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spinball
Last seen 10 hours ago
frozenflame (4789)
Overall
Super Star
Overall
Record
450/214/305
Win Percentage
57%
Archive

2024

2023

2023-12-31 00:29:20
rating 6
2023-09-13 03:40:14
rating 6
2023-06-30 23:48:04
rating 6

2022

2022-04-24 03:37:38
rating 5

2021

2020

2019

2019-11-15 07:37:38
rating 4.6
2019-10-12 02:59:20
rating 3.7
2019-10-08 06:14:09
rating 6
2019-09-03 03:26:50
rating 4.7
2019-01-03 03:10:24
rating 6

2018

2018-11-14 23:21:40
rating 4.2

2017

2017-06-23 02:43:24
rating 2.8

2016

2016-02-25 10:33:07
rating 3.3

2015

2015-12-28 08:50:06
rating 4.2
2015-07-29 03:47:09
rating 3.8
2015-05-28 09:18:19
rating 5.3
2015-01-02 12:35:56
rating 6

2014

2014-07-01 08:49:28
rating 5.9
2014-05-28 01:51:56
rating 3.5
2014-05-13 06:01:45
rating 3.2
2014-03-20 09:41:59
rating 5.1
2014-02-15 02:05:01
rating 6

2013

2013-12-24 03:23:40
rating 5.3

2012

2012-02-06 20:39:53
rating 2.3

2011

2011-10-26 00:07:27
rating 4.6
2011-10-15 10:54:44
rating 3.6
2011-08-28 08:45:28
rating 5.9

2009

2009-10-18 07:45:59
rating 4.3
2009-09-24 10:45:46
rating 4.8
2009-08-18 20:28:06
rating 3.7

2008

2008-09-24 23:09:49
rating 3.2
2008-09-21 03:17:18
rating 4.1
2008-07-29 08:18:33
rating 5.1
2008-05-18 05:10:42
rating 3.4
2008-04-07 03:27:08
rating 4.6
2008-02-11 09:11:32
rating 3.7

2007

2007-10-26 17:00:15
rating 3.3
2019-10-08 06:14:09
11 votes, rating 6
World Cup 2019
This was my first world cup, so I would like to give my impressions of it.

The Good
* I got to meet up with so many of you that I play on fumbbl. Special shout out to Strider84 for introducing me to so many of the guys I have played on here
* My team: They played great and are great people. We were put forth as the 2nd "A" team going to Dornbirn "Real American Heroes". Only some of us knew each other, but we got along great and played well on the big stage finishing with a respectable 5-2-2 overall record.
* Loved playing against playing against new competition, in the Americas the competition rarely gets spiced up with foreign players. Hearing all the languages, seeing the different styles of play in person, pretty awesome!
* BANANA!!! I got a GFI dice, with a banana and a snowflake on it, it will forever be my go for it die!
* Vendors: Lots of great vendors, to many good products to mention
* The NAF officers: They did a good job of setting things right after a rough start.
* The people in general: The native Austrians and Swiss I dealt with were some of the friendliest people I have dealt with. I missed a train stop, and the help of just the random citizens to get me to the airport in the nick of time was amazing. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

The Bad
* Planning by the host: Technical issues marred what could have been an overwhelmingly positive experience, especially for the people like me new to the World Cup. These technical issues are carrying over to even today, as the final results have yet to be posted. Also the fiasco with the skill rings needing to be sorted and handed out by hand really slowed down the process. Game 1 started 3 hours late, that coupled with technical issues caused just 2 games on day 1, resulting in making up the extra game on day 2. I heard so many times during the tournament, that if this team ever got another bid for world cup that many said outright, they wouldn't show up (voiced by mostly people I didn't know, but more Europeans than I would have thought). I think that is a bit unfair, yet I understand it. For me, for the money it takes to make the trip, I would have to think twice about it, especially after day 1s rough start.
* Dornbirn's amenities: Maybe this is just my american bias coming to the forefront, but the Dornbirn area really had little to offer in the way of food and entertainment. I am used to having a few cheaper options available for eating and more selection late into the days. I realize that the hours of operation are typical of European businesses but it was difficult for my team to get used to.
* The Band: I think it was interesting to play a few sets, but they were overused, in the opening ceremony as well as the closing one. Nothing against some good music but if this was part of the price of admission I could certainly do without.


