Topic: What do you want out a Foosball Site

[crt2338]

I'm currently producing the first universal foosball site but I need some help. I want to put the site creation in the players hands. You players tell me what you want out a foosball site and ill see what i can do to make it happen. Come on guys lemme know what you want.

[Old Meister]

I thought that is what we have here at foosball.com. We have 'residents' who always answer questions to the best of their abilities without making a newbie feel bad. We have top pro's who give us great info, all you have to do is ask. We talk about everything under the sun, once in a while trade a little, uh, terse replies, but seem to always be good in the end. Nobody comes in and ruins it as we seem to have a community of like minded players and if a troll tries to stir things up they are exposed and ignored. We can buy foos supplies here and Jim has always been a positive part of this site. I hope you have good luck with your site but you asked and all I can tell you is look at what we got going here, that's what we want from of a foos site. It's pretty hard to beat but if you think you can, go for it.

[Tyler Foos]

OM is correct - no need to re-invent the wheel here 'cause this one's rollin' along just fine!

Tyler

[crt2338]

my goal is not to beat foosball.com, haha i love this site and have used it since i began playing foosball. I plan on promoting foosball.com with my site as much as possible. My goal is not to build a profitable business or steal customers from other sites. I want to promote the sport as possible, use technology to advance the sport. new things that have never been done or even thought of are in the works of my site and redirect to all foosball sites will be on the site as well. I dont plan to reinvent the wheel simply redesign the wheel with more features. any site that gets one player interested in the sport is a plus in my book and i support whoever created the site to the end.

[TSR_Brad]

my goal is not to beat foosball.com, haha i love this site and have used it since i began playing foosball. I plan on promoting foosball.com with my site as much as possible. My goal is not to build a profitable business or steal customers from other sites. I want to promote the sport as possible, use technology to advance the sport. new things that have never been done or even thought of are in the works of my site and redirect to all foosball sites will be on the site as well. I dont plan to reinvent the wheel simply redesign the wheel with more features. any site that gets one player interested in the sport is a plus in my book and i support whoever created the site to the end.

This reminds me of a quote by The Rev. Johnson of Rock Ridge... "O Lord, do we have the strength to carry off this mighty task in one night? Or are we just jerking off?"

Amen, brother.

-- Sorry but I couldn't help it. --

[bbtuna]

well,

foosworld.com started out as THE universal site and gained a very large following but then it could not be maintained and so it has become really next to nothing because it hasn't been updated in years

However, it had good features - tournament schedule, player profile, ranking, points, interviews, chat, and of course links

today, this site of course is a good one, it has training material, chat, retail, links

a number of successful state sites with chat exist but this is the second largest probably of the "general" variety the other being by far the largest (most busy) and that is http://www.foosballboard.net/phpBB/index.php

NetFoos has become, and continues to grow, as a very important site study it if you don't already know it

then you have MN foosball for Tornado data base tournament information starting from 2000 and forward...they also have the points book

the you have ThisWeekInFoosball which is sort of a foosball video blog...Carlos is a amature with video but he has managed to get around and has provided in my mind a very cool and helpful look at foosball - http://thisweekinfoosball.foosball.com/

the recently Canada's top PM (or close) started a regular personal video blog in which he includes tournament updates (those he attends) and training

then there is Jim Stevens and Inside Foos Productions which films and annouces tournaments on both sides of the pond.  Started in early 90's covering the US Tornado tour and then expanding with the ITSF and now Warrior..Inside Foos has really grown over the years and it is THE video staple of foosball

then there are the organizations VIFA, USTSF, USTSA, and the ITSF of these, the ITSF is the most dynamic and active website

making a true universal and contemorary website would need to include all the features each of these sites bring - problem is the audience isn't big enough for you to wrestle them away to something similiar and the amount of work involved to keep a site really compelling/current is very very high and it is near impossible to make enough money to justify the level of committment need to be sucessful

if you didn't get these sites to join each other into one universal site, and you weren't going to compete with each of there unique features by creating and marketing your own versions, then you become simply a website of LINKS...all these sites already have LINKS to each other

I am not trying to discourage you, I am totally supportive, I am just suggesting your goal is VERY lofty and it is frought with very real practical issues

oh, and there have been a number of attempts at this in the past

here is an example and a year later they are simply a link to a games sale website
http://www.foosball.org/

if you are just looking for a retail front and are trying to buy good will you better know a lot more about foosball and what is happening before you attempt something like that...if you are a player who really wants to do something prepare for a long hard road of nearly full time hours to make it a go

[foozkillah]

Go for it, CRT2338!

