23 replies to this topic

[sllewgh]

As a recently approved member, this is my inaugural post, so I just want to briefly thank the Haven for getting me into modding and warring, however expensive and time consuming the hobby may be.

I'm the primary organizer of Nerfpocalypse, a bi-weekly Nerf war held in Towson, MD (10 mins or so outside of Baltimore City). As a college student, the wars have been thus far limited to fellow students. Between me and my roommate, close friends, and word of mouth, we've held 6 successful wars so far, the last 3 of which were attended by 30 or more people. Our last war, attended by nearly 40 people, was shut down by the campus cops, as we usually hold it in the arts building, which is open late, but unoccupied except for the occasional musician or artist locked away in a practice room or studio. Rather than the regular attendees fleeing the events due to persecution, the story of getting booted out by the cops while Nerfing has increased the event's notoriety and appeal. In the week after the event, I heard from fellow attendees that they had overheard people talking about it that they didn't know or see at the war. The Facebook event for the next war has been up less than 72 hours, and there are already 12 confirmed and 24 maybes, and I expect at least 1/3 of the maybes to show, based on past wars.

Due to the growing size of the event and the intervention of the police, I've been forced to take the event off-campus. The next war will be held at a local apartment complex inhabited almost exclusively by students, including a few past attendees. Public parks and other apartments are on the list of places we're going, and I'm even working with the campus to reserve the stadium and/or athletic fields for our use.

I first formulated rules based on the Nerf War Ettiquite I found here, but they've expanded greatly due to experience. If anyone needs advice on more detailed or interesting rules, I'd consider myself qualified to advise. PM me.

The next war will be a series of scenarios, called Bomb Squad Night. The first round will be a round of VIP. Players divide into 2 teams. Depending on team size, 1-3 people are designated VIPs. If a player is out, they count to 10 loudly. If a VIP doesn't tag them in before they reach 10, they're gone for the round. This makes sticking together and protecting the VIPs very important. On Bomb Squad Night, one VIP carries a sealed envelope containing the code to a lock box. Whichever team aquires the code first by killing all the VIPs, wins.

The next round will be a round of CTF. The victorious team from the previous round must get the enemy flag, the lock box. Inside this box is the kit to arm the bomb the next round. The opposing team is fighting for the enemy flag, the other as-yet unopened envelope with the code.

In the final round, the team victorious in the previous round must arm the bomb (a Nerf dart-tag flag). The "bomb activation kit" in the lock box is just the batteries and screwdriver needed to turn the thing on. These Nerf Flags feature a mode where after a 15 min. timer, the flag becomes active, flashing lights and making noise and saying “Game Over”. If the bomb "detonates", the enemy team loses the ability to respawn and will be hunted down. However, if the bomb is activated, then diffused, the tables are turned and the offensive team loses respawn until the game ends.

So that's where I'm at. I'm not sure I'm ready to open this up to non-students and people I don't know (i.e. the Haven), but that may change based on the response I get here. Just wanted to share the story of my great success hosting wars. I never would have thought a year ago, while doing my first “mod” (chopping off the end of a BBBB barrel and shooting my friend's mini screwdrivers 3/4” into his drywall*) that I'd be heading wars of 40 people. Hell, there are at least 8-10 people who went to the store and got guns JUST FOR THIS.

Questions? Comments? Flames? Personal attacks? Tips?


*DO NOT EVER DO THIS EVER EVER EVER. It is extremely dangerous and irresponsible. I think you could actually kill someone like that.

Edited by sllewgh, 03 February 2010 - 03:33 AM.

[dizzyduck]

There are definitely lots of nerfers around the DC/Baltimore/No. VA area so if you open it up, you're sure to have a lot of attendance. University of Maryland and UMBC also have nerf clubs, along with the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA.

Rules-wise, generally blaster bans and such are a good idea (getting shot with a singled, plugged Titan is not fun). Just check how others host wars and you figure out what the general order of business is in the NIC.

[alberty]

I really like the CQB-oriented mission ideas, especially in an apartment complex. You mentioned an event created on Facebook; do you have a link for that or will Nerfpocalypse show up publicly (I'm at work so I can't check Facebook right now haha)?

