Lots of good ideas being posted here. Hopefully someone is listening. As another player who has not been to a tournament (but have been involved in mid-scale event planning) I like several ideas that others have posted. If you have a multi-day event then there has to be something for everyone to do on the 2nd day if they choose. Obviously the TOP X will be playing but whether it is vendors, speakers, 2nd chance bracket, whatever; you have to give the rest the option of things to do.

I also like the option of having Regionals part of a play-off type system. As such, you would be allowed entry into 1 and only 1.

I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the number of regional tournaments. Does anyone know the number of regionals this year compared to last year?

I was one of the 90 participants at last year's Chicago regional. This year they are doing the two day tourney, with day 2 having the top 16, as well as a revenge tourney for those who didn't make the cut.

I probably won't do it because of the added expense of the overnight accommodations. My personal opinion is that it should be a one day tourney unless it's being hosted by a multiday convention. I wonder if they are going to expand the GENCON tourney across more than one day as well.

Gencon is already across two days. FFG does not run the Top Cuts same day as thier qualifying rounds at conventions.

Yeah, I don't mind Convention events to run more than one day, as a convention has a lot to offer if I don't make the cut/fall out early.

If Regionals are going to start drawing 124+ there are going to start to be more two day Regionals. And while that may turn some players off, to others it's a boon, irregardless it isn't like events won't be filled to capacity whether it is run over one or two days.

FFG should look into allow stores to seperate Swiss into flights for these essentially con-sized Regionals. I mean some of these X-wing events are going to draw better at Regionals then say Warmachine will at Gencon, or even better then every non-Netrunner LCG event at Gencon.

Another, probably better, alternative would be to allow players to attend one regional. Their choice which one, but if they go to one - that's it, that's their 'X-Wing Regionals' experience.

I mean, yeah, Tacoma had 120+ people last year...but 1/4 of them had also been at the Portland-area regional. And who knows how many others.

Capping the number of regionals a player can attend to just one would allow a lot more slots in the regional locations that are already identified. (Which is to say - my gut feeling is that the current number of regional events is good...it's just a problem that A LOT of players hit up multiple events, which artificially inflates the player counts at those events)

"And this would be possible how? I mean FFG at this point can barely ensure the Regional byes are bring properly distributed at events, thier tournament software is so buggy it isn't useable, we still lack floor rules, and that Judges program is still not here; and we are expecting them to start tracking individual players participation in events? I mean other companies have player databases, so it isn't inconceivable, but it pretty much is for FFGs OP. Especially since it's something that might be accomplishing something they don't want, driving down attendance."

Can't argue with that either. A conundrum.

I wouldn't mind a 2 day regional, I've been thinking of traveling for at least one this year and the idea is a lot better than 9 rounds of marathon x-wing. However, of those sites that HAVE done one, was there a "sorry you didn't make the cut" tournament? Or something going on the 2nd day?

One of the regionals in my area (Tacoma, WA) ran a regional over 2 days last year and are doing it again. No ****ing way would I attend a regional or any event that demands a hotel stay. It's a **** hobby, not a lifestyle.

Its actually 3 days now. Flight 1 on Friday, Flight 2 on Saturday, and then the top 16 on Sunday. Flight 2 is definitely going to be the more popular option. My only complaint is why the hell did they decide to do it on a Memorial Day weekend? Already have plans to travel...

I think any tournament should only ever have a maximum of 6 games of X-Wing played on any given day.

Vancouver Regionals did this last year, and I really liked it. The 'loser tournament' on the second day allowed those who lost in the top 16 to join in with one loss counted, then those who lost top 8 could join with two losses, etc. It meant that nobody had to stop playing.

Granted, my opinion might be different if a hotel stay was involved.

The second tournament was a great idea, and arguably had just as good prize support as the regional did. IIRC only two or three people didn't show up for the second day, and a couple of the guys from Washington state actually made the trip back on the second day despite it being the 4th of July weekend. The organizers did a top notch job of making sure everyone had an incentive to stick around.

One of the regionals in my area (Tacoma, WA) ran a regional over 2 days last year and are doing it again. No ****ing way would I attend a regional or any event that demands a hotel stay. It's a **** hobby, not a lifestyle.

