copied from Gurus sticky, reworked by TheFreakinStud


First Steps

Sponsors

Get a sponsor - You can do so by clicking on Club > Economy > Sponsors. Pick whichever one you like. If you feel that you will win all of your matches, go for the sponsor with the highest Winning Bonus. If not, go with the sponsor with the highest Weekly Bonus. Also, after each game you are able to earn Match Day Sponsor Bonuses - You can do so by clicking on each of the three boxes and choosing an advertisement. This is a great way to earn a little more income, as money is hard to come by at the beginning of the game.

You can change your sponsor at the end of the season, so do not worry if you feel you have chosen the wrong sponsor.

A breakdown of sponsor income per level can be found here:
http://peters-webcorner.de/giwiki/index.php/Available_sponsors

Friendlies

New/Current Users can post a request for a friendly by using the ads-section (left menu) or by looking into the "mentor sticky" in rookie forum here:

http://www.grid-iron.org/index.php?page=community&subpage=viewt&t=3093

Friendlies are played on Monday, and at different times depending on the location of the home stadium. You must have one scheduled prior to Monday 0:00:00 GI server time to play on that Monday, otherwise the game will be scheduled for the following week.

A friendly enables you to gain valuable experience for your players, as well as aiding your tactical awareness of the game itself - No matter how much you know about football, it will only help you a little here. Another reason to play friendlies is that it is a very large source of income for newer teams. Friendlies have been known to bring in well over $125k when you play at mid-size stadiums, compare that to the $20k new teams bring in for league games, and you can see the importance of scheduling every week.

In due course, we would like to have a forum based on just friendlies, cups etc. Hopefully this will be implemented by the beginning of next season.

Also, there are many "Friendly Cups". The reason for a Friendly Cup? It enables you to have a set friendly for a set amount of weeks. Also, for fun, ofcourse. However, please remember that these are informal Cups. Therefore, you will receive nothing except for respect from your peers. You can find these Cups on the Discussion-Forum.

Stadium

For your first step into the Grid-Iron world, I would recommend upgrading your stadium, just not the stand with 1000 seats already - Doing the latter would mean that you would have no income from tickets for the next couple of weeks. Pricing for seats can be found in the FAQs. The best investment is to put your money in VIP seating.

Tactics Page

By clicking on the Club and then Matches tab, you will be shown a list of matches. To the right of each fixture there is a small circle. By clicking on this circle, you will be able to setup your line-up. If the circle is indicated with a green color, it means that you have already submitted fixtures for this match. It does NOT indicate whether your lineup is illegal or not though.

Tactics/Formation

Secondly, set your tactics for your next game. If your formation appears to be illegal, it is due to one of the following:

1. You have sold a player, which was due to participate in your formation, before a match has commenced.

2. You have used the same position twice.

3. You have used the same player twice.

4. You have used an injured player.

5. You have a setup of player positions that is not allowed (i.e. Setting a formation with 5 WR would result in an illegal formation).

Please note: You will have noticed that the circle next to your fixtured match will turn green when you have set a formation. However, it will not turn Red when you have set an illegal formation.

Staying on the topic of formations, I would like to add that you are able to play a player on both sides of the field: Offence and Defense, and there is an additional page for special teams. However, it will come at a price - As this game is still in it's Beta phase, we are unable to produce numerical values, which state the difference, yet, we believe that a player will perform at a lower standard for both positions than if he played just one.

Suggestions

If you think there is something that needs changing in the game, please check our Suggestions Forum. There are already a number of outstanding issues that the admins are working on, but if after reading through those you still feel that there is something needing to be addressed please feel free to add your suggestions there. Remember please read the Denied Suggestions List and the Approved Suggestions List first.

