Note: Many of the links are to the Amity Arena Library, a website devoted to the game which includes tracking the history of it through patchnotes and a running history of what cards entered and left the meta. Their website was a valuable resource for this post.

Mobile gaming has taken off like a wildfire since the advent of the smartphone boosted the average processing power a phone could carry. Initially it took the form of crossing over older, more easily runnable games onto the mobile market to... mixed success, but in recent years we've seen both the West and East use mobile gaming to replace the old fashioned movie tie in game. It's easily accessable, has a much wider reach than consoles or PC, you can take it on the go and standards are inherently lower for mobile games than they are a full 60 dollar game.
Since the 2010s, mobile gaming has shifted to what's called the "Freemium" module. The game itself is free to download and start playing, but is insideously designed with obnoxious paywalls or artificial limiters put in place to limit how much you can play each day. If the game is part of a pre-existing franchise, additional money can be made through a premium currency or a chance to obtain high-powered units by rolling a slot machine random chance mechanic. And thus, gacha gaming was born. This sub has had several threads in the past on high profile gacha games, such as the monolithic Fate Grand/Order, Pokemon Go or Genshin Impact. One of the more popular things to roll for in gachas as a consequence is wallpapers for your homescreen, especially for high-grade units as they're usually animated to move a little bit on the homescreen. Today we're looking a low to mid-tier gacha game that rose and fell with the advent of one catgirl. Let's talk RWBY.
RWBY is an online web anime made by Rooster Teeth focusing on four prospective monster hunters who get embroiled in a world-spanning shadow war. It's of debatable quality in matters of animation, combat, voice acting, story, worldbuilding, romance, and it's kind of a little racist if I'm being honest, but one of the major positives of RWBY is that the series tends to have good character design. Series creator Monty Oum set in the guidelines for the show while making it that most if not every design should be made to be cosplay friendly, hence why most of the outfits have things most costume designers haven't heard of like... pockets. And Rooster Teeth, above all else, likes making money. So they know people like RWBY's character designs, enough so that in 2017 plans were made to release a gacha game themed around RWBY called Amity Arena, which would be developed by Korean company NHN Entertainment.
Amity Arena is a PvP tower defense game. Each player controls two turrets and a tower and has three minutes to use units themed from the show to destroy the other player's structures. Whoever took out more wins, destroying a tower is an instant victory. When the game launched, it had three tiers for units- Common (generally held for mooks or low-tier characters in the show), Rare (roughly protagonist-level or elite mooks go here) and Epic (High tier characters usually with an active ability that did lots of damage or stopped enemies in their tracks). The game launched in October 2018 to generally positive reviews from both mobile game players and RWBY fans alike. Fans were happy to get a lot of new official art for the characters in the game and the base gameplay loop was fun. Criticism at the time was largely themed around the lack of content besides PVP matches and some issues with the meta but overall, the launch went well. Each month, the developers would add new units, including popular characters like Neopolitian, Cinder Fall, Zwei the dog, and more.
But everything changed with February 20th 2019, which introduced Neon Katt, the titular catgirl (RWBY characters are themed around fairytales, except for Neon, who is themed around Nyan Cat, and her partner Flynt Coal, who is themed off a potentially racist joke made by Rooster Teeth).
Neon is a character from RWBY Volume 3 who's part of a team that RWBY face during a tournament arc. Her partner, Flynt Coal, was part of the game at launch, and Neon would join him a few months later. Neon in the show is a cocky fighter who taunts the heroes and zips around on rollarskates, which in-game is represented by Neon skating towards the nearest enemy structure to her and hitting it, while all units within a radius of Neon are taunted and provoked into attacking her above all other targets unless they-selves are coded to hit structures. On its own, not a bad idea for a unit, but Neon came with four big caveats:

• Neon was the fourth corner of the square that became known as the Artillery Arena meta, which saw Neon, Cinder (who had an AOE ability she could use which was wide enough to hit a turret and tower and single-handedly killed the entire launch meta of using fragile swarm units), Zwei (an on-summon high damage AOE on any part of the map) and Penny (another AOE ability that instead did chip damage and locked a location down) turn the game's meta into a chip game. Every player ran at least one of the above cards, if only to counter the others. Neon was the universal counter in being anti-swarm and the hardest to stop, especially at launch where her taunt range was so large, it could grab units from the other lane.
  
• Neon launched with a unit weight of "Heavy", which meant that if she was behind a unit she could push it on her way to the turret. This launched a sub-meta where Neon was placed behind a larger unit such as the Ursa (which like Neon was a unit that focused on structures but was made slow to cover its tankiness), to push them towards the turret faster. This was called Disco Bear. They eventually patched this so Neon phased through units by making her a lightweight.
  
• Neon couldn't die. She was invincible until she hit a structure, which combined with her taunt meant that Neon was very annoying to fight and could lock down an entire lane of the battlefield by being placed well and taunting enemies to let you prepare a counter.
  
• Neon was a very cheap unit to summon. Amity Arena uses a mechanic called "Aura" where all units cost a certain amount and it recharges over the match- for instance, protagonist Ruby Rose has a Rare card that costs four Aura to summon, while Weiss Schnee has two rares that cost three and five. Neo only cost two Aura, which made her one of the cheapest units of the game and thus disproportionately powerful for her cost and easy to cycle through your deck so you could spam her.
  

From the word go, Neon is an unpopular unit; she's clearly overbalanced and elements such as the Disco Bear glitch have players thinking she'll have to get knocked down in a nerf- she'll either be made slower, more expensive, or able to die pre-hitting a structure, right?
Neon doesn't show up in the next patch. Instead, before she's fixed, an entire new class of units called Legendaries are introduced, and this is where the game goes full gacha. Legendaries were meant to represent the highest tier characters in the game, the ones who were either the most popular characters or the highest-tier fighters in the show. Or in some cases, the popular ships such as combo cards for White Rose (Ruby/Weiss), Bumblebee (Blake/Yang) and Flower Power (Ren/Nora). Legendaries, representing their value, were impossibly rare and had an infinitely small chance of actually appearing (The most reliable method was to buy the premium chests and hope you'd roll a Legendary, which often cost tons of money), and if you did get one, there was no way to guess which Legendary you'd actually get. Some such as White Rose and Adam were high tier units, others like Hazel or Checkmate were... kinda broken at launch. The playerbase isn't happy at this, especially as free to play players are left out in the cold and reliant on the game giving them high tier units effectively out of pity.
Neon would get a small nerf in the April patch which lessened her taunt range and killed the Disco Bear meta, but her invincibility would be left untouched, even as players submitted feedback regarding how to make it more efficient. The official Amity Arena discord has a weekly feedback section on Tuesdays where players could submit up to four suggestions on how to nerf/buff units and general requests for quality of life such as "Can this character get a new skin from this part of the show," or "Can we have an option to lower music volume that's not just muting all music?" (they never did add that second request) Neon would then remain in this state until the November patch, despite constant weekly requests for a Neon rework, and all it would do is make Neon functionally mortal, in that she had a flat shield bar of 20 that would be lowered by one for each attack before the next hit would kill her. Neon could now die... but your chances of actually doing enough damage to stop her were slim, and regardless, you were now at a serious Aura defecit.
It took seven months for this one unit to get a substantial nerf, all while the game added new units every week and the number of units being affected by patches each month began to gradually sink. To round up some of the major issues people had with Amity that developed throughout 2019 alongside Neon's general existance making life hell:

• Common units were meant to be chump fodder, but could level up the most amount of times with a level cap at 13. This meant longer-term units that had a long time to level such as the Xiong Family card, the AK-130s the Beowolf Pack, or the White Fang gunners, could become shockingly strong if players grinded the money up to reach max level.
  
• A pre-existing divide between free players and players willing to burn money IRL to get access to premium currencies led to a huge disparity in play. Free players have long complained about how hard it is to scrounge money together to level up units at higher costs as even the basic currency of Lien is hard to get large quantities of (you get a certain amount every match win but otherwise you need to burn the Schnee Premium Dust currency for the highest payouts, but SPD is also needed for shop resets, buying crates or unlocking cosmetics). The developers used to do frequent double weekends where all gains were doubled for a weekend, but these became less and less frequent as time went on. Legendaries only added to the divide, as their rarity was bad enough for players willing to spend money (one player, known as one of the largest whales in the community, in trying to get Sienna Khan, reported burning nearly nine hundred dollars on her, while taking nearly six hundred to get the Ice Flower card).
  
• One actual counter was born to fight Neon in the Argus Shield, a stationary unit that existed solely to stall units and take damage. At 2 Aura, it was the first structure to counter Neon, which allevated one of the primary problems with Neon in that no way to counter her was cost-efficient for an enemy player. They buffed the Wall to 3 Aura eventually which killed that hope, and all this happened before Neon's November nerf.
  
• The Summer of 2019 saw a large number of defensive units released; alongside the Argus Shield, several different units were released themed around turrets for the technological kingdom of Atlas, such as the Beam Turret. The Atlesian Burrow Gun was the straw that broke the camel's back and made for a miserable meta as the Burrow Gun would only appear (and be available to take damage) when a unit entered its range. These three units together were all very overpowered on launch and led to a large exodus of players sick of defensive and chip-based metas, especially as what few offensive units that were good enough to counter these metas (such as Professor Port and Adam Taurus) were often nerfed into the ground within a month of release.
  
• Also around this time it became apparent that the developers were unable to meet the quotas that Rooster Teeth was forcing on them. The social media team admitted that a certain number of units needed to be in the game in time for Winter 2019 when Volume 7 was set to start, and as the year went on more and more game-breaking bugs were being found in units, or they were at best horrifically undertuned or overpowered. The Apathy was perhaps the largest case of this, as an unfound bug pre-release meant that the Apathy (who have a passive ability that let them self-duplicate) had no cap on their power, meaning that they could immediately overwhelm defenses and in the case of some phones, be such a resource hog the phone would crash. Many Legendary units were especially guilty of being under-tuned due to low Legendary availability meaning they were simply weren't powerful enough to compare with high-levelled units. Checkmate's ability simply didn't work at launch, and Neon made several more such as Hazel Rainart a joke. May Marigold's invisibility bubble would have been an interesting game changer... were it not for a bug that made it that units placed in the bubble still played their sound lines, meaning players knew what to expect. Things were so bad that when Flower Power launched and wasn't broken or needed an emergency patch, the playerbase were shocked.
  

Unfortunately, the Novemember patch did little to stop the problems with Neon, and a new problem would rear its head for Christmas: Jinn. This unit embodied many of the problems players had: She was a Legendary so it would be hard for free players to get her, and only added to the sheer number of Legendaries that were out there. She was another structure card, and she was horrifically broken. Stopping time for seven seconds in an area around any friendly units, Jinn broke the game overnight, with players horrified at how little playtesting she'd clearly had. Most chip units now couldn't damage structures as Jinn simply could stop time and freeze the turret for the duration of the attack. And to make matters worse? She cost two Aura, meaning it was very easy to cycle a deck and start Jinn spamming.
And yet at two aura she was still one of the only cost-efficient Neon counters... until they patched her to be worth three Aura instead. Talking of the feline menace, January saw Neon get a HP nerf that set her shield at 14. Finally, Neon could be realistically be taken out, still at an Aura defecit but at least it can be countered and now they just have to raise her Aura- why are you buffing her game?
Less than a month later, Neon got, of all things, a buff. Her HP shield was set at 20, and her attacks now did double damage. This is around the point where a lot of players begin to suspect the developers aren't listening to feedback and more long-term players dip out or drop the game. Neon got touched one more time in April, which slowed her down (which itself was a problem as Neon's lessened speed on spawn simply made her better at generating aggro), she dealt 10% less damage and made it somewhat easier to hit her enough to kill her, but a new problem was on the horizon. Because Neon was now no longer the game's White Whale for patches.
Meet the White Fang Gunner Barracks. Added in September 2019, the Barracks fell under many player's radar simply because they were horrifically undertuned. Their gimmick was that every few seconds, a White Fang Gunner would spawn, with three spawning on death. In April, as Neon got her last appearance in the patches, the Barracks got a huge buff and became the centerpiece of the meta; they now spawned two Gunners, which made them immensely valuable for just five Aura. You could overwhelm many anti-swarm units before they had a chance, and shred your way through turrets.
The Barracks would then go six months before this overtuning was rectified, barring one nerf in August that lowered their health to try and stem the tide of units. To sum up every other thing that went wrong during the year meta-wise:

• The playercount was getting so low that players were able to make lists of the AI bots the developers had in place so lower-level players had a challenge (Amity breaks up players by a trophy system where you gain trophies with every win, and by this point most of the active players were in the 2500 to 3500 range. This also meant new players steamrolled through the lower levels only to hit a brick wall in the 3000 range, with the only reliable solution being to willingly lose matches until you were in your optimal range and grind victories until you reached a certain level.
  
• The patches became more and more threadbare, going from 8+ units getting changed each month in early 2019 to three units at most getting changed in 2020 patches outside of the anniversary patch going back to the golden days of eight. The only area where they didn't get more threadbare was in the cosmetics and emotes that the developers were cranking out, all of which were only available through hours of grinding or premium currencies. This was despite the fact that the units were being released slower, going from once a week to once a fortnite.
  
