I don't think there's anything wrong with it at all. Even if there goal is to win all of the prizes in a large area to sell on ebay than that's there prerogative

It's not as if there are any really cheap iwin builds anymore, so the onus is for the locals to uphold their honour and beat the outsiders.

I see nothing wrong with this.

From a potential sniper's perspective:

A few weeks ago, I drove 1.5 hours one way to a small-town store tourney. Since I live in the city core, there are plenty of LGSs that are closer. My main incentive was to make sure I got some acrylic tokens, but I also hoped that the environment would be much more casual. You know, a tight-knit group of guys from a smaller town who just want to have fun.

In this case at least, it was pretty much the opposite. I won the tourney by a large MoV margin and explained a few rules that the local players weren't aware of (i.e. Tactician works out of Firespray rear arcs, autothrusters don't work on Firespray rear arcs at R1-2, Lightning Reflexes can't be used on YV-666, crits on HLC re-rolls stay as crits). Despite their unfamiliarity with some rules, their competitive nature wasn't any less than my local players.

I could sense that some of them felt threatened and I really did feel like an intruder - especially because some of the wins were lop-sided. Even though most players had warmed up to me near the end, I told myself I'd probably never go through that experience again...

Then I started thinking, what if I had done poorly? Would we have gotten along fine? Probably. If so, then that's just unfair to the outsider who's committed to a longer commute and is still contributing to a LGS outside their area. And everyone at that tourney wanted those tokens as much as everyone else - I'd argue I wasn't prize sniping any more than the others.

Some of these players weren't as experienced, but the community benefits from players learning from losses. If I hadn't attended, that YV-666 Lightning Reflexes would have gone through the entire tourney unnoticed. And that HLC reroll trick or Tactician on Firesprays would've never been discovered.

And not to sound cheesy here, but doesn't the spirit of the game that we all love benefit from tougher competition? When I started playing, I suffered plenty of crushing defeats which hurt at the time. Those defeats have made me a much better player and I appreciate those losses more than ever in retrospect.

We're extremely lucky that FFG has developed such a balanced game. It's pretty hard to "power game" or run some demonic list that is unbeatable (Wave 4 Whisper etc debatable). There are competitive and non-competitive lists, sure. And at tournaments, every player is entitled to fly something as competitive as they want - regardless of whether or not they're local.

TLDR:

1. Being out of town doesn't increase your chances of winning, so why should it be frowned upon?

2. "Local" doesn't mean "not competitive".

3. Most players attending a tourney are prize sniping and have equal opportunity to win (locals might even have an advantage for being familiar with the local meta).

4. Learning from losses breeds better players.

5. Keep attending events outside of your area - it supports LGSs.

6. Be aware that local players might feel threatened, so just bring beer for everyone or something

Oh boy hear we go again... The last kind of post like this ended up with like 700 replies...

Whoops! Sorry.

XD it's okay. Threads get lost over time so people don't see them and then the same topics sometimes reappear. As long as everyone's civil unlike last time...

Are people really so self entitled that they feel they should be getting the prizes because they happen to live close to that store? Wow that blows my mind.

Are people really so self entitled that they feel they should be getting the prizes because they happen to live close to that store? Wow that blows my mind.

Dey took our toys!!!

Dey turk our jerrrbs!

There is no such thing as prize sniping haha there is only playing in tournaments....

Yes Rippy, I've even experienced players that thought the Store Owner should just *give* them the prizes from store kits instead of holding an event... They were so self-entilted that they didn't even want to enter a $5 tournament to try and win them with other local players.

That's....

Man people depress me.

Whenever out of towners show up at Store Championships and prerelease events, I look forward to the opportunity to defend the home turf against the Yankee carpetbaggers. It's a chance to represent!

Especially against those damnable Meeples players...

Prize 'sniping' is a loaded term.

The poster in the Armada thread probably plays Stark in AGOT and thinks Lannister and Intrige are broken...

Anyway, if you win an event and get the prize it is earned. Not sniped. Semantic argument for the win.

No need to get personal. But as a poster in both forums I'll say this:

In the Armada tournament they knew the community could not make a certain day, they changed the date of MoS to that day at the last minute and the TO and the only guy who showed up split all the prizes.

If you think its fair that the TO does that, well that is very Lannister of you. Generally I think with social media and email lists and all kinds of communication options now a days its not out of bounds to say the time change could have been better communicated, or another date could have been negotiated with FFG for the next week, or some solution could have been reached so the Armada community supporting that store could have played in a fun prerelease event.

I've seen so many angry people lately because of the way tournaments end up. This seems to only happen when the prize is something extra special. Lately it was the Armada "Massing at Sullust" event - Similar to X-Wing's Kessel Run and Imdaar Alpha events. When un-released ships are the prizes, people get a little bent out of shape over them.

