Rule Sets-who's your relative on the family tree
 

There are a number of rulesets out there. Shootout, Buzzball, Miggle, Rules2000, NHFL, etc etc to name a few.

Are the rules you use an off shoot of another more established ruleset or are your rules completely different? In other words, does your ruleset have a parent that you spawned your rules from?

I'm interested in seeing what kind of family tree we have regarding rules. I think it is safe to say that all rules spawned from the original Tudor rules. They were the first. Sort of the Adam and Eve of rules but where does the tree branch from there?

In some ways, I think we are evolving into 3 distinct families. Shootout style, Miggle style and a Rules 2000 style. I state this not from any fact but only an overall feeling and to kind of trace the history of rules a little further and see what trends are taking place. These are only my opinions. What's yours?

I like a rule set that allows all equipment from all manufacturers . Any base , figure , board that someone wants to use should be allowed as long as it meets certain criteria.
I believe 4.0 is the way to go.
A receiver should be allowed to be angled after the catch , same with the defenders .
I like the rules to be set up so that they benefit the offense and allow the defense to be able to counter what the offense is doing.
I also like rules that allow the coaches to emmulate real football . The rules should be easy to follow and not complex .
I would prefer our league to only allow big boards , but I do understand not everyone can spend $500 on a big board.
I feel with the advancemants in big boards and custom figures , that now is the most exciting time to be playing miniature football !
I tried to attatch a copy of our league rules to show everyone what I am trying to say , but I am not computer saavy.

[quote=jeff priest;51826]I like a rule set that allows all equipment from all manufacturers . Any base , figure , board that someone wants to use should be allowed as long as it meets certain criteria.
quote]

OK, but what I would like to find out is: When you guys formed your league and started drawing up the rules, did you use an already established version and tweak it to your liking or did you go straight from scratch? Or, if you had to put them in the same family of other rules would they be most like____________??????

Send me your rules and I will attach them.

We really looked at what products were out there for sale. We then decided it would not be fair to discriminate and included all figures and bases . It really helped that I have D. Jennings { electric gridiron } , Chris Fields { 513-studios} and Bruce Watts { megawattz } in my league .
We then pretty much set down and played a game and looked at what we thought might make the game more realistic , we are still tweaking the rules after every season.
I guess if I had to say what rules we started with , it would be Miggles rules. AJ ran our league for so many years that alot of his ideas make up our leagues rules still today.
So I guess we started with the Miggle rules and grew from there.

Wolf, this is one of those...
 

really funny subjects to me in some respect.

I have always had to fight for everything, even helping people have fun. We were discussing "The Box" earlier today with Vince Peatros, Jim Davis, Greg Hardmon, LeRon King and a few others.

I remember many people saying "there was no way they would ever use the box" only to find out that yes, even in football, there is chance/luck and it must be accounted for.

I remember people saying there was no way to run against stacking only to find that guys can average 200+ yards against a stack.

I remember guys saying the style was too helter skelter, only to realize no other style of play can get you 100 plays in a game.

I remember the laughs about injuries and game changing fumbles and penalties (even out of Mr. National) only to see him profess his love for "The Box".

I have been championing the cause of a ruleset that now has more than 15 different leagues or conferences will employ in 2009. The 8 CBSMF Conferences, the LAEFL, the ACEFL, the DFW, the BAM, the SOFEFLOC, a start-up league in DC by Kevin Boddie, and another league beginning in the Fall of 2009. I am proud of the "stick-tuitiveness" and never give up approach that I display in the game for all of these leagues are starting to enjoy what I have known all alone. If you want the type of thrilling action that games are determined on the last play and you get in anywhere from 80-100 plays, the Shootout Rules offer that. They are 34 years old and they continue to work in Memphis, Tennessee among my friends back home and they have made an imprint on a national scale too.

But for me, it's all thanks to those who gave it a chance and saw the bigger picture that many could not see.

