Does anyone know Laughing Ferret?

[Gaixo]

But there is an issue of trust ... in the end, you're sending money and valuable models to a stranger. Personal recommendations are everything in situations like that. Someone like Axia posts here frequently, I know several people who have commissioned teams from them and they are all happy with his work. Someone like Laughing Ferret, with a black mark on their record from this post, is blacklisted until this is resolved.

All of that was true of Laughing Ferret, though. He posted here (as pitchinvader). Customers were happy with his work. He actually played Blood Bowl, so a bunch of us had met him in person and he'd won several painting awards at prominent tournaments. It's easy to say that you're wary of him now, but he seemed as trustworthy as possible back when Sargon began the commission process.

[Regash]

He probably WAS trustworthy as some people seemed to have done deals with him.
Something happened, of that I'm sure.

[VoodooMike]

It absolutely doesn't matter if he was a good guy in the past. Everyone is a good guy when things are going their way and they're sailing on calm seas - the real measure of a man is how they navigate the storms. This is why, when it comes to reviews on things like eBay, you look at the *number* of positive comments, but the *content* of negative comments... with more interest in the latter.

Things happen... stuff gets lost, people make mistakes, a dog eats your minis, whatever... the important part is how someone deals with things when they happen. In this case, it seems the guy has tried to hide and make-believe the scenario never occurred, which is a huge mistake. The last thing anyone wants to hear is "yeah, so the guy took my minis, took my money, and then lost my phone number forever.." - that's the nightmare scenario for anyone looking to get professionally painted minis.

My sincere sympathies to Sargon.

[Olaf the Stout]

The prices aren't even bad if you do out the math ... just buying spray, paints and brushes and stuff can easily cost 50-70 (Dollars, Euros, etc) or more. Painting up a team is probably about 20+ hours of work in total maybe more but definitely not a lot less, usually spread across several nights and a few weekends. How much do you value your free time? You can actually put a number on that, by calculating how much you save per hour by painting your own figures.

Then at the end you have a team that's painted "good enough". Or maybe not. But it won't be nearly as good as a professional would do.

Don't get me wrong, I love painting, and while I'm definitely not the best, I like to think that my teams end up presentable. But not everyone likes painting, or is any good at it, and I certainly won't hold it against them, or consider them a lesser gamer somehow.

But there is an issue of trust ... in the end, you're sending money and valuable models to a stranger. Personal recommendations are everything in situations like that. Someone like Axia posts here frequently, I know several people who have commissioned teams from them and they are all happy with his work. Someone like Laughing Ferret, with a black mark on their record from this post, is blacklisted until this is resolved.

20 hours would be on the very, very bottom end of how long it would take to paint a team of about 16 minis. I've participated in a 1 hour painting comp at a tournament I go to. Even using the old 2E plastic BB minis (the old coloured plastic Dwarves, Orcs and Elves), which have very little detail, I discovered that I only had time to basecoat and maybe do a quick shade and highlight.

That was me basically painting as quickly as I could and the end result was pretty average as the highlights and shading layers were very high contrast. So for me, I'd say 48+ hours would be the bottom end of the time it would take to paint a team of 16 minis. That's allowing 3 hours per mini and it wouldn't surprise me if it actually took much longer than that.

[Olaf the Stout]

Yeah, and I don`t blame them for putting their talent to use, I just don`t like it. But that`s a personal point of view. From my perspective I can ask of people to spend time and effort for a good and hinest paint job, just as one can ask the other to learn the rules properly. But then again...I strongly beliebe, that the hobby as a whole has to be lived in all facets, not just one.

I disagree on that. Blood Bowl is a board game. So there will always be peoplee who love playing the board game, but have no desire to paint miniatures, regardless of whether they are any good at painting or not.

So long as people aren't entering painting competitions and passing off other people's work as their own I see nothing wrong with getting someone else to paint your team for you.

I say that as someone who would never buy a painted team for myself. In the past I've borrowed painted teams from friends to use at tournaments, but I would never buy a team that someone else has painted to own and play with.

[Regash]

I used to work at the german vendor for Warmachine and Hordes.
When we had to have two armys ready for putting them on display on a german gaming fair, boy we were happy that painting services existed.
Oh, and what I said about prices: I didn't mean they are to expensive.
I just can't afford them, that's all.

[DinoTitanedition]

I disagree on that. Blood Bowl is a board game. So there will always be peoplee who love playing the board game, but have no desire to paint miniatures, regardless of whether they are any good at painting or not.

Interesting view on it - I always saw it as an offspring from the tabletop gaming area, since it was played with paper stand-ups instead of minis before, but miniatures were added later. For me, this clearly placed the game into a more artistic spot of the hobby, rather than a ruleoriented. I also see it this way, because it`s not available in just any store, but in a very specialized one, that puts the focus clearly stronger towards painting than gaming (well....currently).

