103 replies to this topic

[FoamMaster]

I had lots of fun today flinging foam, it was cool how many more people that there were this time!

Highlights:

O I got the beige foam from Darth Freyr
O The zombie/mad cow games were fun
O I got to introduce some of my friends to Nerf
O Many participants
O It was nice and cool out
O The giant pillow on a stick was entertaining
O I actually didn't forget anything at the war
O One of my friends had fun using the Stampede with a Raider drum

Lowlights:

O There was on and off rain all day
O My turreted disc shot broke early on in the game, so I had to use mostly loaners for the rest of the time.
O The EaB wasn't working as well as I hoped, so I didn't use it much

Overall, though, it was a great war and we all had a great time! Thanks to Dayko for hosting this again, it's the only war that happens near to where I live.

Edited by FoamMaster, 17 April 2011 - 09:50 PM.

[Broderick]

Let me start off by saying that was one of the best wars I've been to so far. The turnout was great, we had close to 30 people. I think that's a record for the Effeminate series.

Highlights:
- TaerKitty had entertaining contraptions, as usual and gave me a good deal on some stuff.
- Bought some of the beige foam, cool stuff.
- Sold a couple guns
- Medic was the best, and Tax Evasion was a pretty fun game too.
- Lots of people!
- I used one of Freyr's Snap-Bows for a round and it worked very well despite the catch issues that were going on.
- HAMMER BRO

Lowlights:
- Playing in Washington's usual bi-polar weather
- My longshot not performing too well; the barrel came loose in the first round. Bleh.

Great war guys, thanks to Dayko for hosting it. Any ideas for the next date?

[taerKitty]

Highlights:

• Lots of people.
  
  
• Darth's crazy 100-shot blaster.
  
  
• Some new game types.
  
  
• Some beautifully done gunblades.
  
  
• As always, Dayko did a great job with his war hosting.

Lowlights:

• It didn't rain for most of they day, but it wasn't sunny for a lot of it either.
  
  
• My elbow was in pain the whole day, so priming blasters was difficult.
  
  
• My SpritzSplat's plunger rod somehow disconnected from the Splat plunger, making the blaster inoperable.
  
  
• My SVT4B failing to feed.
  
  
• Forgetting to bring my SVTSSPB. (Can you tell I had a bad blaster day?)

Edited by taerKitty, 18 April 2011 - 05:50 PM.

[Dayko]

Great first war of the year, guys. We had a big turn out of people. Thanks to everyone who came. Posted some pictures for you to enjoy.
Now onto the pros/cons

Pros:

Getting out and Nerfing again.
Nerfing with old and new faces.
Getting some beige foam from Freyr.
Getting a Manta Ray from Tuna The Fish.
Getting to use my Pimp Bow
Getting springs from Taer.
Great Medic game.
Having the weather stay pretty good for the most part. It did rain a little during some of the rounds but then it quickly went away.
Seeing Freyrs monster turret blaster in person. It was quite impressive.

Cons:
Having my Pimp Bow break.
Having my 3K break.

It was fun trying new games and merging the different playing styles. I have received some feedback regarding the melee combat being
more assertive than our usual play routines. Please let me know your thoughts as we determine the direction our wars will take.

Side Note: Someone accidently walked off with my brothers Nerf Hatchet; please bring it to the next war, thanks. I also found a canvas
bag and a night finder which I will bring to the next war for claiming.

Having said it was a great first war of the year, I do have have an observation to share.
I think we really need to put an age limit in place. 13 is the age limit here and I think it's a good starting point for future nerfers.
In the past we have had young kids see us gathered and join in using other peoples blasters (mostly my stash). Last year I spent
far too much time repairing damages the "kids" did and I don't want to repeat that this year. Everyone knows my mom is taking war pictures but
unknown to everyone, she stopped a few almost thefts and missed a few slick ones. I'm not pointing any fingers and not trying to offend anyone.
I really just don't want to repeat that experience this year. I'm suggesting: Age limit 13 and must have their own blasters.

Thanks again to everyone for coming and making such a great war! See you at the May war. Lets hear your date suggestions for a Saturday in May.

[taerKitty]

Thanks for the pictures. I was so stoked about being in the war that I totally forgot to take any.

