NAF championship 2016 feed back

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Wulfyn
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Re: NAF championship 2016 feed back

Post by Wulfyn »

Not sure I understand hawca, sorry. Mike said the plan was to bring 2 laptops, one for scoring and one for social media. My point was to bring a 3rd that could be used to cover the absence of any of the other two. Things like cars having trouble are unfortunate and unpredictable, and I guess my point was by taking a 3rd then you are reducing the chance that something like that will have an impact. I (and I expect others) would be happy to bring extras just in case, if you wanted.

Tritex wrote:Well I had a great tournament, I came so close to winning most TD's just a 1 on the last go for it would have nailed it but at least I got to wear the cape a few times. Of course I got to wear the Most Cas Cloak by mistake and my wood elves were the least dangerous really
Sorry for slowing the scoring down in our game Tritex. I felt bad you only got the one, but with me taking Lizards I really felt an end to end game was only ever going to go very badly for me! I was really surprised that you didn't get the prize from leading in the last round.

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Re: NAF championship 2016 feed back

Post by Boneless »

Wulfyn wrote:Not sure I understand hawca, sorry. Mike said the plan was to bring 2 laptops, one for scoring and one for social media. My point was to bring a 3rd that could be used to cover the absence of any of the other two. Things like cars having trouble are unfortunate and unpredictable, and I guess my point was by taking a 3rd then you are reducing the chance that something like that will have an impact. I (and I expect others) would be happy to bring extras just in case, if you wanted.

Tritex wrote:Well I had a great tournament, I came so close to winning most TD's just a 1 on the last go for it would have nailed it but at least I got to wear the cape a few times. Of course I got to wear the Most Cas Cloak by mistake and my wood elves were the least dangerous really
Sorry for slowing the scoring down in our game Tritex. I felt bad you only got the one, but with me taking Lizards I really felt an end to end game was only ever going to go very badly for me! I was really surprised that you didn't get the prize from leading in the last round.
The offer is greatly appreciated.

Remind me when we get near next year and we will take you up on this.

As only mine and mikes laptops had the drop box shared with the score file (in case of on not turning up) so we can easily add another

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Re: NAF championship 2016 feed back

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HairyPete77 wrote:As someone who couldn't make it this year, I have to say that the online coverage of the tournament was not good enough - there wasn't any other than from the coaches there.

The NAFC is one of the biggest gaming events of the year, not just Blood Bowl, and it should be an advert for the game, the NAF and the community in general. I would love for the NAF to be able to showcase the Majors online.

The minimum for an event of this type should be the round draw, results, standings and some photos shared on multiple platforms. Ideally it should have a streamed match and other live video. The World Cup set the bar very high but recent independent AoS tournaments have done equally well for a similar sized event.

As someone looking in wanting to know more about the weekend it was really hard to tell if it was even going on, let alone what was happening.

I'm sure that everyone there enjoyed themselves, but it has to be about more than the people in the room.

(p.s. This is said with a love of the game and wanting the event to be as good as possible. I know the volunteers there do a great job and it is not a criticism of them.)
As someone who also could not attend this year (Mrs Wobert had got tickets for Sean Locke, he was good but NAFC good) I am with Pete on the above. Totally get having read more about break downs and laptops that there were issues which was a shame. I spent a lot of the weekend looking but was a bit disappointed with the coverage but now understand why.

Pete - having read your post I don't consider you neck (hairy or otherwise) to be particularly extended that far!

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Re: NAF championship 2016 feed back

Post by Ringbeard »

My first NAFC & I had a blast, huge thanks to all the organisers, referees & volunteers as well as my opponents.

If I might be so bold as to wind my neck ever so slightly outwards, the only suggestion I would make for next year would be to perhaps provide some kind of name tags/stickers showing people's NAF names? Maybe just blank ones people could fill in themselves, like those "HELLO, MY NAME IS I_Foul_Wardancers_666" ones. I imagine the cost would be fairly small.

For me the best part of the whole weekend was meeting other coaches, & with NAF name tags it'd be easier to recognise people you might have played on FUMBBL or chatted to on forums or twitter etc. Obviously they're optional for those who want to remain anonymous/mysterious/infamous. Just an idea, everything else all weekend was brilliant.

