I went to the casual Tuesday X-Wing night at the FLGS last night.

A fat chewy with 3 z's, fat chewy with fat corran, phantom decimator, and a double doughnut.

Phantom hasn't strangled the meta, nope.

Can you make one post that's not complaining about the Phantom?

At least try to be on topic, then complain about the Phantom.

It's not that most folks around here focus on tournament play, it's more that there is much more to discuss about tournament play.

When someone ask about tips or opinion about a build, I'll always give advice to optimize it for a tournament. In a casual game, fly whatever you want as long as you have fun. Don't try to optimize your build for a casual game, you might scare off new players like those always whining about Phantoms on the forums...

So, if someone ask opinions about a casual build, what can you say except ''Yeah, it looks like fun, go for it''. When a new card is spoiled, we'll all try to find ways to optimize it.

Tournament play just create more discussion than casual play. But I'm sure that almost everyone around here play just as much casual game than tournament, if not more.

It's easier for us to all talk about the standard 100-pnt 6-asteroid Death Match, and that's why that tends to be the focus of discussion. It probably also makes people who prefer different formats to go elsewhere.

For my own part, tournaments are fun. They create a little bit of competitiveness, but I find myself playing with the same crowd I play with on Monday nights at the FLGS (or Sunday afternoons at the other FLGS) - though with some more people usually gathering in.

I would like to see more imaginative play, but I'm getting the sense that if I want to have that happen, I'm going to have to be the one to organize it. Right now, I just don't have the time, energy or mental space for it.

So, talking about the standard tournament format is just easy, that's what we do.

I went to the casual Tuesday X-Wing night at the FLGS last night.

A fat chewy with 3 z's, fat chewy with fat corran, phantom decimator, and a double doughnut.

Phantom hasn't strangled the meta, nope.

Can you make one post that's not complaining about the Phantom?

At least try to be on topic, then complain about the Phantom.

1.) Considering that the super Phantom is the #1 problem with this game, no, I cannot.

2.) This topic is about whether or not you focus on tournament play. All the players in my area are either practicing for tournaments, or playing in one. So it's all obnoxious turret lists. I typically will just play swarm and easy mode my way into top 1 or 2 on Friday tournament day, but on casual nights I don't always feel like a playing 8 ships and facing a fat turret.

Casual player here, mainly at a games club. Don't have any epic ships and the only large ship I have is the Firespray (which doesn't see much use as I mostly play Rebel).

Competitive play means min maxing taking the most powerful builds you can and generally tipping the advantage your way as much as you can because the objective is winning.

Casual is not running the meta but builds you like, you tend to have more freedom in the lists you can run because you won't constantly be running into phantom and Han lists., The objective is more about fun than winning.

Neither play style is invalid but they offer different attitudes, where a casual game may allow take backs or doing actions you forgot a competitive game is much less forgiving.

The objectives of having fun and playing what you like aren't mutually exclusive with the objective of winning. I like to win and I don't like to lose; I also enjoy building new lists and trying out unfamiliar combinations, and if my opponent and I can't agree after any match--even a tournament game--that we had fun and would like to play together again, then at least one of us is Doing It Wrong.

...and speaking of Doing It Wrong:

Can you make one post that's not complaining about the Phantom?

At least try to be on topic, then complain about the Phantom.

1.) Considering that the super Phantom is the #1 problem with this game, no, I cannot.

2.) This topic is about whether or not you focus on tournament play.

Competitive play means min maxing taking the most powerful builds you can and generally tipping the advantage your way as much as you can because the objective is winning.

Casual is not running the meta but builds you like, you tend to have more freedom in the lists you can run because you won't constantly be running into phantom and Han lists., The objective is more about fun than winning.

Neither play style is invalid but they offer different attitudes, where a casual game may allow take backs or doing actions you forgot a competitive game is much less forgiving.

The objectives of having fun and playing what you like aren't mutually exclusive with the objective of winning. I like to win and I don't like to lose; I also enjoy building new lists and trying out unfamiliar combinations, and if my opponent and I can't agree after any match--even a tournament game--that we had fun and would like to play together again, then at least one of us is Doing It Wrong.

...and speaking of Doing It Wrong:

Can you make one post that's not complaining about the Phantom?

At least try to be on topic, then complain about the Phantom.

1.) Considering that the super Phantom is the #1 problem with this game, no, I cannot.

Try harder.

2.) This topic is about whether or not you focus on tournament play.

Right, the topic is about whether posters here focus on tournament play. What your friends play isn't really relevant, nor is the boast about how good you are with swarms, and your opinion about the metagame is definitely not relevant. And it's getting tiresome.

Did I ever say that I like you? I think now is a good moment. I like you Vorpal.

Competitive play means min maxing taking the most powerful builds you can and generally tipping the advantage your way as much as you can because the objective is winning.

Casual is not running the meta but builds you like, you tend to have more freedom in the lists you can run because you won't constantly be running into phantom and Han lists., The objective is more about fun than winning.

Neither play style is invalid but they offer different attitudes, where a casual game may allow take backs or doing actions you forgot a competitive game is much less forgiving.

