Owner and Franchise Class Levels
Class levels Owners and franchises are continually being observed and assessed. In the Front Office area of your software, plaques are mounted as you and your franchise advance through levels from Tee Ball to Legend. The levels of other owners in your league are shown as part of the Franchise Achievements report. Once an owner reaches a new class level, that level stays with the owner throughout the NB system.
Class level determination criteria
Beneath these levels lies a numeric rating system. Though we don't disclose the formula, there are two point categories, each of which uses a variety of factors to award points:
Achievement Points
Bonus Points
Rights are granted on the basis of Owner Class, not Franchise Class, according to the table below:
As you gain experience and success, you are promoted to new class levels, each of which comes with certain rights. In the descriptions that follow, we'll refer to these rights as "chips." Once earned, these chips belong to you for as long as you keep the franchise and can be "played" to your strategic advantage as you struggle to try to keep your franchise solvent and stay competitive. In the table above, note that some rights can be stockpiled (i.e., accumulated) while others cannot. You can see a list of your currently held rights (chips) as an owner by visiting your Accountant's Ledger.
New Park
The new park chip can either be won in the ball park lottery or obtained by means of a class-level promotion. If you have one of these, you may request a new park by using the Board Room button on your Accountant's Ledger. New park requests can only be filled at certain points in the Nostalgia cycle, so be prepared to wait if you file your request early.
Loan
The loan chip entitles you to request a loan by by using the Board Room button on your Accountant's Ledger. Since the loan chip has been earned, you cannot be turned down. Loan terms are as follows:
Please use discretion when obtaining a loan since it will place upon you a long-term financial strain.
Ticket Price Chips allow you to raise and lower prices at your home park by using the Board Room button on your Accountant's Ledger. Raising and lowering prices has a direct impact on attendance and therewith the gate revenues you can earn. You do not have to use your ticket price chips. The computer will continue to produce gate revenues even if you never use these. However, you can definitely increase revenues with an intelligent pricing strategy for your club. Price levels start at 1 (premium) and end at 9 (cheapest). What price level should you choose? That depends entirely on your franchise and it's performance levels. A great franchise can sustain higher attendance levels at higher prices. A poor franchise will empty the park of all but a few "diehards" by jacking prices too high but can encourage larger crowds by dropping prices . A variety of factors are used to determine probabilities for attendance, including:
Although it is imagined that each stadium has a range of ticket prices that vary depending upon seating location, an owner who has earned this right can, for simplicity purposes, alter the average ticket price. An alteration of the average ticket price can be understood as a simplified way of representing change in ticket prices throughout the park. The default value is a "5," which translates into a dollar figure of $20. Moving up to a value of "1" makes ticket prices go higher (from $20 to $25 then $31, $38 and finally $46 - this would be the most an owner would be able to charge for the average ticket price). Moving down to a value of "9" makes ticket prices become cheaper (from $20 to $16 then $13, $11, and finally $10 - this would be the least an owner would be able to charge for the average ticket price). Owners, however, need to be aware of the implications of changing this value. Attendance is determined by the following factors: fan faithfulness (a base amount of fans who will probably come no matter what throughout the year - they are largely impervious to winning percentage and ticket prices); fan prognosis (the perception of fans in terms of the likelihood that the club is going to be "a winner" this year - the role of this factor increases as the season goes on); the winning percentages of both the home and away teams (though the home team carries more weight); a randomizing device that will fluctuate attendance by as much as 10%; and finally ticket prices. Of course higher prices will keep people away. If, however, you find your attendance at near capacity, a savvy owner may try to capitalize on fans excitement about the team and move prices higher - but it's best to not try this early on in the season. On the other hand, if attendance is very low, a savvy owner may try to boost attendance by dropping ticket prices and generate more cash by volume and not by the profit margin per ticket. The formula has been set up to benefit the owner who carefully analyzes their attendance situation.
Franchise Name Change
If you have one of these chips, you may request a name change by using the Board Room button on your Accountant's Ledger. We wanted to give owners the chance to change names but not with impunity. Over the course of your franchise's history, therefore, you can earn the rights to a new name. Name change requests can only be filled at certain points in the Nostalgia cycle, so be prepared to wait depending when you submit your request.
Acquire a Trainer
If you have a trainer chip you may request a trainer to accompany your club by using the Board Room button on your Accountant's Ledger. Trainers reduce the chance of injury by about half, and, when injuries do occur, they can reduce the recovery time by about one-third. Note that your trainer will not work with players who exceed their RPL. Also, it's best to acquire your trainer at or near the beginning of a season because all teams lose their trainers at the close of the championship series.
Season Disclosure Report
If you have a disclosure chip, you may request an e-mailed report showing the actual (randomized) season you got for each of your players by using the Board Room button on your Accountant's Ledger. These reports are sent by email at the close of the regular or playoff seasons.
Contract Buy Out
Contract buyout chips can be used to buy out (or buy down) seasons at the rate of 20% (of the MPV) per season. If you have one of these, you can use it by selecting Player Contracts from the popup menu that appears when you click the Board Room button on your Accountant's Ledger. You must then select a player from either the Batting or Pitching Rosters and select the Contract Buy Out option to initiate the contract change. You'll be shown the total cost of the buyout and then asked to confirm the action. Any cost incurred will be added to your miscellaneous debits line item.
Contract Renegotiation
Renegotiation chips can be used to:
Unlike buyout chips, renegotiations incur no costs. If you have one of these, you can use it by selecting Player Contracts from the popup menu that appears when you click the Board Room button on your Accountant's Ledger. You must then select a player from either the Batting or Pitching Rosters and select the Contract Renegotiation option to initiate the contract change.