I was wanting some opinions on what were the most challenging leagues.  Metropolis was one of the most challenging I was in. 

I guess you'll have to define "challenging". 

Worlds with 32 owners all trying to compete, where there is no single dominant team and virtually everybody has a legitimate shot at making the playoffs, can be seen as challenging because it's very difficult to get any kind of advantage over the other 31 owners.

'Tard worlds that have a couple of 120+ win teams built by tanking and n00b-raping can also be seen as challenging because they are dominated by a handful of teams that are virtually unbeatable.

And yet another possible definition could be a world like Kruk where every rollover presents the "challenge" of filling 8-10 spots...

That's about right. 

This is pretty much an opportunity to trumpet your world based on what you deem challenging.   Some are going to say "Mine.  We've had 15 WS winners in the last 16 seasons."  Others will say "Mine.  No team has won or lost 103 in the last 12 seasons."  And some will say "Mine.   JoeDominant has built a powerhouse and no one can challenge him."

Personally, I'd say MG because I feel like I'm about to start my 6th consecutive sub .500 season.

The most difficult league I was in had three dominant teams in the AL.  I won a few Division Titles, but was not able to advance in the playoffs. 

Posted by philogenemay on 11/7/2011 10:14:00 AM (view original):
And yet another possible definition could be a world like Kruk where every rollover presents the "challenge" of filling 8-10 spots...

Good to see they've solved all of their problems...

Looks a LOT more balanced excepting the same 2-4 100 gm winners that seem to be in the WS every season,

Posted by philogenemay on 11/7/2011 3:14:00 PM (view original):
Looks a LOT more balanced excepting the same 2-4 100 gm winners that seem to be in the WS every season,

If they haven't solved the 10 openings per season issue, they haven't really solved anything.  I think they've had like 5 commish changes and 4 name changes.  The problem is you can't keep changing the commish to one of the core guys responsible for creating the mess in the first place becuase nothing ever actually changes.  They need someone willing to clean house and do what is right.  They need MikeT23.  He can save a world (at least temporarily).

I know of one world where two teams combined have won the last nine World Series.  And they both play in the same division.

When I think "difficult" in HBD terms I think it has everything to do with the managers and almost nothing to do with the teams. Shtickless is the hardest league I'm a part of because just about everyone knows what they're doing - regardless of whether or not what they're doing is a good strategy, you aren't going to have an easy time getting trades that heavily favor you or really huge steals in FA.

Posted by mbriese on 11/7/2011 5:08:00 PM (view original):
When I think "difficult" in HBD terms I think it has everything to do with the managers and almost nothing to do with the teams. Shtickless is the hardest league I'm a part of because just about everyone knows what they're doing - regardless of whether or not what they're doing is a good strategy, you aren't going to have an easy time getting trades that heavily favor you or really huge steals in FA.

This

I think of myself as a fairly competent HBDer, but in one of the worlds I am in, I just can't seem to get my team to win.  I've built a similar team there to other teams that have had success in other worlds.  As far as I can tell, the team has good pitching, the "skill" defensive positions (SS, CF, 2B, C) all have plus defenders (actually, it's one of the better defensive teams in the world), I have good, speedy baserunners and a mix of contact, power and OBP type batters.  But the team only just dances around .500.  I think this indicates that it is in a "challenging" world.

Posted by shobob on 11/8/2011 9:29:00 PM (view original):
I think of myself as a fairly competent HBDer, but in one of the worlds I am in, I just can't seem to get my team to win.  I've built a similar team there to other teams that have had success in other worlds.  As far as I can tell, the team has good pitching, the "skill" defensive positions (SS, CF, 2B, C) all have plus defenders (actually, it's one of the better defensive teams in the world), I have good, speedy baserunners and a mix of contact, power and OBP type batters.  But the team only just dances around .500.  I think this indicates that it is in a "challenging" world.

Which team are you talking about?

Posted by shobob on 11/8/2011 9:29:00 PM (view original):
I think of myself as a fairly competent HBDer, but in one of the worlds I am in, I just can't seem to get my team to win.  I've built a similar team there to other teams that have had success in other worlds.  As far as I can tell, the team has good pitching, the "skill" defensive positions (SS, CF, 2B, C) all have plus defenders (actually, it's one of the better defensive teams in the world), I have good, speedy baserunners and a mix of contact, power and OBP type batters.  But the team only just dances around .500.  I think this indicates that it is in a "challenging" world.

I think of myself fairly competent as well.  My Outlaws are pretty good defensively, top 5 in fielding percentage.  Good splits with pitchers and hitters... lost 12 straight to end the year.  I think the only two things in this game that matter are power;  batting power and pitching power.

Posted by caesari on 11/8/2011 9:48:00 PM (view original):

Posted by shobob on 11/8/2011 9:29:00 PM (view original):
I think of myself as a fairly competent HBDer, but in one of the worlds I am in, I just can't seem to get my team to win.  I've built a similar team there to other teams that have had success in other worlds.  As far as I can tell, the team has good pitching, the "skill" defensive positions (SS, CF, 2B, C) all have plus defenders (actually, it's one of the better defensive teams in the world), I have good, speedy baserunners and a mix of contact, power and OBP type batters.  But the team only just dances around .500.  I think this indicates that it is in a "challenging" world.

Which team are you talking about?

You could look at my history and figure it out, but I'll save you the effort.  The Bigs.