With the inaugural season of Grifball entered into the annals of history, the RoosterTeeth community looks onward to the future. With rank hounds having spent their weekend questing for double the experience points on the Grifball Court, the viral disease that erupted out of a scrubbed Forge map can only evolve to reach epidemic proportions. Season Two looms just over the horizon, with eager gamers anxious to wield their hammers in search of the prize.

As the Grifball phenomenon gathers momentum, the league itself demands a more robust staff. And what is a sporting league without a Commissioner? Warring bodies of gamers need someone to snap them into line. Rules need a champion in a grid patrolled by ne’er-do-wells. Disputes require a judge, a jury, and [sometimes] an executioner.

When the time came to hand the reigns of governance for the Grifball League off to a steward who would insure a good game, RoosterTeeth tapped a Gunslinger. Who, after all, are you gonna call? The Gunslingers were on hand for the Halo 3 Beta, the Halo 3 Launch, and the release of the DLC Content that serves as the foundation for the very game that is sweeping the Halo Nation. Whenever called, we serve as the Guardians of Sportsmanship in a barren wasteland of griefers.

The Gunslinger of note is one TTL Quikthnkr. You may call him The Commish. You may call him “Quick Thinker”. You may not spell the words out in addressing him, however, lest you incur the frothy venom of his wrath. The name is, in fact, Quikthnkr. As announced today, he is the new Griffball League Commissioner.

Upon the proclamation of his new authority, speculation ran rampant among his Gunslinger peers. Would he become drunk with power? Would he issue a call for urine samples to insure that his beloved League would not become embroiled in a doping scandal of a different kind? Would his Team Cannonball defend their title as reigning GrifBall Champions?

In order to set the record straight, Tied the Leader approached our very own “Quik” for an official comment. Here he is, candid and on the record…

TTL: What was the chief contributing factor to Team Cannonball’s reign of terror in Season One of Grifball?

Quikthnkr: Without a doubt it was teamwork. Grifball, while a simple game, has a steeper learning curve than a lot of people give it credit for. Those of you who lost badly in the matchmaking hopper this weekend may have an idea what I mean. Team Cannonball played together to overcome that curve early on. As players become more familiar with the game, I suspect tough contests and razor-thin margins will be more commonplace.

TTL: Describe your role and the responsibilities you will have as Commissioner of the Grifball League.

Quikthnkr: Well Burnie Burns (founder and creator of Grifball and Commissioner of the Winter League) summed it up pretty nicely when he recruited for the position, so I will quote him here:

“Your duties would include assisting with the administration of the grifball.com site, receiving emails from Team Captains, handling match disputes between teams, reviewing highlights from submission to our editing team and just generally running the League.” -BB

TTL: As a veteran of the first season, and a member of the pilot audience for the game itself, what has been the most frequent source of conflict or disagreement that you have encountered between opponents?

Quikthnkr: I’d have to say latency issues. Online gaming always has – and probably always will have – issues regarding latency. Playing a regular game of Halo 3 is far less prone to latency than Grifball. Still, just because a team is out-slaying you doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to out-play them. As a fellow member of Team Cannonball recently reminded me, attitude towards how you play the game accounts for a lot. If you sit there thinking that you are going to get beat because of bad lag, you most certainly will.

TTL: What tactics do you intend to employ to head off controversy at its source?

Quikthnkr: As I said before, Grifball is a fairly simple game. This, thankfully, precludes a lot of controversy. Constant refinement of the rules and quickly clarifying disputes and misunderstandings would seem to be the best path towards avoiding e-drama.

TTL: How do you intend to mediate disagreements between opponents?

Quikthnkr: Via E-mail. I know that’s a glib answer but the simple truth is that not getting personally involved is the best way to handle disagreements impartially and fairly. I’ll also be calling on friends and community members I know and trust to help me on the tougher calls.

TTL: What do you see as the immediate future of the Grifball phenomenon?

Quikthnkr: Last season was pretty big. I expect this season things may grow quite a bit, though. Grifball has outgrown the confines of the Rooster Teeth community, and has now expanded throughout the Halo Nation. With periodic occurrences in the matchmaking hopper and diligent management of the league, Grifball has the potential to make quite a name for itself.

TTL: Where would you like to take Grifball through your contributions?

Quikthnkr: I have plots within schemes within plans. There are some significant challenges ahead. Improving the user experience at grifball.com with the excellent programming skills of Ben, some refinements to the map or gametype itself in light of the autoupdate, managing the influx of newer, lesser experienced players while keeping the veterans engaged; all of these things will need to be addressed in the coming weeks but if the Spring League ends with the same organization and quality as the Winter League I will consider my tenure a grand success.

TTL: What do you see as being the biggest challenge associated with this assignment as League Commissioner?

Quikthnkr: My biggest concern at this point is managing the growth of the league so that the game remains a positive experience for as many folks involved as possible. I see that as the biggest challenge for the Spring League.

TTL: What message would you like to send to those gamers who are looking forward to Season Two?

Quikthnkr: Growing pains may become something of a theme for this coming season. Remember that this is a game – it is meant to be fun. Respect your teammates and your opponents and, win or lose, we will all benefit from the good times that are to be had playing Grifball.

Act like a douchebag, grief, or cheat; and I’ll ban your ass so fast that your great great-grandfather will get a letter from the Pony Express stating that he and his progeny are forever barred from Grifball. That’s right. The ban will go back in time.

So be good to each other and bring a good game.

Some changes that are coming to the league: Teams have been increased to 8 members. Additionally, you will now choose the division you are in by the date and time you choose to play. This will be your assigned time every week and whoever is in your division will play that time as well. Last season the league took recommendations by time zone and assigned the divisions for the teams. Many teams had real problems scheduling their games and we are hoping this change will rectify that.

Some changes that may be coming to the league. We are seriously considering adding the round time limit imposed in the Bungie matchmaking varient of Grifball to the League rules. More on that when a decision is made.

Posted by XerxdeeJ