Okay trying this one again..

IMO, without having a good D3, the game will not grow and thrive.

Here are some things I see as being problems and some potential solutions. Some might be bad ideas but I'll share what I'm thinking anyway. Some of these ideas are not my own and are borrowed from other users. Let's avoid the red light stuff and whatnot for now...

Problem: Great D3 coaches don't move up to D1/D2 and crush noobs
Solutions: Give an incentive to move up by-
1. Change the reward structure. D3 rewards are same as D2 and D1 so reduce the amount of credits you get and compensate by adding those to D1/D2. I should get 1 free season if I win the NT in D3. Right now you basically get a free season if you make S16.
2. Change process of taking over a team. Allow new coach to cut players signed in first session. This is a no brainer. Still isn't great but it's an improvement.
3. Provide compensation to move up by offering some credits for doing so. Not a ton but just a little. Would be offset by reduced postseason rewards.
4. Don't set a limit on tenure. It should be an incentive, not a mandate.

Problem: New user retention is poor
Solutions: Improve new user experience by
1. Stop with FREEHD and just reduce the price. First season is $5 and upon completion of 1st season, user gets an offer to sign up again with another reduced price. Maybe it's a BOGO or maybe it's 5 seasons for $20. Something like that. The jump from Free to $12 might be too much. Gotta get these players hooked and money shouldn't be a barrier in the beginning.
2. Reduce the dead time.
a. Chapel had a great idea the other day about combining jobs and new user signup (I think that's what it was). 1st round exit in CT means they are not logging on for over a week.
b. Move exhibitions to 2 in a day. one at 2am and other at 2pm.
3. Near end of regular season before CT. Or maybe even mid season, provide a "special" offer to add another team for free. NOW is the time to offer a free team. They are now playing the game and (hopefully) having fun but their season is about to end. What a better time to pick up another team to keep them playing while their 1st season is over and they're just going to be sitting around anyway.
4. Improve interactive experience during season. Before I started to read the forums, I liked seeing the emails that you got from you asst coach and AD. A lot were very clever and funny but others were important like the practice plan capped info. How about you get periodic 'tips' from your asst coach? It could just be stuff from the FAQ or knowledge base, it doesn't matter. Just little tidbits of advice would be fun and helpful to read. You know how when you're playing Madden or w/e and when the game is loading there is a short sentence explaining what to do - something like that.
5. Coaches not being able to recruit before 1st season is also a big problem. Have new coach signups during job period and allow them to recruit 2nd session.

I don't like FREE. But, as a former player from 2006, I wouldn't have paid $5. Or maybe even a nickel. FREE gave me a reason to try it.

Nerding out a little:

I always thought it took someone 3 seasons to take the HBD hook. By then you've got a decent idea of what you're doing and the players you drafted are nearing BL-level if you had any idea what you were doing in the draft. I think it might take 2 in HD. You don't have any players that you recruited in S1. You'll probably suck. You'll get your 1st recruits but, unless you're really paying attention, your 1st recruit class won't be all that. But, by your 2nd season, you're figuring things out. You'll still be terrible, mostly crappy players assigned to you and your halfass 1st recruiting class won't help much, but you'll feel better about what you're doing. And your 2nd class will be better. If you've learned, you'll be looking forward to your third.

So maybe a free season, a $5 discount season and 3 for $20. By 5 complete, you're in.

I tend to think you have good ideas but missing the key ?? one.

The reason it's not free initially and it'd be free for a 2nd team is that I believe a free signup gets a lot of people to sign up... and then do nothing. They don't even log in to check their teams. Remember last Spring when the Allen population jumped up to close to 300 people? I had 8 new coaches sign up in my conference and didn't even recruit. Many others did the same. It was a mess.

If you pay for the 1st season you show you're at least interested in giving the game a chance. at the point, you've shown enough initiative that you deserve to then get a free season on a 2nd team so you can begin playing again right away and not sit through the looong dead ttime

I had a few new coaches join my conference in Iba a couple months ago during the FREEHD thing. I sitemailed all of them to offer help. Only one person responded who said "I don't really have time for this game. It seems cool but I just signed up because it was free".

Posted by CoachSpud on 2/22/2017 8:48:00 PM (view original):
"Problem: Great D3 coaches don't move up to D1/D2 and crush noobs"

So often in these forums we see a "problem" that isn't a problem at all. Here, though, I have to agree that you have identified a problem. Giving modest incentives to move up is a good idea, but there's no reason, either, not to put some teeth into the process and institute some limitations to career duration at D3. For that matter, there's no reason the same or similar limits couldn't be instituted across the board. Forty or fifty seasons is plenty for a career -- retirement with Grand Legend Status or some such thing would help a bit with the job process top to bottom.

To be consistent, you're going to have to decide -- free or not. Advocating dropping free-for-a-new-team in bullet point one and advocating free-for-a-new-team two points later cannot be argued as consistent.

I think your post is good for the most part.

Benis : you got the seal of approval. You are now aloud to discuss this topic without further review from the Zen Master.

Posted by CoachSpud on 2/22/2017 8:48:00 PM (view original):
"Problem: Great D3 coaches don't move up to D1/D2 and crush noobs"

So often in these forums we see a "problem" that isn't a problem at all. Here, though, I have to agree that you have identified a problem. Giving modest incentives to move up is a good idea, but there's no reason, either, not to put some teeth into the process and institute some limitations to career duration at D3. For that matter, there's no reason the same or similar limits couldn't be instituted across the board. Forty or fifty seasons is plenty for a career -- retirement with Grand Legend Status or some such thing would help a bit with the job process top to bottom.

