Fumbbl's blackbox division moved to the newest rules

[Carnis]

Just to let everybody know, fumbbl has now moved from using LRB4 rules into using the newest BBRC/GW endorsed LRB6/CRP rules in their blackbox division, a scheduler division where players get to play randomly assigned opponents with teams whose TVs are as close to your as possible. The games are played under fumbbl's own FFB client which is now officially out of the beta stage, however some bugs are still present. The client automatically downloads, you only need latest java installed to make it work. The client supports most OSs, although some issues have come up with some versions of linux.

Fumbbl's own insite announcement about it: http://fumbbl.com/modules.php?op=modloa ... =0&thold=0

Playing in Fumbbl is free, games are played by connecting to fumbbl's dedicated server, which manages teams, dierolls, saves etc. Games at fumbbl are usually played in one go, although restarting a game later due to disconnection, rescheduling or other things are very much possible. Leaving a game without a reason/explanation is not allowed & is handled by the admins on a case by case basis, but overall if you behave normally you will have no issues with the admins. A game in fumbbl takes on average about 45-60minutes, as the client handles the majority of the timeconsuming things automatically.

How to get to know how the client works:

1. Register at fumbbl (one user per lifetime) - http://fumbbl.com/user.php
2. Login at fumbbl - http://fumbbl.com/user.php
3. Go to the gamestab ( http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=games ) & press spectate to spectate some matches first. Remember to spectate matches in the division, the other divisions are still using the old client which you need to download manually & is using LRB4 rules. The client autoloads, you only need to put in your password to get to spectate.
4. As a spectator you can comment the game, but only other spectators see your comments. You can also make crowd noises every 10 seconds ( /cheer, /boo, /boring, /ref, /hurt )

How to play:

1. Register at fumbbl.
2. Login at fumbbl.
3. Create a team in fumbbl blackbox - all the 24 races are present including slann, pact & underworld (no bretonnians or custom races), press the "ready to play" link to make your team ready.
4a. Either go to irc.fumbbl.com:6667 & the channel #fumbblblackbox and wait for the to bot announce: <@BowlBot> *** Five minutes until the draw. Please activate if you want to participate. Then press the activate link behind your team on your mainpage ( http://fumbbl.com~yourusernamehere )
4b. Or just wait until approximately :11, :26, :41, :56 every hour to activate your team. Team activations are reset at :10, :25, :40 and :55 while games are scheduled at :00, :15, :30 and :45 meaning the coaches who get scheduled have been online within the last 5minutes and there should be no scheduling against coaches who are away from keyboard.
5. Refresh your mainpage after the scheduling is done at :00 etc. (~yourusernamehere).
6. Click the playlink that has appeared after your team, that has now been scheduled to play an opponent.
7. Client opens -> put in your password to start playing.

Yesterday was something of a peakday as the system started working properly just 1-2 days ago. There was exactly 324 games under the newest rules in the Box division, meaning on average about 15 games per hour so there should not be many times of day where you do not get scheduled if you show up. Sometimes there are uneven number of coaches so some may not get scheduled every time but waiting for the next draw 15minutes more likely than not set you up with an opponent.

Conceding is allowed, but not disconnecting/ragequitting so if you have to suddenly go in the middle of the game that is not an issue, you can also try to postpone/reschedule the match with your opponent if he is up for it.

[Carnis]

Oh and the most significant differences from boardgame at the client's current iteration:

No bombardier (stars unavailable as well).
No Ball & Chain (stars unavailable as well).
No Petty Cash.
No Pass Block.
No Fan Favourite.
No Wizard as inducement.
No Cards.

Most of these issues are on the to-do list, but I'm not part of the developerteam so I've no idea when they will actually be implemented. The cards will not be in for a long time/might never come, but I'm assuming the B&C & Bomb will be added soon enough. Fan Favourite is currently a non-issue as in fumbbl there is no way to get it, pass block is a rare skill, but there are teams which have it - it just does nothing.

Optional skilluse is integrated for Fend, Stand firm, Sidestep and for dodge on certain events (chainpushes, crowdsurfs).

[TuernRedvenom]

4b. Or just wait until approximately :11, :26, :41, :56 every hour to activate your team. Team activations are reset at :10, :25, :40 and :55 while games are scheduled at :00, :15, :30 and :45 meaning the coaches who get scheduled have been online within the last 5minutes and there should be no scheduling against coaches who are away from keyboard.

Well, that explains why I didn't get matched yesterday. My activation was reset. I had no idea it did that...

[garion]

Also all the races are included. Even Chaos Dwarves, Pact, Slann and Underworld

[mubo]

Some good info there! Thanks.
Going to give it a go now.