But as I said - it`s my opinion, not everyones. For me the paintjob is what brings this games to life. Goofy names on the roster just aren`t enough anymore nowadays. Then again....I CAN understand the view of a game being just that and nothing else. But....the onlineversion of FUMBBL or Cyanide would be enough then.

[Regash]

But....the onlineversion of FUMBBL or Cyanide would be enough then.

You're completely missing the beer & pretzels, having a good time with cool people aspect of the game.
Online games have become so emotionless.
That's for the competitive players...

[lunchmoney]

I hate painting, but also hate playing with bare metal/plastic models, so having a painting service is ideal (I have one team out with someone right now); I get a painted team, they get paid and we keep money in circulation and help grow the economy – that’s a win win to me.

As for playing online, I've grown to hate that too. I like to see and talk to the person I am playing a game with.


I hope the OP gets something sorted soon. This is disgraceful behaviour from someone who was respected in the community for his painting skills and service.

Has anyone else had any contact with him since this started? And I dont mean just spotting the ebay shop still in operation, I mean actual contact and maybe also had a team painted?

[gregory_n_white]

Yeah, and I don`t blame them for putting their talent to use, I just don`t like it. But that`s a personal point of view. From my perspective I can ask of people to spend time and effort for a good and hinest paint job, just as one can ask the other to learn the rules properly. But then again...I strongly beliebe, that the hobby as a whole has to be lived in all facets, not just one.

It depends on what you consider to be "the hobby as a whole".

For me it is the game. I dont have time to paint and dont really enjoy it so i often pay to have my figures painted.

If I follow your logic (i.e. I must play the game, and I must paint my own figures) then surely the next step is that you shoudl scuplt and cast your own figures and dice, and press your own cardboard to paint your own boards......

[Olaf the Stout]

I disagree on that. Blood Bowl is a board game. So there will always be peoplee who love playing the board game, but have no desire to paint miniatures, regardless of whether they are any good at painting or not.

Interesting view on it - I always saw it as an offspring from the tabletop gaming area, since it was played with paper stand-ups instead of minis before, but miniatures were added later. For me, this clearly placed the game into a more artistic spot of the hobby, rather than a ruleoriented. I also see it this way, because it`s not available in just any store, but in a very specialized one, that puts the focus clearly stronger towards painting than gaming (well....currently).

But as I said - it`s my opinion, not everyones. For me the paintjob is what brings this games to life. Goofy names on the roster just aren`t enough anymore nowadays. Then again....I CAN understand the view of a game being just that and nothing else. But....the onlineversion of FUMBBL or Cyanide would be enough then.

Yes, but think about how many people are introduced to Blood Bowl via Cyanide or FUMBBL. They may have played hundreds games of Blood Bowl before they even played a game of tabletop. So for many people that have discovered Blood Bowl online, having to paint minis to play the game is not normal for them.

[Olaf the Stout]

But....the onlineversion of FUMBBL or Cyanide would be enough then.

You're completely missing the beer & pretzels, having a good time with cool people aspect of the game.
Online games have become so emotionless.
That's for the competitive players...

I also find I make more mistakes playing online than I do playing tabletop. I think it's because I honestly don't care about the result for online games as much as I do tabletop. It's a lot more effort to attend and play in a tabletop tournament, so I think I give it a lot more attention to a game of FUMBBL where I may be doing other things while playing (and most times it's just a ranked game that doesn't really matter whether I win or lose).

[harvestmouse]

Sorry to the OP, we do sympathise, but it's become totally......OP.

For me, FUMBBL and JAVAbowl pretty much quench every aspect of BB that I need. To be honest, I can't think of much beer and pretzling done with my BB, but I do get the point.

Also some special rules I'd like to try out here and there would work much better on TT.

Online gaming is definitely not just for competitive gamers, but that is a strong aspect of the online community. I think you can definitely find your niche or create your niche on FUMBBL. The problem then is you can play too much and saturate your desire. Essentially though a place like FUMBBL is what you make of it.

However point taken, it could never give you everything TT could, I don't think any of us want TT replaced.

[koadah]

But....the onlineversion of FUMBBL or Cyanide would be enough then.

You're completely missing the beer & pretzels, having a good time with cool people aspect of the game.
Online games have become so emotionless.
That's for the competitive players...

You have obviously been playing in the wrong leagues. Most of like beer (or whiskey or wine) if not pretzels.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'emotionless'. If anything some online players are too emotional. I would imagine that people who throw the kinds of hissy fits that you sometimes see online would not be invited back.

[Regash]

How can you tell with no face in front of you?
Most games are played without voicechat, right?

By emotionless I mean there is noone there. I'm just staring at a screen.

And so many idiots out there doing things they wouldn't even dream of when playing face to face.
Like coming with a TV 2000+ team when someone asks for a newbie game.
Happened to me when I first bought Blood Bowl from Cyanide way back in time.
Happened to me 4 effing times in one week.