Quirkworthy

Just putting the last bits into the manuscript for DreadBall Season 3 today, and off to be laid out next week. On top of all the new gubbins I’ve been looking at some of the issues in the DreadBall world at the moment and finding elegant and simple ways to address those where possible. In effect, I’m taking the role of the “real” DreadBall Governing Body and tweaking the game rules to ensure that the game is as fun and exciting a spectacle as it can be. This is the same sort of thing that sports governing bodies do on a regular basis and I see no reason why it wouldn’t apply in the Corporation as much as on Earth.

The two main areas of concern this time were the whole issue around launching the ball and the example of unpleasant gamesmanship called prone cages. Both have been addressed in different ways to mitigate or avoid the issues and move the game back to where it should be.

Of course, many Coaches haven’t bumped into either of these problems in their own games, but I’d rather they never did. As ever, it is the top players and the tournament circuit which digs deepest into the detail of the rules and bends things furthest soonest. Im sure they’ll find something else to exploit, and I would expect nothing less. It’s the way to find that competitive edge. For my part, I’ll continue to fix what I deem to be undesirable in terms of tactics and rules that reduce the game’s level of tactical thought and fun. This means that you can just get on and play the game. I’ve got your back 😉

After some discussion on the original thread and another game myself last night, I’ve made a few small changes to the Zees. Much of this is slight wording changes and clarifications for specific instances which have been brought up here – so the Beta’s doing its job 😉

The more dramatic change is that I’m limiting the range of passing off the blame to 3 hexes. This makes a bit more visual sense and mitigates probably the major abuse of this which is a permanent camp on the entry hex.

We’ve had a couple of highly entertaining sounding games reported and hopefully you guys will be able to get some more in soon. It’s always nice to hear that they’re working!

Please post any new comments on the Zees to this thread.

Zee team Beta v2

Funnily enough, balancing the Zees is a bit like keeping order at a chimps’ tea party. At least, I imagine it is. I’ve never had that dubious pleasure.

They’re an odd lot, but it’s probably best to just let you read for yourself.

Zee team Beta v1

They’ve got pointy ears and they can’t be trusted even slightly. That’s about the normal Corporation citizen’s understanding of the aliens known as Asterians. True to form, the DGB do not disappoint, with an underhand team full of dubious ploys that are guaranteed to get the crowd on their feet, baying for blood and shouting at the ref.

Oi! Where’s your specs?

What do you think?

Asterian team Beta v1

Typically, the Zees are failing to comply to my orderly plans. You’d think they were a disorganised bunch of naughty monkeys or something. Wait a second…

One of the playtesters came up with some intriguing wrinkles in their rules which need ironing out before they are posted. No point in putting up stuff I know is broke. At least, know needs looking at. I ran through most of this today, but not quite all. Not long.

The Asterians will be up in a few minutes though, so all is not lost 😉

In case you hadn’t noticed I’ve added a DB Season 3 Beta tab to the black menu bar (↑up there↑) so you can find the latest version of the rules easily. As we go along I expect to need a v2 or v3 of some rules and these will be posted in new threads of their own so we can discuss the correct version without having to scroll down 200 comments to find the pertinent bit. Collecting the current versions of everything in their own tab (while the Beta is live) should make it easier for you guys to follow where things have got to and send your feedback to the best place 🙂