FAQ

Construction costs

Upgrades to the differing buildings are as follows:

Club Shop

350,000 initial cost 50,000 per upgrade 4 upgrades

Fitness Center

200,000 initial cost 75,000 per upgrade 2 upgrades

Training Hall

975,000 initial cost 400,000 per upgrade 4 upgrades

Youth Academy

620,000 initial cost 250,000 per upgrade 3 upgrades


Coaches

Coaches have a set of five skills ranked from 1 to 20. Each skill corresponds with a specific type of training. When hiring a new coach it is important to note that you need to have 10 weeks worth of salary in reserve as well as the signing bonus in order to purchase said coach. This money is not spent but rather used as a deterrent to making yourself go bankrupt.

Injuries/Training

Injuries are only caused by training - Players cannot be injured from matches. To decrease your players chance of injury, you can reduce your Training Intensity to either "Low" or "Very Low". However, "Average" is seemingly the most common Intensity level.

Also, a players Energy/Fitness levels are only affected by training.

TAKE NOTE: TRAINING ON ANY SETTING ABOVE AVERAGE WILL RESULT IN AN ENERGY PERCENTAGE LOSS. ENERGY LEVELS BELOW 90% WILL REDUCE A PLAYER’S ABILITY DURING THE GAME NOTICEABLY.

Stamina

Stamina does not aid a players training. However, it is believed that Stamina enables a player to play better in the Fourth Quarter - This is still only an educated guess, and I will update according.

Transfers

The Transfer list can be found through Tools>Search. Please be aware that the Market fluctuates greatly, yet prices are still deemed to be low due to the current skill level of players. If you suspect a suspicious transaction, contact the admin by using the Contact Us link found via the Home or Help/FAQ page. Be sure to select Cheat Reports at the top of the box.

Changing Stadium Name/Colour Scheme of Team/Team Name

Select the Club tab at the top. Then click Settings on the left menu. The team name may only be changed during the offseason. The stadium name and colour scheme can me changed at any time.

Form Column on League Page/Arrow Next to Team Name

Green represents a Win. Red represents a Loss. This is just a visual way to view a team's current success/decline in the past eight League matches. The more green boxes you have, the higher the likelihood of bringing more patrons into your stadium on game days.

The arrow located next to some of the teams in the league table indicates whether or not that team has moved in the rankings. The up arrows are green, the down arrows are red. If the team has not changed positions, the arrow will be pointing to the left and be gray. I.e. If the team in second place has a down arrow to the left of their name, they lowered in the rankings since last week.

Positional Rating (BPOS)

This is based on matches played. Basically, the more matches a player plays at his position, the higher his Positional Rating will be. Positional rating greatly influences a player’s on-field performance. It increases with a calculated random factor, which means that as long as player keeps playing, it will go up, but sometimes it may take 3 games to increase a half star, while other times it may take 10 or more games. The talent of a player also influences the rate at which the player increases BPOS. A higher talented player will have a higher likelihood of increasing his BPOS over a lower talented player.

Natural Position

The Natural Position of a player is generated randomly. Basically, you could have a player with extremely high Catching, yet his Natural Position could be Offensive Lineman. The decision as to where you position your players is up to you. Some people like to stick to Natural Positions. However, other people like to position players based on their skills since for newer teams the rate at which skills increase is much, much slower than the rate at which BPOS changes.

If you do decide to position players based on their skills, you must take note that it will take a number of games for that player to change his Natural Position (BPOS).

For example: Simon Dooley has great catching ability, is agile and has great speed, strength and carrying - He looks like a great Wide Receiver. However, his Natural Position is Offensive Lineman. Simon's Positional Rating at Offensive Lineman is Two Stars. You, the coach, decides to play Simon as Wide Receiver - Because the player has Two Stars at Offensive Lineman, Simon will not have a Natural Position as Wide Receiver until he receives Two Stars or more at this position.