I love the signs, btw. They looked great. How much did they cost? If it's not too much trouble or cost, could we have one that specifies the basics, something along the lines of:

Eye protection mandatory.

Minimum age 13.

(etc.)

Also, can we threadjack this as a planning war for Effin 2.2?

[TantumBull]

I am so flippin' jealous. No way in hell if I'm missing another, even if that means jumping off a transpacific flight. Can't wait to nerf with you all again!!

[taerKitty]

Think of it this way: you got sun. We got rain, and our warmest was in the mid-50's.

OTOH, it'll be great to see you again, so start swimming already.

===

Edit: DarthFreyr has over 750' of Best Materials HotRod XL foam left. We're selling $10 + S&H for 100', and $20 + S&H for 250'. It'd be great if attendees used it so we don't have to worry about "these darts won't fit, those will be too small", etc.

===

And another: We should have a sign-in, not for 'registration', but to get email addresses or NIC usernames@sites. Darth and I were talking, and I just realized there were some people I'd love to get in contact with that I have no idea how to do so.

Edited by taerKitty, 19 April 2011 - 05:49 PM.

[Dayko]

===

And another: We should have a sign-in, not for 'registration', but to get email addresses or NIC usernames@sites. Darth and I were talking, and I just realized there were some people I'd love to get in contact with that I have no idea how to do so.

I actually had that in the notebook I brought. I just forgot to ask everyone to sign into.

[Lizard Messiah]

First off, thanks to Dayko for hosting. My friends and I had a great time and are looking forward to the next one. I wanted to offer a little feedback though.

As far as melee combat goes, that's personally not my cup of tea. And there was a lot of it at this last war I felt. When I go to a war, I come for the nerf guns. That's just my preference, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way. I have no problem with a couple zombie rounds because I know people are into that, I just think a straight melee round and the convoluted version of zombies we played after medic were a little excessive. I'm just saying I feel like there are other arenas for that sort of thing and I'd rather spend my time using the guns I spent time modding. You know, IMHO.

Another thing that was kind of awkward was marking for teams. Some games it was easy because each team stayed on their side but others I found myself unsure of who was who. I suggest larger, cloth bands that can be reused and must be worn on the head. Red and blue are good obvious colors. That's what Gunther uses at his Puget Sound Nerf Wars and I've never had an issue there.

I totally agree with the age limit thing. 'Nuff said. Hammer Bro is an exception.

I know it sounds like I'm just bitching, but I really did have an awesome time. I merely wanted to address a couple issues. Hope to see you all again soon at the next one!

P.S. We love the foam Freyr! I'll probably be buying some more off you next war.

[taerKitty]

TBH, melee isn't my cup of tea either. However, I'm all for trying anything once. HvZ is (half) melee, and it seems a group favourite, so it's likely to be back. Some of the newcomers were all about the melee, so it seemed a good idea to give it a try - after all, they like it, so there has to be something there, right?

At least for me, not really.

I'm with LM - let's have HvZ be the melee, if there's any HvZ at all. If not, I won't gripe about it. I'm here to Nerf, not LARP. Were it up to me, I'll allow barrel-taps, but it has to be the functional barrel, not a gunblade or other long extension from a blaster. (Sorry, GreenSpike.)

I'd like more rounds where people don't get 'taken out' and sit out the rest of the round. That's one of the reasons I created Tax Evasion, so you're always 'in the game', either as an IRS agent, or a tax evader.

Oh, and the rules said that when you're hit you =hand over= darts to the IRS agent, not drop them on the ground. One aspect of the game should be dart scarcity - as there are more and more tax men, they should be sweeping and the tax evaders should have fewer and fewer darts.

Medic seems to be everyone's favourite, but I much prefer Witch Doctor - if you're shot in the back 40, you're pretty much out of the game in Medic, unless it becomes a rout and your medic feels safe enough to venture that far out.

==

The Medic UMB (thanks, GreenSpike!) does give me an idea, though. Not saying this is a complete game type, but what if each team starts with one UMB missle that is the 'health pack'. Instead of a medic, the missle is what revives a shot player. If it touches a downed player, or the player can touch it without moving his ass from where it is seated, he's back in the game. (Same for females, I just don't feel like salting the post with 'he/she', 'his/her', etc.) It can tossed, passed, and, most importantly, captured.

