There should have been a Regional in either Richmond or D.C.

It's also garbage that Milwaukee and Chicago both got Regionals but nothing in DC/Philly/NYC or SEA/PDX.

Yeah they're technically in different regions, but it's beyond belief that FFG would put two Regionals an hour and a half apart and more than 2 months apart. Players there have a far, FAR easier time attending TWO Regionals where a lot of us will struggle to make it to even one.

There should be a Regional between Seattle, WA and Salem, OR and the best compromise would be in either Vancouver or Olympia, WA.

Monroeville's should be in Philly, Centerville's in Columbus, Houston's in San Antonio, Milwaukee's in St. Louis, plus additional Regionals in Portland, OR, and Los Angeles or San Diego.

Wow... Do ya'll want cheese to go with all this whining?

Seriously people... it's unreasonable to expect to have to drive less than 2 hours to get to a regional. Boston to LA is a 43 hr drive. Divide that by 16 and you get 2hr 40min if they were all evenly spaced along that route... Butthat's not accounting for Florida, Texas, Washington, etc that aren't along the straight path. I'm just happy there's one within 5 hours of me.

For the DC folks, go to the Pittsburgh (Monroeville) one, it's only a 4hr drive. Totally reasonable.

For the PNW folks, Portland is only a 5hr drive, Boise is 6.5, so that's a bit far, seattle only 4... Doesn't seem that unreasonable to me. Now, if you wanted to say you from ND or something, then I could see the complaint. At which I would say that you're probably used to it by now since you're not close to anything.

We already knew that there were only going to be up to 16 regionals. Anyone who's surprised that they have to drive 5 hours just didn't think that through properly. When the Mid Atlantic region spans from Illinois to Washington DC, someone is going to have to drive ~5hrs to get to an event. It just so happens that its the W.DC folks that have to drive to get to Pittsburgh, which doesn't happen to even be their region... but whatever.

And honestly, if you're complaining about the cost to drive 500 miles (at the average vehicle MPG of 24.8 (http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1089565_new-car-average-fuel-economy-rose-to-24-8-mpg-in-2013) call it 25... and national average fuel price of 3.49 (call it 3.50 http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com/?redirectto=http://fuelgaugereport.opisnet.com/index.asp) you're talking about a fuel cost of $70 bucks. I'm pretty sure the "average wear and tear" of the vehicle will actually exceed that $70.

And again, the price for a single night hotel shouldn't really exceed $100, so for <$200, you can fill your entire weekend with X wing. Oh, and if you split the price with just 1 person, not only will you not be driving 10 hours, but the 10hrs in the car will be spent with company, and it'll cost you <$100.

For those of you who may not be able to commit to a weekend of X wing due to family/work obligations, I genuinely feel for you. And you will be missed.

</rant>

Edit: I wouldn't be surprised if FFG looked into sales by region, as well as where the GoT and SWLCG and netrunner were being held as well to come up with these locations as an optimal spread for FFG's customer base.

You forget that some players are single parents with young kids so they require a sitter.

Thus my comment at the bottom "For those of you who may not be able to commit to a weekend of X wing due to family/work obligations, I genuinely feel for you. And you will be missed."

Wow... Do ya'll want cheese to go with all this whining?

Seriously people... it's unreasonable to expect to have to drive less than 2 hours to get to a regional. Boston to LA is a 43 hr drive. Divide that by 16 and you get 2hr 40min if they were all evenly spaced along that route... Butthat's not accounting for Florida, Texas, Washington, etc that aren't along the straight path. I'm just happy there's one within 5 hours of me.

For the DC folks, go to the Pittsburgh (Monroeville) one, it's only a 4hr drive. Totally reasonable.

For the PNW folks, Portland is only a 5hr drive, Boise is 6.5, so that's a bit far, seattle only 4... Doesn't seem that unreasonable to me. Now, if you wanted to say you from ND or something, then I could see the complaint. At which I would say that you're probably used to it by now since you're not close to anything.

We already knew that there were only going to be up to 16 regionals. Anyone who's surprised that they have to drive 5 hours just didn't think that through properly. When the Mid Atlantic region spans from Illinois to Washington DC, someone is going to have to drive ~5hrs to get to an event. It just so happens that its the W.DC folks that have to drive to get to Pittsburgh, which doesn't happen to even be their region... but whatever.

And honestly, if you're complaining about the cost to drive 500 miles (at the average vehicle MPG of 24.8 (http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1089565_new-car-average-fuel-economy-rose-to-24-8-mpg-in-2013) call it 25... and national average fuel price of 3.49 (call it 3.50 http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com/?redirectto=http://fuelgaugereport.opisnet.com/index.asp) you're talking about a fuel cost of $70 bucks. I'm pretty sure the "average wear and tear" of the vehicle will actually exceed that $70.

And again, the price for a single night hotel shouldn't really exceed $100, so for <$200, you can fill your entire weekend with X wing. Oh, and if you split the price with just 1 person, not only will you not be driving 10 hours, but the 10hrs in the car will be spent with company, and it'll cost you <$100.

For those of you who may not be able to commit to a weekend of X wing due to family/work obligations, I genuinely feel for you. And you will be missed.

</rant>

Edit: I wouldn't be surprised if FFG looked into sales by region, as well as where the GoT and SWLCG and netrunner were being held as well to come up with these locations as an optimal spread for FFG's customer base.

