The first thing any new person to GLB needs to know before building a player is that building a good player is as much about math as it is knowing what skills a player needs for the position.
The reasons for this are
1. training %'s change
2. it cost more sp to raise an attribute the higher the attribute value
3. some attributes get auto level gains
4. auto level gains are reduced at certain levels in your players career
5. SA costs are fixed. While it cost more to raise an SA from 2-3 than from 0-1, SAs don't get auto level gains, and will cost the same no matter when you add them.
It is also important to know that the higher level your player reaches, the less xp he gets per game until he gets to level 29 where it plateaus.
To build a good player for the long term, you need to know how to maximize the value of your training, sp placement, and boosting.
The following WIKI links are ones you need to familiarize yourself with
leveling
http://www.glbwiki.com/index.php?title=Leveling
this shows the auto level gains your player will get at different levels throughout his career.
ability softcaps
http://www.glbwiki.com/index.php?title=Ability_Softcaps
this shows how many sp it will cost to raise an attribute 1 pt at various attribute values
http://www.glbwiki.com/index.php?title=Approximate_training_percentage
this shows approximate % training will raise the training bar toward giving an extra pt in an attribute (you will also see this on training page for current attribute values)
Starting your player
When you first create your player, he is given random attribute values. There is a re-roll button to change those values. Some attributes have a minimum score of 8. Some have a minimum score of 10. When rolling your player, you want to roll a player that has most or all of the attributes that can be 8 at 8 with only 1 or 2 at 9 or 10 at most. You also want to get the highest number in the attribute you think is most important to assign skill points to first.
Refer to WIKI link above to learn which attributes get the highest auto level gains. It is usually best to get those attributes to soft caps sooner than attributes with lower level gains. One exception is WR where the minor attributes of carrying and confidence get higher level gains than the major attributes like speed, agility, and catching.
You can also go to a position forum and ask for advice on how to start out your player
http://goallineblitz.com/game/forum_thread_list.pl?forum_id=150
Here is a guide by Guan Yu which provides a more in depth look at initial player creation
http://goallineblitz.com/game/forum_thread.pl?thread_id=3315836
****DO NOT ASSIGN SKILL POINTS OR BOOST RIGHT AWAY*****
Because training values are higher the lower the attribute value, you want to wait until you join a competitive human owned team, or until you can get an attribute to an ability soft cap before assigning any skill points.
Assigning Skill Points
***THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO AT EARLY LEVELS IS SPEND SP ON SAs OR AN ATTRIBUTE THAT DOESN'T GET AUTO LEVEL GAINS***
Because of the way players level, it is always better to try and get an attribute to an ability soft cap before moving on to another attribute. This is especially true until your player gets to level 21 where auto level gains decline. The faster you can get to a soft cap, the faster you can start getting the benefit of leveling at a point where it costs more for you to raise the attribute by assigning sp.
example.
I have a level 3 C. He gets +1 to strength and blocking when he levels.
Lets say he has 45 strength and 22 blocking. He levels up to 4 taking strength to 46 and blocking to 23 and I have 5 sp to assign.
I'm trying to decide between 1 of 3 options.
1. Get strength to 49 with 3 sp and 50 with 2 more
2. Get strength to 49 and blocking to 25
3. Get blocking to 28
Option 1 or 2 is better than 3. Why? Because now when he levels up to 5, if strength is at 49 or 50 it goes up to 50 or 51. It would cost me 2 skill points to raise it if I'm assigning skill points. However, it only cost 1 skill point to raise strength from 47 to 48.
Just because you have hit the first soft cap in an attribute doesn't mean you should stop assigning points to that attribute either. The key is to work toward a soft cap whether it be 1st, 2nd, 3rd or higher for an attribute. If you have not gotten on a human owned team by the time you reach your first cap, you can decide on your own whether to keep going in that skill, check here for advice, or ask for advice in the appropriate position forum (there is a link that looks like a quotation mark by the position letter(s) on your player profile page).
Hopefully this gets you to a point where you are on a human owned team or have started visiting the appropriate forums to get tips and pointers.
BOOSTING
Early in your players career (until at least level 18 and generally 22 or higher) it is better to wait until the last day of the offseason, or when playoffs start (if your team is in the playoffs) to boost.
Don't worry about being a higher level right away. Human owners would rather get a level 1 player with 3 boosts left, than a level 4 player who has already boosted for the season. CPU/D-League teams don't care what level your player is.
