A chain of thought... Where will it lead

This morning I have spent a lot of time listening time listening to Rellik say he doesn't get to play enough. This is not a rare scenario but it did get me to thinking about how often I play. I seem to play on average about once a month at the moment, if I'm lucky. that's real life for you huh?

I would like to play once every fortnight in my ideal world. Go round to someones house on gaming night (I have a Thursday in my head for some reason) and play a game. Now what can I do to make this happen?

Is there any way I can get every other Thursday off from home? That is plausible fif the games are quick (i.e I'm home by 11!).

Would it take up a lot of other time? Well yes, but once that army is packed into my container it's pretty small other than the field.

Where can we do this? Ah, Snap. Where indeed. We can do it at each others houses, excpet that we always seem to have reasons why not to. And sadly they are all completely genuine and honest reasons (note the word reason, not excuse). In my case baby Taff is awake, in Stryphs case its the 400 mile commute, in Latents' case it's the rest of the family and a dog that shopuld be tested for steroids....So that got me to thinking too. if there is nowhere we can go, then we need to look around more.

Slappers came up with a great idea of using a priate snooker room and booking it for a few hours. it's a great idea as it's certainly a big enough table and, the one at friends Life anyway, is away from everywhere else. the bad point is I think it's £5 per hour? That's a tenner for a game!

Does anyone have any ideas? I put htis out to the community for many reasons -
- this is a cummunial effort after all
- this will benefit us as individuals and a group
- I sincerley hope this is somethin we want!
- the more games we play the quicker we stop hearing that Rellik is a noob

But further than this it potentially can offer two more things that I can think of
- it could potentially et more peeps involved as they could come and watch
- It allows us to make more battle reports and potentially puish the site or you tube all the more.

Speaking of which, would anyone else like to make video battle reports? I askas at the minute my solo effort is sitting pretty at 70+ views (I am chuffed as I think it was poor). With luck I will get some more film this weekend. But, going full circle here, it's around 10 videos that I can put up. Thats not enough if I wasnt to push a channel or get people on the site. But if everyone was adding them (or at least sending me film to edit I guess....) then we could probably average a video a week just by delaying them i.e. this weekend will se Stryph play three games, Rellik, Latent and I probably one more each - thats 6 games, or 6 weeks worth of bat reps if we delay them.

Just a thought people that all lead from a chain of thought. I'm starting to think I should call the Samaratans about this game and it's hold of me...........

i got half way through but had to say this before i finished:

Stryph, 400 miles...thats no excuse!

now back to reading

so, now that ive read it all...

well, im always up for a game, and my house is always available. trouble is i think all of you live on the wrong side of the M25 to me?

but i am happy to host games if people want to play me (relik - we've been promising a game for ages so im up for it whenever you are!)
im also happy to host other people games if theyve got the spare time but nowhere to play.

so thats an official invitation - if any of you want to play me or eachother i am willing to rent out my space for a very reasonable sum (a single beer seems about right!)


in terms of video reps, im happy to once i get over my camera shy-ness really, i think they are really good.
i like the voice over ones mwg videos are like before they get to "banter status" so i might try one like that one day!

Does Mrs Hobo know about this invite?

I assume your wanting to go more in a communal area type direction than someones living room to make more a group event rather than the fred going to bob's house effect we have going on at the moment..

I am aware of a club in Tolworth you could play at - it's called Heroes & Legends and I believe they have a gaming night on Thursday at the church by the Esso garage. Although that location isn't gonna be great for all of you I would imagine. I hear theres one in Croydon as well but haven't been so that's the extent of my knowledge! - There is also the massive Wayland one is Essex I think - but that's no doubt pushing it

I did a quick Google search but to be honest I'm not sure what location would be best for everyone, which is probably the first step - pick a location that is suitable for everyone. I'm not sure where everyone is but I'd advise the serial killer map string approach, drawing lines between peoples houses to find the middle ground.

Once you have that search for a club and go from there... I'm happy to help in anyway I can but as you say I live 400 miles away. I'll do what I can but location is the first step.

