33 replies to this topic

[One Man Clan]

HOLY CRAP! So I just got in from GnomeFest and boy do I have a story to tell. Me and Talio were first ones there and the LGLF soon followed. However the best suprise of the day was being introduced to 2 engineers from HASBRO! They actually paid 2 people from their staff to come and hang out with us, discuss guns and ammo, and just have a good time. They were two of the coolest people I have ever met. They bought us lunch AND even gave a bunch of us some FREE GUNS. I tell you, they totally changed my view of the guys at Nerf. I hope we can meet them again at our next large scale war. OK I'm typed out, more on the later.....

[NerfKing]

I have a hard time believing you but...What guns did they give you?

[One Man Clan]

Mostly Airtechs and two new tech target guns, plus a shit load of stock ammo. I knew I would get some non believers, but beleive me we got pics with them and everything. When the others get home they will tell you more.

[JSkater]

Well that's kinda hard to believe, but I dunno yet.

EDIT: Okay, I'm talking to TIS, I believe you now.

[Groove]

Wow. Fuck me hard...That's, wow. Yeah. If this is a sign from Hasbro that they are taking an interest in the people that openly take & alter their own products...damn, that's an awesome sign just as much as it is a mind fuck. Shit man, I want 2 engineers from Hasbro to come and visit me at my next Nerf war, and cater to my every need! That's too cool dude. Dope.

[One Man Clan]

Hey man, not for nothing but i think they said something about going to armageddon, but i didnt hear it. When some of the other guys get in they can update.

[Mantis]

Yeah, and these kick ass shirts that they were gonna give us but only had 5ish so didnt bother looked like this- http://www.geocities...alf/nerfers.JPG
Yeah, not having a website that allows hotlinking sucks.

But they did come, they refused to kick ass, and left.
Though they did give some promising bits of info as to Nerf changing directions and them wanting to cater to both age groups now.

[One Man Clan]

Mantis ur link doesn't work at all.

They couldn't "technically" play and couldn't "legally" devulge any serious info. I won't post what we know here so hopefully their bosses won;t see it, but if anyone's curious, they can PM any of us. and of course the info we tell you stays OFF the boards.

[Lord of the Springs]

holy shit, that's awesome. imagine if they came to one of the VANOs. god knows we could all use some free ammo...

[Evil]

Fuck man, I'm pissed. I spent my day at work... You guys are pretty luck I must say. Who knows, if you guys got some business cards, we could invite them to Reckoning 2004!

[The Infinite Shindig]

I doubt we'll see anybody from Hasbro in the immediate future, so I definitely wouldn't expect anything. It was cool seeing them come announced (which had to happen). If they do see this, thanks a lot. I'm still in a state of shock.

Thanks!

[VACC]

The WOULD choose a Vacc devoid event to show up. Pansies I tell you, they didn't want to deal with the alpha-male of the nerfing community!

VACC

[GunnedDown]

What the fuck. You're fucking kidding me. I didnt feel like going and look who shows up? I mean my computer breaks and the leading developer of SWG runs around my town, and now this. Fuck. I'm gonna go stick larry chen in a blender now. Fuck you all.

[Zero Talent]

The immediate problem that arises out of that kind of marketing angle is legality... I seriously doubt Nerf would be able to survive as an uber-paintball. When Nerf gets pushed back to goggles and reserved "Nerfing grounds," things get a whole lot more complex than a lot of casual Nerfers may be prepared to deal with. Naturally, Nerf seems to be getting more popular all on its own, so this is probably not a tide we can, or even remotely should supress, but incidents like The Infinite Shindig's letter exchange with the park... Security, was it, TIS? I assume all went well if the war did too, but it still worries me a bit. Luckily, Nerf still retains the reputation of "soft, safe foam fun," but I'm worried that's a few welts away from alteration.

Eh, but I haven't had a chance to have a war in a bit, so I'm just a crazed nut who speaks of things that don't matter to him.

But otherwise, very cool of them to show up. Nice to know that the Nerf engineers don't want our blood or anything.

[Mantis]

Zero Talent...what?

[Evil]

The immediate problem that arises out of that kind of marketing angle is legality... I seriously doubt Nerf would be able to survive as an uber-paintball. When Nerf gets pushed back to goggles and reserved "Nerfing grounds," things get a whole lot more complex than a lot of casual Nerfers may be prepared to deal with. Naturally, Nerf seems to be getting more popular all on its own, so this is probably not a tide we can, or even remotely should supress, but incidents like The Infinite Shindig's letter exchange with the park... Security, was it, TIS? I assume all went well if the war did too, but it still worries me a bit. Luckily, Nerf still retains the reputation of "soft, safe foam fun," but I'm worried that's a few welts away from alteration.

