BuzzerBeater Forums

Table Of Contents for The Guide

Getting Started
Your First Team (175674.3)
The Forums (175674.4)
Schedule (175674.5)
Setting The Lineup (175674.6)
Buying and Selling Players (175674.7)

The Basics
Game Shape (175674.8)
Game Engine and Match Ratings (175674.9)
Scouting and The Draft (175674.10)
Arena (175674.12)
Economy (175674.13)
Staff (175674.14)
End Of Season Processing (175674.17)

I. Getting Started

Your First Team

You've just signed up and the GMs (Game Masters) have accepted your application for a new team : Welcome to BuzzerBeater!

The first thing you're probably going to do is check out your team's roster and see how many Lebron's or Kobe's you've been blessed with. Unfortunately for you, new teams tend to start out with "Basketball players" that make better "Basketballs" than they do "Players".
No need to worry about that as every new manager started out with a team like this at some point. The most important thing to remember about BuzzerBeater is that it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. It's going to take some time to build your team and have them climb through the ranks so that one day they might obtain that coveted BBB (BuzzerBeater's Best) Trophy. Before I address anything else, I must stress how important it is to read through the game manual (http://www.buzzerbeater.com/community/rules.aspx?nav=Rule...).
Read it once, read it twice, and then read it some more. Once you understand all the concepts in the game manual you might not even need to continue reading past this point.

I. Getting Started

The Forums

So... you say you've read both this guide and the game manual several times over and are still uncertain about a particular topic? Well, look no further then the Forums. The Forums consist of many different smaller forums that contain just about anything you'd want to know or "talk" about with regards to BuzzerBeater.
You could use the "Help Forum" to get an answer on that topic you've been wondering about, check out the "BB Global Forum" for all the latest news and happenings, see why your National Team just lost its fourth straight game in the "BB India Forum" or just browse around in the many other forums.
Your team won't win any more games by you participating in the forums but it surely makes the BB experience all that much better knowing that your competition are also real people offering their thoughts about the game and asking for advice to create a winning team. Normally I wouldn't be the type of person to say that getting involved in the community can reward you with a better experience, but this definitely holds true for BuzzerBeater.

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How to find more forums?
In this forum, on the left hand side, if you look towards the bottom there is a link that says “Find more Folders”. Click on that and it will take you to a list of forums that you can look at.

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I. Getting Started

Schedule

- Each BuzzerBeater season is 14 weeks long. It consists of 11 weeks of regular season games and 3 weeks of playoff games.
- League games are played on Saturdays and Tuesdays.
- On Thursdays, you will have a cup match until you are knocked out of your National Tournament. The National Tournament is a tournament with a single elimination format that every team in your country takes part in. It begins at the start of each season and runs until there is only one team remaining. That team is awarded the Tournament Champion Trophy.

The prize scale for winning a round in the cup is as follows:
Final Game: $ 300 000
Semi-Final: $ 135 000
Quarter-Final: $ 100 000
16-team round: $ 80 000
32-team round: $ 70 000
64-team round: $ 60 000
All lower rounds: $ 50 000

- Once you are knocked out from the tournament (or win it), you will need to schedule a scrimmage in order to play a game on Thursday. You can schedule a scrimmage with any team in BB that is not currently still competing in their national tournament. In order to do this, just go to any team page and select whether you want to challenge them to a "Home" or "Away" game. It really doesn't matter which one you choose: scrimmages are for "fun" and only helps you with your training program. You can also accept challenges from other managers that will show up on your scrimmages page.
- You cannot challenge teams to a scrimmage between 12:00 Wednesday and 22:00 Friday, server time.
- Halfway through each season there is an all-star break for every league. This consists of a three point competition and an actual all-star game of players from your league. It's just for fun and it gives the teams a break.
- There are also National Team games that take place on Mondays, BBB (BuzzerBeater's Best) games that take place on Wednesdays, and Private League games that take place on Fridays (For supporters only).

