However, I think it's in very poor taste if your your a player from large metro areas (ie: Dallas, Austin, Atlanta, Boston, etc) traveling 2 or 3 hours to play in prize tournaments in a smaller city.

If you have someone from Atlanta traveling to Augusta, or Tampa to Melourne, It's perfectly legal, but it's poor sportsmanship IMHO. It would be like a division 1 football team playing a division 3 team.

Well it's a good thing that being from Houston, I won't be traveling to a little town like Omaha to beat up on the helpless locals. I hear they still run X-wings there.

Sarcasm aside, it's extremely condescending to assume that a larger home town equates to a better player. This isn't college football where your geography drives your talent pool. We all have access to the same resources, and the people who win consistently at the highest level are the ones analyze the game, develop solid strategies, and execute them well. None of that depends on where you live.

I have a question... when a father and his 10 year old son, who are from a small town without a gaming store, or even another known x-wing player travel to the big city and each win a store championship, then travel 3 hours to the next big city and win another, do they fall under the same evil prize sniping monster label or is that a whole other breed?

If you don't like competitive events (they aren't for everyone) then don't go. If you want the prizes, get better or buy them on eBay.

As far as I'm concerned, the entire point of playing in a competitve event is to interact with players outside your normal gaming circle. Meet new players, see how they run their lists, and challenge yourself and the way you play the game.

Beating a less experienced meta is a strategy in itself. In MtG, we called it "clubbing baby seals" because there'd be prizes such as promos and credit on the line to get what we wanted. Once prizes are involved, there is nothing wrong with this kind of mentality

...You mean aside from that mentality being based on a faulty assumption?

It's funny you mention M:tG specifically; the DCI did their own study (albeit an unscientific one) on the 'clubbing baby seals' outlook, based on an (actually scientific) study funded by the Nevada Gaming Commission to find out if hot streaks by irregular customers at a casino were a good predictor of cheating (it turns out that they are, in fact, an excellent predictor of cheating, much moreso than hot streaks by regular customers). They wanted to know if this phenomena was real, out of concerns that this could indicate a trend of cheating.

It turns out it wasn't true at all - it mostly came down to confirmation bias and the fact that the majority of players had to travel somewhere to get to a location hosting an event. When you look at the PTQ numbers rather than the analogies & road stories, the idea of slick professional circuit players going to small towns and sweeping the field disappears completely.

I have a suspicion that the same is true of X-Wing SC events. Gambler's fallacy's a Hell of a thing.

"Gambler's Fallacy" sounds like it would be a decent Lando Calrissian novel...

Jim

Beating a less experienced meta is a strategy in itself. In MtG, we called it "clubbing baby seals" because there'd be prizes such as promos and credit on the line to get what we wanted. Once prizes are involved, there is nothing wrong with this kind of mentality.

You call it "clubbing baby seals" and you don't see anything wrong with it?

To be honest, as with all things in X-wing tournaments it's only a problem to be solved if the TO sees it as a problem. If the TO agrees that "prize predators" coming to your town to roflstomp you because they can't deal with the competition in their town is a problem they can do stuff to stop it, if not, then they're not going to work to actively reduce their tournament attendance.

Beating a less experienced meta is a strategy in itself. In MtG, we called it "clubbing baby seals" because there'd be prizes such as promos and credit on the line to get what we wanted. Once prizes are involved, there is nothing wrong with this kind of mentality.

You call it "clubbing baby seals" and you don't see anything wrong with it?

To be honest, as with all things in X-wing tournaments it's only a problem to be solved if the TO sees it as a problem. If the TO agrees that "prize predators" coming to your town to roflstomp you because they can't deal with the competition in their town is a problem they can do stuff to stop it, if not, then they're not going to work to actively reduce their tournament attendance.

I actually wnat to know how the local players are assumed to be worse players by default. If they dont play at the tournaments we cant know if one side is roflstomp stronger. We would just know out of towners are more invested in the game to travel, which shouldnt make them the better player by default.

I actually wnat to know how the local players are assumed to be worse players by default.

Whether they are or not doesn't matter. The fact that the "prize snipers" believe they're worse and therefore travel a distance to "club baby seals" for prizes is the issue under discussion.

I actually wnat to know how the local players are assumed to be worse players by default.

Whether they are or not doesn't matter. The fact that the "prize snipers" believe they're worse and therefore travel a distance to "club baby seals" for prizes is the issue under discussion.

I thought it was the locals thinking they were worse and believe out of towners are better. And the issue under discussion is originally from locals not attending because they thought out of towners are better.

To add to this, Bournemouth UK, lvl up, tomorrow 9am, charminster road, prize to first is medium ship of your choice + £20 store credit, would love to see some tallent turn up

(From a local taking part)

The most disturbing thing about this thread is that I cannot make up my mind who is worse. The guys who walk into a new place with an arrogant attitude or the guys who play there with a feeling of entitlement. Fortunately, I have yet to run into these people IRL despite the seemingly endless supply of them on the forums.

