Sleeper In Metropolis
An Interview with Kenty
by I.R. Cherry
ALRIGHT Blood Bowl fans I R Cherry here with Kenty to talk about Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Blood Bowl. As most know Sleeper in Metropolis holds the record for most games on site. So I thought it was time to corner Kenty and get the dirt on Sleeper!

So Kenty when did you first discover Fumbbl?
I discovered FUMBBL back in 2005. I had been playing at OLBBL but it became hard to find games and the client was less than user friendly. I did a search for a replacement and yahoo'd my way to FUMBBL. My first match as a noob was against Dreadclaw of all people. I fouled him into a concession. He notified me that you don't get spp for fouling cas at this site. Welcome to FUMBBL!

Ahhh DreadClaw? thats some welcome. Now Sleeper in Metropolis comes from where?
The idea of Sleeper in Metropolis came from a techno song that I enjoy by Anne Clark. It was actually on a remix album called Wordprocessing that I was listening to a lot at the time. If you enjoy good techno, check it out.

I like Techno cus it goes Boom cha Boom Cha BOOM! So why Necros?
I was drawn to necros at first because it was a race that didn't exist over at OLBBL. I played a couple of games with them and instantly fell in love with the team. Necros have everything. You've got wolves for hitting and speed. You've got wights and ghouls for ball handling. Golems for bashing and taking up space. And how can you not love zombies? They are cheap to buy, they regen and sometimes you get free ones.

Right and free is always a bonus. Sleeper plays pretty much all comers. Do you usually find yourself playing up TR/TS alot or do most offer fair games?
I try to take pretty much any matchup offered as long as it's not completely ridiculous. Sometimes I even get caught taking really bad games because I don't look at the opposing team and end up staring down Zara across the line of scrimmage. Some of the coaches are cool about offering even matches, some pick me like the game fiending cherry that I am. It's all part of the fun. It's the same reason I'm not a great poker player, I can't sit around forever waiting for the right hand... I just want to play.

Now for the coaches out there that want to have a back bone, what drives a coach to play a team to legendary status?
I never really set out to make Sleeper a legend. I just got addicted and kept playing them. I've started a couple of other necro teams in different divisions, but never warmed up to any of them so I just kept on playing Sleeper. Soon enough, we were at the top of the games played list and there was no point of stopping there.

Are Necros your favorite race or has sleeper just taken on a life of its own?
Necros are definitely my favorite race to play, but Sleeper has made it even more addicting to play them because I just love using the team.

What advice would you give a young up and comming coach that wants to play a necro team?
Even though I've played a ton of games, I'm probably not the best coach to give advice on how to "win" with necros. I can tell you that if you want to have a good time, don't get attached to your wolves. Only buy ghouls when you have lots of extra money. Training good golems and zombies are the key. Our best win streak came with a couple of awesome golems on the team.

As you know, the GLT is open as we publish, Do you plan to enter Sleeper?
Sleeper will enter any major tourney they can as long as they are in competitive condition. Problem with that is they tend to have massive TR swings due to my poor choice in matches. So I'll keep my fingers crossed that they stay healthy enough to participate. Otherwise... there's always the next tourney!

Does Sleeper have any on going rivalries with other teams? Who do you really like to lay the boots to?
Our biggest rivalry to date was against Darkwolf's "Foe Hammer" team. I hate those little guys and their steroid using runners. We haven't played against them in a long time, but he hasn't followed through with his constant threats of retiring them, so hopefully we can spill some more dwarf blood sometime in the near future.

 Any Final thoughts or words of wisdom for the unwashed masses?

Words of wisdom? Don't let Synn near your son. Don't let Ro near your daughter. Don't let Shadow near your refrigerator.

Kalimar
Hello Kalimar, and thank you taking the time to answer these questions for us. The GLN is about to be relaunched, as is the Fumbbl comunity as a whole. You are one of the makers of this change, you are the man behind the new LRB5 client, but how did it start?