• The majority of units added in 2020 were Epic or Legendary tier, which were the hardest to get for free players unless they got lucky and they were added to the store (and if they had the lien as a Legendary in the store costs a flat 40,000 Lien). One Common and four Epics were released compared to twelve Epics and seven Legendaries. The release of Moonslice Adam especially was annoying for this regard, as Adam already had a Legendary released (at least for Team RWBY, each of them headlined a Legendary when it came to the team attack cards), and this was clearly done to pander to Adam's fans again as his first unit saw a spike in interest in the game. The math was done and showed how artifically scarce Legendaries were made.
  
• The undeovertuning was still in play. Colossus is seen as one of the worst cards in the entire game because of its gimmick. I have literally never seen anyone play it. Flynt became overtuned and now he's a staple thanks to his trumpet's AOE attack being able to hurt turrets and shred most units. Launcher Nora was an especially overtuned unit thanks to her high-damage constant AOE barrage and long range meaning she could annhilate most anything if given enough cover. Even after patches she's still dangerous. September saw the White Fang Dropship Formation added, which was widely seen as a terrible unit and done as an emergency addition because the planned unit for September in the Grimm Seer had to be cut last minute for technical reasons.
  
• The game has barely had significant content added since launch, with the primary gameplay still just being PVP. Barring Battle of Beacon (a mode where you can play as Ruby and Weiss and fend off Grimm which most players just use to grind chests, and no, they still haven't added Blake or Yang) and Plaza (a lobby where you can dress up as a character and run around Beacon), the game has added no new features and quality of life content players have requested since launch (rerolling in the shop, Superior Crates having guaranteed Legendary spawn rates) have been released at a snail's pace (you still can't reroll Legendaries if you're looking for a specific unit). Academies where players can unite to trade units and chat still lacks features that have been requested for years such as the ability to delete messages. And Plaza immediately went to hell because players were doing erotic role play in the chats and after people came forward with proof that minors were being sexually harassed in the Plaza or being coerced into side-channels, the dev response was to... just turn off the chat entirely instead of banning the accounts or implementing moderation. This also removed the chatlog which deleted a lot of the evidence of said harassment.
  

As OctobeNovember comes in, the players are getting more and more furious. The weekly feedback includes a near constant demand for an acknowledgement from the developers given how often it feels like the feedback is being ignored. The social media team get caught several times hyping up how the coming patch would address player concerns, only for said patch to lack those units. The meta has been locked down to the Xiong Family, Flynt, Launcher Nora, Spider-Mines and the hell-cat herself in Neon. Everyone runs at least one of these, people run meta decks not because they want to, but because it's the only way to have a chance of victory.
And then in December, things implode. The patch for the month was set to launch on December 10th with the monthly event missions. But when the clock rolls around, the event missions (which usually take about two weeks to do if you're doing as many as you can a day)... has a six day timer. And the update doesn't come out. The art team doesn't release new unit art. The shop has no special timed bundles. There's no patch notes. And then the Twitter team who've been hard carrying the game through... actually talking to the players and acknowledging the grievances they have... admitted that they don't know what's going on either. The best guess is that the devs have come down with Covid, but no statements to confirm or deny this leave it as guesswork. The timer eventually got reset and people could do the event, but then on Christmas itself, another issue.
Ruby has appeared in the plaza on Halloween (her canonical birthday) and Christmas, and if you go talk to her you get free stuff. But on Christmas people, people discovered that Ruby was talking as if you'd already talked to her. Because they hadn't updated Ruby yet for 2020. She still thought it was 2019 so if you'd talked to her then for goodies, she had none now. They patched it eventually but a lot of people didn't see this fix before the timer ran out to get the free stuff.
Some have resorted to memes to cope with the fact that the game just seems to have died out of the blue. Others have been trying to desperately rally the players and find a way to save it. Some resorted to friendly mockery of the whales who'd spent thousands on a game that seems to be dying (seriously though gacha games need to curb this shit but they won't because whales are godsends for their bank balances).
If the game doesn't get an update in January then two months without new content will mark the end, and the already significant playercount drops will only increase. And it's hard to say if any one thing could have turned Amity Arena's fate around beyond just "Have a better balancing team who can respond better to feedback." Neon began the time of death, but by the time December rolled around the meta was in a horrifically toxic place where if you wanted to make any progession, you had to get down and dirty with the pigs. The team just constantly failed to balance problem units outside of their emergency hotfixes of Jinn, and more often then not they went after units and buffed or nerfed them at random going off playcounts to determine what needed fixing instead of the actual written feedback they were getting. It's clear from the references to the show and some of the attempts to reach out to the community that at least one person in the team genuinely wanted to make the good appealing to RWBY fans, but somewhere during the game's lifespan, they lost their way. Less focus needed to be put on how to milk the players, and instead focusing on making a game sustainable and enjoyable enough to warrant the cosmetics and emotes. The game's failure ultimately isn't on the playerbase. It's on the people who were actually making the game who chose to slack off because they thought it acceptable to do so.
Thanks for reading.
EDIT: HOT OFF THE PRESSES, I JUMPED THE GUN
Had I waited one more day, my story would have had a far more sudden ending, as the game just announced its shutdown for January.
RIP.

Now that the season's wrapping up and the story of each player's season is about done, I thought it'd be fun to do an All-Pro team of all the most underrated players that shined in the 2020 season. I'll try to do players that are underrated in both the national spotlight, as well as this subreddit so it doesn't turn into a "Reddit's favorite underrated players" thread, but please post your own suggestions on who should make the team as I'm going to inevitably end up underrating players on the underrated team.
NOTE: A player being 2nd team behind another one in 1st team doesn't mean that I think the 1st team is player is better, but just more underrated.
QB: Derek Carr, Raiders
QB is generally the hardest to make an underrated pick for since all QBs get such a large amount of attention, but in a year where Carr came into the season with some people thinking he should be replaced, or Mariota should take over, or that he would never be good, he has responded with a return to form to his 2016 career year.
Let's get the stats out of the way to start this off. 8th in passer rating. 9th in ANY/A. 8th in DVOA. 9th in PFF grade. I would argue these are the 4 best "stat"-based indicators of good QBs, and Carr places top 10 in all of them. Mentioning Carr as a top 10 QB this season would get you a lot of weird looks, yet he's put up a top 10 passing offense with a supporting cast that is decidedly not top 10.
Carr is also top 10 in completion %, INT %, and Y/A. PFF tracks adjusted completion % which adjusts completion % for throwaways, spikes, drops, batted passes, and interfered passing attempts. Carr ranks as the 6th best QB here. People may also be familiar with expected points added per touch (EPA/play) and completion percentage over expectation (CPOE), Carr is top 10 in both of those as well. PFF also tracks deep ball stats for balls targeted more than 20 yards downfield. Here Carr is an excellent 4th in passer rating on deep balls, and an even better 2nd on deep ball accuracy (adjusted completion %) behind only Mayfield. His 14th overall deep ball attempts (55 attempts) show that this isn't just the result of never throwing it deep either.
Let's also talk a bit about Carr's supporting cast. The biggest names here are Josh Jacobs and Darren Waller. Jacobs, despite earning a Pro Bowl nod, has had a notable down year (along with the Raiders run blocking), and overall has led the team rushing offense to be the 25th rushing defense via DVOA. Waller is very obviously excellent and the 3rd best TE in the league behind only Kelce/Kittle, but as a top receiving option compared to other WRs, he's "merely good not great". But behind them he has an overperforming, yet mundane group of receivers. His entire WR corps is made up of Nelson Agholor, Hunter Renfrow, and rookie Henry Ruggs, after last year's leading WR Tyrell Williams went out for the season. A league average receiving corps at best, with depth the only standout factor. The offensive line isn't what it used to be with injuries to Trent Brown and Hudson coming down to earth a little bit. PFF's pass blocking stats and grades both place the Raiders' line in the 17-18 range in the league. With mediocrity all around him, Carr stands as the defining reason the pass offense has been as good as it is.
Carr's EPA/play doesn't drop (actually raises) compared to other QBs when not looking at plays when the game is between 20-80% win probability, so it's not like he's stat padding in garbage time. Carr's intended air yards per pass is 17th in the league, he's not just checking down the whole time. The more you look into it, the harder it gets to deny Carr's case as a top 10 QB this season, however ridiculous it may seem.
2nd Team: Kirk Cousins, Vikings
RB: Antonio Gibson, Football Team
As the season started, the presumed starting RB for fans who weren't paying too much attention to the WFT situation was still Adrian Peterson after coming off an impressive year for an elderly back, and reminding some people who he still was. However, after a surprise cut, Antonio Gibson was given the reins of the WFT run game, and he's taken it in stride beautifully.
This season, Gibson has been PFF's 8th best RB and 4th purely as a rusher. He's also been FO's 4th RB via DVOA, and 7th by it's volume equivalent, DYAR. He's averaging a very healthy 4.8 YPC, and has a solid 15th ranked success rate as a rusher (with 54% of his runs judged as a "success" given the down and distance of the play).
Gibson has been a tackle breaking machine when he runs, showing that he can run past what the line gives him. Among RBs with at least 100 runs, Gibson is 5th in forced miss tackles rate on runs (via both PFR's and PFF's independent tracking of broken/missed tackles).
He's also been good as a receiver, Gibson has the 5th highest PFF receiving grade, and is the 11th most efficient receiving RB (per yards/route run) right behind WFT receiving back JD McKissic. DVOA isn't the kindest to Gibson, suggesting that given the opposition/down/distance, Gibson isn't overperforming RB expectations or anything, but still being a reliable receiver with solid hands and good YAC ability is always a good thing to have as a RB.
And to top it all off, Gibson has done this with one of the worst QB situations in the entire league, and a receiving corps that has one great receiving threat and no one else. There's not really much for the defense to respect playing against Washington besides Gibson and Terry, and he's still having this type of success. His OL has some nice run blockers on it, but it's not like the line as a whole is a great unit either. He probably has the best argument for #2 rookie RB, and has also very arguably been a top 10 RB overall this season
2nd Team: Darrell Henderson, Rams
WR: Corey Davis, Titans/Nelson Agholor, Raiders
Both these players are known to be having strong bounce back years, but is it really known how strong of a bounce back year they're having? Let's start with Corey Davis, who has been the 2nd most efficient WR this season (2nd in yards/route run, 2nd in yards/target, 2nd in passer rating when targeted, and 2nd in receiving DVOA). He's also the 6th ranked WR by PFF grade, and 8th even in DVOA's volume equivalent, DYAR. With only one drop this entire season, and a respectable 5 TDs, Davis has been flying under the radar this season. Only Ridley, Davante, Hopkins, Kelce, Diggs, and Jefferson have more 100 yard games (FulleMetcalf/Beasley are tied). Granted he's had a top 5 QB with Tannehill, and having AJ Brown to share the field with and Henry to instill fear in the run game is a very ideal situation. But when you're putting up the 2nd best numbers for receiving efficiency, you deserve that top ~10ish WR level of respect.
Switching it up to Nelson Agholor now, the former joke of a WR has taken a situation that gave him another chance to shine and turned it to his full advantage. Finally blessed with a top 10 QB after catching passes from a QB that has since been benched (don't take this too seriously), Agholor has started to come alive going further into the season. He has so far been 5th in receiving DVOA and 15th in yards/route run. Agholor has a tendency of making his catches count, his 76.6% rate of getting a 1st down on each catch is 7th among 99 qualifying receivers. Add that onto a very impressive 8 TDs on 47 catches, and his catches tend to be bigger plays. Considering this is Agholor's first season with the Raiders, and COVID prevented normal offseason workouts, Agholor already being Carr's #1 WR and having such a strong start is promising for next season. If you look at Agholor's last 8 weeks of the season, he's been 7th in yards/route run among all WRs, so he seems to have gotten even better when given the proper time to adjust to Gruden's system and get chemistry with Carr. The "but" for Agholor has always been drops, and that is no exception with 8 drops this season via PFF. But he's been a good WR1 despite that, and if he can lessen that number as he gets more comfortable on the Raiders offense, he's due to be a good WR1 for them.
2nd Team: Brandon Aiyuk, 49ers/Tee Higgins, Bengals
SLOT: Cole Beasley, Bills
Beasley has been a fan favorite on the Cowboys and now the Bills, but it's not just that now that Beasley is having his best season ever at the prime age of 31. With 89% of his receiving snaps in the slot (3rd in the whole NFL), Beasley is the definition of a pure slot receiver. And he has dominated that role like no other. Among the 31 qualifying receivers that spend at least 50% of their time in the slot, Beasley's 2.31 yards per route run while in the slot leads the NFL. The next best mark is Landry with 2.07, more than 10% lower. On 78 catches in the slot, he has 0 drops. He's tied with Keenan Allen for the best PFF grade among slot receivers (84.9), and Allen only plays 51.9% of his snaps in the slot. The next "pure slot receiver" by PFF grade would be Tyler Boyd (77.5 at 85.5% of snaps in the slot).
2nd Team: Curtis Samuel, Panthers
TE: Dallas Goedert, Eagles
If the Eagles are a factory, they are a TE factory. It's not common for a franchise to get back to back top 5 TEs, but the Eagles have managed with Ertz before this, and now Goedert. Goedert is looked upon well by people who know him, though the common "ism" for TEs is that there's Kelce/Kittle at the top, than Waller, than the rest. I would say that along with Andrews, Goedert is solidly in that 5th spot. Let's start out with his blocking because he leads the NFL in PFF run blocking grade this year, and was 2nd last year (1st among receiving TEs). Goedert makes an impact in the run game with plays like this where he immediately is able to push his man back 5 yards clearing a lane for a big almost to the goal line. Combine this with him being 9th in yards per route run, 10th in receiving DVOA, and 10th in PFF receiving grade (all with garbage QB play), he establishes himself as a rare combination of prowess in the receiving and blocking game that cements him as a top 5 TE in this league.
2nd Team: Robert Tonyan, Packers
LT: Garrett Bolles, Broncos
Having finally moved past the issue that was holding him back, Bolles has launched himself straight into the elite tier of LTs in the league, an extremely impressive accomplishment given the quality of LT play this year as opposed to previous years (from Bakhtiari and the NFCW LTs of Trent, Duane, Whitworth, and Humphries). He is 3rd in PFF grade among all OTs (Trent/Bakh). He and Bakh are also the only two tackles that are top 5 in run blocking and pass pro grades. He has the best pass blocking efficiency in the entire league (sacks and other hurries allowed per snap), with no sacks allowed this season among 537 pass pro snaps, absolute absurdity. I mean just watch Bolles almost single handedly take care of both players on a stunt here to give Lock the time to throw a beautiful pass to Xavien Howard. Or better, watch him place Noah Fant on his correct blocking assignment while making sure his man is blocked here. The plays here also underline how Garrett Bolles has had a terrible cast around here, and still has managed to look so good, getting those pass protection numbers while trying to protect for Lock is rough. Talk of the magic Munchak has been able to do with Bolles has already started circling fans, but this is a dude that should be talked about in the All-Pro conversation.
2nd Team: D.J. Humphries, Cardinals
LG: Justin Pugh, Cardinals
At left guard, we'll put up a pass protecting specialist with Justin Pugh. Pugh really hasn't been anything special in the run game, but in the pass game, he has been great to elite. 6th best PFF pass pro grade, 4th best pass blocking efficiency, 3rd best ESPN PBWR, 3 completely separate metrics, all point to him being at the highest level of pass protection ability among guards in the league. Add in the context that he is tasked with protecting Kyler Murray, whose constant scrambling makes it harder for an O-lineman to ensure that their QB isn't being pressured, and it's clear that Pugh has done something special as a pass protector this season. It's harder to find pass pro highlights, but after going through film of Pugh against the Niners week 1, he's just a stone wall for pass rushers. His play isn't particularly flashy, but great length and arm placement ensure that pass rushers never get close enough with good position to utilize their full arsenal of pass rushing moves.
2nd Team: Laken Tomlinson, 49ers
C: Corey Linsley, Packers
If you coordinated a poll where you asked who the best player at each position was, center would probably have the largest variety of answers among the offense/defense positions. The reason Linsley is here though, is he is doing his best this season to change that. League best 90.3 PFF grade at center, the next best is 80.3 (Frank Ragnow). That grade consists of a top 3 pass protection grade, the best run blocking grade, and a very low 2 penalties on the season. ESPN, through their completely independent pass block win rate/rush block win rate, has Linsley 5th and 1st respectively, no one else is top 5 in both. Football Outsider's on their independent adjusted line yards formula (how much the line contributes to the rushing yards, as opposed to the rusher), has Packers' runs towards the middle of their line ranked 4th in the league. That's 3 extremely different sources, with completely independent methods of evaluation, all coming together with this good of an opinion unanimously on just one center: Corey Linsley. The type of center that can one arm run block Danny Shelton while on the run so his other arm can prepare to lock up Jamie Collins while he passes Shelton to Elgton Jenkins
2nd Team: Chase Roullier, Football Team
RG: Shaq Mason, Patriots
If I'm being honest, there aren't a lot of options here, RG is pretty fairly evaluated with the best players here being stars among the guard world (Wyatt Teller, Zack Martin, Brandon Scherff). But Shaq Mason gets a shout out here after coming back from a terrible start to last season in 2019. That start got him to a point where he was known for being bad for awhile, and has had to put in work to get rid of that conception. His 3rd highest PFF run blocking grade sees him have a return to his dominance in the run game. That and only having 2 penalties on the year pushes him up to the 4th highest overall PFF grade among all guards, and 3rd among RGs. Football Outsider's also recognizes the Patriots IOL as the 3rd best one to run behind via their adjusted line yards metric. Mason and the rest of that Patriots OL are a big reason why the Patriots run game headed by Damien Harris can be so potent.
2nd Team: Chris Lindstrom, Falcons
RT: Michael Onwenu, Patriots
The way to my heart for an O-lineman is positional flexibility. Onwenu has played 1 game at LG, 1 game at RG, 1 game at LG/RT, 2 games at RG/RT, 1 game at LG/RG/RT, and the remaining 9 games at RT, and has looked like a stud doing it while being a 6th round rookie. It's actually absurd watching Onwenu start building a case to be the best Patriots 6th rounder in their rich history. He's a perfect fit for the Patriots offense, with his 6th best run blocking grade (2nd among RTs) bumping him up to a 7th based overall grade (1st among RTs). His 33rd ranked pass blocking grade (11th among RTs) among RTs is just good not great, but his pass blocking efficiency is an amazing 6th among all OTs (4th among RTs) and it's important to keep in mind that he achieved all this while playing 3 different OL positions throughout the year. Just enjoy him wiping out 2 linebackers with one hand each, or wiping out Nnadi here with a surprise block. However, it doesn't get much better than Onwenu absolutely clearing a lane for Cam Newton.
2nd Team: Taylor Moton, Panthers

