FREE AGENCY #2 Sign-up & Details thread (July 10th)

[Riverside]

You're legitimately too stupid to even type to anymore. Saying someone drops 23 kills every time there's a star cap and that I don't adjust how I play is not complaining about the line that I play with. The only person I complain about playing with is claus in jav (a true 1*).

There have been a few instances since the TWDT before this one: where Ive jokingly gotten at you & you respond about your team, make light about the star cap (indirectly at the quality of people playing, esp since I've read it being said regardless of a lower * cap like this TWDT, or the # before), or that time when the topic of stacking was brought up (ie surrounding context on TW Leagues, presently & historically): how I'm viewing it from the lens of past TW rules/leagues.

As far as I can tell (assumption based off the limited troll interactions we have, idk what a person's views are unless they're explicitly stated by behavior (words and/or actions), and generally don't care unless I see something that i think contributes impactfully, and I see it recurringly). It seems like you maintain a similar POV as you did over a decade ago on what purposes TW Leagues have for a zone (which, as many have told you & others before, the mentality & execution of stacking is and was harmful for the health of the Zones overall activity). You just type it in a chat (blue is what ive seen recently) with some sarcasm. A certain minority relay similar messaging, but with their own added POVs & ways/mediums of communicating:

Loudly (& sometimes creatively).

Im glad to read you complain less than you did before tho. Stacking culture, which limits the frequency and intensity of competitive games until the top 2-4 teams out of several teams meet (ie Semis & Finals), is seen in a lot of online and in-person games. Imo, there were some contributing factors that has allowed it to be accepted (and normalized) by a group of members in this community in TWL, TWD, and other potential non-draft based league models.

If I'm wrong in the conclusions about your POVs based off the limited things that I've read you write these past few months, and using your history with stacking your teams as the core Cap/decision maker as added context (a few years ago, for many years): I apologize.

Ps: an intelligence insult right out the gate eh? Cute & on brand. Lol.

[viop11]

didnt see 1 time any twdt ops say WE NEED MORE CIPTINS TO VS MORE TEAMS PLZ VOLUNTEER IF U R ABLE

ciptinink takes literally 0 effirt u just have to b prisint for the dr1ft and hopefully shiw up 2 games and fit ppl into a lineup n if u cint make it u have assistints 2 do your j1b

[MousE]

Mb Dwop

[Dwopple]

Dwopple runs his league like the government... hidden decisions that hurt more people then they help. When the mass # of new people signed up it was VERY VERY obvious the # of teams and * cap were going to be an issue. We did nothing at all (just like the government) and behold the league is poo poo for the majority of people. As vio wrote above literally nothing was done to address the issues. Dwopple here also saying he is trying to protect the people who signed up first when very easily some new player could sign up and replace someone who signed up day one. Like a politician man is full of poo poo. Secret cap meetings to decide the fate of every? That always works out well for the population Don Jr in charge

The irony of you crying enough tears to fill SeaWorld (go Orcas) about your current captain & team while bemoaning we should have had more teams is downright pathetic, Mouse. Half the league would have quit or removed their name from the signup sheet if they were drafted by the only other person who reached out to me about captaining. Snoopie offered to do it generally, but the same outcome would have occurred.

There are 3 examples of this community reaction over the previous 3 TWDT seasons.

There would have been crying no matter the outcome, and I chose to listen to the group offering their time to volunteer.

I'm serious when I say you should step up and offer more than just tears for this zone and community. You have my full support and staff will happily pair you up with someone you'd enjoy Op-ing with aside from me. #MOUSE2022/2023

That said, I'm sorry most of the captains passed on you due to your 1-league skill ceiling and absolute dogshit attitude toward others when things don't go your way. Never change, bud.

[MousE]

Sorry Guy

[Vehicle]

TBH though I know I am hard on River for his lines, but he wouldn't have to make such ass lines if he didn't have to jump through the insanity of the current * system.

Its worth noting that this isn't true. River didn't draft a single player over 9*. He literally can't field a max star lineup in any league because of how he drafted.

This gets to dwopples point about the need for people to volunteer to cap. I think/hope that now that we all know how dire the straits are, more of us will step up and cap in the future.

No one disagrees that this season could of been better if we had 8 teams. If people had signed up before the last minute there probably would be that many. This is the season we've got. Raising the star cap would not have solved the problem. It would of just given certain players more play time and improved certain games. It wouldn't of improved things for Riversides team though, which demonstrates why it couldn't be done.

