42 replies to this topic

[Galaxy613]

Even now when I explain my hobby to family and friends, I always try to stress that it's primarily for fun, and fun alone, and that if anyone start to take things to seriously we remind ourselves, we are running around in a public-ish area with children toys.

I've met Ice, Talio, Groove, ForsakenAngel, CaptainSlug, Zaxsby, and do I feel intimated by their presence? Nope, a few of them of big followings but stuff like that doesn't matter in the middle of a game, and they all are kool guys. If I was nerfing to win I would've quit after my first DCNO. But I always count my nerfing experiences with how much fun I've had, not how many 'kills' I've gotten or how many rounds my team won, and I intend on going to many more nerf wars.

Man, this makes me really wish Fall DCNO happened, hopefully that other DC war will pan out.. I can't wait to nerf again. :3

Edited by Galaxy613, 18 November 2009 - 03:43 PM.

[ice]

There is a competitive spirit, but when the game spills over and becomes a full blown competition, it stops being fun.

You don't find competition fun? I mostly agree, nerf should not be a mostly, or even half competition, but some competition keeps thing up to speed. You get people who just plain old aren't motivated to play, and that's not fun either. IMO just a wee bit of competition on the playing field keeps the hobby alive, because friendly rivalries are made, which encourages more wars, and people to get together. Call me a douche, but I enjoy a bit of competition.

[JATDO]

There is a competitive spirit, but when the game spills over and becomes a full blown competition, it stops being fun.

You don't find competition fun? I mostly agree, nerf should not be a mostly, or even half competition, but some competition keeps thing up to speed. You get people who just plain old aren't motivated to play, and that's not fun either. IMO just a wee bit of competition on the playing field keeps the hobby alive, because friendly rivalries are made, which encourages more wars, and people to get together. Call me a douche, but I enjoy a bit of competition.

You're a douche.

I mean if all if us were to lazy to get off our ass and nerf, then there would be no NIC. I think we are overlooking the fact that nodding our guns and sharing our mods is almost or even bigger then actually fighting. I think pure compatition at wars is over rated, wars should be more of a meeting and showing each other how well our guns work and how well we can use them.
We should be competing for fun!

(I'm not actually calling ice a douche, just calling him what he said in his post.)

Edited by JATDO, 18 November 2009 - 10:20 PM.

[VACC]

No, he is NOT saying that you should mod first and nerf as a side effect.

Viking, clean up your mess. I'm sick of the smell of meade and hymen.

VACC

[Equilox]

I have never been very good at modding, and thus when I go to wars I end up borrowing someones gun after mine breaks (That is if it ever really works) and then running around getting shot at. I have to admit that on occasion I feel good about winning a round and then I brag about it to my Nerf buddies. But as a whole, my total lack of ability to shoot, "pwn", whatever the competition has taught me to just have fun with it. Take a few hits and laugh. Like I said, I have gotten a kick out of whipping up on someone, but only to turn around and have my butt kicked.

This game has always felt like a nerd's sport, that's why I like it. As with a pick-up game, it's hard not to get a little competitive at times. It's the moments when things get out of hand that it ceases to be fun. There is a major debate over the +bow among the Midwest nerfers, is it too good?( Now I'm NOT starting that here, I'm using it as and example.) Weather or not it rapes the compitition is not the issue, the issue is why does it matter. What compitition? This isn't a tournement nor is there anything to gain. Like any of us walk the streets proudly procailing nerf victories. We do this because we love it. For the love of the Game right?

As Talio said, I can't control you but I can control myself. I'm gonna work toward eliminating the competitive nature from myself at these wars and hope others will see it, and do the same.

[Talio]

There's no mess. My article stands. If you show up at a nerf war with the mentality of competition and not just to have a good time you're doing it wrong. I think you just wanted to say I smell like filthy alcohol and deflowered women.

[VACC]

There's no mess. My article stands. If you show up at a nerf war with the mentality of competition and not just to have a good time you're doing it wrong. I think you just wanted to say I smell like filthy alcohol and deflowered women.

Well...you do.

[CaptainSlug]

I don't like pie.

