State of the NAFtion

[stanrichardson]

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.

I had the same issue Phil

The ICT police here use a programme called Web Sense, and its puts all websites based on the meta tags (i think) into categories.

Then you ict boys set the access rules for users/user groups for each of the categories.

For example i can access news at any time, but certain blogs only after 5, and porn never.

You have 3 solutions, 1) ask the ict boys to change the category the web site it sits in 2) get them to change your access, 3) if ur building has free public wifi use that and it by passes websence so porn and fumbbl all day, at least thats how it works here.

[Lychanthrope]

+1 for NAF stuff. I will take a leather dice cup with the NAF logo. Not a small one, I can buy and have one already, but one about the size as Valen's. Big enough the dice move, but not huge. I might even buy a shirt with logo.

[sann0638]

@phil, will look into it. Might be a quick win.

[sann0638]

I've seen many comments like this, thanking Sann in isolation and then lambasting the committee for not communicating more.

Joe makes a good point (in a bit of a cross way), and one that I should make more.

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.

+1. I'm amazed that tabletop BB players are choosing NOT to join. People join lego club for more (actually it's free, but I'm sure there is a good example somewhere).

I like the idea of NAF Merchandise, and I like that this thread is getting back on track. Can't find the quote, but did someone actually apologise for starting to suggest good ideas again? Hopefully that was sarcastic .

[Glowworm]

+1 for NAF stuff. I will take a leather dice cup with the NAF logo. Not a small one, I can buy and have one already, but one about the size as Valen's. Big enough the dice move, but not huge. I might even buy a shirt with logo.

I spoken to Lycos about dice cups instead of dice on previous occasions, the problem appears to be postage, dice can and do go in envelopes through normal UK post ( I don't know about any other countries postal arrangements, sorry I'm being so Anglo-specific ) where as dice cups would probably ( and I work in dispatch so have some knowledge of this) go small parcel which costs significantly more.

Maybe dice bag ( as they fold flat) could be an alternative? Or even ( just me offering suggestions here) a material dugout? I'd jump on either of these options....

And to echo many people's views here, lets keep it positive, I'm happy to discuss all and every post I've made ( you may have to remind me of some, I am very old) with anyone over a beer ( especially if they are buying )

[phil78]

Someone raised the fact that there is no content being put forward for the NAF site.
If people were goign to submit something who should they message / shout at?

Just thinking that simple things like the list of tournament winners, the tournament calendars for the next 12 months, Pug's maps showing where tournaments are held around the world should all be featured pretty prominently somewhere on the NAF site.

[Oly1987]

How about a naf wallet with a clear insert for a naf membership card?

[sann0638]

Someone raised the fact that there is no content being put forward for the NAF site.
If people were goign to submit something who should they message / shout at?

Just thinking that simple things like the list of tournament winners, the tournament calendars for the next 12 months, Pug's maps showing where tournaments are held around the world should all be featured pretty prominently somewhere on the NAF site.

HELLLOOOOOOOOO!

[Lychanthrope]

Someone raised the fact that there is no content being put forward for the NAF site.
If people were goign to submit something who should they message / shout at?

Just thinking that simple things like the list of tournament winners, the tournament calendars for the next 12 months, Pug's maps showing where tournaments are held around the world should all be featured pretty prominently somewhere on the NAF site.

HELLLOOOOOOOOO!

I'm going to guess the media guy.

[Glowworm]

How about a naf wallet with a clear insert for a naf membership card?

Will it have notes with pictures of Lycos on them only joking

Actually a better idea than my material dugout....

[phil78]

something

Thanks Mike
Does this mean you are going to get the tournament calendars and maps added?

Actually a better idea than my material dugout....

I can't imagine there'd be that many people wanting a new wallet, new dugouts would be pretty smart especially based on the small design that fits along the side of the board where the score markers currently are.

[Loki]

How about a naf wallet with a clear insert for a naf membership card?

I still have a NAF memebership card from circa 2004, I assume you are suggesting a new issue of membership cards.

[Purplegoo]

I think the time has probably passed in which someone could add something new to this debate / bunfight / mess, but I’ll bite nonetheless. Especially now the thing is calming down and becoming more reasonable (give or take).

I’ve watched this debate unfold over the week with a combination of embarrassed voyeurism and shock. The location of this thread, wishing to gather quite open feedback on the NAF in the General Chat section of TFF, is really questionable in the first place. If you skim down the first two or three pages of this section, there is an awful lot of examples of why an open TFF thread might always have ended up like this. There are better ways and means of collecting feedback, and more focussed questions would have been more sensible and lead us away from an open area for people to beat various drums that they’ve nosily been banging for literally years. I hope that lesson has been learned.

But now we’re here, there has been an awful lot of criticism of the organisation, some of which is measured and reasonable, much if which is not. We pay an annual fee that amounts to approximately how much my lunch will cost today (some would say, find a cheaper lunch) to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Considering the level of distaste for GW on this forum for making logical decisions focussed solely on their business and strategically improving their financial position at the expense of the niche group of BB nerds (dice support removed, SG shutdown, etc.), to then question what monetary value the NAF provides it’s members is pretty flipping rich. You pay a fiver and have, to date, received a service worth at least that (I wish I got proportional service from my ISP, my energy supplier, etc. for how much I pay them a month), and a free gift that you could sell for a minimum of treble your outlay. ‘Well, now they’ve lost the dice, what’s in it for me?’ is a really very surprising attitude, considering all of this. I accept that the loss of the dice will affect membership (it’s hard to argue otherwise), but the attitude should be ‘This is an interesting opportunity, what can we do now?’ not ‘Well, that’s me out now I’m not getting my shiny cuboid nest egg!’.

