Registering

To register for CSBFL, you must first have a free ComputerSimsForums account. Once you have an account on the forums, Register to play CSFBL with the same username/password.

Creating a team

Start by choosing your team name, city, and location (they are for display purposes only). Then, pick your scouting tendencies - what type of players you're looking for. As you increase certain values, your Scouting Points will go up; when you decrease certain values, your Scouting Points will go down; this value must be ZERO to create the team. As a result, you'll need to balance your strengths with weaknesses. Not all ratings are weighted the same -slugging, for example, is more important than speed. You'll have to experiment to find a combination you're happy with. You'll also need to pick your stadium dimensions (which is not a factor in your scouting points).

After creating the team, it will be in a pending status - meaning you have the option to activate it (join a league and start playing games) or leave it be. Pending teams will be deleted after 7 days, so you can create a few teams and pick the one(s) you like best. There is no limit to the total number of teams in your franchise.

Once you activate a team, it stays active for an entire season. If you choose to retire a team before the end of the season, it will retire after the league's current season is complete. Once a team is retired, it sits idle in your franchise until you choose to activate it again. Teams can not be retired while a season is in progress!

Reviewing your team

Once your team is created, it will display in the Pending Teams section of your franchise. You can view your team's roster, which includes your 25-man active roster, your AAA roster, and your low minors roster. Examine your player's ratings (potential and current ratings), review and set your lineup (vsRHP and vsLHP), and pitching assignments. (You can not reassign players between active, AAA, and low rosters - or cut them entirely - until your team is activated.) You can also set your manager's tendencies - how you want the computer manager to handle different in-game actions.

Reviewing players

Each position player has five BattingRatings: DI (Discipline), CN (contact), BA (batting), SL (slugging), and SP (speed). Each pitcher has five PitchingRatings: PO (power), FI (finesse), CO (control), SY (specialty or "stuff"), and HR (hold runners). All players have three DefensiveRatings: RA (range), GL (glove), and AR (arm), and one PlayerRating, EN (endurance). Keep in mind that the numbers you see are likely not absolute; some players are harder to scout than others, and your team's scout may be incorrect (see ScoutingPlayers).

A player's potential ratings reflect the pinnacle of his skill. Not all players manage to reach their potential (for so many reasons). A player's actual ratings are the ones you most likely see. Actual ratings start off low when a player is young, slowly progress through the years, and eventually decline with age. Not all ratings develop and decline the same (discipline, for example, takes time to develop; speed tends to drop off quickly with age); not all players develop and decline the same; not all teams develop players the same. A player's actual ratings affect his current performance; a player's potential ratings give you an indication of where the player's skill can go (or where it once was, if he's over the hill).

Playing some games

All games in CSFBL are simulated automatically at the schedule of two, four, or eight game days per calendar day, every day of the week (depending on the simulation speed of the league you join). Remember, a team won't play any games until it is activated and joins a league! When a team is activated, it joins the first available league. Each league will have 24 teams (four six-team divisions). When a league is full, you'll be given the season's schedule, and there will be two calendar days before the season starts (four "pre-season" days where games are not simulated).

Once your season is scheduled, you can view your upcoming opponents in your team's Schedule. After games are simulated, you should check out the play-by-play and boxscore for the game results (which are always available from the Schedule page) or your team's News page for information on games, injuries, fatigue, and other interesting happenings.

During the season, you can view the league standings, league leaders, and other information. Get ready for the amateur draft - the draft list will be available on the 40th day of your season. Set your picks from your team's Draft page, and wait for the draft to commence (automatically) five calendar days after the creation of the draft list (on the 50th, 60th, or 80th day of the season, depending on your league's sim rate).

After 160 regular season games, the top two teams in each division play in a 7-game series to determine the division finalists. Then, the winners play in another 7-game series in the league finals. The winners then go on to the 7-game World Series. After the World Series, five game days (about 2 1/2 calendar days) proceed, in which players will announce retirement and end-of-season awards (MVP, Cy Young, all-stars) will be announced.

Standings and statistics

You can view the standings for any division by clicking on the Standings link in the menu. Your team's statistics are available on your team's Stats page. League Leaders can be filtered in many different ways to see exactly the data you want.

Beyond that...

... explore the game, and enjoy! Go to the Help section for more information and frequently asked questions about CSFBL.