It's not a real party until we hit 30 pages of talk about sportsmanship.

So, does avoiding losing == poor sportsmanship?

Love to play or not, I think its poor form to go to more tournaments if you've already taken out a first place.

Seriously? If you want prizes, get better at the game. This is not elitist; it is a fact of life. That guy who wins multiple tournaments has spent many hours studying and practicing. If someone living next door to the shop spent as much time just playing the game as that guy does traveling to events, it would not be long before his skills could compete with those of the “interloper.” It is whiny and greedy to think someone deserves a reward without putting in the work due to the coincidence of their geography, especially when that coincidence has given them an advantage (lack of travel time) they have not utilized.

Seriously? A player has already won a store Championship, but then goes on to win more. So now they have multiples of the plaque, the bag, and the tokens. I'm sorry, but if you need multiples of these things then you are the greedy one.

Multiple plaques are proof of multiple tournament wins which is proof of superior skill. People don't play in a SC to win a piece of wood with a picture on it, they play to prove that they are superior at the game to everyone else that showed up that day. The plaque is not the prize itself, if that's all you care about there's plenty of wood and ink in the world to make one for yourself. The plaque is proof of what was accomplished on that day, and each plaque represents a different accomplishment on a different day.

I am a leftist when it comes to real life (thank the New Testament) but in gaming I am a libertarian zealot (thank the Art of War). Any competitive game where the losers get to tell the winners that they're "winning too much" is a farce and goes against the spirit of competitive play. If you don't want the same people to keep winning, then get better by putting in the same amount of time and work and money they did to be as good as they are. Real life might not be fair, but gaming is, so there's no excuses like there is in real life for why you're not doing as well as somebody else.

Fair enough, didn't think of it like that. I guess it just annoys me when players come to a Store Championship from outside the area, acts like jerks and badmouth the local players. Did they earn the poor attitude too?

At this point we're aiming to get this thread to be longer than the "Why do defenders have such a bad rep?" thread now, right?

Let's do it

It won't top the defender thread until someone starts the thread over for no apparent reason.

Fair enough, didn't think of it like that. I guess it just annoys me when players come to a Store Championship from outside the area, acts like jerks and badmouth the local players. Did they earn the poor attitude too?

Bad mouth jerks all you like, but do not assume everyone who travels and/or wins multiple championships is one.

So what if the out-of-town prize sniper wins the tournament by killing one ship and spending the rest of the hour flying around out of reach of their opponents fleet? Hypothetically, the prize sniper is flying four A-Wings and second place is all Y-Wings.

Yeah I was the only "local" to make top 3 in my last store tournament. The top two were out of town players. Really obnoxious that they show up only for the tournaments and walk off with prizes that should go to the local players who actually spend more money at the store than the entry fee.

So what if the out-of-town prize sniper wins the tournament by killing one ship and spending the rest of the hour flying around out of reach of their opponents fleet? Hypothetically, the prize sniper is flying four A-Wings and second place is all Y-Wings.

It depends. Which player was using legal, loaded dice?

Yeah I was the only "local" to make top 3 in my last store tournament. The top two were out of town players. Really obnoxious that they show up only for the tournaments and walk off with prizes that should go to the local players who actually spend more money at the store than the entry fee.

And that is where you fail. The prizes should and did go to the best players. How far those players traveled and whether or not they spend any money in the store beyond the entry fee is entirely irrelevant.

Love to play or not, I think its poor form to go to more tournaments if you've already taken out a first place.

Seriously? If you want prizes, get better at the game. This is not elitist; it is a fact of life. That guy who wins multiple tournaments has spent many hours studying and practicing. If someone living next door to the shop spent as much time just playing the game as that guy does traveling to events, it would not be long before his skills could compete with those of the “interloper.” It is whiny and greedy to think someone deserves a reward without putting in the work due to the coincidence of their geography, especially when that coincidence has given them an advantage (lack of travel time) they have not utilized.

Seriously? A player has already won a store Championship, but then goes on to win more. So now they have multiples of the plaque, the bag, and the tokens. I'm sorry, but if you need multiples of these things then you are the greedy one.

At what point does it become your business what a skilled player does with the prizes they've earned?

I don't think most of these smaller store champs would bother going to Regionals if they would be bothered to have out of towners come in. Even if they did go, they probably wouldn't make it very far at all if out of towners would be winning anything anyways. Remember, these guys are really just local players who play casually.

I think the whole thing boils down to casual players who like to have tournaments in their local meta and not really go far. They do like the prize support from FFG and don't care about Regional byes. Then, there are the "professional" grade players who will travel anywhere and spend a lot of time on forums and learning about the game. They definitely want to go to Regionals and win as much loot as they can.

