football Championship region. Find out more HERE.

5. Press Submit! This now becomes your player page. While you won’t need to do anything else to this page, it will be used for rostering purposes. After posting, a Rookie Mentor will let you know if you need to fix anything. If it looks good, they will send you an approval message outlining the next steps that you should take, and from that point you’ll be able to earn more TPE!

Some extra notes:

• Your college (or school) can be real or imaginary.
  
• Your name can only be 22 characters long.
  

Here are helpful resources for creating a player page:

TPE Scale:

0-50 - costs 1 TPE to go up 1 point

51-70 - costs 2 TPE to go up 1 point

71-80 - costs 5 TPE to go up 1 point

81-90 - costs 10 TPE to go up 1 point

91-95 - costs 15 TPE to go up 1 point

96-100 - costs 25 TPE to go up 1 point

• Create a Player Tool - Use this to create your player
  
• World Football Championship Information - check for information about your birthplace region
  
• Archetype Information - All of our templates and archetypes for each position
  
• Position Tracker - See how many players are currently created and active at each position
  

Also be sure to watch this video for a visual on how to create your account and your player:

NOTE:
Quarterbacks: While some positions can use multiple players at the same position (LB and OL for example), each team only needs one QB, so players at this position will need an extremely high level of dedication and activity to earn/keep a starting job. If you are not experienced in sim leagues like this one, you may not fully understand the level of activity a starting QB is required to have.

[TeyonSchavari]

Improving & Updating your Player

Over the course of your career, your player will receive a resource known as TPE (Training Points Earned), which is used to increase your attributes over time, or buy traits. This resource is awarded through point tasks and activities.

As your attributes increase, though, they will require more TPE to upgrade. Refer to the update scale below to see how much TPE you must spend to upgrade an attribute.

0-50 - costs 1 TPE to go up 1 point

50-70 - costs 2 TPE to go up 1 point

70-80 - costs 5 TPE to go up 1 point

80-90 - costs 10 TPE to go up 1 point

90-95 - costs 15 TPE to go up 1 point

96-100 - costs 25 TPE to go up 1 point

For example, let’s say you want to increase your player’s Agility. It’s currently at 40. Increasing it to 50 only requires 10 TPE. However, if you then wanted to increase it to 60, the next 10 points would cost 20 TPE. These diminishing returns represent the difficulty required to continue to increase these stats over time. Much like real life, it’s easier to improve at something early on, but it gets tougher over time. The best players in each attribute category work hard to reach that level and tend to stand out because of it. Click HERE for a more detailed explanation of all of our attributes and what they do!

Your player can also work toward earning special traits depending upon their archetype. These traits might offer bonuses such as reducing the chance to cause a penalty, increasing your ability to get interceptions and more. Traits have minimum attribute requirements before they can be purchased - which makes them a great goal for a player’s mid or late career. Check out the list of traits and what they do HERE. Figure out the cost of these traits at the bottom of your player template, or this link HERE.

After your character is created and approved, their page will be moved to the Prospect subforum and later to the corresponding team’s roster page once you are acquired by a team.

While you wait to get on a team, however, you can create your update page in our Prospect Update section HERE. Selecting "Post Thread" and copy in the info from your selected archetype template marked --copy into update thread-- along with the Update Scale. Make sure you change the stats to match your starting attributes in your player creation page.

Next, you’ll link the activities under the “TPE Earned:” section. You can type out the name of the activity and you will link directly to your specific post.

Activity Check #1 +2 TPE



Add this earned TPE to your starting 50, and you’re good to continue upgrading your attributes!

Once you have been approved, you will have the chance to earn new TPE through various activities, such as:

- Activity Checks – Post your name in the weekly activity check thread for easy TPE.
- Point Tasks - Briefly write about a topic or create a related graphic before the deadline.
- Game Predictions – Predict the winner of season games. If you’re right, you receive TPE for it!

Here’s another great video showing how to earn some of that starting TPE, create your update page, and start updating!