Q: What was your first contact with BloodBowl? (and online BloodBowl?)? A: I've played a lot of BloodBowl? (and other GW games) during my time at the university. We had a league going back then (way before Fumbbl) and published the results via (handmade) web pages. Part of the attraction of Fumbbl to me was the possibility to bring that old league back to live after 10 years with the members scattered all over germany.

Q: Where did you gather the computer skills that are needed to create such a client? A: I'm a software engineer by profession and been doing java development for the past 12 years.

Q: You played a lot less games than some of our addicts, so where did the idea to start this project come from? A: I'm currently working as an IT consultant in the banking field, where stability and compatibility issues cause the technology to "hang behind" a bit. The original intention for starting the client has been to play around a bit with some of the newer java advancements (generics, non-blocking io, java 2d). I've actually never thought that I would really finish what started as a little pet project combining two of my interests (bloodbowl and java). The reason I play less than a lot of folks here is quite simple: I don't have all that much spare time. I work full-time and have 2 little ones at home plus much of the time I could perhaps spend playing is now spent coding the client :-)

Q: I today specced a testing match for the new client, it looks like a lot changed, especially graphics wise. Have you done that alone or did others work on that, too? A: The actual java code for client and server is 100% mine, with a few selected sniplets donated by Christer (path-finding, entropy-gathering). Lately WhatBall has joined the project and done a lot to improve the look of the client, for which I am very grateful as I have no artistical talent myself. BattleLore? (who is a RL colleague of mine) has helped from the beginning of the project with criticism, ideas, testing and countless discussions, for which I owe him a lot.

Q: The path-finding gadget is a first step into the direction of a "smarter" client. Could you imagine having an AI implemented on day? Would that be technically possible or would that require a complete recoding? A: The path-finding is simply to increase ease-of-use and not really the starting of an AI. Creating a realistic computer opponent for Fantasy Football will be incredibly hard. It's not like chess where you have straight rules and tactics and no randomization. In Fantasy Football lots of different tactics are possible, depending on team, skills, player positioning and the roll of the dice. The pure technical side is less of a problem. I could well imagine having different "Bot clients" one day that behave (or try to do) like human players. I think Grod wants to look into that more closely, for me personally it's not a goal of any priority right now.

Q: Currently, as to my knowledge, Fumbbl uses Skyjunkies client, but there is nothing more to the connection than that. Do you plan that state for your client as well, or could you imagine having a closer link to Fumbbl, perhaps to exchange data (I have the information your client gathers, eg when players got injured, in mind, that could be a big feature fluffwise)? A: I've been in dialog with Christer for as long as I've been developing the client (that is close to 2.5 years), so the interaction is going to be as good as it can possibly be. There is much more room for configuration than in the old client: you are going to be able to have your own player icons (as well as portraits) and your own pitch for example. Because of the GW issues from last year we need to keep Fumbbl and the client two separated entities however. That is why the client will be available via plaffb.net and not directly via fumbbl.com. And that's also why it is Fantasy Football and not Bloodbowl :-)

Q: Do you "fear" GW might take any actions against your project? A: Why should they do so? It is Fantasy Football with no reference to GW trademarks or graphics :-) Fumbbl and playffb.net are different legal entities, so any agreements made by one are not in any way binding for the other.

Q: Have you ever played, or considered playing, the Cyanide game? Why/Why not? A: Actually I haven't. I don't own a console and have too little time for playing computer games as it is. I'm somewhat curious about it though and would like to try it first hand sometime.

Q: Lately the amount of games dropped significantly, mainly due to the Cyanide game coming out. Do you hope for an effect on the community, to get people back to play here, or even draw the attention of some BloodBowl? players that never played Fumbbl? A: I sincerely hope so. I am aspiring to make the use of the client as easy and pleasantly as possible (which has already cuased some discussion on how much help a computer interface is allowed to give) and WhatBall has even made it good-looking. Disconnection issues should really be a thing of the past with the server keeping the gamestate (any client - or both - can drop out of the game at any time and resume play later). Fantasy Football is based on the latest ruleset (LRB6 uncensored, including the lost teams). I don't know if that is going to be enough for a "revival" of Fumbbl in any way (as some even like the old ruleset better), but it's what I can do to help.