Yeah I was the only "local" to make top 3 in my last store tournament. The top two were out of town players. Really obnoxious that they show up only for the tournaments and walk off with prizes that should go to the local players who actually spend more money at the store than the entry fee.

so you're not happy with having a local gaming scene to play at until you get some alt art cards, too ?

Fair enough, didn't think of it like that. I guess it just annoys me when players come to a Store Championship from outside the area, acts like jerks and badmouth the local players. Did they earn the poor attitude too?

Bad mouth jerks all you like, but do not assume everyone who travels and/or wins multiple championships is one.

I didn't assume, I was only talking from my own experience and singling out two people

Definitely not, because the prizes were there as incentives for us to be there in the first place.

No, they weren't.

What, then, were the prizes for?

To celebrate & reward players of a variety of skill levels. This is why there are prizes (often of comparable value) available to players outside of the person who claimed first place, including (albeit only while supplies last) participation prizes, why prizes do not scale according to how badly you beat your opponent(s), etc. If FFG were interested only in catering to the cutthroat crowd, they probably wouldn't emphasize the Fly Casual motto so much.

I remember those "run out the clock for Modified Win" threads those are fun for trolls .. almost want to start one to end the attention on this one. LOL

I'm just a troll til my money order clears online store, but I'm tired of seeing this thread. Too many factors are involved here to really narrow it down to 1 issue.

For me, it's not about "supporting local" I'm buying online because the 2 local store .. 5 mins away and 40 mins away also holds events sell @ MSRP with very little incentive programs. 1%?? really .. LMAO.

overall, if there is a person(s) sweeping Events for prizes but never @ game nights, that would deter me to try an event let alone buy local.

But really, it can be easily narrowed down to one issue...

There is a line, on one side of this line are casual events. These events can be local only, they can be casual as hell, they can be whatever you want them to be.... and they even have prize support! (winter/spring/summer kits and anything the local store throws in)

on the other side of this line are competitive events. At these events you can expect competitive people playing competitively (hence why they are called competitive events )

You don't like the competitive environment, stick to the other side of the line.... it's that easy. if you don't like the line... too bad, the line was drawn by FFG themselves.

the problem is people crying about competitive people playing competitively at competitive events. seriously?

But really, it can be easily narrowed down to one issue...

There is a line, on one side of this line are casual events. These events can be local only, they can be casual as hell, they can be whatever you want them to be.... and they even have prize support! (winter/spring/summer kits and anything the local store throws in)

on the other side of this line are competitive events. At these events you can expect competitive people playing competitively (hence why they are called competitive events )

You don't like the competitive environment, stick to the other side of the line.... it's that easy. if you don't like the line... too bad, the line was drawn by FFG themselves.

the problem is people crying about competitive people playing competitively at competitive events. seriously?

No. The issue is how large is the acceptable distance to travel to a store for a store championship, as well as whether or not it is okay to travel to multiple ones, and finally, whether or not it is bad form to play in a store championship without ever having played at that store before.

My opinions:

A- Only as far as your local store

B-Not okay, you have one 'heat' almost. You win, you lose, its your one shot.

C-Yes. If you really wanted to play other people, there are tons of different opportunities and game days.

I guess it's a good thing we don't apply those standards to professional sports...

No. The issue is how large is the acceptable distance to travel to a store for a store championship, as well as whether or not it is okay to travel to multiple ones, and finally, whether or not it is bad form to play in a store championship without ever having played at that store before.

My opinions:

A- Only as far as your local store

B-Not okay, you have one 'heat' almost. You win, you lose, its your one shot.

C-Yes. If you really wanted to play other people, there are tons of different opportunities and game days.

You miss out on a lot of great times with this attitude. I pity such isolationist attitudes.

The tournament circuit is to encourage travel. If you don't want to participate, that's fine. But you can't complain about not getting the prizes that are specifically for the tournament circuit.

No. The issue is how large is the acceptable distance to travel to a store for a store championship, as well as whether or not it is okay to travel to multiple ones, and finally, whether or not it is bad form to play in a store championship without ever having played at that store before.

My opinions:

A- Only as far as your local store

B-Not okay, you have one 'heat' almost. You win, you lose, its your one shot.

C-Yes. If you really wanted to play other people, there are tons of different opportunities and game days.

No. because your opinion is just that. and opinion. Do you know what isn't an opinion? That store championships are competitive events, not casual events. That is a fact. A fact stated by FFG.