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Post by PeteW »

All good for me. :)

Final is controversial! But if it any better, the winner of the final was also the overall winner ;p

I think a go-pro on a stick above the final with microphones picking up the chat would be awesome to project live. :D

Geoffrey and I were discussing tie breakers in the bar. I'm going to try to work out some sort of formula that multiplies td-diff by strength of schedule, and possibly includes CR. the idea is that you shouldn't be discredited for being drawn against a novice in round 1, and that beating them 7-0 should be roughly equivalent to beating a pro 1-0.

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Re: NAF championship 2016 feed back

Post by lunchmoney »

Ringbeard wrote: If I might be so bold as to wind my neck ever so slightly outwards, the only suggestion I would make for next year would be to perhaps provide some kind of name tags/stickers showing people's NAF names? Maybe just blank ones people could fill in themselves, like those "HELLO, MY NAME IS I_Foul_Wardancers_666" ones. I imagine the cost would be fairly small.
If I'm still involved, in any way, next year, I'll bring something to do that. And if in not involved, I might do it anyway :)

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Post by sann0638 »

PeteW wrote: I think a go-pro on a stick above the final with microphones picking up the chat would be awesome to project live. :D
Again, I had the kit for this, but, y'know, laptops :D

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Re: NAF championship 2016 feed back

Post by Purplegoo »

straume wrote:.Another point I would make is the scoring system (uh-oh!). For big events as these I think the final should be dropped and the six rounds be played out. Using SoS after 5 rounds feels a bit arbitrary. I realize this is the customary NAFC way (and I realize there is a prize for league winner), but keeping all those at similar points after round5 in the running for winning the tournament seems more fair to me.
To be honest, I don't think that your view on the final is too controversial (wait, is the view it's not controversial in itself controversial? Where do we end?! :P). If we were beginning a 150 coach NAF Major from scratch in a vacuum, I don't think a final would be something the NAF would decide was a good idea. But, as you rightly point out, there is an element of tradition about having a final at the GT / NAFC from the olden days. Let's be honest; sorting out 150 attendees and crowning one winner using six games is practically pretty bloody impossible - 'crap shoot' is a phrase I've heard around the event a number of times. You'd probably also start looking at using ideas such as the McMahon system discussed in a recent thread to more elegantly get over the huge number of coaches.

However. The NAFC, for me, is a bit of a Blood Bowl meet-up and festival with a BB tournament attached to it. Retaining that tradition and feeling is, I think, a larger prize than 'fixing' the structure of the thing. But I do see your point, and have gotten right into 'how to score Eurobowl' type debates in the past.
PeteW wrote:Geoffrey and I were discussing tie breakers in the bar. I'm going to try to work out some sort of formula that multiplies td-diff by strength of schedule, and possibly includes CR. the idea is that you shouldn't be discredited for being drawn against a novice in round 1, and that beating them 7-0 should be roughly equivalent to beating a pro 1-0.
I think the more complex and inelegant that formula, the more fun the forum thread will be to watch. If you'd be so kind as to do a half-assed job? ;)
HairyPete77 wrote:As someone who couldn't make it this year, I have to say that the online coverage of the tournament was not good enough - there wasn't any other than from the coaches there.
It's nice to be having this conversation being able to use a greater number of characters! :D

It would be fantastic to generate a larger online profile for the NAFC and other NAF Majors (I was also trying to follow the DB in real time recently), but I think the NAF's ability to provide that coverage depends on the volume of volunteers available; regardless of unavoidable laptop failures (there's something every year, isn't there? Printers, microphones, whatever. Let's get three of everything! :P).

I've been lucky enough to muck in and help out most years I've attended the NAFC. From relatively minor things like arriving early to set up right through to pre sorting and running the laptop, being on the microphone, etc. and I've found that there is often little time for the assembled team to do too much 'extra' than keep 150 people that have paid £50 to attend happy and organised (which, obviously, is priority one). More numbers would mean more could be done, and I'm sure Hawca would love to hear from willing hands. Hiring someone to do media, a projector, clocks, whatever, it all costs cash money. I don't expect the already significant ticket cost would stretch much further in our current venue, and a NAF subsidy would carry political controversy (Spike! trophy, anyone?). So I think the answer is willing hands (OK, willing hands and working technology). Roll up for 2017! :D

Well done Pete and everyone else who did well (it seems from the warm feelings posted that this very much includes Hawca and the team, grats guys as ever). Looking forward to attending next year already!

