I'm pretty sure this will be my last active season in HT. Next season, I'm going to have more than 2 straight weeks without HT access when I'm in Russia. But, really, relegation sucks and I don't see my clear path back to II or higher. It would take completely revamping what I'm doing on the economic front and spending more time than I want to devote to HT to get better.
Next season is my 25th straight in II or III and that sounds like a nice round number to end on. I really want to finish a pair (or trio) of articles for HT Press, finish off my achievements, and retire a couple more players into the HHH before I go, tho. Basically, I want to get to my denouement.
The only major goal I never achieved in the game was getting to MLS. I guess one can say I never won the cup but I never expected to win the cup since it's so random and arbitrary.
Here are some of my posts in the III.5 forum. I think this is where I am at mentally right now.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by bmf5581
SI- What's your goal this season? Do you expect to win?
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I learned a long time ago in HT to
expect anything. HTRF, injuries, bad luck, and over/underestimation of one's team just get in the way.
In the long term and in a perfect world, I'd like to get to MLS- even if just for one season- but I'm not sure that's feasible. I have a younger team but I'm pretty sure I'm not good enough and I don't have a lot of cash (~$3M).
On the other hand, I'm also expecting to quit HT in the next year but I've also been saying that for a couple of years now and I haven't done it yet. Also, I need to finish those HT Press articles I've been sitting on for 3 or 4 seasons now and, presumably, I'd have to be in HT to publish those.
So, to answer the questions: I'm going to try to win the series but it's just too hard and there are too many good teams to "expect" anything.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by bmf5581
I shouldn't have used the word expect.
In your opinion, why did you fall out of II? What did you learn from last season?
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Two things: Tactics and Economy
Tactically, my team doesn't have the flexibility or specialization of a lot of higher level teams. My team is still stuck in a 10+ seasons ago HT mentality: it was (is) a hatstats powerhouse, optimized for special events. However, that only gets you so far when you're running against CAers with defenses you can't break through or someone with stats just as good or better than yours who might have some other edge. I haven't innovated enough with my team. There are newer and better strategies out there and they take time to cultivate and build a team towards and I just haven't kept my head in the game as much.
But, really, it's more about dollars and sense I think. To steal a phrase, "it's the economy, stupid" but to get there, I need to speak to my training regimen. One of the advantages I had over a lot of Div II teams is that I could still churn trainees into cash. I have 8 defense trainees that get full training all but a couple of weeks of the season. Defending is still the least important aspect of HT, in my mind (unless you build around it), and so training it didn't impact my team all that much as a decently designed training regimen still meant I was running out veteran WC+ level defenders. Not only that but I don't train naked defenders, I kept a rotation of three types: high level set pieces (divine or very close to it), OCD (formidable+ playmaking), and wingback (decent winger and passing skills to add one attack). So that means my dropoff is very minimal on the defending side compared with high level players as the slightly lower defense was offset by the specialties they had.
So, you saw how it kept the team competitive but it also meant two things economically: I could keep my team evergreen and I could buy some really stud players. Middies, wingers, forward, or keeper getting up to 28 or 29? Sell them off and buy a stud 21-23yo with a little of the extra cash. There would be a small hit to performance in experience and, later, loyalty but not too bad. I had (still have? tho not nearly as good) a really good feel for the market so I knew where I could get the most bang for my buck.
Quick digression: I love uberwinger and other super specialized trainers with a particular admiration. They're like the crazy third party voting, early gadget adopting, moneyballers. The last part because they're trying to milk every last point out of the match engine, the middle part because they love that shiny uberwinger toy they're making, and the first part because they don't get why everyone else doesn't see it their way because it seems so obvious to them. There's also a hint of pity, tho, as at any moment, the HT devs may decide their shiny toy is too powerful and it gets terribly nerfed.
Back to the Hippos: defense training was never super profitable- that wasn't the goal. It was for good steady income. Buy at $1M, sell at $2.5M after 3-4 seasons: that's good revenue generation! Hare from previous paragraph, meet tortoise. I just plod along, letting them absorb the training risk seasons and cost of specialized trainees. Then I can buy a couple up, playing with the finished product for a few seasons, mainly shielding me from potential crazy market turns, and then putting the player right back onto the market to recoup some of my cost.
Unfortunately, over the past few seasons, the niche market for my little low risk, decent reward defenders has dried up. So, I suffered the same fate as those I mentioned. With my cash flow going away, I'm no longer able to maintain the next egg I once had. Lower nest egg, less flexibility, and less of an ability to take advantage of opportunities in the HT market.
I've drained a lot of resources in staying afloat: this will be my 24th straight season in either II or III. I'm not sure how many other teams out there have spent 20 straight seasons in III or higher without a chance to go down and rebuild. And, as I said earlier, I haven't kept up with the game as much as I had in the past. I just passed my 10th anniversary playing HT and that's, frankly, a long time. I think I'm just becoming one of the game's "old geezers" and am getting passed by those better and hungrier.
SI