Add:
I had a few ideas for this one:
I have some personal bias on this one, but I'd be interested in potentially seeing a buff to the running game. Overall rushing stats have been declining a bit each year since Season 1, although there has been a slight uptick in rushing stats this year, so maybe they are improving a little bit naturally. However, I feel like rushing averages are unrealistically low right now. Comparing this season's NFL Rushing Averages and NSFL Rushing Averages, the best running game in the NSFL would rank 27th in yards per carry in the NFL and 5 teams average less yards per carry than the worst rushing offense in the NFL. The NSFL rushing averages are really bad compared to NFL averages, which makes it hard to really establish a strong rushing game in the NSFL when passing is so much more efficient. This makes it really hard for teams like the Legion and the Yeti who don't have good passing attacks to be competitive since you can't lean too much on the running game with low averages. The sim engine has a rushing yards modifier option in settings that can be used to increase rushing averages, which could be increased a bit to making running games better. It would have to be tested to determine the right amount of buff so that it doesn't over correct and make running overpowered. I know I'm biased as a running back and a player on a team without a strong passing attack, but I think having the ability to have stronger running games would lead to more balanced play calling and make the sim stats more realistic to real life stats.
Another smaller addition I would like to see is a publicly available sim file. It's fun having access to the sim file since you can learn more about the sim engine and get to test out different builds for your player and see how different strategies effect your player. I know the sim file is available to GMs and players can get it from their GMs, but I think it would be more convenient if it were put somewhere where players could get to it on their own. Also a lot of players might not even be aware that the sim file is available, I never knew about it before becoming a GM. Even if it weren't updated after each game like the GM one, just having access to a file updated once per season could be great for players. It could spur new articles as people could run more in depth tests and it could help prepare future GMs as people could learn about the sim engine before taking a GM role. I'm not sure if there's a reason that the file isn't posted in a public thread, but I know most of the other leagues I'm in release the sim files publicly and it hasn't caused any issues that I'm aware of.
One more addition that I think could be helpful is a more direct link to the index. As it is right now, you have to go to the index thread to get the link to the index. It would be more convenient if there were a direct link to get there. I don't know the logistics of implementing this, but I know the PBE has a direct link to the index and they use jcink too so it would probably be possible. My thought is that new users might now know where to find the index thread and it might make things easier to navigate if the index had a direct link rather than a thread.
Remove:
We should try to remove the long offseasons. Offseasons can get pretty long if you don't make the playoffs, one week during the playoffs, 1-2 weeks for offseason activities, and for players who don't care about preseason you can go 3-4 weeks without playing a meaningful game. In the past I've seen a lot of instances of players going inactive or seeing a sharp decline in activity during the offseason as they don't feel as engaged. I think the best approach would be to either try to shorten the offseason or add new activities to keep players engaged over the offseason (or both). In the SBA, they have FIBA every other offseason where players declare for a country and team up with other players from that country to compete. It could be cool to do something similar like where players team up based on the region of the US they are from or based on what college they are from (maybe group by what conference their college was in). But it could be cool to have something like that during the offseason week so that people still have games to follow and get to watch their players in action and maybe team up with some new teammates. The other thing that I think would improve the offseason is to come up with a clear schedule. This year things got backtracked because of some of the scandals that arose but it was kind of hard to keep track since a lot of things like the official change of the season and the draft weren't announced too far ahead of time. I think if there were a clear plan laid out for the offseason right away, it would help people stay more engaged as they would know when all the key events were coming and I think it could help shorten the offseason if the schedule were set rather than flexible.
Like:
I like the idea of the DSFL. I think it will be important to the long term future of the league. I like how after being drafted, players can still go back and get playing time while they are developing. I think this will fix two potential issues as players won't have to sit on the bench as backups and potentially lose interest while developing as they will be able to start in the DSFL and since players will be able to develop in the DSFL for a few seasons, teams won't have to start unprepared rookies since they will be able to draft them a few years before their previous starters retire and let them develop in the DSFL so they will be ready when it is time to step up. I think the DSFL will be great for the league in the long team and am looking forward to seeing it develop further.
