Franchise Basketball Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Game Play

1. Right now my stars are only playing around 25 minutes. Is there anyway to say I want them playing more time than that?
2. Does the game recheck starter fatigue when replacing a sub or does it go to the next sub?
3. How much does the number of active players effect playing time for starters?
4. What time are games played?
5. Is there a hidden part to the game that gives subscribers a little bit of an extra kick?
6. Is there a table with all the set plays, offense and defense, and how well each offensive set matched up with each defensive set and vice versa?
7. How do I play games?

Players

1. The game tells you how much a player will want for a one season salary, if I want to offer a multi-season deal, how much additional should I offer him?
2. I have a full roster (of 16 guys). What will happen when players are drafted?
3. Do players improve every season? Say if we don't train our players?
4. Are there some players who are high in every attribute, but you train them everyday and they only improve half a ball or no improvement at all?
5. Does playing a younger player help him develop faster?
6. Will players with 0 years left on their contract resign up to the season roll-over, or is there a deadline before the rollover, where players on 0 year contracts will no longer renegotiate?
7. I plan on keeping are several players who have 0 years on their contract, do I need to sign them before I draft or will they still be on my roster after I draft?
8. Can a player that is Average (High) ever become Above Average (Low)(Mid)or (High)?
9. If a player is on holdout and gets traded while being a holdout will he renegotiate his deal with his new team?
10. Why is it that some free agents sign right away, but some free agents take 2,3,4,5 days to decide?
11. If I have a player on my DL at the end of the season and he is released will I still be liable for the remaining seasons on his contract after his release?
12. Can a 25 year old player with Below Average (Mid), lose vitals during the offseason?

User Interface / Login / Displays

1. Every now and then the screen comes up without the menu bar on the left side (News, Frontpage, locker room, bench, ETC...) What is happening? Why is that?
2. When I try to login, I don't get an error message and the game returns me to the login page. What is the problem?
3. When I try to accept a trade, I am booted back to the main news screen and a second menu appears in the main frame of the game. I also get the "you have trades" popup again. What is happening?
4. I tried to make my uniform but it wont show up its just a black box. Why?
5. How does the GNN-Galaxy Gazette Coaches Poll work? and what does it achieve?
6. Why does the secondary offense only go up to 30%?
7. Is the price of scouting the same for every game?
8. How come the team's salary always drops after the team switches from a live coach to a computer coach?

Coaches and Trainers

1. Does a coach improve over time, in basketballs or in off/def plays he can run?
2. If your team is not playing anymore in the playoffs, do you have to still pay for a trainer or coach?
3. Do more coaches and trainers become available at the end/start of a season?

Subscriptions

1. How do you re-subscribe?
2. If I re-subscribe before my subscription is over do I lose all those days until the end of the first subscription?
3. If your subscribed and you buy a new contract mid-season do you get that contract for 1 1/2 seasons? Or more?
4. If you have a subscribed team in one league can you have any unsubscribed teams in other leagues? If so what is the limit?

Game Play

Right now my stars are only playing around 25 minutes. Is there anyway to say I want them playing more time than that?

Yes.

1. Offense & Defense Style... passive will give you the most minutes (but at a cost), aggressive the least and normal somewhere in between.

2. Offense & Defense Sets... The Help file gives a Game Pace rating to each set choice (High, Moderate, Low). If you want more out of your players you could play lower paced sets like zones, Post Offenses or Spread.

3. Fatigue Vital... training it will always give you more minutes.

4. Coaches Motivation Vital... this directly impacts how long your players will stay on court. If your coach has a red vital here then 25 mins might be all you can ever get. Changing coaches might be in order.

Does the game recheck starter fatigue when replacing a sub or does it go to the next sub?

Starters are continually checked while on the bench. When a starter is rested. He will go back in to replace a sub, even if the sub is not fatigued yet.

How much does the number of active players effect playing time for starters?

It really shouldn't impact it too much. If you have four subs for your center it is unlikely that the 4th will even get into the game. The third will probably see limited duty, too. The only way you are going to see an impact is adding to starter minutes, not taking away. By that, I mean, if you have one Center who is starting and must stay in the game because his subs are either not rested or he doesn't have subs, then, he is going to get more minutes. Those minutes will be less effective as fatigue takes over.

What time are games played?

That is a question that a number of people have asked. We don't like to give out the exact time for the precise reason most people ask. Right after games are played everyone feels the need to login to the system and start playing. While we appreciate their zeal for the games, it does produce excessive server loads and we try to avoid that since the state of the game doesn't change for 24 hours. I can say that it is sometime in the overnight hours Eastern US time. That also changes a little with daylight savings.