Woody, and others, are exactly right. The NAF is a voluntary organisation made up of all of us. Indeed, it’s apparently the only organisation left that cares about BB, if you believe this forum. It’s incredibly easy to make vast improvements from behind your monitor, and much less so to approach the committee with your hand up and work every evening for a month doing a job for which you’ll get no thanks at the other end. As an example, ‘I think the NAF should produce mouse mats featuring a logo to sell to us’ is of far less use than a week of research followed by a PM reading ‘Dear Dave. I’ve approached mousemats.co.uk, and I have made an interesting contact. Here is a list of prices, volume based price breaks, research about other organisations producing mouse mats and why these are the best site to go with…’. How many will make that effort when this thread is dead and gone?

I’m in a minority (I’m very much aware), but I couldn’t really care less about the website. Nonetheless, it continues to be an issue the membership are concerned with, and the specific stick with which some decide to beat the status quo. It’s incredibly straight forward to spend the cash and just get it done in your mind, but I wonder what the next easiest thing to pick at will be thereafter. I came back from the NAFC the other week absolutely marvelling at what had been achieved (a real highpoint in tournament Blood Bowl), only to be confronted with a forum full of people bemoaning a sandwich in a bag and a funny shaped logo on a TV screen. People will always strive find the odd fault, that’s human nature. I think people have to be reasonable about what they expect the NAF to achieve. It’s all well and good shouting on a platform of a moon on a stick for every member, it’s a lot harder to get a bundle of volunteers to find time to talk to sticks ‘r’ us or find enough moons. Ask not what they can do for you, etc.

The thing that grinds my gears about the NAF as it stands is the public relations bit. I’m sure Dave won’t mind me saying that I’ve had this conversation with him before (because he’s too polite to tell me to bugger off), but when he’s talking NAF at the bar at a tournament, and explaining this e-mail from Trevor in China, or that 2 hour Skype chat with Tony from Canada (and he knows all of their NAF numbers), and they’ve made a local breakthrough with this or that, that this is exactly the sort of thing we need to be hearing about. Even if it seems insignificant that 10 guys have made a league on the North Pole to most of us, that is progress. Blood Bowl is a young, niche game played by niche nerds, and these tiny wins are important. Whilst a huge deal of time and effort goes into behind the scenes work in maintaining what we have and consistently growing membership and the quantity of tournaments, the public face of the organisation doesn’t toot it’s own horn enough. Frankly, I think Dave is just too humble and nice. If he were a git, we’d never hear the end of the work he, and others, do. I’m glad we now have a newsletter and a media officer carpet bombing this forum (!), let’s have a monthly ‘Prez Sez’ column. I appreciate Dave can’t tell us everything he’s up to and frankly, some of it is boring, but a bit of day to day chat would allay many of the criticisms we see here, to my mind.

Lastly, a word about proportionality. TFF is a forum long since abandoned by many UK coaches and not frequented by many of our foreign friends. Whilst this thread has been loud and noisy, let’s not pretend that it represents the mood of the NAF. Many of the very points in this thread formed precisely the battleground for the last presidential election, an election Dave won with increased majority. Pako and others continue to be vocal on this or that point, and that’s valuable (and I think welcome, in the right way), but the only quantitative measure we have indicates the membership are happy. Paul won an election unopposed. Brendan won the TO election against a very capable opponent with his own podcast, and hence a high profile. It seems to me that the coaches comprising the NAF are very happy indeed, and this thread has served as an outlet for a vocal minority. The very suggestion of a vote of no confidence made me choke on my tea. We vote these people into power (as it were) to make decisions like the Spike! Trophy for us. ‘You have too much cash in the bank!’, ‘You’re spending too much cash on something!’ are lines drawn on previous pages, can you imagine where a debate or vote would have lead us? Vote for candidates to make sensible choices, that is the correct model.

So, in summary, let’s play nice. It’s great, the level of passion for the NAF we have here. I hope it produces many more people that come to the table with great ideas that they have thoroughly researched and it makes the committee’s job easier. I also hope that these points are revised in a sensible way and we have a great election at the end of the year. But above all, let’s be proportional.

[sann0638]

something

Thanks Mike
Does this mean you are going to get the tournament calendars and maps added?

All the constructive ideas in this thread are being noted!

[sann0638]

I’ve watched this debate unfold over the week with a combination of embarrassed voyeurism and shock. The location of this thread, wishing to gather quite open feedback on the NAF in the General Chat section of TFF, is really questionable in the first place. If you skim down the first two or three pages of this section, there is an awful lot of examples of why an open TFF thread might always have ended up like this. There are better ways and means of collecting feedback, and more focussed questions would have been more sensible and lead us away from an open area for people to beat various drums that they’ve nosily been banging for literally years. I hope that lesson has been learned.

Disagree, actually, but can see why you (and others) say that. I wanted an open "carpet bomb" of ideas. I didn't know it would turn into what it did, but you can't stop people posting whatever they like.

carpet bombing this forum (!)

Is this meant to be a criticism? Honest question.