It seems I am promoting back to III and I wanted to throw out a little friendly advice on improving your team. If this comes across as arrogant or condescending it isn't my intention at all. I have been playing this game longer than most in this series and have had limited success throughout the seasons, enough to feel comfortable tossing out a few pointers to those who care about improving their team.
I see several teams making 2 very large mistakes and it is my guess that some aren't even aware of the importance of these things. Game Shape= It really matters, ALOT. If you are playing your players 90-100-even 120 minutes a week, your GS is dropping. Players with high game shape play MUCH better than if their GS is low (it isn't subtle at all, it's huge). Managing your minutes is one of the most important jobs a manager does for his team's success. Read about maximizing your GS in the rules and forums. As a basic guideline, less that 48 or more than 80 minutes a week are likely to reduce your player's GS. These aren't exact #s, go to the forums and ask around. If I get 55 to 65 minutes per week I consider that optimal.
Enthusiasm= Manage your enthusiasm. I saw a guy play Crunch Time perhaps 5 games in a row, this is bad, very bad. Read about Enthusiasm in the rules, it is important. If you know you are going to lose, or you are much better than your opponent, play Take It Easy, stock up Enth whenever possible. Don't CT when you know you are going to lose just because you 'might get lucky". It's a marathon, not a sprint. Read about Enthusiasm.
Finances. The most important aspect of BB is the financial management of your team. If this concept turns you off then you probably aren't going to be moving up to higher divisions, just that simple. Build your arena, and monitor your ticket sales. You should be tweaking your ticket prices every chance you get (only 3 times a season) to maximize profits. Don't be lazy on this part, money is how you buy and pay salary of better players, squeeze every dollar. If you are selling out everytime a certain section of your arena raise the price of that section, or if you are well below max in sections lower the price. The optimum is to sell almost every seat in each section, this way you know you aren't underpriced. Read the forums. Don't keep too many players on your roster. Keep only the players you use every week. I see teams with guys on their roster who haven't played in months. Why? You are paying their salary every week, no matter how small. Get rid of them. If you need a crappy player down the road you can buy one cheap, stop storing guys just in case, it is wasting money. At this level you should be earning money every week, if you are operating in the red in D IV something is wrong. I promoted this season and was still making about 65k per week profit, so don't claim you were making a run. If you get to D III broke and with barely enough talent to get out of IV, you are coming right back here after a beatdown in III.
Players. I see a lot of managers try for the get rich quick approach by buying cheaper old men with decent skills. Don't stock your roster with old guys. Their value drops, their skills drop, and they have virtually no resale value (why do you think you got them so cheap?) I look at players as assets, monetary assets. The value of my club is not only the cash I have, but also the resale value of my players. These two combined create a total team worth, which you want to increase overall as time goes by, not decrease. Sure you can fill your roster with a bunch of 30+ players for cheap, but in a season or two they will have dropped skills, your team will be getting worse not better, and you cant raise money to replace them because now they are so old no one wants them, or not for nearly what you paid. You start the season with your team being [X]skilled. Through training, Enthusiasm, Game shape your team should be better at the end of the season, not worse.
Last edited by buzzerbeatme at 09/15/2013 21:30:18