Trying to start a League

[|)ar|<]

Hey guys , the gaming community where I live is very small and I am trying to get a league together of about 6 to 10 coaches (most likely 6 coaches)
And I would really like some advise as to how I should go about doing this set up wise , there have been attempts before to create a league (by myself) which fall apart usually about 7 games into the season, these attempts have been with structured game play (scheduled games) I would really like to make it work any help would be greatly appreciated.

[sann0638]

Whereabouts are you?

[|)ar|<]

Yellowknife , NT , Canada.......................

[Darkson]

Update your location in your profile, or at least the thread title.

[sann0638]

There are quite a few Canadian coaches on here, who may be able to give better advice as to attracting players etc, and you will get lots of advice about setting up a league. There are two basic choices - fixed schedule of games in a round robin way, or an open league where you play whoever you want (though not twice in a row). You could also allow more than one team per player, have a couple of divisions, etc.

[Smeborg]

I started a league here in Christchurch, New Zealand (population c. 400,000) a year ago. At any one time we have had 6-8 active coaches, plus a similar number of inactive or occasional coaches. The league will likely be bigger this season.

The league has worked well, some of the secrets being:

- It is an open league (people may play any time, there is no "schedule"). So it is rare for a anyone wanting a game to be disappointed.

- Coaches are allowed to enter as many different teams as they want (some coaches are much more active than others).

- Newcomers may join the league at any time (typically the more active coaches will put out new teams to play against newcomers, especially if the newbies are playing BB for the first time).

I have played in a (semi-) scheduled league not long ago in another city. It was the best league I played in from the point of view of game enjoyment. But the league collapsed the following year because a few players left, and the scheduled league had deterred new coaches from joining (it was fine for the in-group, but it repelled boarders, hence it was bound to shrink).

So I believe you must style the league in a way that causes it to grow (which, I suggest, is some kind of open league). In a few years time, if the league is big enough, then you can think of introducing some type of scheduling.

Hope this helps.

[Smeborg]

You should also allow teams to play against each other twice in a row (but not thrice). Otherwise you will get disappointed coaches. Also, two games can easily be played in one evening, so why prohibit that?

[DoubleSkulls]

Structued play (fixed leagues) is a format that is more stronger, but more brittle than open leagues. So the structure can help keep people playing when their interest levels might drop. However if they leave anyway the format falls apart quickly so the league can collapse even with a committed core.

Open leagues on the other hand can suffer from people without high commitment levels dropping out early if they lose interest for any reason (losing a couple of games for example). The loss of interest can be driven by being regularly beaten by teams who play more often and have an advantage due to superior development.

I play in a fixed league where the problem isn't necessarily commitment, but time, so we only have scheduled games once a month. There is a parallel open league that allows people to play more often too - for those who once a month just isn't enough. That's a good balance for us, and might work for you too.

[|)ar|<]

Thanks everyone I appreciate the input.

[Digger Goreman]

After a handful of fixed scheduled Leagues, I/we are playing in a Ladder League now... seems to be working well....

[Macavite]

I run an open league and I've found the key to that is keeping people apprised of what's going on. They need some way to know who's out there and to keep that energy level up.

We have a shared google spreadsheet with coach contact information, team rosters and league stats. Additionally I send out a league update email every week with a quick summary of the games played, links to other online resources and other league info (house rules, rule clarifications). Finally, almost every game gets a summary posted to our livejournal site (community.livejournal.com/geekslayercup). At first it was me posting quick single paragraph summaries, but lately other people have taken up the mantle and the stories have gotten long

I'm finding all this helps keep the occassional players involved and up to date. However, it is certainly more work than just setting up a schedule and letting people run with it.

We run a 6 month "season" with a championship at the end for the top ranked 4 teams. Each team is limited to 8 games in the season, so our "lower output" coaches can still compete. However, coaches can run as many concurrent teams as they like, so hyperactive coaches can still play every week, just not with the same team. We've currently got 6 very active coaches (with multiple teams) and another 6 low-activity coaches.