The objectives of having fun and playing what you like aren't mutually exclusive with the objective of winning. I like to win and I don't like to lose; I also enjoy building new lists and trying out unfamiliar combinations, and if my opponent and I can't agree after any match--even a tournament game--that we had fun and would like to play together again, then at least one of us is Doing It Wrong.

...and speaking of Doing It Wrong:

Can you make one post that's not complaining about the Phantom?

At least try to be on topic, then complain about the Phantom.

1.) Considering that the super Phantom is the #1 problem with this game, no, I cannot.

Try harder.

2.) This topic is about whether or not you focus on tournament play.

Right, the topic is about whether posters here focus on tournament play. What you play isn't really relevant, nor is the boast about how good you are with swarms, and your opinion about the metagame is definitely not relevant. And it's getting tiresome.

It's relevant. The players in my area are definitely tournament minded and fly tournament minded lists, as do I in response. I'm also not trying to boast about how good of a swarm player I am. It's not hard to win with 8 ships when your opponent has a Falcon and some Z-95's. It's rather easy mode and it goes to show how this game has devolved into rock paper scissors.

The meta game is rather relevant to tournament play also.

The players in my area are definitely tournament minded and fly tournament minded lists, as do I in response.

The meta game is rather relevant to tournament play also.

Perhaps, given the topic, you could lead with statements like this next time? Between that and losing the sarcasm, you might find your opinion more valued.

I don't focus on tournament play. Out of 10 days in which I play X-Wing, probably at most 1 involves competitive games. The other 9 feature only casual games.

That said, my friends and I do like to play with metagame-worthy builds, even in casual play. But, we sometimes do fun builds too, such as builds involving Etahn abaht and some Z-95s.

I am asking this question to get a better understanding of the forum content.

Every post or reply seems to assume players are playing tournaments or playing to practice for tournament play.

Is this the case?

So many posts don't apply to our games, both at home and the ultra small group at our local game store.

No one owns a falcon so we don't have those cards, or a transport so those cards are out, or huge ships.

No one flies Phantoms (due to complexity)

Is this normal or are we just that far from the norm?

I played in tournies and did the whole Games Day thing back in the 2000's. I do not have any hate for competitive gamers, but I do not respect them just for what they do either.

These are games, not jobs.

I sugjest that you and your freinds play totalley for fun. Keeping up with meta and min-max-tactics are not cool in my very, very experianced oppinion.

I love the game, the ships, the look of it all, and I do not care about messing up the great fun of this hobby by getting into competitive mode.

I did it for years, worked in good game stores, and was the miniatures guy.

Yikes... I know better in my wise middle age.

Once you own the toys you can do what ever you **** well please with them.

Have fun...

I don't think most people focus on tournament play. It's just that tournament play by it's nature brings out the stronger combos in any game, and you're bound to see those sooner or later in casual. So they affect everyone, and are often intimately tied to game mechanics.

Even if you decide to ban (formally or informally i.e. please dont play that) certain lists or options in casual, you have to have knowledge of those lists in the first place. Hence why the discussions revolve around those.

I mean, your post tells me that you know about Han and Phantoms. What would you do if someone in your group decides to bring a Phantom Deci combo that totally destroys your list on paper? What if the person actually enjoys playing it? Will you try to ask him to change it, or will you look at tactics and lists to counter it?

That's my thoughts anyways.

This forum does have a disproportionate 'tourny/organised play' emphasis, or so it seems to me.

Narrative play gets talked about but i think as others have said people come on here to see and discuss what the 'cuttting edge' of the game is, how new cards are being untilised and combined and to get an idea what they will face in organised play.

It is a somewhat skewed view of the games player base.

The vast majority of players are, like yourself, casual home players. If most people played tournys they would sell out the second they went on sale.

I have about 25-20 people i play against regularly, only one or two of them, possibly one.. rob, actually plays in store events. The rest of us play round each other houses.

Most of us own a lot of ships but we tend to make stories about our games and have narrative, put in house rules etc rather than 100 points deathmatch over six rocks ad nauseum.

For example, the 'narrative' can be as little as saying that 'because Sian's taken 'rebel captive' on her firespray the 'scenario' is that a rebel bothan spy has been captured by a bounty hunter.. a rebel team jump out of hyperspace to rescue the spy before the BH an his imperial escort can get him to a detention centre...'

Its no different from a normal 100 point game, we count destorying the firespray as actually disabling it (perhaps we leave it in place and it counts as a 7th asteroid~? who knows!) but the narrative just makes it a little more fun.

For the same reason we dont usually play 'same faction' games. Nobody plays 'annoying' stuff as we dont want to wind our mates up by always turning up with two fat falcons. Sure Han and 3po might turn up together in one game but it will be an 'escape from the deathstar' scenario. I might field a phantom but i'd prefer to do it as part of the 'prototype' scenario from imperial aces

I play in a more casual relaxing gaming with friends. If we make a mistake or take something back after we make a foolish move then we're not risking a prize. We might be risking the last piece of pizza but that's about it.

Game on.

