I just came back after a two year hiatus and I like the 3.0. We need someone like Mark Cuban to throw some cash in, created an app for iOS and android and that bills a player $1.99 or $.99 thru apple or google a season. Maybe Fox Sports as they feature into sports gambling. Maybe create hundreds of D1 Worlds? I do agree that for a new player, it’s a daunting task of time and money to climb the ladder to represent, example North Texas? Forget about UK or Duke. Ain’t going to happen. I think players would like a chance to just represent their alma mater.

Fantasy Sports really launched when they created customized leagues. Large or small, didn’t make a difference. There could be Divison I, II and III leagues, there could be an ACC league, SEC or just a DI league.

Maybe create a mass of players throughout the world with real life recognition via web pages or sites. Esports is huge. Even created worlds where “Pro” players could compete and play for pay. I really like the game and I see the silly games on smartphones that make no sense, have millions of players and developers are making tons of cash.

I just rambling here but I do feel there is an opportunity here that is just not being exposed.

"Maybe Fox Sports as they feature into sports gambling"

Fantastic idea.

Posted by shoe3 on 4/25/2019 1:09:00 PM (view original):
“Lack of caps” is a poor explanation. The game has had a retention problem from long before 3.0. Same goes for vets parked in lower levels and racking up credits against newer players. “Imbalance” is not new, nor is it worse.

The structural retention problem this game has always had is the forced stratification. This game loses a sh!tload of players at the point, usually somewhere between the 1st and 3rd seasons, when the user realizes how long it’s going to take to get to just low-level D1, and how much it’s likely to cost. Anyone who talks about retention and doesn’t start and focus on that point is just pushing some pet preference they have.

If you like the product, the best thing you can do is ignore the toxic folks who want to spend their time telling you why you shouldn’t like it, and how many other people don’t like it, and just go tell your friends about it. This is not designed to be a massive multiplayer game. It’s complex, the learning curve is steep, there isn’t any action, payoff takes a while. I hope they do some marketing, but any mass marketing is going to be a waste. Probably 90+% of gamers just aren’t going to find this interesting. They need to find the right pockets of user communities to make marketing effective.

I wish to relate shoe's post to my current experience as a returning user from a long-time absence (Allen, seasons 17 through 48). The stratification did not seem nearly as pronounced in those days and I was able to advance fairly rapidly.

I decided to come back to HD just to look over the "new" version and took over a SIM team in Smith. The team I inherited had five Top 25 teams on its non-conference schedule, which sort of made me feel picked on from the outset (ha). One of those teams destroyed mine by a score of 139-50. That coach has been there 31 seasons.

No matter how many forum posts I read, no matter how many spreadsheets I construct, no matter how much data I scrape, no matter how many coaches' brains I pick, my team is never going to get 90 points better. Continuing in that world/division would be a waste of time and money.

I am going to see my first recruiting class through four seasons and attempt to learn the game and get better at it, then look for something else in another world/division or leave HD altogether.

This is not an indictment of HD itself; I actually have enjoyed the game. It is knowing that I am operating at an insurmountable deficit that is discouraging. I would advocate for any measure that discourages a veteran user from "parking" in a lower division, but that is another topic for another day.

Posted by tribewriter on 5/14/2019 2:26:00 PM (view original):

Posted by shoe3 on 4/25/2019 1:09:00 PM (view original):
“Lack of caps” is a poor explanation. The game has had a retention problem from long before 3.0. Same goes for vets parked in lower levels and racking up credits against newer players. “Imbalance” is not new, nor is it worse.

The structural retention problem this game has always had is the forced stratification. This game loses a sh!tload of players at the point, usually somewhere between the 1st and 3rd seasons, when the user realizes how long it’s going to take to get to just low-level D1, and how much it’s likely to cost. Anyone who talks about retention and doesn’t start and focus on that point is just pushing some pet preference they have.

If you like the product, the best thing you can do is ignore the toxic folks who want to spend their time telling you why you shouldn’t like it, and how many other people don’t like it, and just go tell your friends about it. This is not designed to be a massive multiplayer game. It’s complex, the learning curve is steep, there isn’t any action, payoff takes a while. I hope they do some marketing, but any mass marketing is going to be a waste. Probably 90+% of gamers just aren’t going to find this interesting. They need to find the right pockets of user communities to make marketing effective.

I wish to relate shoe's post to my current experience as a returning user from a long-time absence (Allen, seasons 17 through 48). The stratification did not seem nearly as pronounced in those days and I was able to advance fairly rapidly.

I decided to come back to HD just to look over the "new" version and took over a SIM team in Smith. The team I inherited had five Top 25 teams on its non-conference schedule, which sort of made me feel picked on from the outset (ha). One of those teams destroyed mine by a score of 139-50. That coach has been there 31 seasons.

No matter how many forum posts I read, no matter how many spreadsheets I construct, no matter how much data I scrape, no matter how many coaches' brains I pick, my team is never going to get 90 points better. Continuing in that world/division would be a waste of time and money.

I am going to see my first recruiting class through four seasons and attempt to learn the game and get better at it, then look for something else in another world/division or leave HD altogether.

This is not an indictment of HD itself; I actually have enjoyed the game. It is knowing that I am operating at an insurmountable deficit that is discouraging. I would advocate for any measure that discourages a veteran user from "parking" in a lower division, but that is another topic for another day.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could recruit before your first season so it takes less time to rebuild? Or you at least get to root on your 'own guys'?

So I am no marketing genius. And I don't have vast knowledge of online marketing as some of you obviously do. But it seems to me that there are opportunities to make money on this site that wouldn't require just hiking up prices for users. Can ad space not be sold on the exterior of these web pages? Gear the ads toward gambling age adult males? Or are there just not enough clicks on this website to attract advertisers?

I agree that this is a niche game, but I think the niche is a lot larger than we think. Console games that are set up similar, except you can actually play the games yourself crushing it in the marketplace, NBA2k being the major one. And there is a huge market for college sports games like it that can't be tapped because of player likeness. That is why I am here in the first place.

One thing I do agree with though is that players want to couch "their team" whether it be their alma mater or just their favorite team, but the opportunity isn't there because a player can coach a team in a world for 100 seasons if they want. I know it probably wouldn't be popular, but couldn't you limit the number of seasons that you could coach in a specific world; say 50 years? Then you are required to retire from that world and move to another or start over in the world you are in? Maybe you earn a * after your name for every "career" you complete, but your record without an * ends and you have to start up another career with the same screen name but with a career marker ( ex. Brokenee - 1200 wins and 400 losses- retire - Brokenee* starts new career.) This forces turnover and doesn't allow a player to coach the same team for 100 seasons, which isn't realistic. If you "retire" and want to stay in the same world because you have grown to know the players within the world; you finished a career; your reward could be that you could start over but wouldn't be forced to start at the DII or DII level. You would immediately be eligible for a DI job, be it a low prestige, small conference job.

I have a ton more ideas but I am sure that most have either been thought of or pitched already. And again, I know almost nothing about this stuff, so if this all is dumb and irrelevant, apologies if you have taken the time to read this far. I just love the game and I am sure that if some small changes were made, there would be a better chance the site could grow instead of lose users.