[TeyonSchavari]

Earning TPE

Earning TPE is how you improve your player, so there are a lot of different ways for you to earn TPE to improve your player too! Here are some of the more common ways of how to earn TPE:

• Activity Checks - These are posted weekly, just post in the thread and instantly claim 2 TPE (link directly to your AC post in your update thread)
   
  
• First Free Training - First time users to the ISFL get their first training for free! Post in the thread for 5 TPE. This can be claimed instantly (link directly to your Free Training post in your update thread).
   
  
• Weekly Training - Once you have some money (doing the rookie point task is a great way for new players to earn some cash!) you can purchase training once per week. There are two different training options available: 3 TPE for $500k or 5 TPE for $1m. You cannot purchase both types of training in the same week. Post in unassigned player transactions or your teams transaction forum to purchase training. This can be claimed instantly (link directly to your purchase post in your update thread).
   
  
• Point Tasks - During the season there are short prompts that you can respond to by writing 200 words or creating a graphic option to fit the theme. You’ll have one week to respond and then responses are graded and posted to the claim thread. This TPE can be claimed when graded - please link the post in the claim thread to the specific point task on your update page.
   
  
• Predictions - There are many different prediction options. Season predictions are opened before the season starts and close before Week 1 sims. Weekly predictions are posted at the beginning of the league week and close 15 minutes before the stream airs. Playoff predictions and Mock Draft predictions are posted during playoff and offseason time. Make your predictions in the thread and then wait for them to be graded and posted on the claim thread. This TPE can be claimed when graded - please link the post in the claim thread to the specific point task on your update page.
    
  
• Wiki Creation Page - Use the template provided to create a wiki page for your player. Filling out all of the text sections and adding a picture will net you a cool 10 TPE. This TPE can be claimed when graded - please link to your post in the wiki thread after it has been graded.
   
  
• Training Camps - Each offseason your player has the ability to participate in training camps. If you are in your first season in the league you will use the DSFL training camp. All other players will look at the ISFL training camp. Post in the thread and you can instantly claim your TPE (link directly to your Training Camp post in your update thread).
   
  
• Equipment - Players may purchase one tier of equipment each season. You may upgrade this tier throughout the season by paying the difference in money and you will earn the difference in TPE. Post in the transactions thread to buy and you can instantly claim your TPE (link directly to your purchase post in your update thread).
  

Tier 1 Equipment - 5 TPE - $2,000,000

Tier 2 Equipment - 10 TPE - $4,000,000

Tier 3 Equipment - 15 TPE - $6,000,000

Tier 4 Equipment - 20 TPE - $8,500,000

Tier 5 Equipment - 25 TPE - $11,000,000

Tier 6 Equipment - 30 TPE - $13,500,000

[TeyonSchavari]

Earning & Spending League Cash

The league allows users to earn and spend cash to help improve their attributes (along with other fun uses for money!). This is not to be confused with real money, only in-game cash (No Micro-transactions in the ISFL). The ISFL is completely free to play!

Earning Money:

When your player is signed to a team (at both the DSFL and ISFL level) you will receive a contract payment at the start of each season. In addition to that, there are also several other ways to earn money:

• Performing a league job (Official Job List)
  
• Writing articles and/or completing pressers (Q&As) in the Media Section
  
• Recording podcasts in the Podcast Section
  
• Creating graphics for yourself and other players in the Graphics Section
  
• Posting tweets from your ISFL Player’s twitter account
  

The best way to earn money is to produce media or graphics at a consistent pace. Tweeting daily will almost earn enough money to cover your weekly costs in the league, and is a great way to subsidize your contracts.

Once you’ve found a way to earn some money, it will get automatically deposited into your bank account with the ISFL Bank! The ISFL bank is located HERE. All deposits are made directly (you won’t need to post anywhere extra to claim your money). All deposits are also made available so that everything can be easily tracked and verified. The Bank Spreadsheet is also available if you want to view your player’s current balance.

