Now a forum topic see http://fumbbl.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=18797

Been a while since i have done a 'bored at work' ramble. Mainly because i am a bit busy, and also still doing the database for box majors. But here is another ramble for you to argue about.

The day the FBB client comes out of Beta comes ever closer, and with it the problem of a fragmented Fumbbl won’t go away. The Beta testing of FBB is already drawing teams away from the other divisions and it is now regularly the 2nd most popular division each day. This is happening despite the fact it is Beta, the teams in it are only playing for fun. There are no trophies on offer, no glory as such, no CR or equivalent… In fact there is the distinct possibility that all the teams will be wiped when it does go gold, so there is a high probability of not even a team history.

So now we must look to the future, and important decisions must be made for the good of Fumbbl and the community as a whole. Is it really viable for there to be both LRB4 and FFB specific sub-divisions within the current system? Do we try it first and then decide based on the results? Or do we take the plunge and commit ourselves to one ruleset? These are questions that most coaches have an opinion on, and normally a very strong one…. For what it is worth here is mine:-

Fumbbl is built on games. More games attract more people, which in turn creates more games. Therefore we cannot split the site any more than it already is. In fact it is often argued that the site needs to be brought back together. Putting the box into ranked is not an option, it would alienate a large and important section of the community. Many coaches in the Box are long serving coaches that benefit the community to have around. Dispersing Ranked is also a non-starter, it goes against the very core of Fumbbl to stop coaches from being able to pick which games they enjoy playing (and this from a coach that hates ranked). So as far as I can see the only option is to embrace one ruleset across the whole site, and that ruleset should be FBB.

This is not because it is my preferred ruleset (actually I couldn’t care less which one I used). Nor is it because it is new and current. We need to switch to FBB because it is the only way to move the site forward. The new client is so much easier to get up and running that a large number of rookie coaches are completely skipping LRB4 in favour of FBB. New coaches that have positive things to say about the site, that then tell their friends and so on. LRB4 is neither easy to get started, nor easy to find the ruleset. No matter what your views are over the best ruleset/client it has to be accepted that LRB4 is dying, and it is taking Fumbbl with it. Newbies don’t know the rules, can’t find the client and then struggle to get it working how they want it to, this scares them away.

When FBB exits Beta LRB4 should be moved to the League division if people want to use it, but it should no longer be supported by the site. Short term it will lead to coaches leaving, but long term it will ensure the survival of the site. After all when coaches abandon the commercial game where will they turn to? It sure as hell won’t be to a site using an outdated ruleset and a client they can’t find.

Personally I’d be happy to see FBB moved into the Box as soon as the admin section is complete. Possibly a step too far but you have read this far might as well keep going. Since a large percentage of the testers seem to be regular box coaches (in my opinion anyway), why not let us really stretch the new client? I bet people are far more willing to report bugs and then check they are fixed if the results actually mattered. The Box is down to 25-35 games per day now, moving the client into the Box would increase both the number of games in the Box and the number of games using the new client.

So this was a personal blog with my personal opinion in it. Feel free to agree or disagree but please keep it civil.