Hello all,

First and foremost, this season will be a transitional season for us all; players, captains, and staff alike. Please come with an open mind to the changes we are implementing. The staff, will be working to be as transparent as possible with the players of the league. Ambiguity only creates tension (we don't need more of it).

We are projecting the start of Season 8 to take place July 24th.

Just a quick rundown of what changes we will be making during this season 8 in which both Deputy Admins (dave,fax) and I are working through. There will be a follow up thread with specifics on the ideas posted here by July 13th.

1.) A 6 squad season will be in place this upcoming season. This number is based on the current amount of players that have said they would play.

2.) 11 squad roster will be put into effect this upcoming season to ensure an even spread of players (also based on amount of players that have said they would play).

3.) This next season will be a season of a Salary Cap. We are working on a salary cap that will be both competitive and fair to all squads this upcoming season. Different scenarios of potential squads are being created and broken-down to ensure a fair cap is set which will be finalized by July 13th.

4.) Potential captains will contacted and a final list will be posted July 13th.

5.) NTs will be allowed throughout the regular season. In playoffs, it will be at the discretion of both captains participating in the match.

6.) Roster Lock will happen on week 3.

7.) Games will consist of 7v7 matches; this will be the new standard. It will be at the discretion of the captains in the match if they want to play 6v6 or 8v8.

**8.) Trades, Trades, Trades. On the 2nd week of matches there will be a Trading hour in which the time slot of 10:00 pm - 11:00 pm will be set for a public arena in which Captains can trade players. This will happen right after the last match is played. This will give the opportunity for captains to trade a player or more with another captain; that fits their squad better for *X* reason. The reason for After week two matches is due to Week 3 will be Roster Lock.

Side Note #1: Roster size (for all squads) may increase by one or two slots depending if more players begin joining our league. We currently have roughly 66 players that have said yes to next season. Hopefully more come onboard.

Side Note #2: The Salary Cap Points may be adjusted for all squads (evenly) depending on how Trades go. The implementation of the adjustment will be done between Trade night and Roster lock. Specifics on increase and date will come on July 13th.

Thanks for your time and please feel free to provide ideas and/or constructive criticisms. This is a player run league and your input(s) matter.

Really excited to see these changes, great job so far from staff ;).

Should be an exciting season.

Stfu ice my god

Trades, really? That is gonna go well.
You might as well do a draft league if you are choosing the captains and allowing trades

How exactly are trades gonna work? Do they have to be equal points? Can you go over your max salary if you do a trade? Does the player have any say?

Could work out good, there's always people who start one place, don't like it and go somewhere else. Could trade those players for players who want to be there and that way everyone's happy and it's not really squad hopping. Otherwise people would just go inactive right?

Also if a medic went inactive and someone had a medic but needed a rine it could work out that way as well. Only one way to find out and that's to do it

You're picking captains? lol
Trading? So I can trade someone on my squad to another squad.. even if he doesn't want to be there? nice!

Sit down, and think for 5 minutes why the league turned shitty in the last 2-3 seasons, and if this is your best plan to "make usl great again", I can't wait to see it.

Yea I would seriously reconsider trades.

Why dont we all try to take our squads to overwatch?

Response to R aka Nate:

The point of the Trade is to make it fun. People can pick and chose to go wherever they would like, like any other season; however with this season and the salary cap implementation it would be good for the captains to use some strategy as to who they recruit and how they use up their squad's salary cap space. This is why we have created a trade night. It will just be "In addition to" the normal squad hops ours seasons usually have.

In regards to my confusion on selection captains: Maybe my action item was not clear. I will not be selecting captains like a draft league. However, based on the poll Armor created days back, only a handful of people voted they would step up and potentially captain a squad. Those are the people I will be contacting to see if they are still interested. Anyone is free to create a squad just like previous seasons. However; by utilizing the Polling system we have in place, it gives me an avenue to see who may be willing to do so. This staff will be proactive and not reactive to change. I have no problem contacting players 1 on 1 to see if they would step up. As a Matter of a fact, I was going to PM you too, since you've captained before. Let me know if you have further questions Nate.