A lot of the newer foos websites arose out of new technology or as an adjunct to what that developer was doing or trying to do in another area or field.  They really never bothered to do a feasibility or marketing study on what foosers would want out of any foos site they latched onto.  Carlos had these videos and he put em on.  Mark Winker owns his own web dev company, and already had the beginnings (Netfoos.com and ElephantStats.com) of a tournament site that could keep track of events, players, rankings, and of course, the forums.

Just like a lot of the best of the web, their sites grew out of a real physical need for tracking, a storage repository for media, and eventually communication in forums form.   Most foos-heavier states have their own website or create a forum on one of the national ones.  Philadelphia's PhillyFoos.com and Iowa's Foozen.com are prime examples.  They needed a gathering place for setting up their weekly locals and keeping track of results.  That was all they needed.  They didn't happen to have tons of vids or need to keep track of new technologies like Mark Winker's Netfoos, so they never had to go into streaming foos, auto-generated charts and results and ELO points databases.

I would advise you to create a site primarily for some purpose or new technology you yourself are personally interested in.  You can add the forums and chats on afterwards, for that vitally important continuing feedback, and a lot more easily than you could, just 5 years ago.  You can rely on foosers to tell you what's wrong, and VERY QUICkLY.  But don't rely on foosers for the basic INITIAL underpinnings and MISSION STATEMENT of your new site, because those are too individualistic and prolly unrealistic.

You like video chat, ala Skype?  You're into bluetooth or mobile phone access and chat?  You can try those, or some other new technology that will keep you interested and continuing to update it.  As well as for keeping your closest local results in, for a seed population of webgoers.  Folks you know that you could actually talk to and discuss with.  That would be the YouTube, MySpace, FaceBook and other successful portals' way.  Asking for input from a billion or more possibilities REALLY REALLY SOUNDS LAZY and not the classic mindset for really just DOING IT.  Which is what a lot of experienced fooser web goers on here REALIZE IMMEDIATELY AND SUSPECT YOU FOR IT.

If you were going to really create a site, it would have to be to your initial interests, otherwise they know it might last a year or less.  Foosers across this planet know better than to be caught in someone's momentary need to express themselves.  Been there, done that.

[Daniel]

How is your site going to be different?  One thing I would like to see is a good reason to go to your site like a chance to win something or some of the money if any the site makes go to a tournament.

[crt2338]

many ideas are in the works for the site and thanks fooskillah its good to hear some motivation rather than criticism. some of my ideas are 1. offering a tournament software for free with the ability to log all data into the site resulting in being able to find out whose playing, whose winning, or simply for the fun factor, 2. A large tournament maybe 40 grander to promote the site and give back to the players 3. a good reseller is in mind for a store and i plan to cut commission cost to sell parts, tables, and accessories on sale which I have never seen anywhere, 4. an iphone/ blackberry app would be eventual, their is a small list of my current ideas along with a better schedule for large tournament and the ability to post local tournments with links to site that give the best flight rates, mass e-mail for upcoming tournaments, store sales, and cheap flight and hotel arrangements, i couldnt even break the surface on the features that i plan to implement, thanks again to anyone who had a positive response.

[TSR_Brad]

Okay, forgive my previous smart-ass remark. You want "positive"? How about a pragmatic one?

of my ideas are 1. offering a tournament software for free with the ability to log all data into the site resulting in being able to find out whose playing, whose winning, or simply for the fun factor,

Sounds an awful lot like Netfoos...