[Echnalaid]

As Talio said, I can't control you but I can control myself. I'm gonna work toward eliminating the competitive nature from myself at these wars and hope others will see it, and do the same.

This song is fitting.
Man In The Mirror

Start with yourself and then you can change what we have done to this glorious game. So go ahead and use that new N-Force sword, that stock Titan, or even that Buzzsaw. Just have fun.

Edited by Echnalaid, 19 November 2009 - 03:31 PM.

[TED]

This song is more fitting More fitting song

[TantumBull]

This song is more fitting More fitting song

Oh my god I just laughed so hard at that. A boy band singing about diddle... Bwahaha.

[Bedhed117]

So this is what I declare. If you sit in your workshop scheming on how to make a gun better then everyone else just so you can pwn at you're next nerf war, you are a douche bag. If you count how many hits you've made in a day, you're a douche bag. If you keep track of how many rounds you win, you're a douche bag. If you claim that your clan or team is the best there is at nerf, you are a douche bag.

I'd like to add that if you never get out to nerf but post whore all the time (like I used to), you are a douche bag.

[Forsaken angel24]

Many people know that Talio and I have different views on the hobby.
(Sort of like Xavier and Magneto for mutantkind )

I still believe that the #1 rule to follow when coming to a Nerf war is to have fun.

If you show up at a nerf war with the mentality of competition and not just to have a good time you're doing it wrong.

I go to Nerf wars with the mentality of having fun with competition.

As far as the whole modding aspect goes:
Its part of the hobby. It always will be.
I think people should strive to make their blasters better.
Coming up with new modification and variations to old ones to suit their playing style.
I love the modding aspect of the hobby and am excited to see what people are going to come up with in 2010.
Has anyone come up with a stefan compatible Raider drum yet?

I think well modded guns make wars more interesting.
I like seeing new crazy blasters at wars.
I like shooting and being shot by stefan(s) from 100+ feet out.
I think its fantastic we can do this to our blasters.

I hear about threads on blaster limitations even though its not dangerous.
I hear about stock gun wars and 60 range limits.
Now, its not my cup of tea but I am sure someone enjoys it.

The way I see it is like this:
Host wars the way you want to see them done.
The main goal is fun.
If you find fun having a war at a public school with stock guns and 3rd graders who play games where everyone wins, then go for it.
If you like wars with highly modded guns and plenty of competition then go for it.

If you like something in the middle then go with that.
Go with your playing style but make sure everyone is having fun.

Modifications are here to stay.
They are what brought this hobby from a basic band addition to customized breeches.
New modifications will always be pumping out and showing up to wars.
Unless the host bans them.
The North would never ban a gun unless its unsafe.

Every Nerf host has his/her choice.
Play the way you want to play.

[TED]

This song is more fitting More fitting song

Oh my god I just laughed so hard at that. A boy band singing about rape... Bwahaha.

They're not a boy band. They know how to play instruments.

[VelveetaAvenger]

They're not a boy band. They know how to play instruments.

Real boy bands were probably a little before his time.


I was going to post some other stuff actually related to the topic at hand, but basically I'll just leave it saying that I've had fun at every war I've been to this year. Sure, not getting hit by slingshot ammo will be nice, but I do feel that the problem has been blown a little out of proportion in between wars. Just my two cents.

[TED]

HOST WARS THE WAY THE MAG 7 WANTS TO SEE THEM DONE

Edited by TED, 21 November 2009 - 11:36 PM.

[Foamfoot]

Fuck extrospectives.

People run and jump around and do this shit because it's human nature for structures to collapse. Hell, this is pretty much relating to Neitzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil". We're just being pricks to discharge our strength.

Look, the community is the way it is because of two kinds of people: people who over-analyze the deterioration of the communities past structures (I'd probably be put into this), and people who just want to be awesome.

Writing out a big analyzation like this is just going to fuel the "Awesomeness" garbage. People will keep worshiping the admins, praise them as the damn voice of truth, and conflict and shit will arise, keeping the community on the forum, not online.

All you're seeing is just what happens when a ton of people get together. Things change, we become some sort of a hive mind, and we all start analyzing ourselves, and ranking each other in some Cocker Spaniel pecking war.

