FUMBBL :: Online Blood Bowl League

Joined: May 25, 2006

Posted: May 31, 2006 - 03:00

As a complete noob i can honestly say the Academy is really usefull, i have learnt allot from the nice chaps in the Chatroom and when ive played some of the more experianced coaches on the field of play.Today I found out that Fouling on the last turn is considerd very unsportsmanlike...even tho at the time in the middle of a game i thought it would be un orc like not to foul. Its little things like this that help the learning curve as you go from game to game.
I think the Academy really comes down to getting a good mix and if you have tooo many experianced coaches in there well then it will have the knock on effect of noobies learning the Art of cherry picking very early on and this may carry on later in there coaching careers. I myself am now looking toward playing guys my own level other 'noobs' because allthough playing against exp coaches was a good learning experiance, i have found i have faar more enjoyed games against guys my own level purely for the sake of Fun balanced game Smile

It all comes down to choice...and if a new player has a choice of playing Exp coaches and other new players then its fine...i know getting your butt kicked in a few games is part of the initiation process.

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Mnemon

Joined: Aug 02, 2003

Posted: May 31, 2006 - 11:45

ex-convict wrote:

The only reason vet coaches should make an [A] team is to try out a new race or tactics or skill combos. For example, I have relatively no experience with dwarf or chaos dwarf teams. My current dwarf team is 1/1/0, while my CD team lost both their matches (both teams in unranked). It's nice to have a group where you can make mistakes with a new race and not have it hurt your win % or CR (neither of which mean too much but are nice to look at) instead of losing 4 ranked games with a new race (ranked b/c you can hardly ever find games in most other divisions if it isn't a tournament).

And the only reason it is hard to find games in [u] outside tournaments is because that type of behaviour. Do your freaking test games in [u], and encourage others to do the same. None of my [u] teams is involved in tourneys, by the way.

-Mnemon

Rogg

Joined: Aug 12, 2006

Posted: Aug 22, 2006 - 16:31

I got pretty frustrated playing in Academy after a while because of this. Kept having to screen all the coaches I was going to play to make sure they really were newbies like myself. My team got ripped apart to the point where I allmost decided to scrap it because I just assumed I'd be facing fellow newbies.
After a while I decided I might as well just transfer to U, since there were more players LFG there and the skill level was the same.

bazhsw

Joined: Sep 05, 2006

Posted: Sep 17, 2006 - 22:40

I'm pretty new here and I've now played 11 games in Academy. A couple of coaches have been VERY helpful in offereing advice on how to play and set games up etc. I suspect I may have been cherry picked as a couple of coaches have totally squished me but I just see that as part of the learning experience! I've noticed people have refused to play me because of my low ff which to me seems to fly in the face of what academy is all about? After 7 games without a win I've found my feet a little. Sadly today I played a game where I won 3-0 and I thought I played really well (using what I have learnt from my defeats). My opponent on several occasions said I was lucky and made remarks about my blocking to defend (because he had an early turnover). At the end of the game I thnaked him for the game and he wouldn't thank me, instead saying it wasn't a game, more a one man trip. I caused no casualties and the luck in the end was 58%-55% in my favour. I think it's tainted one of my early wins. I'll get over it but I think academy should be for all new people to learn and people should not get too upset about wins and losses.

Pro511

Joined: Aug 14, 2006

Posted: Sep 18, 2006 - 03:38

[Stupid Newbie Double Post.]

Last edited by Pro511 on %b %18, %2006 - %03:%Sep; edited 1 time in total

Pro511

Joined: Aug 14, 2006

Posted: Sep 18, 2006 - 03:40

As a relative newbie who's only played acadamy games (about to transfer my first team to U) I can say that Acadamy has been relatively helpful to me. I also like having multimple teams in acadamy because, as you know, learning to play with Chaos is VERY different than learning to play with High Elves. I don't think having my first ever elf team in Unranked would be at all fun because I'm certain a good coach would crush them.

I think simply educating newbies on the dangers of acadamy would be better than restricting them. I do look at the coach I'm about to play. If I see that he's got 4 Ranked 300TR teams and 4 Unranked teams and one Acadamy teams, I know I'm in for a tough match. And if I want to play it, I know I'll probably lose. Also, if I can see that someone is clearly new, I can judge whether it would be useful or fun to play them.

I don't think I would have had any fun "learning" in unranked getting my teams smashed and destroyed by pros.

I also don't see the logic of "Newbies need to learn things the hard way." You can teach a child to stay out of the street without running him over with a bus.

