State of the NAFtion

[Olaf the Stout]

I suspect it is something that the NAF co-ordinator for the Asia-Pacific region (Babs) came up with himself. Given that up until a week or so ago, I had no idea it wasn't a worldwide thing, I'm probably not the best source of information on it though!

Olaf the Stout

[Rumble]

I like the NAF.

For me, in my lost mind I like to see bloodbowl as an official sport and having the NAF in existence helps feed that idea.

I’m therefore happy to pay the annual subs just for that, I do like the block dice, but not having them won’t stop me supporting the NAF. I do think that now that precedent of giving block dice has been set , I would like the NAF to still give something each year, I’m happy for the NAF to decide, I’m sure some years will be less good than others, but that’s life.

I also think the NAF newsletter is great.

My possible suggestions for the NAF are:

• I agree with Olaf the Stout and outcastex and I would like the NAF to look at ways of getting BB out to the unconverted. With GW no longer supporting the game, I worry that over time less and less new people will discover BB. (I was only aware of BB as played it when first released, then came back to it a couple of years ago and fortunately there is a good (EXILES) league near to where I live, if the league had not been there I would not be here now). In some ways that does feel like the NAF are doing GW’s job, but then if the NAF can actively show that they are getting more people in the game, it might help the NAF with influencing GWs decision making over the game. Possible ways to get new people – have a NAF stall at various conferences/conventions. Demonstrate the games to Universities and secondary schools, encourage leagues at schools and universities.

• I would like the NAF to have more league influence rather than just tournaments. Anything that the NAF can do to help setup new leagues and support existing ones to keep them going would be good. As in my opinion it is the leagues keeping the game alive. I think friendly league rivalry should be encouraged. Maybe at a particular time of year leagues could play their own official NAF league, league winners could enter for a cup, could players then be loaned across leagues?

• I would like the NAF to continue to lobby GW to try and influence their decision making on BB. However I would also like the NAF to support the other Companies out there as they are doing a great job. In an ideal world it would be great if we could make GW see how much better the game is with the other Companies involved and have them accept it and even encourage it, but that does not sound like the GW way which is a shame for them.

• NAF merchandise, I would gladly pay (as long as they are cheap) for and wear a pair of NAF underpants.

[Pug]

• NAF merchandise, I would gladly pay (as long as they are cheap) for and wear a pair of NAF underpants.

A job for the fashionista Shaniepoo!!

[TheDoc]

• NAF merchandise, I would gladly pay (as long as they are cheap) for and wear a pair of NAF underpants.

A job for the fashionista Shaniepoo!!

If can do t-shirts I'd pay for one!

[neilnickson]

Obviously I'd like to see a much more professional site. It should be easier to browse rankings (sortable), it would also be cool if there were achievements/badges that could be displayed on your profile (50 TD's, 100 CAS, Played with each team etc...)

Ooh, that's a good idea. I wish you could highlight posts within a thread.

Another +1 to this idea, should be achievable also and expandable as people suggest new achievements and/or as the game changes.

NAF Merchandise

It has always suprised me that NAF doesn't do this already. You just need to look at how the dice produced by bororc and those by me have gone down to see there is a market for such things. Dice cups, dice mats, figure cases t-shirts etc would all sell well I think.

The downside of course is I guess that the NAF would have to register this as a business which brings it in to a whole different place than a volunteer org for gamers. That and the question of what they would use the funds for is why I have always assumed this has not been done rather than no-one thinking of it.

Perhaps the NAF could come to some agreement with Impact (other companies may be available!) whereby Impact produces/sources and sells the stuff and gives a percentage back to NAF?

Sorry for sidetracking the forum on to suggestions but I actually quite like all of the parties involved in this forum, most of whom I've either met or had some sort of dealings with so I couldn't find anyone to be abusive to!

[babass]

it's "funny" this discussion about "special treatment concening Majors".

The Lutece Bowl is not a Major.
but, it's already its 10th edition.

2004 : 62 partizipants
2005 : 90
2006 : 96
2007 : 76
2008 : 80
2009 : 90
2010 : 110
2011 : 70
2012 : 100
and for 2013 (for the 10th edition) : the maximum of 180 players is already reached: registrations were already close like 3-4 months before the tourney.


i compared it a famous Major The Chaos Cup:
2003 : 42 coachs
2004 : 22
2005 : 18
2006 : 38
2007 : 34
2008 : 50
2009 : 30
2010 : 34
2011 : 56
2012 : 80
2013 : objective 100 coachs (for the 11th edition)

What make the Chaos Cup more important than the Lutece bowl except that the name of this tourney is present in the rulesbook ?

i know, some of you will say the demography is different between France/Europe & Michigan/NordAmerica... in this case, why there is no "Major" in continental europe ?

In my opinion, all the tourney are important. The small one with 12 participants is as important as the biggest ones 150+ participants.
The only exceptions are Eurobowl and its equivalents in other continents / levels, because not everybody could applied : in regular tourneys, like lutecebowl or chaos cup, it's "first come first registered".

[Olaf the Stout]

Wow, 180 players registered for 2013! That's very impressive.

Does anyone know what the record number of players is for a tournament outside of team based tournaments like the World Cup or EuroBowl?

