standardization in our hobby...

[beenutt]

Ok, here is a subject that has been talked about for a long time but I would like to open up the topic again. Electric football - can it grow without some type of standardization?

One of the greatest things about electric football is that we can play the game with our own preferences - starting with solitaire and even in our own regional leagues. Some people like using the passing sticks. Some people play with dividers. Some use a 3.2 weight scale, some have 4.0, some have no limits. Some play on small fields and others on monster boards. We can play how we are used to playing and we play according to what we like. I enjoy this part of the game but does it limit how much this hobby can grow? Can we grow the game nationally if every one is playing a different variation?

I guess we need to ask ourself - What do we want this hobby to become? For myself, I'd like to see us on ESPN 2 televising the national championship of electric football. I think it would make for great TV - at least more exciting the paintball championships.

I look forward to hearing from the electric football world on this on.

beenutt

[RooMorgans]

Originally Posted by beenutt

Ok, here is a subject that has been talked about for a long time but I would like to open up the topic again. Electric football - can it grow without some type of standardization?

One of the greatest things about electric football is that we can play the game with our own preferences - starting with solitaire and even in our own regional leagues. Some people like using the passing sticks. Some people play with dividers. Some use a 3.2 weight scale, some have 4.0, some have no limits. Some play on small fields and others on monster boards. We can play how we are used to playing and we play according to what we like. I enjoy this part of the game but does it limit how much this hobby can grow? Can we grow the game nationally if every one is playing a different variation?

I guess we need to ask ourself - What do we want this hobby to become? For myself, I'd like to see us on ESPN 2 televising the national championship of electric football. I think it would make for great TV - at least more exciting the paintball championships.

I look forward to hearing from the electric football world on this on.

beenutt

I hope to never see our hobby on espn2. Everyone really needs to sit down and think about what that would cause - both from intended and unintended consequences.

I completely understand the potential this and similar questions have for discussion and understanding. As mentioned, it has been kicked around many times in the past. But I am going to be brutally honest....... It isn't going to change many minds, if any, from past discussions on the subject. I say that because....

It is much like we met in a conference room, metaphorically speaking, at say, a Holiday Inn. In that meeting we kicked this question around and all in attendance chimed in. OK, Now we load up the bus and move those same people in attendance to say, a conference room at the Radison. We now ask the same question.

I guess what I'm getting at is "same people, same question, different room." The only thing that changed much is the room. Most people already have their minds made up and have moved towards their wishes, agendas or desires on this and other significant issues. I see no point in preaching to the choir but to a small degree. Especially when a little research on history of events, similar hobbies (successful and not so successful) and business ventures will answer this question for anyone willing to do so.

So without preaching to the choir, too much, YES, standardization is essential to the continuous growth and success of this hobby, especially in a public arena. That said, I encourage anyone who doubts or does not agree to do what makes them happy. I mean, after all, if one is not happy with what they are doing then why play? With or without standards, do what you want to do. It's your money, your stuff and your enjoyment that is on the line. Don't put too much on thinking you need to get on board a particular bus and don't put too much on worrying that you may have missed a particular bus. Concentrate on enjoying the trip - a trip you want to go on. The rest, I assure you, is far less important.

Nothing mentioned above is solely to do with EF. It's just common sense that applies to many aspects of life. There are always exceptions to the rules and there are always exceptional situations. But as worded, they are exceptions and exceptional. Not the norm.

-Mike Pratt

[Treks1]

Is a great topic. I agree I believe that for the hobby to flourish we do need a standardized set of rules..... This has been the subject of debate for some time but I truly believe that with a national, standard set of rules and equipment national recognition and participation would follow. This is a great hobby I beleive a lot more young people would participate if there was more awareness. I for one got back into the hobby when I saw an ESPN commercial that featured the game.....

I would think that such rules should have come from and been pushed by the licensed manufacturer, Miggle Toys, however, they have been more interested in the business aspect of E-ball then playing the game (which is fine and works for them). Hence there has been little or no leadership in this regard. We could consider the convention rules to be "official" but they are only in effect once a year.

I counted 50 or so leagues on the Miggle web site. I know there a probably more but some of these leagues are defunct or solitaire leagues, and I don't think they should be counted. Perhaps a "blue Ribbon Committe" could be established to reasearch the possibities of establishing a standard set of rules and equipment. Or use the rules of an established National league, like the High Voltage Leage, and call those rules the National Rules. Steve.

[WEIRDWOLF]

Here again is where a coaches association would come into play.
Start a membership for whatever amount. Let's say $50.00 just to put a number on it.
Once that menbership reaches 50 people hold an election of board members. 1 from each region of the us with the US divided into 5 or 7 regions.
These 5 or 7 individuals would be in charge of creating the rules set.
The rules would have to reflect on what the majority of the EF community plays by.
Now you get the major manufacturers to sign on with their support.
Each region could then play a season under those rules. At the end set up 1 tourney and invite all the members to it. This would be recognized as the Coaches Association Tourney and would be considered the National Champion of EF. Make sure that the prize is kicking like a Superbowl Ring!!