It IS tough to get a game though. I've waited hours.

Pro511

Joined: Aug 14, 2006

Posted: Sep 18, 2006 - 17:49

Then again... out of the thousands and thousands of coaches on this site... the fact that the NUMBER ONE ranked coach has an Acadamy team and still plays them is a bit of a stretch.

http://fumbbl.com/~Flix

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

Wink

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Macavity

Joined: Nov 23, 2004

Posted: Sep 18, 2006 - 17:53

Hey, everyone knows I'm the best coach, and you don't see me in academy! You want to learn? Come play my ranked Stunty teams! That'll learn yah! Um..... am I off topic again?

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Mezir

Joined: Aug 02, 2003

Posted: Sep 18, 2006 - 18:02

Newbie511 wrote:

Then again... out of the thousands and thousands of coaches on this site... the fact that the NUMBER ONE ranked coach has an Acadamy team and still plays them is a bit of a stretch.

http://fumbbl.com/~Flix

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

Wink

It's called "a nice coach who likes to help people out by giving them pointers in-game, while using a team that won't mash you to a pulp".

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Azurus

Joined: Aug 02, 2003

Posted: Sep 19, 2006 - 22:53

I played a few games as teacher in the old academy, haven't been around much lately to try the actual [A] division.

Now, I'm not the best coach around by any stretch of the imagination, but the idea of 'tutoring' games is a tricky one. On the one hand, you don't want to do too much damage and make the rookie feel bad. On the other, if you pull your punches too much the rookie will be in for a huge shock as soon as they leave [A]. And if the coach really is a newbie (as opposed to an experienced RL coach who wants to learn the client), it can take a lot of concentration to avoid steamrolling them too badly - nobody likes you to patronise them by leaving your ball-carrier vulnerable, for example.

I found the best compromise (for me) was to play as I normally would, only trying to explain why I was doing things, and making sure to point out anything I considered to have a large effect on the flow of the game. Letting the new coach know how you would set up to break your own defensive setup works well too.

boar

Joined: Jan 18, 2007

Posted: Jan 18, 2007 - 22:19

Rogg wrote:

I got pretty frustrated playing in Academy after a while because of this. Kept having to screen all the coaches I was going to play to make sure they really were newbies like myself. My team got ripped apart to the point where I allmost decided to scrap it because I just assumed I'd be facing fellow newbies.
After a while I decided I might as well just transfer to U, since there were more players LFG there and the skill level was the same.

sames happened to me. Ive just started playing FUMBBL. Thought id play a few academy games to get used to how it works. First games were good. People of equal skill. Then along come the pros who were just there to get some easy SPP. I wouldn't mind if they at least gave me some advice afterwards.

Macavity

Joined: Nov 23, 2004

Posted: Jan 18, 2007 - 23:26

Not to be rude, Boar, but.... Did you ask for advice? It usually helps more in-game than after.

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koadah

Joined: Mar 30, 2005

Posted: Jan 19, 2007 - 00:02

boar wrote:

Rogg wrote:

I got pretty frustrated playing in Academy after a while because of this. Kept having to screen all the coaches I was going to play to make sure they really were newbies like myself. My team got ripped apart to the point where I allmost decided to scrap it because I just assumed I'd be facing fellow newbies.
After a while I decided I might as well just transfer to U, since there were more players LFG there and the skill level was the same.

sames happened to me. Ive just started playing FUMBBL. Thought id play a few academy games to get used to how it works. First games were good. People of equal skill. Then along come the pros who were just there to get some easy SPP. I wouldn't mind if they at least gave me some advice afterwards.

The pros are not visible on your record. Were you using a different account?

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Zingr

Joined: Mar 14, 2004

Posted: Jan 19, 2007 - 00:02

There is no benefit to preventing coaches from moving Academy teams to Unranked. Absurd picking and coddling of teams already occurs in Unranked on a regular basis and will increase as a result of the change. By stopping coaches from moving their team to Unranked it would prevent weaker coaches from moving their Academy teams over. Picking coaches would simply make Unranked teams and fulfil their picking dreams there.

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sk8bcn

Joined: Apr 13, 2004

Posted: Jan 19, 2007 - 10:07

I cannot say I know why experienced coaches crushes newcommer in A. Honestly, no clue. I find it kind of pointless and/or stupide. However, it would be nice to have a mark that indicates the experience of the coach on the site.

That would be helpful to categorize the game looking coaches.

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