The next-gen BuzzerBeater is ALMOST here

Hi everyone!

We're excited to announce the new, next-gen BuzzerBeater Websites and Apps!

For the last couple of years we've been working hard to lay the foundation for BB to be ready to be the next-gen Basketball Manager. We couldn't have done ANY of what we have done without such a dedicated user base, who, in the last months, helped us improve the game further by providing feedback (even mockups for the new interface!).

When is it gonna happen?

We feel ready, the last issues have been ironed out and the season is about to end, this is the perfect time to migrate to the website we built together. The site will be brought offline on 10 November at 11:00 AM (Europe/Rome), which is 10:00 UTC, and we will migrate the remaining pieces of data during that downtime, whilst trying to be as fast as possible.

Why did it take so long?

The game reached the point where the technical debt was too high, so we had to start from scratch, and we chose a scalable, modern, parallelized infrastructure. Everything runs on multiple servers, load is distributed among them and if something fails, there are way less chances to bring everything down.

What's next?

We are confident that we will be able to return BuzzerBeater to its prime again. The peak of users was reached in 2011, 75k users to be precise, we are aiming at that, and beyond.

We trust the vision we have for BB, and will continuously develop that vision with every BB user in mind. Our new website community threads, both the improved forums and the new live chat that is within the website will help everyone feel more connected and involved, if they wish to.

We expect the migration to the new website to be smooth. However, we are available and fully prepared to be at your service. In case you've found a bug, Forums, live chat, discord, you can let us know anywhere you want and we will fix it as quickly as possible. After the release, we will keep on improving the game constantly.

A surprise for the Veterans

We know a lot of you will be disoriented by such a drastic changes and have not had the time or the chance to try the beta, that's why we built Legacy BuzzerBeater.

This version was built under the same technology stack we are currently using, but with a skin on top of it that resembles the old website.

A few things we changed for the new season

Starting Bonus

New clubs get $500K instead of $300K.

Team chemistry

Chemistry shows how settled a player is at your club. Every player has their own chemistry, from 0% to 100%.

How it grows

When you sign a player through a transfer, they start at 0%. The longer they stay with you, the higher it goes, until it reaches 100% after one full season. It grows steadily, so a player is at about 50% halfway through the season.

If the player is sold to another club, their chemistry with that club starts again from 0%.

Players who have been with your club from the start don't need to build it. Draft picks, your founding squad and players who came with your club when you took it over are already at 100%.

What it does

A player with full chemistry plays a little better as a team-mate. Their passing, ball handling, outside defense and inside defense get a bonus of up to 5%. A new arrival gets no bonus yet, and the bonus grows as their chemistry does. Their other skills aren't affected.

Things to know

• Only you can see your players' chemistry, along with the days left until it's full. Other managers can't see it.
• It doesn't apply in national-team games. Those squads come from many clubs, so every player starts equal.
• The bonus is small, so don't turn down a good signing because of it. Keep in mind that a star you buy at the last minute won't play at their best right away.
• Moving players in and out all the time stops them from building chemistry. A stable roster gets the full bonus.

MVP vote

The league MVP is now chosen by the managers of the league. Once the regular season ends, every club casts one ballot.

How it works

• The players standing are the 15 best of the league's regular season who played at least 12 games. During the season, a live MVP race shows who is ahead after every game.
• Pick up to three players, first choice first. Your first choice gets 6 points, your second 4 and your third 3.
• You can't vote for your own players, and you can change your ballot as long as the vote is open.
• Clubs that don't vote get a ballot cast by a judge, so every league still names its MVP.
• The MVP's club gets a trophy, its manager an achievement, and the top vote-getters are recorded in the league history.

Daylight saving time

The game does not follow daylight saving time (DST) anymore. Game times no longer change when the clocks change.

Marco, Alessandro, Jack, Mattia @ Spicy Sparks