Talent

Talent does not just affect the maximum skill levels that a player can reach. It also restricts a players positional rating. The following table shows this:

Talent (stars)----MAX BPOS(1-20)-----MAX BPOS (stars)
-----0.5-------------------11-----------------3----
------1--------------------12-----------------3----
-----1.5-------------------13----------------3.5---
------2--------------------14----------------3.5---
-----2.5-------------------15-----------------4----
------3--------------------16-----------------4----
-----3.5-------------------17----------------4.5---
------4--------------------18----------------4.5---
-----4.5-------------------19-----------------5-----
------5--------------------20-----------------5----

Skills

Which skills matter more than others is still to be seen, but this is my view on the order to train your players at the given position:

Intelligence is a bonus for every position, but not mandatory. However, I will state where Intelligence is key.

Strength and Speed is neccessary for all positions, however, some more so than others in certain positions. There is a growing sentiment among managers that speed does not play as large of a role as strength does because in order to score and tackle you must have strength. We are still lacking conclusive, public, evidence for either side at the moment though.

Stamina is thought to be needed everywhere, and its effect on a players performance seems to be huge. Therefore, I will not add this to the skills needed.

Tactical skills such as Positioning and Vision are neccessary for every position. However, some more so than others, therefore, I will add it to the list when I feel it is important enough. To prevent this from becoming an, “All skills are important list”, I will limit it to a maximum of 3 primary skills and 3 secondary skills. Footwork versus Agility and Positioning versus Vision are hotly debated topics currently around GI. The two following threads both make good points for the important of both. I suggest you view them and do your best at interpreting, perhaps you can see it from an angle we’ve missed.
Footwork/Agility: http://www.grid-iron.org/index.php?page=community&subpage=viewt&t=3511
Positioning/Vision: http://www.grid-iron.org/index.php?page=community&subpage=viewt&t=6791


Offense:

QB:
Primary: Passing. Vision. Intelligence.
Secondary: Footwork. Agility. Strength.


WR:
Primary: Catching. Strength. Agility.
Secondary: Speed. Vision. Footwork.

RB:
Primary: Carrying. Agility. Blocking.
Secondary: Strength. Footwork. Speed.

FB:
Primary: Blocking. Strength. Carrying.
Secondary: Speed. Footwork. Agility.

TE:
Primary: Blocking. Catching. Strength.
Secondary: Footwork. Agility. Speed.

OL:
Primary: Blocking. Strength. Vision.
Secondary: Footwork. Agility. Speed.

Defense:

FS:
Primary: Tackling. Intelligence. Speed.
Secondary: Strength. Agility. Vision.

SS:
Primary: Tackling. Intelligence. Strength.
Secondary: Agility. Speed. Vision.

CB:
Primary: Speed. Positioning. Tackling.
Secondary: Vision. Agility. Footwork.

LB:
Primary: Intelligence. Tackling. Strength.
Secondary: Speed. Agility. Footwork.

DT/NT:
Primary: Tackling. Strength. Agility.
Secondary: Footwork. Positioning. Vision.

DE:
Primary: Tackling. Strength. Speed.
Secondary: Agility. Footwork. Positioning.

Special teams:

K/P:
Primary: Kicking. Punting.
Secondary: None for the time being.

KR:
Primary: Carrying. Agility.
Secondary: Speed. Strength.

G:
Primary: Tackling. Strength.
Secondary: Speed. Footwork. Agility.

STCB:
Primary: Blocking. Footwork.
Secondary: Strength. Speed.

A more in depth look at some theories on stats and their value for positions can be found at:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pfypTLUr0jngPereERVndJA

Player Evaluation

If you have a question about where your player should play or anything of that sort please check the stickies in the Rookies and Grid-Iron Discussion Forums.

Special Thanks

Koltrain, Shaftdiggity and Will for their Positional Skill threads - Both present and past users, respectively.

started by Guru.


moved to new sticky by Peter, because Gurus team could become a bot and I am not sure what happens with these stickies then...
Last edited on 2010-05-01 at 18:41

Here is an advice given by one of the most successful managers of the north american region: TwoPint (Minnesota XTreme)

Whats you favorite Formation/tactical advice for a beginner like me?

