I've only played in two tournaments, but was extremely excited about this year's Store Championships, as there were to be three close enough to attend.

My first tournament was Imdaar and it was GREAT! My second was an escalation tournament where the TO played and won the whole thing, after BORROWING everything he needed, including while practicing the entire week before. (Plenty of time to buy the ships! Borrowing for a tourney seems to be frowned upon by many locally!) This left a sour taste in my mouth.

I didn't play in the first two SCs due to certain individuals attending that I knew were not going to allow the tournaments to be any fun. And sure enough, one of the individuals won one if not both. He'll probably be at the the third as well. (He's just unpleasant to be around in general, and many locally would just like to be rid of him! This includes multiple cities in a 100 mile radius!)

With things like this happening, and all the posts at the forums with similar "bad" stories about tournies, how many of you have stopped attending tournaments accordingly? I'm doubting if I ever attend another tournament at this rate. They just aren't fun!

PS, I played in league last summer, and that was a BLAST! Much more casual and relaxed!

Please answer the question being asked and don't dwell on my experiences in this thread!

Thank you!

I hope there's more details to the TO's actions, because borrowing ships/cards (if I'm understanding "everything" correctly) really shouldn't affect you in any way. It is up to the players to decide for themselves to lend their ships out and, imo, doing so only helps foster the community by letting newer or less experienced players try out new combos that they are uncertain of whether or not they'll want to dump money on.

Personally, I won't ever stop going to tournies, but I have been fortunate enough to find a very welcoming and very fun local group

I missed the local store championships this year, one because I had family in town, the other because it was held at a very small location that was still allowing up to 28 entrants, and just didn't want to deal with the crowd. I'll probably try to do regionals this year is there's one close by.

Ironically, I won a store championship last year and skipped regionals...

I don't understand what your complaint is, a player borrowed ships and practiced for a week and won and that ruined it for you? How?

I've let people, both with experience playing and with zero experience playing, borrow my ships to play in tournaments before and the only reaction I've ever seen was enthusiasm at the larger turnout and potential increase in the local player base.

my friends and I had a bad experience and stopped going for a while, then I was talked into driving 2and a half hours for a store championship that I won.

but on the TO winning, I don't think TO's should be allowed to play in a tournament they are hosting, its just bad etiquette IMO. what if 1 match has a heated discussion and the TO is needed? now 2 matches suffer from the discussion. being constantly distracted by other games during the one you are playing is not fair to the person playing the TO. I can see friendly tournaments maybe, but not the big ones.

Played through 12-13 tournaments this year, had a blast!

But your complaints seem to indicate that you will find a way to not have a good time, so YMMV. The TO playing is perfectly legal in small tournaments, burrowing is not forbidden, and all that doesn't affect you. The game should matter, not how that person got into possession of a particular card.

Funny thing is that I only played only one slightly unpleasant guy. Played him twice, lost the first won the second. He was as ungraceful in winning as he was in losing. He just sold his collection.

I've never been this active in tournament play. In the last month I've been to 3 SC's and I've won all my games except against this one guy that show's up everywhere (The Netherlands is a tiny country) stealing my awesome Rebel aces plaque! 3 TIMES!

In 2 weeks, I'll face him again, probably. At the last SC in NL... And he WILL go DOWN this time!! I'll go home with his ships on a spike as my trophy!

He is my white whale, without the "Moby". And I'm loving it!

Yeah, as long as I know the player, I'll let them borrow anything in my kit for a tourney (sorry, new players; if I don't know you, I don't want you walking off with $100 in miniatures while I'm focused on my games). And I can't blame people for practicing before store champs. I spent a month practicing with the list I flew for Store Championship weekend.

Frankly, being able to have a player community to borrow from and loan things out to is pretty awesome.

I've never been this active in tournament play. In the last month I've been to 3 SC's and I've won all my games except against this one guy that show's up everywhere (The Netherlands is a tiny country) stealing my awesome Rebel aces plaque! 3 TIMES!

In 2 weeks, I'll face him again, probably. At the last SC in NL... And he WILL go DOWN this time!! I'll go home with his ships on a spike as my trophy!

He is my white whale, without the "Moby". And I'm loving it!

Remember how that turned out, though

I've never been this active in tournament play. In the last month I've been to 3 SC's and I've won all my games except against this one guy that show's up everywhere (The Netherlands is a tiny country) stealing my awesome Rebel aces plaque! 3 TIMES!

