Longtime HD/GD player, looking to get into HBD. This game is pretty overwhelming, but I'm going through the help guides and watching some Youtube content to get up to speed. Any advice on good content to get a handle on evaluating teams and players and setting the initial budget to get off on the right foot would be much appreciated.

One of my biggest questions is on finding a league and team that are appropriate for a new player. What would you look for in a league as a new player? And what are some good perspectives on a evaluating a team to take on as a first try in this game?

Great questions and welcome aboard!

Google search the forums is the best resource that I've found. For instance: arbitration site:whatifsports(dot)com/forums
Chances are any question you have has been asked a few times before.

Finding a good league can be a trial and error process. The best leagues are the ones that only have 3 or so owners leave a season and have a diverse list of championship winners. If you see one or two teams winning all the titles (look in the league almanac page) I would avoid that league.

Also, a league is only as good as its commish. Good commish's work on recruiting before the season ends (checking in on who's returning as the regular season winds down, getting ads up in the forums early, working on world swaps, etc). The other big role a commish needs to be good at is squashing any shenanigans (arguments on the world chat that get out of hand, extremely lopsided trades that cause other owners to leave, screening potential owners for suspicious activity/reputation.

As far as finding a team, the best teams to pick up have low payrolls and a at least one or two building block prospects in the minors (if you want to build a team from the ground up). That vast majority of teams that come available are either in their twilight years of contending or just mediocre managed teams that never really managed acquire any good assets and/or overpaid for mediocre guys in FA. That said, it doesn't take too many seasons to get these types of teams into a good rebuilding position as long as you're okay paying $20-25 a season. I wouldn't worry about finding the perfect first team IMO, and rather use your first team to learn the ropes (if you enjoy HBD, you're gonna pick up more teams down the road).

Hope some of this helps!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-3EsombRoDM&t=105s

I created some neutral vids that give folks a barometer of what to expect, but you're right -- there are not many strategy videos out there. Brian is right with his above post regarding Worlds. Hardball is so much different than the other games because all teams are run by a human. I just started playing gridiron and the majority of teams are managed by AI. So, as Brian wrote, choosing a world can be tricky when you're new. I'd use the advice that Brian gave and try to find a World with a long time Commish, a hodgepodge of names on the Championship list and maybe a few owners in the world that are active on the boards.

Also, if you're hanging out before you join a World and you're looking for a perfect world to join, check active Worlds and view the world chat. If there is drama on the world chat and the Commish did not step in to squash it, it might be a good idea to avoid that World.

I'm a commish in Around The Horn. We currently have 5 openings and I'd love to give a new guy a shot so give me a shout if you're interested!

I’m part of Around the Horn and agree it’s a good league.

‘I think it depends on what kind of team you want to adopt. The ideal situation is picking up a low payroll team which has a bunch of elite prospects arriving. However, those are rare situations as most owners wouldn’t give up that kind of team. I like building from the ground up so I look for modest payrolls and high draft picks. However, other owners may not relish the minor league grind and seek an existing playoff hopeful team.

I would be leery of teams with a ton of bad contracts. Along those lines, some new owners (as Brian alluded to) will take over a 70 win team, sign a bunch of mediocre free agents to huge deals, get to 80 wins, realize they have no money left in their next season to improve and bail. Not that you can’t or shouldn’t be a player in the free game market but don’t burn the bridge and leave a mess for someone else to cleanup.

It is intimidating when you are a new owner trying to find a world to join. Many have been sitting for awhile waiting to fill. Joining one where you might be the only new owner is kind of intimidating because I am new. Most private worlds want you to establish a pattern history. That might be hard with so many worlds needing spots and sitting idle for days or weeks. Anyway I am still hunting and searching for a world to join and not feel intimidate :)

Around The Horn is down to 4 openings, and we would gladly take both Phoenix and slayter so neither of you are the only new owner...also, we have recently become public so there are no official private world rules, although we do strongly encourage people to shoot for 50 wins per year.

The NL East team in Rickey which is open would be a good team to get, 7 guys rated 80 or above, and a good minors system.

Posted by tlowster on 2/9/2023 2:59:00 PM (view original):
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-3EsombRoDM&t=105s

I created some neutral vids that give folks a barometer of what to expect, but you're right -- there are not many strategy videos out there. Brian is right with his above post regarding Worlds. Hardball is so much different than the other games because all teams are run by a human. I just started playing gridiron and the majority of teams are managed by AI. So, as Brian wrote, choosing a world can be tricky when you're new. I'd use the advice that Brian gave and try to find a World with a long time Commish, a hodgepodge of names on the Championship list and maybe a few owners in the world that are active on the boards.

Also, if you're hanging out before you join a World and you're looking for a perfect world to join, check active Worlds and view the world chat. If there is drama on the world chat and the Commish did not step in to squash it, it might be a good idea to avoid that World.

Good videos. Were they promoted anywhere else?

Posted by slayterhill on 2/6/2023 11:49:00 AM (view original):
Longtime HD/GD player, looking to get into HBD. This game is pretty overwhelming, but I'm going through the help guides and watching some Youtube content to get up to speed. Any advice on good content to get a handle on evaluating teams and players and setting the initial budget to get off on the right foot would be much appreciated.

One of my biggest questions is on finding a league and team that are appropriate for a new player. What would you look for in a league as a new player? And what are some good perspectives on a evaluating a team to take on as a first try in this game?

If you are on the HD discord feel free to message me any time or send me sitemails. Always a good idea to have a mentor in the game. Best advice I can give is don’t make any trades until you run it by someone who has been playing a while. Preferably someone that isn’t in your world. It can be hard to figure out value in trades and it helps to have an expert eye.

Posted by dschang on 2/14/2023 12:56:00 AM (view original):

Posted by tlowster on 2/9/2023 2:59:00 PM (view original):
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-3EsombRoDM&t=105s

I created some neutral vids that give folks a barometer of what to expect, but you're right -- there are not many strategy videos out there. Brian is right with his above post regarding Worlds. Hardball is so much different than the other games because all teams are run by a human. I just started playing gridiron and the majority of teams are managed by AI. So, as Brian wrote, choosing a world can be tricky when you're new. I'd use the advice that Brian gave and try to find a World with a long time Commish, a hodgepodge of names on the Championship list and maybe a few owners in the world that are active on the boards.

Also, if you're hanging out before you join a World and you're looking for a perfect world to join, check active Worlds and view the world chat. If there is drama on the world chat and the Commish did not step in to squash it, it might be a good idea to avoid that World.

Good videos. Were they promoted anywhere else?

Nope. Just on the WIS channel.