Tabletop Sports Weekly 4-7-2003 (2387 total words in this text) (890 Reads)    Happy Monday!  And welcome to another edition of Tabletop Sports Weekly. Last week was quite a whirlwind for me, and I never got a chance to add my opening comments.  I'll try to make up for that this week. We had a huge jump in subscribers this week, adding over 60.  As you might have noticed, the website has been as busy as ever.  It's good to see new folks join our "family". Speaking of the website, I am going to solicit some help.  I'm in need of someone with a high speed connection to serve as my "backup specialist". The website is now WAY too large for me to back it up regularly on this dial-up account of mine.  We have almost 400 downloads alone, and should something ever happen, I sure don't want to have to start at ground zero again and enter those manually.  So, if you have a broadband connection, and would be willing to backup the site once a week, please contact me.  I'm always looking for reviewers as well.  So, if that is something you would like to do, please feel free. Ok, now that I have that out of the way, my gaming over the past two weeks has pretty much been confined to 3 games.  Replay Baseball for a retro league I'm involved in;  Legends of Wrestling; and my latest new toy, Wrestling's Finest.  I know that whenever I talk about wrestling, I usually upset a couple of you.  But, I make no apologies.  I've been a wrestling fan for a long time, and the latest games I've added to my collection have really sparked that passion again.  I've spoke at great lengths on Legends of Wrestling, so today, I'll talk some about Wrestling's Finest. Some have said that Wrestling's Finest is the Title Bout of Wrestling games. I'll partially agree with that assessment, in that it does have that "flavor" with the control factors.  However, WF is MUCH more detail oriented than Title Bout.  Every nuance of professional wrestling has been accurately captured in this game.  I know it seems irrational to talk about realism in professional wrestling, but this game is by far the most realistic representation of the sport on ANY platform. I won't lie, the learning curve for the game is pretty steep in my estimation.  While learning the game, my emotions went from utter confusion to anger to elation.  I'll expand on that a bit.  At first, there is so much to learn that it can be rather confusing to follow everything.  Luckily, my good pal, Dave Arlington has created a quick reference sheet that simplified everything nicely.  I'll also readily admit that there were times when I was just plain frustrated, as the location of some of the ratings doesn't make a lot of sense.  Once you've referred to them a time or two though, you get past that ;) If you have the patience though to stick with the game, the end result is pure and total elation.   I have a virtual pro wrestling world on my tabletop now.  One that lends itself to great storylines.  I want to interject here that this game isn't like Face to the Mat in which the storylines are created right before your eyes.  However, the results themselves in Wrestling's Finest just make the storylines happen.  For example, in one of my matches Bret Hart had Ted Dibiase on the verge of defeat.  Out comes Jerry 'the king' Lawler with a chair to not only breakup a pinfall, but he and Ted did enough damage to injure Hart for two "cards". So, there you can easily see a feud developing between Hart, Dibiase and Lawler. In addition to storylines, this game has a very innovative counter system that really shines in the realism department.  A great example of this would be a hairpull move on say Goldberg or Steve Austin.  Both men are notoriously bald, and the game will not allow a hairpull maneuver.  You also aren't going to see King Kong Bundy leap from the top rope in this game.  I know I've said it earlier, but this game is a realistic as a pro wrestling game can get. Other than the learning curve, the only non-positive thing I can say about the game is that it is on the pricey side.  The game and 50 wrestlers will set you back $40, which includes the shipping.  There are plenty of wrestlers available for the game as well which sell for $15 per set of 25. $10 if you order them with the full game.  For two years, I sat on the sidelines with this game, due to the cost.  Having played several matches though, I can honestly say the game is worth every penny.  I also want to interject here, that each wrestler comes on a 8 1/2 X 11 sheet of cardstock. So, most of the "expense" is due to good quality.  This game will certainly stand many hours of gameplay.  The quality also translates to high shipping costs for Tommy, the game's creator. So, I don't want to give the impression that the game is overly expensive.  However, to leave this out, I would be remiss.  As cost was certainly a factor for me for a long time.  Now that I'm playing the game though, I truly wish that I had ordered it long, long ago. Ok, I'll stop my free advertisement. ;) Last week, Dave Arlington mentioned Wizards of the Coast, and their licensing setup.  On a personal level, I think this is a fantastic idea for those that want to make official add-ons to sell.  I really think the idea is a stroke of genius on the part of the company.  