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 would think the Plano Texas regional would be the closest to you but I am not sure...and not gonna do the research.

They just refunded the extra cash for my Raleigh ticket. Now, I just need to ensure the wife is fine with this...

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!

Mr Nice Guys in Monroeville has plenty of space. I play there weekly, and I'm playing there tonight actually. The store has talked to our local Xwing group a lot about the Regional event there. I can tell you right now that:

They don't plan on having a cap (the space could support 50+ games).

The cost is going to be close to 15 bucks.

They are going to be adding prizes for the top 8.

They will be starting early, 10:00AM start.

There will be 75 minute swiss rounds, and 75 minute playoff rounds.

The FINAL game will be untimed.

If I hear anything different, I'll post it here.

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.

For the record I am not against a store profiting from hosting an event in any way shape or form. I'm a huge proponent of small business and want them to be very successful.

I think the disconnect here was the organizers didn't understand what the X-Wing community is about or what they want. Sure, cash prizes might appeal to some but they are a minority in X-Wing.

Looks like they got it right.

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!

Mr Nice Guys in Monroeville has plenty of space. I play there weekly, and I'm playing there tonight actually. The store has talked to our local Xwing group a lot about the Regional event there. I can tell you right now that:

They don't plan on having a cap (the space could support 50+ games).

The cost is going to be close to 15 bucks.

They are going to be adding prizes for the top 8.

They will be starting early, 10:00AM start.

There will be 75 minute swiss rounds, and 75 minute playoff rounds.

The FINAL game will be untimed.

If I hear anything different, I'll post it here.

Sweet. I was planning on bugging the store about details, but now I don't have to. Last year they provided HCD mats for the top 8 players. They were really nice mats, valued at $50 each, and the entry fee was just $10. They clearly (imo at least) didn't make any more and actually lost money on the event. I don't know though the long term effects for drawing the local crowd into the store.

And clearly you know already know all of this because you were there too.

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.

Got it, thanks.

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 would think the Plano Texas regional would be the closest to you but I am not sure...and not gonna do the research.

Yup, that's the one, thanks. I'd already found it, I was just worried I'd missed some online registration thing (via FFG), was all. Apparently Madness is hosting it pretty late in the season, so they're on a whole different time-table, is all.

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!

Mr Nice Guys in Monroeville has plenty of space. I play there weekly, and I'm playing there tonight actually. The store has talked to our local Xwing group a lot about the Regional event there. I can tell you right now that:

They don't plan on having a cap (the space could support 50+ games).

The cost is going to be close to 15 bucks.

They are going to be adding prizes for the top 8.

They will be starting early, 10:00AM start.

There will be 75 minute swiss rounds, and 75 minute playoff rounds.

The FINAL game will be untimed.

If I hear anything different, I'll post it here.

Sweet. I was planning on bugging the store about details, but now I don't have to. Last year they provided HCD mats for the top 8 players. They were really nice mats, valued at $50 each, and the entry fee was just $10. They clearly (imo at least) didn't make any more and actually lost money on the event. I don't know though the long term effects for drawing the local crowd into the store.

And clearly you know already know all of this because you were there too.

I can tell you that they aren't doing mats again this year. I think I know what the extra prize for top 8 will be, but I don't think they have finalized it yet, and I don't want to spoil anything they want to be a surprise.

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.

Got it, thanks.

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 would think the Plano Texas regional would be the closest to you but I am not sure...and not gonna do the research.

Yup, that's the one, thanks. I'd already found it, I was just worried I'd missed some online registration thing (via FFG), was all. Apparently Madness is hosting it pretty late in the season, so they're on a whole different time-table, is all.

Call the store, but I understand that they haven't opened registration yet. Last year's tournament was great. I think you'll have a great time.

If they capped at 64 people, all paying the $40.00, then they would have in pocket:

$2,560 (minus prize support, I'll count store credit into it as cash but it really isn't: 400+200+80+80+160+200= $976) = $1,584.

Maybe they are paying people to be there to work the event?

If fully paid T.O.'s (say 2 doing nothing but T.O., and 1 event host) for 6 rounds + cut to top 8 for 3 more rounds = 9 rounds = 11hours of work, say $15hr for T.O. and $20hr for host = $330 + $220 = $550 in wages.

That is still $1,000 in pocket!

That will have to be some gigantic raffle to make up for this events entry fee.

Why shouldn't the store be making money on the event? I mean they are pretty much shutting down for it, losing out on other events they could run, so what is the issue with them turning a profit?

If they capped at 64 people, all paying the $40.00, then they would have in pocket:

$2,560 (minus prize support, I'll count store credit into it as cash but it really isn't: 400+200+80+80+160+200= $976) = $1,584.

Maybe they are paying people to be there to work the event?

If fully paid T.O.'s (say 2 doing nothing but T.O., and 1 event host) for 6 rounds + cut to top 8 for 3 more rounds = 9 rounds = 11hours of work, say $15hr for T.O. and $20hr for host = $330 + $220 = $550 in wages.

That is still $1,000 in pocket!

That will have to be some gigantic raffle to make up for this events entry fee.

I believe the kits last year were like $300, so now you're at $700. Then you got taxes to pay on those wages, probably another $100, and now you have you're entire gaming space rented out for 11 hours. I think you'll be hard pressed to find any decent sized hall for <$50/hr. You have electrical costs (A/C is going to be going hard the entire time, not to mention the lights), plus rent/lease and various overhead.

Oh yeah, then there's the fact that you're not guaranteed to have the full 64 show up, so you might be a few hundred bucks short on revenue. Before you know it, they're losing money. And this isn't accounting for the resources they need, tables and mats and what not. Even if they have 32 tables and mats already, there's still a cost associated with having them and devoting them to X wing all day. Oh, and then there's the fact that it's not just 11hrs, there's setup and teardown, and then there's the fact that they're going to be getting paid OT since it's over 8hrs, and probably over 40hrs on the week since they're not going to have some part time employee run a premier event.

Really, any game store that's hosting a regional is doing so for the publicity and attracting a huge X wing crowd. They're not doing it for the money. If they were doing it for the money, they would be running a Magic tourney instead.

I've just never seen $40.00 for an entrance only fee before in X-wing and I was surprised how above other places it was. I've seen $20-$25 so almost double the norm I thought I would math it a bit and see what the costs were. Taking a grand for hosting a day tournament now seems like a fair deal. If the store was closed to other foot traffic and it was well represented I guess it would be worth it. I just was trying to understand the costs involved.

Why shouldn't the store be making money on the event? I mean they are pretty much shutting down for it, losing out on other events they could run, so what is the issue with them turning a profit?

I can vouch for the fact that the store in question is full of Magic and other card players every saturday. so they are probably losing a lot of $$ by running this.

A store that has to close to host only the minimum number of players shouldn't be applying for regionals for a very popular game.