Q: Your last words of wisdom for the comunity? A: I've never claimed to be a wise person, really :-) But I would like to use the opportunity to ask the Fumbbl community to really help this succeed by testing, providing bug reports and being a little patient. We'll have a fully functional client for the latest ruleset, that I promise.

Thank you very much for your time, and keep us updated!

Coaches Couch
Welcome back to the coaches couch here at the offices of the GLN. For this issue I have thrown a net over half a divisions worth of coaches in order to delve into the darker corners or the division so scary its very name is Black. Yes, the subject for those strapped down to the settee is BlackBox. The accused this time were:

Gunslinger: 300 B games. BWR 166.99 BBR 179.63 Ultwe: 160 B games BWR 154.19 BBR 149.04 vicius: 150 B games BWR 158.36 BBR 165.41 Tobrane78: 100 B games BWR 150.74 BBR 158.54 Wreckage: 400 B games BWR 168.99 BBR 150.89 Bullockist: 130 B games BWR 141.65 BBR 145.06

GLN: Ok. Welcome to the coaches couch session for issue 9 of the GLN, we are here to discuss B?. First up though, I would like you to tell me one thing about yourself previously unknown to fumblers. Bullockist: I’m a recovering alcoholic :D Ultwe: I grew up in 3 different countries between the ages of 0 and 13 Wreckage: I did smoke a lot of weed but that’s not really a secret... Gunslinger: My girlfriend is Brazilian and we are planning to get married this summer Tobrane78: I'm French, living in Nigeria most of the year, raised in 3 different continents, married soon to be father, used to play role playing games till I had too much work to continue and found FUMBBL to replace RPGs Wreckage: My girlfriend once gave me a BJ when I was playing against PurpleChest Gunslinger: Well I was working in Mexico when I was 25 and I dated a stripper Bullockist: BAM! wreckage wins

GLN: Next, you are all experienced B coaches. Why were you attracted to B? Wreckage: for me it's definitely the fast games, I’m too lazy to hang around like forever in R and to pick vicius: Cos R is dead, easy to find matches for your bashy teams and against good coaches Gunslinger: No sitting around waiting for games, no one calling you a picker Ultwe: To me, the random element of the scheduler Tobrane78: Got tired of R... too much cherry picking, too many games being refused... and most of all, got really tired of sometimes waiting 1hr to find a game. The box gives you fair matches most of the time and every 15 minutes, 30mins at most to find a game Bullockist: For me it’s to avoid having your balls chopped off with a cherry picking implement Ultwe: Put teams in, get a match-up out. there is always a surprise, there Gunslinger: And yes, it’s like kinder surprise, you never know if you get squishy mice or brutal orcs

GLN: What is, to you, the main difference from R to B? Tobrane78: Game quality! A game you can enjoy! Gunslinger: People are more relaxed Wreckage: Personally I think the matches I had in R were much more balanced and it was always something proper there even for a badly developed team... In Box your team needs to be on its optimum all the time and if its not games become a freaking nightmare. Bullockist: Wreckage I object, R was an **bad*word**, people only playing games where they got the max advantage. B is way more equal. The difference...teams are way more bashy vicius: Yeah, but could guess the skills of the other teams, no diving tackle, no lot of tackle, no tentacles.... only skills to basher matches Gunslinger: People are less pixel-huggy Ultwe: Yes, that's a big difference. There is less attachment to your players Gunslinger: And what everyone really wants is to play more, and box gives us that exactly, also I think its more spectator friendly seeing a lot of people come here almost just for that Tobrane78: A game is enjoyable when several parameters are gathered: low waiting time, about fair match-up, people know what to expect in terms of fouling / casualties suffered. People are much more competitive while mature about the way nuffle goes Wreckage: Look bullock... it's up to you what games you choose in R.. you can choose badly unfair games are you can choose fair games... as for B ... the box just enforces the next best game on you and often enough you end up with a disastrously undoable one Ultwe: I am not sure the teams are that more bashy... and those that are tend to be more rounded. just like agility teams are more rounded. because you cannot pick your game, you have to be prepared to play both type of teams

