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Frequently Asked Questions
Who created BREAKFALL.NET?

BREAKFALL.NET was created by Chris Johnston, better known as Chris Cryptic of IYHWA, along with Jonathan Bravata. It was designed by Andrew Cunneen.

Last modified: 05 Dec 2007 - 11:39 PM | Back to top

Help! Somebody is harassing me.

BREAKFALL.NET does not tolerate the harassment of our members.

If you are having a problem with another user, please contact webmaster@breakfall.net, or send a private message to jbravata, BREAKFALL.NET, Chris Cryptic or AC Nirvana on the message boards.  Provide information about who is bothering you and what they are doing.  If appropriate, provide us links to the inappropriate comment(s).

Harassing another user, as determined by the BREAKFALL.NET staff members, may result in punishments as harsh as the immediate removal and/or banning of that user's account.  Please do not do it. 

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 04:16 AM | Back to top

What is the point of this website? Why wouldn't I just use YouTube?

YouTube is a great site, and exposes you to a very wide audience.  However, that audience is not necessarily guaranteed to be wrestling fans; in fact, the majority of members there will not be.

The purpose of BREAKFALL.NET is to expose your videos to a targeted community of backyard wrestlers and backyard wrestling enthusiasts in order to help everybody become better and safer wrestlers.  Therefore we ask you to participant as much as possible in our community.

Additionally, we request that you be civil to one another.  There is a right way and a wrong way to offer criticism.  "Your video sucked!" is a very poor and unhelpful response.  "I didn't like your video because of A, B and C" is much more constructive and appreciated by the federations receiving the comments.

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 03:30 PM | Back to top

How can I help?

First of all, thank you for asking!

The biggest way you can help is by participating.  Add your fed's videos into our database.  Comment other peoples' videos and chat with one another in the forums.  BREAKFALL.NET is a site built around community, so the more you put in the more you will get out.

Be sure to tell your friends and other federations about us.  If you'd like, you may tag your videos "breakfall.net" on YouTube to help point more people our way.

You can also help in more concrete ways too.  If you find any bugs in the website, don't hesitate to send an email to webmaster@breakfall.net or send a private message on the message board to jbravata, BREAKFALL.NET or Chris Cryptic.  If you have suggestions for things that could be added or improved, send those along as well.  We take your input seriously.

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 03:31 PM | Back to top

What is RSS? How can I use it?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.  In plain terms, it is an agreed-upon way of sharing information between sites.

Most email clients these days have the ability to subscribe to one or more RSS feeds.  Additionally, you may subscribe to RSS feeds via your personalized Google homepage or your GMail account.  (Please see the Google website for instructions on how to accomplish this for each of their services.) 

Last modified: 13 Dec 2007 - 04:50 AM | Back to top

How can I change my username?

In general, we do not like changing peoples' usernames.  It leads to confusion among fellow members as they try to learn who's who.

However, if you insist upon a username change the only way to accomplish it is to send a private message to BREAKFALL.NET, jbravata or Chris Cryptic.  Include the username you would like and the reason you want to change it.

During the first few weeks after launch, we will be much more likely to perform these changes for you one time. 

Last modified: 19 Dec 2007 - 04:38 AM | Back to top

The site is awesome! How do I get started?

To get started using the fed, we recommend taking the following approach:

  1. Register an account.  You can register an account for your fed if you wish, but we recommend that you create a personal account for yourself and simply attach feds to it.
  2. Add your federation.  You will be marked as an administrator for your federation, meaning that you can control it, edit it, create news and events, add members, etc.
  3. Add your videos.  Use the "Add Video" link in the videos section, and mark the videos as belonging to your federation.  If the videos are not yet uploaded to YouTube, upload them there first.
  4. Participate!  Get involved.  Leave video comments and ratings for other peoples' videos; chat it up on the forums; whatever floats your boat.  The more you comment on other peoples' videos, the more likely they will be to comment on yours.  Remember: This site is about community participation.  The more everybody puts in, the more everybody will be able to get out of it.
It really is that simple!  If you require any more in-depth information, please read the rest of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and don't hesitate to contact a BREAKFALL.NET staff member for help.

Last modified: 19 Dec 2007 - 04:59 AM | Back to top

What is a federation administrator?

A federation administrator is a fancy name for the person (or people) who control information about that particular fed.  These users may add, edit or delete fed members and news, as well as determine who is a federation administrator.

Since all federation administrators are equally powerful, you should be careful in determining who gets to be one.  If they turn around and remove your administrator status, you will have very little recourse. 

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 03:48 AM | Back to top

What do the federation statuses mean?

A federation that is active is one that is currently wrestling shows.  A federation that is inactive is one that is not wrestling shows right now--for example, they may be taking a break over the winter--but expects to return to active status later.  A closed federation is one that used to wrestle together, but no longer does.  Sometimes this is simply because of a name change, other times it is because the fed itself ended.

