TNL :: Home

Introducing Wolf Camp!
Gone is the randomized, performance based systems of old. Gone is the mentor system. In it's place is Wolf Camp. What is Wolf Camp? Wolf Camp is a revolutionary way for doing progression in a league. Performance-based progression always had a number of issues with it, including having the strong teams getting better than the weak teams because they could put up the more beneficial statistics in a season. This leads to the strong teams having the better talent to trade with. Wolf Camp is a training-based progression. Gone is the randomized progression from playtime; the new system allows you, as the GM/Coach, to decide exactly how you're going to develop your players. How does it work? Every week (and a big once during the off-season), teams are awarded a "training budget". These are in the form of points. As the manager of your team, you will be able to spend your training budget to target particular attributes of players. And yes, this does include physical attributes such as SPD, AGI, ACC, etc. Every regular interval (probably weeks 5, 11 and 17) your training orders will be processed and your players will progress. But won't everyone just dump points to make a 99-everything player? Training will be a tactical decision. As a player's value in a particular rating gets higher, the cost to train to them to the next points will be more than getting to the one they're at. And no rating is treated equal, because for each position a rating falls into one of three tiers. A Tier 1 rating will cost less to train than an equally valued Tier 2 or Tier 3 rating. Physical ratings cost more to train than skill ratings (so learning to catch properly is "easier" to train than learning to run that 30 yard dash .1 second quicker). And the dumber your player, the more it costs. A smart-cookie 99 AWR player will pick up concepts quicker than the 40 AWR player who needs help from the coach to tie his shoes. AWR is the only rating that has a single cost scale across all positions. So, where is this "tactical" thinking? Simple. The points you get to use aren't abundant. Paying the training cost of getting your #1 CB from 93 to 94 SPD could drain your training budget so much that a number of younger players may be left out. You may spend time increasing a player's AWR (lots of film study) so as the cost of training his other ratings is reduced OR you could decide you want a physically gifted player now and hang the smarts or cheaper cost. Those fringe draftees who nearly have what it takes but are lacking physically somewhere might seem a more viable draft choice if you're willing to spend some training boosting the lacking parts up. Training points can be used to keep a veteran ticking. They can be used to train a veteran back up after an off-season of cigars, cognac and kid's birthday parties have seen them lose a step or two. The final word It's all a compromise. But it's a compromise you get to make. Guide your team in the direction you want to. Direct their activities on the training track and mould them into your machine. But don't get sucked into focusing on one player...he may look good but your other players will be left behind. So, fire questions away in this thread and I will answer them as I can.
Forum Discussion (by I_Coyle on 02/02/2010)