2025-12-08, 01:34 PM - Word count:
I will begin this article with the sentiment that simulation leagues are difficult to create and keep cohesive. I applaud those who got the SSL off the ground and who have seen it through these two dozen seasons. I think that continual improvement is always the goal and my comments below are meant in the spirit of positivity. I will also say that I am the Media Head in the SHL and have written dozens of articles, so I have some experience with sim league media.
That being said, I feel that there are a number of things about how SSL written media is handled that could be improved.
1. Payouts - With the recent destruction of the bounty system and the unleashing of unlimited seasonal revenue, I feel there has been a positive step towards media engagement. Lifting the restrictions from certain media types now allows users to create a wider variety of articles for pay. However, the payout structure is still hamstrung by the subjectivity of graders. Every other major sim league has a per-word payout. By assigning a 1-5 grade to an article, we are communicating to writers that they may or may not get the payout they think they deserve for a piece. This uncertainty may dissuade people from going above and beyond or even posting at all. This capped payout also severely undercuts the chance that a user will write a piece longer than ~800 words. If they hit the 200 word threshold, they will get a payout grade of probably 2 or 3 (depending on quality), so why would they spend extra effort pouring their minds into a piece to only get a $400k or $700k bump? They could just write another average 200 word article instead.
2. Organization - I may be the only one, but it irks me that 200 word bottom-of-the-barrel articles for 6 TPE weekly tasks are mixed in with articles that are written for a grade. It seems like I often come to the articles subforum in search of decent media and am only able to come across 200 word blocks of text. I feel that the weekly tasks should be separate from the voluntary pieces.
3. Incentives - To my knowledge, there are no special incentives to write media other than the base grade payout. I would propose that SSL follow the path of other sim leagues and offer x2 media weeks or similar programs to boost engagement. I do feel that this would be more impactful if the payout structure was changed as in point #1, but it could still be useful under the current system. With SSL being my secondary league, I have often struggled to find the motivation to post articles for the base (uncertain) payout. With extra incentive, I would probably be more active in the league.
I don't expect SSL to copy the SHL in terms of media structure, but I am a big proponent of the SHL system. If the SSL wants to avoid the SHL's bank inflation, though, it may be a bad idea. This media piece was just a expose on my thoughts regarding SSL written media grading.
Now, this article is 587 words long. Now is the graders' time to either prove me right or prove me wrong. Should I have just posted three average to below average 200 word articles for a $1.5m payout or will this article suffice for that 5/5 $1.5m payout? We shall see lol
That being said, I feel that there are a number of things about how SSL written media is handled that could be improved.
1. Payouts - With the recent destruction of the bounty system and the unleashing of unlimited seasonal revenue, I feel there has been a positive step towards media engagement. Lifting the restrictions from certain media types now allows users to create a wider variety of articles for pay. However, the payout structure is still hamstrung by the subjectivity of graders. Every other major sim league has a per-word payout. By assigning a 1-5 grade to an article, we are communicating to writers that they may or may not get the payout they think they deserve for a piece. This uncertainty may dissuade people from going above and beyond or even posting at all. This capped payout also severely undercuts the chance that a user will write a piece longer than ~800 words. If they hit the 200 word threshold, they will get a payout grade of probably 2 or 3 (depending on quality), so why would they spend extra effort pouring their minds into a piece to only get a $400k or $700k bump? They could just write another average 200 word article instead.
2. Organization - I may be the only one, but it irks me that 200 word bottom-of-the-barrel articles for 6 TPE weekly tasks are mixed in with articles that are written for a grade. It seems like I often come to the articles subforum in search of decent media and am only able to come across 200 word blocks of text. I feel that the weekly tasks should be separate from the voluntary pieces.
3. Incentives - To my knowledge, there are no special incentives to write media other than the base grade payout. I would propose that SSL follow the path of other sim leagues and offer x2 media weeks or similar programs to boost engagement. I do feel that this would be more impactful if the payout structure was changed as in point #1, but it could still be useful under the current system. With SSL being my secondary league, I have often struggled to find the motivation to post articles for the base (uncertain) payout. With extra incentive, I would probably be more active in the league.
I don't expect SSL to copy the SHL in terms of media structure, but I am a big proponent of the SHL system. If the SSL wants to avoid the SHL's bank inflation, though, it may be a bad idea. This media piece was just a expose on my thoughts regarding SSL written media grading.
Now, this article is 587 words long. Now is the graders' time to either prove me right or prove me wrong. Should I have just posted three average to below average 200 word articles for a $1.5m payout or will this article suffice for that 5/5 $1.5m payout? We shall see lol
![[Image: aHBbYMc.png]](https://i.imgur.com/aHBbYMc.png)