GLN: So, Do you still play in R? and in L? Bullockist: Nah just league, my R teams are growing mouldy in the back shed. Tobrane78: I play in L as much as possible, because it's also fun, a small community is created... R on the other hand, never play anymore. Since I found B, never felt like I needed to go back to R Ultwe: Yes, in both. leagues remain the fun-est part of Fumbbl, to me. Tobrane78: Definitely Ultwe, L is the most fun section Bullockist: L is the flagship of fumbbl vicius: I normally prefer to play R because there are more tournaments; u could play a tourney each week, but love box format cause u play against experienced coaches usually Tobrane78: True vicius: ... the most annoying thing I find in B is the lack of tourneys like smacks, scheduled or not, probably the only thing I miss from R Wreckage: Hmm I actually like to think of myself as a R coach primarily... but the truth is I haven't played in R in the last hundreds of games outside of tournaments Gunslinger: Yarr I second more tourneys as well

GLN: Ok. on to B tourneys then. Are they working? Wreckage: Definitely an instant format missing Tobrane78: Yup Ultwe: I look at B as a giant 'instant format' Wreckage: But you don’t win prizes, you can’t win. Bullockist: Would you be happy with an instant tourney like box though with the under 20 ts matchups? Tobrane78: You don't have +FF or extra cash... and no bragging rights either vicius: I think it should be more box tourneys cause no lot of teams in R, should concentrate in making more tourneys in box Ultwe: True, we miss the bragging rights. though I am not sure that we should gain them from tourneys. I think this should come more from a championship-type of format

GLN: Does B have a bad rep? and does it deserve it? Ultwe: B got a really bad reputation, when it started. I am not sure it is deserved anymore Gunslinger: Well, yes and yes Wreckage: Hmm B WAS pretty crappy when it started Bullockist: B has too many bashing teams Tobrane78: Well, me for example... I'm fairly new here, joined summer '09... only joined the box a couple months ago after having played 300ish games in R. heard many people saying B is a bashy section, where unless you can play correctly, you'll get your teams massacred a lot. But to me, no. This rep isn't deserved... and yes I do play dwarves / ogres there… but I've been bashed severally, had to rebuilt a few times and never had a real problem doing so, at least not more than in R. And whenever I got massacred, the guys doing so were "Gentlemen" enough about it, rather than rude Ultwe: When B started, the only teams to receive 'forum press' were the teams such as 'loved by elephants' Gunslinger: That is also true vicius: Yeah Ultwe: Nowadays, I find the box to be more balanced Bullockist: Man my lizzy team had 2 dice maulings close together and here I am 7 games on still getting **bad*word** Wreckage: I found it always strange that when I played something more fragile like lets say high elves id be usually scheduled to something equally weak... however that changes only at around tr 180 or so when there are just only orks and khemri left, when i play dorfs or something i usually have to play against something bashy vicius: Anyone who wants to have an elf skilled team play box Gunslinger: I guess I enforce that... to me if you play box you should expect no mercy maybe I'm ruining it but that’s what’s fun to me (Editor note): ok I said I was gonna just watch but the main reason that B has a bad rep is simply hang over from when a lot of B coaches would come to main and hack on R coaches.

