So even as I begin to write this I know that it's probably a futile effort. Internet forums and Facebook posts are rarely, if ever, the place for debate. Never the less, I write. I was one of the Top 8 in Roanoke this past weekend (#8). I'm not part of Nova, or a podcast so I'm not speaking for any of the other 7 players. I'm just a schmuck from a small town who enjoys competing in x-wing events and having fun. I've not read all of the forum posts or Reddit threads on this topic since Sat. nor will I. I don't need the the online crowd to pressure me into anything. Amongst all the debate over Intentional Draws regarding this event it has also been a subject of curiosity, at least early on, of "did they all get together and decide this?" "Was it a protest?" Words like "cartel" are being put out there. To my knowledge, either here or on their FB group page, only the Nova guys have spoken about it and they have used phrases such as "we" (thus, probably unintentionally, seemingly referring to the whole Top 8). They have indicated that it was not a protest. This has thus given the community at large the assumption that the entire Top 8 was of one mind and, unfortunately, associated us all with some of the, shall we say, less than respectable verbal actions that some of the top 8 have spouted.

So where do I stand? First, then entire thing went by quickly. The final round pairings went up with a crowd hovering around the sheets. A joke was made something along the lines of "what if the entire Top 8 just drew?" I don't remember the exact quote but it did seem jokingly. Players dispersed to collect their stuff and get to their tables. I never spoke to a single one of the other top 8 during this time but it quickly became clear, as I got to my table, seeing and at that point, hearing, the other top 8 tables talking with a TO and performing their desire/decision to take the ID. Without knowing their reasons, here is what went through my head in the short time I had.... In the first Regional of the season, how powerful a message would it send FFG OP if the Top 8, that included the 3 time World Champ, a Worlds Top 4 and a well known podcaster, all took the ID? Would it be enough to protest the rule in this manor to get them to change the ID rule ASAP? So I made my decision. The next thing I know, my opponent is there as was the TO. Having never done it before we awkwardly fumbled our way and my opponent officially offered me the draw and I accepted..... as a protest. A short time later I had a moment in passing with the gentleman running the twitch feed and we both expressed our hope that this would send a message to FFG.

Now, having said that, and truly hoping that after all this that FFG will QUICKLY change this rule, did I make the right decision? Would I do it again? No. I made the wrong choice. I don't like the rule and even though I thought what I was doing might help bring change, I still should have said "no, I want to play out my last game." In the short time I had I mentally projected onto the others, especially Paul, this notion that we were making a point.... apparently I was wrong. That's my fault, not theirs. We didn't talk and they never actually said that, so I shouldn't have assumed that. I've seen the posts by some of the Nova guys, including Paul. They have clarified that it wasn't a protest, that, while they don't like the rule, they used it simply to secure their Top 8 place, no more, no less. You know what, that's their choice and it is currently allowed, so that's their right to do so. However, that being said, the tone that at least a couple of them have taken, as well as the other vitriol that has come about...... Nova doesn't speak for me.

I made the wrong choice and I regret it.

This was to be my only Regional this year and it's now something that I'll just have to forget, lumped in with one or two other bad events that I've been to in my 3+ years of playing this game. I want nothing to do with name calling, or FB ranting. No matter how nice or how... not nice, the comments will be on this thread I won't argue back or probably even comment. For what it is worth I just wanted to give my reason, however misguided it has turned out to be. I've unfollowed the Nova FB group page, as well as some others, because quite honestly I"m disappointed in the tone of some of the represented players. I know that some have said that some of them were openly mocking lower tier players at the event after the ID. I personally didn't hear any of that so I can't speak to that. But I know what I've seen in their online response and I don't want to be associated with it. Everyone has their opinion and that's great, but unfortunately like everything else it seems that all we can do is resort to name calling anymore. I'm disappointed in both Paul AND Doug Kinney for their comments and rants.

