Tier 1, Task 3
The NSFL fascinated me from the first time I read about it on reddit. It just sounds interesting to be one player in a simulation league. You can choose your own way and do what you want and how you want to. While in fact this is true to the limitations of positions and archetypes, you still can choose your own strengths and weaknesses. But by choosing solely on what youself like, you may move into a direction where it is hard for your player to be successful on the field. There are builds that favor your success early in your career. Of course, there is still the point if the sim loves you or not, which no one can predict before you start.
I for myself started out as a WR. I checked the different archetypes and had a really tough time to decide. I didn’t have any information by the time I made the decision, but it was a hard one for me already. I am trying to strive for the best I can do, therefore I looked at where can I apply the most TPE and make a superior build. I didn’t look on any other players or how much TPE one can gather, but I liked the possession receiver type. It is the archetype where you can apply the most TPE to the important wide receiver attributes. Red Zone Threat is quite similar to it, both have 90 speed and 100 hands. Route Runner was no option for me, as you can’t max out either speed (95) or hands (90). Speed Receiver was interesting also, you can go to 100 speed and 90 hands, but you lack in intelligence and strength a lot. Moreover there were already some other prospects starting as speed receiver and I wanted to be some kind of different to them.
At first I liked what I had, but with diving further into the league and learning more about the simulation which is used to run the games, I realized that I probably made the wrong decision. Whereas there are some few really good WR with Possession Receiver or Red Zone Threat archetype, the overwhelming majority is either Speed Receiver or Route Runner. By learning that the sim loves speed, I decided to change my archetype to Speed Receiver. Route Runner can get agility to 95 instead of 90, but the drop off in speed wasn’t worth it in my opinion. So instead of being the reliable wideout, I am a speedy guy now.
With all these information and mechanics how the sim works, I got interested in the simulation program. I got the software and a sim file, and started trying around a bit. I immediately liked testing different things and searching for improvements. It was at the time, when the Kansas City Coyotes, my DSFL team, was at the end of regular season. A lot of testing followed, to do as best as possible in the playoffs. The sim didn’t like us in the finals, as we finally lost to the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers in the S21 Ultimini. But the urge for finding the best strategy possible has begun.
This sim has so many interesting features (let’s call it features) in it, and so many weird things already were found. Like the overpowered 79 speed for QBs or similar stuff. The sim is so complex in various of ways, that it’s really not easy to find the ultimate strategy that lets you win everything. In fact, there is no strategy that wins you everything. Even the Chicago Butchers with a 50 TPE QB in Franky LaFleur always had a chance to win a game. Yes, the chance was almost zero, but it wasn’t. You have got to love the sim for that. It’s like just real football. The chances might be slim, but they are there for you to win any given Sunday. It can be rough to learn that there is always a chance to lose on the other side. You tested over 70% to win? Doesn’t matter to the sim sometimes. In the end, just one game out of the various you tested gets picked. Not even that, just one new game is simulated, you never saw that one game when you tested. Of course, the probability to see your team winning is higher with a good strategy. You can test as much as you like, in the end you have one strategy you submit. You don’t know what your opponent will submit and how this may affect the outcome.
There are so many interesting articles out there, which present any sort of analysis of different positions, archetypes and the success you’ll have if you choose one. I love those pieces of media, but the sim sometimes just doesn’t seem to care. The sim loves you or hates you, it sometimes seems. This is true, and at the same time it is not. Think about it. When you do sim testing, you run about 500 games to determine a strategy. In this 500 games, you don’t equally play good or bad. You have amazing games and in others you suck. The sim loves you in one game and hates you in the other. In the end, the timeline we choose as our official games is, what makes you good or bad. Yes, you can apply the attributes in a way to make you more successful, but there is also luck needed for you to perform in the official games to be successful.
Of course it’s not only luck to have a successful career, but you can overperform or underperform your entire career, if the specific games are chosen for you. But exactly this variance is such an interesting and exciting aspect to this league.