Spending Money:

The most common use for money earned in the league is weekly training, which allows you to spend money to earn additional TPE. Your player can only participate in training once each week. You may spend $500,000 to add 3 TPE or $1,000,000 to add 5 TPE. For first time users, your first training is free HERE.

Another common use for money is purchasing equipment. There are several different tiers of equipment available for purchase - with higher tiers offering more TPE for a steeper price. You can upgrade your equipment throughout the season, paying the difference in the cost between two tiers and earning the difference in TPE between two tiers. The maximum cost is $13,500,000 for 30 TPE for equipment. You may reach this maximum once per season.

To put in a request for training or equipment purchases (or any other transaction - like name changes and position swaps) locate your team’s Transaction page by clicking HERE and then post in the correct thread. Be sure to include your username, your player name, purchase & dollar amount.

Once the post is made, someone from the league will verify that you have enough cash for the purchase and add a “Processed” note to your post. Note that you may go into debt up to $2,000,000 for weekly training only. If you do not have enough cash for a purchase, but do have media coming in from completed media or graphics, you may also make a note about that in order to get the withdrawal processed faster.

*Also note that the weekly training is a better cost per TPE than maxing your equipment. If you cannot afford to do both - it is recommended to make sure you at least have enough money for weekly training.

Other ways to spend money:

In addition to purchasing upgrades to your player, there are two other ways to spend your money in the league. The first is with the Casino! You can place bets against other users, or against the casino itself. Find more about the casino HERE.

We also have trading cards available for purchase. Players on ISFL rosters have Dotts cards made about them. There are also special series that are made each season including awards, rookie cards, hall of fame cards, and more. Check out more about Dotts HERE.

[TeyonSchavari]

Position & Archetype Swapping

 

We all want to have fun while playing in the ISFL, and one of the big ways to make sure that this happens is to ensure that you are enjoying your position. Every player has 1 career position swap, and 1 career archetype swap. This can be done at any point during your career, for the cost of $4,000,000 for a position swap and $3,000,000 for an archetype swap. Additionally, you receive a free position and archetype swap to use during your first season in the DSFL. If you do not use this free swap before the final update of your first season it is lost, and you will only have your one career swap.

Depending upon your starting position, or the position you are swapping to, there are varying amounts of TPE that can be moved.

• K/P - allowed to move 75% of applied TPE
  
• OL - allowed to move 75% of applied TPE and the cost is free
  
• Swapping to QB - allowed to move 25% of applied TPE
  
• Swaps from all other positions - allowed to move 50% of applied TPE
  

To use your free swap (or your paid for career swap) just post in your update thread (and the bank for paid swaps) your previous build and then your current build with the swap. You’ll need to calculate how much TPE was in each attribute before you swap and keep 50% of it (unless you’re a Kicker or Offensive Lineman) and you are allowed to move the rest.

Sometimes when we swap, there is leftover TPE in attributes that you may not want to leave TPE in. After the season you swap, you may pay up to $3,200,000 (or $100,000 per TPE up to 32 TPE) to reallocate it. You’ll post the transaction in the bank, and link it to your update thread.

[SchwarzNarr]

Player Retirement

Retirement is a long way off, so if you’d like, you may skip this section.

 

Of course, regression is part of any athlete’s career. Some step down before it starts to show, but every athlete starts to show wear and tear at some point. In the ISFL, players start to lose TPE after the end of their 7th season. The first season that you are drafted by an ISFL team will count as your first season. (Your creation page will state your ISFL draft season (e.g. S30 is drafted into the ISFL at the start of Season 30). At the start of the 8th season and onward, you will have to deduct a percentage of your total earned TPE from your existing total.

After 7th season 20% TPE loss

After 8th season 25% TPE loss

After 9th season 30% TPE loss

After 10th season 40% TPE loss

After 11th season 50% TPE loss

After 12th season 75% TPE loss

After 13th season 75% TPE loss

After 14th season 75% TPE loss

After 15th season 75% TPE loss (final season)

While you need to remove TPE from your player with regression, it doesn’t necessarily have to come from just your attributes. As you improve and purchase both an increase in attributes and specific traits for your archetype, you will be able to decide where you remove the TPE from during regression. TPE spent to acquire traits will count towards regression calculations, and during regression you can “sell back” traits. However, if regression would cause you to reduce your attributes to below the minimum thresholds required to purchase a trait, you are not required to sell back the traits. This means that later career players may still have an advantage on their younger counterparts.

