LOLs on BoLS.

Well, I visited Bell Of Lost Souls, to see what was going down.

Clicked this thread.

Read the list posted by JWolf. Fail, right?

So, I told him so.

From what I've heard, he's a decent player - so he'll understand my comments, take it seriously, even if he doesn't agree, and at the very least ask what I mean.

Mmm.

A little bit later, I think he understands a bit better. Sadly, some other people have decided to join the debate...and are either misinterpreting me, or just plain misunderstanding.

I'm fed up with DisQus crap reloading the page every time I post, so here are the answers to what you claim.

Fritz comes across as an arrogant player. Most decent+ players in 40k do, sometimes at least. Is calling him decent+ an insult? Only if you're an idiot, and take decent+ to be a specific ranking in an unspecified system, rather than decent and above, as is clearly the intent.

Did he invent Tank Shock and Contesting late game? No. Does he think he did? I seriously doubt it. Does he regularly refer to himself as the King of Tactics, or not downplay such posts on his blog by sycophants, and routinely say how the other Eldar players in his area, and some others, are "using his tactics against him" and saying how much he hates them, as though he somehow felt affronted, insulted, or put out in some way by people doing the things he does?

The answer, dear reader, is a resounding yes.

Am I the only person who thinks he comes across as arrogant? No. The following quote is from Honsou, also called Kris, so I assume it's KhornateKris.

"Actually thats just my login for here. What shot are you referring too? I was talking about all the internet smack talk you make about yourself. I wasnt the one who posted how myself and fritz "dominate" the north east." - He said it to Jawaballs, but the point is, it was about both. Is arrogance always bad? No.

Do I think he's a jerk? An idiot? A scrub? I subscribe to his blog, and have posted several times recently. Would I do that if I didn't think he was a positive influence on the Hobby?

Read my posts - do I say anything negative about him? I say he was lucky in one - holy crap, I must secretly mean he's a noob. Oh, wait, I don't. He's a pretty good player, who runs a list hamstrung by his choice to use Vypers, and ignore Fire Dragons. Would I enjoy a game against him? Yes, probably. Would I like to have one, sure. If he's ever in Northern Ireland, no doubt. Until then, unlikely it could happen, but not from anything other than financial, geographical and time constraints. Does his choice to not respond to most of the comments on his page help this image? No. He gets a lot, I get it. He has a life, I get it. He has a bucketload of emails to answer, I get it. One comment on each thread, thanking contributors for their thoughts, with no need to even read them? That would go a LONG way.

Is JWolf's list, in my eyes, Epic Fail? No. Pure Fail though, is different.

Pure Fail means that this list could only be used adequately by a significantly skilled player/someone significantly better than his opponents/against someone playing an Ork Battleforce army/Daemons/Necrons/ Tyranids (Those last being alternatives to Orks.)

A new player, reading this, thinking that JWlf is good and therefore uses a good list, will go home crying after being tabled for the 6th time that day.

Is it good for the hobby that new players read his stuff, and assume better?

Is it good for the hobby that soemone who can apparently play so well can writer lists, in the public domain, so poorly?

Is it good for the hobby that he advertises this list as being un-fixable, by implication?

No, it is not.

The un-fixable bit refers to earlier in the thread. Yes, he thanked the earlier poster for his thoughts on the list, but "I like my list the way I have it" is somewhat dismissive, even if not the intent - and it does not suggest reasons why you have not chosen any ofd his suggestions yourself. Presumably, you had a reason to do so. Making these things clear is the only way to help people learn, unless you can display it in person - and, as I said to you before, you're on the internet here. You NEED to show people how things work - and that can't be done across the globe in person. Even a link to a previosu BatRep is better than dismissing things out of hand. People read your words, and listen - and just because it works for you, doesn't mean it will for them.

When I am giving advice, if someone says they absolutely won't use 'x' unit, I list it's good points, one final time, in comparison to 'y' substitute - if that won't sway them, then it's up to them to discover it themselves. I don't give up before that - but I've been palying long enough to have that same arrogance. A new player may well have new thoughts to offer - but not have the BoLS to stand up for them. Listen, as well as talk. (This is a more general point, not a personal attack - before someone starts.) [By the way, I would only have emailed you a list in return if you didn't want it posted in my blog - I'd happily have done a feature on it.]

One final point:

Crazyredpreatorian - Go fuck yourself.