I. Getting Started

Setting The Lineup

You can set the lineup for a game up to 15 minutes before the game begins. In order to do this, go to the schedule page and click the "Set lineup" button for the game you wish to set your lineup for. You will then be taken to the page where... you guessed it, you set your lineup.
At the top of the page you'll see a box which allows you to load the tactics you had used in any previous game. Below that, you choose what players you want to be active for the current game. You are allowed to pick up to 12 players that can play in the game. Continuing downward, you will see a basketball court where you list what players you want to start the game. You can use the box below it for help as it shows you the skills of all the players on your team, how many minutes they've played that week and what game shape they're in. I will go into more detail about these concepts later in the guide. Make sure to set your backups and reserves (optional) for each position. Finally, decide what type of substitutions, offense, defense, foul trouble and attitude your team is going to use and then click submit orders. You're team is now ready to play!

It also comes in handy to have a standard lineup set in case you forget to set your lineup for a game or didn't have time to do so.

I. Getting Started

Buying and Selling Players

Now that you're aware that your team is composed of mostly scrubs and random hobos off the street, you need to do something about it. For starters, it's a good idea to cut your team down to about 13 players (or 12). I think the best way to go about this would be to select the two best players for each position and then the next best three. If you're unfamiliar with what a player from a certain position would need, you can go to the "Position Breakdown" of GM-RiP's guide (144856.35). You probably won't need to do that though, as it matches up pretty closely with the skills a player would need in real life (Ex. A point guard needs to be able to pass and defend the perimeter). Now that you have your 13/12 players you can sell or fire the other five guys who didn't make the cut. Since the best player on your team at this point probably isn't worth that much on the transfer list, it doesn't really make a lot of sense to try and sell your worst five. It's best to just fire them and move on but I suppose it doesn't hurt to try and sell them if you really think you can get something for them.

Now, before you go out and buy that stud center it would be wise to play a few games with your current team so you can analyze how your players compare to the rest of your league. You can do this by looking at the box scores of your games. Just go to schedule and click the final score of a game to bring up the box score. This will also allow your team time to accumulate money from your home games and the bonus money given to new teams for the first month.

After you've analyzed some game data you can begin changing up your team. When buying and selling players, the "Transfer Price Estimate" gives a good indication of what a player is worth. When selling, it's a good idea to list your players at the high end of the TPE (Transfer Price Estimate) because even if they don't sell you can always re-list them again for a lower price.
When buying a player, the transfer list page (http://www.buzzerbeater.com/manage/transferlist.aspx) allows you to search for the type of player you want. Just set the restrictions and "Voila!", a list of all the current players on the TL that fit your requirements. As a new team, you're going to want to buy trainees. These are generally young players who are 20 years of age or less that have a decent skillset for the position(s) you want to train. As players age, the rate in which they train and increase skill decreases, so you want to make sure your training young players. GM-RiP got more into the details regarding trainees and training plans. If you want to know more click here (144856.30). But for now the goal was to make you understand how to buy and sell players. Also note that once a player hits a certain age (around 32), their skills will start to decrease, so be careful when buying veterans off the TL.

II. The Basics

Game Shape

Game shape is one of the most important concepts to be aware of in BuzzerBeater. Each player has a game shape that will fluctuate between pitiful (2) and proficient (9) game shape based on how many minutes they play in the previous week. Generally speaking, the game shape of a player will not rise or drop more than about two levels from one week to the next. No one is sure exactly how game shape works but the general consensus is that you want to get your players between 48 and 75 minutes. By doing this, you have a good chance that your players GS will rise or at least not drop much. In terms of game shape, your goal should be to try and maintain all your players (or at least the ones you normally use) between respectable and proficient. Game shape heavily affects how well your players perform so having the best team isn't going to help you much if your best players are at mediocre GS. It's very important to balance your minutes and not overplay or not making any players play enough minutes.

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How do I maintain/improve game shape?
Game shape is determined by the number of minutes that a player has played during the week. There is a popular theory that it is not just this week’s minutes that matter, but also the previous week’s minutes. Aim to play each player between 48 and 75 minutes each week and you should see game shape staying on Strong or Proficient each week. There is a random factor involved in game shape though, and so you can play less than 48 minutes or more than 75 minutes and still get a pop up in game shape, however, it is much less likely. Similarly, you can play between 48 and 75 minutes and get a drop in game shape due to the random factor, but most weeks your game shape will be good. Managing your minutes properly will allow you to keep all game shapes between respectable and proficient on a regular basis.