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Re: NAF championship 2016 feed back

Post by JT-Y »

For what it's worth I'm willing to help out more next year. I want to be involved in the Best Painted competition and have some ideas for increased interest in the Duel competition, but beyond that I've been doing tournament stuff for a lot of years and even after taking a few years off from dealing with horrible gamers and their appalling questions I'm sure I can remember enough to be of some use.

I might not be able to help much with social media unless you want people to be upset.

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Re: NAF championship 2016 feed back

Post by Wulfyn »

Purplegoo wrote:Hiring someone to do media, a projector, clocks, whatever, it all costs cash money. I don't expect the already significant ticket cost would stretch much further in our current venue, and a NAF subsidy would carry political controversy (Spike! trophy, anyone?). So I think the answer is willing hands (OK, willing hands and working technology). Roll up for 2017! :D
Should this be added to the role of the media officer, and should the NAF have a media team? Maybe one for Mike to answer given his current and former positions.

One of the interesting things about the fumbbl 'Road to the NAFC' is that because it was done through an online medium the coverage was very good. Admittedly far easier when stretched over weeks than hours, and most of us players don't even do viewers the courtesy of openly tracking the score!

I was thinking mad thoughts yesterday about whether it would be possible to try and get in 4 games on the first day and 2 on the second day to have a full 6 game swiss prior to the final. That last game would only be played by the finalists with everyone watching (overhead camera shown on a projector screen). A bit intimidating but it is good fun watching your mates making desperate last plays with a small crowd all joining in the 1's and 6's rolled. Again the first RTNAFC was great seeing that Zombie claim the ball. You could even have some online-only commentary when you stream it.

Almost certainly unworkable logistically, and probably not worth the effort, but I'd def hang around to watch a final broadcast like that.

The best compliment is that the weekend ran so smoothly it has inspired so many others to get involved.

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Re: NAF championship 2016 feed back

Post by janninu »

Great fantastic weekend. Everyone from Malta had a blast and i'm sure it will help to continue growing our community base here.

The only downside I can mention (which I think has been mentioned several times already) is the tables. I don't know if there is a possible fix to this, but if there is I'm sure it would be welcome with open hands.

Thanks to everyone organising and attending.

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Re: NAF championship 2016 feed back

Post by Wilf »

Faultless tournament once again, many thanks and a tip of the hat to the organisers.

A firm highlight on my tournament calendar, and once again great to see so many European coaches willing to travel over to take part.

Wish there were more hotel rooms available in the Orchard as I ended up staying elsewhere, although that is largely down to the fact I couldn't confirm attendance until late in the day. The whole venue - hotel and conference centre - is a great deal and I would always recommend people make the effort to attend the NAF Championship!

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Re: NAF championship 2016 feed back

Post by danger rat »

Had a fantastic weekend I hadn't been for 4 years and I thoroughly enjoyed it and really liked the new venue. Thanks to the organisers for a brilliant weekend of Blood Bowl especially Hawca for sorting out my dietary requirements for the weekend and all the refs for being very helpful and friendly. Really enjoyed the spot prizes as well.

Thanks to all six of my opponents for six fantastic games of blood bowl and with the exception of Be4ch !) not killing or maiming my rats and goblins to badly.

The only thing Id like to see introduced at future NAFC's is a best in race award that I've seen done in lots of warmachine and wfb events.

I was talking to a few people before the awards ceremony and we thought it would give those of us not fighting for the top prize something to aim for as a bit of fun over the weekend (Waldorf28 and I kept chatting about how we were doing with underworld throughout the weekend and it definitely added to the weekend as we both attempted to be top of the underworld!)

Date permitting next year, I'll definitely be back 8)

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Re: NAF championship 2016 feed back

Post by straume »

"Best at race" is actually an interesting idea, suited for a big event as this. 24 prizes may seem a bit excessive, but if you get, say, 5 teams per race that means you qualify for a "best of race"-award? Would also give incentive to more varied race-picks overall.

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Re: NAF championship 2016 feed back

Post by sann0638 »

Probably not prizes, as that could be tedious and expensive, but no reason not to give a mention next year. Might encourage more variety of races too!

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