Fourentee

What particular part of the game do you find pathetic?

Yes, some posters on here have expressed a general interest and a desire to take a look at the game and see what it's like. Just as you put it. Don't know. Perhaps I'll buy a copy and see what the wave of students and 20-somethings who attend games sessions think of it.

It's clear from the overview posted earlier that there is rather more to it; however, that's your view and fair enough. But you, presumably, have leisure interests on which you're prepared to pay £18, be they books, music, cinema tickets, theatre, concerts -- or, indeed, admission to speedway matches -- and regard the return in terms of entertainment as well worth the outlay. Board/card gamers are no different.

And more ads would drive greater pagination with consequent extra editorial, of course. Will be interesting to see how they fare. Back in the 80s, the general Sportsweek magazine was well-received, with good features and some superb photography. Not sufficiently well-received to survive, alas!

Exactly. It's like the old rule of thumb for buying clothes: £1 per wear. If you spend £200 on a jacket (not that I ever do), love it and wear it incessantly then it's good value. Likewise with the £2 T-shirt you stick on when painting the house and only put on a few times. I've bought my share of duff games (usually speculative cheap purchases in charity shops) but have had many, many hours of pleasure from the ones I like. Perhaps we need a BSPA rule: "In the event of a rain-off, the referee will produce his official copy of MCS and invite the two captains to step forward..." Actually not as daft as some of the rules already in there...

In pure economic terms, I suppose the answer to that would be the cost involved in research and development. For a regular games player (and I'm assuming you wouldn't count yourself in that group) it's the concept and the gameplay. My personal favourite card games -- Battleline, Condottiere, Red November, Caesar and Cleopatra -- are all in the £15-20 group. There's certainly not much to them in terms of equipment, but they're the ones with depth of gameplay that draws me back again and again. I'd cheerfully part with the £18 if MCS proves to be in their league, though I accept that in a speedway forum I would be in the minority. Edit: As MCS said that Arcana (not a game with which I'm familiar) is produced by the same manufacturer, I followed the link. The manufacturer turns out to be Fantasy Flight Games, whose reputation is first-rate; they are particularly strong in the card game area. For what it's worth, two of the four favourite games I listed are from their stable.

Without any details of how the game plays, it's hard to assess. I'm assuming it to be a light strategy/hand management mechanic, so I don't think the Top Trumps comparison is really valid. Production values look good. I think the major problem will be falling between two markets. Board/card players would certainly part with £18 for the right game (it's not a cheap market) but are hardly likely to be attracted by a speedway theme. Speedway fans, I suspect, will just think the price is too high. MCS, is it possible to give a brief rundown on how it works?

Closer. http://www.abc.org.uk/Products-Services/Product-Page/?tid=20871

A good publication, IMHO, but for the record your figure is way too high.

Copy received and enjoyed, many thanks.

I rather suspect that you are due a whooosh here, my friend.

I think speedway fans worry about their sport and its participants perhaps rather more than they are concerned about the fate of supermarket employees and the global future of capitalism. I don't know what is or isn't sorted. That's rather the point. I'd like to find out.

Oh well, that's sorted then.

Difficult to be positive or negative about the prospect when there's so little information available on it. I don't think anyone's interested in knocking it down per se, but I can quite understand an air of caution. It would be good to know more about the series: Who will be involved and where, who are the organisers (on the speedway side), under what auspices will the events be run, potential fixture clashes, insurance, licences and so on. Clearly the MCF knows its way around these matters on a motocross front (which is where they started), but when they're dealing with a sport which is new to them then surely these queries are not unreasonable. I don't want to have a go, but equally I'm not going to be root for the concept blindly. Perhaps the bikerfm date will help.

I'll just wait until the spring. Racers and Royals will have sorted it all out for me by then!

I note your signature.

OK, we'll go the long way round. How would you describe the Motor Cycle Federation? Edit: This may also be useful. http://www.fim-live.com/en/fim/history/

What's in a name? The Motor Cycle Federation was launched by two motocross fans who were disillusioned with the way their sport was going. It basically sets up and coordinates motocross meetings, dealing with paperwork and insurance, etc. Interesting to see it branch out into speedway. But whatever the merits or otherwise of the organisation, it's not exactly the FIM.

FWIW I read it the other way round -- that the speedway would replace banger racing, running weekday evenings rather than Sunday, but to the current maximum of 14 fixtures. But clearly very early days in any event.

Stourbridge Chronicle today: Stourbridge speedway hopeful Emerson Jones has pledged to make his team’s supporters proud after doing a career U-turn. The motocross convert signed up with Stoke during the winter with a view to taking a place in the Potters’ line-up for the 2013 National League season. He then changed his mind and opted to stick with motocross – only to have another change of heart after talks with Stoke promoter Dave Tattum. Now he’s “100 per cent committed” to the shale sport. “It was just one of those things where you are stuck between two things and you don’t know which to go for,” said Jones, who turns 19 tomorrow. “But I’ve chosen speedway and that’s what I am going to do. I am going to be 100 per cent committed.” Jones admits the chopping and changing may not have got him on the best of footings with the Stoke supporters – but is out to change that. “They probably think I’m a different person than I am,” he said. “I will try to show them what I am about and do them proud.” Tattum said: “We were devastated by his decision. “But we feel he is an extremely talented rider and after leaving things for a few days spoke to him. “After some dialogue between us he has decided he wants to race speedway after all.”

That's a fair point, but surely there is nothing to beat instant advice in the pits from someone who is actually sampling the track conditions first-hand.

With a team of 30-plus riders, no. With a young, inexperienced and developing side, absolutely yes. Excellent team man, always ready to help out and pass on advice and also particularly good with the fans. I suspect Mildenhall supporters knew that already. Really good to see him back in the sport.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/110864/speedway-champion

Alternatively, you could read my post. I don't have "some sort of problem" and I'm not "encouraging them". Indeed, I have taken no stance on the issue. You, in contrast, have had a knee-jerk reaction. I've posed a question; you have confessed to being unable to answer it and had a swipe at me in the process. Good work. Carry on.

And should he be successful in gaining a British passport and an ACU licence, what "appropriate action" would that be?