2004 - It's Done- Merged

[raehl]

TV, mainly, benefits the few people who invested in putting paintball in TV and the few players lucky enough to play for those teams.

I'd be curious to find out if there's been a massive influx of Slamball players since that "game" hit TV.

I came home today to a message on my answering machine from the local university (20,000+ students) asking for help having a paintball event on-campus. The ADMINISTRATION of the university - we've never talked to them, they don't even have a paintball club, but they want paintball. (I think it's probably because someone from the university was at a local fair this past weekend where they had paintball and thought it was nifty.) I think paintball will continue to grow just fine, TV or no TV.

But then again, it'd be a sport I'd like to watch, were it on TV.

- Chris

 

[Robbo]

Bud...wise words indeed .....

 

[TJ Lambini]

"But have yet to hear something come up with a solution for that, that will actually mean the game is played WITH a focus point"

Give all players a fatal disease just before game on, then hide a syringe filled with tha antidote somewhere on the field...team that finds it, lives.

I know, I know, I'm a genius...

 

[Red_Merkin]

Isn't that exactly what Pure Promotions are doing?

i hope so.
Are they prepared to fund the entire media operation though?

If anyone can do this, Pure Promotions can. They have proven time and again that they can sell the 'lifestyle' which i think is the key to Televising paintball. I guess the question is, do they have enough cash to see this through, and do they see this as a good investment?

 

[Furby]

I second Red's motion. The fun part will be determining whether or not it's a good investment on their part.

And TJ....classic idea...it'd make cleanup of the venues a bit more involved, though....

 

[stongle]

Whatever needs to be done needs to be done fast and the benefit of the "sport" from the grassroots up. OK so the 2003 season ain't over just yet, but there's a growing sense of frustration amongst some of the grassroots over what we will be playing next year (also cos what goes on at the International level filters down to the local level structure of leagues and tournaments). Currently the plus fours and Ping irons are looking like a better investment than the Nexus E-blade (and I'm thinking about calling Dick re Crazy Super Air Golf, we could put it on the same program as Ebola Ball but I digress).

Now as I see it (well actually Robbo suggested it and Red Merkin argued it up), an NPPL - Millennium tie up is the best answer to the NXL and whatever format it turns into. OK the NXL "currently" has all the collie green linguini's, but if you really wanna be the undisputed world champions of paintball what about the World League (Mill NPPL tie up whatever you wanna call it). Assuming that the NXL isn't *******ised into some form of pseudo WWF format, those 8 or 10 teams ain't proved themselves best of the world have they (well we know they're good). Yep they got all the Bling Bling, the big ball deals etc, but they just closed up shop and are playing each other; now that makes their talent pool a little small n'est pas? Of course their money, and the fact their playing against other teams of high ability still don't mean they got all the Aces (probably 3 out of 4). Of course the other non NXL teams think they might have been left flapping around outside like bollox BUT the game ain't up yet surely?. Euroball needs the Americans (Dynasty, Dogs etc), and the top NPPL teams would benefit from being WORLD champions (till next year when Nexus open up a can of whoop ass). Yep we need them more than they needed us, but that was before the NXL setup shop, and now they need the top Euroboys a little more (I think it becomes good for all?).

Ok so this is re-hashing others points, but what needs to happen now is some push from the grass roots and players of all abilities to get worldball on track. Now there was big noise re the EPA recently, are they not the best body to represent the players for next year?. Now if the EPA is lacking in legitimacy we need to make it legitimate fast. Charge a fee, most of us would pay it to provide an effective rebuttal against the promoters. Hell, even run it as a business, the players buy debentures in it and we own it, the share holders can elect a board to represent us and run Euroball. All TV deals would have to be EPA sanctioned sorta like Equity Cards for actors. If a promoter ain't playing ball or is acting out of self interest, wahey no players. Also this (assuming we all the players stump), could provide some investment to work on promoting the sport / lifestyle etc, think of the EPA as sort of an Employment Agency for players. Now as a self confessed capitalist the thought of solidarity of workers makes me sick to the stomach, but Pball is too small at the moment not to have a consolidated voice, especially if in competition against the new Super Pro NXL. We need a structure that has all teams of all levels playing the same format, but probably with the league structures being advocated. I can see why some of the top teams wanna play a different format, however this may not help the rest of the balling community as you've just segregated further a fragile group of like interests.