The status of a federation can be changed at any time from any state to any other state.  If you do not believe your federation is going to return to active status, do not hesitate to close it; if you're wrong, you can always change it back later. 

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 03:50 AM | Back to top

How do I add members to my fed? How do I edit existing members?

To add a federation member

Assuming you are a federation administrator, you simply need to go to your federation overview page.  This can be done either by searching for your fed in the Feds section, or using the "My Feds" link on the left-hand side of the screen when you are logged in.  Under the roster information you should see a link on the right of the screen that reads "add a federation member."  Simply click that and fill out the form.

To edit an existing federation member

Go to your fed overview page, as described above.  Click on the wrestler you wish to edit.  Near the top of the screen, toward the right, you should see an "Edit" link.  Click that link and edit the form information as you see fit. 

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 03:52 AM | Back to top

How are the federation rankings determined?

Federation rankings are a simple average of the ratings given to all the videos posted by a federation.  For example, if a fed has posted three videos and received these ratings:

3.5, 3, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 5, 4.5, 3, 3

They would have an average of (3.5+3+2.5+3+3.5+5+4.5+3+3) / 9 = 3.44444.

When ranking federations, the full average is used to determine the order.  In the event of a tie, the federation that has been registered with BREAKFALL.NET longest will be ranked higher.

Please note that the star graphics for federations, members and videos are all rounded to the nearest half point.  Therefore, in our example, this federation would have 3.5 stars.

These rankings are only computed once per day.

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 04:07 AM | Back to top

How accurately should I place the map marker for my fed?

For your safety, we recommend you only place the map marker on either the city your federation is located in or, if you are not comfortable with that, the nearest major city.  The unfortunate reality is that not everybody on the Internet is a good person, and as such it may not be a good idea to drill down exactly to your street.

If you are not comfortable placing a map marker for your fed, that is not a problem at all; this information is not required.  Simply check the "I do not wish to provide this information" box in the federation location section.  Please, either provide accurate information or no information at all.  Dropping your map marker in the middle of an ocean or some other illogical place is not a substitute for simply not providing that information.

Remember, our terms of service requires you to provide accurate information if you choose to provide that information at all.

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 04:13 AM | Back to top

Can I use my fed page as my fed's homepage?

Sure.  Your federation page on BREAKFALL.NET contains upcoming events, news entries and roster information.  While we encourage federations to develop their own websites, if you do not have the time, desire or technical ability to do so you're more than welcome to link people to your federation page.

Last modified: 16 Dec 2007 - 02:11 AM | Back to top

I'm on the roster for a federation, but it does not show up under "My Feds."

There are two distinct pieces of information.  One is your profile information for a specific federation, and one is your actual BREAKFALL.NET account.

If you are listed on a roster but it is not showing up under "My Feds," that means that the federation administrator has not yet associated the roster information with your account.  Contact your federation administrator to change this setting. 

Last modified: 16 Dec 2007 - 02:13 AM | Back to top

Can I add a federation to the database that I am not affiliated with?

While the answer is technically yes, we ask that you do not add any federations to our database that you are not a member of.

The reason for this is to avoid situations where somebody who is not a member of a federation is the administrator for that federation.  Aside from being dishonest and potentially disruptive, the user may not be inclined to keep these federations updated in the same way that an actual member of that federation would.

In addition, it helps us to avoid a situation where users are complaining to the BREAKFALL.NET staff and we are asked to determine which user should be the owner/administrator for a federation.  This is exceptionally hard and often impossible to do, and as such we would simply prefer to avoid the situation entirely. 

Last modified: 16 Dec 2007 - 02:16 AM | Back to top

How much information is required in my profile?

Out of respect for your privacy and security, we do not require much information from you.  We require your email address in order to contact you and verify the legitimacy of your account, as well as a date of birth so we can wish you a happy birthday and your first name so we have something to call you.  We also ask for your country, for demographic purposes, and your time zone.  Your time zone is used only to adjust the server time (GMT-0800) to your local time.

All other profile information is entirely optional.  If you are under the age of 13, you must have a parent's permission before registering on this website or posting this information about yourself.  Use common sense.

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 04:10 AM | Back to top

How are the member ratings determined? Can I vote more than once on a member?

You may absolutely vote more than once, and we encourage it.  In fact, we encourage you to rate each video participant on each video they post.

The averages are first computed by the person who made the ratings.  That is, each person who rated Member A has their own average.  Those averages are then averaged together to get the final member rating.  This ensures that while you may vote as many times as you wish on a particular member, the number of times you vote does not make your overall rating more important than anybody else's.

For example, let's pretend that Member A was rated the following by their peers:

Member B's votes for Member A: 3, 5, 1, 2.5
Member C's votes for Member A: 3.5
Member D's votes for Member A: 3, 2.5, 4
Member E's votes for Member A: 3

We would first average each member's votes together, like so:

The average vote Member B gave Member A: 2.875
The average vote Member C gave Member A: 3.5
The average vote Member D gave Member A: 3.167
The average vote Member E gave Member A: 3

Therefore, Member A's overall member rating would be: (2.875 + 3.5 + 3.167 + 3) / 4 = 3.13, which would then be rounded to the nearest half point to 3.00.