[Glamdryn]

Can LRB 4 teams be pushed into LRB 6?

[Carnis]

Can LRB 4 teams be pushed into LRB 6?

Already done for all old LRB4 box teams. If you had any, go to your team's postmatch sequence and make any necessary changes (hiring, firing players etc), then press ready to play -> Team converted.

Old positionals are kept, but new ones can't be hired (so old ogres can have 12 ogres, but when they die.. cant be replaced etc).

In the conversion RSC is replaced by claw, so some old Claw/RSC stars are now new Claw/Claw guys which are kind of not as hot as the old Claw/RSC .

Nurgle's rotters team beastmen were all ported over as rotters, but pestigors can be bought & trained as you see fit. Norse got to keep their 4 zerkers, and mummies were turned into tomb guards (losing mighty blow).

All big guys were transferred to their LRB equilent (chaos trolls into chaos minos, norse ogres/minos into snowtrolls). All in all I think it went pretty smoothly, got some akward teams that I ended up retiring due to skill balance changes (mass DP not a hot idea anymore).

[Purplegoo]

If a mod so happens across this, would it be better off in the Digital bit? I know a people that avoid this bit of the forum (myself included unless I've too much time on my hands), it just doesn't seem the natural home for online chat.

[Carnis]

If a mod so happens across this, would it be better off in the Digital bit? I know a people that avoid this bit of the forum (myself included unless I've too much time on my hands), it just doesn't seem the natural home for online chat.

Yep that'd be the place, I skimmed through the topics but naturally missed digital Divisions or what's it called. Anyways it seems to have 6x less traffic than this place, so while this is clearly offtopic and should be moved it's here it's most likely to be noticed & it's sort of relevant here as well in that Fumbbl is a place where LEAGUE BB is being played, strategiced, etc. globally.

[mubo]

On that, I think we have too many sections. Currently we have website chat, digital format and digital resources, which surely could be merged into one. General chat could easily handle a few more threads I think.

[mattgslater]

Glad you put it here, or I never would have seen it.

It makes sense, given how many fora we have, that you'd go to a high-traffic forum to make important announcements like this.

Oh, and fwiw, I signed up. I was trying to get by without online gaming, but I don't actually get more done. Don't let me play too much, guys!

[Glamdryn]

Can LRB 4 teams be pushed into LRB 6?

Already done for all old LRB4 box teams. If you had any, go to your team's postmatch sequence and make any necessary changes (hiring, firing players etc), then press ready to play -> Team converted.

Old positionals are kept, but new ones can't be hired (so old ogres can have 12 ogres, but when they die.. cant be replaced etc).

In the conversion RSC is replaced by claw, so some old Claw/RSC stars are now new Claw/Claw guys which are kind of not as hot as the old Claw/RSC .

Nurgle's rotters team beastmen were all ported over as rotters, but pestigors can be bought & trained as you see fit. Norse got to keep their 4 zerkers, and mummies were turned into tomb guards (losing mighty blow).

All big guys were transferred to their LRB equilent (chaos trolls into chaos minos, norse ogres/minos into snowtrolls). All in all I think it went pretty smoothly, got some akward teams that I ended up retiring due to skill balance changes (mass DP not a hot idea anymore).

WOOHOOOOOOO, It is now time to rejoin my FUMBBL brothers haha. This is great news!

-glam

[Glamdryn]

All of my teams are Ranked division. Is there any hope of these being pushed over into a playable LRB6?

[Purplegoo]

All of my teams are Ranked division. Is there any hope of these being pushed over into a playable LRB6?

Blackbox is first, the rest will follow. No timescale yet, but that is the plan. is basically the only show in town currently, the novelty has brought a swift, strong upturn in games dwarfing activity elsewhere, but it remains to be seen how things will settle out in the long run. History would say [R] has plenty of life left in it, it's always been #1 to date, afterall.

And OK, OK; this sort of thing being here is fine (afterall, who really cares, I suppose), it's just the avoiding this section of the forum thing, which I know some do. Whilst there are less posts in the online section, I dunno if it's any less viewed / avoided if something of note is put in. I guess so long as interested parties notice, who cares.

MJ is probably right, the forum could probably do with a tidy anyway.

And Matt - lovely to have a new member, as always. I would just say have a second read of whatever you compose if you dip your toe into the forum or chat. It's not nearly the bear pit some will make out, but it is certainly less heavily moderated and gently sedate than this forum. Going straight in with the Grabbing Nose-Guard of opposite flux might be an error.

[Aliboon]

Does the Fummbl client work on Apples, or is it PC only?