Olaf the Stout

[neilnickson]

i know, some of you will say the demography is different between France/Europe & Michigan/NordAmerica... in this case, why there is no "Major" in continental europe ?
.

Well there is the Dungeonbowl in Germany.....

[Joemanji]

...I see that there is still far too much of 'What does the NAF do for me?' and not enough of 'What can I do for the NAF?'...

This. The NAF is a community made up of its members, not a corporation offering you a service.

I see we have gone back to bickering already. I urge you all to read Deathwing's post in full and have a think about what the NAF really is.

[lunchmoney]

• NAF merchandise, I would gladly pay (as long as they are cheap) for and wear a pair of NAF underpants.

I seem to recall NAF branding stuff (underwear, mouse mats, cups, t-shirts, badges and other things like that) being available on cafepress.co.uk some time ago, but I've no idea when that stopped.

Does anyone know who was involved in that? Why it stopped? Can it be started again?

[Sandwich]

Some random thoughts that have come to me reading through this (and the NAF equivalent). Some of the comments may be aimed at particular posts/people, but I'll try to keep it vague. Which is good... I'm very good at vague, and un-ordered...

• The NAF in general are doing an OK job... sure, things could be better - and I have railed against some things (before all this kicked off) before - but I know these guys are giving up their time to do the best they can, for the rest of us. So thank you.
• We, as NAF members, vote in the committee, for them to make decisions for us. I don't see the need for them to have to consult the membership for everything, including what to spend money on, or how things are going with GW. To be honest, I don't really care.
• That said... more communication is always a good thing, and more consistent communication too. The Newsletter is awesome (well done to Sann, and to JP for setting it up before), but some more simple things like up-to-date news on the website, and maybe a monthly/quarterly update from all committee members would be of use.
• There seem to be some major geographical issues with the NAF. There seem to be several camps arguing on these threads, and mostly they seem to be split by country... there seems to be a UK camp, an Australian camp, a Spanish camp... (and probably more. I know I'm generalising things here). Maybe this is something that the NAF could look to improve on... obviously there are some problems with image in certain countries?
• Regarding the website, everyone and their dog seem to agree it needs updating, but no-one seems to agree on how. Have the NAF committee started any process to determine the best use of the website? FWIW, my opinion is that - purely from a UK point-of-view, the NAF forum is a dead space and could be dropped, but the rankings need to stay. But there are also some awesome stats hidden away (maybe on doubleskulls site instead of directly on NAF? I can't remember where I got links from) that could/should be more public, and there is a lot more regarding tournaments, history, strategy etc that would be awesome to add. I can offer to help, if needed, as I may have a tiny amount of free time over summer, but short of PMing the president/committee I wouldn't know who/what/where to start.
• Sort of related to above... but if there is going to be a process to figure out the way forward for the NAF, it needs to be well-managed and done mostly behind the scenes... as these threads have proved, opening up ideas to the internet in general are a terrible waste of everyone's time and will not get anywhere constructive (sorry to Sann, I know these threads were started with the best of intentions!)
• Definitely related to above... same goes for the 'gift', be it dice or whatever is decided for future years.

My final comment is that people really need to chill out... this is a game we're talking about, not killing people. OK, some talk of killing people has come up but mostly its just a game . Some of the posts on here (and NAF), from both sides, have been completely out-of-order - and if I was one of the volunteer NAF committee taking this kind of abuse, OR if I was one of the members who started up some well-reasoned criticism and took a barrage back from the NAF-lapdogs, I would almost certainly have told everyone where they could go.

OK, that wasn't quite final (other posts have come in since I started this!): I too would like NAF merchandise to be available. Would this fall under the remit of an existing committee member, or is there an opportunity for a new post? I know there may well be some legal fidgy-widgy to sort out with GW, but surely that could be done (or things done in such a way to avoid the need for involving them)?

[jecked]

All of this hassle over the sake of a fiver a year, crikey. I semi-regularly throw a fiver at a taxi when I can't be bothered to walk for 20 minutes. £5 for (at very least) the novelty of NAF membership or (at most) the rankings/dice/having a central body is nothing at all. Now, if it was a £5er a month... ...we'd have a different story.

...IMHO as always.

[Joemanji]

That said... more communication is always a good thing, and more consistent communication too. The Newsletter is awesome (well done to Sann, and to JP for setting it up before), but some more simple things like up-to-date news on the website, and maybe a monthly/quarterly update from all committee members would be of use.

I've seen many comments like this, thanking Sann in isolation and then lambasting the committee for not communicating more. Firstly I would also like to thank Sann, he is clearly very committed and I applaud his efforts. But he didn't pop out from nowhere. Lycos and co. recognised the requests for more communication and so created the role of Communications Officer, clearly defining what was involved and setting up the dotmailer account for the Newsletters etc. This is a clear example of the NAF listening to the members and responding.

[Indigo]

Woody, please, please never leave behind blood bowl.

[phil78]

Slightly off topic but is anyone more IT savvy able to explain to me why I can browse TFF but not the NAF site at work.
The message I get when trying to browse the NAF site is
"Based on your corporate access policies, access to this web site ( http://thenaf.net/ ) has been blocked because the web category "Games" is not allowed. "
How does a site get allocated a web category? and is it possible to get it changed?
I know someone else mentioned earlier that they had the same problem hence why they posted more on TFF.