I'm not gonna go as far as ruutu and say fuck those other leagues, even if I don't care about those sports I hope they are successful because ultimately, a successful and diverse sim league scene helps everyone. But leagues do have different distinct characters and watering down those difference is not a good idea, there are different concepts and different target audiences and it should stay that way so that we can reach different kinds of people. And simply put, for me the SHL is the try-hard league. The one where you have to put in the most work, but where the experience is also the most rewarding because the "sim-universe" is so expansive and complex, with lots of different systems, storylines, history etc. If you don't like that then there are other hockey sim leagues like the VHL which is sort of middle of the pack, or the GOMHL which emphasizes the casual factor. And then of course there are lost of others sports with their different leagues, be it basketball, football, baseball or racing. Lots of different leagues for people to choose from if you don't like the SHL's approach. And besides, you can still be a contributing SHL-member as a semi-active, it's not like you have to put in a lot of work here to build a 1000+ TPE player. You only need to do it if you want to be one of the leagues superstars - and superstars should have earned their place, not gotten it through randomness and handouts. The fact that you have to put in the work is what ultimately makes the results and your successes rewarding. I have won cups in the GOMHL and the VHL, i have won personal awards and other stuff, many more than in the SHL. But the few trophies from the SHL felt much more rewarding, because they are much harder to get and because I knew I had actually put in work to earn them.

And come on now Zach, can you be a little less dramatic and hyperbolic please, this has been a good factual discussion so far and I'd like to keep it that way. I just checked those announcement threads in these other leagues that you claimed are full of people who are super excited and happy about this change, but all I found were a handful of one-liners and like 7 posts overall in each thread, no complex thoughts or in-depth discussions on the matter. If anything, it feels like this thread right here is the one were people are actually looking into this and trying to weigh the pro and cons and maybe you should accept that instead of trying to shut the other side up with your "could someone please think of the children/other leagues feelings" rhetoric, that's just a dick move.