I remember back to X-Wings Wave 4 pre-release event. It was mostly locals , but I did notice a handful of outsiders. One such outsider had attended an event the prior day and won a ship. I remember feeling a little hurt that he was trying to get a 2nd prize, by competing in multiple tournaments. I knew full-well that there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.... but it was the inner selfish part of me, that wanted him NOT to be there - because if he was gone, then that was one less person standing in between ME and a FREE SHIP! On top of that, he was probably good, because he had already won something, so if I had to play him I might lose. It was a selfish way to think, and I'm not LIKE that, I just had a little bit of feelings like that and I'm mentioning them because that's probably in-part, what locals think when you show up to their store.

Plus, from a local perspective, if another local wins, they are likely to see those ships again soon, maybe at the next league night. They can observe games with them, find out directly how they play. I've won both an Imperial Star Destroyer AND a Home One expansion from two Massing at Sullust tournaments - and I've let other people try them out on multiple occasions - It benefits both me AND the other locals, because we get to see how they play, it's almost like an open beta for the next wave.

So yeah, I understand the desire for locals to win the best prizes. It's a slefish desire, and some of us ARE indeed selfish, but it's best to keep those feelings to yourself. It's part of growing up.

Well. wow. This again.

I was going to say something. But it was probably going to come out stupid.

So. Now I'm posting this seriously non-commital, waste of time post.

So yeah, I understand the desire for locals to win the best prizes. It's a slefish desire, and some of us ARE indeed selfish, but it's best to keep those feelings to yourself. It's part of growing up.

Preach. I also really hope you're a parent.

Prize 'sniping' is a loaded term.

The poster in the Armada thread probably plays Stark in AGOT and thinks Lannister and Intrige are broken...

Anyway, if you win an event and get the prize it is earned. Not sniped. Semantic argument for the win.

No need to get personal. But as a poster in both forums I'll say this:

In the Armada tournament they knew the community could not make a certain day, they changed the date of MoS to that day at the last minute and the TO and the only guy who showed up split all the prizes.

If you think its fair that the TO does that, well that is very Lannister of you. Generally I think with social media and email lists and all kinds of communication options now a days its not out of bounds to say the time change could have been better communicated, or another date could have been negotiated with FFG for the next week, or some solution could have been reached so the Armada community supporting that store could have played in a fun prerelease event.

That isn't price sniping in the usual meaning of the term, just a terrible d*ck move. Some stores don't deserve a community. Missunderstandings have been had. Krynn, any chance that was a certain guy from your area?

I am totally a prize sniper. In September I flew down to the NOVA Open to play some X-wing. They had some fantastic prize support, and I was determined to grind everyone into dust to claim my prizes. Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of the women. That sort of thing.

FFG was there and they were giving out alternate art Guri for attendance, and alternate art Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker, and Darth Vader pilot cards for Top 16, Top 8, and Top 4 respectively. All the more reason to sharpen your blades calibrate your lasers!

I made many friends with the locals and fellow travellers, and then destroyed their hopes and dreams while battling my way to the elimination rounds. It was glorious. My battle droids did finally get decommissioned into the cold void of space in the semi-finals, forever will their sacrifice be remembered. They had done their job in acquiring my loot: a myriad of rare alternate art cards including the Dark Lord himself, a fantastic custom mat, a YV-666, a Most Wanted set, a KR multicase, a Certificate of Award for Third Place, and even a custom red-decloak painted TIE Phantom.

Nova Squadron Radio host Ed Horne also had an excellent haul, taking home a CR-90 as the Supreme Rebel Commander in the amazing epic finale, which he actually traded for an Imperial Raider with the Supreme Imperial Commander.

I highly encourage everyone to come to the NOVA Open in 2016 and try and snipe all of the prizes. If you don't come at least once, you are missing out!

// end advertisement

So yeah, I understand the desire for locals to win the best prizes. It's a slefish desire, and some of us ARE indeed selfish, but it's best to keep those feelings to yourself. It's part of growing up.

Preach. I also really hope you're a parent.

2 kids right now, but apparently that wasn't good enough because there's a 3rd on the way due in April!

Does that make me a Baby Sniper?

So it's one big logical fallacy then?

More or less. Complaints about "prize-sniping" rest on the foundation that there's a group of people who deserve tournament prizes irrespective of their ability to actually win games.

If you drive two and a half hours for the chance to win a prize you already have in order to sell the duplicate on Ebay then that's kind of awful, but... okay, you do you. If I don't like it, it's my job and the job of other local players to beat you. If we can't, then you've earned the prize regardless of what you do with it.

I think the Armada thread is a bit different. They are complaining that the TO changed the date of the pre release tournament on short notice so him and another guy could split the prizes when no one esle would be able to show up. That is wrong on many levels.