Something a little different for people, here is my initial "Top 32" players for the 2021 Draft. Couple things to note:

• This is not necessarily a prediction of the order they'd be drafted in, but rather a ranking of talent/potential to succeed at the next level. There is a lot more that goes into predicting who goes where than talent or potential, obviously.
• This is heavily production based, so some players are missing or lower than you might expect but will likely jump up this list once they've blown up the combine (Kwity Paye is a prime example). Weighing production heavily will also give me more time to do film study before the next version.

​

Rank	Name, Position	School	Comments
1	Trevor Lawrence, QB	Clemson	No real flaws in his game. Does everything well, but nothing exceptionally well. Strong arm, can make all the throws, can make plays with his feet.
2	Penei Sewell, OL	Oregon	Plug and play starter at any position on the OL. Fantastic athlete, one of the best tackle prospect in years.
3	Devonta Smith, WR	Alabama	The first WR to win the Heisman since 1991, Smith is a big play waiting to happen. Size concerns are overblown, will be a game changer.
4	Zach Wilson, QB	BYU	Great arm talent, displays accuracy and excellent decision-making skills. Underrated as an athlete.
5	Micah Parsons, ILB	Penn State	Took 2020 off but was awesome in 2019, had multiple years of great production for PSU. Shows up in the backfield a lot for an inside LB.
6	Ja'Marr Chase, WR	LSU	Another player who took the year off but probably WR1 most years. Would be this year if not for Smith going absolutely nuts.
7	Justin Fields, QB	Ohio State	Incredible athlete that can beat you with his arm or his legs. Physically and mentally tough. Throws a beautiful deep ball.
8	Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, OLB	Notre Dame	Does everything: Forces fumbles, recovers them, intercepts the ball, sacks the quarterback, tackles the ball carrier in the backfield.
9	Rashawn Slater, OL	Northwestern	Like Sewell, can play all over the OL. Was an extremely good tackle in 2019 before taking off 2020. Might be an even better guard at the next level.
10	Patrick Surtain, CB	Alabama	Erases half the field, epitome of a cover corner that sticks to his man like glue. Only real knock on him is middling INT numbers.
11	Kyle Pitts, TE	Florida	Had an absolutely bonkers 2020, but was extremely good in 2019, as well. He will be productive immediately at the next level.
12	Jaylen Waddle, WR	Alabama	Freakish athlete with injury red flags because he could not stay on the field in 2020. Makes big plays but needs to get more consistent at doing it.
13	Daviyon Nixon, DI	Iowa	Should easily be DT1 in a weaker DI class, but would be DT1 a lot of years based on his athleticism and production. Very complete DT.
14	Caleb Farley, CB	Virginia Tech	Would have probably pushed Surtain for CB1 if he played in 2020 like he did in 2019. Instead he took the year off. Outstanding ball skills.
15	Gregory Rousseau, Edge	Miami	Another who took 2020 off due to Covid... but he was a monster in 2019. Very long, very athletic, all over the backfield.
16	Wyatt Davis, OG	Ohio State	Man mover that paved the way for Trey Sermon all year. Also does pretty well in pass protection.
17	Trey Lance, QB	NDSU	Awesome arm, and definitely a plus athlete. Biggest knocks are a lack of starts and subpar competition. Has the tools, could be 2020's Josh Allen.
18	Najee Harris, RB	Alabama	A lot of people probably expect Etienne to be RB1, but I look at Harris and I see size, athleticism, and an underrated receiver.
19	Christian Darrisaw, OT	Virginia Tech	Athletic OT that has been starting since his freshman year. Will do really well in the right system.
20	Elijah Moore, WR	Ole Miss	Undersized wideout, but massively productive at Ole Miss. Exciting to watch as a home run hitter out of the slot.
21	Travis Etienne, RB	Clemson	As talented as a receiver as he is as a ball carrier. Most people's RB1, but slightly behind Harris for me. Can do a lot of things for a team.
22	Trevon Moehrig, S	TCU	Swat City. Shows up everywhere in the secondary and breaks up a whole lot of passes in the process.
23	Christian Barmore, DI	Alabama	Big dude that penetrates well, would have been DT1 if Nixon didn't declare. Better pass rusher than run defender.
24	Joseph Ossai, OLB	Texas	Very productive outside linebacker that filled the stat sheet, getting in the backfield a lot and tackling both runners and quarterbacks.
25	Jaycee Horn, CB	South Carolina	Another defensive back that got his hands on the ball a lot, either swatting it down or picking it off. Good ball skills.
26	Carlos Basham, Edge	Wake Forest	The very definition of a playmaker, he forced fumbles at an absurd rate at Wake Forest.
27	Terrace Marshall, WR	LSU	Had the monumental task of filling Ja'Marr's shoes this year and did so very admirably. Probably the biggest bright spot for LSU in 2020.
28	Mac Jones, QB	Alabama	Slung the ball around like the defense wasn't there in 2020. Not very mobile, but would never really need to be with the talent around him at Bama.
29	Talanoa Hufanga, S	USC	Eye-popping production from the safety position. He picks off passes, forces fumbles, blitzes, and is a tackling machine.
30	Jaelan Phillips, Edge	Miami	Filled the hole left by Rousseau's opting out very well. Spent a lot of time in the opponent's backfield.
31	Sam Cosmi, OT	Texas	Started pretty much every game in his time at Texas and has extensive experience as both a left and right tackle.
32	Zaven Collins, OLB	Tulsa	The biggest knock against Collins right now is that he didn't play against the best competition. Long and athletic with surprising ball skills.

​

The only thing different is the format... also a lot more.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of the links and ideas, even if some came from me. Me just compiler no @.
Blackkat FAQ. Seems too aged to work now.
DMesse FAQ. Still seems useful... maybe.

Newbie Guide

GFL Corner	Matsuda	GFC	Gamepress	GFWiki
G-Doc #1	G-Doc #2	G-Doc #3	"Official" Vid	Prio Guide
1st Ech

I've heard things about Newbie Career Quests. What is it and how do I get it?

Things that newbie commanders can use to boost their early game.
Available in Quests button>Career Quests tab.

I think I drove myself into a wall not doing things efficiently. Do I have to restart my account to progress better?

Nah. You'll be just fine continuing. Just do things better from now on.

How do I level my girls? And I heard about corpse dragging, What is it?

First is grinding them on leveling maps. Corpse dragging is a resource efficient way to grind XP. The where and how. Dragging 0-2.
Second is using Combat Reports. You can get them in the Forward Basecamp or through the Data Room. You can give them by going to the Dorm>Warehouse>Gift tab or going to your owned doll profile and tapping the + button by the EXP bar. Note that they are not affected by dummy link EXP multiplier. They give 3000 fixed EXP per report.
Last one is the EXP mode combat sim. Total EXP per run is divided equally between all dolls present.

Is GFL being phased out/abandoned?

NO.

Not anytime soon, at the very least.

When do I do night campaigns?

Best metric would be when career quests send you there. Unlock them by completing the next chapter's emergency map (i.e. 11-4e unlocks 10-1n). Remember to equip PEQs to negate the accuracy penalty and bring HGs for map vision.

Is it worth to reroll in this game?