Is there a hidden part to the game that gives subscribers a little bit of an extra kick?

There are many obvious advantages to being a subscriber (as listed in help). There is not, however, anything coded into games that gives subscribers an on court advantage beyond what the players can do.

Is there a table with all the set plays, offense and defense, and how well each offensive set matched up with each defensive set and vice versa?

How do I play games?

Games are not played by owners. Games are scheduled and played unattended each night (during the regular season). The results of the games will be posted after they are done playing.

Players

The game tells you how much a player will want for a one season salary, if I want to offer a multi-season deal, how much additional should I offer him?

That varies. I would say as a rough estimate, probably 15-25% for each year over 1. So, a four year deal for a guy asking for $1 Million per season might be something like $3-$5 million for four years.

I have a full roster (of 16 guys). What will happen when players are drafted?

Draft players are simply added to your roster. So, you will have 18 after the draft. The draft does not release anyone and still puts your picks on your team.

Do players improve every season? Say if we don't train our players?

Although some provisions have been made to slightly improve players in many cases, there is no guarantee that a player will improve every season. There is also no assurance that you will see the improvements when they happen, either. Remember that player's attributes are on a 100 point scale, with each half ball of skill representing 10 points. If a player goes up 2 points in a skill, it is likely that you won't see that in terms of a half ball of skill. In addition, the employment of a trainer also helps with end of season increases in some skills.

Are there some players who are high in every attribute, but you train them everyday and they only improve half a ball or no improvement at all?

This actually may describe all players. Remember that success rates go down as a player's skill in an attribute goes up. So, when you get to a 4.5 shooting ball player, he probably will only go up 2 or 3 points every 10-15 times he is trained. Plus, there is a cap on how much a player can be trained in a particular skill (potential). So, you may hit that cap.

Does playing a younger player help him develop faster?

Yes. One of the factors in automatic off-season improvement in players is their playing time. You probably don't want to sacrifice your whole season to get a guy some extra minutes, though. Off-season increases are modest even with tons of playing time. Players improve over many seasons, not just one or two huge leaps at the end of a season.

Will players with 0 years left on their contract resign up to the season roll-over, or is there a deadline before the rollover, where players on 0 year contracts will no longer renegotiate?

Players will negotiate with teams up until the time when they leave the team. That is the same night that player stats are zeroed out after a season.

I plan on keeping are several players who have 0 years on their contract, do I need to sign them before I draft or will they still be on my roster after I draft?

The draft happens after players retire and otherwise leave your team. You need to sign all players you want to keep before the draft.

Can a player that is Average (High) ever become Above Average (Low)(Mid)or (High)?

A player's Potential cannot change, so, the Average part of a player's rating can't change. The Low, Mid and High parts can change with a new season or training.

If a player is on holdout and gets traded while being a holdout will he renegotiate his deal with his new team?

Yes. A player who is a holdout will always renegotiate until he is no longer a holdout. This does not depend on what team he is playing for or if he is traded. It should be noted that a holdout who is traded will still be a holdout on the other team.

Why is it that some free agents sign right away, but some free agents take 2,3,4,5 days to decide?

If the player has been released from a team there is a 3 day waiver period before he can be signed, likewise if new players get put onto the FA list. Unfortunately, they cannot be signed earlier. It gives everyone a chance to see and offer them a contract. Additionally, waivers are reset at the start of a new season for the same reason, to give all interested parties time to look over and offer players a contract.

If I have a player on my DL at the end of the season and he is released will I still be liable for the remaining seasons on his contract after his release?

No. You are currently not responsible for a player released from your DL at the end of the season by the computer.

Can a 25 year old player with Below Average (Mid), lose vitals during the offseason?

Really any player can lose skill in the off-season. It is more likely for a Below Average player to do so, though.

User Interface / Login / Displays

Every now and then the screen comes up without the menu bar on the left side (News, Frontpage, locker room, bench, ETC...) What is happening? Why is that?

We have tracked this down to what seems to be some sort of problem with Internet Explorer. For some reason, every once in a while, the frames don't show correctly. Some users have said that closing all instances of IE and reopening solves the problem.

When I try to login, I don't get an error message and the game returns me to the login page. What is the problem?

It seems as though there is an obscure problem with the site and Internet Explorer. For no apparent reason, users cannot login to their team(s). This is a very infrequent situation. We have yet to discover a work around. It seems as though waiting a few days clears up the problem. The Firefox web browser does not have this issue. You can download a copy of Firefox from www.mozilla.org. Using a different computer should also work. The problem is typically isolated to one specific system.

