BuzzerBeater Forums

II. The Basics

Economy

I COULD make a write up about the economy in BB, but seeing as it would be more or less identical to the economy page in the Game Manual I think I’ll just give you a link to it instead.

(http://www.buzzerbeater.com/community/rules.aspx?nav=Econ...)

The only thing I’d like to add is that it is very useful to compare your economy numbers to the league averages. This will keep you informed on how well your team is doing financially compared to other teams that are of a similar calibre to your own.


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What affects merchandise?
There are many ways to increase your merchandise income. Having local players increases merchandise sales and having local draftees (ones you got from the draft) increases merchandise. Also, the better the players are the more your merchandise increases. Winning games increases merchandise while losing games lowers it. Having players that are also on the National Team or National U21 Team, particular ones from your country, will also increase merchandise. If a player on your team makes the All-Star game this will not result in an increase in merchandise.

What is the TV contract and how is it calculated?
The TV contract is something that all teams get in all leagues. All the teams in a particular league get the same amount of money from the TV contract. Higher divisions get more income from the TV contract. The TV contract is calculated at the beginning of each season depending on what league you are in and how competitive your league is and stays the same for the entire season.

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II. The Basics

Staff

What’s up doc? Every team has three different staff members that are responsible for their own designated task. They are a Doctor, a Trainer and a PR-Manager. Like players, you have to buy staff members off of the transfer list so the best ones are going to be the most expensive. Each staff member has a skill level between 1 and 7 (Basic to world-renowned) which indicates how well they perform their specific job. Furthermore, each staff member can potentially have one of two specialties. Here’s a breakdown of the staff members and their potential specialties:

From the Game Manual

Doctors help reduce the severity of player injuries. Once a player is injured, a Doctor will also help him heal more quickly, but the effect is much smaller than the initial reduction in severity. Doctors can have the following specialties:

Taping Injuries: There is a small chance that a player's minor injury can be taped up immediately, and he will be able to return to the game at the start of the next quarter.

Massage: Players who play too many minutes in a given week will not experience as severe a drop in game shape.

Notes: Doctors are probably the cheapest staff members to pick up off the TL but they certainly have their importance. The difference between a level 1 and level 5 doctor could be the difference between a player being injured for three weeks to that same player being injured for the remainder of the game. Doctors become especially valuable when you have young trainees that can’t afford to miss a week’s worth of training or when you have an all-star player (figuratively) that your team just can’t afford to lose. For new teams, I’d recommend at least having a level three doctor and for more experienced managers I’d go with a level five. I guess the level of doctor you choose all depends on the amount of risk you want to take with regards to injury time. In terms of doctor specialties, I’m partial to massage especially if your team relies on a core group of players that see a lot of minutes.

Trainers assist the coach in making the most of the team training hours, both in-game and during the week. Trainers can have the following specialties:

Career Extension: Older players will not experience skill drops as frequently.

Fitness: The magnitude of the Stamina drops experienced by your players is decreased.

Notes: Trainers are undeniably the most important staff member in the game and their prices on the TL are a good indication of that. Here’s some logic that might help you see the value of having a good trainer:
- The goal of BuzzerBeater is to have the best team possible.
- To create the best team possible you have to have the best players (It also doesn’t hurt to be a manager that can take advantage of the economy and is smart tactically but we’ll disregard that for now).
- The best players in the game are the ones who have received the most training.

II. The Basics

Staff - Part 2

Can you see where I’m going with this? In my opinion, training is the most important aspect of this game so a quality trainer is vital to your team’s success. I’m well aware that trainers don’t come cheap; both salary wise and the initial price you have to pay for them off the TL. With this in mind, you need to buy a trainer based upon your team’s financial situation and the prospects you are training. If you’re a new team it would not be too bright to spend all your money on a level 6 trainer and then realize you have no good prospects to train. The quality of your prospects should determine the quality of your trainer and not the other way around. Ideally, I’d say it’s a good idea for a new team to purchase a level 4 trainer (level 3 if you’re really struggling financially) but don’t forget that you need to have the right prospects first! For a team that’s been around for a few seasons I’d recommend a level 5 trainer and I’d recommend a level 6 or 7 trainer only if you have obtained a set of great prospects. These trainers are extremely expensive and since each level has less impact on training than the previous one (The levels are not linear), it is unnecessary to get these trainers unless you meet the above example... or you’re filthy rich with money to throw around. I wouldn’t worry too much about trainer specialties although I suppose the fitness specialty could be useful.