That's actually a fairly deep question...or at least, the answer is. I don't think there is one "right" formation. You're not going to kill your team if you run a wishbone attacking the outsides instead of an I-formation going up the middle. It depends on a couple things.

Use a formation that highlights your strengths. Do you have three awesome linebackers? Then don't run a 5-2. Use your best players. Seems obvious, but...ya know. Is one of your tight ends a good blocker, but his catching sucks right now? Throw away from him with your better TE and a good WR on that side.

Right now, as far as I'm concerned, it's inconclusive whether an extra CB will help in pass protection. I've done it, but I couldn't tell if any perceived positives were from the extra CB or just who I was playing. Same thing with extra WRs on the same side.

I can't give a much better answer than that because, while I feel that it's something that is important, I believe it only has a big effect against teams with similar talent levels. So...it's hard to say much absolutely.

I'd find a base formation that you like and then do something a little different each game to see if you notice any differences. Also...run against bots and pass against humans. Someday, running against humans will be a viable option again, but it involves a lot more skills from what I see.

Hope that helps.

jespernohr wrote: Inspired by the various different guides that I have read by managers I respect and all the information I have gathered through my time in this game I decided to create a small guide about how I choose my players and train them. The guide will contain some facts, but also my assumptions on what skills are needed for the different position. I hope this guide can be useful for new and old player alike and this first part will be about the players, as that is what I fid the most interesting thing in game right now. Players One of the most important things in how I develop my team is to determine a players physical abilities in Speed and Strength, before deciding what position I will develop them to play. Quarterback One of the most important players on the offensive side of the ball. The captain and brain of the offense, so it is important to be guaranteed a solid and stable performance by him. The skill training is focused around the Passing and Vision skills, and eventually also the Agility to counter sacks. After those skills are trained to the level needed I would probably train the Strength, Stamina and Speed. Requirements: Talent 4.5+ Intelligence 18+ Consistency 18+ Training: Passing Vision Agility Runningback Since this game revolves around the passing game the runningback is not a very important position, so my main focus is to get his Blocking up in hopes that he helps in pass protection, but this is unknown if it actually happens. Afterwards it is all about the runningback skills and Stamina. Requirements: Talent 3.5+ Speed 16+ Strength 16+ Training: Blocking Carrying Agility Stamina Tight End One of the star player positions in Grid-Iron and therefore a very important player. A very good tight end can be unstoppable for many defenses and can together with the quarterback win games. Speed and Strength are important to get as high as possible before starting to train the other skills such as Catching and Agility. Requirements: Talent 3.5+ Speed 16+ Strength 16+ Consistency 10+ Training: Catching Agility Stamina Wide Receiver Another important player, since it is also involved in the passing game. Despite the strong consensus about the importance of Strength then I value Speed higher than Strength on my receivers. This might be a mistake, but I like to believe that there is a tiny bit, however small, logic in the game engine. Important skills to develop after the physicals have been maximized are Catching and Agility. Requirements: Talent 3.5+ Speed 18+ Strength 12+ Consistency 10+ Training: Catching Agility Stamina Offensive Linemen The offensive linemen seems to make a bigger impact on run plays than on passing plays, but they are still important players to protect the quarterback to avoid sacks. The two most important players are the two tackles, which have to go against the defensive end and avoid giving up sacks. The interior linemen, the center and the two guards, are still important to counter the occasional linebacker blitz. Strength is very important skill and should be trained as high as possible. A bit of Speed on the tackles is advisable as well. Requirements: Talent 3.5+ Strength 16+ Consistency 10+ Training: Blocking Footwork Agility Stamina Defensive Tackle The primary run stoppers and therefore they are not that important in this pass heavy game. High Strength is a must and that is pretty much it for this position. The training should focus around Tackling, Footwork and Agility. Requirements: Talent 3.5+ Strength 16+ Training: Tackling Footwork Agility Stamina Defensive End The important