Ahh well that's me well out of my depth, I'm going back to posting my normal sh*te. Flambé away guys.

 

[raehl]

Gah...

I'd hate to be the guy at the EPA tasked with "Find out what the players want."


- Chris

 

[goose]

Chris - I think we'll wait until the choices are narrowed down a little.

It's hard enough to make a decision when there are only 2 choices nevermind the 5 or 6 that are being thrown around now.

goose

P.S. check your personal messages

 

[SteveD]

I won't respond to Mr. Expert Raehl's characterization of my format: if I answered point by point, he'd only come back here and discuss something else off topic. So, here's the blanket 'Chris is distorting reality once again - big surprise'.

Funny how he only seems to come out of hiding when I say that I'm not going to be around.

But I don't want this thread to be a Chris-Steve thing so: Chris' goal in discussing anything having to do with me or USPL is designed not to provide thought-provoking discussion, but to promote his own power trips.

Chris knows nothing of game design, and he certainly knows nothing about patents.

Given his relationship with Mr. Braun, and given Mr. Braun's relationship with NXL/PLP, I am NOT about to reveal here why and how that format does infringe the claims in my patent and why and how my patent attorney is a whole hell of a lot smarter than Chris wants to give him credit for.

Oh, and btw, so far as defensive play goes, what he said would be true if only one team was advancing a flag, not with both simultaneously. Statistics were not distorted: somewhere around 80% of the time, there were 3 or 4 players from the non-scoring team left alive on the field when the score occurred.

I don't know why I bother even answering - maybe because what I'd really like to do is illegal...

***

and I thought inbreeding was something that only took place in the Ozarks...

 

[Tyger]

For Nick :

Originally posted by Nick Brockdorff
Here whay my problem with formats including a flag is.
...
BUT - that helps very little, when what actually occurs for 99 % of game time is absolutely unrelated to the flag.

Shoot everyone - THEN move/hang/whatever the flag.

The flag is irrelevant for much of the game - and thus should not be the focus of attention !
...
But have yet to hear something come up with a solution for that, that will actually mean the game is played WITH a focus point..... as opposed to the focus point being an afterthought for the players when they have shot everyone.

Good points all. But then it's a strange format when the object of the game isn't the focal point, isn't it? Think about it. Football (soccer). Th object of the game is to put a ball into a large netted area. The focal point is the ball, naturally, becasue your'e truying to get the ball to the other side, then into the goal.

Paintball, the idea of the game is to hang a flag. So why is the focal point to shoot all opponents first? It's just odd, really.

The problem with a "shoot-em-all" game is that it would be even MORE chaotic. With no real focal point to begin with, we remove the one thing that can make a focus for the game. Mainly a flag. Now you could have, for lack of a beter term, mobs of players shooting at mobs of players. How in the world do you film that? _Plus, the problem comes up that if you have one player left, and he just 'stalls for time', the game can stagnate out. You can hype up the excitement of the "Last man standing", but keep in mind 5% of people who watch a bullfight cheer for the bull.

Rhael guess my solution, reduce firepower. Nobody will do it, which is why I don't even bring it up anymore. By doing that, limiting paint or ROF or better BOTH, you produce an environment where you can shift the focus back to the flag format. But that's IMHO.

Buddah is right, tho, what does TV stand to offer us? (A question I've asked before too) Ahh, if you want paintball on the idiot box, you need to change it. Not he 'box, the game.

-Tyger