It is wrong! But it's not what the OP is talking about:

...to travelling to FLGSs to play in tournaments with prizes that you might not play in on a regular basis for non-competitive play.

What upsets me is people who come into my FLGS and act like over-competitive d**ks when people are there to have a good time.

Someone who does that is a jackass, but still isn't prize-sniping.

What upsets me is people who come into my FLGS and act like over-competitive d**ks when people are there to have a good time.

Someone who does that is a jackass, but still isn't prize-sniping.

I agree, but far too often those 'over-competitive d**ks' are really just people who are playing to win and are using tactics or builds that are either not present, or aren't allowed based on unwritten rules of that player group.

So yeah, I understand the desire for locals to win the best prizes. It's a slefish desire, and some of us ARE indeed selfish, but it's best to keep those feelings to yourself. It's part of growing up.

Preach. I also really hope you're a parent.

2 kids right now, but apparently that wasn't good enough because there's a 3rd on the way due in April!

Does that make me a Baby Sniper?

I remember when I met one of my best gaming buddies. He just had had his second child. Now, he has 4. (5 with the step child)

With regards to the Armada thread, that's 2 separate issues coming together at once. The main problem there I think is the last minute date change, but that's just exasperating the issue some people have with "prize sniping".

With regards to the prize sniping itself, I can see how is may look like people only travel from out of town for the prizes, but I welcome everyone to look at the issue from another perspective. I'll use myself as an example:

Unfortunately, I work in a job in which I can only usually be certain of having Sundays off - for any other day I have to hope that I get enough notice and can plead for the day off. This obviously starts me off limited to which events I can attend, and am always on the lookout for events I can have an excuse to go to.

I then have to look at the cost (both financial and timewise) to get to any potential events. For my own LGS it's 15min walk, but for my other "locals" I'm looking at several hours and about £15 on public transport. Anything further afield will cost even more in time and money.

This leads to the following reasoning:

- If it's my most local LGS, if I can make it I will go. Even if there is no prize support.

- For my other LGSs, I can only really go if there's an event on with some prize support. Even if the event itself is free, it starts costing too much unless I have at least a little something I can aim for to justify how much I'm spending.

- For anything further afield (such as a National), it really does cost too much on transport along unless I have a shot at something decent to justify the spending.

In all cases, I'm playing because I enjoy playing, but the cost in each case determines whether enjoyment alone is enough to get me there.

How would it look from the perspective of the locals at the store I'm attending?

- For my local: "Yeah, that guy turns up as long as work isn't getting in the way."

- For my less-local regular LGSs: "That guy shows up for some of the tourny kit days, but we don't see him on game nights."

- For non-local stores: "It's some guy from out of town. Must only be here to snipe the special prizes."

In other words, it's going to be very easy to jump to the conclusion that anyone from out of town is a prize sniper.

Prize shipping is not possible in X-wing because everyone is on the same level (there is no "pro circuit"). If you want prizes to stay in a small, local community, then you should run a league, not a tournament.

I'm not seeing the problem here.

Can someone please explain how rerolled HLC crits stay as crits

Can someone please explain how rerolled HLC crits stay as crits

HLC only turns crits into hits on the initial roll. Any reroll or ability for modifiying it doesn't turn crit results back to hits (target lock and calculation for ex.)

Source : FAQ

On topic, the term prize sniping is relative to people. Some people use it because of entitlement, they feel they are the ones keeping the store open and essentially providing the spot where the tournament is held.

This of course is ridiculous since everybody who buys x-wing has a part in this great hobby. If only regular weekly night attendees were buying ships there would be much less tournaments and kits and such.

What upsets me is people who come into my FLGS and act like over-competitive d**ks when people are there to have a good time.

Someone who does that is a jackass, but still isn't prize-sniping.

I agree, but far too often those 'over-competitive d**ks' are really just people who are playing to win and are using tactics or builds that are either not present, or aren't allowed based on unwritten rules of that player group.

This is a really interesting point - if my relationship with the group of players that I normally fly against is such that I don't feel good about flying TLT Y-Wings or Fat han or whatever against them, so I decide to go to some other store to fly those lists in hopes of winning a tournament, is that inherently uncool? This is an honest question that I'm not sure I have an answer for.

I do know that when I played Magic competitively I did so at two different stores: one had a reputation for being VERY competitive and one for being more casual. I saw many, many players show up at the one with the more casual reputation expecting easy wins simply because they brought tier 1 decks....only to get stomped by "crappy" decks that didn't exist in the "competitive" meta. I don't think X-Wing has quite as much potential for producing match-ups that are an auto-loss, but anyway...I guess I'm really just arguing what some have already said: just showing up at another store doesn't guarantee wins.