X-Ball..........The Future ?

[ascutt]

Why is it....

Why do people think that spectators get bored watching 10 minute games? I mean come on, people sit and watch 5 flippin' days of Cricket!! Grand Prix takes 2+hrs, Football takes 90mins, Rubby 80mins - christ Baseball seems to take weeks to play a game. All of these sports draw big big crowds - its not due to the length of time it takes to watch the event that draws the people, its the excitement generated during the game. I think we need games where tension can build, where moments of genius can be admired, where spectators have a chance to see the game flow. With 21 games in 45 minutes (France/Sweden) its not tough to calculate that the avarage game length was just 2 minutes - hardly enought time to look at each player before the game is over and all is reset for the next.
I just wander how many spectators at X Ball were non paintball people, these are the people we should be asking and listening to because the only way to bring sports into the mainstream is to get outside interest and that requires outside spectators.

Just my thoughts - not to detract from the X Ball format, from what I have heard from friends that played they had a ball (excuse the pun). If X Ball was being pushed as a great experience to play then I would be inclinded to support it and least try it once before forming a decision, if its being pushed as the 'way forward into TV world' then I have my reservations and would really love to hear from an non-paintballer on thier preferences.

 

[TJ Lambini]

Think some of your examples are flawed

Football - 90 mins, you can score lotsa goals. Traditional Paintball, you score one 'goal' - i.e. a hang. Surely X-Ball is a 45 minute single games, and each hang is a goal?

Rugby - same

Cricket - short snippets. There are no 'dull' bits (OK, the whole thing's dull, but anyway...) it's all very stop/start, no dead time, unlike trad paintball.

Baseball - see cricket

Grand Prix - Constant speed, constant action, unlike traditional pball.

We need to stop viewing a flag hang as game over - if a flag hang is a goal, or a try, or a home run, then X-Ball is a 45-minute game where teams score goals, and in that way is no different to soccer or rugby.

 

[Wadidiz]

More like American football...

With blocking, creating openings, going for the next 10 yards until a goal is made, running plays, coordinating moves. Also somewhat like chess where reactions to certain moves are predicted and anticipated in advance.

 

[ascutt]

Nick, TJ

You misunderstand. I am not advocating long dull drawn out games, I love nothing better than watching team rollong quick move after quick move, aggressively taking the match to their opponents. It is exciting for me to see that but is it for a non paintball person? When you watch teams like Dynasty, Avalanche and even the AA's play with quick movement, big slides, fast mugs, dives into baracades etc then that looks great but it doesn't need to take 45mins, 5 pit crew and loads of paint to produce it
I always assumed that eliminations and not a flag hang were the soccer equivilent of goals, A flag hang is just the culmination of a game - the result really - thats why you get points for eliminations as well, at least that is how I've always seen it. I would love to see a variation in points scored dependant on the time it takes to win the game, this surely wouldn't be hard to accomplish and promotes full out aggressive teams to produce entertaining paintball that doesn't require players to totally knacker themselves for 45 mins and blow 30 cases of paint just to get a result. Why dont we reward those teams that are prepared to play the entertaining paintball we are looking for, within the current game structure, and end up with the same result - great entertainment!
I do agree with Nick about the flag though, this is the 21st century after all and we still use a shabby bit of rag!

 

[goose]

It's funny how...

... these things keep popping up every couple of months.

2 years ago - Brockdorff, myself, and one of the twins from the Ugly Ducklings got together and came up with new ideas for a change in game format. Nothing drastic - but just some easy ways to change things to make it more "21st century". The ideas where sent to Laurent & others but they seem to have died.

These main ideas where:
1) Have a main game clock that everyone can see.
2) Have a big red "panic" button at each end that stops the clock.
3) Have points based on how quickly you stop the clock.

Take the 7 man game now - a game time of 10 minutes would lead to max scores of 600 points (10x60) or 60 points using decimal places (necessary for sorting out ties). A team would ONLY get points for the time it takes for them to stop the clock - forget in transit, players alive etc. Of course there would be a minimum amount of points awarded for a win, but there would be none given for a tie.

To me this would be an easier type game to try and introduce to the current tournament set-up, it's not really a new game - just a new way of trying to promote aggressive play. If a team knows they have to get as many points as they can each game then they need to play aggressive, now a team can sit on their ass and still get 100.

let's hear your thoughts.

goose

 

[TOPOR]

yeah what I wrote was probably something I must have heard from you somewhere!

I'm with you! I'm for the G-format (G for goose)

 

[Duncster]

Now, this is from the point of view of a paintballer (at least, I like to think of myself as one...).

I went down to watch last years Campaign Cup Finals, and I was bored. The games looked as though they'd be excellent and very tense to play, but watching a game go 5 minutes without a person being tagged is boring!! I wanna see the shiznick hit the fan from the off. I wanna see muggings galore. I wanna see amazing game opening moves in each play. I can almost guarantee it's the same for non-players.

As for how to fit it in with traditional p'ball. I dunno. Start with the finals matches being played in some kind of X-Ball format just to get people into it, and then start after a while start a conventional "Sunday League Football" type thing. Since the game lasts more than 50 or 60 minutes (once you take into account changeovers, and pit-stops, etc)
you could play a once a week affair, which would turn p'ball into more conventional spectator sport where you go and support your favourite team each week. Obviously it would start small, but as people get more and more into it, a certain level of dedication from outside sponsors would emerge to help the entire sport with paint costs, etc.