The NSFL fascinated me from the first time I read about it on reddit. It just sounds interesting to be one player in a simulation league. You can choose your own way and do what you want and how you want to. While in fact this is true to the limitations of positions and archetypes, you still can choose your own strengths and weaknesses. But by choosing solely on what youself like, you may move into a direction where it is hard for your player to be successful on the field. There are builds that favor your success early in your career. Of course, there is still the point if the sim loves you or not, which no one can predict before you start.
I for myself started out as a WR. I checked the different archetypes and had a really tough time to decide. I didn’t have any information by the time I made the decision, but it was a hard one for me already. I am trying to strive for the best I can do, therefore I looked at where can I apply the most TPE and make a superior build. I didn’t look on any other players or how much TPE one can gather, but I liked the possession receiver type. It is the archetype where you can apply the most TPE to the important wide receiver attributes. Red Zone Threat is quite similar to it, both have 90 speed and 100 hands. Route Runner was no option for me, as you can’t max out either speed (95) or hands (90). Speed Receiver was interesting also, you can go to 100 speed and 90 hands, but you lack in intelligence and strength a lot. Moreover there were already some other prospects starting as speed receiver and I wanted to be some kind of different to them.
At first I liked what I had, but with diving further into the league and learning more about the simulation which is used to run the games, I realized that I probably made the wrong decision. Whereas there are some few really good WR with Possession Receiver or Red Zone Threat archetype, the overwhelming majority is either Speed Receiver or Route Runner. By learning that the sim loves speed, I decided to change my archetype to Speed Receiver. Route Runner can get agility to 95 instead of 90, but the drop off in speed wasn’t worth it in my opinion. So instead of being the reliable wideout, I am a speedy guy now.
With all these information and mechanics how the sim works, I got interested in the simulation program. I got the software and a sim file, and started trying around a bit. I immediately liked testing different things and searching for improvements. It was at the time, when the Kansas City Coyotes, my DSFL team, was at the end of regular season. A lot of testing followed, to do as best as possible in the playoffs. The sim didn’t like us in the finals, as we finally lost to the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers in the S21 Ultimini. But the urge for finding the best strategy possible has begun.
This sim has so many interesting features (let’s call it features) in it, and so many weird things already were found. Like the overpowered 79 speed for QBs or similar stuff. The sim is so complex in various of ways, that it’s really not easy to find the ultimate strategy that lets you win everything. In fact, there is no strategy that wins you everything. Even the Chicago Butchers with a 50 TPE QB in Franky LaFleur always had a chance to win a game. Yes, the chance was almost zero, but it wasn’t. You have got to love the sim for that. It’s like just real football. The chances might be slim, but they are there for you to win any given Sunday. It can be rough to learn that there is always a chance to lose on the other side. You tested over 70% to win? Doesn’t matter to the sim sometimes. In the end, just one game out of the various you tested gets picked. Not even that, just one new game is simulated, you never saw that one game when you tested. Of course, the probability to see your team winning is higher with a good strategy. You can test as much as you like, in the end you have one strategy you submit. You don’t know what your opponent will submit and how this may affect the outcome.
There are so many interesting articles out there, which present any sort of analysis of different positions, archetypes and the success you’ll have if you choose one. I love those pieces of media, but the sim sometimes just doesn’t seem to care. The sim loves you or hates you, it sometimes seems. This is true, and at the same time it is not. Think about it. When you do sim testing, you run about 500 games to determine a strategy. In this 500 games, you don’t equally play good or bad. You have amazing games and in others you suck. The sim loves you in one game and hates you in the other. In the end, the timeline we choose as our official games is, what makes you good or bad. Yes, you can apply the attributes in a way to make you more successful, but there is also luck needed for you to perform in the official games to be successful.
Of course it’s not only luck to have a successful career, but you can overperform or underperform your entire career, if the specific games are chosen for you. But exactly this variance is such an interesting and exciting aspect to this league.
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966 words![[Image: 011p.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/0ytdxNZ0/011p.png)
![[Image: 11-win-WR.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/Qdh5wMgY/11-win-WR.png)
