Operation Sports Forums - View Single Post - The Hitchhiker's Guide to Dynasty Reporting

Cheese2121 · 07-18-2015, 09:26 AM

Many might remember a thread with a similar title from when packersfan created it over at a few of the other previous dynasty sites but I thought with the number of people I see posting asking for advice/tips this might be helpful to some. This will be an ever evolving document so if you have anything you want to add, please post it. Please keep in mind these are just my opinions! There is no wrong way to do a report as long as you are having fun. If any portion or use of this violates OS TOS please don't hesitate to let me know and I will remove it promptly.

I've seen hundreds of dynasties over my years of reading franchise/dynasty reports. I have been at this for quite some time but there are others such as Matt10 and Deegeezy who have been at this even longer than me.

Some reports have been legends, ones that I constantly Google search, just to see if I can read them one more time (eg. Deegeezy's Tulane). Others die after 20 posts--this has happened to me once or twice--and should never have been started in the first place. Others last for a month, and die quietly, without a "bump" post or an annoyed user screaming for an update. How do you get from the one nobody follows to the one everyone has bookmarked?

*credit goes mainly to packersfan4ever who put together a lot of the basic layout of this guide and the original drafting*

1. Have Fun

This is the most important one. If you don't read any of the other ones, read this one and at the end of the day this is the only one that truly matters. If you aren't having fun, you need to stop posting pronto. The whole point of dynasties is to have fun and enjoy what you are doing, and if that's not the case it will show in your updates. Pick a team you like, find some difficult sliders that will pose a challenge to you, and play/post away. The more fun you are having, the better your updates will be, and the more people will follow yours. We all have enough things in our life that we have to do or work that has to be completed. When I come on to the site, this is my free time, my fun time. It is the time where I get to hang out with other guys who love the sports video games and writing about them.

2. Grammar and Punctuation

Take time to proofread your updates. Nothing is a bigger turnoff than someone who can't quite, figure, out when to put commas. if ther is a sentence that luks like this and there are no periods and it just keeps going and going your doing something wrong. You don't need to be an English major to post updates that the readers can understand and follow.

3. Balance Between Text/Graphics

Finding a balance between using graphics and actual text is key to making an outstanding dynasty. Posting a dynasty with heavy amounts of graphics or writing is fine, but in most of the best 'chises you find that they have a good mix. The other advantage of using text updates is it shows that you put effort into your dynasty. Once you have the basic graphic layout set up, all you have to do is insert a few sentences and pictures and voila!, you have your update. With written updates, it shows that you spent 30-40 minutes actually typing it up. Which leads me to my next point...

4. Effort

Put effort into your dynasty. Having your update be, "Beat Michgian 29-10. Now 3-0. Mike Jones won the Heisman, btw," is a pretty big turnoff. Put some time into it, and people will follow.

5. Get the Followers Involved

This is key to keeping people interested. If someone replies, thank them and/or reply back. Along with that, responding lets them know that you actually appreciate them following your dynasty, and they will keep posting.

Also, try doing things like CAPs and press conferences with the followers. This will get the readers involved, and they will check in to see how their CAP is doing or how you answered their question.

6. Post In-Depth

Don't just post your game updates and how many recruits have committed to your school, because that's not all that happens in the game. How are other teams around the NCAA doing? What's the top 25 like? Any big games that week? Tell us. We want to know.

7. Realism

Last but certainly not least. Realism. If your 'chise isn't realistic, following it is hard because we all know you'll win ever game. If you are playing as Alabama, fine, you can win every game and nobody will care. But if you are playing as Vanderbilt, for example, even an 9-3 season should be unreachable your first season. Sometimes you can't help being good, but at least make an attempt to lose some games. After a couple seasons, when your fictional coach has had time to build the program, you can go 13-0 and win the National Championship. But until then, it should be a rebuilding process, not a play-every-game-on-All-American-and-go-undefeated process.