In 2 weeks, I'll face him again, probably. At the last SC in NL... And he WILL go DOWN this time!! I'll go home with his ships on a spike as my trophy!

He is my white whale, without the "Moby". And I'm loving it!

Vincent got you, didn't he ? He has like 3 plaques already... He used to be my nemesis too, we were randomly matched on the first game three tournaments in a row! It was super funny, since the first time it was really close and I got a modified win, so none of us got the final win.

It's a shame I had to leave, loved playing him. Last big tournament I got second he got first, but I didn't get to play him .

I've had a blast at every tournament I've attended. I think there is definitely something to what Chill said about players finding out a way to have a bad time. I'm sure there are lots of locals in my tournaments who would complain that this or that made the experience terrible for them.

That's on them.

I didn't play in the first two SCs due to certain individuals attending that I knew were not going to allow the tournaments to be any fun. And sure enough, one of the individuals won one if not both. He'll probably be at the the third as well.

I'm confused how one player can not allow the tournaments to be any fun. Is he supper competative? Well, it is a tournament.

I'm getting a bit burnt out on tournament play too. I have more fun when I whip up something crazy than when I put a lot of time and effort into crafting a list.

I only made it to one Store Championship this year, there is one more on Saturday but I don't think i'm going to make it since my friend is having a birthday get together.

I think I'll keep attending tournaments, as it's fun to get in lots of games at once against different people, but I'm getting a little worn down on the increasingly competitive and decreasingly fun atmosphere of the events.

I don't understand the hate. Sounds more like you make issues where there are none. Buck up, most tournaments I've been to from OPs to Regionals have all been casual. There might be small rulings here and there but haven't had an issue yet. My advice to you is stop seeking excuses and blaming others rather look at yourself and why you are trying not to have fun.

Also FYI, TOs are allowed to play up to the level of store championships, if he won it might be more because he has the most experience with the game.

I just take the lists I like to play (I still try and make them competitive) and hope not to face Fat Turret spam. Even if I do, it can be beaten and pretty much everyone in NoVa is a fun opponent anyway.

Tournies, for me, are not about coming in the top 4, sure its nice, they are about testing how good I am against others, especially when I am using a less than "meta" list.

I haven't ever run a fat turret at a tourney :-)

:-)

I didn't play in the first two SCs due to certain individuals attending that I knew were not going to allow the tournaments to be any fun. And sure enough, one of the individuals won one if not both. He'll probably be at the the third as well.

I'm confused how one player can not allow the tournaments to be any fun. Is he supper competative? Well, it is a tournament.

I'm also confused as to why the fact he won the tournament implies that he made the tournament un-fun for everyone else.

Not saying he didn't make the tournament un-fun, just that the fact he won the tourney isn't really relevant...

Also, not going to a tournament because one person might be there seems like you're sacrificing a lot of fun for the rare occasion you'll face him...

In a 15 player tournament with 4 swiss rounds, you have a 20% chance of facing him. So, on average, once every 5 tournaments. That's 19 fun matches against other players for every 1 match against this one guy - seems like a pretty nice ratio.

And, if you already know you don't like playing him, when it happens, just sit down in front of him and play your game, let him do his thing, and don't allow it to ruin your whole day.

I only go for the prizes. I love collecting promos. However, I know I can be a bit too competitive at time, so I like to stick to casual games.

Tournaments are fine. My group and I attend probably at least 1 tourney per month (on average) from Feb through Oct or so. They tend to die down around the holidays and after Worlds while everyone waits for the holiday release, so we take a hiatus.

Overall, tourneys have been good. Vast majority are decent folks, once in awhile you get a real d-bag, cheater, or whiner/complainer. Probably a little more frequent is the "takes it too seriously" guy that is either overly competitive and unfriendly and/or sour when things go south, or some wannabe expert who asserts a little too much nerd-thority into an otherwise fun and casual event. Overwhelmingly, though, they tend to have the right level of fun and competitive sportsmanship that keeps them positive and not devolving into something like Magic or 40K that were slogs to get through.

I am hopeful that with Scum there will also be several new builds and it will get away from too many Phantoms and large base turrets, though that is probably only through choice and not that those builds aren't competitive any more or anything.

Unless the TO/player was cheating, making a scene, or doing pairing shenanigans (IIRC the OP mentioned none of these), then the TO/Player was just another player at the tournament. How exactly does a person's mere /presence/ at an event ruin it for you?

