I think it could work, but not for awhile yet. This game is still new and the player base needs to grow substantially before even considering one annual event like this, much less a circuit. X-Wing, for a miniatures game, has a very low cost of entry, stable rules (at this point), can blow through matches quickly (like good card games and unlike most miniatures games), has a substantial skill vs luck factor, an established competitive play format, and a huge fanbase for the source material. Provided the game continues to grow, I could see it developing a "semi-pro" circuit, but not for several years of stable growth and provided FFG doesn't screw up the rules somehow. Will all that happen? Very hard to say.

The other part is that people ARE already willing to travel for Regionals, Nationals, Worlds, even local tourneys. People have proven to travel for other games when the event is large enough to warrant and particularly when you aren't constantly spending hundreds or thousands on new armies every year (I'm talking to YOU, 40K). If prize money support trickles from the big tourneys down to the smaller ones (even in the form of travel/lodging vouchers), they could develop an infrastructure to make it happen, but that takes a lot of time and needs to have profit potential for those running those tiered events. Until that happens, highly unlikely.

Yeah, definetly not a whole circuit but a annual event.

How about playing for a share of $5000 worth of prizes?

How about playing for a share of $5000 worth of prizes?

It's been awhile since I played at on of these events but that is the case. The winner did not get all the cash. The winner got the lion share of like $2,000 while the rest was divided out down to the top 32 or 64.

The booths that sell the secondary market stuff at the MTG 5K's is one thing the X-Wing game could lack. That source of revenu would need to be replaced with something.

Bare in mind my interest in an event like this, is the large player turn out. The money prizes were nice but it was the experience of sitting in a room of hundreds of players who all enjoyed the game you did. Unfortunately I'm not sure how to attract so many players without a big prize. What a site to behold it would be to have an entire convention hall filled with tables playing X-Wing.

Hmmm interesting thread. I can see all points-money WILL be more likely to alter the players and attitudes of those involved (rolling triple blanks (as I seem to be expert at) would really cease to be fun with £££'s on the line, and interesting squad builds would probably dry up too. On the flip side if these events don't appeal-don't attend...

Personally I think all games have a natural monetary ceiling and I don't see xwing's as being as high as MtG's (and taking the theory to it's conclusion traditional gambling games like poker suit the highest money pots best of all...)

For what it's worth I wouldn't want to pay more than £20 entry fee ever (and for that I would expect a decent number of games and certainly not 1 if I got busted out in a knockout game straight away...)

Aren't people already paying >$100 to play in Regionals? I've personally spent over $500 traveling (lodging, convention pass, food, flight) to 2 Regionals this year for a non-cash prize. However, once you start giving out cash prizes, you might see the worst come out in people. I'm glad this game provides unique prizes (translucent dice, alt cards, etc.) for the Premier events which in my opinion is better than a cash prize.

I'm not sure what you mean by "you might see the worst come out in people." If there are bad X-Wing players, they're certainly already here.

Yeah, people seem to have a prenotion that the higher the prize the worse people will act. I certainly don't agree with that. Like I said I have played at many of these highly compedative events with little to no exposure to to cheating and such. The people who will do these shady things will do so no matter the prize. Once they cross that moral line ( we'll call it the dark side ) there's no turning back.

Guy who won was later found to be cheating and the main prize was some black lotus which he sold online for like 30k or something.

My friends who still play mtg were telling me this a few weeks ago.

In a huge xwing game with some hefty prizes you would see all sorts of cheating.

Would I attend? The competitiveness in me would want to, but living in eastern Canada, the cost alone probably wouldn't be worth it.

Plus it would depend on how it's run. If it was elimination then I probably wouldn't go.

Spend over thousand dollars only to make some crazy mistake like land on an asteroid first round only to get eliminated.

Sure it would happen to someone. Always does

X-Wing is not the largest miniature game. No other miniature game has anything like this. I would put it down as very unlikely.

There are big events but not on the scale that this would be.

I have never been a fan of playing for money, especially not large amounts of money. The game is the game, and I feel like it should be played on its own merits, not because there is a big prize pool. I come from another community where tournaments are almost always for money and it is a huge deal and pretty clearly affects things in a negative way, so I'm a bit biased.

What was the attendance at worlds last year? Nationals is capped at 248 players at two flights of 124.

I've seen the people at the gaming store. They have trouble making it from the parking lot much less a 5K.

Urgh no we know what kind of players that attracts people more concerned with cash than the game, real fans would get pushed out and you'd have two or three lists used by everyone because it's "the best".

Some competition is a good thing for a game, gaming for cash can however bring in the wrong sort and sour it for everyone.

$5k?

Seems like I've spent that much.

Urgh no we know what kind of players that attracts people more concerned with cash than the game, real fans would get pushed out and you'd have two or three lists used by everyone because it's "the best".

Some competition is a good thing for a game, gaming for cash can however bring in the wrong sort and sour it for everyone.

There are already 2-3 "best" lists winning competitive events.

X-Wing is not the largest miniature game. No other miniature game has anything like this. I would put it down as very unlikely.

There are big events but not on the scale that this would be.

I've seen sizable prizes in both Warhammer and Warmahordes. Honestly I'd put X-Wing down as more likely, as it is far more accessible. I do think that the folks saying that the lack of secondary market makes this far less likely have a point. I think it'd need something epic in scope surrounding it to function. An FFG focused convention perhaps where the proceeds funded larger scale tournaments to ensure better attendance.

I also disagree on the "brings out the worst" sentiment. I've seen plenty of jerks in all games, regardless of whether anything was on the line, X-Wing included. Some folks put more in to winning games then having fun with them, its just they of things.

Could the game support such an event, perhaps.

Should FFG sponsor something like this, hell no. You add serious money to the event, you can kiss the "Fly Casual" atmosphere good bye. Now, among the existing players, it probably wouldn't have that much of an affect. But that is not the problem. You add in money, you attract the "pro" players. Those who are only in it for the money. And with the issues with bumping and moving ships, this game cannot support the type of micro analysis you need for a money game.

I'd absolutely play for money. I want to compete and when money is on the line, people are rarely there to do anything but. It doesn't mean everyone will be a jerk. In fact, I think it would mean quite the opposite.

I would like to see this sort of thing happen the way the FGC handles tournaments: an organization such as a store or a group host the event, all players pay an entry fee, and prizes are a percentage of the sum of entry fees. Then, as (or if) the event grows, the earnings by the host can be put toward growing the tournament, streaming, etc.

Moreover, great players in my experience tend to be pretty stand-up cats. Sure there are exceptions but they seem to be friendly, very efficient, and know the rules in and out. You can't really ask for a better opponent.

Personally, I don't really get the perceived disconnect between having fun and playing competitively. Playing competitively *is* fun. If you want to "fly casual", no one is going to stop you whether there's money on the line or not.

I think I'm gonna see about asking if my flgs would host a tournament with a 20 dollar entry fee. The store takes half the total money and the rest is the prize for 1st place. So 10 people would get you a chance at making 100 bucks moving plastic ships around and rolling dice.

The prizes need not be cash for such a large event. It might take a while to think up ways of getting such a large event set up.

Another thought, the event could be held as a charity event

or

a guiness book of records attempt maybe.

I have been part of musical competitions where there have been small to large cash prizes, but my main aim when entering competitions has been self improvement (practice does help) and enjoyment, more so than the prizes on offer.

Am yet to participate in a miniatures tournament, have been hampered by work commitments and time constraints. oh and a missing damage card, which has been now replaced from our good friends at FFG.