Depends on what you value more. If you want a pretty easy time until endgame, no need. Game gives you free strong dolls. Endgame? Mostly not, since this is a game of accumulation instead of meta characters.

What teams should I build?

ARSMG first, then whichever second ARSMG or RFHG you need more, then the other one you haven't made yet, then MGSG if you want.

Technical Help

Resupply/Costumes/Furnitures

Field Map

My team says Ammo/Ration depleted.

Move them to helipad. Double-tap them. Resupply is yellow button.

I just had a skirmish and saw that my team isn't in proper formation. Can I fix it without quitting the map?

me not caring enough to paraphrase it

How do I get the gold medals in maps?

• Read the Gold Medal description in the combat summary.
  
• Never retreat your team from the field map either by losing skirmishes (losses) or manual retreating (withdrawing).
  
• Never repair fielded teams (red warning at the bottom left tells you this, don't miss it).
  
• Retreating a doll from the battle phase/skirmish is fine. Really, anything that you SHOULD DO/ SHOULD NOT DO are already listed.
  

*Retreating Support Echelons does not prevent you from gold medals, nor does support kills (shown in green +#) count towards.

Do I keep the drops if I terminate/restart?

"Recently acquired" option in the armory says yes.

Why do I get the lack of ammo/ration warning and sometimes not?

You'll get the warning when you lack either of them and when you can see the enemy.

Combat/Battle/Skirmish

Story

I missed a major event, will it come back?

6mos. after their release they get added to the Campaign tab. For collabs... hope for the best.

What's the sequence of the stories?

Just the overview.

How to read the story again? It's not available in the story playback in Index.

Settings>Game>Story Playback then play the stage again. Or just Youtube it.

Where can I read the MOD, costume, event stories etc?

Every story and details should be included here.
Cafe stories.
MOD stories.

I want to read the GFL lore. Is there any summary out there?

Video format.

Commander Wardrobe

How do I change my commander's gender so I can change their dirty clothes?

Change gender in the commander's wardrobe, which can be visited by tapping the arrow below then tapping WARDROBE, or tapping your commander name then tapping on the avatar.

What does Infinite Surprise Dyes do?

Changes the appearance of your commander's clothes, IF they can be changed, that is.

What commander costume sets do the older servers have right now?

So far, nothing that the EN version doesn't have.

I saw that commander costumes have skills. How do I level it up?

Get another costume set with the same skill.

Expedition/Forward Basecamp

What should I buy from the black market?

Consumables first.

Which dolls should I use for expedition?

Maybe not Everything related to Forward Basecamp included. GFC Guide. ATM says CLv. 20 required.

Can I deploy two or three of the same pets in expedition?

Actually, that is the method used by min-maxers regarding advantaged pets.

Can the basecamp not give expedition loots?

Only if you didn't do one. If you did and no visible loot, restart app.

Which pet corresponds to which exploration material?

Cat - Bricks/City; Dog - Buttstock/Snowfield; Bird - Acorn/Forest; Misc - Fluid/Wasteland
Then use the corresponding food that gives higher chance to visit a locale for a near 100% visit.

If advantaged dolls change mid-expedition, which one determined your rewards, the advantaged on the start of exploration or at the end?

The start of the expedition.

Heavy Ordnance Corps

How to HOC?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

How high should my Reload stat be to have an effect in attack speed?

CC guide.

Which HOC chips should I use?

Your local reddit guide. Another guide. Gampress guide.The Android version.
Found another one.

Which HOCs should I iterate first?

AGS>2B/M2>AT4>BGM. No quoting.

When do I get to unlock the whole HOC grid/matrix/board?

At full promotion. The yellow ★★★★★ one.

Which HOC can destroy buildings?

All of them. Building attack damage uses the Pierce stat.

How can I get Data Patches?

Either from the Code Refactoring menu in the Garage or getting a 5★'d HOC's Core Data.

What are Data Patches used for?

For Iterating FSTs beyond yellow 5★. They have to be level 100 and at 5★ for Iteration to be available.

Factory Production

Is there a voodoo recipe for *insert pennies here*?

Freedom of information, just add net connection.

When should I do T-Doll Heavy Production?

Preferrably during rate-ups. Low priority otherwise.

Resource Management

Theater

Theater tips?

Theater tips. Theater tips. Theater tips. Theater tips.

Do I have to save HOC charges and Fairy points for the boss?

Nope. Joins boss battle regardless of charges. Replenishes on next raid. Go ham.

What does "Settle Reward" do? It sounds ominous.

More like "Settlement Reward". Just shows you things you'll get once Theater ends.

How much CE do I need for a good score?

Just put your best stacks in your unused slots, especially in boss nodes.

I can't beat the current stage. Is this it for me?

Nope. Just fall back to the last boss node you can handle. These nodes can mitigate the "beaten stage" penalty so it's worth more than non-boss higher node.

I wasn't able to place high enough to 5★ the reward HOC. Is there another way to get their central data?

Wait for the next theater and they'll join the HOC gacha.

I'm thinking of using Landmine Fairy. Will they work?

Well yes... as a stat stick. Can't use a Strategy Fairy skill in theater mostly because you can't tap a node to activate it in the first place. Stick to Combat Fairies if you want to use skills.

Tactical Dolls

Neural Upgrade/MOD

How do Neural Upgrades work?

Gamepress. ATM. GFLCorner.

What's the Fire Control Core for?

Necessary for modding 5★ dolls.

What's the time frame for modding dolls?

From their release 'til forever.

Which dolls have a Mod in the older servers?

Unupdated as of now.

If I Mod my T-doll, is Level 100 still considered max level?

Thankfully, this is where common sense wins. In short, NO.

Where can I Mod my dolls?

Research>Neural Upgrade tab at the left.

Who should I MOD first?

Gamepress version.

Can I use duplicates to raise my doll's MOD level?

Yes, unless you're modding 2★ dolls. First, go to factory then dismantle all dupes. When you get enough cores, you can use them to raise MOD levels.

Events

Why didn't I complete "Consume 100 batteries" for the bingo mission when I EXP trained my HOCs?

Because you can get them back, that's what. It only counts when the training is finished, meaning there's no way to take it back.

Do auto-battles count for "Defeat Enemies"?

No.

What do I do with unused Keycards during the bingo event?

Keep them. You'll get 5 Calibration Tickets per 1 Unused Keycard. Points go to trash. Source: Game info tab.

Will the current event currency carry over to the next event?

No. Event currencies are for the current ones only.

When will my event medals expire?

One week after the end of said event.

Will the *insert ranking reward here* be available in the future?

Only if they rerun ranking maps.

Where can I see rankings?

Tap the bottom-right arrow at the main screen.

I wasn't able to clear the event. Will I still get the clear rewards when they get added to Campaign?

Nope. Gutted rewards compared to original. Free shit is free shit, and doll rewards gets cycled to Limited Dolls.

What's the optimal way of clearing Bingo Key Card Events?

Using the Targeted Draws to fully clear the board in one go.

Fairies

What are fairies?

ATM Guide.

How do fairies work?

GFC.

Does the Fervor talent give a 10% boost at the beginning of the battle?

0s, 8s, 16s. So yes.

Can fairies be recovered from Index?

No, unfortunately.

Third Party

I've heard of GFAlarm. Is it safe to use?

It's not modifying anything that can affect their income nor does it modify gameplay elements that would necessitate a ban. Should be fine.

Is it fine to use GFCalc?

Recommended more like.

Are keybinds bannable?

"Officially" recommended not to use keybinds. If you're willing to take the risk, go for it. Macros ARE a bannable offense, full stop.

Which emulators are good for GFL?

Mumu is the most recommended. There's also Nox, Memu, LDPlayer... Bluestacks seems to get shat though.

Any substitute for brainlets damage sim?

Github version and non-English version for starters. ATM has one too. Hycdes.

Auto-battles

Auto-battles?

Saves your sanity from painful-AF-to-grind-for-drops maps for starters.

Which map is best for auto-battles?

List of auto-battle statistics. Commentary.

What does total exp in the auto-battle completion mean?

...Not sure.

I can't do auto-battle even though I met the required CE. What happened?

Is it a night map? If it is, refer to night CE. If it still doesn't let you, increase CE, some required CE are listed wrong.

Can I get SPEQs/Limited dolls from auto-battles?

Yes, you can.

Support Echelons

Do support echelons use equipments?

Equipments, formation, and apparently costumes too are saved instances. Doll levels, equipment levels, skill levels, and chibi aren't.

I can't deploy a friend echelon. What do I do?

"Unable to deploy Support Echelon before the mission starts!". Maybe it's possible to set support echelon after starting the mission". If it's still a no, restart or check how many are allowed.

Dormitories

How do friend batteries work?

From QnA.

Why aren't my dorm batteries appearing?

Either it's because it's not their time yet or that you should check your surplus batteries.

Which dolls appear in which dorms?

Echelon position corresponds to dorm positione i.e. Echelon 1 in Dorm 1, Echelon 2 in Dorm 2, etc.

What are all the available pets right now?

If the pet you're looking for isn't here, it might be a Cafe Costume Story reward.

Others

I didn't get *insert reward here*. I checked my inventory but they're not there. How do I get them?

Have you checked the quests? What about the mail? If you did and they're still not there, either restart or wait for a few days.

How do I get a higher success rate for logistics?

Levels.

Would the equipment I'm enhancing get bonus points if I used an enhanced fodder?

Apparently no.

Which SF units are considered dolls/machines/armored/unarmored?

Note that Jupiter Cannons count as unarmored machine type.

Will there be problems with switching between two devices regularly?

Only if you think that manually logging in is a problem.

What's the Double Jupiter formation?

M4 MOD II + self-buff RF (usually IWS) + 3 HG (usually ROF buffers).

I can't access the new map even though I already cleared the prerequisite map.

Beat it again.

When will dorm battery, daily gift, friend battery reset?

Clock for your every need. And ranking updates one hour after Kalina's Daily Gift.

How can I play GFL if Apple Store doesn't have it?

Use Android, use emulator, use VPN, use jailbreak.

How does the rescue station work?

I claim no ownership.

What're the rewards for the Defense Drill?

Also includes the things you'll fight.

When is the anniversary?

May.

What does the Download Data button in the settings do?

Basically fairy and equipment texture, and dorm-related stuff.

How do I bind my account?

Settings>Manage Account>Bind to your preferred account.

How do I kite using an emulator?

Keybinds are favored.

Is it fine to use green equips?

Advised to use if lack gold ones. Do calibration only on gold ones for efficiency. Otherwise, fine to level them up.

How do I fill up the Enemy Index?

Just fight them. Win or lose, we get them.

Where can I get doll/fairy costume art?

Updated to CN servers.

How do I remove HOCs from Target Practice?

Tap on them again.

What does "Event" mean on the left side of the mission select screen?

Combat Missions: If there is a new night map, SPEQ rate up for X-4n.
Combat/Campaign: 1.5x EXP
Logistics: Great Success Rate Up
Combat sim: All simulations unlocked.

Which should I prioritizein the Data Room, Combat Reports or Special Combat Reports?

SCRs primarily because you can just EXP sim, corpse drag, and auto-battle the dolls, and also because basecamp sells far more CR than SCR. Note that you'd need 5000 SCRs to fully level a fresh HOC.

How do I maximize the efficiency of my RFHG echelon's ROF?

...I'll just leave it here.

What do advantaged dolls in combat map mean?

20% FP boost for AR, RF, MG. 20% EVA boost for SMG, HG, SG.

Limited-only Dolls

★★★★★

DSR-50	Five-Seven	TAC-50	OTs-14	CZ-75
AK-74u	AUG	Ballista	R93	JS 9
Lewis	HS2000	M82A1	Desert Eagle

★★★★

KLIN	UMP40	Honey Badger	Cx4 Storm	PP-19
KSVK	M1895 CB

★★★
Arctic Warfare

Type81R	RPD	Super SASS	MT-9	Ots-44
Type59

Operation Cube

Z-62	6P62	62 Shiki	ASh-12.7	ARX-160

Deep Dive

AR70	SSG 69	F1	EVO 3	HK45

For more info...

Nice Things To Have

Vertical Messages on Dorms and Chat.
CE Fromula.
Chibi Rips and Character Arts. And the how to's.
GFL Loading Screen Splash Arts.
Pre-mission flavor text.
tehcavy rips of Division CGs and art.

Unobtainable

Anything collab.
Some Kalina costumes.

• Gems and Fireworks

Some doll costumes.

• UMP45 Griffin jacket.
  
• M1895 KFC.
  