UMD Nerf is still active but the previous president has graduated so I'm not sure who to contact about it.

As I mentioned earlier, it sounds to me like close range combat (unless I'm terribly wrong). That could attract more people who aren't expert modders, or even just stock blaster users. For me, I've spent lots of time modding but I use mostly Crayola barrels and short CPVC barrels because I like to use my existing sonic darts (and well, no patience to make stefans). People who don't want to spend much money could possibly suffice with Mavericks or Fireflies indoors, so you can get more players involved.

So yes please open up to non-students! You could probably even setup some kind basic registration to keep track of people if you're worried about liability issues, like taking names & phone numbers.

And please set rules for safety; dizzyduck had a pretty general set like no singled Titans, no exposed brass/aluminum/copper, etc...in his thread about a possible March Nerf war in Wheaton.

[Talio]

it definitely sounds appealing. Do you guys mostly play with stock guns? Should I go buy a Longshot with a bunch of stock ammo or should I show up with my plusbow? If most people are playing with stock guns shooting stock ammo, I wouldn't want to be blasting people from 60 feet away with stefans. Also, it would probably be good to go ahead and say which college this it at, post what you have so far for rules and what the date is of the next event. Your VIP round sounds alot like the "Escape from New York" round I played in paintball once. We had one VIP carrying a big box (because we didn't have a brief case) and they had to get him to the other side of the field. It was actually a lot of fun. Anyway, post up that information and I'm pretty sure I'd be able to make it down there at some point especially if you guys are mostly playing stock. I've been looking for any reason to get a longshot with a bunch of clips and stock ammo. The stuff that's coming out is just too cool to not play with just because we can't get it to shoot over 100 feet.

Talio.

[alberty]

Talio, on Jan 25 2010, 01:15 PM, said:

Anyway, post up that information and I'm pretty sure I'd be able to make it down there at some point especially if you guys are mostly playing stock. I've been looking for any reason to get a longshot with a bunch of clips and stock ammo. The stuff that's coming out is just too cool to not play with just because we can't get it to shoot over 100 feet.

Talio.

Agreed. Especially if you can get some "night" games, the Nerf Tactical light, pinpoint sight, Recon lasers, and the new Deploy could be fun to use.

[death by cheez]

I share your notion, Talio... I've been trying to convince my nerfing buddies to go get a bunch of stock blasters so we can have another war in my basement.

[smeagolsaur]

I'm in the Towson area weekly and would be interested in attending something like this. Unfortunately, having 40 people run throughout an occupied apartment complex is a good way to get the cops called on you a second time.

If you guys find an isolated location, I'd be down.

Edited by smeagolsaur, 25 January 2010 - 11:04 PM.

[sllewgh]

1. It's Towson University. It's good to know that other universities have active nerf communities, legit use of Towson facilities will be made easier as I can secure permission based on playing teams representing other universities, even if it's unofficial. Just have to yammer on about bringing home victory for Towson, ect.

2. Nerfpocalypse should show up as a public event and group on Facebook, just try not to do anything "drastic". I don't want to scare off all the "real people" by bringing in outsiders and upping the ante too fast. No offense, but this is the internet.

3. I haven't had to do official blaster bans as I'm the only one doing any real modding so far. Policy now is that I review modded guns on a case-to-case basis, and 100% of the cases have been mine so far. I'm in charge, and I do the modding, so I make responsible decisions and err on the side of caution in my own exploits. I supply myself, and my squad, Tactical Strike Force Awesome (TSFA), with modded weapons to suit each persons playing style and squad role, then stack the teams against us to keep it fair. The majority of players use stock guns, and all ammo is stock ammo, limiting obscene ranges. Range doesn't help when 4 people rush you with stock Raiders, anyway. There's also melee combat. One night in the Arts building, there happened to be some Live Action Roleplayers messing around with foam swords, ect. Seeing our shared love of foam-based weaponry, I invited them to play, and even against ranged weaponry, they kicked ass and made the game loads of fun. They attend regularly now.

4. Starting this week, all players are going to be required to sign a waiver taking responsibility for themselves. It's worded so that they're also responsible if they damage property, or anything. It's a catch all. I'll have them on file for all players. When it's done, I'll post it in this forum. My Dad's a lawyer, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that could use a standard issue airtight waiver for nerf.