I'll also add that I don't necessarily think that folks that don't "license" are in violation of the law.  In fact, I'll suggest that Wizards knows this, as any company that seems to challenge the system ends up being purchased before the case gets to court. I also think it's important to point out that the belief that Wizards has a piece of every collector card game out there is false.  Again, the company buys most that oppose their position.  Except in the case of Nintendo and Konami.  And I challenge anyone to show me a "license" on a Pokemon or Yu-gi-Oh deck! ;) I sure don't want to come off as some wacko warrior against copyright and gaming.  That really isn't/wasn't the point of my bringing this topic up. Actually, had it not been for threats against me and the site, I would have never really delved into the subject.  I do think it's an interesting topic.  And I do think there is certainly a few people out there that would love to push inaccuracies and fear as a means to make more profit.  I also find it quite funny that those that champion "rights" in gaming usually don't feel the same when it comes to player, team, and league licensing. I guess that's all for me this week.  Now, let's get to your posts! -Jeff Downey www.tabletop-sports.com submit@tabletop-sports.com ============================================================= >From Allen Shock: Just to make a slight correction to something that was in the latest Table-Top sports newsletter: The Open Gaming License that Wizards of the Coast came up with is a free license. It allows publishers to use the basic system as delineated in the D20 System Reference Document for free. However, publishers using only the OGL cannot mention any Wizards trademarks, which means they cannot say "compatible with Dungeons and Dragons". There is a separate license for the d20 Logo, which allows identification with the trademark but requires said product to omit certain fundamental rules and then say "This product requires the use of a Core Ruelbook published by Wizards of the Coast". Wizards collects no royalties on these licenses. Their benefit is in increased sales of their somewhat expensive core rulebooks, of which Dungeons and Dragons is the main example. Also, the OGL requires that at least 5% of an OGL product to be "open content", which means other OGL/d20 publishers can use those rules etc. also without paying anything. Allen Shock ============================================================================ ============================== >From Lee Harris: Another great read, and an issue I picked up on is that of "asking for stats". I find myself spending a lot of time now making season cards for Statis Pro football, and theres one or two sites that have a lot of good stats but always theres a lot of hard work manually tweaking stuff, mixing and matching and cross referencing. It would be great to get official stats but whenever I try to write to NFL.com, or Sports Illustrated or even Elias Bureau, no one ever replies. Whats the big premium on such information, I mean, OK, someone had to collate all this data and information is power they say, but what the heck do they think people want this for. Even if I explain its all a non profit for fun kind of thing for tabletop enthusiasts, nothing comes back. I've even offered to pay for stuff. Someone, somewhere has to have all this stuff in a handy zip file, and how great would that be if we could get a copy. Freedom of information? I dont think so! Sadly, the end result is this information just gets lost and is never really used to its full potential. I mean, this is not a marketable asset, as I doubt more than a  handful are interested, so what are these people gaining? Its great that MLB.com seem to have historical stats but the NFL only show the last year or two and even hobbyist stats sites dont have a complete set of old data. I understand in the real world, everyone likes to put a value on things, but I've spent many years running a very large internet golf tour for free, and I've always enjoyed the tabletop style of hobby where people do things for free, for the love of the game, and I think its a shame more big organisations dont do more for releasing information, which, lets face it, is not going to make them a raft of money but could be used by people who willingly give their own time and effort to create things for other people to freely share in. ============================================================================ =============================== >From Jason Graham: Hi Dave, I'm not against one's right to protect their intellectual property.  And if all game company's were as forward thinking as this (WOC) company, then growth would continue in a proper and good fashion.  His company is growing and succeeding because he recognized the need to share and work with others, even after he won in litigation.  His willingness to work with others toward being recognized for his legitimate and "authorized" games is a good idea.  I, for one, agree with copyright law (and I have copyrighted and registered all of my original and creative work, from my music CDs to my table top sports games); however,  I wouldn't be crazy enough to kill a successful venture (nor did the this West Coast fella it appears) by squashing all the inspired and creative work that continues to "spur" the industry onward and upward. However, I will say this.  