2. A large tournament maybe 40 grander to promote the site and give back to the players

You must have some seriously deep pockets. Do you have any idea what it would cost beyond that $40k to run such an event?

3. a good reseller is in mind for a store and i plan to cut commission cost to sell parts, tables, and accessories on sale which I have never seen anywhere

The web is littered with places that sell this stuff.

4. an iphone/ blackberry app would be eventual

Why?

their is a small list of my current ideas along with a better schedule for large tournament and the ability to post local tournments with links to site that give the best flight rates, mass e-mail for upcoming tournaments, store sales, and cheap flight and hotel arrangements, i couldnt even break the surface on the features that i plan to implement, thanks again to anyone who had a positive response.

Looking at your proposed game plan, you're talking about a tremendous amount of work for little foreseeable return.

If you're sincerely interested in advancing the sport, the most effective thing you could do is go out and promote foosball by starting a league or two, or establishing a "foosball club" at a local Boys & Girls Club or rec center.

I applaud your enthusiasm but I suspect the effort and expense will be for naught. My suggestion would be to offer your services to an already established site and implement some of these things gradually. You've presented a formidable list of projects, which perhaps only a few turn out to be successful.

You need to keep in mind the story of the old bull and the young bull... Look it up. There's a lesson to be learned.

[Daniel]

I agree your ideas sound good but why not try to help out this or other sites with some of your ideas. 

[foozkillah]

Perhaps crt338 just has to do this, and it might be "Now or Never" time.  So what if crt338  does what's been done?  The actual journey could be what is most important and valuable to crt338 !  Anything interesting and viable on crt338's proposed site, whether original or not,  could be another decent contribution to DIVERSITY in our "foos" world!

Perhaps a second look or a new "take" on the "Nearest Foos Locations" that Ali's Foosworld has had, but really hard to update?  Or an effort to have 2009 locations up to date?  How about a section of vids and streaming files catering to today's more and more capable mobile phones?  Why shouldn't any decent mobile be able to participate in forums from anywhere they are?  How about a section where one can pay to get on a package or individual events, even 6 months ahead, without going to any special "other web site", and showing who've already signed up and need partners?  Things that the foos community would definitely look at and use.

So the site may not last forever, but maybe it can shine some light on the future and be adopted or merged or linked into others.   As for anyone who would put the effort and time into these developmental features, deserves to have their OWN SAY in the deployment and use...  Others can link, but the one who either comes up, creates, or aggregates viable, useful, needed features should not have to follow anyone else's rules.  Link to it, yes, but the groundrules should be as they're set by the one/s who created, invented, refined, perfected and continue to maintain them.

[Old Meister]

Anything that helps foosball, I'm all for it. I responded to this post in an entirely honest stance. Foosball.com is hard to beat from my standpoint.
That's not to say that anyone with a vision shouldn't try to realize that vision. And maybe it doesn't have to be a competition but rather an addition to. I wanted to give support to this site as it is really a great place to come to and when someone comes here wanting to get support for a site that is already answering most all the needs that I want, well, I'm just being honest and true. I'm not trying to throw cold water on a good thing, maybe he has vision and drive to really go some place and heaven forbid I discourage that! I just felt that what he was talking about, from my viewpoint, was already answered by foosball.com. If what he hopes to accomplish is a better thing then I'm all for it.

[crt2338]

thanks guys and with the right sources(which i have) and the support of the foosball community, a 40k tournament will be easy to pull off according to a good friend of mine who has encouraged me to pursue this idea and has helped me achieve more than i ever thought i could. so hopefully one day in the new future you all will be attending this crazy kid with a dream's tournament.

[papafoos]

I agree with Daniel.  Try to come up with ideas that would augment the current sites.  There's too much out there for one site to handle and keep current without a bunch of people getting involved.  So pick something you think would be useful and give it a try.

It doesn't hurt to overlap some info that other sites have, but try to come up with something unique, either in the information or the way it's presented.  Just don't make it too much of a burden to update.