5. As for Talio's requested info: Mostly stock guns, all stock ammo, no mods that are too amazing so far. Bring as much ammo as you please. I generally take deposits from people that need me to supply them with ammo to keep lost-dart costs down, roughly 25 cents a dart. For example, you give me 5 bucks, I give you 20 darts. You return 17 darts, I return 4.25$ The next war is this coming Sunday, the 31st, starting at noon. The location hasn't been set in stone, I'm not 100% comfortable with the apartment complex if its a large group, and if it is we'd instead go to a park. As for the stuff coming out, I really want the Deploy. I'll be modding it to contain a high powered blue LED and lens. Blue light makes NERF-Orange illuminate brightly, so I HIGHLY recommend it for dart retrieval at night.

The rules we have right now are somewhat complex and depend on the location. In general, if you take 3 hits (non-headshots anywhere on the body or gun), you're out. When out, you pick up ALL ammo you fired (that you can find) before returning to a pre-designated safe zone. You count to 20, then return to play. In CTF, for example, I'd usually make a specific area in between the 2 flags a safezone. Indoors, it was any bathroom or stairwell. Could be any handicapped parking space. Any place that forces people to leave the area where they got out is fine. I never do full-outs except VIP, because I want all players to stay in the game as much as possible. The complexities only come into play based on location (what is and isn't in-bounds) and game mode.

So yeah, IDK if this week is open to outsiders yet, gotta talk it over with the regulars. Nerfpocalypse 8 probably will be. We do this every other week, you never have to wait too long to play with us. I greatly appreciate the feedback and suggestions.


*edit*
Also, as for the cops being called on us, its not such a huge concern. I had the great displeasure of living at the apartments in question for a year. It's a lawless shithole. If you aren't on your porch with a keg and a noisy party, you're fine. Midday, we'd be the least of their concerns. Not happening on a friday night, tho. I'm also a waiter, and know half the cops in this part of the county from serving them regularly ;D I've talked to them about what is and is not ok.

Edited by sllewgh, 26 January 2010 - 03:55 AM.

[smeagolsaur]

Keep us posted on how the next one goes.

[alberty]

Well if not complete outsiders, maybe at least official SGA-approved groups from local colleges would make everyone feel more comfortable? The UMD Nerf Apocalypse Society (NAS) would probably have a lot of people interested in coming over to join, especially when we are all pretty close by.

--> However, that's not to say other locals like Talio are to be left out thought; it'd be good to get some local NH users to join as well, and see how they fare with not-as-powerful blasters as in other Nerf wars.

Size-wise, I don't think there would be a huge influx of people from outside your university, unless somehow NH gets everyone in on this, haha. If the war must be moved to be an outside field, so be it.

Since some outsider players may have more preference using modded guns, you can save some checking time by setting some explicit rules on what not to bring, especially not realistic paintjobs, too much tactical gear, and blasters way too powerful for close ranges. I don't have anything too powerful to cause any damage, but will oblige to your individual checks and policies.

Mention that it's stock darts too so we don't bring stefans instead. Maybe you can encourage eye protection too, because getting hit with stock darts in the eyes still hurts.

[Talio]

I wouldn't be comfortable signing a waiver when the person who penned it does not own the property. That actually accomplishes nothing legally. Not to mention lost darts are an absolute certainty at a nerf war. I would not put a deposit on something that I'm practically guaranteed to lose. So yeah, if you get a few things sorted out and someone I know goes there and enjoys it, I'll be glad to come. Until then, I'm going to pass.

[sllewgh]

Talio, on Jan 26 2010, 05:18 PM, said:

I wouldn't be comfortable signing a waiver when the person who penned it does not own the property. That actually accomplishes nothing legally. Not to mention lost darts are an absolute certainty at a nerf war. I would not put a deposit on something that I'm practically guaranteed to lose. So yeah, if you get a few things sorted out and someone I know goes there and enjoys it, I'll be glad to come. Until then, I'm going to pass.