player on the defensive line, since it the player that get the most important attempt in sacking the quarterback. High Speed and Strength are very important before training the positional skills such as Tackling, Agility and Footwork. Requirements: Talent 3.5+ Speed 16+ Strength 16+ Consistency 10+ Training: Tackling Agility Footwork Stamina Middle Linebacker The captain of the defense that have the ability to change and adapt the defensive play calling to match the offensive play calling. It is therefore very important to have high Intelligence, so that the player can recognize the offensive play, along with high Consistency, so that the player always performs at a high level. High Speed and Strength are also important for this position, since he will to stop runs, blitz and defend pass plays. The training of a monster at this position takes time, since the high amount of skills required developed before he reaches his full potential, but it is well worth the wait I think, since the majority of the missed tackles defense suffers on pass plays goes through the middle linebacker. Requirements: Talent 4.5+ Intelligence 18+ Speed 16+ Strength 16+ Consistency 18+ Training: Tackling Positioning Vision Agility Stamina Outside Linebacker The player that often will go against the offensive beast called the tight end, so it is important to have a strong and fast player at this position. Again it requires quite a few skills to develop before they shine, but eventually they will be able to limit the offensive player a bit. Requirements: Talent 3.5+ Speed 16+ Strength 16+ Consistency 10+ Training: Tackling Agility Positioning Vision Stamina Cornerback The player going head to head with the receivers, so it is needed to have good Speed to play this position. A bit of Strength never hurt anybody. Personally I like a fairly high Consistency, so I can depend on the player match after match. This is going to sound like a broken record, but again this position also need quite a few skills developed to stop the offensive players. Requirements: Talent 3.5+ Speed 18+ Strength 12+ Consistency 16+ Training: Tackling Agility Positioning Vision Stamina Safety Some managers call this player the last line of defense and in the real world that is indeed the case, as for Grid-Iron they are just another player that needs to be able to stop the offensive player and don’t miss tackles. Intelligence is important for the position as stated by the Game Developers, but what effect it has it unknown. The Safety position will face both Tight Ends and Wide Receivers, so they will need to be fast and strong to counter the offensive players’ abilities. Requirements: Talent 3.5+ Intelligence 16+ Speed 16+ Strength 16+ Consistency 10+ Training: Tackling Positioning Vision Agility Stamina Kicker The depth of the kicking system in Grid-Iron is currently very limited, so the only skills needed are Kicking and Punting to perform well. Personally I like high Consistency so I can depend on the player’s performance on both punting, kick-offs and field goal attempts. Once I have the level I want in Kicking and Punting I will probably train Strength, since it makes sense in the real world, but it doesn’t have any effect in this game according to the Game Developers. Requirements: Talent 3.5+ Consistency 18+ Training: Kicking Punting Strength Gunner The position that needs to limit the return yards of the return team and win the fight for field position. It is not a position I find particular important, so I will have a decent player playing or use it to get Team Chemistry for youth players. Speed is the only logical skill needed before training the positional skills. Requirements: Talent 3.5+ Speed 16+ Training: Tackling Agility Positioning Vision Special Team Cornerback This is the counter position of the Gunner and should help the return team gain more yards, but I really don’t use the position for this. I use this position to train new Cornerbacks in positional rating, so they can get to the first team faster. I guess one of the important skills for this position is Blocking, but I am not training it. I will train the player playing at this position like a normal cornerback. Requirements: Talent 3.5+ Speed 18+ Strength 12+ Consistency 16+ Training: Tackling Agility Positioning Vision Stamina Kick Returner The return man that is supposed to gain the yards on the returns and most importantly avoid fumbling the return. Speed is one of the requirements for my players at this position before training the positional skills. Requirements: Talent 3.5+ Speed 16+ Training: Carrying Agility Catching I hope people can use this information to be inspired to find the way they want to develop their players and team in their very own way. Remember that this post is my opinion and only certain information in it is confirmed by the Game Developers. The rest is based on my assumptions and thoughts developed through debate on the forum.