GLN: That’s an interesting admission Gunslinger. Are there teams and styles of play that 'harm' the box? Gunslinger: As long as the matchmaking is at it is then I see no reason to not play very bashy, there are times where I think that there should maybe be like a dark and light group of box to get some of those pixel-hugging coaches to join vicius: Yea Ultwe: I disagree, there, Gunslinger. Tobrane78: I've met bashy teams like Nyberg's Awesomeness!! when he still had 2-Claw/RSC guys + some DP. Totally decimated my dorfs but all in good spirit and fun. In R I'd have cried like a little girl for some reason. Maybe I grew up since or maybe because in R, every time I got mauled, the opponent was always rude about it Bullockist: Dodging teams need extra payments in box Ultwe: No they don't. Tobrane78: I personally don't think there's any team that harm the box really Wreckage: IMHO I always felt that taking bashyness into account for scheduling was a fair way to even up for the advantage of better protected teams... we had countless debates about that and there were always people that argued "it doesn't matter it doesn't affect the winnings" but lets face it.. bb isn't just about winning... it's also about developing and causing cas... some people play just for that vicius: Take a look which teams there are in box Bullockist: How often do you guys play dodgy teams in box? I reckon mine is less than 1/6

GLN: If a new player came to B, from outside fumbbl, or just new to the division. what should they know/think about for team building? Do starting teams differ from R for example? do skill picks change? Tobrane78: In the Box, I feel a DP is important early on, to take care of the opponent's DP or harmful guys. At least you know what to expect and you can't go wrong skilling a guy with DP. In R, sometimes you find coaches who don't bash at all and made me feel bad if I'd bash the guy while his foul record says 0 Wreckage: About Box Id just tell a new guy: There are more bashy teams but he will get a more or less fair matchup so it's maybe a good place for him to go Tobrane78: One thing to newer Box coaches though... If you want to play a non-bashy team you MUST know how to play your team to avoid a massacre Gunslinger: Yes you pick skills that make your team survive / inflict dmg Bullockist: So true, both. Ultwe: I agree with Tobrane78 Gunslinger: You need more dp/mb as a basher and more dodge as an elf team Wreckage: what I don't like about telling people to play bashy teams is: The more we do that the more bashy teams there are, and I'm not sure there really are so many of them in the first place Tobrane78: My advice would be: get a DP as soon as possible, and play a team you know how to play or face disappointment Wreckage: And if you go with an av7 team a newbie will have exactly the same problems in other divisions Tobrane78: Not understanding why and ran back to R saying: No More B! Insane carnage Bullockist: Does B have to be DP central? Tobrane78: Well you definitely need a DP

GLN: Is it maybe true that with SO many str based teams, playing a dodgy race would actually mean some easy wins? Gunslinger: Of course the dodgy team have some easy wins here and there but they will not last 20 games Ultwe: Dodgy teams can win games, but run the risk of getting trashed vicius: Elves are the best race in ma opinion, but could be massacred any match, doesn’t matter how u play or skill your players Bullockist: Heh I thought so with lizards, got 1 easy win, then I've been running uphill Wreckage: You will have to face dorfs or cds eventually or something else that messes you up. Bullockist: I agree with wreckage

GLN: Is it ever possible to rebuild in B? Ultwe: Yes, rebuilds are possible, but they are slow Tobrane78: Yes! a big yes there! Can rebuild just fine Bullockist: I'm still trying to buy a krox about 15 games in Wreckage: Ts adjusts properly, but losing key players is as harmful as everywhere Gunslinger: It’s much much harder than in ranked of course. The risk of facing a heavy fouling team or bashy team the next match is very real in box, but yes of course rebuild is possible vicius: Yesterday my rookie ogres played against an elf team with 7 players, rebuild is possible? J their 2nd match btw. Bullockist: I find it harder than ranked too Wreckage: Imho I find Box requires just a different strategy in teambuilding ... more players less skills and you get along Tobrane78: I've sometimes lost about 50-60 TS in a game, took me 3 to 4 games to be back in shape. But that's also because my players have high AV and are cheaper than elves Gunslinger: I'm really sorry to hear that someone has beat you up like that tobrane, my condolences! Wreckage: If you play with few players in box and start losing them it’s a problem vicius: And make a rebuilding group? you only could join there 1 time each 5 matches