As the 2 World Champs I'd like to expect better, but you know what, I don't know either of them outside of some online comments and their appearances on podcasts. So my expectation of them is on me. No one is perfect and anytime emotion gets involved bad things are likely to happen.

So in closing I offer my apologies for this mess. I thought I was being apart of something to help change a bad rule. At least a part of that is happening, I'm sure FFG is wide awake to this issue now if they weren't before. Again, that doesn't make the decision right however. I don't expect a rush to my defense either. I'll go back to playing x-wing eventually, mainly local events as I'm not the type who has or probably ever will travel to Gencon or Worlds, etc. Hopefully this rule will change and this will all be behind. While I've enjoyed listening to podcasts and reading discussion on forums, etc. they don't define this game or the "meta" for me. Personally I think too many, including myself in the past, have put too much stock in what the world champ thinks, or what the Scum & Villiany, the Nova's, the Mynocks think .... or what Fly Casual should or should not mean. Again, I'm guilty of this too. I also agree, as some others have pointed out that the problem isn't just the ID, but also the current round structure, number of players, dealing with drops, etc., etc. But I'm not a math guy so that's for others, smarter than me, to debate and discuss. I also want to express that the Regional itself, the building and the TOs, did a great job and the event ran smooth. The staff at Star City Games were nice and on top of things. I hope that all of this doesn't reflect on them.

For those who read this post, thank you for your time.

I want to thank you for putting this out there.

Whether you were wrong or not is a subject for another thread. But taking the time and effort to write this out and express your remorse in a public forum takes guts.

I am sure you will get plenty of heat, but I wanted to sneak in here before all that to applaud you for this. If we ever meet in a tournament, it will still be an honor to play.

I am not a tournament player, so my opinion is of little value. But I agree with you.

Great post, I am out of likes. So take my word for it, I think you did the right thing.

Thank you for taking time out to write this, could not be easy considering what's happened the last day or so

I don't think you did anything wrong. Even if the goal of most people involved was not to make a statement, a statement has been made regardless, which I can only hope will result in a better gaming experience for everyone.

I applaud you for your integrity. It takes guts to stand up and expose yourself like this.

I appreciate the candor and transparency of your post. The fallout from this situation has me sick; our community needs to rally back from this.

Nice to see a grown up post on this. You seem like a very level-headed and reasonable guy. Thanks for taking the time to post.

Great post. Hopefully we can all piece this thing back together. I'm much more sick from the fallout from this mess than the actual scenario at this point, and I'm pretty sure 99% of the community would agree.

Thanks for posting this. Don't beat yourself up about it. What's done is done, and one way or that other I'm sure FFG has "gotten the message".

That's also disappointing to hear about the NOVA [squadron Radio] guys. However, I stopped listening to them after hearing them talk about

• taking two builds to a tournament and only choosing which one to fly after seeing what everyone else was flying, multiple times
• congratulating each other on "playing so well" when winning with said list
• and using a coin-flip to determine the outcome of not one but two games in a row at a major event (nationals, I believe)

If there's an antithesis to Fly Casual, it's those guys.

Bravo, sir!

It's mature posts like yours which will help the community move forward and keep this game fun in both the casual and competitive spheres. We don't all have to agree about any "controversies" around tournaments, but we do need to be civil and mature about them.

Thank you for this non-inflammatory post which may bring some much needed perspective to the weekend's events.

Can't like this enough. Or keep this bumped enough! Thanks for your account of things!

It may not mean anything, but myself and another podcaster had a similar situation about a year ago in store champs. 16 people, we were both 3-0. We looked over everything and decided we'd like to go grab a bite to eat before the next round, so we drew. The TO noted that mathmatically, it didn't matter anyway and let us (he also runs MTG tournaments in his store). Nobody else was going to be cut out of the top 4 because of it. Numerous people commented on how yeah, our standing made 0 difference in the top 4 cut. And to this day I've regretted that decision and swore to never let it happen again. Even if it had been the rule at the time, its still not a good rule. And I have faced that podcaster again in a similar situation, this year at another store championship. We were both the only 5-0's (I think) and drawing would have made 0 difference on the top 8. We played it out. Not phenominally, mind you, but we played it out.

