Turf Zone – AlbertsTipsy
Have you ever wondered at the sheer scale of possibilities within the game of Turf? It is truly mind-boggling. Did you know that there are over 13700 zones in Scotland alone and the United Kingdom hosts over 48900 zones all together. That’s around one-third of the total number of zones on planet Earth, which stands at approx. 152000 (if the stats are correct?). That’s a lot of zones! Would it even be possible to take them all during a single lifetime and the number of zones is increasing all the time. Then there’s the medals, with around 165 listed medals in total, though 4 of them are no longer available. And I’ve only mentioned zones and medals. Theer’s a whole lot more to the game of turf.
There are also Ranks from Rank 1 Novice Scout awarded when to collect a massive 195 points all the way to Rank 60 Turfalicious where you require another, wait for it, a truly mind-boggling 24,999,805 points. As for the zones themselves they come in various varieties with points ranging from 185 down to 65 and have something called PPH which stands for Point Per Hour which varies between +1 and +9. Zones also have attributes and there are around 11 of those. Still with me so far?
Turf Zone – JohnRattray
Next you have the League with level ranging from 1 to 10, you can “collect” TvT zones, that’s zones held by other turfers and you can also “collect” FTT zones, that’s new zones that have never been taken before. Sadly, no medals for either of these two. Add to all the above, the annual turf competitions, the Christmas turf advent calendar challenge, local turf events, turf Bonanzas, turf missions and there’s even one called the Seven Hills of Edinburgh turf challenge if you are still looking for more to do. And if you still have free time available, there’s the chat feature on the app, turf related WhatsApp groups and you can also meet other turfers for coffee and cake or fly to foreign lands for a day’s turfing.
Now, after all that, some actual turfing. And yes, one of the above topics, TvT. Spotted three in Edinburgh the other day and was delighted to see they were still available this morning, so loaded up the car with Mr Bumble, the single speed Brompton in the spacious boot, along with all the other stuff you seem to need when bike turfing. It’s a far cry from the cycling adverts you see where the weather is sunny and warm, there no traffic and all you need to wear is shorts and a t-shirt. Guess these adverts were not made in Scotland?
I had three targets this morning. The first was in George Street at zone WayOfGeorge and held by turfer Annfluff1. To reach the zone I followed the cycleway that runs up and down Leith Walk. And that is an experience in itself. The cycleways are not straight as you might imagine but twist and weave from side to side across the wide pavements. Why this is so I cannot imagine, other than the possibility that the planner was pissed at the time or suffering the after effects of some late-night take-away after a heavy drinking session.
This cycleway is perhaps the most hazardous one I’ve ridden, mostly from pedestrians who seem to have no idea what the large cycle symbols painted on the tarmac actually mean. Then there’s the traffic lights, a confusing mix I found, some for vehicles, some for cyclists and some for both. And there’s me, a law-abiding cyclist who stops and waits patiently at the lights only to find I’m the only one as all the others cyclists ignore them completely. Am I’m the daft laddie here?
Anyway, zone successfully taken, I zoom down the cycleway heading for my next target, zone ModernZone beside Leith Docks. It was held by turfer madpuppy, nut not for long. Anther TvT zone in the bag. My final TvT in Edinburgh was at nearby zone ShopPop, held by turfer Gatto. This brought my TvT collection to 654. Later that evening I added another on the far side of Dalkeith called ZanyNymph. I’d just finished the conversion of my Ribble CGR bicycle to single speed and use for a final test ride. And if my mental arithmetic is correct that brings my total to 655.
One aspect I didn’t mention in the scale of turf was actual turfers themselves. Today, here in Scotland there are around 330 active turfers, by active I meane turfers who have taken zones his Round. Globally, that figure comes to over 7000 players. But the most interesting figure and one that raises a number of questions, is the total number of turf players that have existed. That figure is shown at the foot of turfgame.com and is currently at 463,055, not far shy of half a million turfers. So, where are they now? Why did they stop turfing, if indeed, they actually started at all? What is wrong with turf that we cannot retain players? All questions for another turf blog. By for now.
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