I'll take the advice into consideration. Ownership of the property doesn't really have anything to do with the legality of a waiver, all the waiver states is that you are responsible for any personal injury or property damage you sustain or cause. It's just so that neither I as the coordinator and gun modifier, nor any participants, are liable for the actions of someone else. It personalizes responsibility, not absolves it. As for ammo, most people bring their own, and getting some from me isn't mandatory. I just can't absorb the cost of supplying ammo to everyone then getting none back. Stock ammo is costly. I only give free ammo to people who show up without a gun and use one of mine, and then, they only get 10 free. Indoor wars, I supply ammo at no charge, as very little gets lost, relatively. Then, everyone gets their stock ammo capacity +10, or 35 darts, whichever is less. So at most, you get 1 full raider drum from me.

If this does open up, I'll solidify the rules more. Thus far, I've only had to cater to Towson students on Towson property, with only me doing any modding. That's only now beginning to change.

[Talio]

To start with you really need a legal professional to draft a waiver. If you opened up word and just typed it up, you probably did not use the right language. Second, no one would sue you for property damage or injury because your not supposed to be there in the first place and you don't own the property. On top of it, the waiver will be void because it's in reference to illegal activity. If you owned the property it would make sense, but your technically trespassing. The only way a waiver would make sense is if you owned the property. I got all of this information right from a lawyer. In actuality he says you're probably setting up a paper trail that could potentially get every attendant convicted of trespassing if you get caught by the police or the property owner decides to press charges.

[smeagolsaur]

I agree with Talio on this one.

Without going into detail of law, I'll just put it this way - it's best to 'organize' it with as little evidence of organization as possible. When you start bringing in waivers and other legal devices you're opening a can of worms you don't want to be involved with.

sllewgh, on Jan 26 2010, 09:24 PM, said:

all the waiver states is that you are responsible for any personal injury or property damage you sustain or cause.

By law, people are responsible for any injury or damage they cause. Having a waiver doesn't change/enhance anything in that respect. In reality, the waivers will do nothing. If someone actually gets hurt, they are going to sue whoever they want regardless of the waiver you wrote up. And the paper trail comment is another good point that should discourage the use of written waivers.

I think all in all, you're best off if you don't bring in any official documentation. Keep it nice and simple with as little "officialty" as possible.

This is not meant as discouragement, the more nerf the better, but just be careful about how you go about it and where you go about doing it. Getting confronted by cops in an apartment complex is going to be a much more serious scenario than getting wrist-slapped by campus police.

Edited by smeagolsaur, 26 January 2010 - 11:32 PM.

[ThatWasRandom]

I go to UMBC and would definitely be interested in attending. Also, I've been a part of a good many wars, so if you need any help organizing/mass modding/herding sheep, I'd be happy to pitch in. For what it's worth, I've never had to sign a waiver to nerf, and I can't recall any instances of people getting sued over a nerf war. That being said, it's your war, your rules.

-TWR

[sllewgh]

I've dropped the waiver idea and just mandated "eye-protection or your own risk". What I plan isn't trespassing, as we'd be hosted by several residents, and I DO have a legitimate lawyer to write the waiver. But no matter. You've all persuaded me otherwise. I was mostly interested in a contingent for a worst case scenario.

On a side note, I will be opening this war up to locals/whomever, provided you RSVP. If you join the Nerfpocalypse group on Facebook, you'll get the invites and messages. If you don't want to, or don't use Facebook, just PM me. The date and time will likely be announced on or before this coming weekend.

[alberty]

Yes, I think that is much better. I need to ask again, what kind of setting are you guys playing in, indoors or outdoors?

In case you need it, I have 2 Dart Tag Capture the Flag beacons for CTF or Seek and Disarm games--provided I can attend of course haha.

Edited by alberty, 01 February 2010 - 05:27 PM.

[sllewgh]

alberty, on Feb 1 2010, 05:26 PM, said:

Yes, I think that is much better. I need to ask again, what kind of setting are you guys playing in, indoors or outdoors?

In case you need it, I have 2 Dart Tag Capture the Flag beacons for CTF or Seek and Disarm games--provided I can attend of course haha.

Not 100% sure yet. I can definitely say indoors if theres less than 15 attendees, as we can use the basement/garage of my building. More than that, and it'll be outdoors. I always prefer indoors, at least until the weather improves. Can't say for sure until usually a few days before the war, or until I can properly gague attendance. Maybes kill me every time.

