If It Seems That I am Always Complaining About Change ...
Posted: Fri May 17, 2019 2:37 pm
Perhaps it is because we can't ever seem to leave the league alone long enough to figure out what is going on. I'll admit, I am conservative by nature, and prefer slow, incremental change that gives time to see how it affects the league dynamic. Since the middle of the 20's, the following things have happened, every one either dramatically changing the structure of the league, how talent is evaluated, or how talent comes into the league.
Mid to late 20's - draft pool become dramatically deeper
Somewhere between late 20's and early 30's, newly drafted players are much younger, with high school kids around 16-17 and college 18-19 (down from 18 and 20-21 respectively)
2029 - EBA Disappears - no more Rule 6, changes how players enter and leave the league, makes more vets available
2029 - First Expansion - four more teams added, realignment
Around 2030 - Steal rates explode
2034-2035 - Scout finds go insane, multiple teams add 2-3 60+ grade players
2035 - Second Expansion - two more teams added, realignment
Around 2036 - steal rates turned down
2036 - Scout finds decreased, IFA classes go nuts for a couple seasons
2037 - UMEBA established. AAAA FA's siphoned off (more in 2038 than in 2037)
Mid 2037 - change to relative ratings
2038 - IFA classes back to normal, draft continues to deepen.
2040 - Planned Third Expansion - two more teams, realignment
Starting at 2029, we are averaging more than one major change every season. If you tell me that this doesn't make it harder for GMs who don't have or care to spend as much time on the league to compete, I will have a tough time believing you. If you want to tell me that those GMs having a harder time keeping up with those of us who were either A) already very good at the game, or B) have a LOT of time to put into adjusting are not at a disadvantage, I think you are mistaken. If you tell me that none of this will adversely affect parity, I do not believe you. As we have continued to make change after change, I have been the obnoxious squeaky wheel, taking about how we should give things time to normalize and work to get better parity before making more changes. I have been repeatedly ignored. And here we are, with three division races over by July, and all but one over August, and a whopping three or so teams competing for the final wild card spot.
This not even counting tweaks to the injury rate settings, and the adjustment to a new version of OOTP every 3 or so seasons (which admittedly is usually rather slight.)
Given that it takes 4-5 season for a new player to get into the league after being drafted our found or bought in IFA, and that the cycle of a generation of players is about a decade, this rate of change is incredibly alarming and very dangerous to the competitive environment of the league.
Mid to late 20's - draft pool become dramatically deeper
Somewhere between late 20's and early 30's, newly drafted players are much younger, with high school kids around 16-17 and college 18-19 (down from 18 and 20-21 respectively)
2029 - EBA Disappears - no more Rule 6, changes how players enter and leave the league, makes more vets available
2029 - First Expansion - four more teams added, realignment
Around 2030 - Steal rates explode
2034-2035 - Scout finds go insane, multiple teams add 2-3 60+ grade players
2035 - Second Expansion - two more teams added, realignment
Around 2036 - steal rates turned down
2036 - Scout finds decreased, IFA classes go nuts for a couple seasons
2037 - UMEBA established. AAAA FA's siphoned off (more in 2038 than in 2037)
Mid 2037 - change to relative ratings
2038 - IFA classes back to normal, draft continues to deepen.
2040 - Planned Third Expansion - two more teams, realignment
Starting at 2029, we are averaging more than one major change every season. If you tell me that this doesn't make it harder for GMs who don't have or care to spend as much time on the league to compete, I will have a tough time believing you. If you want to tell me that those GMs having a harder time keeping up with those of us who were either A) already very good at the game, or B) have a LOT of time to put into adjusting are not at a disadvantage, I think you are mistaken. If you tell me that none of this will adversely affect parity, I do not believe you. As we have continued to make change after change, I have been the obnoxious squeaky wheel, taking about how we should give things time to normalize and work to get better parity before making more changes. I have been repeatedly ignored. And here we are, with three division races over by July, and all but one over August, and a whopping three or so teams competing for the final wild card spot.
This not even counting tweaks to the injury rate settings, and the adjustment to a new version of OOTP every 3 or so seasons (which admittedly is usually rather slight.)
Given that it takes 4-5 season for a new player to get into the league after being drafted our found or bought in IFA, and that the cycle of a generation of players is about a decade, this rate of change is incredibly alarming and very dangerous to the competitive environment of the league.