I had a few ideas for this one:
I have some personal bias on this one, but I'd be interested in potentially seeing a buff to the running game. Overall rushing stats have been declining a bit each year since Season 1, although there has been a slight uptick in rushing stats this year, so maybe they are improving a little bit naturally. However, I feel like rushing averages are unrealistically low right now. Comparing this season's NFL Rushing Averages and NSFL Rushing Averages, the best running game in the NSFL would rank 27th in yards per carry in the NFL and 5 teams average less yards per carry than the worst rushing offense in the NFL. The NSFL rushing averages are really bad compared to NFL averages, which makes it hard to really establish a strong rushing game in the NSFL when passing is so much more efficient. This makes it really hard for teams like the Legion and the Yeti who don't have good passing attacks to be competitive since you can't lean too much on the running game with low averages. The sim engine has a rushing yards modifier option in settings that can be used to increase rushing averages, which could be increased a bit to making running games better. It would have to be tested to determine the right amount of buff so that it doesn't over correct and make running overpowered. I know I'm biased as a running back and a player on a team without a strong passing attack, but I think having the ability to have stronger running games would lead to more balanced play calling and make the sim stats more realistic to real life stats.
Another smaller addition I would like to see is a publicly available sim file. It's fun having access to the sim file since you can learn more about the sim engine and get to test out different builds for your player and see how different strategies effect your player. I know the sim file is available to GMs and players can get it from their GMs, but I think it would be more convenient if it were put somewhere where players could get to it on their own. Also a lot of players might not even be aware that the sim file is available, I never knew about it before becoming a GM. Even if it weren't updated after each game like the GM one, just having access to a file updated once per season could be great for players. It could spur new articles as people could run more in depth tests and it could help prepare future GMs as people could learn about the sim engine before taking a GM role. I'm not sure if there's a reason that the file isn't posted in a public thread, but I know most of the other leagues I'm in release the sim files publicly and it hasn't caused any issues that I'm aware of.
One more addition that I think could be helpful is a more direct link to the index. As it is right now, you have to go to the index thread to get the link to the index. It would be more convenient if there were a direct link to get there. I don't know the logistics of implementing this, but I know the PBE has a direct link to the index and they use jcink too so it would probably be possible. My thought is that new users might now know where to find the index thread and it might make things easier to navigate if the index had a direct link rather than a thread.
Quote:615 Words
Remove:
We should try to remove the long offseasons. Offseasons can get pretty long if you don't make the playoffs, one week during the playoffs, 1-2 weeks for offseason activities, and for players who don't care about preseason you can go 3-4 weeks without playing a meaningful game. In the past I've seen a lot of instances of players going inactive or seeing a sharp decline in activity during the offseason as they don't feel as engaged. I think the best approach would be to either try to shorten the offseason or add new activities to keep players engaged over the offseason (or both). In the SBA, they have FIBA every other offseason where players declare for a country and team up with other players from that country to compete. It could be cool to do something similar like where players team up based on the region of the US they are from or based on what college they are from (maybe group by what conference their college was in). But it could be cool to have something like that during the offseason week so that people still have games to follow and get to watch their players in action and maybe team up with some new teammates. The other thing that I think would improve the offseason is to come up with a clear schedule. This year things got backtracked because of some of the scandals that arose but it was kind of hard to keep track since a lot of things like the official change of the season and the draft weren't announced too far ahead of time. I think if there were a clear plan laid out for the offseason right away, it would help people stay more engaged as they would know when all the key events were coming and I think it could help shorten the offseason if the schedule were set rather than flexible.
Quote:315 Words
Like:
I like the idea of the DSFL. I think it will be important to the long term future of the league. I like how after being drafted, players can still go back and get playing time while they are developing. I think this will fix two potential issues as players won't have to sit on the bench as backups and potentially lose interest while developing as they will be able to start in the DSFL and since players will be able to develop in the DSFL for a few seasons, teams won't have to start unprepared rookies since they will be able to draft them a few years before their previous starters retire and let them develop in the DSFL so they will be ready when it is time to step up. I think the DSFL will be great for the league in the long team and am looking forward to seeing it develop further.
Quote:155 Words