Make the best of what we've got. This isn't Dwopple trying to make you have a bad time. It's the culmination of late sign ups, a weird FA, an "interesting" cap and higher showrates than expected.

I'm grateful to anyone who's willing to run a league.

Edit: Also, I just looked and this most-recent week River did field almost max-star lineups, for the first time all season. Doesn't really change the point though.

[Dwopple]

Ty Jr I will continue to speak the truth even if it pisses ppl like u off. You are the type of guy similar to river who willingly fucks over his teams saying this is fun (drafting cig #1 is a great example of that) Decisions in TW should be made for the betterment of the largest group of people in TW. As vio said you didn't try reposting about caps you and a small group decided the outcome of the league. TBH though I know I am hard on River for his lines, but he wouldn't have to make such ass lines if he didn't have to jump through the insanity of the current * system. We had to have people who base in spec in favor of guys who didn't want to play again because the * cap was too low for # of teams.

I also dun respect people like you who can't even say oops I made a bad call sorry and try and do better. You are a double downer aka a Dwopple... you are the one who wont change. I will always b changin being stagnant is just plain stupid yo

and stop taunting me about running league it is obvious I am not suited for that type of job. I do offer shit to this zone. I cap a squad I get on coms, do casts/ratings and I come on forums and express the flaws I see that hurt the game. I am passionate, but talking to you feels like talking to a wall. A wall that has his mind made up and it doesn't matter what any1 else in the community thinks except ur small group

I mean for fuck sakes you are asking 6 people who's main goal is winning a competition what they think of a decision that will effect everyone in the league. THEY HAVE SUCH OBVIOUS BIAS how is this not clear?

I'm not surprised at your quick about-face after throwing the first daggers on a (now) nearly daily basis to play the victim card. I have no problem taking ownership for decisions and being the fall guy for the vocal minority. I have a real personal problem with your harassing approach. You either have such an unhealthy hard on for harassing me, or are too stupid to realize there would have been crying and complaining no matter what. The former has been obvious for years, but I fear the latter may have more influence on your outbursts when things aren't going your way.

Compare your approach to River's constructive criticism in this thread, the productive discussion ongoing in RageRitual's thread to your "political" Don Jr approach. It's absolutely and woefully unsurprisingly pathetic.

If you want me (or others) to respect your gripes then I highly suggest you change your approach (cuz bein stagnant is just plain stupid, yo).

Here's your community input on the matter. The quicker you realize you're in the extremely (nasty) vocal minority the nicer my responses to you will be.

You have 3 weeks left, Mouse. I believe in you.

[MousE]

Fine I will prove I can be none toxic for the next 3 weeks. What do I win if this happens?

[Riverside]

Its worth noting that this isn't true. River didn't draft a single player over 9*. He literally can't field a max star lineup in any league because of how he drafted.

an "interesting" cap..

Edit: Also, I just looked and this most-recent week River did field almost max-star lineups, for the first time all season. Doesn't really change the point though.

that is the point i understood from you actually.

unless this is strictly about the success of my initial Draft, as opposed to the month after (sunshine pushirs r gr8).

We went 2-4 last weekend, when we "fielded almost max star lineups" across the board.

The week before we went 4-2, when we didn't always field max star lineups across the board, or play people in their regularly known ships in basing (9.5* or 6*).

Obviously, the general rule is more * = more skill. With that said: there's more attributes that wins team games beyond individual skill in an equitable setting, in the short & long term, especially when there are inconsistencies in aspects of ratings that perceptively reflect skill (ie that of lower star players) .

The original draft is one part of being a Captain (its a primary & central part).

There are then lineup selections, trades, and in this Summer Leagues case, 2 set of Free Agents Drafts instead of the 1 large one I anticipated (while the 0.5* tax Rule which I really dislike anyway was removed without a Private or Public Vote after the original Draft was done, and the Season officially starting) with the ability to impact teams.

I encourage others who are interested to ask to Captain a team. The existing volunteer Leagues Operations team is encouraging players with a varying degree of skill in each league to do this. Thats a refreshing change, especially when systemically planned & executed.

Capping a Draft league has its fun aspects, along with some thats not. If you aren't accepted this time- work on the publically stated reasons why, or/and come back later if you're still interested.

"Interesting" insight there, Vehicle.

[Jones]

Population activity has been lower in most summers in recent memory, early and late into the season.