Its actually 3 days now. Flight 1 on Friday, Flight 2 on Saturday, and then the top 16 on Sunday. Flight 2 is definitely going to be the more popular option. My only complaint is why the hell did they decide to do it on a Memorial Day weekend? Already have plans to travel...

I think any tournament should only ever have a maximum of 6 games of X-Wing played on any given day.

Then you are capping the participants of SCs to 24. Which is an absurd restriction.

No store is going to run a 2 day event for 30 people. And very few players are going to allocate 2 days for an SC even if plenty will for a Regional.

Here's my random idea, I'm not saying goes it's good, just brainstorming.

Regionals and higher could be invitational events. Say for Regionals, you'd need to be Top X from a Store Championship (X depending on the size of the tournament. You'd get a card like the Store Champ bye card, but it would just allow entry. Maybe success in the last year could be worth an entry slot. So top X in a Regional, National, or Worlds last year gets you an invite.

Here's my random idea, I'm not saying goes it's good, just brainstorming.

Regionals and higher could be invitational events. Say for Regionals, you'd need to be Top X from a Store Championship (X depending on the size of the tournament. You'd get a card like the Store Champ bye card, but it would just allow entry. Maybe success in the last year could be worth an entry slot. So top X in a Regional, National, or Worlds last year gets you an invite.

I absolutely agree with this. Tournaments on the championship track should be open to only those who have earned it.

I would give Regional invites to top 4 at every store championship, National invites to top 4 from every Regional, and so on. (Numbers might need to be adjusted, but you get the idea.)

Then, to have public events, there should be more things like the new System Open series that are open to everyone but aren't so competitive. These could focus more on participation with side events, epic games, etc. I think there should be an event like the Hoth Open in every Regional space at least once a year.

I know there is the thread discussing tournament length in general, but how many people are on board with having the top 8 of a regional on a seperate day. I think it will greatly impact the event's ability to draw players from other cities and states (you know, like a REGIONAL). This seems to be a very likely trend this season.

Thoughts?

Running Competitive level events is a very tricky situation and before we can even talk about it we have to look at the tournament structure for these events...

As soon as any competitive level event reaches 45 or more players the minimum number of rounds that must be played to determine a winner is 9. Currently X-Wing rounds are 75 minutes and even running an event at peak efficiency it's hard to get the rounds to turn over in under 90 minutes. Meaning with no break and no time set aside for prize payout the players are looking at minimum of 13.5 hours of X-Wing assuming that the final untimed round lasts only 75 minutes. Not to mention usually a registration before the event plus set up and break down for those running the event. Understandably some people will be upset that they could possibly have to devote two days to a tournament if they make the cut to top 8 or 16 but I feel the benefit of a 2 day structure vastly out weights the negative. Having a 2 day structure allows for a sufficient break for all players and a shorter day so no one is tired or starving. It also means no one is driving home late at night completely exhausted after a 15 hour day of gaming. Also those players who will play in the cut on the next will have the opportunity to be rested and fresh for their single elimination rounds which means better X-Wing. We will also be adding value to the Regionals by offering a redemption tournament for anyone who didn't make the cut to a top 8 but planned on being here for day to anyway. If you have any questions or concerns I would happy to talk with you please feel free to send me a message thank you.

I'm not spending an extra 8 hours of annual leave just in case I get top 8. Mail carriers have Sunday off, and then a rotating day of the week off. It makes scheduling time off a pain in the ass and it could already be taken up on the annual leave calendar.

People who can't spend a whole playing X-Wing don't actually like the game that much. Just deal with it. Would also help if it was run competently and started early in the morning.

Even if the event was run at peak efficiency and it started early a regional size event would have to be a minimum of 9 rounds and that's only if 76 or less players show up. Otherwise it has to be 10 rounds which is a minimum of a 14 hour event not including any time for setup/tear down, registration, or a break of any kind for the players.

As I saw posted somewhere else, maybe they should increase the number of regional tournaments and put a cap on attendance.

As I saw posted somewhere else, maybe they should increase the number of regional tournaments and put a cap on attendance.

Then you would just have people move these complaints to Nationals and Worlds.

