As of right now, I feel like the current way HD has its recruiting set up is cool and fun for current users BUT, for new users is just simply not the way to go in order to bring in new people or to incentivize many coaches to return to the game or add extra teams in new worlds. At the end of this day, this game is all about team building. I know this doesn't apply to everyone and that's perfectly fine, but I know that a lot of us (including myself) love the aspect of recruiting our own players and watching them grow. I personally do not feel any kind of success from teams that I haven't recruited for, it's fun to coach a winner but it just isn't the same in any way.

So what does this have to do with new coaches or coaches who are looking to add a new team? Well as it stands, you can't begin to recruit your own players until the season is well underway and you don't get to coach those players for a full season. In my opinion, that is a big problem. I don't think I should have to wait a full season before I am able to bring in my own guys, especially if you are taking on a rebuild project. And yes, as of right now, things do not seem as bad because of the emptiness of the worlds. You can basically find an NCAA tournament team when you sign up so waiting for that full season isn't as horrible (I still personally am not a fan at all though). This problem though will only get much larger if this game were to scale. If an influx of new users were to come in and stay, then suddenly those NCAA Tournament Jobs you can sign up for to wait one season until you bring your own guys in could become absolute rebuilding programs that have low prestige and next to no talent, a much much less desirable situation. I already do not think its fair to ask a new user to pay for a full season before they can actually coach a guy they recruited, add in what will happen if this game picks up and I just don't see why new users would ever pay even 5 dollars to just get their butts kicked all year as they are also trying to learn an entirely new game. (This did take place when the worlds were full back in the day but again I feel like recruiting to begin the season was the saving grace there).

As for the system as a whole, I'd like to hear what people think about how recruiting is set up now for new users. When I first started playing this game (like 20 years ago but I remember) what hooked me instantly was the team-building aspect of Hoops Dynasty. That will always be my favorite thing, recruiting my own players, watching them grow and hopefully succeed and by taking away recruiting from new users, you take away the chance for them to recruit their "own guys" in their first season, the one season that usually makes or breaks whether they stick around. I think that's important, what do you guys think?

SIDE NOTE
Something I feel should be fixed immediately is the job selection screen. Currently, when it comes to recruiting and scholarships, it is not only confusing for new users but for returning users it's misleading. A very simple note under the help section on this screen explaining that if you apply and are accepted to a new job then you are able to recruit in the 2nd cycle while if you sign up after coaching changes then you are unable to recruit at all would instantly clear up how the new system works. The current system (again especially for returning coaches of previous versions of HD) can make it seem like you have those scholarships to begin recruiting with right away. That's exactly what I thought when I returned to the game years ago and ended up just not even paying attention to my team because I thought I was going to be recruiting 5 players and instead was left with a subpar team.

This topic has been beat to death over the past few years but for what it's worth, I agree with you. It does a poor job retaining noobies and for a game that was struggling to attract and keep new users for a long time - it kinda blew my mind that not only did Seble decide to do this but quite a few people around here thought it was actually a good idea.

Posted by Benis on 1/6/2022 9:28:00 PM (view original):
This topic has been beat to death over the past few years but for what it's worth, I agree with you. It does a poor job retaining noobies and for a game that was struggling to attract and keep new users for a long time - it kinda blew my mind that not only did Seble decide to do this but quite a few people around here thought it was actually a good idea.

+1

I'm still not a huge fan of the current system, but it was clear seble made up his mind and took the word of the few over the many on what was going to work best for the game.

Im sure this has been vetted, but why not simply change the order to:

Draft
Job Hiring
RS1
RS2 during the season

Feels like that fixes the common gripes of season 1 recruiting, unlevel playing fields in RS2 recruiting, lack of useful resources for early entries, and would encourage less non-development of elite prospects.

The reserving of teams used to annoy me more when it was harder to fill the elite jobs. It bothers me less now but Id still do away with it given the option.

Completely agreed — If I don’t get to pick up some of “my own guys” going into season 1, season 1 just kinda feels like I’m not really invested, whether I’m a new user or I’m coming back to a world I used to play in.

Even if it was just getting to do RS2, I’d love to pick up a high-potential guy and start him and see how he develops that first year — THAT’S what hooks most people who play this game.