The choice to have TWDT instead of TWL was impactful, imo. TWDT is the league with rules that generally enable a spreading of high impact players throughout all/most teams.

Last week, or right about now into a TWL season (summer, fall, winter or spring) is when we would see activity decline DRASTICALLY for the zone, playoffs or not. TW's active population today is solid, but may not be able to maintain as much back in the day, when certain squads would stack 12 9.5+* showing players in a league where only 5 can play while as Captain(s), continuing to claim its because those players wanted to join (sup Sk8/Thunder). To hear higher skilled players complaining about the line-ups that they play with is consistent with what's happened before (shoutout to Ease who still notes the quality of his team in blue chat ie yday when I vs her for having sum1 drop a 23 piece on his noggin in a wb regular season game, a few hours after losing).

This TWDT has been a (relative & overall) success, imo, with some Operators volunteer achievements to point to:

• 150+ players in a "summer league": thats not a little, relative to what was happening before TWDT 1.5 months ago (nothing)
• Opinion: we're seeing a handful of players come back, and existing players trying new ships in TWD to practice for TWDT. Both are positive for the short and long term health of the zones activity imo. Players trying out new ships is a more likely activity solution than recruiting new subspace players through platforms like Steam. I look at some basers who are now solid at 3 Leagues after, imo, getting competitive games in TWDT
• None of the existing 6 teams are mathematically eliminated in the final week of regular season. This is a metric that could reflect the competitive landscape of a league: last place is 4 games behind 3rd/4th, with 9 TWDT games remaining. 3 teams tied for 3rd. Teams have playoff contention or seeding to play for, every week.
• The intentional separation between competition and participation, from Dwopple: to add a Trade Commissioner in Willby, who has a mini trade council to consult for each trade. I try to avoid doubting anyone's intentions. With that said: subconscious bias is natural (including and especially for me). Having intentional, balanced and thought out guidelines with the support of teams in different functions of a project helps to limit that bias.

Where we could do better in the future:

• Transparency (even moar):
• I dont know many situations where a private vote is more beneficial than a public vote. When we do decide that theres a Captain vote (which i would prefer to avoid for league-changing decisions, ie this Seasons decisions of a re-draft or changing the cap limit after choosing players), I'd ask for Captains votes to be public.
• The decision-making process on what league is next; who, how and why
• Engaging the community in the decision itself.
• The want / need for quality captains wasn't publically announced until the after the Draft already happened: instead, low numbers were cited as the recurring reason given (multiple times on forums) for 6 teams instead of 8.

-----------

• Continuing to improve the temporary rating system: until the MMR one is fine on its own (which may take another season or five to build out, then receive enough current games data)
• No bot built with a diverse range of human biases will do what we want, the way we want it to, all the time. An MMR + human insight for ratings combo is ideal imo. So, improving the human insights piece (aka rating players without bots) is helpful for the next league, and 5 leagues from now
• I'm grateful for the rating volunteers who put 5+ hours every season, esp this last one when there were little to no TWDs for a few weeks (aka limited HYPE). With that said:
• Using past seasons as a minor factor, not THE primary factor: if an initial rating from x seasons ago off by 0.5 or 1*, they can continue to be misrated for later, if not compoundedly misrated (I look at some examples in Rages thread, along with a few others that come to mind)
• Split the rating process (and people rating) into 3. 1 for each league. This could more accurately reflect the skills of volunteers. It diversifies the type of volunteers, as opposed to limiting the Rating Committee to 2/3 leaguers. It also reduces the need for one 4 hour session of rating people.
• Add 2 ratings in basing for each player: spider, shark & terr. 3 ratings for base + 1 for jav + 1 for wb
• Have a set number of player for each star slot (ie 7-12 players rated 10* for each ship, 30 players rated 8*, 7-12 6s/6.5s, etc)
• In the future: transparency in who is rating each league, and how (ie what criteria). I'd appreciate if the community was engaged on selecting the Rating Committee. I personally would recommend remaining with a similar committee (who have done a great job imo), along with the addition of 7*, 8* or 9* players as raters in each league, and some 1 leaguers. This could also help give a better sense of the * rating of the lower * players, as opposed to how unintentional it feels now.
• Ratings announced earlier than the night before the draft(s). This allows for community feedback for anything that the Rating Committee may have missed (they're human: it happins).

This post is too long, i didn't read it

[Riverside]

This post is too long, i didn't read it

Got luv 4 ya champ