With the video batreps and directing people to the site - what is the end goal here? what does the site offer people that they would want to come here for? Why do we want them here? I think I know where you're going I just wanna hear you say it

Theres a brand new gaming store in croydon that opened up, that has a side room thing that has half a dozen tables - it would be perfect really.

i like the sound of the snooker hall due to beer potential (do i sound like an alcoholic recently?!?!), but otherwise i think its relatively unsuitable.

also with a gaming store its public, and deep down i prefer to play without outsiders butting in:)

NONETHELESS, if we do want to expand our little foray and generate a following on youtube etc, an expansion of our gaming contacts in such places is critical.

my ultimate dream....quit managing a bunch of lepers, cretins and oxygen wasters and spend a living doing something i love and enjoy, even if the money isnt quite the same

mrs hobo is aware- i think shed rather me here than holed up in a dingy snooker hall all night

The one in Croydon is the same guys that run the one in Tolworth fro what I heard - can't remeber who I was talking to - probablt the guy in the tolworth shop.

So are we creating our own online empire then?

sounds like a nightmare group to manage - you could just sack Storm and solve it that way

OK guys, so if we're going to talk seriously this is what I'm going to do. I've turned Linkin Park live at Milton Keynes on (I might have looked like a tourist Mark, but I didn't miss NERD queuing up at a cash point that had no money in it....) and I have a fresh cup of tea.

What do I want? What don't I want?
What are we as a group and individuals capable of? Why would I limit myself or this group?

I do not enjoy my job and have not been paid what I'm worth in a long time. The thought of resigning from pensions is a wonderful one. To actually go and do it with both people that I love and doing something that I love is such a dream that I cannot describe.

I truely believe we are capable of anything we set our minds to on this hobby and potential enterprise. I really do. Think of the evidence already - Paul has opened his house to gaming night, Rich is amending his working patterns, at least in part to play more, a website is set up, a video is made and produced,Dave and I play games in the middle of the night and we go to Plymouth to play games! And all of this is in our free time. After children have gone to bed and we should be doing other "more productive" things, we put on our hobby hats and produce some amazing results.

What do I want? I want a life that already kinda revolves around war gaming to stop hiding. I want to share what I think I'm currently best at (painting as I'm an adequate general at best) with the world and possibly gain genuine recognition for it. But most of all I want to get better t everything and maybe, just maybe, make some money off it.

i think he would be thanking me if i did that!

the croydon one does look good - but its location for you all, im closest and its not great for me even. plus who wants to wander around croydons mean streets late at night?! (or at all for that matter)

an online empire...isnt that a nice thought....no reason why not, but generating a significant enough following and website hit generation to start off any sort of retail is quite the tall order and would need significant time and energy investment. (not to mention moneys up front)

but moreover commitment. this is our hobby - is this even what people would want?

perhaps that is all it is a dream...but...who knows...one day it might just evolve in that direction of its own accord if we continue pushing our boundaries with well thought out campaigns, website & forum activity, public facing videos and perhaps even an expansion of the group (though of course they would never reach the inner circle )

ignore me, im getting way ahead of myself, im only 18 months into 40k!

edit: i worte this before reading taffs response - taff, im all in baby.

and i have a disease, ive evidenced it in warcraft with my total anorakness of the mechanics, this website, work every day...

when i do something, i cant do 50% or even 100%, i HAVE to push my boundaries, its a disease i tell ya!

Personally I like Croydon and feel very comfortable there thank you. Hannah dos too - maybe your a wimp?

I would like to think that between this group we can put out video content, relevant articles, tutorials on painting, scenery, tactica etc... I know this because we pretty much already have.

We all have our own strnght and weaknesses as Paul said - Paul is a numbers geek (Mathammer with Hobo), Mark loves his rumours (The Plymouth Podcast) and I fill in a number of voids, Everyone has a place and a skill set/perspective whether you've been named or not.

I think I may need to buy a video camera....

If you want content I have no trouble producing it - my brain never stops and I could write articles/ campaigns etc all day - my only proble thus far has been what the point of writing all that the the viewing pleasure of 2 people. Realistically this forum isn't going to garner traffic while it contains inner circling ramblings - what random person is going to post in a forum of mates chatting and making in jokes? As it stands it's not an outward facing, public inviting model

Forums are a curse for small site as they make it look like the site is dead when the last post in a section was 7 months ago...

Just gotta decide if that's the direction we want to move in...