Response to Apollo aka Mark:

Please see my response to R, in regards to me picking captains. This is not the case and the follow up post to July 13th will be reflecting this. Moreover, this league with the addition of Salary cap, trade night, will be like any other season; in which a player can leave and join a squad before roster lock. To Reiterate the trade night: This is to create some activity and fun and allow the league see potential trades in real time (as opposed to the USL Site Log portion of who joins and leaves squads). The trade event will allow captains to take their salary cap in mind when potentially acquiring and/or releasing players between captains.

Furthermore Mark, you being a captain for so long and helping the league countless times by having a consistent squad participate season after season shows positive results. Help make "usl great again"; you've done it before. Whether you would like to captain or help provide ideas and/or assist in other ways, either is welcomed. Let me know if you have further questions and/or concerns.

Response to Albert aka albert:

There will be more information on this on the July 13th post. However, as mentioned previously we may increase salary cap a bit, if more people are willing to play and/or trade night is a success. The increase will be through out all the squad and NOT based on a per squad basis.

Albert, I appreciate the positive feedback and your questions as well. If you have anymore, please let us know.

Response to Ice aka Matt,

Thank you sir. Have a great day.

Response to Champion aka Chris:
Please see above... The Trade night is in addition to. It is a small event to allow captains to trade if they would like. Players will be able to join and leave a squad like they normally would.

free tamales or bust

These ideas stink of Romulocks


- Log every player into 4 categories 100,90,80,70 - roster cap at 12 - salary cap at 1020
I've even done some realistic sample teams that would create a very interesting season

- The current salary cap is not good at all, players can't be rated from 25-100, there will be no balance because theres only a handful of players below 70 the numbers just don't add up

- Trades -could- be okay, but the players that are being traded should have some say. This isn't a pro sports league where we're getting paid to play, we shouldn't have to play with captains we don't like because our captains didn't want us anymore.

-7v7 seems like the good play here, i know there will be a lot less players this season then there was last season even.

- Regarding captains - I'm not sure we have 6 willing / competent captains to make every squad competitive.

Response to hustler aka Arthur

yo nice squad

Response to Jordan aka Jordan

stop making sense

Response to Chamption aka Chris

just die

Response to Ernie aka Psyduck

http://imgur.com/4B1wU6y

You can rename Pokemon in Pokemon go

Wow ernie

Nice Jordan

Sup Niceman

Good points albert and fausto.

Thanks for clarifying that stuff.

Not interested in capt.

Jordan:

I'd like to see the sample teams that you created and pick your brain a bit about how you believe your idea might work. You saw the quick team sample that I threw together last night using a cap of 900 (based on the current averaged ratings). Most of those players were from 85-95. Judging from what you've posted so far, I don't see where the limiting factor would be, unless you're proposing a limit of how many players a squad can have from each group (that being 70, 80, 90, 100). Without the limit, and a cap of 1020, a squad could get ten 100 rated players, or eleven 90 rated players. There's no reason for that squad to ever dip into the 70 pool. Without the limit, a lower cap seems necessary as it allows the recruitment of only a few top-rated players. I think you had more in mind but didn't expand upon it in your post, so I look forward to seeing what you meant. I do think that we at least need a minimum rating for players. Grouping them into 4 groups could be necessary, or at least make things easier, too.

To expand upon what I believe Fausto was saying regarding trades (and he can correct me if I'm wrong):

It doesn't affect the agency of the player. They're free to leave or join whatever squad has room for them, player and salary wise. Trade night is simply a last-chance reminder for players and Captains about the roster lock, and to give them one last chance to join another squad. It's always possible that other players will return, or new ones arrive, and this is a small event to make everyone aware. It's intent is to inject a little bit of fun and activity into the game, hopefully. Fausto will expand more on this on July 13th though, and as we go along.

Captains:

I think who the captains are this season will play a big role in determining what level of success the league will see. It's important that those who decide to step up are able to be competitive and willing to work within the new format. It's true though, that we're pretty short on captains. Those who are willing and able to captain are few right now. We have those who are willing, but not very able (or at least proven); those who are able but not willing; and a slim number that combine those two qualities. We may not see the perfect 6 captains, but I'm confident that those who step up will be as good as we need for this league to succeed. I hope you change your mind about deciding not to captain, Jordan. The league could use your experience.