And, the thing is, I, and everyone else, are at fault here. Nobody plays games anymore. We analyze shit, and in addition to that, we try and best each other as any human would do. When we best eachother, we create a very sturdy cardboard box fort, but, it's going to eventually hit the cieling, we won't be able to build anymore box fort, and life will suck because mom is pissed at us for breaking the chandelier with the boxes.

[imaseoulman]

It seems like controversy is boiling over at the Haven lately, and I just can't seem to resist the urge to throw in a contribution.

Last weekend I "hosted" a war in Northern Virginia. I use the word "host" lightly because I showed up an hour late (my directions didn't quite work for me) and it was overall a very casual war compared to many I've been to. Part of the reason for this is that I went with one goal in mind: TO HAVE FUN! And I must say, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"

I had more fun last Saturday than I have in a long time. Part of that is due to the fact that I'm in a VERY intensive training program and I don't get out much, but it was a VERY fun war. We played general team matches (3:15) and some CTF and a dodgeball variant on a tennis ball court, and some other games.

Now, there's been a lot of talk of "competition" as if it is a bad thing. The guys that were there with me could probably tell that I play pretty hard. Once the round starts, I do what I can to shoot as many people as possible while not getting hit myself. And I enjoy the fact that I'm pretty good at it. I don't count my "hits" but I did notice that my accuracy (shot/hit ratio) was over 50% and a couple rounds probably close to 80%. If that makes me a "douche bag," then okay. I'm a douche bag who has a lot of fun.

While I'm "competing" I'm probably laughing more than anybody else there because I'm having a good time. I play hard during the rounds, but as soon as they end, I'm pretty relaxed and mostly just looking forward to the next round. Sure, there might be a little bit of trash talk, but only if it's mixed with laughing from both sides. Two other games I like to play are basketball and Super Smash Bros. (N64). I have a LOT of fun playing both and so do the people I play with and we talk A LOT of trash. We all try very hard to win. Sometimes we high five, some times we laugh at each other for stupid mistakes, but we have a good time either way. It's more the camaraderie than anything else and that's something we can and should experience while we NERF.

At the war on Saturday I met Phree Agent. Based on his 'Haven posts I figured he was probably some young (high school age) kid, new to the hobby, who would kinda just be a target I felt bad for actually shooting (then again, I also thought Slug was fat until I met him). Phree Agent and I got to talking between rounds and we got along pretty well. By the end of the day and after a lunch at Chipotle's, I felt like I had made a new friend. That's a pretty cool thing if you think about it. I posted a thread on a forum, somewhat last minute, asking if people wanted to take part in an activity of common interest for a few hours. In the process I met someone I will probably keep contact with for at least the next few years and who knows how much longer. We HAD FUN!

I also met T Dog, another person I'd never heard of before and so I assumed would probably be a little kid, but turned out to be a pretty cool guy. In the last round we ended up dueling over the last couple lives as the only surviving players on opposite teams. He was REALLY good, especially at dodging-- and I use a SM1500 and that's not easy to dodge. I hope I get to NERF with the guy again some time.

I met a bunch of other people I hope to get to know a little better. I wish I could have gotten to know everybody better that day, but it was only a few hours, so what can you do?

The reason I've rambled so long is to show that we had a lot of fun and built friendships in part BECAUSE of the competition not just in spite of it. Sometimes you do have to spite the competition. At one point we were playing CTF and both flags were run back to opposite bases at about the same time. It was the third round and a "tie-breaker" round and people started to say, "Hey, I think Slug made it back first," or whatever there opinion was. Frankly, I didn't care. Somebody won, so the competition was over, which means I just wanted to get the next competition started to have more fun, so I said, "Whatever, we'll just call it a tie." Then we split into new teams and played another game type. I'm pretty sure I new who made it back first and "won," but that really doesn't matter, I just wanted to keep playing.

So here's the final point:
COMPETITION is fine, and can and should be fun. But WINNING is not important.

I hope that last story illustrates how you can compete and play to do your best and "win" but actually not care at all about winning. As long as you're playing for fun and not to be the winner, bring on the competition.

Relax, have fun, and NERF on!