When you are finally ready to retire, you will make a post in the Retirement Section. Players that retire can continue to play for their team until the end of the season. Once you retire a player, you may immediately create a new player and start a new career. You retain any League Cash when you retire, but any unspent TPE from the previous character does not move to the new character.

Please note that you are only allowed one player in the DSFL at any time. If you retire at the DSFL level, you will need to wait until the next season to create. Please see the Retirement Section of the Rulebook (IV.E.4) for more.

[124715]

Important Links

Activity Checks

Attributes and What They Do
Bank Accounts
Create A Player Forum
Equipment Information
Prospect Update Section
ISFL Youtube (Game Channel)
Official Job List
Official League Rules
Player Archetype Templates
Player Builder Form
Point Tasks
Position Tracker
Same IP Thread
TPE Tracker
Traits and What They Do
Team Transactions Section (Make Purchases)
Update Tool - Credit to 37thChamber

[SchwarzNarr]

FAQs

Can I make more than one character?
- No. Only one player and account per person. More than one account is known as a “multi” and is against league rules.

What if I create a character during the season? Will I have to wait until next season to start playing?
- If your player is created after the DSFL draft for the current season has occurred, you will still be available to play and will be entered into the waiver system. When a team picks you up off of waivers, you will play for them and be entered into the ISFL draft in the following season.

Am I restricted to only playing my chosen position?
- Please note that selecting a position does not necessarily limit where you can play. The ISFL allows some players to play out of position (more information can be found in the rule book), but you will be limited by your archetype even if you are playing a different position. However, to maintain eligibility for awards, you must see a certain amount of playing time at a given position.

Can I claim TPE from an activity as soon as I complete it?
- Activity checks and training/equipment purchases can be claimed immediately. However, most tasks, such as the Point Tasks and Game Predictions, require a member of the Player Progression Team to grade and/or verify completion. The Player Progression Team regularly posts in a “Claim Thread”, awarding points to players for completing the associated task. Always wait for a claim thread to be posted before claiming the reward from that task. These are usually posted within a few days of the deadline to complete the Point Task.

Another player and I share an IP address, but we are different people. What can we do to make league officials aware of this, so one of us doesn’t appear to be a multi account?
- This can be common if you share a router with someone (roommate, family, etc.) or if you use the same network as another member (work, school, etc.). Fortunately, we have a thread for tracking shared IP addresses. Simply post HERE detailing who you share your IP address with, your connection to that person, and the scenario that causes you to share (We live together, work together, etc.). All users are expected to post here within the first week of account creation if you expect to share an IP address. Failure to post here if you are aware of a shared IP could lead to issues later and is not recommended.

For the purpose of “weekly” activities, when does the league week start and end?
- League weeks end on Sundays. At 12:01 AM EST on Monday a new league week starts. All Time-Zone usages otherwise shall be assumed to utilize the standard EST zone unless specifically specified in the given rule or definition.

How many pictures can I have in my sig?
- Users may not have more than 2 images or videos, vertically aligned as their forum signature. If you have more than 2, you will receive a warning and then a fine from the Head Office.
Can I change my user name? What about my player name?
- Forum usernames can be changed at the cost of $1,000,000. Please post the transaction in the bank and tag a member of head office.
- Player names may only be changed once - the cost to change the player name is $4,000,000 (unless the name change is requested prior to the player’s DSFL draft, in which case it’s free!).

Do I get anything special if I invite my friend to join the league?
- Yes! We offer an incentive for referring new players to the league. You will earn 2 TPE for recruiting a friend once they pass 100 TPE. An additional 3 TPE when they pass 250 TPE. Max of 5 recruits per player career. Not retroactive for previous recruits.