BuzzerBeater Forums

i frankly dont get the distinction between fantasy basketball and a sports simulation... i mean in some sense isn't fantasy basketball a really really lame game engine? where you aren't playing a game like basketball but it is a game, with real life players, that you control.... Maybe fantasy sports need licensing fees too... but I dont see how we would be any worse off on legal ground than a fantasy basketball site.

EDIT: i am not a lawyer... obviously we would probably be sued and thats probably all it comes down to... so i'm not saying buzzerbeater thinks we can do this.

I am also not a lawyer. However, if you think about video games for various sports, they need to get licensing from the leagues to use the team names and player names. I see this website as much more like a video game, where you're running a team, rather than a fantasy sports game, where everything is based on real-world (e.g., NBA) stats.

I think BB-Forrest's point is that "everything is based on real-world (e.g. NBA) stats" is not true. Fantasy sports have a point system, and you can have different point systems. What is the legal seperation between a point system and a Game Engine? Both of them take in stats as inputs and produce winners as outputs? You don't control the players, or directly "play" a basketball game.

I suspect that the right legal decision will indeed result in all fantasy sports will need to have licenses, or that all video games don't need licenses. I think right now the sports franchises just want to have their cake and eat it.. they want to charge licenses cause they think they can make money that way, but they want fantasy sports cause they realize it builds brand loyalty etc and they realize fantasy sports would probably die if there were licensing fees and it would be very hard to regulate because statistics are so widely spread. All they feasibly could do is push fantasy sports into the same places pirated music have retreated to. You cannot freely disseminate information and then except people to just consume it and not reuse it to make other things. I think Colbert's interview last week with the copyright author made this point fantastically.

http://ccinsider.comedycentral.com/cc_insider/2009/01/col...

hmm... buzzerbeater is based in boston you know?

I think as it stands BB has three problems:

1) motivating new teams to stay in the very first weeks

I believe this might be the most important task at hand (allthough you probably have statistics on this). You need to keep people busy long enough to get them addicted.

Easier access to forums is mentioned, but I belive alot could be done to make the game more active in general.

As mentioned initially you have an active community, and the forums are buzzing. So, obviously alot of people have alot to say about the game. However, the game does not take advantage of this (other than in the forums). IMO you should make more visible what's going on. How about a "News from around the league" with news bulletins, transfers, news from the national teams, game results and so on. Alot of the information allready exists, and you could maybe add small stuff like "player/team of the week/month" (with a small price), milestones (NN just played his 100th game for TEAM X), and so on.. The possibilities are endless, easy to create (I would guess), and it would add to the fun of logging into the game on an every day basis.

I also like the idea of people acting as mentors. I don't think it would need to be anything advanced. Perhaps a sticky in the help forums where mentors and new teams could "hook up"?

And of course, a tutorial for new users. Perhaps "unlocking" secrets of the game (hints, tips) the first few important weeks, would be useful to keep people busy.

...oh, and yes. The new thing they started in HT - being able to invite friends to replace idle teams in your own league - seems like a great idea!

Just one more idea - and I know I would've loved it when I started:

What if new teams could opt to create one new player of their own. Picking the name, generating his looks, height, and being able to distribute a fixed amount of points (e.g. 50) on attributes. Potential, age (18) and total points available of course should be equal for all teams.

People could add themselves into the game, or their favourite player.

"News from around the league"

I like that idea, i would really like to se that implemented:-)

I am for the complexitiy; against the Best Line Up button idea.

It will screw up your training schedule as well and make things just too easy...

IDEA: use the side banner as a specific <hint or advise message> on every page they scroll....Or use a special <block on top of every page> explaining what the page might help you/or what the purpose is and why it is here...

e.g. WEEKLY STATS.....<BANNER ON TOP> (1. info)this page is used for helping you manage your playing minutes of your player (2. advise) Dont let you player play too much since this will tire him in gameshape next week!

Another e.g STAFF page: <BANNER ON TOP> (1. info)this page is used for helping you identify the staff you have and on what quality (2. advise) The higher the level means the more efficient you player will be trained! To look for alternative staff you can press the search staff button

All of these handy messages can of course be found in the rules page...BUT the marketeers in the world know; if you cannot get a guy's attention in 5 minutes you simply wont win his attention at all...RULES page is extensive and perfect..but a little to long to understand in the first five minutes..Take an example why the DUMMIES book series become so succesful...THANKS to explaining things short and clear...THATS why my suggestion of explaining inside each page would help..

If people are thinking they can do it without these newbie messages..simply add a turn off button at the profile page....

This is not THE solution but may add the quicker understanding of the game...



Last edited by GM-Rijswijker at 1/16/2009 4:31:04 PM

Hear hear! Good ones. (and the "newest team" overview).

The nice thing with these suggestions is that they don't impose changes in the GE, just presentation, and can be implemented without further ado