My point still stands that if he had used his success with the lawsuit to "restrict" others, then he might have found himself in perpetual lawsuits, and might have slowed the industry and excitement for his own games.  However, that is only a guess.  I personally respect all copyright law, but that is because I personally believe it is there to protect the author of original work from others posing as the "real magic cards" etc, etc,...and to protect artists from seeing their work literally stolen or copied and sold (black market CDs for example).  It doesn't protect the idea.  I cannot copy Magic cards and sell them as my own...that's the law; however, I can make a card game call Geezuts and sell them as a new and original card game...that is capitalism and that is free trade and free and fair competition...Antitrust laws protect me from the same abuse of patent and copyright law.  I wonder if one of these other companies had counter sued as Antitrust practices it would have ended the same way? Thanks Dave. Good conversation. Jason Graham PS -- Please understand this is a friendly dialog, I'm not looking to upset or fight with anyone...I just want to discuss and communicate these ideas.  This is how we all learn and grow. ============================================================================ ============================= >From NJ Hickman: Kent Rodway wrote: > Regarding the stamina levels for basketball games, I am in agreement that > the "average" game does not provide the best for replays.  [snip] > My favourite board game is Statis Pro, allowing me to redo the great > Celtics/Sixers/Lakers rivalries of the 80s. > > My solution to the stamina problem is to ignore the stamina levels for > Statis Pro one-field-goal rangers and let the stars play to their best > abilities.  The scorers will eventually have to sit down with foul > difficulties, forced rests and injuries, or by simply taking them out of > junk time.  This also puts an extra disadvantage on the teams that had one > or less players in this category.  This also allows for big rebounders to > stay in the game longer and clean out their share. The "new" base-10 version fixes all this, by using the number of FAC turned as a limit, rather than stats collected.  If you like Statis-Pro but don't have this version, I recommend you try to find it.  This version not only allows some shooters to collect big scores - there is even a new Z-result that allows a shooter to have a Hot Hand for the night - but lets big rebounders collect big hauls.  Under the old system, it was rare to have any player score 30 points, and rarer still for 10-rebound tallies.  Under the new system - where I have played fewer games - I have had a decent share of 30-point games with an occasional 40-pointer, and on the glass some 10 and even 20 rebound nights (and Dennis Rodman will collect more rebounds than points, something he rarely did under the old system where it was too tempting to use his stamina for shots!).  The new improved Assist system actually allows StocktontoMalone to happen a realistic number of times per game as well! One day, when time permits, I'll put some detail about this system, and my own league I run, up on my website (don't hold your breath, it's been on the List of Things To Do for 4+ years now!!!) NJ Hickman ============================================================================ ============================== >From Mike Morgan: (Mike didn't send this to the list.  However, I included it as Mike is a great source for Statis Pro Baseball cards from all years.) Jeff, I'd appreciate it if you didn't post my spreadsheet tool for Statis Pro baseball. It was a headache to support and had a number of significant algorithm bugs that were leading to bad ratings. I've since modified the entire thing and now have tools that have much better arm and fielding ratings, individualized BD and CD ratings, and hitting cards for every pitcher. I have also introduced ajustments for the average pitcher and average hitter each season so that cards made for one season can be used with another. Acrobat Reader files of past seasons are availble from my web site for $9.50. The current (2002) season is available for $12.50. I also make custom sets. This has been a much easier way for me to support Statis Pro and frees up my time to work on other projects. Supporting a software program was a much harder job. I usually have the current season set finished in time for the playoffs and World Series. Anyone interested can visit my web site. The link is in my signature. Don't hesitate to drop me an email if you have any questions. Thank you! Mike Michael Morgan michael-morgan@mindspring.com www.geocities.com/mystatispro ====================================================================================== (END of TSW) ======================================================================================    [ Back to Tabletop Sports Weekly Archives | Sections index ]

All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. The comments are property of their posters, all the rest (c) 1998-2012 by Jeff Downey and Tabletop-sports.com