Posted by topdogggbm on 2/18/2019 4:59:00 AM (view original):
Good point about the D1 thing. I've said that a few times but no one else really chimed in. I think some new coaches will stay planted in lower divisions, because after losing for a while, once they get it figured out, they may what to keep that build going.
And I'm not sure about the rest of you, but even when I get a thought to move somewhere else, I get the "well, just one more season!" mentality going. And it happens the next season, and the next. And it's not long till I decide I'm never leaving, despite what I originally thought
None of this is wrong, on its own. And this goes against the idea that lower divisions are now inherently not fun. It’s fine, if that’s your thing. That’s why I’m not arguing - as some do - that they should just be lopped off.
If you stuck around, great. This thread isn’t directed at your experience. A thread about increasing retention is about figuring out why people don’t try it, or try it and say “nah”. For those folks, the starting place isn’t capping pools. That’s a solution in search of a problem. And it isn’t getting crushed by vets for a couple seasons until you figure things out. If you start a game like this expecting to be championship level right away, you probably aren’t a good fit for this kind of game anyway. I think the starting place is the time and money one has to spend to get to the place you were thinking of before you started playing.
Most of the population decrease comes from update attrition due to long time players losing advantages they were enjoying. At all levels, it was “superconferences” losing conference tourney cash and rollover; and at D1 it was also the increased volatility of early entries, and the increased difficulty of replacing them right away. None of these things affect a new or potential player looking at starting the game. There were lots of things that could have been done to try to make up for the attrition, including addressing the startup cost by fixing hiring, and better marketing. Instead, the parent company immediately reorganized, severanced the developer, and then sold the whole package to another company that apparently isn’t really interested in it other than a potential pool of users to attract to its more traditional sports gaming (gambling) activities. It is what it is. The game is plenty fun for those of us who like this sort of thing.