The next year each region would then send their delegate to the rules meeting and things would again be hashed out without messing too much with the fabric of the original set of rules.

Now you have a National Set of rules, a coaches association determining the outcome and a tourney. People can sign on if they want to or not. It's not a Miggle champion or a Buzzball champion or a FF.com champion all though all of these can take place as well. Simple isn't it

OR
you can join the NHFL
which has already done all this.

Once on the boat you can then put your two cents into the rules and make it grow and change. The NHFL is more then a league...it can be the catalist to achieving the National recognition and growth that the game of EF deserves!! SIGN ON....I really don't know what the holdup is. You can still play EF the way you want to anytime of the year but just for one 8-10 game season you will have to conform to NHFL rules. Rules BY The Coaches, FOR the Coaches and OF the Coaches....4 score and 7 years ago our forefathers set up on the gridiron to ......you know where I'm going with this.....

[Treks1]

An excellent post. Myself and a few others from Michigan expressed an interest in joining the NHFL. We may have lacked the required number of players to form our own region. I am to understand that it may be too late for this year. If this is true, I hope to play next year, If not, send me a pm or e-mail me at:

martin2418@sbcglobal.net

[mantaraydre]

Coaches,

This is what i was getting at on the miggle chat, it seems the chatter about this topic is pondering in the minds of some. $50 is a nice fee to join.
This hobby would grow a great deal if newbies and others saw that their was a coaches association established.Their are about ten to fifteen coaches here in new york but everyone is on such a different page. With this assoc, we could combine new jersey and new york for an east region if we could get get all on the same page. This would be something great in my opinion.


One gripe of mine is weight isues. Most of my fig's are reggies ff.com players, 2.0 is far to limiting a weight too be fair. reggies fig's painted with a base range from 3.6 to 4.0., without any extra added weight. So that means his fig's will have to be excluded from national play. I still would love to know why the accepted weight is so low. But with that being said, that's were a national committe on standardization would step in. If this is national then every fig from every manufacture should be allowed with an agreed upon weight for all 50 states.


Why dont we just start it and let members join little by little at their conveince, they may feel more comfortable once the see a few card carrying members . Hey wolfe, lets see if we can get the first ten interested and go from their. We have the best hobby in the land and we need to expand.

broadway-dre

[Coach Rip]

no growth, ............plain and simple, ..............and for one, any manufacturer will be somewhat hesitant to invest in this hobby any more, until the existing standards are adhered to, ..........why invest in new figures when the next guy will make a larger figures, call it cutting edge in design and dominating, when all it is is more mass on a base.

Bigger and bigger under the guise of "re-engineering/design" for better performance. Pretty soon some clown will have a GI joe sized figure on a base, or a mcfarlane figure on a base and brag about how dominant it is when it outweighs current figures by a ton.

Larger figures will automatically make existing fields smaller, ...............and correct me if I'm wrong , .......but are there not a few posts on this message board about big boards???? Ohh,,,,,,, that will be great if the figures increase by let's say a mere 50%, that means size and weight, ...........would'nt you have to increase the size of the boards as much to stay with what we have now?

If anything, smaller should be the way to go, except many of US are getting too long in the tooth to see anything smaller, . ........but it could make an existing tudor 620 closer to scale than what we have now, .................and those of you who tout a big board, I think a scale board is aproximately 6 feet long, .................increase a figure by 50% and geeze, ............you are looking at a 9' long field, ........... and I read posts about cheap big boards, ...........there are reasons larger boards cost more, ............and larger heavier figures will keep things going where most of you don't want them to go, ..........and that is prices increasing.

Caoch Rip

[Megawattz]

it boils down to betamax vs. vhs.hang on far the ride.

Goos post Beenutt, all the responses I have read are good ones, In my opinion there are alot of aspects that we need to cover before this can really happen, As stated this is a topic that has been spoken about before, but since this is a new board lets give it a whirl, I would love to see our hobby be represented on a higher scale, like on ESPN or whatever, also as stated maybe having a set of national rules to follow might be a path to get more light shed on what we do, maybe, but I think a selling point of our hobby that makes us interesting is the fact that the Hobby is different on so many levels, I see many peeps say this is the way to play or that is the way to play, or use this figure or use that figure or board or whatever, for me my interest in EF got bigger once I understood that there were so many different roads to travel in the hobby itself, I dug the fact that guys like Reg Rutlegde offered a more closer looking NFL version on an EF scale, I dug that the TBA had a way of playing that was more coaching than strongest man wins, I dig that the NHVL guys did there own thing with regions that play united in some areas of the country, I dug that the LAEFL guys chose to go with what they felt was best for them than just going along with what the hobby felt about using boiled and chemically altered bases, Standardization is a cool idea, but remember one thing there is no way to please everyone on this idea, maybe once we respect each others ideas and opinions on the hobby we can collectively approach this idea with eyes and minds wide open to the concept itself, In my humble opinion I think it will take some serious heads coming together to make this concept a reality, but what isnt needed is my way to play is best , or our rules are best , our this set of equipment is best, what is needed is acceptance, once that is achieved than we can tackle standardization.