The longer you can wait to boost, the easier it is to get an attribute to an ability soft cap at a lower level.
The reasons for this are
1. training %'s change
2. it cost more sp to raise an attribute the higher the attribute value
3. some attributes get auto level gains
4. auto level gains are reduced at certain levels in your players career
5. SA costs are fixed. While it cost more to raise an SA from 2-3 than from 0-1, SAs don't get auto level gains, and will cost the same no matter when you add them.
It is also important to know that the higher level your player reaches, the less xp he gets per game until he gets to level 29 where it plateaus.
To build a good player for the long term, you need to know how to maximize the value of your training, sp placement, and boosting.
The following WIKI links are ones you need to familiarize yourself with
leveling
http://www.glbwiki.com/index.php?title=Leveling
this shows the auto level gains your player will get at different levels throughout his career.
ability softcaps
http://www.glbwiki.com/index.php?title=Ability_Softcaps
this shows how many sp it will cost to raise an attribute 1 pt at various attribute values
http://www.glbwiki.com/index.php?title=Approximate_training_percentage
this shows approximate % training will raise the training bar toward giving an extra pt in an attribute (you will also see this on training page for current attribute values)
Starting your player
When you first create your player, he is given random attribute values. There is a re-roll button to change those values. Some attributes have a minimum score of 8. Some have a minimum score of 10. When rolling your player, you want to roll a player that has most or all of the attributes that can be 8 at 8 with only 1 or 2 at 9 or 10 at most. You also want to get the highest number in the attribute you think is most important to assign skill points to first.
Refer to WIKI link above to learn which attributes get the highest auto level gains. It is usually best to get those attributes to soft caps sooner than attributes with lower level gains. One exception is WR where the minor attributes of carrying and confidence get higher level gains than the major attributes like speed, agility, and catching.
You can also go to a position forum and ask for advice on how to start out your player
http://goallineblitz.com/game/forum_thread_list.pl?forum_id=150
Here is a guide by Guan Yu which provides a more in depth look at initial player creation
http://goallineblitz.com/game/forum_thread.pl?thread_id=3315836
****DO NOT ASSIGN SKILL POINTS OR BOOST RIGHT AWAY*****
Because training values are higher the lower the attribute value, you want to wait until you join a competitive human owned team, or until you can get an attribute to an ability soft cap before assigning any skill points.
Assigning Skill Points
***THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO AT EARLY LEVELS IS SPEND SP ON SAs OR AN ATTRIBUTE THAT DOESN'T GET AUTO LEVEL GAINS***
Because of the way players level, it is always better to try and get an attribute to an ability soft cap before moving on to another attribute. This is especially true until your player gets to level 21 where auto level gains decline. The faster you can get to a soft cap, the faster you can start getting the benefit of leveling at a point where it costs more for you to raise the attribute by assigning sp.
example.
I have a level 3 C. He gets +1 to strength and blocking when he levels.
Lets say he has 45 strength and 22 blocking. He levels up to 4 taking strength to 46 and blocking to 23 and I have 5 sp to assign.
I'm trying to decide between 1 of 3 options.
1. Get strength to 49 with 3 sp and 50 with 2 more
2. Get strength to 49 and blocking to 25
3. Get blocking to 28
Option 1 or 2 is better than 3. Why? Because now when he levels up to 5, if strength is at 49 or 50 it goes up to 50 or 51. It would cost me 2 skill points to raise it if I'm assigning skill points. However, it only cost 1 skill point to raise strength from 47 to 48.
Just because you have hit the first soft cap in an attribute doesn't mean you should stop assigning points to that attribute either. The key is to work toward a soft cap whether it be 1st, 2nd, 3rd or higher for an attribute. If you have not gotten on a human owned team by the time you reach your first cap, you can decide on your own whether to keep going in that skill, check here for advice, or ask for advice in the appropriate position forum (there is a link that looks like a quotation mark by the position letter(s) on your player profile page).
Hopefully this gets you to a point where you are on a human owned team or have started visiting the appropriate forums to get tips and pointers.
BOOSTING
Early in your players career (until at least level 18 and generally 22 or higher) it is better to wait until the last day of the offseason, or when playoffs start (if your team is in the playoffs) to boost.
Don't worry about being a higher level right away. Human owners would rather get a level 1 player with 3 boosts left, than a level 4 player who has already boosted for the season. CPU/D-League teams don't care what level your player is.
The longer you can wait to boost, the easier it is to get an attribute to an ability soft cap at a lower level.