[Smeborg]

I run an open league and I've found the key to that is keeping people apprised of what's going on. They need some way to know who's out there and to keep that energy level up.

Agreed. I send our coaches a weekly e-mail reminder, and from time to time I do an "edition" of The Fluff! magazine, which is a light-hearted compendium of gossip and mayhem from the league. It's popular enought that coaches complain if their team doesn't feature!

2 of our 3 playing sessions each week are in popular gaming clubs. This helps to grow interest, as we are visibly (and audibly) having a lot of fun as we play, and BB seems to be a good game to watch for a while as a spectator.

[Pagan]

We also have a small league, and our first season was a scheduled round robin format, which proved to be a disaster. I was originally against the idea of an Open league but now see why that was added, and think the game is better for it.

All of our coaches have weird schedules, so usually I send out an email with dates I can make it, and encourage others to meet whenever they can. If you play at a store, keeping a field and some dice stored there helps a lot. Wal-Mart/other stores sells nice 30"x20"(or so) foam boards that can be made into fields with dugouts, score/reroll counters and scatter templates with a few hours work. Even can tape a good Dungeon Bowl dungeon to the bottom of them(if so inclined).

The other major thing I've seen help is a strong central presence for the league. If it looks organized players will usually be more interested in trying the game/staying active. This includes either an active Commish, or even better one of the several web based league managers. I've used OBBLM since the start of our league and it has always had some interest, in tracking the memorable Matches which people enjoy setting a record in or in complicated stats for standings. Link in the sig to our site. It's fairly easy to setup if you have some webspace and access to a hosted database.

Our skill level of coaches varies as expected, so instead of just using Win/Loss to determine standings our wacked points system keeps people playing in a hopeless game and lets the bottom teams fight for position amongst themselves.

Another nice thing is the Trophy pack has turned into a nice attraction for us. My Dark Elves placing their Chaos Cup in their dugout facing the opposing coach's sideline has generated even more interest in the trophies,(including faux team photos before and after every game with the trophy at center field) and even to the point leaving them unpainted so the first winner gets to choose how to paint it. Just waiting to win a trophy that someone put their team name on, so I can cross it off and write mine overtop. Little things like that go a long way to getting people interested and drawing attention. Our website banner up top also changes with in some form to honor the team that last won a major tourney. Nurgle is our recent winner.

Finally, always carry two demo team rosters on you too when playing in public, so anyone who just wants to try the game can jump right in without any effort. We've picked up two players because of that.

[Setomidor]

I'm also (co-) running a local league with 12 - 15 coaches, and we have a league concept that our group is very happy about:

- 5-6 rounds of scheduled games (normal round robin). This means that each coach knows whom to contact in order to schedule a game. This is great for new players, as they won't be isolated as the old coaches play each other.
- If you and your next opponent both played the previous round, you can play your game instantly. Otherwise, you have to wait until the official unlocking date for each round (which is about 5 days per game, so round 3 is unlocked for all after 10 days). This means that a player going on vacation etc. will only cause his opponent to wait for ~5 days.
- After these scheduled rounds, open season begins. Players are free to play any number of games they want for a specific time (roughly 1.5 - 2 months).
- We play a small series of final qualifiers based on ranking in the league (last season was 4 groups of 3 players), and the winners of each group plays semifinals and then finals.

This means each season lasts for about 3 - 4 months, which for most people equals 13-14 games. We also use a dedicated part of the local forum for match reports / flame wars, which I find absolutely critical to keep the interest up. I also think that having a definite ending for each season is a very good thing, as you can fail horribly one year and still be confident that everyone will start over from zero in just another few months.

[|)ar|<]

Thanks alot everyone for your input, I am in the process of starting the league up , getting people interested. I really like the idea of documenting stats on a website along with short blurbs from each game with highlights and such , also I think I will have to find a trophy for each season winner.

keep the ideas coming , its very helpfull