Should I train game shape?
Unless you have a very good reason to train game shape, in general, do not train game shape! If you do wish to train game shape, before training it I recommend seeking the advice of others via the help forum as it may not be the best move for your team. Note that game shape is reset at the end of each off-season so it is DEFINITELY not advised to train game shape for that week.

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II. The Basics

Game Engine and Match Ratings

The BuzzerBeater game engine is undoubtedly the most mysterious and complex part of this game. It is responsible for determining the outcome of each and every game. Apart from the BBs, no one really knows the intricacies of the GE (Game engine) so we have to get our knowledge of it by watching games and analyzing box-scores. The box-score can give you a rough indication of what took place in your game based on team ratings, match-up ratings and player ratings. The team ratings display how well a team performed in each category (Outside scoring, inside scoring, perimeter defense, inside defense, rebounding and offensive flow). The match-up ratings display a position vs. position match-up (Ex. PG vs. PG) that indicates how many points would be made per 100 shots. The match-up ratings are a little obscure and aren’t always great at explaining what happened in the game but they can still give you a rough idea of what’s going on. Lastly, every game a player will get a rating based on how well they played in the game. This rating is based on their skills, the position they're playing, their game shape, their stamina and potentially many other things hidden away in the GE.

BuzzerBeater can be a confusing game at times but it is this unknown element that makes it fun and interesting. If we knew everything about the game engine and the way it worked, there wouldn't be much point to playing. Games are only fun when they are challenging.

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Does height affect performance during a game?
Height does not affect performance during a game. Height is only considered for training purposes. Therefore, two players with Respectable rebounding, and with vastly different heights, will rebound just as well as each other.

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II. The Basics

Scouting and The Draft

At the end of every season there is a draft (AKA The Lottery) that takes place for every league. There are three rounds in which 48 players are drafted (16 teams x 3). At the beginning of a season, all the prospect information will appear on the "Draft and Scouting" page. On this page you will be given information about all the prospects. The information you have available about each player depends on how many times he has been scouted. It works as follows:

* Unscouted: Your scouts have provided a very rough estimate of the player's skills and potential based on the word on the streets. Expect this evaluation to be fairly inaccurate.
* Scouted once: Your scouts have seen this player play one game, and have provided the player's boxscore for that game. They are now able to give a more accurate assessment of his current skills. Scouting a player uses 1 scouting point.
* Interviewed: Your scouts have invited this player to a workout at your team's facilities. Along with all of the information you have learned from the initial scouting, you now have a very good understanding of this player's current skills (grade rating) and potential abilities. You also discover how tall the player is and whether he is 18 or 19 years old. Interviewing a player uses an additional 2 scouting points.

In addition, there will be two options available following the All-Star break for 10 scouting points each:

* Scouting Combine: Every player in the upcoming draft class will show up to be measured. You can send a scout to the combine to learn the ages and heights of all 48 players in the upcoming draft class.
* Group Demonstration: In order to help get their names out there, all of the players your scout estimated to be 1-ball or 2-ball prospects have offered to arrange a demonstration of their skills. This option is equivalent to scouting each of these players once, though it will not provide any additional information for players you have already scouted.

Set the order that you would like to draft these players by dragging players around in the list. When you are satisfied with your draft ordering, click Submit Ranking below to submit this list. You must click on the button for the list to be used when the draft is conducted during the next offseason. Clicking the button to scout or interview a player will also submit the current ordering of the draftees.

Your investment on scouting provides the following results:
- No Scouting (0$/week)
- 1 point/week ($5000/week)
- 2 points/week ($10000/week))
- 3 points/week ($20000/week)
- 4 points/week ($40000/week)

How much money you put into scouting depends greatly on:
A. How much value you put in the draft - You might not be into the idea of spending 300K and risking drafting three scrubs that aren't worth anything.
B. Where you predict you'll finish in your league standings. As expected, the team with the worst record in a league will get the first pick and the second worst team the second pick etc... If your expectations are that you'll be finishing in the top half of the league it might not be wise to invest a lot into the draft.