Why make the distinction between tournaments and casual play? You want to make the most out of your ships, don't you? You want to get advice whether a particular combination is really as good as it sounds, right? Even when you're just playing against your best bud, you want to give him a decent fight, right?

Whether there is a prize up for grabs or just bragging rights, you'd want a well-fought battle. One that you'll be talking about long after the game night. You'd want to discuss why your opponent's squad was so powerful, or was it really? Or maybe was it YOUR squad that was just too easy to kill?

This is what the forums are for.

This forum is much like all other forums for games with tournaments.

I play in casual events and tournaments.

My build style between the 2 is very different, but even in OP events I play what I know, not the latest hot build.

When playing for fun (casual) I have run all manner of things just because I own them, Why else run a list of 4 Y Wings without turrets, because I wanted to and it was fun. Not every list needs to be optimized for maximum efficiency. I optimize for maximum fun, and play with those that want the same when flying casual.

Competitive play has significantly more topics worth discussing in depth.

You know, I find this to be not true. I find that there is more to talk about when NOT talking competitive play. When you play competitively, you rule out so many options as not being optimal. You rule out half the things in the game.

If you want to play casual, you can do crazy builds, like try to fit Expose on Gemmer and combine with Jan Ors to try to get 5 attack dice in a round on an A-wing. You can do things like fly 4 Tie Bombers with ordnance and bombs. People actually fly X-wings! There are scenarios to talk about and Epic play to discuss. There are a lot more things about this game when you don't rule out half of it as being non-competitive.

Of course, you are right in that there are more people talking about competitive play, but I find a lot of the threads a bit repetitious.

I think there are a lot of people out there that don't play in tournaments and don't play competitive play. They may come to the forums irregularly. Oh, there are some of us who come here on a regular basis, but we are in the minority. What I think is hurting the local meta (at least for me) is that there are a number of people who only get online once in a while who come to places like here to read up on what lists win and "good" lists and then show up with Fat Han or some other BTS build. So, when I go to my local events, I see over half the lists with BTS all day long. Bleh.

What I think is hurting the local meta (at least for me) is that there are a number of people who only get online once in a while who come to places like here to read up on what lists win and "good" lists and then show up with Fat Han or some other BTS build. So, when I go to my local events, I see over half the lists with BTS all day long. Bleh.

What's BTS?

we play with house rules that would make some tourny players have a fit.

First one is 'destoyed ships get replaced with debris cloud token', not all the time but it really adds an escalating layer to the game and can make formatin swarms panic if the front rank takes a hit.

second one is more controverial... we allow ships to remain in play if the start and end of the move stays on table even if the arc traveled goes off table... but it does cause stress.

Also ships that fly 'off table' can come back on after missing a turn at that point but are also stressed.

second one is more controverial... we allow ships to remain in play if the start and end of the move stays on table even if the arc traveled goes off table... but it does cause stress.

Uh... that's the tournament rule, but without the stress.

What I think is hurting the local meta (at least for me) is that there are a number of people who only get online once in a while who come to places like here to read up on what lists win and "good" lists and then show up with Fat Han or some other BTS build. So, when I go to my local events, I see over half the lists with BTS all day long. Bleh.

What's BTS?

Big Turreted Ships. I play with some casual gamers on Thursday nights, but any time we head to an official tournament somewhere.....BTS all day long.

What I think is hurting the local meta (at least for me) is that there are a number of people who only get online once in a while who come to places like here to read up on what lists win and "good" lists and then show up with Fat Han or some other BTS build. So, when I go to my local events, I see over half the lists with BTS all day long. Bleh.

What's BTS?

Big Turreted Ships. I play with some casual gamers on Thursday nights, but any time we head to an official tournament somewhere.....BTS all day long.

I see.

Autothrusters > that meta. I hope those players have a backup build somewhere in their heads, because they're going to need it. I'm seriously considering running a 4x Autoceptor list just to troll the net-deckers...

NO, HELL NO, F**K NO!

I politely state that I prefer campaigns and missions to boring face offs in the same old asteroid fields. to answer the OT.

Autothrusters > that meta. I hope those players have a backup build somewhere in their heads, because they're going to need it. I'm seriously considering running a 4x Autoceptor list just to troll the net-deckers...

Yeah, but not here yet. S&V will change things. I think even being able to buy some of the older ships will help some of those new guys that can't buy much else. Imperial Raider and Tie Advanced fix will change things. Lots of things will change, but since early December, it's been really boring when there are tournaments at stores. I've stopped going to some of them as it's not worth getting the free time away from family to fly against such boring lists.

I'm going to take "My Name is Jonus" to the biggest Store Champ. event around here. If I lose to everything, but BTS, I'm happy. 4 Tie Bombers (with Jonus) can smash those big ship lists pretty easy.

second one is more controverial... we allow ships to remain in play if the start and end of the move stays on table even if the arc traveled goes off table... but it does cause stress.

Uh... that's the tournament rule, but without the stress.

yeah and we felt it merrited stress

second one is more controverial... we allow ships to remain in play if the start and end of the move stays on table even if the arc traveled goes off table... but it does cause stress.

Uh... that's the tournament rule, but without the stress.

yeah and we felt it merrited stress

Because reasons?