I assure you, the militant casual is just as bad as any arrogant competitive player.

Dear OP:

If those long haired out of towners are taking your prizes I suggest that you and some friends show up to your FLGS on tournament day in your beat up pickups wearing overalls and wielding Louisville Sluggers. Make sure you ask every unfamiliar person where they're from and that they might not be at the right store. Chew on a piece of straw menacingly while you do it. If someone in your party can play the first bar of "dueling banjos" this would be the time to do it. That should scare the Trotsky right out of these godless wastrels.

Remember, you're doing us all a favor for keeping our tournaments free of all these itinerant X-Wing players that are probably selling these prizes for drug money!

3 friends and I traveled to Cape Coral from Tampa today for the Store championship event at Cool Comics. If we had not traveled to the tournament there would have only been 4 players as it was the tournament ended up only being 3 rounds of swiss with no cut to top 8. We ended up taking 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th place. Already having a bag from another tournament I gave my bag to one of my friends to give to his buddy who does not have one.

3 friends and I traveled to Cape Coral from Tampa today for the Store championship event at Cool Comics. If we had not traveled to the tournament there would have only been 4 players as it was the tournament ended up only being 3 rounds of swiss with no cut to top 8. We ended up taking 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th place. Already having a bag from another tournament I gave my bag to one of my friends to give to his buddy who does not have one.

This is very similar to what we encountered at the Herkimer SC here in NY. If the travel groups from Buffalo, Ithaca and Utica did not make the trip to support the event there would have been a no show for the event. As someone who travels throughout the Northeast and Canada, it is my objective to be an Ambassador for our area and to show support to the LGS' who make the effort to hold XW events of all levels.

Stores are local until events happen. Combined with the fact that the 'lets go stomp they people from store X - I have played them before and it will be some of the easiest wins ever' attitude can be real and obvious, I am not surprised that this is coming up. What is surprising is that there is contemplation of doing anything about it other than the TO for that store holding invitation only events. If people don't want to play with outsiders, then they can live happily in solitude.

Stores are local until events happen. Combined with the fact that the 'lets go stomp they people from store X - I have played them before and it will be some of the easiest wins ever' attitude can be real and obvious, I am not surprised that this is coming up. What is surprising is that there is contemplation of doing anything about it other than the TO for that store holding invitation only events. If people don't want to play with outsiders, then they can live happily in solitude.

The issue is that a Store Championship cannot be an invitational only event.

spending 50 bucks in gas for 15 bucks worth of X-wing swag? That you may not even win??

The issue is that a Store Championship cannot be an invitational only event.

No, but you could charge an oppressive entry fee and then give free entry away as prizes in local leagues and stuff or as part of a purchase loyalty program. Plenty of ways a TO can do it if the TO feels it's a problem.

...if the TO feels it's a problem.

Promoting that type of behavior is a problem.

Just like to put a shout out to my favourite 'prize sniper' Stephen who has twice travelled an hour to compete at my LGS

I played him in the last game of my previous tourney where he gave me the game of my life, and gave me another great game in the first game of today's tourney.

Both of which I lost - but who's counting when you are up against a great player and a consummate gentleman like he is.

If you're reading this Steve, come back any time to snipe the prizes and kick my arse - I would have loved to see you take the top spot.

Maybe next time.

Why is this even a thread? For competitive level tournament play its expected in almost every game to have people travel to compete and yes maybe even win. It feels like everyone who supports a locals only idea is just upset at having lost swag to someone who does not frequent their gaming group, news flash is you are not entitled to SC prizes you must earn them by winning, as those that travel around to different SC must.

Part of it is the'let me travel to multiple stores aspect'. If you want to travel to multiple stores to play, why don't you on nonstore championship days?
Most people would love to have more players.

But if you're not actually going to play on normal days, its in bad taste to only show when their are prizes. That's not a love of the game, or a love of competition. That's greed if you want the prizes, or a burning need for validation.

And the whole militant casual thing is bs. Most of people want to have fun. If you have to play at such a 'highly competitive' level that you feel people are 'militant' than maybe you should reevaluate how you are acting.

And the whole militant casual thing is bs. Most of people want to have fun. If you have to play at such a 'highly competitive' level that you feel people are 'militant' than maybe you should reevaluate how you are acting.

I guess in this context militant casual would lead people who believe they should be able to get all the acrylics and such with any random list that they come up with because they payed for the ships in it. I really hope such people don't actually exist, and if they do that I am fortunate enough never to encounter them.

Militant casuals are ruining From Software's Souls series!

j/k, Bloodborne is amazeballs.