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 03:23 PM | Back to top

Who films the tutorial videos?

Chris Johnston (Chris Cryptic) currently films all tutorial videos.  Chris has been backyard wrestling for approximately two years, and has had the pleasure of working with some of the best backyard wrestlers in Australia.  If you want to see some of what he can do, be sure to check out the videos for In Your House Wrestling Alliance, Innovative Trampoline Wrestling Association, Wrestling Force Empire, Hunter Valley Wrestling Alliance or Hollsworthy Wrestling Syndicate either here or via external sources such as YouTube or these federations' websites.

While we think that Chris is a valuable resource, he is a backyard wrestler with no training.  Please refer to our Disclaimer for important warnings.

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 04:02 AM | Back to top

How often are tutorial videos released?

We strive to release at least one new tutorial video per week.  However, other demands on Chris' time may sometimes delay these postings.

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 04:03 AM | Back to top

What kind of videos can I add?

You are permitted to add wrestling-related videos only into our database.  This includes, but is not limited to, music videos of your events, full matches or full events, flip videos, promos and other videos relating to your fed.

If you upload a video deemed not to be wrestling related by the BREAKFALL.NET staff, the video may be removed at any time without notice. 

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 03:54 AM | Back to top

Why do I have to host my videos on YouTube?

This site was created and is run by backyard wrestling enthusists.  At this time, we simply do not have the resources to host videos from everybody in the backyard wrestling community.

Since YouTube is owned by a mult-billion dollar company (Google) with the resources to do so, and permits sites such as ours to embed their videos, we have chosen to do exactly that.

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 03:56 AM | Back to top

I think my videos have been rated unfairly, what should I do?

BREAKFALL.NET relies on the ratings of its users to determine an overall video rating.

If you believe the ratings are unfair, the first thing you should do is look for comments on your videos.  There may very well be explanations from some of the raters as to why they rated you the way you did and what you could do to improve.

Remember that different users have different tastes, as well as different opinions and often vastly different levels of experience.  Try looking at the ratings from different perspectives to see if you can find some area to improve on.  BREAKFALL.NET's core purpose is to help you improve on your wrestling, so that should be your very first thought if you see one of your videos has been rated poorly.

Ultimately, remember that it is not a big deal and nothing to get upset over.  So long as you are having fun wrestling and being safe, it matters very little what others thing of your work. 

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 04:21 AM | Back to top

When should I use simple ratings for my videos versus categorical ratings?

Categorical ratings allows a user to rate a video differently in each of four areas: Execution (how well the wrestlers performed their moves), selling (how well the wrestlers made the viewer believe they were in pain), psychology (the reason certain things happen, the reason the match happened, the reason for the timing of certain things, etc) and other (a broad category encompassing things such as how much the viewer enjoyed the video overall, the difficulty or innovativeness of what was being done, etc).  These ratings are best for music videos, full matches and full events.

Simple ratings, on the other hand, only permit a user to rate the video by one metric.  This is best for flip videos and promos, where it does not make sense to be rating things like psychology or selling.  It is also somewhat more subjective, because the viewer is completely free to determine what criteria to rate you by on their own, and different viewers may have different perspectives.

Think hard about your choice; you may not change this setting once you have submitted the video.  Only a staff member may do so.

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 04:26 AM | Back to top

How are the video rankings determined? Can I vote more than once?

For category ratings, all of the ratings are simply averaged together equally to arrive at the video score.  In the future, we plan on adjusting the categorical ratings to make some categories more important to the overall score than others.  More information on this will be provided when it happens.

You may only vote once on a video.  If you attempt to vote again, you will change your previous votes to your new ones. 

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 03:16 PM | Back to top

What is the purpose of the video participants?

The video participants allows the BREAKFALL.NET system to know which of our members were in a video.

Once we have that information, we display a rating box on that video page with each participant and the ability to rate them.  Only federation members/participants who are tied to a real BREAKFALL.NET account can be rated.  This allows you to rate the individual performances of the wrestlers in a video.  

These ratings are applied directly to the member's account.  This helps us to determine which members are the best wrestlers on BREAKFALL.NET, so that our users can determine whose advice is the most valuable.

For more information on how member ratings are determined, see the appropriate FAQ. 

Last modified: 06 Dec 2007 - 03:26 PM | Back to top

My Youtube Link is not being accepted by the "Add Video" page?

If you are from Australia, or have recently selected to be involved with the Australian Version of Youtube, you might experience trouble with entering the video link provided by youtube.

Luckily, the answer is quite simple. Simply remove the "au." part of the whole link.
i.e "http://au.youtube.com/watch?12452d24" becomes "http://youtube.com/watch?1245d24"

If you have any other queries, please post them in the forum, and we will get onto them straight away.

Last modified: 19 Dec 2007 - 04:40 PM | Back to top