Do I believe it's possible? - yes. But it would require a rebuild and adequate knowledge of how to pop on a google search (I have none), and of course we'd need a unique selling point - there's no point starting mini war gaming version 2 - there would be no momey to be made for 1-2 years, I wouldn't even bother trying to sell things before then. We 3 are obsessive enough to make it work..... I frequently wake nat up in the night talking about 40k in my sleep....

I'm happy to give it a crack - it's not like we really have anything to lose - plus there's a chance I go down to working 3 days a week next year so I'll need something to do!

youve gone that far, i think you need to name everyones strengths now

only kidding, i agree, we have all the right stuff if we have the drive (and patience)

as i said im in it for the long haul and (hopefully) bring more to the table than just my geekyness!

croydon at night...

you are right stryph - the current site and model isnt designed for it - its an invite only gig right now - first jobs would be:

• buy some proper web space to interest and entertain the public,
  
• taff get his gaming garage hes been promising us to make a "set"
  
• chuck a couple of annoying adverts on it to generate income,
  
• expand a youtube base (youtube is CRYING out for decent bat reps), mwg are the only gooduns!
  
• retail through ebay for potential minor income and as a footfall generator hoping of customer loyalty generation and thus advertise the community we want to build
  
• play in public gaming stores, advertising, getting good old fashioned word of mouth, flyers, etc
  
• organise tournaments for local stores etc etc.

unfortunately its the hardest but most necessary first part - you NEED that footfall, and will likely spend years getting it, but unless you do, any investment is simply wasted

and if it fails, well, we can put it on the CV

sorry for the stating the obvious list

websites are pretty cheap to pick up aren't they? a quick look on godaddy seems to indicate about 6.99 a year I would assume they're going to tag on £50 worth of registration fees and what not on top of that, which still isn't game breaking...

I can start making video batreps once I find my videocamera (i've been trying to talk my dad into "lending" me his handheld as he doesn't really use it.

First things first - we need a name and a direction.

If we're going into a serious discussion on this I'd take it off a publicy viewable forum though - don't want our genius stolen! I'd also say we should take a few days to let it settle in our minds. There's no point getting ahead of ourselves - each of us take a few days, write out a brief plan, what we want, what we can contribute, hopes, dreams etc - bounce things around and go from there...

There is nothing to be sorry for at all in anything either of you have said.

We do have potential at least to do something on you tube. I agree that there is a space for high quality battle reports that are easy on the consumer and are a great watch. It is currently flooded with average to poor attempts because people make them as they play. Am I critising? Not at all, because it's what I did (well kind of). But then how do you improve the battle report to make it "must see". What feature do you add? Would you effectively make each battle report three parts in effect? A pre show of tactics, why you picked the army etc... followed by the game itself and finally the conclusion.

You tube is a solid, but far from good way to generate income too. Whilst I will try and avoid obvious minwargaming comparisons, they do not host videos on you tube initially. They use Blip tv. I seem to recall someone saying the revenue is 4 times as large. But who the hell goes on to blip tv?!?

Which brings me on to the site. Mark is right in that it is not this site that would be used. This is the site behind the site in effect. I used to know someone whose career it was to put companies higher on you tube if only I could remember who. I'm sure Hobo can make a web site without too much issue. But what would people come on to it for. Again, using they who must not be named, as a comparison ther're forums are quite dead. People go for the videos.

Then there is the internet shopping. It is WAY to early to talk of this because of the sheer start up cost. At a conservative estimate I would imagine £20-£30k depending upon what gaming systems we support.

Which brings us on to which gaming systems we would support! From what I can tell 40k is the biggest game in the industry. But there is fantasy, War Machine, Hordes, Infintity games etc...I don't know how to play them, lol.

As for gaming groups I feel they may well be quite key. Word of mouth is an amazing tool - but can also bring premature death. We've all heard the phrase "have a bad experience tell 10 people, have good one tell one person, maybe". To truely use word of mouth to it's potential we need to ensure we are smoother than me sweet talking the chef at a carvery to get that second yorkshire pudding. The videos will need to be slick, punchy, potent and entertaining. And we will need to have a successful format (which doesn't have to be the same of course) and a probable backlog before we refer people to the site.