Perhaps FFG should have looked at attendance for their own Store Championship events. For instance the Monroeville PA Store Championship only had 7 players in attendance. There have been multiple event in the greater Philadlephia area all beating that attendance, some doubling it, and some with preregistration in excess of that attendance. Yet the store that can barely drum up support for the Store Championship and is also a major distance (as far as you can get without leaving the region) from the largest major metropolitan areas in the region gets the event.

Region 1 should have 2 Regionals just like all of the other Regions.

Region 1 should have 2 Regionals just like all of the other Regions.

THIS!

This Regional doesn't affect Worlds at all unless you also plan on going to Nationals at GenCon. If you weren't planning on that then Regionals is just a nice large tournament for you to go to. The Regionals system last year was a joke that it gave a bye to Worlds. A lot of those Regional wins came with very few attendees but carried the same weight as the national champions.

I'm a big supporter of the changes to make Regionals matter and limit the byes for the World Championship. I can't comment on placement but it was bound to piss some people off. Since the opportunity to host a Regional rested solely in your local store's ability to convince FFG it should host one, I think you should be mad at your favorite store's ability to fill out application forms accurately, on time, and with a convincing argument to persuade FFG to pick them over another store in the same region. FFG can't do anything in Seattle or Portland or wherever unless a store applied and made the most convincing argument. I feel for you if you have to drive 5+ hours to get to a Regional. I really do.

I don't know what a petition will really do but maybe Region 1 folks should write FFG organized play to see if they can have another store apply to open one near a metro area. That still means stores in those areas need to actually want to host it and apply. Talk with your local stores. See if they even tried to host something. This wasn't done in a vacuum.

I agree about the attendance comment. But that would require FFG to have the stores report back to FFG who participated and who won, which I'm not against, but just more work for FFG. Furthermore, it would require them to hold off on choosing stores until at least april...

I will say though, as one of those nine players at the monroeville store championship, it was a kick ass store that won't have a problem supporting 32 or even 64 games of X wing. Which not every store can make that claim. And that's something important to keep in mind as well, moreso for X wing than the LCGs since we take more space.

I love the regional tier of events as a stepping stone between Store Champs and Nationals. Remember, you can still just show up at Worlds and play: Regionals or Nationals don't stop that. It's just a bye for the first round.

That being said, the Milwaukee + Chicago events right next to one another strike me as odd. I think they could have removed the Chicago event and given one to Richmond or Norfolk (we're in the same region!). It would make the map look a little better spaced out.

Paul

Uncle's Games has a store in Bellevue and Redmond, WA.

Nothing listed yet for the rest of the world.

The UK and Canadian ones are posted up in the Organized Play subforum.

typical, the only one in Quebec is closer to Ontario, sigh.

Such angst...

Petitions? Seriously??

This Regional doesn't affect Worlds at all unless you also plan on going to Nationals at GenCon. If you weren't planning on that then Regionals is just a nice large tournament for you to go to. The Regionals system last year was a joke that it gave a bye to Worlds. A lot of those Regional wins came with very few attendees but carried the same weight as the national champions.

I'm a big supporter of the changes to make Regionals matter and limit the byes for the World Championship. I can't comment on placement but it was bound to piss some people off. Since the opportunity to host a Regional rested solely in your local store's ability to convince FFG it should host one, I think you should be mad at your favorite store's ability to fill out application forms accurately, on time, and with a convincing argument to persuade FFG to pick them over another store in the same region. FFG can't do anything in Seattle or Portland or wherever unless a store applied and made the most convincing argument. I feel for you if you have to drive 5+ hours to get to a Regional. I really do.

I don't know what a petition will really do but maybe Region 1 folks should write FFG organized play to see if they can have another store apply to open one near a metro area. That still means stores in those areas need to actually want to host it and apply. Talk with your local stores. See if they even tried to host something. This wasn't done in a vacuum.

While I don't understand the intricacies, I think this is a great post that points out there's more to the process than FFG simply picking places, stores had some responsibility in it and there were likely reasons behind the decisions.

We've had 20+ at all the tournaments in the DC 'burbs.

In case anyone wants to see a map of all the very fairly placed regionals locations, here you go. Cities hosting regionals are marked with white dots.

I love the regional tier of events as a stepping stone between Store Champs and Nationals. Remember, you can still just show up at Worlds and play: Regionals or Nationals don't stop that. It's just a bye for the first round.

That being said, the Milwaukee + Chicago events right next to one another strike me as odd. I think they could have removed the Chicago event and given one to Richmond or Norfolk (we're in the same region!). It would make the map look a little better spaced out.

Paul

I don't care about the bye at all. What gets me is that there are far fewer opportunities to win those nifty dice, tokens, and templates.

In case anyone wants to see a map of all the very fairly placed regionals locations, here you go. Cities hosting regionals are marked with white dots.

You call Chicago + Milwaukee fairly spaced? Seriously? Should have been Indianapolis and Richmond instead of Chicago and Centerville.

jokes, man

yes, chicago and milwaukee are ridiculous.

jokes, man

yes, chicago and milwaukee are ridiculous.

Hah, word. Still a bit wound up. Was looking forward to attending a regional, but with this distribution, it ain't going to happen.