Nppl Or Xball

[Robbo]

The direction of our sport is at the moment being influenced from the top down rather than from the player base up.
This is hardly surprising when the dynamics are inextricably connected to what's going in the US with regard to potential TV production deals.

Money drives everything here guys, whether that 'Money' influence is mediated thru recball as it was when paintball was in its infancy or as it is now thru potential TV deals, make no mistake about it, money rules.

Corinthian spirits fly straight out the window when enough of the green stuff is being waved around.
I tend to disagree with MrDan in as much I do not think the player base will decide the direction of our sport, I think the promoters (Pure Promotions / NXL) and TV companies will, and this is if they do actually decide to take paintball up as a production option.
If not, things get a little muddy with regard to future directions.
If XBall is taken up by Mr Clark then I think there will be a problem in the 'ordinary' player being able to afford because I do think it is more expensive to train and play but maybe things can be tweaked in that department.

If the NPPL make it big time, and remember they have already started on this TV road with Fox Sports last year, then I think the format needs to be tweaked to liken it toward XBall for obvious reasons.

It's all very much still up in the air with the NXL fate seemingly in Clark's hands or rather pockets and seeing he has allegedly already plugged in a million bucks of his own money, he might well be determined to see this through but then again, who knows?
Not me that's for sure

 

[Beaker]

Originally posted by Bolter
what you forget though beaker (and tell me if Im wrong) is that the lesser teams (i.e not Pro or top Am) are not sponsored with much at all.

Teams that say we are sponsored by x paintball company and play Nov or Am usually only really get discount products rather than free products, and only a few really good teams or teams with potential get free things. And Im talking about paint aswell. So if a regular team decided to play Xball and had a mad TonTon 94 cases, but didn't win, they are looking at a £3500 ish paint bill. Divide between 12 players = £300ish each.

Plus entry, plus flights, plus hotel, food, dancing girls, hire cars etc.

A very expensive time.

I am assuming that teams get no help at all when comparing costs - the costs per player for flights, hotels etc are no different, everyone needs them, although discounts are often available for 10+ people rather than 7 or 8.

Paint wise, how many cases did storm shoot - We shot about 25 i think over 2 matces, which granted wasn't enough but thats the same total as a 7man team would generally get through.

So (to make the maths easy)

7 man team shoots 24 cases 3 cases a player (8man squad)
Xball team shoots 36 cases (average 3 matches) with 12 man squad means that the cost per player is exactly the same - they each "buy" 3 cases at whatever rate the team get.

 

[Bolter]

yes but teams like ours and yours are not going to cut the mustard by losing twice and shooting 25 boxes. Im saying if we want to be successful, its going to get expensive, for anyone, without a paint deal. Especially if everyone goes Xball. Im not saying its not do-able, Im sure some Nov teams can afford it.

 

[shamu]

I agree with most of Gyro's comments, except the Chuck = Rudolph part

Without getting into the specific leagues too much (since the original question was which format is more fun), I'd have to say that how the league's focus their efforts plays a big part in the overall enjoyment of a tournament. A poorly run tournament (bad reffing, crappy fields, etc) really reduces the enjoyment of the event, and consequently the format used. While Xball is fun, I can't but think how much better it would be with NPPL-style reffing and presentation.

While we're talking about presenation, I think that's part of the reason NPPL has been more successful on TV than PSP. We've come a long way from playing in cow pastures but there are other things that need to be improved before we're taken seriously by TV. Things like presentation, reffing, organization - the NPPL does a good job, the PSP doesn't (but they're trying to improve). When you see players getting away with wiping and playing on, when the site is spread all over the place and there's no central focus, - I think these things send a message to the media people that this isn't a mature sport yet, and not ready for TV.

As far as cost/paint goes - you shoot more paint in Xball than you do in 7 man. It's a more expensive format. Get over it.