There are no regionals so far that have said anything about 2 days.

You are wrong the Florida regional is going to be 2 days

There are no regionals so far that have said anything about 2 days.

You are wrong the Florida regional is going to be 2 days

So is Chicago.

It seems to me that people advocating that various championship events should be by invitation or qualified by winning previous tournaments do not really understand the purpose of tournaments from the perspective of FFG.

The purpose of all these tournaments and support by FFG is to promote the game, support stores selling X-Wing and to build player communities. I really do not think that FFG is trying to sift through the community and discover who the best players are. While I can understand that a section of the community would like the structure of various tournaments to reflect some hierarchical reflection of player skill and success, that really does not make any sense from the perspective of FFG.

I didn't look at all of them. The 2 I am going to are not and the others I looked at were not too. I should have said that.

There are no regionals so far that have said anything about 2 days.

You are wrong the Florida regional is going to be 2 days

So is Chicago.

So is Pittsburgh (Monroeville)

To me this is an issue that should be decided by capitalism as it were.

If a two day event is popular, it will attract people to it, if most people have an issue with it, then they won't go. That means the event will either have a lot of people showing up for it, meaning it's a good idea. Or else few will and they won't do it again.

So I say let those who want to try it, try and we'll know if they work or not based on the number of people showing up.

X-Wing is becoming a victim of its own success. Store champs are drawing larger crowds than last years Regionals. Regionals are now looking to draw crowds comparable to Worlds. Nationals and Worlds has essentially become a closed event that is sold out so far in advanced that most players who would love to go can't because work schedules are impossible to plan out more than a few months in advance.

A lot of Stores are limiting their entries based on store size, with a lot of stores who would like to hold the event not being included. I suspect that the amount of people playing in Store Champs next year, some of the larger stores may also start limiting reg-numbers or also shifting to 2 days events (in conjunction with a local convention to utilize the larger space available).

So your left with a choice. Keep it as planned. This means eventually limiting the number of players who can play or shift to multiple day events (which leaves out a chunk of players who cant afford 2 days plus hotels, travel, time off work, time away from family, etc).

Increase the number of Store Champs and Regional events to provide more venues. This may still not ease the over crowding situation as a lot of regular Tourny players will still flood the new events.

Limit Regional (and eventually Store Champs) attendance where if you placed high enough to get the participation prize, then you may not play in another event. Yes, you only have 1 chance to win.

Or have players designate "their store" and that is the only store champs event they can play in. Of course this will kill the roaming bands of teams/squadrons who always compete against each other and limit friendships and interactions between people who usually only see each other at X-Wing events).

Another option would be to recognize just how much this game has exploded in the past 2 years in America and divide the country into at least 3 blocks. Each block will have an increased number of store champs. Each block will be subdivided into more Regions (more Regional level events), and each block will have their own Nationals Level event. You may not cross blocks (that is, you can not win a small Store Champs in the Midwest region, then use it's Bye in a Western block Regionals...no gaming the system by having your top players going to small local communities to snipe their loot).

In short, something needs to be done. The game is growing and FFG Tourny support has been a huge part of this (unlike the recently dethroned British game company who stopped all Tourny support, formerly called "Games Day," then jacked up their rules and recreated their brand into something called "MoneyHammer"). Their is a fan and player base that will support (with their gaming dollars no longer going to little plastic overpriced space-army men) an increased number of events. Their is even a large enough contingent that will support multiple-day events. Though their is a larger base that can not attend due to Real Life issues. And you don't want to alienate that larger base by creating events they cant ever hope to attend.

Store Championships are already not limited events. At this point it is simply a matter of applying on time. It's fairly rare for a venue to be denied a kit. It is not as if FFG gives then out for free so FFG has little to no interest in limiting that level of event.

Also if you want people to read your post I'd suggest inserting paragraphs. You've just wall of texted us.

Store Championships are already not limited events. At this point it is simply a matter of applying on time. It's fairly rare for a venue to be denied a kit. It is not as if FFG gives then out for free so FFG has little to no interest in limiting that level of event.

Also if you want people to read your post I'd suggest inserting paragraphs. You've just wall of texted us.

It read fine for me.