We have people around to help in one way or another. I have an idea for the introduction to Taff Reps that will require art work to ensure that no copy right is breached. Anthony would be perfect for that, especially if we can somehow make a link to the art in our videos and site to benefit him. For those who have seen the christening video, Jim knows quite about about making videos it seems! I'm sure there are hidden talents everywhere.

My opinion is we concentrate, amongst each other, of learning how to make a video battle report, an perhaps written ones too. The learning how to shoot articles, debates, podcasts, tutorials etc... Once there we create a website to deal with our need at that time The videos will guide people to them if we sell it right - "for further discussion about this game go to...", "want to see our battllre reports early? go to...." etc...

We can then use the potential footfall to expand the site and then move into other sections - commission painting, tutorials, dvds of our tutorials, selling a limited range (mass produced bases and scenery come to mind) and then who knows.

I think it is all possible. Probable> Maybe not, but still, if we don't try we don;t know what could be there.

*****************

Just saw Marks E-Mail. I think I need more tea and some deep breathes too....

asolutely.

the beauty of this, and why mwg has it licked, is its multi faceted. you can assault thr consumer form all angles - real life, ebay, you tube, entertainment, website reatil (one of the last) etc

yeah, a website is dead cheap, and adverts are easy to pick up and basically make it free ..its google space and stuff thats high maintainance. and pointless without a high hit counter as you fall down the rankings. google space is an industry of its own.
my biggest problem is to make the site i picture in my head ill have to learn .net programming to write code and build it from scratch.
now, everyone who knows someone in IT development knows that no IT person really knows their stuff - they google like mofos, but it does mean right now im limited to using website builders, although if i pay then i do get to choose my own URL which is critical.
it just makes for a more limited site.

but i am terribly interested in doing it

names, well i like godiva - it was the name of your home planet last campaign hence why i chose it in our leaders honour. but it has quite a nice ring to it:
Godiva Gaming Group > 3G Gaming
after taffs post Hobohammer also popped into my head (not meant as self gratifying). that also has a ring to it and i think it would appeal to the internet masses and stand out - a logo of a hobo wielding a hammer is an iconic image!

MArks right,this is the initial brainstorm, and realistically our feelers need to be spreading out for the next year feeling if we are making headway before commiting anymore real push.

So work paul taking over. This project needs to be split into modules to build up our content and brand before we even consider a push into expansion

- Ill buy proper webspace and make a decent customer facing site (and i might e-learn basic .net programming too as its interesting to a geek like me and it helps with my work projects)
- taff, you need to master the video reps, take the lead on designing the look and feel of our brand through anthony's art capabilities, and begin applying it to art, the bat reps, and pass to me to make the site consistent with the look and feel and apply the art. Storm and his missus are both designers by trade so utilise his skills later down the road
- Mark, you need to start vomitting onto paper articles, content and overall brand direction. You also have a wider audience than us with your plymouth gamers that could be a good source of fuel for bat reps, content, ideas etc. you are the customer facing guy, as well as the meat of what we build contains, so put on the charisma hat mister! all style no substance = fail.
- if anyone fancies starting an ebay empire that will help!
- relik can organise a live aid event and make us loads of money on the side

i think with these basic tools we'll build the core of our brand, and then in 6 months or whatever when we have mastered this, we can review if we are on the right track
and if it hasnt, we've all got a lot of skill and experience out of it all, and will have a proper website to boot (again, can you say CV?)

Effort = Reward
What you put in is what you get out of it.

As much as godiva mean "gods gift" in old english, you'd never break the tie from that 13th Century tale of a "Lady" noblewoman riding her horse naked through Coventry, killing poor Peeping Tom in the process.

I'm sure we can come up with a name for our community.

Clappers and I have been talking about setting up a Necromunda/RPG style game based in the 40k universe.
As this project is in it's beginning stages, there is not much to say about it, still figuring out the mechanics (amending the WS "to hit"), general rules, character progression etc, most of it is based on the current edition of 40k rules, but we can keep you up dated on our progression.

This may help out with the veriation in articles and in the wider scope, content on the site.
It may also give the site the "unique" hit needed, whilst also promoting and expanding the community.

That does sound like an interesting concept. Remember to include Were wolves for me to play,lol