II. The Basics

Scouting and The Draft - Part 2

As for my opinion, if you think you're going to finish as a top team in your league (Let's say top 5), you might want to consider investing between $0 - $5000 each week. Your chances of drafting a superb player as a top team isn't very high so it's best not to worry about the draft. If you think you're going to end up as a middle of the pack team (6th through 11th), I'd recommend investing between $5000 - $20000. It's really up to you how much you want to invest as there's a possibility that you could stumble upon a really nice pick from one of these positions. If you think you're going to finish near the bottom of the pack (12th through 16th), I'd recommend investing $10000 - $20000. At this point you're probably thinking to yourself, "If I'm going to be getting one of the first picks of the draft shouldn't I be spending the maximum 40K a week?" As far as I'm concerned, the answer to that question is NO! It's really not worth the extra 20K to 30K a week to obtain one more piece of information about the prospects. The majority of people who invest 40K all season long are usually very displeased with their draft results in return for the money they invested. The draft is a lottery and there's no sure thing about it. It's also worth knowing that even if you put no money into scouting you still get 14 free pieces of information.

One last thing I'd like to point out is that if you are in a league with several inactive teams or bots I'd recommend investing in scouting as if you were a middle of the pack or bottom of the pack team; even if you think you'll win your league. The bot teams and teams with inactive managers will only end up drafting the best players if they get really lucky (Bot teams draft randomly).

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What do the draft balls translate into in terms of player salary and potential?

Salary
5 balls = $3,700 and higher
4 balls = $2,800 - $3,700
3 balls = $2,300 - $2,800
2 balls = $1,900 - $2,300
1 ball = $1,900 and lower

Potential
5 balls = 10 - 12 (MVP - All-time Great)
4 balls = 8 - 9 (Perennial Allstar - Superstar)
3 balls = 5 - 7 (Star - Allstar)
2 balls = 3 - 4 (6th Man - Starter)
1 ball = 1 - 2 (Announcer - Role Player)

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II. The Basics

Arena

Once a week you will have a game that is played at your team’s arena – A home game. This is important because your arena is the main source of revenue in BB. Fans buy the tickets to your games which allows your team to make money. There are four types of seats in every arena and each has a minimum and maximum price you can set for that type of seat:

- Bleachers (Min: $5, Max: $20)
- Lower Tier (Min: $17, Max: $70)
- Courtside Seats (Min: $50, Max: $200)
- Luxury Boxes (Min: $400, Max: $1600)

I wish I could tell you that there are optimal ticket prices that are universal to the BB world but the truth is that in order to make max profits from your arena you’re going to have to play around with the prices. The fans who buy bleacher and lower tier seats are fickle and don’t show up in as heavy a volume when your team is doing poorly. The fans that purchase courtside seats and luxury boxes are far more likely to show up every game as long as your prices are reasonable. It’s important to note that you can only change your arena prices three times a season: once before the first game, once before the 8th game and once before the last regular season game (16th game). Because of this you should analyze how many fans you’re getting for which seats and adjust the prices accordingly. For example, if your bleacher seats are set at $14 and you sell them out every game despite your team losing a lot, that’s a good sign that you can increase the price. On the contrary, if you’re often failing to sell out the bleachers with a winning team on the floor, that’s a sign you might want to lower the price. As I said before, you’ve got to analyze the results and play with the prices until you find what works for your arena.

As the general manager of your team not only are you responsible for adjusting ticket prices, but also for expanding the arena. Each team starts out with an arena that has a maximum capacity of 5000 seats: 4500 bleachers, 450 lower tier seats and 50 courtside seats. There are two things that you’re going to want to avoid with regards to arena expansion: Over expanding and under expanding.
Over expanding takes places when a manager keeps expanding his arena even though he’s getting poor attendance with his current seating capacity. If you’re already failing to sell tickets adding more seats isn’t that great of an idea now is it?
Under expanding occurs when a manager doesn’t expand his arena enough. If your team is doing well and you’re selling out most of your seats make sure you add more! It might be a good idea to look at the arenas of other teams in your league to see how many seats they have and how much they’re selling their tickets for. In the short term it may seem like a good idea to buy a quality player off the transfer market but eventually the teams around you (Assuming they expanded regularly) will be raking in a lot more money per week and surpass you. If you have the money and you’re doing well make sure to expand regularly. The profits will come eventually.

Lastly, be careful about expanding too much at one time. The more seats you build at once the longer it is going to take for it to be completed. The quicker the seats are put in, the faster you’re going to see profits from them.