Eurobowl Wales Feedback Thread

[Barney the Lurker]

Thanks for a great Eurobowl! As others have said the hall was great, nice and bright, and the temperature started off a bit chilly but I think that was for the best as a couple of hundred blood bowlers soon warmed it up!

My opinions on a few points that have been brought up:

* Round Timings.
- I like 2h15, I feel that this is enough time to get the game in and would question if increasing this to 2h30 people would just 'expand' their thinking time and still be in the same situations come dice down. I also like the added time pressure forcing you to make decisions.
- However, on a couple of occasions it did feel that the pairings went up and then the round started very quickly without leaving people enough time to find their tables and get ready.

* Eurobowl / Europen Split.
- I went into this understanding why this was done, but not liking it. However, in the end I actually quite liked it. It allowed time both groups to intermingle without too much impact on ongoing games. If this was to continue I'd still start the Eurobowl first, that way there would be less crowding around tables for the big event. I think its better that this is done on the 'side' event than the big one.
- Wasn't a huge fan of the later start on the Sunday. It led to a very late finish and it was around 10 by the time we we able to get something to eat and get back into Cardiff!

* Pitches
- I wasn't a huge fan of the lines. I didn't have too many issues, but you did have to keep checking and at least one opponent of mine miscounted a TD run and my teammates opponent miscounted a crowd surf.

* Food
- Food was fine, the chicken was a bit dry on the Saturday but I don't think you can get any better in the UK at the venues that would be able to host the numbers required. I think I may have been a bit spoilt by some of the amazing food I've had at euro tournaments, that we just don't seem to be able to replicate over here


Want to say again that overall I really enjoyed the weekend and these are just a few minor gripes!

[neilnickson]

*Cup-kickers excepted

Highlight of the weekend that. Closely followed by I'm the 4 the best player in the world and your shit. To which I replied I know but I'm winning. Cue screaming hissy fit

What prompted the dice cup rugby conversion?

Going 2-0 in front on Table 1 of the EurOpen. A total over reaction that irritated everyone including his Teammates.

[GutRot81]

Going 2-0 in front on Table 1 of the EurOpen. A total over reaction that irritated everyone including his Teammates.

Embarrassed I think more than irritated. In golf if you Chuck a club it's DQ. This guy should have had to forfeit for kicking the cup. Sadly I feel hawca saying that the behaviour wasn't appropriate and not properly penalising the player sets a bad president.

It's disrespectful to the opponent. Disrespectful to the other players. And more importantly disrespectful to the organisers who's reputation was on the line with the venue having assured them of good behaviour etc.

People shout people cheer people swear. However Chucking a mini or punting a dice cup across a hall should come with a ban not just for the comp but also all naf events for a period of time.

[Loki]

People shout people cheer people swear. However Chucking a mini or punting a dice cup across a hall should come with a ban not just for the comp but also all naf events for a period of time.

The Euro Bowl (and EurOpen) isn't run by NAF. The Euro Bowl is run by the Captains Committee many of whom (if not all) are NAF registered. Both grew up together but be careful about conflating one with the other

[Purplegoo]

One of the great things about Eurobowl is the collage of different BB cultures that come together under one roof. In the UK, we're quite quiet and reserved when we play Blood Bowl (surprise surprise), but that is less true elsewhere on the continent. It's not uncommon to hear a bit of shouting, witness rather zealous celebrations or hear a bit of swearing in a foreign language while overseas. That stuff isn't wrong, it's just different to what we're used to. If I did any of it at my local tournament, I would likely quickly develop a very negative reputation and hear plenty of tutting. However in Italy or France, they'd probably think me a strangely quiet fellow for playing in a stoic, British way.

That isn't to say there isn't a line and it doesn't occasionally get crossed. I only witnessed the incident to which you refer in my peripheral vision so perhaps I missed something, but I wouldn't be so quick to condemn. If Andy went over and calmed it down, explaining it was too much, that is more than enough for me. Forfeits or bans are on another level entirely; I think a coach would have to do a bit more than shout and launch a dice cup for that to be a proportionate level of response. It was loud and too much, I'm sure people were awkward and embarrassed while it was happening. I'm sure the coach in question was awkward and embarrassed afterwards. However, it's certainly not going to trigger a NAF response. The organisation on the day handled it, and that's where it should stay. I don't think it should become an internet thing.

[GutRot81]

Shouting screaming swearing all common and not likely to physically harm someone. Hoofing a cup across a packed room which could easily have hit someone is dangerous. It as far as I know didn't hit anyone but if it did would a talking to be sufficient?

It was a reckless act the luck of not injuring shouldnt impact the penalty.

[Joemanji]

I think you'll have to bow to experience on that one. We prefer to deal with stuff on a personal level rather than tossing out sanctions left, right and centre.

[Wotfudboy]

I've had a good read of the 3 pages of posts so far. Generally in agreement, certainly around;

Pros;
Referees were numerous and available and you could see there was a great deal of work that had gone into the organisation of it all. Announcements were clear and got people's attention.
I thought the website was fine, but like all things this could be improved.
I didn't have any complaints about the hot food. My chicken was plump and (struggling not to say 'moist') succulent. Portions, drinks, extras were plentiful too.

Cons;
I appreciate the reasons for the Eurobowl/Europen split, and for feeding reasons it made complete sense, and if nothing else, reduced bar and toilet queues for sure. However... and for me and my Europen team it was a big however... Day Two could have easily started earlier. I can understand the two hour registration window on Saturday as everyone tries to get there on time/traffic/trying to find it etc, but Sunday could easily have started earlier - everyone knew where the venue was by day two, people had arrived in Cardiff already etc - not being able to start our Europen game one until 11am just seemed a step too far. It was a 3 hour drive back for me with a family in tow with work/school the next day... as it is I missed an excellent closing ceremony because of this. I can't have been the only one.