You have learned from your decision, and I applaud you speaking out about it! Thanks for letting FFG know in a non-obtrusive way about this as well. Hopefully it will lead to better tournament decisions for them too!

Thanks, to the OP, for your insight.

Thanks for writing this and don't feel bad about it. You meant well, and much as I disagree with the rule and thing it encourages behavior that's absolutely against the spirit of the game, it puts weird pressure on people to act in that way. It would be better if we could all act against our own interest to do what we see as right, but that's unlikely to happen on its own. Personally I've tried to have just good old fun times even while being competitive, and I usually run into someone or other who makes me feel like a patsy for doing so. I'm having a hard time continuing to give people the benefit of the doubt anymore, so it makes sense that people who've played more would probably have had even more of those experiences. I guess the point is that people will usually do the self-interested thing, even if they don't want to, a prisoner's dilemma sort of scenario, so that's why fixing this rule is important.

Thank you for your voice, I think ot will help many in the online community understand at least one of the top 8's reasoning for IDing. I don't approve of the reason personally, but I respect your candor for coming out and talking about it.

Appreciate your insight and honesty. There needs to be more people like you

If the correct number of rounds was run based on attendance (5 in this case) we wouldnt be having this conversation.

Actually i'd like to see the end of round4 standings, because it might have just happened in round5 in that case...

Eric not making it to KY or ATL?

lolol.

every time something absolutely ridiculous happens involving sh*tty people its always from my home town of roanoke.

That city has some of the most vile and despicable people to ever exist. (not implying OP is said despicable people)

If the correct number of rounds was run based on attendance (5 in this case) we wouldnt be having this conversation.

Actually i'd like to see the end of round4 standings, because it might have just happened in round5 in that case...

Eric not making it to KY or ATL?

The correct number of rounds was used based on the starting numbers of 45.

lolol.

every time something absolutely ridiculous happens involving sh*tty people its always from my home town of roanoke.

That city has some of the most vile and despicable people to ever exist. (not implying OP is said despicable people)

So, have you found a more wretched hive of scum and villainy?

I don't think protesting and taking advantage of a rule are mutually exclusive. Just because a few nova members were genuinely using a legal way to guarantee top 8 and do not feel bad about it doesn't mean they don't also see he move as a way to push FFG to reconsider.

If the correct number of rounds was run based on attendance (5 in this case) we wouldnt be having this conversation.

Actually i'd like to see the end of round4 standings, because it might have just happened in round5 in that case...

Eric not making it to KY or ATL?

The correct number of rounds was used based on the starting numbers of 45.

Looks like i was looking at the old recommended number of rounds.

now 25 recommends 5 rounds, dang used to be 33 for 5 rounds

I don't think protesting and taking advantage of a rule are mutually exclusive. Just because a few nova members were genuinely using a legal way to guarantee top 8 and do not feel bad about it doesn't mean they don't also see he move as a way to push FFG to reconsider.

I think they, at least those that have spoken out, have been pretty clear that protest was not their motive.

To add, I think a taking an action that is beneficial, especially one you would have taken anyway, as a protest is misguided at best. I'm not faulting the OP for thinking that as he had only a couple of minutes, but they could have taken a different action if they'd want to send a better message. Again, not that this was their job or should have been.

If the correct number of rounds was run based on attendance (5 in this case) we wouldnt be having this conversation.

Actually i'd like to see the end of round4 standings, because it might have just happened in round5 in that case...

Eric not making it to KY or ATL?

The correct number of rounds was used based on the starting numbers of 45.

Looks like i was looking at the old recommended number of rounds.

now 25 recommends 5 rounds, dang used to be 33 for 5 rounds

It's basically set up so that all X-1s make the cut.