So long as one team has a health missile, it has a chance of winning. If it loses the missile, then it is one foot in the grave - there's no way for team members to get back in the game unless they manage to capture a health missile. The way I see it, each team has two objectives - first capture both missles, then hunt down the other team.

One thought - when a player is shot, he drops the missile. He can't throw it to a teammate, etc. He sits, and the missile lands beside him. (No, he can't hide the missle or sit on it, etc.)

Thoughts?

==

Also, one 'lesson learned' is when we have a 'contagion'-type game, such as Tax Evasion or HvZ, we should have a ratio of normal players to special rule players (e.g., the zeds). Starting the rounds with only two IRS agents or zeds when we have almost 30 people on the field made for a pretty unbalanced game. I'm thinking we say one out of eight or one out of five are special rules players.

==

As LM said, I'm not bitching. Dayko runs great wars, and I appreciate the heaps of effort and investment he sinks into them. (Great signs, Dayko! Forgot to mention that in my p/c post.) I'm voicing my opinions to see if I'm the Lone Ranger, or if others feel this way. If enough people do, we can use this as data points to tweak the next Effing war to be even better.

[TantumBull]

About the registration thing, I've thought making some sort of online social network site for WA Nerfers would be nice, kinda like what the Midwest has. I'm working on a GroupSpace right now, and will post a link when its done.

Edit: Hit the link below to sign up. It still needs some work but its usable in its current form. I made taer an admin, and Daniel, once you sign up I'll make you one as well.
http://groupspaces.c...StateNerf/join/

Edited by TantumBull, 20 April 2011 - 04:39 PM.

[Broderick]

I agree with most people's stances on melee rounds. I'd prefer it if they weren't included, but HvZ (especially Mad Cow zombies) is all good. I like just running around with low-power blasters for a change. And while I'm at it, as far as game types go I prefer simple and fun. TDM, Zombies, Medic, Capture the Flag, etc. Tax Evasion was a little bit more complicated, but still very fun and easy to grasp the rules; I had a lot of fun playing that.

As for the Medic UMB's, I also think that was a really good idea. I remember there was\ a Throwing Hatchet that was used as well, and it got me thinking that maybe a tennis or nerf ball could be used instead? More accurate and if you have decent aim you can roll/throw it to somebody from more than 20 feet. My pick with Medic (while one of my favorite gametypes) is that it gets stale if you have rushers that get down near the enemy base.

Edited by Broderick, 20 April 2011 - 08:06 PM.

[taerKitty]

...as far as game types go I prefer simple and fun. TDM, Zombies, Medic, Capture the Flag, etc. Tax Evasion was a little bit more complicated, but still very fun and easy to grasp the rules; I had a lot of fun playing that.

I'm not saying that I won't play TDM, but the 'sitting out' aspect of it makes it less attractive than Zombies, Witch Doctor (as opposed to Medic, see above post for elaboration), and CTF where you're always 'in the game'.

As for the Medic UMB's, I also think that was a really good idea. [...] maybe a tennis or nerf ball could be used instead? More accurate and if you have decent aim you can roll/throw it to somebody from more than 20 feet. My pick with Medic (while one of my favorite gametypes) is that it gets stale if you have rushers that get down near the enemy base.

I'm not so sure accuracy at range is a good thing here. Again, I'm here to Nerf, not to show my ineptitude at playing ball. Besides, the UMB missile is already foam, and it's in keeping with GreenSpike's Medic UMB.

Here, we don't have a base, or a Medic. Thus, we also avoid the usual endgame sitzkreig / stalemate. Whoever has the missile is the Medic, and has to keep moving or else he'll be nailed and the missile falls into the other team's hands.

Also, because it requires a hand (let's make it a rule that the missile has to be carried in hand (or arm, etc.), not in a cargo pocket or stuffed in someone's shirt) it should force some teamwork - the missile carrier can't prime his blaster as easily, so he'll need 'wingmen' to cover him.

This game sounds like it could go back-and forth a lot, so we should set a 15-minute time limit. Then again, once a team has both missiles, both 'Medics' will go around reviving their teammates, and it could swiftly tilt in their favour. It will be fun to try it and see.