I get what others and Purplegoo have put so well above regarding mixes of cultures and approaches etc, and I'm all for a bit of team camaraderie, and getting excited/loud when important dice rolls happen or a win/loss/draw has a big effect on the team result. However, and yes, it's another 'however', along with the two lots of end-game countdown music, the announcements, and general hubbub of the hall, I felt that there were coaches that just were loud just for the sake of being loud. I heard a number of coaches complain of headaches and irritation at this. I don't expect chess-hall silence, and it wasn't just my sense of Englishness being offended... There's passion and excitement and then there's just drunken exhibitionism. Some of the passion was a little exaggerated shall we say... such as running out the room in what I think was joy... but that's all part of the spectacle I suppose.

Lastly, and this is a really small con - we had a nice little vendors/stands area, but it would have been nice to have more - similar to the NAF Champs. Browsing stands etc would have helped kill time in between the rounds more.

That being said, all in all very pleased to attend. Nice work ladies and gentlemen!

[fromherashes]

It was my first Eurobowl/Europen and I loved the experience. As an extended part of Team Scotland seeing the Thistle Hurt guys get 3rd was epic.

Highlights:

1. I got to play some great, tense games. Particularly the games against Begoter and VMCat who were great to chat to as well as having the experience of the game itself against solid opponents. I actually feel like I’ve learned a lot from those games, and I’m thankful for that opportunity.

2. The cameraderie, it was great being in the same room as the Eurobowl games and getting to experience the atmosphere of the main event alongside the Europen.

3. The venue itself was great and the staff there were a credit to the venue and always extremely helpful.

4. The refs, they did a great job. Good advice and helpful.

5. Round times were good, I didn’t struggle to keep time at 2hrs 15mins and only once played to time.

Lowlights (although hardly experience ruining):

1. The staggered start, whilst I get the reason why on paper, in practice it didn’t feel right and there was a lot of waiting around. Finishing late was a ball ache too.

2. The number of stalls selling stuff could’ve been better. It was great talking to the Thruddbowl guys and I picked up a few things but I think it was an opportunity missed there.

3. The food was passable, but again understandable given the size of event. The chicken was a bit dry. Second day was better though.

[Pipey]

Feedback - thank you for raising the bar a considerable distance. Best EB and EO we have seen in my opinion. I understand the logistical challenges and understand why the staggered start was in place; everything went smoothly and may not have done without it.

A take-or-leave comment on the EurOpen from an observer rather than a participant... Were there too many teams taking "Tier 0" lineups i.e. woodies, dark elves, undead etc.? I know there were several who took unusual combinations, but lots did just pick from the top three or four of the power axis. Maybe EO could stay as it is but use the Tier Score as a tiebreaker (before individual wins, SoS etc.), much like NAFWC rules will be doing next year i.e. in the event of a tie on team wins, the team taking the lowest tiered races is placed higher. Take 3 x Tier 1 and you are never going to win that tiebreak... Food for thought?

[straume]

There's passion and excitement and then there's just drunken exhibitionism. Some of the passion was a little exaggerated shall we say... such as running out the room in what I think was joy... but that's all part of the spectacle I suppose.

No offense meant, but this one made me smile. [British accent] "Some of the passion was a litte exaggerated shall we say...." So wonderfully British!

I think this is absolutely a cultural thing and it is quite healthy for us to cross borders and meet. We Norwegians tend to be more somber, like the Germans and the English I guess (I say that but I might have tossed my dice cup in the wall once or twice...).

I also dislike the ones screaming over every single dice roll for an hour or two (horrible noise), but a run of joy after winning EurOpen....Now that one is absolutely reasonable and I applaud his enthusiasm. I might have taken a dance and a run myself had we beat the English (instead of getting thumped as expected )

[GutRot81]

A take-or-leave comment on the EurOpen from an observer rather than a participant... Were there too many teams taking "Tier 0" lineups i.e. woodies, dark elves, undead etc.? I know there were several who took unusual combinations, but lots did just pick from the top three or four of the power axis. Maybe EO could stay as it is but use the Tier Score as a tiebreaker (before individual wins, SoS etc.), much like NAFWC rules will be doing next year i.e. in the event of a tie on team wins, the team taking the lowest tiered races is placed higher. Take 3 x Tier 1 and you are never going to win that tiebreak... Food for thought?

How about a europen squad must have 1 of each tier. That would be very interesting.

[phil78]

How about a europen squad must have 1 of each tier. That would be very interesting.

Why not something similar for Eurobowl too if people want to see more lower tiered races

[rolo]

The EurOpen race stats are on the website - Dark Elves, Wood Elves, and Undead were the three most common races, together there were 79 of those teams out of 210 total. My opponents were Lizardmen, Dark Elves, Dark Elves, High Elves, Chaos Dwarves, Wood Elves. Decent mix.

I think in past EurOpens there were more low end, tier 3 teams - I think this specific ruleset (no star players) kind of made that a little bit more difficult but in the end I feel like there was a good mix of races.

[lunchmoney]

I think in past EurOpens there were more low end, tier 3 teams - I think this specific ruleset (no star players) kind of made that a little bit more difficult but in the end I feel like there was a good mix of races.

Yes, and I think we have to give much kudos to the two Stunty coaches! Neither of them shamed themselves with 6 losses. Well done them