Please keep the constructive criticism and opinions/ideas coming. It's very appreciated.

I've posted it already:

"Going by this formula I just whipped up

Assigned all players into 4 different groups designated by worth (100,90,80,70) and the over all salary cap would be 1020 for 12 man teams

Assuming we have 6 squads you could build 6 teams that could look like this (this was quick nobody get butthurt if you think you're rated lower than you should be)


TeamA:
Champ - 100
Sol - 100
Sov - 100
Faxx - 100
dave - 90
cage - 90
se -80
taz -80
lyric - 70
bouncer -70
sf -70
haup - 70
total: 1020

team b:
Jordan - 100
Khalessi - 100
tactical - 100
tg - 90
stav - 90
hustler - 80
apollo - 90
jake - 80
dp - 80
chica - 70
ss22 - 70
fres - 70
total: 1020


team c:
kippa - 100
easoe - 100
khaos - 100
ninj - 100
devil - 90
slash - 90
manu - 80
judinny - 80
babble - 70
infintie - 70
cannibal - 70
n0b - 70
total: 1020

team d:
em4 - 100
er - 100
shasta - 90
pandy - 90
bmei - 90
yosh -90
sv - 90
neg0 - 80
uni - 80
ranger - 70
templar - 70
bambino - 70
total: 1020

team e:
Colossal - 100
Leak - 90
Unb - 90
Danny - 90
typhoon - 90
death - 90
nickk - 80
victim - 80
drake - 80
bulldog - 80
r - 70
lunar - 70
total: 1010

team f:
Fausto - 90
Water - 90
Killer - 90
slob - 90
dist - 90
brill - 90
albert - 80
2pac - 80
mizz - 80
ice - 80
palm - 70
romu - 70
Total: 1000


Seems like fair teams too - tried to be as realistic as possible with who would squad with who as well. I know I left a few good players out they didn't really fit."


To break it down a bit more I'll list the people I put into each category:

100:
champ
khalessi
em4
tactical
ninj
khaos
colossal
jordan
easoe
er
sol
sov
fax
kippa

90:
tg
kiediss
stav
pandy
kaga
shasta
bfn
fausto
apollo
leak
z
dave
devil
bmei
slob
jake
water
killer
brillhart
unb
dist
danny
cage
death
typhoon
kw
slash
sv
yosh



80:
palm
2pac
albert
c
jaen
neg0
judinny
taz
cb
uni
uzo
mizz
drake
bulldog
ice
crip
drp
victim
manu
nickk
se
hustler


GOOD:
romu
cannibal
chica
trax
hairynutz
lunar
r
fresh
sf
unicorn
lyric
bambino
haup
ss22
n0b
babble
infinite
brake
dove
bouncer
dinobot
ranger

A few guys who aren't in FA that would likely play under the right circumstances

No limit on how many you have in each group

You posted "The problem is there's not a set amount of players at every group so the salary cap as is will just create the same squads as last season without as much depth". Your ratings and salary cap do not solve the issue that you said it would in response to my sample team.

Using the same group that I used last night: Sov, Sol, Champ, Fax, Kippa, Colossal, Devil, ER, tg. You get 880, which leaves room for two additional 70s or 100 like easoe, Jordan, Ninj. That's a full 11 roster which is very stacked, or 10 players and very stacked. That's a well rounded team too with medics, leaders, and marines.

Using a 1020 cap with those ratings/costs will result in the same potential teams being made as before. You either need a limit on how many you can take from each group, or a lower salary cap. The sample teams that you created could be realistic, but we will be relying on the good will of the Captains to not do what they've done in the past. The point of this salary cap format is to reduce the damage a selfish Captain or squad can do to the league.

If you can have that good of a team with only having two lowest-tier players (or none at all if you want to be down 1 on your roster), we're not balancing the league. We're not ensuring that mid-tier players get to play with top-tier. We're not splitting up the talent. We would be once again hoping that SFo doesn't return, or that another supersquad doesn't form.

You could also cap the # of players from each tier if you did it that way. So a team can only have
2 - 100s
5 - 90s
3 - 80s
2 - GOODs

You could also consider making some players cost 0 to make sure they're incorporated into the season (this may apply to newer players that are unknown, for instance).