Public Relations Managers help market the team to the fans, encouraging more people to show up to games and be willing to pay more for tickets. Public Relation Managers can have the following specialties:

Crowd Involvement: Your team will experience a slightly stronger Home-Court Advantage for your home games.

National Appeal: When your team is on the road, your opponents will have a slightly decreased Home-Court Advantage.

Notes: as stated, PR-Managers are in charge of getting people to show up, buy tickets, and buy merchandise. It should come as no surprise that PR-Managers are directly related to attendance. Any team that wants to compete should have at least a mid-level PR-Manager. Newer teams may want to start with a level 3 PR-guy while the veteran teams might prefer a level 5 or 6 guy. Truthfully, I am unfamiliar with how much of an effect a high level (6 or 7) PR-Manager will help a team as I have always stuck with the mid-level ones. I am a fan of the PR specialties and would recommend trying to get one or the other if possible. They can give your team a boost either at home or away (depending on the speciality) which you can use to your advantage. Remember, your opponents don’t know what level staff you have or what their specialties are.
The level of a staff member does not affect the effectiveness of the specialty. This means that a level 2 PR manager with National Appeal specialty will affect your opponents home court advantage as much as a level 7 PR manager with the National Appeal specialty. Also note that all staff of the same level will yield identical results no matter what their salary is. You will probably also find that staff with specialties tend to cost more when buying them

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What are the best staff levels to have?
For new managers, a level 4 trainer (advanced) is the recommended trainer due to its cheap signing bonus and cheap salary. A level 5 trainer is thought to give an extra one to two weeks of training per season compared to a level 4 trainer.

The ideal PR manager depends on a lot of circumstances, but a PR manager of level 3 is generally good enough for most new managers.

The ideal doctor level is very much dependant on the level that you are playing at and how much of a risk you are willing to take. A new manager could probably survive with a level 3 or less, however at higher levels where players are far better in terms of skills, and the competition is a lot closer, higher level doctors are required so that players are not being injured for 2 or 3 weeks.

What are the specialties and does level affect how good the specialty performs?
The different types of specialties can be found here: (http://www.buzzerbeater.com/community/rules.aspx?nav=Staf...)

Be aware that the level of a staff member does not affect the effectiveness of the specialty. This means that a Level 2 PR manager with National Appeal specialty will affect your opponents home court advantage as much as a level 7 PR manager with National Appeal specialty.

If I buy a new trainer/doctor/PR manager today, when will I see his effect?
Training takes place on Friday, and so the only thing that matters is the trainer level that you have at the time training takes place. If you have a basic trainer from Saturday to Thursday, but get an advanced trainer on Friday before the training update, then players will receive training from the advanced trainer for all minutes.
PR managers and doctors are used at the beginning of each game, and so the level of doctor and PR manager that you have at the time of the game is what matters. PR manager’s levels are also taken in to account at the time of the financial update for merchandising income. Seeing as salary is paid for staff at the time of the financial update.
So based on the information above you can work out when it is best for you to change the level of your staff.

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II. The Basics

End of Season Processing

Once the finals of every playoffs in BB is complete, the end of season processing begins. It’s also known as “Off-Season Processing” and consists of the draft, organization of the new divisions, salary update and game shape reset. Apart from setting your draft order and the line-ups for the two scrimmages you have in this week, you don’t have to worry about anything. The BBs take care of everything else. Just know that salaries will increase for players that have been trained and that the game shape of every player is reset to respectable. It’s generally not worthwhile to train game shape at all but doing so during this week would be a complete waste.