As always’s please don’t hesitate to report errors.
League-wide Report:
It's been another better than solid year when it comes to participation.
Yes, our TN numbers dipped just a touch from last season, but we were up a bit everywhere else. If you're crazy enough to dig into the forum posting numbers you'll see slightly less participation on the top end (where we lost high-volume posting beasts in Ted and Jeff, but added all-around PPT grabbers like Joe and Doug), but the numbers of guys in the lower half and middle of post counts really swelled--in other words, we had fewer guys posting a ton, but a _lot_ more guys spending quality time on the forum--which I think is a great trade. The bottom-line metric that seems to apply here is that we had 27 of our 30 BBA GMs score bonus points for posting this season (and four UMEBAs), an all-time high.
I suggest that this is partially a result of the very close competition we had happening this year. When everyone has skin in the game, this theory goes, the forum is more likely to be hopping.
Here are our numbers on the year (removing me from the numbers)
PPT/Tm: 61.8 (Avg:43.4)
TN/Tm: 14.4 (Avg: 10.9)
Posts/Tm: 183.0 (Avg: 133.8)
Export Record: I should also note that the most important measure of participation, export rate, was at the highest level since I've been tracking it (nine seasons). We had a 96.7% rate of exports in the regular season. I would guess that some of this is related to the fact that we had stable and unshifting seats in the GM offices of all BBA teams throughout the season. Overall, the league seems as vibrant and stable today as it ever has, and with a healthy and developing UMEBA (which is filled with solid GMs despite being "raided" by BBA teams at points), the future looks brilliant.
Here are the top level BBA run-charts:
See> Another great season!
UMEBA
Speaking of the UMEBA, with this being our third season with the independent league, we're just now starting to get real momentum. Given that, the news here was beyond great. The competition is getting tighter, as our GMs get stabilized, and I suppose it's not too surprising then that we see PPT numbers rising--actually, since these counts have more than doubled each season, I suppose you can say that participation is more than just "rising." It's increasing exponentially. I promised a more robust tracking of the UMEBA this season, and I've got the data available. I haven't however, taken the time to get it into a better spreadsheet. So, for now, here are the total PPT earned by UMEBA guys each season so you can see how the gang is developing:
2037: 63 (half year)
2038: 146
2039: 291
Special Notes:
This year saw the beginning of Justin's fantastic "What's Brewin' in the Brewster Podcast" as well as a few episodes of the GM's Corner and AFBI. The consensus seems to be that more is better here, so if you get interested in something, don't hesitate.
We also saw Ed start a cool "Shutout" thread, which did a great job of highlighting more outstanding performances by our not-so-fake players. Joe's new "Trade Value" feature looks like a great annual event and was great fun. Randy's running Brewster Triva thread was great fun and valuable for learning new things about the league. I know I'm missing stuff here. Sorry about that.
And … I have to note that you guys totally killed it on the Media Guide in 2039. I honestly cannot conceive of ever having a stronger issue.
Beyond our base participation requirements, we have no expectations of anyone. So, in the end, the cliché that we get as much out of our little world as we put into it seems to apply in bucketloads. Thanks to everyone for making this one of the most vibrant OOTP leagues in existence.
The 200 Club:
I also need to take a moment to note that we have new member of the "200 Club," meaning a league member who created fun stuff that earned 200 or more points. That new member is Joe Lederer! All total we now have five members who have crossed this line at some point or another--a true Murderer's Row if I've ever seen one:
- Al Hoot (2002)
- Ed Murphy (2012, 2013, 2022)
- Aaron Weiner (2019, 2020, 2021)
- Ron Collins (2027, 2031-2039)
- Joe Lederer (2039)