I've seen a lot of back and forth between veteran players, casuals & newcomers alike about this update, Rockstar and the game in general. Some are against thier actions, some defend them and some are neutral. Personally I love the game I played during BETA and now on PC, but I also despise it for it's issues. This latest update feeling like one big warning to stop playing altogether. For now, I'm taking a break from playing. So I've compiled and left a list of issues, general facts and lack-of for people to better judge & talk about the current situation of the game below:
•Online was first released in BETA November 2018, during BETA they introduced Microtransactions with a very scarce amount of content.
•Online later came out of BETA in May 2019 still scarce in content, and then in September it's first major update introducing 3 core roles.
•As a comparison to GTA Online, RDO lacks the Rockstar Editor, Creator Mode, Private Free Roam, aim locked Free Roam/PVP Modes (Free Aim or Auto Aim) & even text chat on PC.
•There was a 7 month period with no news or any information about an update alongside the community protesting as clowns to garner some communication from Rockstar to no avail.
•The collector role was nerfed/randomized due to how rockstar underestimated the ingenuity of the community, one of the main reasons being it was the best paying and easiest to do with a player guided map. Rather than also balancing other roles to make them equal. Such as bounty targets/target rewarding a measly $2
•Naturalist update releases, a sort of rehash of the collector role that lacks in useful content such as re-skins of the exact same legendary coat, being punished for killing animals despite a separate role & dailies that depend on it, pumping animals full of 20 rounds of sedative ammo just to take a sample, overpriced tonics & gold pamphlets that allow you to become an animal in a limited area for a limited amount of time for seemingly no purpose.
•We get outlaw passes, limited time content that relies solely on purchased or earned Gold along with XP or gold rank ups. This taking up a decent portion of content that people tend to get fixated on. This tactic alongside limited time stock clothing is just to put pressure on the purchase of Gold Bars (If you're running low) and to keep player numbers afloat for a longer period. (Fallout 76 has a similar tactic with Atomic Shop Items only being available for a limited time and the Legendary Run) We even have/had legendary bounties, emotes and legendary animals drip fed to us to drag out the update.
•Most of the new content that is added is either locked behind a Role or the Outlaw pass, hair styles, clothing, skills, horses, weapon styles, even emotes and walking styles. So essentially, we have to pay to unlock content so we can then buy or earn said content in game. Sounds a lot like buying a DLC pack with extra steps (As a comparison to GTA Online they can get 200+ new clothing options, hair styles, multiple vehicles, emotes, weapons, walking styles and tattoos immediately available to purchase or are free such as emotes and walking styles)
•There was a period after a botched update for about 1 to 2 days where the game was utterly broken and couldn't actually be played on consoles, they eventually reverted to a previous patch. People lost hard earned streaks and got no compensation for their screw up unless directly reported on an individual basis.
•There is often rampant hacking with modders even being able to stop themselves from being reported and being able to crash your system or boot you from a session, alongside bad Peer to Peer connection rather than dedicated servers. Hackers have even gotten players banned for tricking people into opening nearby illegitimate spawned treasure chests.
•There are many bugs and glitches that still haven't been patched to this day. Not to mention new bugs that come with new updates. For instance: (Not being rewarded XP & money, gold bar coupons not being rewarded, the infamous hanging gun bug, black screens, crashing, not being rewarded money for sales, NPC's suddenly firing their whole clip at you within less than a second, cloth wraps reverting to a different colour, gun belts floating, UI Errors such as not being able to use coupons or browse the full selection of bar decor and much more)
•Next to no advertising or info about this latest update before it released besides a small paragraph at the end of a social club post about the $5 Sale Of RDO. GTA Online on the other hand getting 3 in-game teases and 2 separate video teasers and a main post introducing a new island to a game that has been around for 7 years and 3 console generations now.
•We now have the daily challenge nerf that not only resets your streak automatically but is also rewarding half as much gold. As an example, with the old system if you did 5 daily challenges a day for 4 weeks you'd end up with 49 gold. If you did the same with the new system you'll get 24 gold. If you were to stay at the same pace and do 5 challenges a day with the new system you'd have to do it for 8 weeks straight or alternatively 10 challenges a day for 4 weeks to earn the same as the old system.
•With this latest update, technically they've added time limited pay-to-win skills/benefits behind an outlaw pass. Standard Ammo Capacity Upgrades, multiple meat cooking and wilderness camp fast travel (Outlaw Pass 5 has also leaked and is in the game files and has further ammo skill upgrades included such as arrows and varmint ammo) That's a slippery slope that could potentially lead to bigger and better things being P2W.
•We have to pay an extra 15 Gold towards the "Prestigious Bounty Hunter License" despite having already bought a license for the role.
This update alongside the standalone sale of RDO is nothing but a way to draw in and nickel & dime new unaware players of thier money. All the new players lured in by a cheap game will most likely know nothing of what the game was previously like. I saw one post of someone on here who bought it and spent £45 on gold bars to get the pass, roles and also advance the pass. And he didn't yet receive his free gold bar benefit tokens back from it. Don't forget that everyone before this had paid upwards of £45 or £89 for the base game or ultimate edition which includes Online benefits.
"It's free content bro, quit complaining" Just because it's technically free does not mean it's exempt from criticism. Especially being a live service game & the way they market and dish out their content. Might as well BE a paid DLC pack.
"You're just entitled gamers who want everything free and easy" At the end of the day it's a game, we play it because we want to have fun or to escape from the realities of day to day life. Not to feel like we're working a minimum wage job to survive. Why would you defend a nerf that makes the game harder not just for veterans but newcomers alike and sucks the general enjoyment out of the experience?
"They need money to give us free content bro" If that's the case, then the online content and live service they're currently providing people is pretty lacking and crap, plain and simple. If anything spending money towards the game in it's current state is only going to encourage them to stick with their new strategy. That being said, not everything they do is terrible. Some changes are good, such as the new $$$ bounties.
At the end of the day, we shouldn't be FORCED into a harder grind experience just to HOPE for some good future content. You can clearly see what title Rockstar & Take Two favor most, GTA Online their cash cow. If the content they put out for RDO was actually decent and bug free there wouldn't be this much uproar from everyone. People might actually be more inclined to buy gold bars if the content was good and consistent. If we're expected to further fund the content online they should at the very least listen and communicate with the community. They're a multi million/billion dollar studio, not a small indie dev team. I'm sure they can afford to produce better content and live services than what's currently available for a AAA experience.
The game is a bit like a slot machine, you can pay little for lesser reward but loose less cash (Grind) or double down for improved reward but bigger loss (Pay for gold) Either way when the wheels stop (Content Update) You're gunna get something, but it doesn't mean it's going to be what you wanted or what you were hoping for no matter what option you choose.

Hey everyone. I don't know to what extent "build logs/stories" are allowed here, but I just wanted to share the 5 year long story of my PC - one that I didn't build from scratch, but in the process of transforming it to what it is today, I have at least taken part in just about everything that would go in to building a PC anyways.
I want to share this because, for the longest time, PC building was a hobby that I could only ever interact with through a screen. LinusTechTips, JayzTwoCents and a few others were my only way to engage with the PC world. It felt so out of reach to me, and I had basically just accepted that when it comes to PCs, I will likely just settle for pre-builts.
That was until August of this year, when I got tired of looking at my PC in its sad and dusty state, and wanted to finally do something about it. We'll get to that, but first...
​

October 2015

I was 17 years old at this time with no income of my own, and the laptop that I had up to that point (an Asus K55N-DS81) suffered a slow and painful death. Shortly after I got it sometime in early 2013, I stepped on the screen like an idiot, and for the next 2.5 years it was basically a desktop, connected to an external keyboard, mouse, and monitor. In its final months, it had become so hot, and I was desperate to extend its life, so I removed the keyboard, sat a desk fan on it, and aimed it straight at the cooling fan's intake. I thought it would make a huge difference, and I guess it was a little better, but with the knowledge I have now, I'm pretty sure I might've made it worse since I believe this laptop's keyboard doubled as a heatsink, and the real culprit was likely dust and crusty thermal paste all along - that wasn't something I had the guts to try and remedy back then, though. In any case, it finally died when trying to upgrade to Windows 10. It restarted and began what I imagined to be the update process, shut down in the middle of it, and would never turn back on again. I was pretty bummed out about it - while this was no gaming laptop, it was my first entry in to playing games on PC. It could handle things like Skyrim, Minecraft, League of Legends, and Sims 3/4, which is all I really needed since everything else was played on my PS3/4 anyways.
This was over the summer, and now, in October, I desperately wanted a new PC, so I had somehow convinced my parents to get me an early Christmas present. They let me choose the one that I wanted as long as it was under $500, and I ended up going for the CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme GXI8000, which was around $460 at the time. Even then I knew this wasn't exactly fit for high-end gaming, but it had a dedicated GPU, a case that at least looked the part, and LED fans that I thought looked cool, so I was satisfied.
Here's a picture I took of the internals shortly after I had gotten it. I quickly discovered that the LED lighting is heavily exaggerated in the online images - they didn't cast anywhere near that much light in real life, but at least they put some effort in to cable management.
As far as specs go, here's what we started with:

• CPU: Intel Pentium G3240 @ 3.10GHz
• GPU: Nvidia GT 720 1GB DDR3
• RAM: 8GB DDR3-1333, Dual Channel
• Motherboard: MSI H81-E34
• Storage: 1TB 7200RPM Toshiba

While that wasn't going to impress anyone even in 2015, it surely impressed me. Having so much RAM and being able to open so many tabs in Chrome felt liberating. The 7200RPM drive felt so fast coming from the 5400RPM drive of my laptop. The games that I played ran better than they did on the laptop. For everything I used a computer for, this one made it a faster and more enjoyable experience, so I was more than satisfied.
​

Early 2016

I've had the PC for a few months now, and this is around the time I discovered overclocking. I used Nvidia Inspector to boost my GT720's memory and core clocks by I think 200MHz, or a little bit under. League of Legends was the only game I played at the time that had an in-game FPS counter (can't remember if Steam had this yet, and if it did, I definitely didn't know how to activate it), and I remember my framerate in that game went up by around 20fps with a mix of medium and high settings @ 1080p. Its PassMark score went from the mid 700s to the mid 900s. My laptop's GPU scored in the low 600s IIRC, so I was happy with this.
I also remember being really surprised at how cool the PC ran. My laptop was a fiery inferno of thermal throttling, but even after playing games for hours, I remember the air exhausting out of my PC was barely warm. Later on though, I discovered that my GT 720's overclock was perhaps a bit much. I remember seeing 80C readings after long sessions, and sometimes, it would crash and reset itself back to default speeds. Of course, I'd OC it right back, albeit bringing the MHz down each time.
​

August 2016

It was my birthday, and I was gonna try something new. At this point, I had challenged my PC with some more demanding games like DiRT 3 and Bioshock Infinite, which definitely ran and looked better than their PS3/360 equivalents, but it was pretty rough, especially with no 30fps lock at the least. I decided to buy a new graphics card and perform my first-ever upgrade. I had just over 90 bucks to spend, and, being afraid of the used market, it looked like the GT 740 was my best option. I chose EVGA's single slot version in particular because I like their card designs and it didn't require any external power, something I didn't trust my "TurboLink Switching Power Supply" with thanks to its notorious reputation.
Here's an image I took just moments after installing the new card. It's so thin you can barely tell it's there. I was amazed by how simple the process was. I simply swapped the cards (giving the GT 720 to my brother for his PC), and because Nvidia drivers were already present on my system, it just worked. I remember one of the first things I did was run it through PassMark, where it scored in the 1100s. Armed with my new overclocking knowledge though, I was able to get that score up to the 1600s.
This totally changed my gaming experience. I was able to play Dirt 3 at 1080p/60 with many of the settings maxed. Bioshock Infinite was also very playable at 1080p, but I'd settle for 900p for a more consistent framerate. Basically, if the game was older than the card itself, I could play it comfortably at higher settings than the PS3/360 versions. Since I had a PS4 for the more modern AAA stuff, I was fine with that.
​

September 2016-August 2019

With the new card, I tried more demanding games. Dead Island ran great at 1080p, Black Ops 2 (which I mostly only played for Zombies) did too. Later on when I would sell my PS4, I even tried Assassin's Creed: Unity. The audacity right? To my surprise, I was able to get 30fps @ 720p if I kept the settings low. Other than games, I was also big in to Visual Studio, editing things with Sony Vegas, and recording guitar in Fruity Loops, all of which this PC handled acceptably.
Unfortunately, around the beginning of 2017 I believe, the red LEDs on my exhaust fan burned out, but it still worked, so I didn't think much of it. I think it would last another full year before the fan itself gave out too, at which point I removed it. I don't have any pictures of my case from this time, but dust buildup was beginning to become a problem. It was coming close to Winter (2018) at this point, so running my PC without a case exhaust didn't really seem to have a big impact on temperatures. It wasn't until the early summer of 2019 that it became a problem. Under load, my measly Pentium could barely stay under 65C, and its stock cooler whined at RPMs I had never seen it achieve before. My GT 740 wasn't faring much better either, now reaching the high 70s while gaming. I also noticed that my intake grille was pretty much completely blocked thanks to my neglect, so that intake fan wasn't doing much of anything.
One of my biggest complaints about my laptop, especially near its end, was how hot it ran, and now my desktop was starting to do the same.
To solve this, I did something a little drastic.

