Posted by MikeT23 on 2/21/2017 1:32:00 PM (view original):
Ratings are NOT a secret. If you want to know how to compete with the top teams, you look at their rosters. If you can't find those types in D3, you have to know to look elsewhere. Camps offer D1/D2 or D2/D3. And D3 schools can click that D1/D2 camp with no restriction. While it may not be intuitive, it is not restrictive either. Sometimes you gotta think it out. Even n00bs.

But how many n00bs know right away that they can and should be going after non-D3 players? I think a simple change in the user interface could improve the situation.

Instead of having FSS, recruit pool, and assistant search be pre-selected for D3, they could not be set to any level. Then the user would have to select D3 (or whatever level they want to recruit) from the drop down menu. Could also allow users to "opt out" of this by having those features pre-select for a specific level under user settings.

As a recent "n00b", I wondered why in the hell I was seeing top 100 players when I didn't scout D1. Admittedly, it was confusing. But also having a bunch of SIM recruited players getting smoked also told me something was wrong. If I was going to be discouraged, it would have been long before I recruited a player. I think I finished 7-21 with none of my players. That sucked more than not knowing where to look for players.

I wouldn't mind seeing the default be what you suggest. If the site leads new users in a direction, that's the road they take. I've griped about it with HBD having "recommended" worlds based on openings. Could be the worst world in HBD and the site is recommending it? That will deter users from having a season 2.

Posted by MikeT23 on 2/21/2017 1:57:00 PM (view original):
As a recent "n00b", I wondered why in the hell I was seeing top 100 players when I didn't scout D1. Admittedly, it was confusing. But also having a bunch of SIM recruited players getting smoked also told me something was wrong. If I was going to be discouraged, it would have been long before I recruited a player. I think I finished 7-21 with none of my players. That sucked more than not knowing where to look for players.

I wouldn't mind seeing the default be what you suggest. If the site leads new users in a direction, that's the road they take. I've griped about it with HBD having "recommended" worlds based on openings. Could be the worst world in HBD and the site is recommending it? That will deter users from having a season 2.

Yes, but you were already a borderline obsessive WIS user. For someone that hasn't ever played a SIM game before that wants to try it out, the current system of having to intuitively know as much as they do to put together a mediocre .500 team is a little ridiculous. Before you say it, I'm not saying that the game should be easy, but limiting the level of recruits a D3 team has access to would make the process less of a trial by fire than it is now. User experience is important.

Posted by mbriese on 2/21/2017 2:54:00 PM (view original):

Posted by MikeT23 on 2/21/2017 1:57:00 PM (view original):
As a recent "n00b", I wondered why in the hell I was seeing top 100 players when I didn't scout D1. Admittedly, it was confusing. But also having a bunch of SIM recruited players getting smoked also told me something was wrong. If I was going to be discouraged, it would have been long before I recruited a player. I think I finished 7-21 with none of my players. That sucked more than not knowing where to look for players.

I wouldn't mind seeing the default be what you suggest. If the site leads new users in a direction, that's the road they take. I've griped about it with HBD having "recommended" worlds based on openings. Could be the worst world in HBD and the site is recommending it? That will deter users from having a season 2.

Yes, but you were already a borderline obsessive WIS user. For someone that hasn't ever played a SIM game before that wants to try it out, the current system of having to intuitively know as much as they do to put together a mediocre .500 team is a little ridiculous. Before you say it, I'm not saying that the game should be easy, but limiting the level of recruits a D3 team has access to would make the process less of a trial by fire than it is now. User experience is important.

Mike to be fair, you did what a new user SHOULD do and that is to get on the forums and ask questions. But most new coaches don't do that.

New coaches don't even know that Height and Weight are window dressing. How else are they supposed to know that without being told or reading it on the forums? They could be looking at other teams that are good and could be totally focusing on the wrong thing. The learning curve for this game can be steep.

This will sort of go back to my contention that anyone seeking to play a sim game can find it with a search engine but anyone seeking success in a game such as this should know to look at the top teams and see what's different. My first SLB team went 55-107. I recall this because my 2nd went 107-55. Then I quit open leagues because 90% of the successful teams used the same template. No one here has discovered a magic formula. The template, or templates, have been laid out before us. We simply have to fill in the 12 spots to use it(them).

Posted by MikeT23 on 2/21/2017 3:16:00 PM (view original):
This will sort of go back to my contention that anyone seeking to play a sim game can find it with a search engine but anyone seeking success in a game such as this should know to look at the top teams and see what's different. My first SLB team went 55-107. I recall this because my 2nd went 107-55. Then I quit open leagues because 90% of the successful teams used the same template. No one here has discovered a magic formula. The template, or templates, have been laid out before us. We simply have to fill in the 12 spots to use it(them).

You've got a remarkably long attention span. Most users perusing the web do not.

Posted by Benis on 2/21/2017 3:13:00 PM (view original):

Posted by mbriese on 2/21/2017 2:54:00 PM (view original):

Posted by MikeT23 on 2/21/2017 1:57:00 PM (view original):
As a recent "n00b", I wondered why in the hell I was seeing top 100 players when I didn't scout D1. Admittedly, it was confusing. But also having a bunch of SIM recruited players getting smoked also told me something was wrong. If I was going to be discouraged, it would have been long before I recruited a player. I think I finished 7-21 with none of my players. That sucked more than not knowing where to look for players.

I wouldn't mind seeing the default be what you suggest. If the site leads new users in a direction, that's the road they take. I've griped about it with HBD having "recommended" worlds based on openings. Could be the worst world in HBD and the site is recommending it? That will deter users from having a season 2.

Yes, but you were already a borderline obsessive WIS user. For someone that hasn't ever played a SIM game before that wants to try it out, the current system of having to intuitively know as much as they do to put together a mediocre .500 team is a little ridiculous. Before you say it, I'm not saying that the game should be easy, but limiting the level of recruits a D3 team has access to would make the process less of a trial by fire than it is now. User experience is important.

Mike to be fair, you did what a new user SHOULD do and that is to get on the forums and ask questions. But most new coaches don't do that.

New coaches don't even know that Height and Weight are window dressing. How else are they supposed to know that without being told or reading it on the forums? They could be looking at other teams that are good and could be totally focusing on the wrong thing. The learning curve for this game can be steep.

Agreed but I'd never direct a new user here. They'd read how horrible the game is(according to some users) and quit before the season was done. This forum is way too negative to be useful.

FWIW, I didn't know the forums existed until 1/2 way thru my 2nd SLB season. It was just common sense to see what the teams who were steamrolling you were doing.