OVERALL: I think the experience was largely positive and I hope to make future World Cup trips, finances allowing. If I had to give a rating to everything together it would be probably 4 out of 5 stars. The positives outweighed the negatives, and I hope to do it again sometime. It will be difficult for me to make another because of fiances, but if that weren't the case I don't have any reason not to try it again. Thank you to all of the people I came in contact with, the vast majority made this a positive experience.
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Comments
Posted by Araznaroth on 2019-10-08 17:23:13
Nice of you to make it! I actually liked the chaos of the first day as it gave me more time to socialize with other coaches. :)
Posted by garyt1 on 2019-10-08 17:27:58
Good report Spinball. Well done on the record. Any entertaining matches?

Inputting a lot of results is quite the task even in tournaments with tens of people. Still I would have thought the World Cups would have a slick system. Some shared database that multiple volunteers are inputting results too? Though it seems it was the start that was the issue. All teams inputted? Draw didn't work?
Missing a game on a day is more than a hiccup.
Skill rings should be doable by getting the coaches to pick up themselves. Opponents can say if things look wrong. If you have their roster you can check skills when you play.
Posted by ClayInfinity on 2019-10-08 18:53:25
I was there too and I was also in Amsterdam in 2011. I think you're spot on re Dornbirn as a town... was a very sprawling Austrian country town. No centralised "pub" district in which we could meet after hours. Amsterdam was more social after game hours and is a cosmopolitan city. I didnt attend Lucce in Italy, but my friends said Italy was also better than Dornbirn for food and drink.

As for the Day 1 tech issues and the fact Round 9 and final results aren't up is disappointing, but in the end we still got 9 games in and Day 2 was a long stretch, but World Cups should be "tough".

As for the normal game stuff, World Cup is a massive event and I would like to go to every World Cup that I can and would encourage anyone else to do it if they can. Its a must do event in regards to Blood Bowl.
Posted by Mattius on 2019-10-08 19:44:17
At first i'd say you were being a bit harsh, but admitably you are coming from the US and are making a much bigger committment in getting there than some of us. So I can appreciate your expectations should be quite high!! I had a great time as well and only sad thing is i didn't get to meet more of you :D

One thing i think they should add for certain is a twitter handle for reporting match events and funny games which would be added on the big screens. The best events of the tourney could then be shared at the end. Hope to see more of you in person soon!
Posted by Verminardo on 2019-10-08 21:04:25
I too was there, didn't manage to meet up with anyone except saying hello passing people by in the hall. I had been looking forward to the players' party on Thursday but ended up queueing for skill rings all night instead (didn't get them until the next day though so might as well not have bothered). Friday and Saturday matches finished much later than anticipated so we headed straight for the hotel and were lucky we still got a decent meal there.

In fairness to the organizers they actually did a lot of things right, for example the booklets for every player, the venue itself, the catering. I also liked the band, I think they made the whole thing appropriately grand. Only stayed for the first 15 minutes of the closing ceremony but that gave me goose bumps. I do agree though that Dornbirn might have been a bit too provincial a town to host such an event. It doesn't have to be Amsterdam but something with a bit more of a night life would be nice next time.
Posted by garyt1 on 2019-10-08 21:08:06
Queuing for skills rings all night? Wow, that's bad. Definitely lessons learned on not needing organizers to personally hand out specific colours.
Posted by Flytime on 2019-10-09 08:51:16
I helped giving out the rings voluntarily.
The last team on thursday stood at my desk. I was done with them at 23:30 o'clock.
Posted by garyt1 on 2019-10-09 22:02:37
Sounds like a long day!
Posted by sebco on 2019-10-10 23:02:25
Happy to read you like our BANANA dice. Cheers !