September 2019

Behold.
It's unsightly. It's trashy, but it solved all my problems. Basically, I removed the intake fan from its compartment up front and taped it to the top of the drive cages, so it now blows air towards the GPU and helps push its hot air out of the vented PCI brackets. Next, I stole the exhaust fan out of my brother's PC (to be fair, he didn't use it anymore at this point) and installed it where my old one used to be. I then mounted the PSU fan upside down, since I felt that the bottom vents were too restrictive, and its dust filter had broken up in to lots of tiny pieces at this point. Clearly, this PSU was designed to be mounted with the fan facing down, so the interior of my PC now looks just atrocious, but boy did it make all the difference in terms of thermals. Both CPU and GPU now ran much cooler and quieter after doing these very Linus-esque modifications.
The victory was short-lived, though. After over 3 years of a frankly brutal overclock, my GT 740 began giving me problems. Freezes mid-game, random black screens, driver failures, artifacting, you name it. I would try inching down my overclocks in steps, and I had to basically settle for stock speeds. Even then, I would still encounter all of the aforementioned problems, just at a much lower frequency.
​

October 2019

Not a very eventful period, other than tapping in to my PSU's 12v wires to install some horrifically bright LED strips. The motherboard area was lit up in blue, and the drive cage area in white.
Look at this monster. I thought it was cool at first, but looking at my PC's guts for too long would hurt my eyes.
When the PC was under load, the lights would adopt a slight flicker (a testament to the quality - or lack thereof - of this power supply, probably), but I never had any issues with it.
​

December 2019

Even after sitting at stock speeds, the issues I had with the card now became very frequent again. It was frankly unusable at this point. This card was on its deathbed, and it was going fast. It was time for another GPU upgrade. I bought myself the low profile EVGA GT 1030. I got it for a lower price than what I paid for the 740, so I was happy about that. Of course, the first thing I did was overclock it until I could get ~2500ish on PassMark. Truthfully, it didn't feel like as big of a jump as the GT 740 was from the 720 (though I could now at least run Cities: Skylines at 1080p instead of 720p), but it made up for it by running much cooler, consuming way less power, and being much more stable overall.
​

January 2020 - July 2020

During this time, my PC saw very little use. While I was pleased with the card I bought, my PC's biggest issue now was its hard drive. Being almost 5 years old now, the speed it had pleasured me with when new had vanished. It was now unbearably slow. We're talking 3 minutes from pressing the power button to getting to the login screen, and then an additional 3-5 minutes for the desktop to finish loading up. Doing something about this involved taking steps that were a little more complex than simply popping in a new graphics card, so I honestly just kind of gave up on it. In March of this year, I got a great deal on an HP laptop with a 10th gen Core i3 and NVME SSD.
It's so fast and responsive that for a while, I had pretty much "retired" my desktop, only keeping it plugged in if I ever wanted to record guitar, while all my gaming needs would now be served by my consoles.
That changed in August.

August 2020

While the laptop was great, it was not at all capable of much gaming and my desktop had five years worth of history that I wanted to keep, so I decided to take action.
My PC's case at this point was just a mess. The front intake grille? Ruined. Random hardened grime in unexplained places? Yep. Dust caked all over the fans thanks to the negative pressure air flow? You already know. In addition, my front IO panel - with the exception of the microphone jack - no longer worked. The headphone jack was broken by my cat a few years ago, and as for the two USB ports? I have no idea, they randomly stopped working one day. My case's side panels also would never fully close. It wouldn't bulge from the sides, but I could never get it to slide all the way in to place anymore, and those godawful LEDs really showcased the gaps. My power and reset buttons felt gross and you had a 50-50 chances as to whether or not they would work. The HDD activity LED was a bust.
So if I was going to do anything, I first needed a new case, and a small one at that. I went with the InWin CE685. I wanted something console-like in size, it's not that expensive, and it has all the front I/O i could ask for, now including USB 3.0, which my motherboard surprisingly supports.
Here's the last picture of my PC in its old case, moments before I would rip everything out.
Three hours and lots of fear later, everything has been transplanted in to the new case.

• Exterior View
• Interior View

It was frankly a horrifying experience. I was so scared I'd break something, but in the end, the most difficult part was getting the front I/O connectors plugged in to the right pins.
Only thing that has changed as far as specs are concerned is the power supply. It's a 300W TFX unit, and interestingly enough, its internal PCB is so much more dense than the "500W" PSU in my old case that I'd be surprised if the old one could safely deliver 200W, let alone 500. I also had to remove the fan shroud from the GT 1030 in order to install the low profile bracket. The screws for the shroud are underneath the fan and I just couldn't be bothered putting it back on. Apart from that, it's still the same PC - I even kept the optical drive.
I began brainstorming what upgrades to do next, but I would spend the next few months saving the money for them.
​

November 2020

Here we are.
First thing's first, I ordered a Samsung 870 QVO SSD to replace the godawful hard drive. Rather than go with a fresh install, I wanted to keep everything, so I opted for cloning the HDD to the SSD instead. This was a painful process. I got winload errors after three separate cloning attempts, and it took me all night and the next morning to finally get it right on my fourth attempt (TLDR, EasyBCD saved my life). The difference was night and day. Pressing the power button and getting to a fully loaded desktop took less than 45 seconds. I know that's not as fast as it probably could be if I went with a fresh install, but it was worth it to keep everything. Applications and games saw an equally massive boost in responsiveness.
Next, I wanted to upgrade the graphics card. The GTX 1650 was a no-brainer, it's the most powerful low profile card you can get, period. Maybe I should've waited for the GDDR6 version to come back in stock, but I was impatient and got the GDDR5 version anyways, particularly Zotac's, since reviews I've read suggest that this variant has the best cooling solution, whereas Gigabyte's and MSI's run hotter.
Here's the 1650 next to the 1030 it's replacing, and here is the 1650 installed.
A couple of things worth noting in that second picture. To the left of the graphics card, you'll notice a small fan. I ordered a pair of 40mm fans because I knew that by the time I was done upgrading this PC, there was going to be a lot of heat in this case, so I purchased these to help exhaust it out. They're USB fans, powered internally via a Molex-USB adapter. Secondly, I couldn't install the card at first because there were two small capacitors literally blocking it from slotting in all the way. I tried and tried for over half an hour, and, out of desperation, resorted to bending the edges of the PCI bracket backwards by 90 degrees so they would just glide right over the capacitors. It's straight-up barbaric, but it's not noticeable on the outside, and it worked, so I won't complain.
When I turned on my PC after installing the card, the new card made its presence immediately known. It's...audible, even at idle. When playing games, it screams like a banshee, but I dealt with it. I worried about how effective my little 40mm fan would be, but when I reached around and felt how much hot air it was pushing out, I figured that it was worth it.
After that, I had a rather tumultuous experience when upgrading the CPU. I decided to stick with this same motherboard, so LGA1150 is my only option. Not wanting to push my PSU too hard, I looked at power-efficient offerings first. I ordered a Core i5-4590T first (for just 35 bucks), but then quickly realized I could do better, so I ordered a Core i7-4765T just a day or so later. The i5 arrived just fine, but I decided to wait on the i7. It was now two or three days past its expected delivery, and I was getting impatient (kind of a common theme, really), so I decided to install the i5 anyways.
While removing the CPU cooler, I had actually broke the little plastic tips that lock the cooler in to place. I was screwed. No CPU upgrade was happening tonight. I was put on pause while I waited for my low profile Silverstone cooler to arrive. It was about time for this anyways, though. Just look at how gross the stock cooler had become.
Installing this new cooler meant that I'd have to remove the motherboard and install a backplate. This whole process was also terrifying. Took me a few tries to get the backplate orientation right, and once I did, I was worried about if I had put on too much or too little thermal paste, and whether or not I had aligned the heatsink properly so I don't end up screwing holes in my motherboard.
Luckily, I made it through, and all was well. Here's a picture taken shortly after the i5 and new cooler install.
With a better CPU (finally leaving dual core behind), GPU, and SSD, this thing already felt like a different beast. Unfortunately though, the i7 I ordered never came. I can only imagine it was stolen, so after a couple weeks of back and forth between myself, my post office, the item seller, and eBay, I finally got refunded for that after filing a police report. Also within this time, I added a 2.5" 1TB 7200RPM drive for game installs to take some load off of the SSD.
While I was satisfied with the i5, after measuring my PC's power consumption under load (barely 120W), I realized that I could probably get away with a lot more. I found a good deal on a Core i7-4790S, and this time, once the tracking had showed it arrived at my post office, I went to pick it up myself that morning.
I installed the 4790S as soon as I got home, and while I was first very excited by its near-10k PassMark score (nearly quadruple the Pentium it replaced), I quickly discovered that the Silverstone cooler was not enough to keep its thermals in check. Given that the 4790S is labelled as a 65W TDP processor, and the Silverstone cooler is rated for exactly that, I was surprised at this. I tried redoing things like the thermal paste and heatsink mounting, but to no avail. I discovered that the CPU is only 65W TDP at base speed (3GHz). Since it spends all of its time turbo'd up to 3.8-4GHz, it's actually more like 82-84W. Temps during an Prime95 torture test quickly exceeded 85C, topping out at around 91-92.
I ordered the Noctua NH-L9i right away. Installing this one was kind of weird. I don't have access to the rear of my motherboard while it's in the case, so I had to take out the board again, get rid of the Silverstone backplate, and then basically install the motherboard to the heatsink instead of the other way around.
Long story short, it made all the difference. Temps at idle are now in the low 30s, gaming keeps it in the high 50s/low 60s, and torture tests will push it to the mid-high 70s, but I mean, in a case like this, I can't ask for much better.
As a final touch, I installed two more 40mm fans. One is right against the main exhaust vent (now occupying both sides of the GPU), and another sits at the front,blowing cool air at the drives (they would get up to 50C because the 1650 just dumps its hot air all over them in this layout), which never go over 35C now. There are now eight fans inside this case, and in case you're wondering, yes, having three 40mm fans in here makes the PC noisy, to say the least. I wouldn't say it's as bad as an old PS4 idling at Modern Warfare 2019's menus, though.

And here is the finished product.

​
Now, our final specs:

• CPU: Intel Core i7-4790S @ mostly 3.9GHz
• GPU: Nvidia GTX 1650, 4GB GDDR5
• RAM: 8GB DDR3-1333, Dual Channel
• Motherboard: MSI H81-E34
• Storage: 1TB Samsung QVO, 1TB HGST 7200RPM

Basically, the only things that stayed the same are the RAM, motherboard, optical drive, and OS install. I'll probably upgrade the RAM to 16GB at some point, but other than that, that's as far as I'll take this one.
Killing Floor 2? 1080p, 45-60FPS with near-max settings + Nvidia Flex. Bioshock Infinite? 1440p/60, maxed out. Minecraft with shaders? 1080p, 40-60fps with 16 chunk render distance. Rocket League? 120fps with 1080p and lower settings, but I ran it at 1440p/60 with high settings for a while. COD: Warzone? 1080p/50-60fps with "Normal" settings. That's all I've really tried so far, but these are feats that my PC in its older iterations couldn't even dream of. To so effortlessly chew through the games that I throw at it really blows me away. It really does feel like an entirely different machine, and I couldn't be more happy about it finally being complete.
If you've read this far, I hope you enjoyed the journey, and all that I've done to keep my PC alive and well throughout the years. It's a little ugly and definitely unusual, and I could probably make it look much more pleasing if I got rid of the zip-tied and taped 40mm fans, but I like having any extra cooling I can afford.
If you're a new builder or someone thinking of pulling the trigger, I hope that this post inspired you to do so. I've struggled at pretty much every turn, and ended up spending more money than I originally intended, but me and my PC came out of it alive, and it's running better than ever.
In 2020, it'd probably be difficult to even call this a mid-range PC, but it accomplishes all that I need it to at speeds and settings that were once out of reach, and, considering the specs of this PC at the beginning of its life, it is, again, night and day.
It was fun being able to get this intimate with a hobby I've never been able to enjoy before, and I'm really glad I decided to take this PC to the present and future with me instead of putting it in a closet like I planned to at the beginning of this year. Beyond possibly upgrading the RAM, my next project will be starting over from scratch, but that won't be for some time.
Thanks for reading.

Keep your heads up, flock. This was literally the weirdest NFL season of all time. For us to do this well with this young of a team bodes well for our future. This is a long ass post, thanks for reading.
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Offensive Line

• These units need time to gel and develop. With so many new faces, the significantly condensed off-season and lack of pre-season made things very difficult for this group.
• Losing Stanley halfway through the year when things were finally starting to come together threw another wrench into the machine.
• Multiple new players, rookies, and a center coming back from a nightmare injury - not ideal for a season with little to no prep. I liked DeCosta's approach because the cap was so tight and it would have worked had Stanley not been injured. But we lost Stanley just hours after he signed his new contract and that left a gaping hole at RT.
• Orlando Brown took a step this year and showed his versatility. I hope we can pay him, but if we can't, he's earned a big contract elsewhere.
• Bozeman should have been in the pro bowl this year. He played very well and it's great to have that LG position locked up.
• The loss of Yanda both as a leader and as a player was huge, and something we sorely underestimated.
• The experiments at Center were extremely costly. Skura did not play well coming back from the inury, and as he got worse he got the yips. Mekari is an UDFA Guard. He was fine as a backup, and he blocks fairly well. But this team would greatly benefit from a high caliber, pro-bowl level center who can diagnose blitzes and wall up the interior of the line. Oh, and snap the ball perfectly every time. I really hope Bredeson is not someone they're considering for the future.
• Tyre Phillips played well for a rookie who kept getting moved all around the line. I don't know what else to expect from the guy. With some more practice I think he'll be better in his second year.
• If I hear the words "Illegal Formation" next year I'm going to be upset.

