He posted on the Raleigh fb page what the prize support is:

Toronto regionals was 15$ entry or 45 for entry + a playmat.... i guess i feel lucky

I do understand the costs of running large events, which this being on site are mainly paying a couple of employees to stay extra late & maybe come in early to set-up 32 tables. Maybe they are buying 32 of the FFG playmats... . But if they aren't giving out at least $1400 in prizes, then they are using this event to make an extra profit (which as a player I don't like, but as a realist/capitalist I sorta understand).

They're holding a regional event, taking up their entire shop for a day, for a bunch of people who are likely to never set foot in their store again. I don't really have a problem with them charging an entry fee. That said I guess I'm fortunate with the Florida ones I'm attending; $20 for X-wing with lunch included, and $25 for Netrunner with a bunch of bonus participation prizes.

Cash prizes bring out the worst in people, this is a really bad idea. Cheating/Gaming the system/whining about every tiny bump of the table here they come... Hope their TOs are prepared for that.

You are right. I should go with my spoiler list! If I go with the idea of not winning and only ruining big, turreted ships, then I will be happy in the end.

Wow. I'm really disappointed that the Raleigh regional made that decision.

I just moved to North Carolina recently and that was going to be the one regional I was going to attend this year.

A $40 entry fee is excessive no matter how you slice it. I could care less about monetary prize support. Meeting new players and getting some good games in throughout the course of a day is the draw.

Oh - this again.

FL regionals are $20, includes lunch

Capping Regionals is pretty much a fact of life. Stores can either only manage so much space or can only afford certain venues. They'll generally get back what they invest in an event in terms of space, unless they overestimate. Gotta look at previous years in the region. If they go all out on a huge venue to raise the cap, expecting 120 people and only 40 show up, they are going to take a huge hit and most of these stores cant take that kind of hit. Remember that events like these can't happen without the support of these stores, even if it is a mutually beneficial relationship.

Capping Regionals is pretty much a fact of life. Stores can either only manage so much space or can only afford certain venues.

Time can also be the limiting factor, rather than space. IIRC for 33-64 players it's 6 rounds of Swiss plus 3 rounds of single-elimination play. If you organize that with 75-minute rounds, you're looking at something like a 14-hour day for the organizer and store staff. At 65+, don't you add another round to the cut, making it more like a 16-hour day?

It doesn't seem like anyone involved in the Raleigh regional is involved with, or has any knowledge, of X-Wing. They are running it like a Magic event.

A store that has to close for the day to only run 64 players shouldn't be running regionals. Especially with a store one town over that could hold 128 and not close.

It doesn't seem like anyone involved in the Raleigh regional is involved with, or has any knowledge, of X-Wing. They are running it like a Magic event.

A store that has to close for the day to only run 64 players shouldn't be running regionals. Especially with a store one town over that could hold 128 and not close.

I just called over there to confirm the rumors (yes its all true).

The guy said they basically polled local players and they seemed to think it was a good idea and that they thought this was how much was being charged at other regionals. They basically had no idea coming in.

I am surprised that X-Wing is a cash prize event. Not that it should-'t be, just surprised. It will always be a hobby for me personally, so I have zero interest in any tournaments where people attend to make money.

I am surprised that X-Wing is a cash prize event. Not that it should-'t be, just surprised. It will always be a hobby for me personally, so I have zero interest in any tournaments where people attend to make money.

That's not FFG's fault. That specific store decided to offer a cash prize. Unfortunately, FFG has no control over how stores run their Regional other than by following the tournament rules.

Unfortunately, FFG has no control over how stores run their Regional other than by following the tournament rules.

True. But when something like this sticks out to the extent that it has around the community, it'll likely be noted for picking locations next year.

Anyone know what the Monroeville, PA regional tournament is capped at?

I haven't talked with them yet this year, but last year they said they could support ~200 participants and as such would not be putting a cap on it.

I'll be there and look forward to the rematch!

Sorry, new enough to the game this is my first convention season -- is there some online registration page for regionals, or something? I know the date and location of the one I'd like to attend, but I have no idea how to sign up in advance.

Ugh, this sounds terrible.

Sorry, new enough to the game this is my first convention season -- is there some online registration page for regionals, or something? I know the date and location of the one I'd like to attend, but I have no idea how to sign up in advance.

I don't have the link handy but there is an FFG page that lists all of the Regional locations and dates. That page lists the individual store hosting each Regional along with their phone number and website. You will have to contact the store directly.

I'd be fine to pay $40 if they were offering lunch and more raffle prizes around to everyone all day. Trying to give a huge cash prize for the winner means there are a lot of bitter people. I'd rather see the prize money spread out so everyone gets to feel like paying that much is worth it.

I'd be fine to pay $40 if they were offering lunch and more raffle prizes around to everyone all day. Trying to give a huge cash prize for the winner means there are a lot of bitter people. I'd rather see the prize money spread out so everyone gets to feel like paying that much is worth it.

Exactly. FFG can't dictate how they run it, but maybe if they're aware of how upset people are they could make a request

Well, the new update on the Raleigh Regional is that they will likely be providing some food for participants (burgers were mentioned) and as was most likely stated before top 4 get cash prizes, 5-8 get $40 in store cred, 9-16 get $25 in store cred, and they will be doing multiple door prizes throughout the day, with preregistering getting more tickets for door prizes (even though almost every spot will likely be a prereg with only 64 available). Also, the store is providing 3 judges/TOs for the event (likely paid), in addition to their normal staff and likely have much extended hours for the event. I doubt the store will be making a lot of money off of the event, but you can't really blame them for trying to make a little.

I understand that they wanted to do something "big", but by putting all the cash into top prizes makes it a different event than putting the money into all sorts of other things.

Ok, so a very big change in the prize format for the Raleigh Regional. They are going to $25 entry fee, which includes food (burger or hotdog), and only door prizes now, no cash and no store credit to top players. I think that they may have gotten it right now, and if you want to participate, then you better sign up soon.

I like the idea of no prize other than what is supplied by FFG. Coming from a 40k background, higher stakes doesn't necessarily improve the experience. In my area, X-Wing tournaments are, to the extent that a hobby game can be, prestigious. People want the tokens/cards/templates that are prizes as a badge of acheivement. People also like to know who won the most recent event so that they can test themselves against that person in the future. We do typically receive a modest amount of store credit for winning, by we only need so many of each ship.

A recent event I ran had a slightly higher than normal entry fee, $10 for event but it was held at a SC Comicon which cost an additional $10 entry, but the event had 20 players who were mainly drawn in by the extreme prize support. The prize kit was an older one (one with Shield tokens, black squad alt art, etc.), but the store hosting the event, and Con, put 100% of the entry fee into prize support. The top 7 players got ships(MW, IG, SV, M3-A, Rebel Aces, TIE-Adv, and E-Wing), next 2 got t-shirts, 10th got a poster, and last place got a few shield tokens. I think that even though the prizes were very nice for this event, more fun was had by all because of a very friendly, "Fly Casually" atmosphere.