GLN: What’s been your proudest/best achievement in B? Wreckage: Becoming Nr. 1 at about 175 Gunslinger: Reaching 180 BBR Tobrane78: Proudest? it's a game, so no real pride there, but biggest achievement: building a team to my highest TR/TS ever. In 98 B games, I've done better than in 300 R games! Ultwe: My proudest moment: getting in the top 500 coaches, I value it more than getting in the top 1000 R coaches Gunslinger: I was also proud to get my khemris all the way to 262 tr Wreckage: Seconded tobrane! my teams also develop better here :D vicius: Skilling my ogres team in box is easier Tobrane78: True too Vicius: vicius: 636 matches without a serious ogres team, now in box I have one Ultwe: Well, Elves can't dodge your ogres in the Box, vicius: :-) Bullockist: Lol Tobrane78: Haha

GLN: And your worst moment/memory of B? Bullockist: Seeing half your team K0ed in the first half...if fact it happened during this chat vicius: Concessions are allowed, don’t know why in box are and in r no Tobrane78: No bad memory in the end. Every game I lost or players I've lost, I've been smiling about it. Bullockist: Concessions are for **bad*word** Wreckage: Probably some +100tr/+20 ts khemris... seriously... if something is messed up about the bot is that he thinks he can compensate for high ts diff by team rate, that’s just wrong Gunslinger: Slow coaches, definitely the worst thing about box Ultwe: I don't think I had a truly memorably bad moment in the Box. vicius: Me neither Wreckage: Oh and a really horrible game because my opponent never said a single word ... not even "hi" Tobrane78: Slow coaches isn't a problem! I myself ain't fast at all... that's certainly because I don't play with the keyboard short cuts and also have "little" experience, only 400ish games Bullockist: That's the worst wreckage, rude coaches are **bad*word** Tobrane78: To come back on concessions though: they shouldn't be allowed in the box! Too easy to get out of a match! Just two days ago, I RIP'd a 8 SPP longbeard in T1, coach said: I'm conceding, don't want to lose more, that's Box, not R!

GLN: Ok. You have 1 wish for B. wave a wand and it happens. what is it? Bullockist: NO CONCESSIONS, more dodgy teams Gunslinger: Bigger prizes in the tourneys there Ultwe: BWR.BBR on coach homepage, and monthly championship ratings Tobrane78: That I win all games? Wreckage: I proposed this several times: Why not just modify the concession results? Give the winner normal money instead of double... and the loser maybe loses a random player on a 50% chance Gunslinger: GTR constantly vicius: Smacks Gunslinger: Oh yes vicious, smacks

GLN: Is the lack of diversity really an issue? does it bother you? Bullockist: YES, with my khemri it’s tempting not to take tackle vicius: prefer diversity but never mind, don’t skill with tackle ma ogres and I am happy Tobrane78: Yes, lack of diversity sucks... always facing the same guys over and over. Elves in the box should be cheaper to buy so their coaches can rebuild faster and thus be more inclined to play them knowing they can rebuild in less than 20 games Ultwe: Diversity must come from coaches, not powers-that-be

GLN: Is there anyone, a B coach, that isn’t here, you want to 'big up' and 'offer maximum respect' to? For example, I am always impressed with the style/attitude and tactics of BillBrasky Bullockist: prince valiant for continuing to use insane team combinations Tobrane78: Nyberg: for building a very nice chaos team who totally ripped my dwarves and did it with class and fun Wreckage: Hmm my respects to circular logic... I'm very sorry for fouling his witch elf on turn 16 ... he’s a nice dude... and… Bullockist: kypseli for getting me a 3 day ban for saying "hi fatty" Ultwe: I was very surprised, a while back, to play manbush's elves considering his reputation in R Gunslinger: Laura for being ok with the fact that she is not the best coach around but still always in a good mood