​
Skill Positions

• Ingram's production fell off a cliff this year. He had basically one good game. Love his energy, and he definitely coached up Dobbins and Edwards, but he will be gone this year.
• Dobbins is the future of this team's running game. He had a bad game against the Bills but that's easily chalked up to rookie jitters. Still, he needs to work on his hands.
• Edwards was extremely reliable and took some strides this year in his footwork, lateral movement, and vision. He also made a few big plays with his hands. The man deserves a real contract, but he'll have to wait till 2022 when the cap is higher. He's getting tendered this year, and he'll stick around.
• The Wide Receiver room not having a whole off-season to work with Lamar was a major issue all year. With so many rookie and second year WRs, building chemistry and skill is key. Our WR coach isn't capable of developing WRs so a lot of that work will be on them this off-season.
• Hollywood had ups and downs this year but I think he's fine and he'll get better. A bit of a sophomore slump.
• Boykin didn't develop where he needed to. Once again he looked good in training camp but couldn't get open on the field. I don't think Lamar trusts him. Honestly, though, he's one of the best blocking WRs in the league.
• Duvernay has a lot of potential but he was underutilized. He had a great season as kick-returner though - 2nd in the league for average depth of return. Still a rookie. I think he'll take on Snead's role.
• Snead is probably gone. He did his best this year as a leader and he played with heart. He's just not the kind of vet we need. I still appreciate all he did for this team.
• The Dez Bryant experiment didn't have the impact it needed to have. Having his veteran presence might pay off with coaching up Boykin though - we'll have to see.
• With Justice playing well as our best gunner, it's time to finally part ways with Chris Moore.

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TEs

• Mark Andrews didn't have a great year this year, but he did improve at blocking. I'm not sure what happened with his hands this year, but we only saw a couple of crazy catches from him. As above I feel like it's an off-season thing, but not having Hurst around in those 2 and 3 TE packages definitely hurt Andrews' ability to defeat coverages.
• Boyle was a crucial piece of this offense. He improved his catching ability this year and continued to be one of the best mobile blockers in the league. Losing him to injury was massive and I'm impressed that we even recovered from it.
• Hurst's loss was big despite getting Dobbins for it - our off-season signings just didn't work out. Hoping that Breeland and Wolf are good to go next year.
• Willson was bad. He was really just a placeholder.
• Tomlinson did extremely well as a blocker but it looks like he's not a reliable receiver. Still, it's hard to believe we would have gotten as far as we did without his help.
• EDIT: Don't know how I forgot Pancake Pat. All around great season from the big man apart from a couple of drops. I hope we can keep him around for a long time.

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QBs

• Lamar had his ups and downs this year, but a lot of our worst games were on the offensive line. Even when the game was going poorly this man never gave up and never stopped fighting. He took a step in his maturity this year, and is starting to become more of a leader.
• Still, Lamar's passing regressed. I'm chalking this up to the lack of an off-season with his receivers and general lack of skill at WR. But the connection with Andrews wasn't nearly as strong this year either.
• Lamar is the best running quarterback the world has ever seen, bar none. Can't wait to see this dude continue in his development. I really hope he recovers quickly from the concussion - sending positive vibes to our star quarterback.
• RGIII is a good dude and a good leader. He's unfortunately no longer a good quarterback. I wish him the best and I think he'd be awesome as a coach or analyst. I'd much rather hear him talking on these sports shows than Michael Vick.
• Trace showed up when he needed to. Appreciate his heart and his strength as a teammate. He'll stick around as a backup next year - let's hope his injury healing goes well.
• Huntley has lots of raw potential. He could develop into the ideal backup for Lamar. I suspect that if he continues to improve he'll be second-in-command next year in the QB room.

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Defensive Line

• Big spending during the off-season here, and in general huge improvements. But having 3 gigantic veterans also makes this unit vulnerable to injuries
• Injuries plagued Williams, Madubuike, and Campbell this year. Imagine how many more games we would have won had Williams and Campbell been healthy through the middle of the season.
• Wolfe was our best run stopper. Re-sign him please.
• Madubuike has a lot of promise and I suspect that he'll take a huge step next year. Coaching from Campbell was big for him.
• Broderick Washington was a reach where we took him, even in the 4th round. I would be surprised if he sees the field much.
• Ellis played his best year this year, even if he's not the greatest he's a solid depth piece.
• Our interior pass rush leaves much to be desired. I think Madubuike has a shot here though. If even half of the holds against him were called this season who knows how that would have changed the complexion of some games.

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Linebackers

• Another unit that had too much youth.
• Queen was a liability this year due to his poor coverage and bad tackling. I was worried about his tackling from his tape at LSU and as the season wore on it seemed to get worse. Hoping he can be coached up to pro level with this off-season.
• Harrison has potential. He was great against the run. Ups and downs this season though - chalk it up to inexperience.
• Board came on late in the season as a proxy dime back. He was fine, and obviously he was great on S/Ts, but his success was more surprising than game-changing. I still think he earned a spot.
• OLB room was so weird this year. Very inconsistent.
• Some games Judon would look like a premier Edge rusher, sometimes he'd completely disappear. He was solid in coverage though, and got more flack from the fans than he deserved.
• Ngakoue hasn't found a way to prosper in this scheme, but if we re-sign him I'm hoping an off-season would do him good.
• Bowser had a solid season. He's probably not going to be a superstar, but his skills in coverage made him extremely valuable and he had a few huge plays.
• McPhee was mostly solid and his play in the Titans playoff game was absolutely spectacular.
• Ferguson was slightly better than last year but he really didn't take the step we needed him to.

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Secondary

• Fuck Earl Thomas. Earl threw a wrench into this unit, which had the potential to be historically good.
• Deshon Elliott played with heart and physicality, and by the playoffs he was doing well in coverage too. It took some time for him to develop but I think he'll be solid moving forward.
• I still think we need to draft a strong Free Safety. Deshon would be better if he could play closer to the line.
• Clark had ups and downs this year but came on more towards the end of the season. Lots of "what ifs" surrounding his many missed interceptions.
• We had so little depth at safety this year, and it showed.
• Humphrey had some excellent games, and some games/plays he probably wants back. His "fruit punch" ability was huge early in the season, but teams with good WRs and coaches preached ball security and as the season wore on it was less effective. Still, the Ravens' 25 forced fumbles led the league - the next closest was 17. I'm glad we paid this man.
• Peters was a bit feast or famine this year. When he shows up to play he ranks with the best corners in the league. When he's lackadaisical, he's easily abused. I think Peters would have looked much better if we had a stronger coverage safety (and/or if we could have run more dime packages). His play and subsequent celebration against the Titans was one of the great moments in franchise history.
• Jimmy Smith played lights out in the early season - you almost never heard his name called because his coverage was so good. Obviously his season was hampered by injuries but we've all come to expect that from him. I think he played well in the playoffs too, despite the opinions of some on this sub.
• Anthony Averett had trouble early on but once he came back from injury he was rock solid. I'm beginning to feel like he can be trusted on the field, and I feel like big plays are going to come for him.
• Tramon Williams was a band-aid in the slot and he played well mentally. He just couldn't keep up with the fastest slot receivers.
• We had so many injuries in the CB room. Absolutely ridiculous number of injuries. Every cornerback missed at least one game. Marshall, Bonds, Desir, Averett, Smith, Peters, Humphrey's bout with COVID, and most importantly Tavon Young, whose injury history is really impacting our salary cap. He still has a year left on his contract.

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Special Teams

• Bills game was a fluke. The wind was just too weird and unpredictable. I still believe the wolfpack is the best kicking unit in the league.
• This was not Tucker's best season but honestly... nobody's perfect. Dude is still the best kicker of all time, and he's going to come back next year pissed off at the fact that he missed a couple in the playoffs.
• Justice Hill was an excellent gunner, apart from a few idiotic penalties.
• Chris Board was great on ST early in the season, and Malik Harrison did well too for a rookie.
• As I said above, Duvernay was an excellent returner. He had the second highest depth of return in the league, beating out even Cordarrelle Patterson, and a kick return TD. It was nice to not have liabilities there this year.
• Proche caught punts well apart from a couple of mistakes but was rarely ever able to get anything on a return.

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Coaching

• I know, I know, you hate Greg Roman, All my homies hate Greg Roman, Greg Roman is horrible, whatever. There are two issues with Greg Roman - playcalling and inadequacy in the passing game. As a play caller, he struggles to innovate when reliable concepts aren't working, and he doesn't do well against zone coverages and certain other defensive schemes. Part 1 is tough and that may just be his downfall, but Harbaugh could play a bigger role in approving plays next year. Part 2 can be fixed with better route concepts and stronger film study on the opponents that gave our scheme problems. I have no doubt that we can diversify this system as Lamar gets more comfortable in it.
• You have to remember that we were working with a compromised offensive line all year long. Roman's scheme relies heavily on peak offensive line play. It's no secret that we played our best offense when that unit was on their game. Apart from the passing concepts, Roman's scheme is one of the best running schemes in the league, and it's made possible by Lamar's ability to create real dilemmas for defenses. It's the right scheme for this team if the passing concepts can be improved.
• David Culley is our passing game coordinator, WR coach, and Assistant Head Coach. He's also close with Harbaugh from the Andy Reid days. I'm holding him responsible for these putrid route concepts. Hopefully he can be taken off those responsibilities and we can bring in a passing game coordinator who can work with Roman to develop routes that will both benefit the run game and allow our passing game to punish our opponents who sell out against the run.
• Wink is a treasure. I know that sometimes people don't like the amount of blitzes he sends but frankly our pass rush outside of blitzes stunk this year and he was doing everything he could to get pressure on the quarterback. Wink adjusted well when we needed him to, and his plan against Derrick Henry was nothing short of a masterpiece. I hope we have Wink on our sidelines for a long time.
• Harbaugh helped this team fight through adversity and in general he cultivated a strong team-mindset. He's a great coach. I would like to see him be more critical at times and to be able to look past his biases as far as coaches and players go, but in general there are few coaches I'd rather have.

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External Factors

• COVID + Steve Saunders fucked us, big time. I think we would have easily won that Steelers game had the outbreak been limited.
• We had a relatively easy schedule this year, playing the NFC east. However, the AFC South was no cakewalk and we still had the Chiefs.
• Weather was a major factor in two games. The Patriots game was a wash. The Bills game was just weird. We have to be ready to make adjustments in those cases but there's only so much you can do against nature.
• Shortened offseason led to a lot of injuries. We weren't quite at the level of the 49ers but our injury situation was bad in the middle of the season.

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Best Moments

• Mark Andrews' leaping one-handed grab vs the Browns.
• Utterly destroying the Browns' idiotic fake punt in game 1.
• Ingram's wildcat TD vs the Texans. Those first 2 games felt like we could see a repeat of 2019.
• Duvernay's kick return TD vs the Chiefs. It almost looked like we could win that game when that happened.
• 6 DBs getting a sack on Joe Burrow
• Chuck Clark hurdling Philip Rivers - just one of the funniest things I've seen an an NFL game.
• Orlando Brown's "EASY MONEY" celebration vs Dallas.
• Tyre Phillips' Angry Run vs Jacksonville.
• Tyus Bowser picks off Baker Mayfield at a crucial point in the Browns game.
• Lamar's heroic return against the Browns. That was spectacular - truly incredible moment, and the best game of the year.
• 3 straight sacks on Daniel Jones, sadly negated by the Justice Hill roughing the kicker penalty.
• 404 rushing yards vs the Bengals. Basically unheard of in the modern era.
• Lamar's insane run against the Titans - one of the best runs in playoff history.
• Holding Derrick Henry to 40 yards and no first downs - astounding D-Line performance.
• Peters' pick and subsequent celebration versus the Titans. Delicious, and worth every penny.