To be consistent, you're going to have to decide -- free or not. Advocating dropping free-for-a-new-team in bullet point one and advocating free-for-a-new-team two points later cannot be argued as consistent.

I think your post is good for the most part.

Alias. I run my 50 seasons as MikeT23 at D3. Around 45, CoachSpud2(my new alias) signs up to build a resume'. Guess who applies for MikeT23's team?

Posted by MikeT23 on 2/22/2017 8:56:00 PM (view original):

Posted by CoachSpud on 2/22/2017 8:48:00 PM (view original):
"Problem: Great D3 coaches don't move up to D1/D2 and crush noobs"

So often in these forums we see a "problem" that isn't a problem at all. Here, though, I have to agree that you have identified a problem. Giving modest incentives to move up is a good idea, but there's no reason, either, not to put some teeth into the process and institute some limitations to career duration at D3. For that matter, there's no reason the same or similar limits couldn't be instituted across the board. Forty or fifty seasons is plenty for a career -- retirement with Grand Legend Status or some such thing would help a bit with the job process top to bottom.

To be consistent, you're going to have to decide -- free or not. Advocating dropping free-for-a-new-team in bullet point one and advocating free-for-a-new-team two points later cannot be argued as consistent.

I think your post is good for the most part.

Alias. I run my 50 seasons as MikeT23 at D3. Around 45, CoachSpud2(my new alias) signs up to build a resume'. Guess who applies for MikeT23's team?

Same as in the other thread ... Just one more in a long list of reasons to prohibit multiple teams in a world.

And ... guess who is guaranteed to get that team. NO ONE.

How on earth would anyone know CoachSpud2 is my alias? You can't prohibit what you don't know.

So I may just be a weird guy, but I wasnt dissuaded by the presence of the great D3 coaches. Seeing what JsaJsa and Tarvolon did at Delaware Valley and Maryville in Crum gave me a goal post. Analyzing mfnmeyers Dickinson teams REALLY helped me understand what makes a good player. I think if i had joined in N.Atlantic in Allen when i first signed up, I would have been better off because i could have learned from Hyrcanus, dondraper (whose name always looked a bit too much like "raper" without caps), qb4usf, and carlbuzz.
Its not like losing games at D3 prevents you from moving up either - we've seen you can go 0-27 twice in a row and still qualify for D2

I think you actually cover the bigger issue: I was the most frustrated by essentially having dead seasons with bad players on my roster. One way to help solve this is by encouraging vets to change teams which would leave quality rosters for new players coming in. Inscentivising you change divisions does part of that, but encouraging vets to take on rebuilds is another part. If you provide some credit compensation for every prestige level you drop when changing teams, it would encourage vets to drop their A+ rosters for rebuilds, leaving quality rosters for new players to learn on.

I left after the update, but thought it better to at least try the new game. I find the season long recruiting at times bothersome, but so far I find enough enjoyment to stay with it. The ability to recruit higher levels of talent do increase the enjoyment.

Leave the Divisions alone. I agree with Benis and most of his reasoning. The core HD is three Divisions and coaches are given the choice to advance if they choose or stay with a less complicated level of HD.

My thoughts: Not all who play this game aspire to D1. I am ecstatic in D3, I do not wish to move up and there are many coaches who do not wish to move up either. HD is NOT up or out!

I do think that a recruit should be able to sign with any level in the early period if (1) He has been offered a scholarship and there are no other schools with moderate interest. (2) He wants to sign "Early" , "Period 1" or "Whenever". There are many D1/D2 coaches who do little if any work in the Early period and rely on the abundance of recruiting money compared to D3 to secure their recruits.

I also believe there are SOME D1 coaches that believe HD is strictly their domain and D2/D3 are completely useless. That has been the case since my earliest days in HD.

The vast majority of coaches are good people and add to the development of HD. There are a number in all divisions that have helped me in this game.

In a related topic on this thread, most coaches coming back to HD with the free season after the update, have left after a season or two. This is anecdotal and certainly not conclusive.

I certainly am a veteran coach and I have always tried to help and encourage new players. Not here to crush noobs, but to pass on what I have learned as veteran players did with me.

Of course there is a valid question as to if my help actually is beneficial!

I disagree that there should be a limit on career length here. I'm in D111 because I like it, and prefer it to D11 or D1. I like the challenge of having less money, and I like the history of having one id associated with just this one program. I'm a decent coach, but I've only won 2 championships in 70 or so seasons so it's hard enough even if you supposedly know the game. I did create two other aliases with the idea of moving them up to D1 and keeping the job here but wound up gravitating back to D111 with both just because I enjoyed the experience more here. So for someone like me if there was a "term limit" imposed on D111 and I was forced out of this job, I wouldn't move up, I'd probably just drop out. In all fairness that was all before 3.0. I haven't played D1 since the change, and they did address many things I disliked about it, so I might try again, but I would still hope to stay at Chicago with my original id for as long as I play the game.

I disagree with the idea of limiting a career.

I've always wondered why admin forces new owners to start in D3. I can only assume many to most people who join do so with an eye toward coaching a "name brand" school. Perhaps new coach retention is weak because people find it a slog to get to play as or against schools they've heard of. I understand the concept of "paying your dues" but why not let people start at a D division 1 school?