BuzzerBeater Forums

The #1 issue to growth/lack of retention was probably instability in previous seasons. BB has gotten much much better and some people should give them some kind of credit for that. Marin has been a big factor in this, I think he deserves some love for getting this game more stable. I say that will crossed fingers though...there is always a possibility of issues arising again...
Anyway the BBs are probably smart to manage their bottom line by putting what resources they put into the gamei nto bug fixing and stability.

#2 issue- resources. Its easy for us ( and I do it regular) point out problems with league structure, user allocation (small nations), GE (LI), Economy.... however to fix this resources must be allocated into the game in the form of development man-hours. Its not cheap to be done right. BB code is massive, this you have to understand if you want to be hurling suggestions/complaints at them on a daily basis (as you often do Pini). So anyone coming in and adding to or changing this code needs to be an experienced competent programmer....and those dudes aint cheap to hire permanently, for projects or by the hour, just not cheap.
This is a chicken and the egg problem. Investment=return. But you can't squeeze blood from a turnip. If the resources to invest MORE are not there, then they invest what they are investing.

#3 PR. Let's be frank. PR has been HORRIBLE the last two seasons. This ties into #2 as an issue. #1, to me, is a more practical problem/solution than PR. Squeeky wheels are Squeeky wheels. PR is about the people who complain and need special attention, but EVERY user needs site access. So if the BBs put more energy into keepin their site up than massaging user egos, so be it. However by letting PR slide, they have lost users, and they have lost resources. NOT doing PR is a slippery slope. moderation is key. PR has gotten so bad that I believe a slight investment will really up retention a lot.

#4 Design. The game is decent but has some flaws, GE imbalance, league balance, economic balance. Addressing the first 3 issues need to happen though I think before design changes can be done. no point in a good design if game is unstable (#1), can't develop WELL without resources (#2, if they add new stuff on limited budget, they create more #1 problems), changes are never met well by all good PR is needed for the release of any major change and the buggy period usually following (#3).

All the issues you raise, allthough I agree with them, fall in #4, there is some other things that realistically BB needs to wrangle (#1 probably they have gotten under control now) before they can address nuts and bolts issues.

ITs a ticking time bomb now though because the bulk of the user base has learned the game as is, we are learning more about ins and outs of economy and GE, and that gets boring. As time progresses without chagne people get bored and leave, word-of-mouth which is a big tool for BB early on (I came word-of-mouth myself) is hit hard by stagnation, killing their promotability. and stuff.... so #4 may be low on a list of things to do, but its kinda like eating, still very very important (just maybe not as important as breathing and drinking water etc.)

I'd suggest that mismanagement of nations with fewer users than 100, and the reticence in improving basic mechanics for new user entry have a far greater impact than any problem regarding "ebay players".
This game loses more new members than it retains, merely because of the situation many new users get thrown into.