[smeagolsaur]

Glad to see you weren't discouraged by our comments. l

How did everything go with Bomb Squad Night?

(Checking out the facebook group now).

[dizzyduck]

I'd be interested in attending one or two. As I said, the DC/Baltimore area has a lot of nerfers, but it seems that there are a shortage of wars (only about 3-4 per year organized by the NIC).

One thing that some clubs do is they have scheduled meeting times, and so it becomes easier for people to plan their time around the wars and say whether or not they can attend at a certain time or date. That's a lot easier than trying to work around what a bunch of people are trying to do. I guarantee if you have a set schedule, more people will attend than if you announce "TBA" up until the day before you are actually going to hold the war.

I, personally, need at least a week's notice before I can say whether or not I can attend something. I'd say at least two weeks would be the best amount of time for heads-up.

[Talio]

Thanks for being level headed about that. I wasn't trying to be a prick, but I didn't want to put my signature on just anything. How about you post dates in this thread when you know them? I don't use Facebook and I doubt anyone is going to remember about this in a month to PM you. I really want to play in a stock war so can you at least drum up your next date for us?

[sllewgh]

Talio, on Feb 2 2010, 12:43 PM, said:

Thanks for being level headed about that. I wasn't trying to be a prick, but I didn't want to put my signature on just anything. How about you post dates in this thread when you know them? I don't use Facebook and I doubt anyone is going to remember about this in a month to PM you. I really want to play in a stock war so can you at least drum up your next date for us?

No problem. Honestly, the negative response came as a surprise, I thought it was a good idea, but your argument makes sense and will be heeded. I'm not all that concerned with the size of my e-penis.

As for dates, the first ever Sunday war was a flop, partially because of sickness and partially because people were doing homework, so you can pretty much count on them being every other Friday from now on, barring weather, locational interference, or other unforseen circumstances. I'll start a new thread with all the dates and a complete write up of our rules in the near future.

For those of you who do use facebook, the rules are there, but somewhat out of date and in need of reorganization. Don't listen to them 100%.

The next date will tenatively be the 12th, going in a bi-weekly rotation after that. I generally "officially" announce the next war a week (or more) in advance.

Just to be clear, this isn't exactly a stock war. Only stock ammo is allowed, but many guns are lightly modified. To give you an example, my squad uses (by member):

2x 9v modded Tommy 20's
NF spring added, AR removed Longshot
^^ but minimized, NF Spring added Raider
AR removed Titan (still shooting stock missiles), a raider and other large guns
Various LARP melee weapons

And I primarily use either swords and an Ace 45'd disc shot, or my berserker with a singled BBBB and a spring added to the turret. There are also a lot of other modded guns floating around, but nothing more extreme than the above. They all shoot stock ammo, and I'd all consider them perfectly safe and balanced. Again, I stack teams to keep stock vs. modded fair. There's no pluggged pumps, no homemades, no massively modified guns. No 2ks integrated into 3ks. No (x)ks, in fact. I think you'd still find what you're looking for in a stock war.

Edited by sllewgh, 02 February 2010 - 01:42 PM.

[Talio]

Shit, I'm not going to be able to do any Friday dates. I have a job. But I'll let you know next time I take vacation and see if you guys are doing anything. Even if we only have a handful of people I'd still love to nerf with some stock guns.

[sllewgh]

Talio, on Feb 2 2010, 05:27 PM, said:

Shit, I'm not going to be able to do any Friday dates. I have a job. But I'll let you know next time I take vacation and see if you guys are doing anything. Even if we only have a handful of people I'd still love to nerf with some stock guns.

It's friday night...? Hope that helps. I work during the day as well. We generally don't start until 10:30pm so that no one is in the way at the indoor locations we use. Haven't had a *real* outdoor war yet. Too cold. I've made more concrete decisions about time and place choice, we were just in limbo for a bit after losing our regular spot, so you likely won't see any more TBA's. At most, it will be a toss-up between 2 equally accessible locations at 1 definite time.

Posted a Nerfpocalypse 8 recap, but it's not that interesting, as half the people that signed up were sick and/or in the hospital beginning 24 hours before the war. I'm saving bomb squad night for a night that we've got a good turnout and a good location.