Maybe I'm missing something obvious but, I don't understand why the start of Recruiting Cycle 2 cannot simply be moved to after new coach signups... Wouldn't that just allow new coaches the ability to recruit in cycle 2 and still pick up some of their own guys without having to change much in the current system? I don't understand why the end of job applications was chosen as the start of cycle 2.

Maybe just change recruiting in D3. Add a cycle during the preseason game portion where new owners can recruit D3 players only.

Posted by Fregoe on 1/12/2022 11:15:00 AM (view original):
Maybe just change recruiting in D3. Add a cycle during the preseason game portion where new owners can recruit D3 players only.

Yeah could be treated as a nice introduction to recruiting, an interesting idea.

Posted by tmacfan12 on 1/12/2022 1:54:00 AM (view original):
Maybe I'm missing something obvious but, I don't understand why the start of Recruiting Cycle 2 cannot simply be moved to after new coach signups... Wouldn't that just allow new coaches the ability to recruit in cycle 2 and still pick up some of their own guys without having to change much in the current system? I don't understand why the end of job applications was chosen as the start of cycle 2.

The reason is that Seble didn't want new coaches to recruit right away. He believed it was too overwhelming for noobs to recruit before understanding how to play the game.

Most of us disagreed but it fell on deaf ears and user populations reached all time lows for a couple years.

The ironic thing is that Seble explicitly told us that one of his main goals with 3.0 was to improve new user retention. Ha!

its also that seble thought recruiting was perhaps the best part of HD and he wanted to showcase it even more, and thought that having it run during the season would give coaches more to do, things like that, and would make it easier to spread it out so folks could enjoy it for longer, or whatever

Posted by gillispie on 1/12/2022 5:07:00 PM (view original):
its also that seble thought recruiting was perhaps the best part of HD and he wanted to showcase it even more, and thought that having it run during the season would give coaches more to do, things like that, and would make it easier to spread it out so folks could enjoy it for longer, or whatever

If that's the case, why didn't he just make it last the entire season with each cycle being 24 hours? Then have RS2 moved to the beginning of the next season so new coaches can grab some of their own players.

Schedule:
New Coach signups
RS2 (remaining players from previous season)
Exhibition matches and new Recruit generation
Regular Season and Recruiting
Postseason and Recruit Signings Begin
Postseason Ends and EE's declare
Deadline to renew and Job Changes

Edit: I guess there could have been concerns about resetting every team's scouting/recruiting funding after the season has already started, but that shouldn't be difficult with updated modern code.

It is difficult taking over a new team as basically you are in mid season of recruiting. If you are quick at picking things up you can do ok otherwise its almost better to just wait until the next season.

Posted by brip87 on 1/13/2022 2:33:00 PM (view original):
It is difficult taking over a new team as basically you are in mid season of recruiting. If you are quick at picking things up you can do ok otherwise its almost better to just wait until the next season.

How so? I'd rather jump in and learn recruiting rather than get stuck with the Sim AI's mostly garbage recruits. If anything the emphasis here should be walking through new coaches on how to scout/look for talent/and recruit with some tutorials that are on the recruiting page when they join.

I'd rather not take a player who is not good enough then sign crap guys just to fill the roster. I'd prefer a walk on. To get champion ship level players you need to recruit from the opening bell. Sure a few slip through the cracks and you can get some decent guys but not typically. Especially at d3 where your budget is low. In the new game recruiting and team building is key.

Posted by brip87 on 1/13/2022 3:29:00 PM (view original):
I'd rather not take a player who is not good enough then sign crap guys just to fill the roster. I'd prefer a walk on. To get champion ship level players you need to recruit from the opening bell. Sure a few slip through the cracks and you can get some decent guys but not typically. Especially at d3 where your budget is low. In the new game recruiting and team building is key.

I'm not sure what you are arguing for tbh. Do you want the system to stay exactly the same, or are you saying that Cycle 1 should take place after job signups so new coaches can recruit from the jump?

Because if you're arguing for it staying the same, the crap guys who are signed to fill the roster are already signed by the Sim Ai. If you took over a new team and were able to recruit cycle 2, that would just allow you to recruit better than the sim would for you instead of having garbage players forced on you.