==

Was talking w/Darth on IRC and this came up: TDMZ. We have the usual TDM, but we also have 1/8 of the people in the round initially sitting out. After a few minutes, they join in as zombies. Usual HvZ rules apply, but the humans also have to worry about being shot by the other team. 3:15 TDM to start, but after you lose all three lives, you come back as a <infinite respawn>:15 zombie.

Edited by taerKitty, 22 April 2011 - 09:38 AM.

[Dayko]

First off I want to thank everyone for their honest opinion about the war. This is the only way for the wars to keep getting better. I really appreciate it, guy's. The good and the bad, I want to know it all. I'm going to be addressing a few of those points in this message.

1: Melee weapons/ shields used in non-zombie type games: After trying it out and getting a lot of feedback, the general consensus is majority of the group did not like the weapons used in non-zombie games. I was made aware that some players were actually hurt, not seriously but the point is we are mostly nerfers. We work hard on our mods and try to get the best performance out of our blasters, and thats what we enjoy in our games. Boffing is a different style of play. So for the next war all melee weapons/shields will be banned in regular play. Zombies will use melee weapons for light tapping like we usually do since my feed back indicated our players would rather shoot each other then be hit.

2: Head bands: Yes, in a larger group it was difficult to see who was on each others teams. I will have head bands for the next war so we will be able to tell at a glance who is who. I will have enough head bands in case we want to break off into three teams. With larger groups divided into three teams will provide a different twist to the game.

3: Games: Keep the ideas flowing. This is why we keep having so much fun.

4: May dates: The only dates I have open are: 5/14 or 5/21. I believe Gunther is trying to set his war for the 14 so I will find out. If the 14 is a go for him because he has permits to deal with we will not consider that date for those of you who were planning to attend his war.

5: WA Nerfers website: Great idea. Thanks for all the work, Tantum. Bring back some of that sunshine with you, eh?

Thanks again for all the great feedback guy's. I don't consider any of this "Bitching" and I hope no one else does either. I think we all share the same goal, lets make our nerfing the best.

P.S.

I will take another 250' Freyr. Its good stuff.

Edited by Dayko, 21 April 2011 - 10:53 PM.

[tuna the fish]

Just to put in my two cents,

I really disliked the amount of melee weapons. I like having it is a last resort kinda thing but as a main weapon it just ends in someone getting hurt.

As always I enjoyed medic alot. I like having a game where you have to take some risked and even adding a gun with rather limited range and ammo was fun. Sadding I rarely use guns that involve pumping so much so i had to switch to the axe.

The tax one was alot of fun other then being lazy and only bringing about 20 darts.

Other then that it was a great war like always and i look forward to seeing everyone plus hammer bro again in the next month or so.

[Broderick]

I'm not saying that I won't play TDM, but the 'sitting out' aspect of it makes it less attractive than Zombies, Witch Doctor (as opposed to Medic, see above post for elaboration), and CTF where you're always 'in the game'.



I'm not so sure accuracy at range is a good thing here. Again, I'm here to Nerf, not to show my ineptitude at playing ball. Besides, the UMB missile is already foam, and it's in keeping with GreenSpike's Medic UMB.

Here, we don't have a base, or a Medic. Thus, we also avoid the usual endgame sitzkreig / stalemate. Whoever has the missile is the Medic, and has to keep moving or else he'll be nailed and the missile falls into the other team's hands.

Also, because it requires a hand (let's make it a rule that the missile has to be carried in hand (or arm, etc.), not in a cargo pocket or stuffed in someone's shirt) it should force some teamwork - the missile carrier can't prime his blaster as easily, so he'll need 'wingmen' to cover him.

This game sounds like it could go back-and forth a lot, so we should set a 15-minute time limit. Then again, once a team has both missiles, both 'Medics' will go around reviving their teammates, and it could swiftly tilt in their favour. It will be fun to try it and see.

==

Was talking w/Darth on IRC and this came up: TDMZ. We have the usual TDM, but we also have 1/8 of the people in the round initially sitting out. After a few minutes, they join in as zombies. Usual HvZ rules apply, but the humans also have to worry about being shot by the other team. 3:15 TDM to start, but after you lose all three lives, you come back as a <infinite respawn>:15 zombie.