A verdict on the future of Giants general manager Dave Gettleman shouldn’t be determined by the outcome of Sunday’s season finale. Whether ownership believes the franchise is headed in the right direction or hasn’t made enough progress, a win or loss by the 5-10 Giants against the 6-9 Cowboys shouldn’t outweigh three years of data.
So, as judgment day nears for Gettleman, here’s a breakdown of what co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch have to evaluate:
DRAFT
As Gettleman said at the end of last season, “You build the team through the draft.” The draft is the most important piece of roster building, so that’s where any evaluation starts.
The case against Gettleman:
Gettleman inherited a premium asset: The No. 2 pick in the 2018 draft. The last time the Giants had the No. 2 pick, they took Lawrence Taylor in the 1981 draft.
Gettleman eschewed taking a quarterback in a class that had three selected between picks three and 10. And he didn’t seriously entertain trade offers for the No. 2 pick. Gettleman was smitten with Saquon Barkley, dismissing positional value arguments against taking a running back with a top pick as “a crock” and “nonsense.”
Barkley had a brilliant rookie season — and the Giants went 5-11. A high-ankle sprain caused Barkley to miss three games as the Giants went 4-12 in 2019. He has been sidelined this season since tearing his ACL in Week 2.
While Barkley’s talent is undeniable, he will have played in 31 of 48 games during his first three seasons. The return on the No. 2 pick has been underwhelming thus far and Barkley is now eligible for a contract extension.
There have been minimal contributions from the rest of the 2018 class. Trading second, fourth and fifth-round picks to move up seven spots to take cornerback DeAndre Baker with the 30th pick in the 2019 draft was a disaster. Setting aside whatever did or didn’t happen at a Florida house party in May — armed robbery charges were eventually dropped — Baker displayed a lack of professionalism throughout his rookie season.
Gettleman has never traded back in eight drafts as a general manager. That’s baffling considering the crapshoot nature of the draft and the evidence that many of the top teams in the league constantly trade back to acquire more picks. The lack of depth on the current roster shows the value in trading back.
The Giants don’t have a full allotment of picks for 2021, which is tough to swallow for a rebuilding team. They dealt their fifth- and seventh-round picks for Leonard Williams and Isaac Yiadom, respectively, while adding an extra sixth-round pick from Arizona for Markus Golden at this season’s trade deadline.
The case for Gettleman:
Ownership can take some solace in the fact that Gettleman avoided any colossal busts with his top picks (Baker notwithstanding). Quarterback Josh Rosen, who was a candidate for the No. 2 pick in 2018, went 10th overall and is already on his fourth team. Quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who many analysts rated higher than Daniel Jones, was released this week by Washington less than two years after being the No. 15 pick in the 2019 draft. Sam Darnold, who was widely viewed as the best quarterback option available for the Giants in 2018, hasn’t been as bad as Rosen or Haskins, but the Jets appear ready to make a change after three unimpressive seasons from the former No. 3 pick.
Dexter Lawrence, the 17th pick in the 2019 draft, is a quality player, and this year’s class has shown some promise, but it’s too early to pass judgment on the rookies.
Gettleman has found some value in the later rounds, most notably 2018 fifth-round pick Darius Slayton, who has 96 catches for 1,469 yards and 11 touchdowns in two seasons. Gettleman arrived with a reputation for finding unheralded offensive linemen, and 2018 undrafted free agent Nick Gates looks like a potential long-term answer at center.
The big question:
That this separate category is necessary is more of a negative than a positive for Gettleman, but the jury is still out on Jones, the sixth pick in the 2019 draft.
The Giants have the No. 31 scoring offense in the league this season. That puts Gettleman in a sticky spot. Whether the problem is Jones or his supporting cast, the blame points in the same direction. Gettleman either missed on the Jones pick or has done a poor job building a sufficient supporting cast around the young quarterback.
Coach Joe Judge has emphasized his commitment to Jones for 2021. That’s nice, but such proclamations aren’t necessary for truly elite quarterbacks after two seasons as the starter.
Next season is shaping up as make-or-break for Jones. If Gettleman survives, his fate will be inexorably tied to Jones.
FREE AGENCY
There’s a popular misconception that Gettleman was hamstrung by the cap situation he inherited.
There were certainly some inflated veteran contracts on the books when Gettleman took over. Yet, in his first offseason he was able to make Nate Solder the highest-paid left tackle in the league, make Odell Beckham Jr. the highest-paid wide receiver in the league, absorb Alec Ogletree’s salary in a trade, eat $15 million in dead money from the Jason Pierre-Paul trade, sign a pair of mid-level free agents, and still carry the cap hits of Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison and Janoris Jenkins. That’s a lot of spending for a general manager supposedly constrained by the cap.
The case against Gettleman:
The free-agent signings in Gettleman’s first offseason were atrocious. Solder signed a four-year, $62 million contract; guard Patrick Omameh signed a three-year, $15 million contract; linebacker Kareem Martin signed a three-year, $15 million contract; and running back Jonathan Stewart signed a two-year, $6.8 million contract despite it being evident that the 31-year-old had nothing left in the tank. All of those signings were flops.
A common defense of the Solder signing is that Gettleman had no other options and he needed to upgrade the offensive line. There are always other options. Just look at the Patriots, who let Solder walk in free agency and then traded a third-round pick to the 49ers for Trent Brown and a fifth-round pick (they also got a third-round compensatory pick in 2019 for Solder). Brown counted just $1.9 million against the cap in 2018 and the Patriots didn’t miss a beat when he was plugged in at left tackle.
Handing out the biggest contract to the highest-profile free agent doesn’t take any skill. It was Gettleman’s job to find an alternative to overpaying Solder and he failed.
The 2019 offseason was quieter in free agency partly due to the dead money incurred from trading Beckham to Cleveland, but there was still a big whiff. Two days after dealing Beckham, Gettleman signed veteran receiver Golden Tate. It was questionable to give a four-year, $37.5 million contract to a 30-year-old slot receiver and the move has gone worse than expected.
Tate was suspended for the first four games of last season for PEDs, then he was suspended for another game this season for selfish antics. Tate has been a non-factor this season and will likely be a cap casualty two years into his deal.
The case for Gettleman:
It wasn’t all bad for Gettleman in 2019. Signing outside linebacker Markus Golden to a one-year, $3.75 million deal proved to be excellent value, as he recorded 10 sacks last season.
Mara said after last season that Gettleman’s “batting average has got to increase going forward.” Gettleman responded by batting 1.000 this offseason.
The big-ticket signings were cornerback James Bradberry (three years, $43.5 million) and linebacker Blake Martinez (three years, $30.75 million). Bradberry earned his first Pro Bowl selection and established himself as one of the top corners in the league, while Martinez has been a significant upgrade as a tackling machine in the middle of the defense.
Both players are only in their fifth seasons and have proven track records of durability. They will be the backbone of the defense for the duration of their contracts, if not longer.
Adding veterans Logan Ryan and Graham Gano on one-year deals during training camp provided a major boost. Ryan has been a versatile piece of the secondary and a strong leader, which he parlayed into a three-year, $30 million extension. Gano has been lights out, making 30 of 31 field goals to earn a three-year, $14 million extension.
TRADES
Say this for Gettleman: He’s not afraid to make bold moves. In three years, he’s dealt Jason Pierre-Paul, Damon Harrison, Eli Apple, Odell Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon, while trading for Alec Ogletree and Leonard Williams. The case against Gettleman:
There’s grey area to most of Gettleman’s trades, but the most controversial deal remains the acquisition of Williams at last season’s trade deadline. The Giants, who were 2-6 at the time, sent a 2020 third-round pick (No. 68 overall) and a 2021 fifth-round pick to the Jets for Williams, an impending free agent.
It was a baffling trade the moment it was executed and became worse when the Giants weren’t able to reach an agreement on a long-term extension after the season. The Giants ceded all leverage to Williams with the trade since his camp knew the team wouldn’t let him walk after parting with two mid-round picks for eight games of service.
So Williams, who had a half sack last season, happily accepted the $16.1 million franchise tag from the Giants for this season. Williams has had a breakout season, recording a career-high 8.5 sacks. So Gettleman’s evaluation of the player was accurate. But the cost to acquire and retain Williams keeps growing.
The prudent move would have been to wait until Williams hit free agency and then make a strong offer. Imagine how much cheaper Williams would have been a year ago coming off the worst season of his career than he will be now.
If Williams didn’t become available because another team traded for him and then extended/franchised him, that would be a tough break but it’s not as if he’s an irreplaceable player. The Giants essentially have parted with two draft picks and $16 million to have the inside track to bid against other teams to give Williams $20 million per year on a long-term deal this offseason. That’s not exactly a master class in asset management.
The Ogletree trade was on par with the Solder signing as far as blowing resources on a disappointing, overpaid veteran. The Giants got Ogletree and a seventh-round pick from the Rams in exchange for fourth- and sixth-round picks in the 2018 draft. The Giants inherited Ogletree’s bloated contract and cut him after two dismal seasons.
Trading Pierre-Paul for a third-round pick would have made sense if Gettleman was committed to a full rebuild in 2018. Instead, the trade just created a pass rushing hole that still hasn’t been filled, while Pierre-Paul has 30.5 sacks in three seasons with the Buccaneers. The case for Gettleman:
The Beckham trade was Gettleman’s other blockbuster, and that deal looks much better today than when it was executed. Beckham hasn’t been the same player in Cleveland, and he tore his ACL in Week 7 of this season. There has been some promise shown in the return from that deal, with Lawrence and veteran safety Jabrill Peppers emerging as key pieces of an improving defense. Unloading Vernon’s contract for steady guard Kevin Zeitler was a solid move in a deal connected to the Beckham trade.
A case can be made that the Giants would have received more for Harrison if they dealt him in the 2018 offseason, but getting a fifth-round pick at the trade deadline still proved to be decent value since the aging defensive tackle’s skills have deteriorated rapidly.
The same timing critique of the Apple trade applies, but it’s understandable that Gettleman wanted to give the 2016 first-round pick a clean slate. When it became clear that Apple was a lost cause, the Giants got fourth- and seventh-round picks for him from the Saints at the 2018 trade deadline. Apple is out of the league just two years later.
COACH
The reality is Gettleman can’t be judged too harshly or favorably on the coaching hires. He has a voice in the process, but he’s not the one making the final decision on the head coach.
The case against Gettleman:
The first coach hired on Gettleman’s watch, Pat Shurmur, was fired after two seasons.
The case for Gettleman:
The second coach hired on Gettleman’s watch, Joe Judge, has shown significant potential.
Despite a gruff image, Gettleman’s history demonstrates a collaborative relationship with his coaches. Just look at all of the acquisitions in his first two offseasons who had ties to former defensive coordinator James Bettcher from his time in Arizona. That has continued with the new staff, as most free agent signings had a connection to Judge or an assistant coach.
All indications are that Gettleman and Judge have a good working relationship. Judge spoke this week of the “one vision” throughout the team facility and said he enjoyed working with Gettleman through free agency and the draft. Compatibility with Judge could be the strongest point in Gettleman’s favor since the organization is fully invested in the coach’s vision.
OVERALL ROSTER-BUILDING
There’s no denying that Gettleman, who has spent 34 years as an NFL evaluator, has an eye for talent. The questions surround his ability to fit that talent evaluation into the big-picture process of building a team with the finite resources available in a salary cap/draft system.
The case against Gettleman:
Some of the defenses of Gettleman’s tenure are remarkably contradictory. It’s often noted that he inherited a bad roster (rarely do fired GMs leave behind Super Bowl contenders). The state of the roster can be debated, but the reality is Gettleman assessed that group and took a win-now approach in his first offseason.
There’s a theory that hasn’t been proven or refuted that ownership mandated one last run with Eli Manning. Even if that’s the case, ownership didn’t force Gettleman to add the likes of Solder, Ogletree, Omameh and Martin in that ill-fated attempt to win with Manning.
With that handicap dismissed, the biggest flaws with Gettleman’s tenure have been a general disregard for positional value and questionable asset management.
Taking a running back with the second pick (and therefore being positioned to give a monster extension to a running back) is difficult to reconcile in the face of mountains of evidence that the position is just not as valuable as others. Pouring premium resources into interior defensive linemen and neglecting edge rushers is another dubious approach.
The Williams trade, the refusal to trade back in the draft, not seriously entertaining bids for the No. 2 pick and not shopping the Beckham offer to other teams are among the many head-scratching asset management moves. The case for Gettleman:
Gettleman has demonstrated his scouting ability. He recognized that Williams had a higher ceiling than he was displaying with the Jets. He stuck with Gates to allow the undrafted free agent to blossom into a starting center. Insisting on Peppers’ inclusion in the Beckham trade has paid off now that the safety is in the right system.
The challenge in making a case for Gettleman in this category is that even by his stated old-school “basic truths” of building a roster — run the ball, stop the run, rush the passer — he’s fallen short in assembling a team that excels in those areas.
THE FUTURE
Mara and Tisch need to have a hard conversation about the state of their franchise.
Tom Coughlin, the head coach for the Giants’ two most recent Super Bowls, was fired in 2015 after consecutive 6-10 seasons. Coughlin didn’t have fewer than six wins in any of his 12 seasons with the Giants.
Jerry Reese, the general manager for the Giants’ two most recent Super Bowls, survived the consecutive 6-10 seasons, rebounded with an 11-5 season in 2016 and then was fired after a 2-10 start to the 2017 season. The 2017 season was the only time in Reese’s 11 years as general manager that the Giants won fewer than six games.
Meanwhile, Gettleman needs a victory Sunday just to achieve his first six-win season. The Giants are 14-33 under Gettleman. Among the seven general managers hired in 2017 or 2018, Gettleman’s .298 winning percentage is by far the worst. Marty Hurney, who replaced Gettleman with the Panthers in 2017, had the next lowest winning percentage (.435) among that group. Hurney was fired last week.
If ownership decides to keep Gettleman, who turns 70 in February, they’ll be doing so based on a conviction that the franchise is headed in the right direction despite a lack of any tangible progress in his first three seasons.