Reg

So Reg, If I was drawing up a family tree based on rulesets with the Tudor rules as the top of the tree would the Texas Shootout Rules be on the level just below that alongside of maybe Rules 2000, others etc? I am not sure I am explaining myself well here but hopefully you get the idea. I want to draw an actual family tree of rulesets using our league logos. I'm trying to get a feel for the history of the rule sets and need you guys that have been around to pass on your interpretation of the cronology.

I think Tudor is the originator...
 

of the rules of electric football, no question.

The Shootout Rules are just a derivation of the Memphis Rules, which was created based on the Tudor Rules when I was a little kid.

The Shootout Rules were enhanced with the aid of Roddy Garcia to include injuries, penalties, and fumbles back in 1995 and thus the present day rules were born. So yes, both the Memphis Rules and Shootout Rules are one in the same which were conceived from the original Tudor Rules. And yes, I think Miggle Rules would qualify that way and Rules 2000.

That's just my impression. However, the Memphis Rules did include things from the Coleco and Gotham Rules which were closely related to the Tudor Rules.

Reg

Thanks Reg! That's the kind of info I was hoping to get. I had never heard of the Memphis Rules before. Great info. Is their a copy of the original Memphis set somewhere?

Records were lost and strayed
 

Much of the stats and the original rulebook that I wrote when I was young was lost when I went to the University of Tennessee. No one back home have a copy of the rules, they just know them.

After I "evolved" into a record-keeping person in 1995, I did find it important to write down every detail of all the rules and thus, the present day Shootout Rules are very explicit.

Reg

One more question. Did Vance Warren develop Rules 2000 on his own or did he do this with other individuals or are there varied stories on this?

This is what I remembered and I may be wrong?
 

From what I understand, Anthony Burgess originated the rules that were known as Rules 2000. I do know that Vance and I used to debate the merits of each style of play. We agreed to disagree and I had always offered to show the Shootout Rules in a public forum so people could get a feel for what I was talking about.

Vance was a strong proponent of Rules 2000 and it essentially became his baby. I think the BAMA Blast still play under that format.

I know there was some tension between Burgess and Warren regarding the rules but I am not sure what had happen. I think I remembered Anthony and I discussed this in Virginia recently and Anthony was still adamant on the origination of the Rules that is known as Rules 2000.

At the point, the community was looking for a rule set and Rules 2000 offered a quick way to be competitive fast. The Shootout Rules were not embraced at first.

I'm still looking for more info from other leagues.

Chip Off The Old Block!!!!!! Rules...........
 

Could you send me a copy of your rules?

Will Do................
 

Common Sense Rules
 

We in Chicago do not adhere to any established electric/miniature rules. We play common sense football period. If they do it, we do it. Our rules aren't 30 years old (WOW! I wish I knew people that played 30 years ago!) nor are they 100 pages (YIKES!!!) of restrictions and can't do's or not allowed to do's. If they do it, we do it. thmbsp$

Ok but I am going to keep asking the same original question. When you wrote your rules ( I assume you wrote them down) did you draw from any other rule sets that already existed or did you just start pulling ideas out of thin air? If you were forced to classify your rule set, what rule set that you know of that existed before yours would they most resemble or did you draw your foundation rule ideas from? This is a geneaology question and not a my rules are the best question. Stay with me on this.....:D....

Not "my Way Or The Highway"
 

...just emphatic about NOT using any existing EF or MF rulesets. We use NFL, NCAA and AFL rules adapted to the limitations of miniature inanimate players and gameboards.

I would say the fathers of our rules would be Walter Camp, Eddie Cochems, Knute Rockne, Amos Alonzo Stagg or Glenn "Pop" Warner.
:rolleyes: :D ;)

The rules we specifically use are adaptations from all of the mentioned websites and their specific rule books. thmbsp$

We need someone from the LAEFL to chime in, as they play an alternate version of the Shootout rules.