When I try to accept a trade, I am booted back to the main news screen and a second menu appears in the main frame of the game. I also get the "you have trades" popup again. What is happening?

Usernames are case sensitive. This problem will occur if you do not have the capitalization for your username correct. For example, if you signup for a team and use the username "Simgalaxy" with a capital "S", then login to your team and type "simgalaxy". If you logout of your account, then log back in with the correct capitalization, this should fix the problem. You can always retrieve your username and password (with the correct capitalization) by using the "forgot username and password" link from the login screen.

I tried to make my uniform but it wont show up its just a black box. Why?

The uniforms are created and displayed using non-standard HTML tags that are only provided with certain browsers (one of which is IE 5 and above). The reason for this is that is the only way we are able to display your team's colors and style of jersey without keeping an actual graphic of all possible color combos on the server (that would be over 50,000 combinations). When jerseys are viewed in one of the browsers that does not support those tags, the jerseys show as black boxes.

How does the GNN-Galaxy Gazette Coaches Poll work? and what does it achieve?

The poll is just like the top 25 poll in NCAA basketball. Each coach gets a ballot once per week. They can fill out the ballot with the top 10 teams (as they feel they should be ordered). At the end of that week, the system tallies all the votes and publishes a top 10 list. Only teams with winning records (.500 and above) will appear as selections in the poll. Really all the poll achieves is a league wide opinion of who are the best teams. We have found that often it is a subject of debate in the message boards.

Why does the secondary offense only go up to 30%?

This is to insure that teams do not go over 100%. The primary can go up to 70%, the secondary can go to 30%. The tertiary is whatever is left over, but cannot be less than 0%. If you want to run one 50% of the time and another 50% of the time, you can set the primary to be 50% and then set the secondary to be 30% while setting the tertiary to the same thing as the secondary. It will then come out to be 20%.

Is the price of scouting the same for every game?

No. The price of scouting depends on the economic status of the team that is scouting the game, so, the price may increase as your team becomes more successful.

How come the team's salary always drops after the team switches from a live coach to a computer coach?

The game does try to play inactive teams to a certain extent. This includes renegotiating contracts, adding players and revamping lineups. These can easily lead to salary and roster changes when teams are removed.

Coaches and Trainers

Does a coach improve over time, in basketballs or in off/def plays he can run?

No. As of right now, coaches are static. You get what you see. While on your team (or in the league in general) the coach will offer what you see.

If your team is not playing anymore in the playoffs, do you have to still pay for a trainer or coach?

Yes. Teams do have the option to release their trainer and/or coach at the end of their season so as not to incur that expense. Trainers do, however, add to your team's off-season increases in talent. Both are in short supply as well.

Do more coaches and trainers become available at the end/start of a season?

Each league has a set number of coaches and trainers. At the end of each season some retire and quit their current teams. Retiring Coaches and trainers are replaced in the pool. So, yes, more may become available, but, that depends on retirements.

Subscriptions

How do you re-subscribe?

Re-subscribing is done the exact same way as when you initially subscribed. You can click on any of the game links to subscribe (the most common would be the yellow buttons under the main menu in all games). Select the duration of the subscription, the tender and input each username you wish to subscribe under the correct game.

If I re-subscribe before my subscription is over do I lose all those days until the end of the first subscription?

No. Re-Subscriptions may be done at any time. They are just added to the end of your current subscription, so, if you expire in season 2005, day 4, and it is 2003 day 34 when you re-subscribe for 4 seasons, your subscription will automatically be changed to expire in season 2009, day 4.

If your subscribed and you buy a new contract mid-season do you get that contract for 1 1/2 seasons? Or more?

All concession and merchandise contracts expire at the start of a season, so, those purchased mid-season last until the end of that season (for non-subscribed teams) or to the end of the next season (subscribed teams) so, it would be 1 ½ seasons. Although you won't get as much return on your investment over the 1 ½ seasons as opposed to 2 full seasons, your return will still greatly surpass what you invested in the concession or merchandise.

If you have a subscribed team in one league can you have any unsubscribed teams in other leagues? If so what is the limit?

The simgalaxy site depends on the support of owners to keep the site running. Owners who have one or more subscribed teams may have one non-subscribed team (per sport), however, the duration which you may keep the non-subscribed team is still governed by the site trial period and other factors such as which league (some leagues will have a shorter trial period). This trial period is essentially for the owner to play the team and see if they like the league, the team, etc. If you wish to keep the team, you must subscribe it eventually as well. If you would like to obtain and subscribe multiple new teams, please email support and we can work something out.