07-18-2015, 09:26 AM	#1
Cheese2121 Moderator OVR: 1 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Michigan Posts: 2,528	The Hitchhiker's Guide to Dynasty Reporting Many might remember a thread with a similar title from when packersfan created it over at a few of the other previous dynasty sites but I thought with the number of people I see posting asking for advice/tips this might be helpful to some. This will be an ever evolving document so if you have anything you want to add, please post it. Please keep in mind these are just my opinions! There is no wrong way to do a report as long as you are having fun. If any portion or use of this violates OS TOS please don't hesitate to let me know and I will remove it promptly. I've seen hundreds of dynasties over my years of reading franchise/dynasty reports. I have been at this for quite some time but there are others such as Matt10 and Deegeezy who have been at this even longer than me. Some reports have been legends, ones that I constantly Google search, just to see if I can read them one more time (eg. Deegeezy's Tulane). Others die after 20 posts--this has happened to me once or twice--and should never have been started in the first place. Others last for a month, and die quietly, without a "bump" post or an annoyed user screaming for an update. How do you get from the one nobody follows to the one everyone has bookmarked? credit goes mainly to packersfan4ever who put together a lot of the basic layout of this guide and the original drafting 1. Have Fun This is the most important one. If you don't read any of the other ones, read this one and at the end of the day this is the only one that truly matters. If you aren't having fun, you need to stop posting pronto. The whole point of dynasties is to have fun and enjoy what you are doing, and if that's not the case it will show in your updates. Pick a team you like, find some difficult sliders that will pose a challenge to you, and play/post away. The more fun you are having, the better your updates will be, and the more people will follow yours. We all have enough things in our life that we have to do or work that has to be completed. When I come on to the site, this is my free time, my fun time. It is the time where I get to hang out with other guys who love the sports video games and writing about them. 2. Grammar and Punctuation Take time to proofread your updates. Nothing is a bigger turnoff than someone who can't quite, figure, out when to put commas. if ther is a sentence that luks like this and there are no periods and it just keeps going and going your doing something wrong. You don't need to be an English major to post updates that the readers can understand and follow. 3. Balance Between Text/Graphics Finding a balance between using graphics and actual text is key to making an outstanding dynasty. Posting a dynasty with heavy amounts of graphics or writing is fine, but in most of the best 'chises you find that they have a good mix. The other advantage of using text updates is it shows that you put effort into your dynasty. Once you have the basic graphic layout set up, all you have to do is insert a few sentences and pictures and voila!, you have your update. With written updates, it shows that you spent 30-40 minutes actually typing it up. Which leads me to my next point... 4. Effort Put effort into your dynasty. Having your update be, "Beat Michgian 29-10. Now 3-0. Mike Jones won the Heisman, btw," is a pretty big turnoff. Put some time into it, and people will follow. 5. Get the Followers Involved This is key to keeping people interested. If someone replies, thank them and/or reply back. Along with that, responding lets them know that you actually appreciate them following your dynasty, and they will keep posting. Also, try doing things like CAPs and press conferences with the followers. This will get the readers involved, and they will check in to see how their CAP is doing or how you answered their question. 6. Post In-Depth Don't just post your game updates and how many recruits have committed to your school, because that's not all that happens in the game. How are other teams around the NCAA doing? What's the top 25 like? Any big games that week? Tell us. We want to know. 7. Realism Last but certainly not least. Realism. If your 'chise isn't realistic, following it is hard because we all know you'll win ever game. If you are playing as Alabama, fine, you can win every game and nobody will care. But if you are playing as Vanderbilt, for example, even an 9-3 season should be unreachable your first season. Sometimes you can't help being good, but at least make an attempt to lose some games. After a couple seasons, when your fictional coach has had time to build the program, you can go 13-0 and win the National Championship. But until then, it should be a rebuilding process, not a play-every-game-on-All-American-and-go-undefeated process. __________________ A Rising Storm in the North \| Cheese's Eastern Michigan Dynasty (NCAA '12) XBL Gamer Tag: MrCheese2121 (feel free to add/message me!) Currently Playing: NCAA '12 (Xbox 360)