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Brenadyr · 08-13-2024, 09:03 PM

To preface this deep dive, Hello I am Brenadyr, a 1st generation player. I did not really have an interest in hockey and was aided throughout the process by my good friend and recruiter, NaomiMannequeen. Please keep this in mind as it may color my experiences in a way that is usually not an issue for most first generation players. With that all said, in this deep dive I will be analyzing various aspects of what I experienced as a new player.
One of the most prominent aspects of the SHL upon first joining is how welcoming and friendly of a community it is. There are so many people ready to greet you and offer any help and direction needed to get you started on your SHL career, and this starts things off on a really great note. Character creation, the next step, is much more of a mixed bag. The guides written by Ruggsy do a fantastic job of explaining a good chunk of the character creator, and the descriptions of each skill were great. However, the role part of the character creator was immensely confusing. As a new player, I had no idea what any of those were, what is a dangler? Grinder? The difference between a power forward and two-way forward? Knowing what skills they want did not mean a whole lot when I did not know what they wanted to be doing on the ice. A brief description of each role in the guide or when you select it from the drop down menu would remedy this issue. The player progression guide by puolivalmiste is another great guide and explains everything I needed to know on how to get points and upgrade my player.
The next part is about the week to week experience, mainly as a DFA, or in my case a UDFA. Chirper is a nice way to ease into the community, just a nice little thing to get one talking. The bounties were also a lot of fun, got me thinking about my player and earned a fair bit of cash, something I desperately needed. Being in the locker room as A UDFA was a bit strange though, it was just as warm and welcoming as the regular server, but I found it hard to put myself out there most of the time and try and chat with people, like there was a mental block because I was not really on the team.
Next up is the mock draft and actual draft. Talk about two sides of the same coin, the draft was the most exciting part and the mock draft was the worst part. Starting with the draft, talking to so many of the GMs was a fun time, meeting new people and thinking about what team you might end up on. It has made me excited for the draft for the SHL, because I get to experience that again. The mock draft was one of the worst tasks for me, I did not know where to begin with it. While I could listen to the draft discord channel and make my own guesses, there was valuable TPE on the line, so instead of participating I felt more inclined to just wait for the recreates to make their lists and just copy those. Doing something like the chirper forum, having people make posts with their takes or information about the draft and have it active only while the draft is going on would keep the fun part of speculating and discussing the draft without all the unfun parts.
Finally, actually being drafted and being on the team. I went to the Kelowna Knights, and thus far it has been a blast. The rookie tasks are a great way to learn some of the things that I need to get done, and the cash is very much appreciated. The mental block is not there like when I was a UDFA, and the point tasks are a lot of fun to complete. I feel much more comfortable putting myself out there and trying to be more active overall.

***Anthique*** · 08-14-2024, 09:25 AM

Don't worry you are not the only one who doesn't like the mock draft part Wink

Happy that you enjoy the league so far, welcome!

chetib · 09-06-2024, 10:17 PM

Approved @Brenadyr @CptSquall

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