1 minute ago, Boris_the_Dwarf said:

I’m not sure what 6 hours travel time looks like to you across the pond, but in the states a full days drive is kind of a big deal. It means having a place to stay when you get there unless you’re racing overnight in which case you are exhausted and not going to play well anyway, and maybe the night of the event if you are too tired to drive back after 10-12 hours of grind. Looking at this list and the way it is spread out from my location, the events closest to me are 8 and 10 hours away. This despite the fact that in a 2 hour diameter there are about 75 or 80 people who play and none of the venues here got anything at all in any of the games that were announced. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

The events for when they are scheduled are also on the other side of some steep mountains and at a time of year when it could be dangerous to be driving because of snow and ice conditions.

8 hour "drive" for me is usually a well rested night in a night sleeper ;-)
And most of the nationals mentioned are less than 6 hours travel time, admitted some of them would a flight, because this is cheaper and more convenient than driving.

Either way, I would ask your FLGS if they did not try to get regionals or why there are none this time. FFG might be at fault, but might as well be a decision from your areas stores. And if there are so many people in your area, hiring a bus together and get some sleep on the way might be an option too ... though with 8 and 10 hours I totally would take a flight and cut it in half at least.

11 minutes ago, SEApocalypse said:

8 hour "drive" for me is usually a well rested night in a night sleeper ;-)
And most of the nationals mentioned are less than 6 hours travel time, admitted some of them would a flight, because this is cheaper and more convenient than driving.

Either way, I would ask your FLGS if they did not try to get regionals or why there are none this time. FFG might be at fault, but might as well be a decision from your areas stores. And if there are so many people in your area, hiring a bus together and get some sleep on the way might be an option too ... though with 8 and 10 hours I totally would take a flight and cut it in half at least.

I did ask. FFG sent them a Dear John rejection letter.

10 minutes ago, Boris_the_Dwarf said:

I did ask. FFG sent them a Dear John rejection letter.

Now this is noteworthy. Did they have less than 32 players in this years regionals? Or anything else which might justify the rejection?

3 minutes ago, SEApocalypse said:

Now this is noteworthy. Did they have less than 32 players in this years regionals? Or anything else which might justify the rejection?

The letter didn’t state the reason that I could see.

I was asking more from your experience of the regionals this year or was this a new store and not one who already hosted regionals before?

4 minutes ago, SEApocalypse said:

Now this is noteworthy. Did they have less than 32 players in this years regionals? Or anything else which might justify the rejection?

Honestly, I just think FFG wanted to spread the regionals out to other stores. I know that the one store locally that usually gets it, the regional went to another store in Indiana instead. Unfortunately this makes it a 3 to 4 hour drive in all directions for me, which during winter, is pretty much not going to happen.

In my area, the closest is Fresno, which has gotten a Regional three times in a row. (That I know of. Possibly more.) So no "they're changing them up" justification works there.

I'm not slamming that store -- I'm happy they kept a Regional -- but it's a long way to go, and my disillusionment with X-Wing rules it out this year. (I almost wrote "the Bay Area crowd is much bigger," but I'm no longer sure that's true.)

people are always on me to “support the lgs” because we will need them to have a place for events like this. But then this happens and I have to stop and ask, “What the **** was I overpaying on product for?”

i can say this. I’ve gone to my last FFG event until they put one that doesn’t require me to take 2 days off of work and spend $30-50 in gas.

3 hours ago, SEApocalypse said:

I was asking more from your experience of the regionals this year or was this a new store and not one who already hosted regionals before?

I don’t know the answer to that.

3 hours ago, SEApocalypse said:

Now this is noteworthy. Did they have less than 32 players in this years regionals? Or anything else which might justify the rejection?

3 hours ago, kingargyle said:

Honestly, I just think FFG wanted to spread the regionals out to other stores. I know that the one store locally that usually gets it, the regional went to another store in Indiana instead. Unfortunately this makes it a 3 to 4 hour drive in all directions for me, which during winter, is pretty much not going to happen.

Yeah, Ohio didn't get a Regional this year, even though last year we had 121 people attend. They basically moved it to Indiana. The result being there's only two regionals <5 hours from me (not counting Pittsburgh since that's on the weekend of a major holiday.....)

38 minutes ago, Boris_the_Dwarf said:

people are always on me to “support the lgs” because we will need them to have a place for events like this. But then this happens and I have to stop and ask, “What the **** was I overpaying on product for?”

i can say this. I’ve gone to my last FFG event until they put one that doesn’t require me to take 2 days off of work and spend $30-50 in gas.