Oh, and the TO/player actually /practiced/ before a tournament. HOW DARE HE TAKE PERFECTLY REASONABLE ACTIONS TO PREPARE FOR A TOURNAMENT!?!?!!?! He probably did other vile stuff like 'playtest' and 'get enough sleep the night before.' What a jerk.

My $0.02 - play your games and enjoy them. Just because you may not like a person at an event should not prevent you from enjoying it.

If there are a couple players ruining the experience for everyone (I assume it's not just you), say something to the TOs. We've had some local players (not necessarily limited to X-wing here) that were pretty unpleasant to play against until they got straightened out by TOs letting them know that their behavior would soon result in them being blacklisted from future events. Sounds pretty basic, but some folks just need a reminder that their behavior has consequences, and if they want to be welcome on the playground, they have to play nice with the other children

Doesn't have to be a big public scene (in fact the opposite is recommended), but a quick conversation that tells them "Look, nothing personal but we've had a few complaints from other gamers and if you can work on ____ then we'll be able to keep having you around at these events."

I'm kind of curious to hear about this one guy as well or if it's just that he's so dominant that's what keeps it from being fun for you.

I think that for every "bad tournament experience" we hear about, there are still more people posting about positive tournament experiences, and there are probably a lot more positive tournament experiences we aren't hearing about. I've played in a dozen or so tourneys in the last year+ and have only had one negative experience where I beat an opponent for the second time after the cut and he was very upset about losing. That'a it. Probably 60+ tourney games and only one slightly negative experience in a game and no bad tournaments, while the rest have been great. It doesn't even compare to my 40k or warhammer where having a bad opponent or two was the norm and having a bad tourney every handful wasn't put of the question.

That said, if you don't like them, you don't like them, but I think that one of the reasons this game is doing well is because of the positive attitude of the community.

These are different individuals I am talking about.

Also, you guys are reading "hate" into this, the tournaments just aren't fun! The atmosphere isnt fun! You can almost cut the tension with a knife when certain individuals are present, because they are annoying to play with, in any game/system!

Also, there are a group of guys in the area that feel to borrow stuff is fine, unless you win with it, then you "owe" them something! Hence, borrowing becomes a big deal! This guy also had the time to buy stuff is what I was getting at! It wasn't a last minute decision to play. So several people made comments about that.

But back to my QUESTION, how many of you have quit playing or never played in tournaments because of issues?

If there is a substantial number, lets find out why!

BTW, I know of at least one individual that got fed up after a tourney and sold all his XWing stuff!

These are different individuals I am talking about.

Also, you guys are reading "hate" into this, the tournaments just aren't fun! The atmosphere isnt fun! You can almost cut the tension with a knife when certain individuals are present, because they are annoying to play with, in any game/system!

So this statement clearly shows we are aren't reading hate into this, but that you have problems (justified or not) with certain individuals. Again, I wonder how you and your opponent can feel tense in a game where those untouchables are not in your game, but are merely near by. I am guessing that /any/ event you attend with these same people would be 'ruined' So, if you choose to let their mere presence ruin events you attend, either buck up and get over it or find events where this nefarious characters do not attend.

To your question: I do not know of a single person that has stopped attending tournaments. In fact, I know of local players that previously never played tourneys in other game systems that are now playing x-wing tournaments.

These are different individuals I am talking about.

Also, you guys are reading "hate" into this, the tournaments just aren't fun! The atmosphere isnt fun! You can almost cut the tension with a knife when certain individuals are present, because they are annoying to play with, in any game/system!

So this statement clearly shows we are aren't reading hate into this, but that you have problems (justified or not) with certain individuals. Again, I wonder how you and your opponent can feel tense in a game where those untouchables are not in your game, but are merely near by. I am guessing that /any/ event you attend with these same people would be 'ruined' So, if you choose to let their mere presence ruin events you attend, either buck up and get over it or find events where this nefarious characters do not attend.

To your question: I do not know of a single person that has stopped attending tournaments. In fact, I know of local players that previously never played tourneys in other game systems that are now playing x-wing tournaments.

You just made me realize that part of the issue is locale...There are no issues at one store, and the people that attend there are having fun, no tension! Hmmmmm!

I have played in four (4) store championships in the last months or so and I have two more I will be going to in the next two weekends. The overall atmosphere in the greater Puget Sound area (Seattle) has been "Fly Casual." For the most part, gracious losers and humble winners. I have no reservations about continuing to go to tournaments in the area.

It's disappointing to hear of another area being less pleasant.