Two copies of your roster....

[howlinggriffon]

The only reason an automated electronic roster creator could be good is to help avoid any issues with manually created rosters. One of the guys I played at the weekend was a chap who was new to the game and he'd written out his roster. I spotted straight away that he'd mistakenly given doubles skills to a couple of linemen in error - but as it was game 3 his earlier opponents had missed it. Easy mistake for a new player.

if there's issues about people using different print outs of different skills for different games, just have the TO sign or stamp both copies of the roster when it's submitted for registration - then the player has a signed roster to show his opponents. Hopefully there won't be too many people taking the mickey though.

[lunchmoney]

Polite bump as I've raised the question again.
Seriously, why do we need to be bringing reams of paper?
I just hope the massive pile of rosters gets into the recycle bin after next weekend.

[RiiTz]

Could this digital solution for roster creation be of any help: http://ghoulhq.com/bloodbowlbuilder/ ?
It is @Centipede online roster builder, which he presented in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=45680

[Itchen Masack]

I'm very much of the opinion that paper rosters are the best way forwards. If you are comfortable handing your phone to a potential stranger multiple times, then fine. I however am not. If they drop my paper roster i will get over it given enough counselling, if they drop my phone, there is a chance they will never be forgiven.

Also screens are small. Paper is A4 size.

For an experienced coach i can understand you may not even need to see the roster at all, for newer coaches, there is a shedload of information in BB that needs to be learnt. Or sat there nicely on a sheet of A4 they can refer to throughout the match.

Paper is the future! If rosters were 3d printed onto plastic then we might have an issue.

[Purplegoo]

I think that's a fair point. I don't particularly want to be constantly unlocking my phone and passing it back and forth with my opponent the whole game either. If nothing else, it's a chore.

Whether two paper copies of a roster are necessary at every tournament is questionable. 30 coaches in a pub, all of whom have recognisable NAF nicks? If I WhatsApp my roster to the TO on the Saturday morning and talk my opponents through it each game, that's probably more than sufficient. The NAFC? Of the 200 coaches, perhaps 50 will be quite casual players who play one or two tournaments a year and another 50 will be new or lapsed coaches who don't know all of the rules. I don't think Jim wants 200 WA messages or emails he has to check, paper is just easier to hand in and to walk your opponent through. It's probably the one time every year it's almost mandatory to show up with a proper roster sheet, rather than writing a quick list that 95 % of your opponents will instantly 'get'.

The environmental angle is tricky. What is the carbon footprint of the NAFC? Are we not all flying / driving / otherwise travelling to Nottingham on Friday? So long as the paper finds a recycling bin, I suspect it's a small percentage of the impact the tournament has.

(I should note - there are other ways. If you use one of the Spanish website-based systems or Best Coast Pairings, the website or the app holds all of the tournament rosters and you can view what every coach has at any time via your own phone. I don't think either of these options are without practicality or financial issues for a UK TO, but in an ideal future world, a development of this kind of thing would eliminate the need for paper. Some more details here from a review I did last year.)

[gjnoronh]

Paper roster created with an electronic tool.
Wins are legibility, reproducibility, and some built in accuracy checking (though not complete of course!)

I like Little Army Designer which is free.
http://www.littlearmydesigner.com/

I have my base roster for the races I have teams for with my player names, numbers and team names ready to go and then just edit the team for each different tournament rules set.

How many copies is a fair question, but two is okay.

For the events I TO I ask for submission day of an "voluntold" a couple of experienced coaches to list check for me while I'm doing check in. I think it's nice to take the burden off the TO, lets players make their decision up to game time for the last minute guys still painting the night before, and gives the players something to do as they are waiting for coaches to filter in. That won't work for everyone but works for me.

[lunchmoney]

Progress is made!
Last weekend's Thrudball had all rosters online and coaches were asked to not bring paper rosters.
It worked just fine

[sann0638]

Hmm, lots of people still had paper rosters, I think for me it's still a good idea. Not two copies though

[Jayward]

Slight counterpoint; four of my opponents had brought printed rosters anyway, and with one of the others I couldn't get signal in the room to check his. The signal thing also caused two of my online result submissions to fail, I think?

I thought the rosters being available online and submitted beforehand was really good overall, and I didn't take a printed copy myself... but I did find myself thinking that having one would have been convenient

[lunchmoney]

It cut down on lots of wasted paper, which is the point

[Waldorf28]

Fortunately with TourPlay now so good paper rosters should be a thing of the past.