Uhm, so basically till the next game night kit tournament? My flgs had one just last weekend ;-)
BTW, Regionals these days are usually two day events anyway, simply because they get full enough. So you are looking forward to the store championships at best anyway. ;-)
Lastly $30 in gas sounds like the gas money to drive to work and not like a big trip, gasoline still so cheap in the us :D? Besides, the events are at least over here at the weekend, to reduce the time people need to take off from work.

22 minutes ago, defkhan1 said:

Yeah, Ohio didn't get a Regional this year, even though last year we had 121 people attend. They basically moved it to Indiana. The result being there's only two regionals <5 hours from me (not counting Pittsburgh since that's on the weekend of a major holiday.....)

Feels odd that whole states with a healthy x-wing community did not get a single regional this time. Will be interesting how many regionals this time in europe. With all the nationals going on here I am not that worried, it is more than I care to participate anyway, but I like the large amount and community building from the tight schedule of tourneys.

Ohio has a bigger population than some of the countries which got their own nationals with similar large participation numbers ...

3 hours ago, SEApocalypse said:

Uhm, so basically till the next game night kit tournament? My flgs had one just last weekend ;-)
BTW, Regionals these days are usually two day events anyway, simply because they get full enough. So you are looking forward to the store championships at best anyway. ;-)
Lastly $30 in gas sounds like the gas money to drive to work and not like a big trip, gasoline still so cheap in the us :D? Besides, the events are at least over here at the weekend, to reduce the time people need to take off from work.

Yeah, cuz work totally stops at 5pm on Friday everywhere, amiright?

Plus it's not just $30 in gas. (Depending on your vehicle that can be round trip or that can be one way). So assuming because the range of 30-50 is round trip so average at $40 for gas.

Then there's your ticket cost, which can vary greatly, but generally about $20 for a regional.

Since it's two days you'll need at least $50 for a hotel room. (This is a super 8... I hope. )

And since you'll need to eat over the course of two days you're looking at about 50-60 dollars for food, and that's just your 3 main meals. Probably another 10 -20 (based on eating/drinking habits)for snacks/drinks.

so using my numbers that's $190 USD to go to a two day regional event, assuming you don't buy anything other than snacks from the hosting game store. Of course the cost varies greatly based on several factors such as gas price/mileage, drinking habits,regional ticket costs etc. but I'd be surprised if you didn't spend at least $150 for a 2 day regional unless you work out some prior arrangements that not everyone can do. And assuming you get the time off, and you're not single, how do you justify this money during the holiday season to your SO?

theres a lot that goes into planning trips like this besides how far I can take the train and how much gas it will cost.

So who's looking forward to running the Assault on Grayskull Base campaign instead?

10 hours ago, Parakitor said:

So who's looking forward to running the Assault on Grayskull Base campaign instead?

I like this. ANOTHER!!!

On 10/20/2017 at 2:41 PM, Sekac said:

Is that a complete list of US system opens?

It is a complete list of the one we know about

On 10/20/2017 at 10:43 PM, Parakitor said:

So who's looking forward to running the Assault on Grayskull Base campaign instead?

Yes!

1 hour ago, Tbetts94 said:

Yes!

I heard you guys talking about it on The Shuttle Tydirium Podcast. I was going to try to get one going, but if you guys will run it, I'll drive down to participate for sure!

On 21.10.2017 at 5:30 AM, FlyingAnchors said:

And assuming you get the time off, and you're not single, how do you justify this money during the holiday season to your SO?

I add another $300 and take my wife with me and call it a 3-day weekend holiday with lots of X-Wing, meeting some friends and good food at the evenings. ;-)

Though I can't say you are wrong. Two-Day events get expensive, and they can be hard to fit into a schedule and they are exhausting on top, so you might as well need another holiday after them...which is totally the reason I usually skip on them as well and just go to store championships and quarterly kit tournaments.
But the reason that we need two-day regionals in the first place is that there is an high demand for them.

FYI, the list is all but definitely not final. An active local player sent email to FFG, and got a reply from OP Manager Zach R. One line from it: "I am happy to report that we’ll be working to add a Bay Area location to our list of upcoming X-Wing Regional Championships this season (Nov 25 - Mar 25)."

I just want canadian dates.