Eh, but I haven't had a chance to have a war in a bit, so I'm just a crazed nut who speaks of things that don't matter to him.

But otherwise, very cool of them to show up. Nice to know that the Nerf engineers don't want our blood or anything.

It'll be a long time until we come to the point where we have legalized "Nerf fields". Until then we might have an occassion like the LCM, where you have to actually get a permit with a large war. At the same time, you have to take into account that we would have had to have gone through the same process if we were going to have a barbeque.

The park service and county officials were, I remind you, very helpful and allowed us to hold Apoc 2003 which was an amazing and all out enjoyable war. Things like these can only raise the awareness of the game itself. These are blessings in disguise.

For years many of us have suspected that the forums were visited now and again by some of the Nerf manufacturers and even the engineers. Now, we're sure of it. We've been acknowledged by the actual establishment. All these things are comming together, Nerf is moving forward, it's even growing.

Many spent the last year or so claiming omens of doom, gloom, and the ultimate demise of the community itself.

I think this is just another step.

And who knows, TNN has SlamBall, they could pick up Nerf!

[The Infinite Shindig]

Naturally, Nerf seems to be getting more popular all on its own, so this is probably not a tide we can, or even remotely should supress, but incidents like The Infinite Shindig's letter exchange with the park... Security, was it, TIS?

The letter exchange was a result of the park's central administration not understanding the whole "Nerf War" concept. It took about four pages, and three stefans stuffed in a business envelope to convince them otherwise. The long letter was just my style, because I didn't think that the LCM getting screwed was right. When you nerf at a park for two years, without a complaint, there shouldn't be problems when one asks for a permit.

Don't know what that had to do with this topic, but I mine as well clear things up.

[Talio]

Hey Shindig, two things. One, thanks for the cd, cool pics, and I posted them in my yahoo photo gallery if it's any concern to you. Second, is it possible that you could send me a copy of the letter you sent to the park admin. I was thinking this afternoon while we were nerfing, if this thing convinced the county, it sure as hell should convince my buddies pop, and I really want to see him get to a war.

Talio.

Oh yeah, pizza on Hasbro's tab just tastes so damn good. I never really eat during war, but I ate half a pie this time.

[Zero Talent]

Oh, I just thought I'd randomly sprout my thoughts. It's just that our version of Nerf used to be underground, and now it's starting to see a little more of the new day. This visit from Nerf engineers confirms that we're showing up on radar. But if all went well in the park dealings, then I have little worry believing your optimistic outlooks. Sorry for the prolix wording on that paragraph... English classes have made me a monster.

[Mantis]

I dont think we have to worry about Nerf becoming mainstream if thats what this was all about.

[Spoon]

WTF?? Hasbro engineers actually showed up at a Nerf war? I find this so hard to believe, though I don't think people like Mantis or TIS would fuck us around.

God damn. Tell them to come out to a YANO sometime if they want to see a REAL war, heh.

[Evil]

I'm personally just happy to see things going right like this. The Nerf internet community is healthier than ever, and now as Zero so finely put it, "we're showing up on radar".

Maybe Hasbro or Lanard would be appreciative of a proposal for them to come to or participate in a war? Chances are they are young, or so I'm guessing. You never know, hell, this could lead to corporate sponsorship... dot dot dot.

[ShortShit]

Wow, I think we should definetly give them some invites to all upcoming wars to see exactly what we are doing to the guns and why (not that they cant see the mods section lol) so's that they can save us moding time on future guns ;-) *winkey* I still want to see pics of THEM, the SHIRTS they gave you and the GUNS they gave you, cuase I'm a skeptic, the only people here who I trust are Ryan Kevin and Vaccarina!

[Langley]

About nerf becomeing main stream vs. nerf being underground.

We didn't get a permit. If we had more than 25 people at GnomeFEST we would not have gotten one. If we had 50 people we would not need one. The park is huge. The cops worry enough about people dealing in the park at night. Unless someone shot a little kid or stole a golf club from the minigolf place, the police aren't going to care in our area.
In addition, we walked directly past a "Do Not Tresspass Under Penalty of Law" sign into a construction site and had the most kickass team deathmatch ever.

[Talio]

Ending, with yours truely in prone position, and not by my own choosing.