The Big Event: "Apex v Avalanche"

Another thought, this time on Paint bills. Why not limit the paint? since the games are geared around being very quick and high octane, simply limit the paint for each "play". easy. It will also make pit-times easier with less pots to sort out, thus needing less pit-crew members. God, I'm a genius!!

Dunc.

 

[Tyger]

X-ball problems

Ok, Dannefaerd, you wanna know X-ball's problems? HEre you go.

#1 : All paintballers have just been turned into spectators. Since England was the ONLY team to be chosed democratically, the only way on the team is to know someone who is already in the loop. Meaning that someone who has mad skills will NEVER be in unless he knows the captain. I mean, the US squad, if you look at all of them objectively, they ALL have a direct connection to Bob long, Diablo or National PAintball Supply (All the same thing, IMHO)

#2 : The format is stolen. But this is political, and I won't get into that here.

#3 : For any tournament play it WILL be expensive as hell to do. Easily, 20+ cases thrown by both teams. Easily. I can't afford to keep up with that.

#4 : The audience. My theory why the US won so easily is that they had a 6th man, the audience. Ok, you can say 'home court advantage' all you want, but reality here is that with the audience almost pressing hteir collective faces againt the netting, someone is gonna yell "LASOYA! RIGHT SIDE X!" Millenium has the right idea, the audience is too far away to really make a diffrence.

#5 : The name. "X-Ball". Nobody will take it seriously outside the paintball industry.

Now I have solutions, ubt I'm not telling them for free. They can pay me for my advice. (If you're out there X-ball staff, and I know you lurk here, e-mail me and we'll talk. Otherwise, forget it.) But, as I said, I've PLAYED the style 2 years ago. USPL. LaPorte, Indiana. October. I liked it then, it's workable, but it needs some SERIOUS tweaking. USPL needed it then, X-ball DESPERATELY needs it now.

That and I still feel ripped off from IAO. X-Ball really took the wind out of the sails of the 7-man event. I know for a FACT that most photographers were concentrating on the X-ball field, and NOT even looking at the 7-man play happening on the 8 fields behind them.

-Tyger

 

[Baca Loco]

Let's do this in an orderly manner

Originally posted by Tyger
#1 : All paintballers have just been turned into spectators. Since England was the ONLY team to be chosed democratically, the only way on the team is to know someone who is already in the loop. Meaning that someone who has mad skills will NEVER be in unless he knows the captain. I mean, the US squad, if you look at all of them objectively, they ALL have a direct connection to Bob long, Diablo or National PAintball Supply (All the same thing, IMHO)

#2 : The format is stolen. But this is political, and I won't get into that here.

#3 : For any tournament play it WILL be expensive as hell to do. Easily, 20+ cases thrown by both teams. Easily. I can't afford to keep up with that.

#4 : The audience. My theory why the US won so easily is that they had a 6th man, the audience. Ok, you can say 'home court advantage' all you want, but reality here is that with the audience almost pressing hteir collective faces againt the netting, someone is gonna yell "LASOYA! RIGHT SIDE X!" Millenium has the right idea, the audience is too far away to really make a diffrence.

#5 : The name. "X-Ball". Nobody will take it seriously outside the paintball industry.

Now I have solutions, ubt I'm not telling them for free. They can pay me for my advice. (If you're out there X-ball staff, and I know you lurk here, e-mail me and we'll talk. Otherwise, forget it.) But, as I said, I've PLAYED the style 2 years ago. USPL. LaPorte, Indiana. October. I liked it then, it's workable, but it needs some SERIOUS tweaking. USPL needed it then, X-ball DESPERATELY needs it now.

That and I still feel ripped off from IAO. X-Ball really took the wind out of the sails of the 7-man event. I know for a FACT that most photographers were concentrating on the X-ball field, and NOT even looking at the 7-man play happening on the 8 fields behind them.

-Tyger

1--Should X-Ball or something in that neighborhood be successfully launched it will have NO connection with the tourney scene as we know it except to draw players from. This is a format intended for use in a league akin to football.
As long as there are teams willing to pay to play tourneys there will be promoters willing to put on events.
2--yeah, so? Let's see if legal action follows. I'd bet no.
3--SEE 1. Not an issue.
4--it certainly made some difference but as often as not the players didn't trust the info they were getting.
5--time will tell

Did you really want an audience?

 

[Tyger]

Let's do this in an orderly manner

Originally posted by Baca Loco

1--Should X-Ball or something in that neighborhood be successfully launched it will have NO connection with the tourney scene as we know it except to draw players from. This is a format intended for use in a league akin to football.
As long as there are teams willing to pay to play tourneys there will be promoters willing to put on events.
3--SEE 1. Not an issue.
4--it certainly made some difference but as often as not the players didn't trust the info they were getting.
5--time will tell

Did you really want an audience?

1 : The fact that Bob long bitched while accepting his 1st place trophy that he couldn't keep his team for next year tells me that I'm right. It's one hting to bitchwhen you LOSE, but hwen you WIN!?!?!? Also, I never said that it shuldn't have a connection, just that we have been turned into spectators.

3 : Yes, it is, but I don't expect you to see it.

4 : Oh, it made a diffrence. Dont' kid yourself.

5 : Let's also see where "Slam Ball" goes for TNN, eh?

And, in fact, I would have liked an audience for when I bunkered the guy from Team Juviniles.

-Tyger