It has always be an issue for me how long tournaments are becoming. Played in a store championship yesterday with 6 rounds of Swiss cutting to top 8. Starting at 11 am 6th round of Swiss finished at 11 pm. Top 8 was going to start after that. At that point the game isn't fun...it is torture a test of stamina and endurance. I don't know if anything can be done about it especially in a large tourneys. But I believe something has to change...60 min. rounds, making them 2 days, etc. Anyone else feel this way?

Honestly, I still find it fun. I don't get to play as much as a lot of people, and I'm an early riser, but I could play X-wing from 6am to midnight.

Top 8 is basically a separate tournament. The only reason it's the same day is that people don't have to come back the next day (or get a hotel room) if they win.

60 minute rounds were absolutely unthinkable pre much needed mov change

probably still unthinkable, considering games still tend to go to time with all these hard to kill small ships running around

It has always be an issue for me how long tournaments are becoming. Played in a store championship yesterday with 6 rounds of Swiss cutting to top 8. Starting at 11 am 6th round of Swiss finished at 11 pm. Top 8 was going to start after that. At that point the game isn't fun...it is torture a test of stamina and endurance. I don't know if anything can be done about it especially in a large tourneys. But I believe something has to change...60 min. rounds, making them 2 days, etc. Anyone else feel this way?

12h to play 6 rounds...? TO really needed 45 minutes to prepare next round? Sooo i see who to blame here....

I agree completely. I believe that X wing is designed as an entry game to miniatures (comparitvely low cost to start up and fly competitive list, easy rules, Star Wars brand, pre painted etc) for Star Wars fans. I absolutely love the game, and I play regularly between work and the gym for 3 hours in 3, 45 minute, rounds every Wednesday at our FLGS. And that's it. I don't touch it other than that. Half my shop are guys like me, and the other half play Saturday tournaments. Notably, all get tournament players are college age of just after and single. The the rest of us are homeowners, married etc. I would love to play in Saturday tournaments, but by the time they start ~12pm the day is half over as far as I'm concerned. I recognize that there is a gamer crowd that is willing to devote all afternoon and evening to playing, but many of us (I believe an even larger percentage of the target player base) is unwilling to devote that time. I know that at my shop, which is just beginning to support X wing as of January, of the 8 of us that have started playing there, 3 play in Saturday tournaments regularly, 1 did it once and for the rest of us the timing is prohibitive. I'm just in a phases of life where my free time is Saturday mornings. Hunting, golf, screwing around in the tool shed, first thing on Saturday. If registration were at 7am, and first round at 8am, if sign up tomorrow. That said, I respect that others are in a different phase of life, but even when I was in college and competed in tournaments, weigh in and registration ended at 6am. First race was 6:45. Maybe it's just what I'm used to? Well constructed and respectful thoughts?

I honestly think vassal is the future of tournaments. Played on your schedule and your own time frame. I honestly don't think I'll play in another tourney unless it is the 4 round kind...with cuts.

All the ones I've done seem to run 9am to 5/6pm with 5 games and maybe a top 4 cut. 30/60 mins for lunch, 5/10 mins between games. That's it.

I'm less annoyed with length -- for big events, you'll have more rounds -- than start times and readiness to run the tournament.

If you're a store hosting a store champs, and in my area they regularly draw 25+ people, then don't plan to start the event at 1 PM, especially on a Sunday. Or worse, be the store that advertises a 2 PM start but doesn't actually start until 3 when you have 46 people show up to play.

I agree completely. I believe that X wing is designed as an entry game to miniatures (comparitvely low cost to start up and fly competitive list, easy rules, Star Wars brand, pre painted etc) for Star Wars fans. I absolutely love the game, and I play regularly between work and the gym for 3 hours in 3, 45 minute, rounds every Wednesday at our FLGS. And that's it. I don't touch it other than that. Half my shop are guys like me, and the other half play Saturday tournaments. Notably, all get tournament players are college age of just after and single. The the rest of us are homeowners, married etc. I would love to play in Saturday tournaments, but by the time they start ~12pm the day is half over as far as I'm concerned. I recognize that there is a gamer crowd that is willing to devote all afternoon and evening to playing, but many of us (I believe an even larger percentage of the target player base) is unwilling to devote that time. I know that at my shop, which is just beginning to support X wing as of January, of the 8 of us that have started playing there, 3 play in Saturday tournaments regularly, 1 did it once and for the rest of us the timing is prohibitive. I'm just in a phases of life where my free time is Saturday mornings. Hunting, golf, screwing around in the tool shed, first thing on Saturday. If registration were at 7am, and first round at 8am, if sign up tomorrow. That said, I respect that others are in a different phase of life, but even when I was in college and competed in tournaments, weigh in and registration ended at 6am. First race was 6:45. Maybe it's just what I'm used to? Well constructed and respectful thoughts?

I think something like that is completely dependent on the individual. At my game shops and tournaments, there is a very even mix of younger folks that are probably in college or just out of college and those that are married with children, and everything in between. Some although playing in a competitive field like a tournament are probably really doing it just for fun, and if they win that's just extra perks along the way. It's how they want to spend their free time. Just different strokes for different folks is all. What works for one may not work for all. Not everybody will always be happy, no matter what changes are made.

