Don't think I saw a thread on this, but it looks like an earlier regionals season.

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/3/15/the-next-step-in-organized-play/

Nice! The current time-frame, outside the US, has them happen when it's really getting warm outside, autumn whether fits much better with spending a long day inside!

I'm an accountant.

Store Championships being moved out of tax season in 2017 is super awesome news. Just tops.

So. World Championships are to be followed immediately by regionals and another WC? Then summer store champs and then regionals and Wolrlds?

Meaning the cycle will then be SC in summer,Regionals in Winter, Worlds in May with Nationals varied?

Yes. Wade said they had to skip SC 2017 to get the rotation started up.

You still get SC next year. You'll just have Regionals for 2017 before the SC's. At least that's how I'm reading it.

Then it will reset itself to SC-Regional-National-Worlds.

Regionals in winter is pretty awesome. Easier for me to attend anyways.

This should increase space for World's Flights substantially, right?

DOUBLE REGIONAL YEAR!!!! WHOOOOOO!!!

Good changes, though it does take away from their Worlds extravaganza. But, it had to be done. X-wing and Netrunner were growing too big. And presumably, L5R goes onto the FFG track. Though, Gencon is still going to be a pain in the ass.

This is such awesome news! More room for X-wing players at Worlds, maybe?

Just a tad...

Not sure about Regionals in the winter. Snow could be a major problem for travel.

Not sure about Regionals in the winter. Snow could be a major problem for travel.

Might be a subtle way of limiting Regional attendance? This has been a topic of hot debate recently... It will certainly effect Canadian Regionals.

No more than having the SC in winter has. We had seven here, one got moved due to weather. This is less events so less impact from weather really.

I'm sure FFG will allow provisions for weather for those of us in the North.

Ew. I really don't like this new schedule. With the store championships in the winter, its easy for me to waste away several weekends playing in them. However, during the summer I spend whatever free time I have outside biking, kayaking, hiking and diving. This will severely limit the number I can go to.

Furthermore, the winter regionals kinda sucks as well. In the summer I can find a weekend to get away and go camping somewhere for a weekend and make a weekend trip out of it (and typically do something outdoorsy on Sunday), but during Nov/Dec I'm completely swamped with family stuff... And I would rather not be traveling far distances during Jan/March.

Plus, it really was nice to have SCs -> Regionals -> (Nats) -> NA Champs -> Worlds. Now Nats and NA Champs are in the middle of SCs, with Regionals happening first. Not well thought out imo.

Well that blows.

I haven't gone to a regional yet since they are mostly in May or June and those are always super busy months for me every year with family commitments.

I didn't get to any store championships this year as we had a baby around the same time. Who knows when I'll get to one again now.

Well that blows.

I haven't gone to a regional yet since they are mostly in May or June and those are always super busy months for me every year with family commitments.

I didn't get to any store championships this year as we had a baby around the same time. Who knows when I'll get to one again now.

You'll also have July and part of August for Store Champs based on the graphic, and with Regionals you'll have November through February.

And 4 OP kits a year. That's gotta be the best part.

As a teacher, I am a fan of the new schedule! SC in the summer means plenty of things to fill some off-time with! Winter Regionals are pretty cool (no pun intended) as well. Can get to some during Christmas break!

No more than having the SC in winter has. We had seven here, one got moved due to weather. This is less events so less impact from weather really.

You typically don't need to travel hundreds of km (or mi) to attend an SC though, and risk getting stranded in bad weather. If you miss a SC for bad weather, you'll likely be able to attend several others. In Canada, if you miss a Regional for bad weather, you're out of luck. So the fact that there are less tournaments means there is a bigger impact...

I wonder if they've changed these organized play seasons to coincide with when they usually release products. Take another look at the chart (that Visceroth so wisely posted high in this thread):

FFG usually releases new X-Wing product in February or March (Wave 2, Imperial Aces, Wave 6, Wave 8) and August or September (Core Set, Wave 1, Wave 3, Rebel Aces, Imperial Raider, Wave 7, TFA Core Set — as well as early releases at GenCon like for Wave 5).

The Regionals season now will end in February and the Store Champs season won't begin until May. That leaves a window for FFG to release new product without it affecting a series of tournaments that are in progress. Similarly, Store Champs season will end in August while Regionals will begin in November, leaving another window for releasing product without interrupting a season of tournaments.

Continentals and Worlds also will fall between major release windows (as they almost always have).

Another thing I see: This season leaves fewer and shorter downtimes for players who don't go to Nationals, Continentals or Worlds. In the OP structure we've had for a few years, there's nothing for players on a local or regional level from August through December, a five-month span, besides the seasonal tournament kits. And even the kits get a bit stale — the summer kit typically is out in July and another kit doesn't come out until November, rendering September and October pretty inert. (There's also a one-month lull in April between Store Champs and Regionals.)

With this new proposed OP structure, there are only two two-month spans without fairly local higher-level tournaments — in March and April and in September and October. Also, there will be a new kit every three months instead of every four, which means less downtime once everyone has played a couple tournaments with the newest one while they wait for the next one. In fact, that pair of two-month lulls between Store Champs and Regionals are cut in half by new tournament kits releasing — the Quarter Two kit will release in April and the Quarter Four kit will release in October.

I have to say that I don't like that the National Championship bar stretches all year long on the chart, though. I know they've said they'll run Nats at various conventions (I presume this is so they can swap Nats and the Open Series between Origins and AdeptiCon year to year, and maybe get DragonCon into the mix) but I think they could at least narrow that timeframe down to the usual range that conventions happen — April through September, basically. I doubt Nats will ever be in the dead of winter or even mid-fall.

Keep in mind, the National Timeline is also for other nations. It let's the Europeans, Canadians, and other misc countries have a bit more leeway in determining where they will hold Nationals.

well be weird to kinda skip the first set of new SC with regional first... but worlds in may mean I can go for once!!! it has been on my daughters birthday...... worlds in may 2017 here I come!!!!

No more than having the SC in winter has. We had seven here, one got moved due to weather. This is less events so less impact from weather really.

You typically don't need to travel hundreds of km (or mi) to attend an SC though, and risk getting stranded in bad weather. If you miss a SC for bad weather, you'll likely be able to attend several others. In Canada, if you miss a Regional for bad weather, you're out of luck. So the fact that there are less tournaments means there is a bigger impact...

That is when you reschedule the event. We had to do it with one X-Wing SC out of seven here this year. That's not that bad. But when we get storms we get 30+ cm of snow so reschedules are necessary and a fact of life here.