Sorry for not getting back to you on this, busy week.
I understand and partially agree with your point about Team Deathmatch oriented games, people sitting out once they run out of lives. It's definitely not fun to be the guy that gets out early on in the round. I liked Tax Evasion in that respect because there is still a penalty for getting hit, but there are no definite number of lives. We should make more game types like that for the next war.
As for the ball in Medic, you're right. That would more or less make it a game of how quick can you get the ball to people and be back in the game--- taking away the main focus, to just play nerf and get other people.
TDMZ also sounds VERY fun, I love the idea of introducing other elements mid-game, it keeps the round fresh. That always seems to be the problem in games, they get stale.

War dates for me are pretty open at this point. I believe my baseball season ends in about two weeks, I'll just play it by ear and let you guys know what works for me later on.

Edited by Broderick, 22 April 2011 - 11:26 PM.

[TantumBull]

May 21st is a definite no for me. My birthday and my senior prom.

[Lizard Messiah]

Both of those dates work fine for me. I'm pleased to hear Gunther might be hosting another one. I kind of thought that was it until next fall.

I think one of the major problems with medic was the safe zone. The fact that the medic could touch something and be invulnerable made the game get really stale and keep going when it should've just ended. That should definitely go. Also, one of my friends was thinking that the medics could just have a long respawn if they get shot, that way they might be more willing to risk saving someone further up. If you shoot the enemy medic, your team then has a short time to really push the offensive and finish your enemy while they're vulnerable.

In general, sitting out definitely sucks. I think respawn points are a great fix for this. At Gunther's wars, they are used pretty much exclusively and it works well. They just have to be far away enough that death is still meaningful. You're going to be out of the game, but never permanently. Ideally, the respawn point is placed far away enough that it takes some time to get there and is behind your team's furthest point of conflict, that way it's very obvious who is coming back in and who is on their way out. Obviously respawn points and unlimited lives make TDM a little pointless but I still think a some mindless shooting can be fun. And they're perfect for CTF.

[taerKitty]

From what I remember talking to Gunther at the war, he's limited to having it every other month, and I'm guessing he has to get permission, etc.

We can try far respawn points, such as the windmill itself and, maybe the parking lot? As you point out, not good for TDM, but could be good for objective games such as Flag Push (one-flag CTF, where you're trying to get the flag to the other team's 'base', seeing as we use the trees that are arguably close to the above spawn points as bases.)

I would like to see how a respawing Medic would affect the Medic game.

I'm not sure if I proposed it on this thread, but I have an idea of a Medic-like game without bases. Basically, each team starts out with a 4B or UMB missile. Whomever one of these missiles touches is revived, expect for the person carrying it. If he's shot, he has to drop the missile and can't reach out to touch it again. Any team can revive a dropped missile, so the game ends when one team has both missiles, the other team can't revive downed members, and they get eliminated one-by-one. For reference, I call it 'Health Pack' for now.

And mindless shooting is fun. What's the 'could be' about?

[Dayko]

Sorry for not replying here sooner about the upcoming war. This past week has been hectic between family/work. Since the 21 does't really work for Taer or Tantum what about the 4th of June? How does that sound to you guy's?

[taerKitty]

Hey, don't stop the war on our account - go and have fun, and we'll get our lumps (or get our lumps in) the next one after that.

===

Edit: One of the Pacific Northwest Nerfers has an interesting complication to sighting - he's right-handed, but left-eye dominant. (No names, please.) While screwing around, I came up with a possible accommodation by mounting the RSCB off to the left.

That's what I call 'unobvious elegance'. The solution is so simple, but I feel silly I didn't think of it before. Below please find photos of my proof-of-concept, on a skeletonized 4B.

This -really- doesn't warrant even a post in the Mods and PJ thread, but may be of interest to the Nerfer in question.

===

Side view:

===

Top view:

Edited by taerKitty, 27 April 2011 - 09:38 AM.

[Dayko]

I just found out that I can't take any time off work for May. So how do people feel about the 4th of June? Does that fit into people's schedules?

[taerKitty]

May as well set a date earlier so we can get it on the war thread.

[Lizard Messiah]

June 4th is fine by me. I usually don't work weekends anyway.

[FoamMaster]

I just found out that I can't take any time off work for May. So how do people feel about the 4th of June? Does that fit into people's schedules?

Any day works fine for me, but Sunday works better for some of my friends usually.