I was fine with how our shop ran their store championship. Registration was 9-9:45, first round starting at 10. Played 3 rounds, lunch break for 45 minutes, finish out the last 2 Swiss rounds, cut to top 4, had a little extended break to give people time to go to the restroom, etc. It was all wrapped up by around 8:30. We had 38 participants, which is the biggest turnout for any kind of tournament ever at that store.

I agree Hawkstrike...start time delays, break delays and there was hour lunch break (way too long) add to the pain. I also believe 75 min. rounds are too long...with mov and 75 percent of the games not going anywhere close to that time limit it just isn't needed.

Trust me, you need 75 minutes. 60 minute tournaments skew results, with a LOT more games going to time. 60 minutes is a decent alternative to time strapped stores, but it is by no means the ideal.

And Vassal is only a viable option until some game company gets annoyed by it.

Unfortunately, large competitive events need a large number of rounds. There's no way around that. I suppose starting earlier might help, but there's another crowd who deeply resent getting up early.

I honestly think vassal is the future of tournaments. Played on your schedule and your own time frame. I honestly don't think I'll play in another tourn er y unless it is the 4 round kind...with no cuts.

I hope not...tourney is tourney. You should be prepared to occupy whole day, be tiring and all that stuff. Dont want marathons? Play casual

There is no reason for 6 rounds to take 12 hours.

What I've seen in Vegas is a very organized group of guys in each store. There are 4 stores that rotate each week. Each one runs 75 min usually 4 rounds of Swiss with a cut depending on number of guys. The longest I have seen was a store championship that ran from 11:00-10:00 ish. It's all about the TO in terms of time and organization. I would say to the OP that it seemed like your TO was running really long inbetween sets. Personally I'm married with a family, I play once maybe twice a month in tourneys and then with other guys when I can. It's about balance. I would talk to the TO at the events and ask if you could help organize to maybe cut down on time inbetween.

I don't see a problem. In my community there are a plethora of events and organized play nights. Want some casual games? There are multiple nights per week and the odd smaller tournament with 10-20 players. Want a competitive event then play in one of the bigger store tournaments. I don't really see the problem. If you want a competition go to a tournament. If you enjoy playing casual games and don't want a full day of gaming then don't.

As a father of 3 young boys, I can't stay too late, particularly since the oldest tags along with me. Earlier start times are an amazing boon to me, as it means that should I ever make it to top 4, I could decide if I want to stay or drop, I don't get to decide if it starts late.

Both tournaments I've been to had a 11 am start of play. They both ended swiss at around 5pm, only the second had enough players for a top 4. They played it out, but many people left at that point. The demographics appear to skew older here. I'm in my mid-thirties, and most seem to be around that or a bit older. There's a few younger guys too, but not many.

I'm going to one where signup starts at 9 am this weekend, that works out wonderfully for me, we get woken up at 6 am every single day no matter what, no sense waiting 6 hours until start

I'm doing one right now. 60 minute rounds, single elimination. 15 minutes between games to get your crap off the table and proceed to the next. No dinner break. This ain't the Hilton bub. Fly hard, win, or go home. Screw round robin, guaranteed play time. Pay the $5, have fun. If you win, great, we got you a prize. If you lose? Sorry, here's your kinda sucky participation prize, please come back next time.

It's wham bam thank you Stan, but for a good reason! Get in, get out, have fun.

Just found out the final game finished at 4 am. I like competition so I do see it as an amazing problem to have to have a 17 hour day plus drive time to get to play against the best competition. Again you get the best competition on vassal without the torture.

I agree. I'm actually skipping a store championship today (Pastimes in Niles, IL) because I know it will be big and I just don't want to be there all day.

It's not that I don't enjoy the playing for that long, it's just that I can't justify 12+ hours in a day (including travel) with everything else I have going on in my life.

It has always be an issue for me how long tournaments are becoming. Played in a store championship yesterday with 6 rounds of Swiss cutting to top 8. Starting at 11 am 6th round of Swiss finished at 11 pm. Top 8 was going to start after that. At that point the game isn't fun...it is torture a test of stamina and endurance. I don't know if anything can be done about it especially in a large tourneys. But I believe something has to change...60 min. rounds, making them 2 days, etc. Anyone else feel this way?

No.

This is an answer in the continuing series of Short Answers to Long Questions

There is a problem, I think: as the game grows more popular, more people show up for sanctioned events, and tournaments are getting long.

There's a lot that can be done to minimize the problem, though. If rounds are a strictly enforced 75 minutes, and you stick to 10 minutes between rounds, you can run 6 rounds in about 8 hours 30 minutes. (Even if you slip a couple of times, 12 hours for just Swiss rounds is excessive.)

I have not yet found an upper limit for how much X wing I can cram into a day or weekend. If store champs went from 7am to 3am I would thoroughly enjoy it all.

I have not yet found an upper limit for how much X wing I can cram into a day or weekend. If store champs went from 7am to 3am I would thoroughly enjoy it all.

Other than the time spent standing, me too. I'm not the spring chicken I used to be so I do like to sit now and then, just not when I'm playing typically.