Can't you buy these things on e-bay? I mean yes, you are paying a premium, but if you don't do tournament play and you want the prizes....well this is an option. You also do not have to worry about "prize hogs", I guess? I figure if I really want the card or token, I will just buy them.

Hell...I am having to debate this with Armada right now...whether to just buy on E-bay or play in a tourney. Considering how leery I am of tournaments, this is an option that I readily embrace and have done so before.

Seems better than arguing about this.

It really comes down to sportsmanlike conduct ...

I haven't sifted through all 18 pages, but, I mean, game stores are not charity projects. They're holding the Store Championship because they think it will make money (and support the local scene, sure, because a healthy local scene makes you more money). The more people that show up from all over, the more money the store takes in. The Store Championships are one of the ways FFG supports the stores by giving them events that are alluring enough to attract customers they don't normally get. If you charge $15 and ten players from the next town over come to your store, you just made an extra $150 (plus snacks and any random stuff they buy while they're loitering waiting for the next round to start) for the cost of laying out five more playmats.

Why would any store owner in their right mind turn paying customers away?

No. The issue is how large is the acceptable distance to travel to a store for a store championship, as well as whether or not it is okay to travel to multiple ones, and finally, whether or not it is bad form to play in a store championship without ever having played at that store before.

My opinions:

A- Only as far as your local store

B-Not okay, you have one 'heat' almost. You win, you lose, its your one shot.

C-Yes. If you really wanted to play other people, there are tons of different opportunities and game days.

No. because your opinion is just that. and opinion. Do you know what isn't an opinion? That store championships are competitive events, not casual events. That is a fact. A fact stated by FFG.

Yeah, I said that it's just my opinion. Not sure why the snark.

And yeah, I get their competitive. I never said they weren't. You are putting words into my mouth, that I clearly disagree with. They are the first step. It's store, regionals, etc. However, i think it's bull that people go and play in like 30 of them, and then complain when the locals get upset that these people are entering their district. Not everyone has the privilege to travel that far for a game.

Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with competition. I've won numerous kits and tourneys. I placed first in Imdaar Alpha, at a nearby store. Mine wasn't running it, and I went to a store two streets down. They weren't happy that someone who they've never played against came in running an unfamiliar list with unfamiliar tactics against a meta that developed without my particular style and influence. They weren't happy that I was able to shishkabob their b-wings without much trouble.

The proffesional sports analogy doesn't sit right.

Store championships are like division series, regionals are the league series, and worlds are the worlds obviously. By repeatedly going out to play in other area's store championships, you are robbing people of their chance to earn a 'bye' in the regionals, (which might be the only reason they can justify going to regionals), and at the very least are increasing your chance of encountering a meta more suited to your style. It just sits awkwardly to me, not quite right, y'know?

First of all, nobody is being "robbed"; that's entitlement talking again, and you can't have something taken away that wasn't yours in the first place. Second of all, you can't win more than one bye anyway, so even if you take first place another player is going to get it.

Let's simplify this down to the core. This is about prizes. Pure and simple. Let's not kid ourselves.

The militant casual wants to keep the prizes "within the group" and the competitive a-hole wants to win as many as possible. Both positions are wrong. But luckily, the second group hasn't been very prevalent in this game. Non-existant, no. But not enough to justify this isolationist ideas for the beginning of the tournament circuit.

I am dealing with social anxiety. A tournament can be extremely taxing on me, and I don't think I can currently handle a Regional. But I love traveling to other stores to play. To those who enjoy the competition, playing NEW people is half the fun. Playing the same people over and over again can get boring. Why do you think FFG has that little bit about allowing to mess with the first round pairings to let people play people that they didn't come with. But, because I am a mediocre player with little expectation to win, that makes me better than a top player, who travels for the same reason? Crap.

It all comes down to greed for rather misc. prizes, competitive or casual.

First of all, nobody is being "robbed"; that's entitlement talking again, and you can't have something taken away that wasn't yours in the first place. Second of all, you can't win more than one bye anyway, so even if you take first place another player is going to get it.

it's not entitlement. Its the fact that there's a bunch of people who can't travel and have only one shot.

Think of it in sheer dice factor.

If everything is equal it increases your odds of having a lucky streak, and favorable matchups. You make a mistake, oh well, you can always travel þo another one.

If you can't afford to travel, you only have one chance, against whatever matchup appears, with whatever the dice throw your way.

Promoting the idea that traveling multiple hours to go to different championships penalizes those of us who barely can afford this game in the first place.

Even if the traveler's don't come in first they are still playing spoiler in multiple locations.

Also, what about the byes that have appeared on ebay?