My Take of the Michigan Regional and Health of the Community.
Good Day to everyone. I just wanted to post some of my observations on the Michigan Regional this past weekend. I am warning you now that I will not sugar coat anything I say. Keep in mind that these opinions are mine and mine alone and do not represent this forum at all.
Let’s start with the glitches, EVERY tournament has them and this was no exception. The tournament started an hour late. For what ever reason it did. That just made the whole day go long. Of course the rounds were running at 75 minutes and those were kept on time. There were a few time extensions due to judgement calls and that cannot and should not ever be infringed upon. I will say that there were very few extensions due to the fact the judges did an excellent job. They were fast and accurate and respectful to the players. Well done Judges!
That being said the time between rounds grew longer and longer. The organizers were pairing and matching up players and then putting them on the big screens that were located around the entire venue which was large and had plenty of room for the players. I truly cannot complain about the room each player had to set up and play from. Pandemonium Games used 8 foot tables double wide and had 4 foot by 8 foot table boards for a very solid play area. The problem was that it took time to input the players info into the computer and to get that up onto the screens. Eventually the organizers just started doing the pairings and printing them out onto paper and posting them to try and speed things along. The other thing that made some of the rounds extra long were the raffles that were held between the second and third rounds. Then they held a raffle between the fourth and fifth rounds. I shall give out further information about the raffles later.
Now I need to discuss some what I feel are some touchy subjects that may not be so well received. Each entrant paid $25 to enter this event. To me that is no problem at all considering what we pay pay for two people to go to a fast food restaurant. Here is my beef. When I pay $25 I expect something in return. We received 1 raffle ticket for our entry. That’s is right 1. If you won your match you received 1 as well. But for that 1 raffle ticket it gave you the chance to win 1 Alt Art Pilot Card. They drew 15 tickets after the 2nd & 4th Rounds. So As I do the math 120 entrants + 60 round 1 winners + 60 round 2 winners is 240 tickets in the barrel. If you lost your first two matches you had a 1 in 240 chance at winning a Alt Art card. That is just for the first drawing. The numbers get worse as the drawings go on.
Only the top 64 players get the Zuckuss Alt Art Cards. That means that roughly 60 players had a very poor chance at getting a card. So in essence half of the players paid $25 to play 6 games of X-Wing, with a slight chance of getting an Alt Art Card. I think that was a very poor choice on the organizers not to give out something automatically to the players. I gave my tickets to the 8 year old girl that was playing so that her chances of winning something got better. I am also sure that her Dad and a couple of other players did the same. She did win by the way and I was pleased when I saw her face when she received a Gold Squadron Pilot Card. There were a lot of experienced players giving the cards that they won to guys who did not and of course that is great when we do these things for our community. Remember when I wrote, players paid $25 to play 6 games of X-Wing. We can do this on any given Saturday at our local gaming shop for free.
Also concerning prize support, FFG or possibly someone else messed up by not getting the Tournament kit to Pandemonium Games. They did not have it for the tournament. That announcement was not made until the end of the 4th round. The organizers said, That they would mail the winners their prizes. So whoever made the mistake of not getting the prize support to the venue on time I say shame on you. I find it hard to believe that this was the fault of the organizers as I have learned that several Regional Tournaments did not get their kits until shortly be fore the events. So lack of any real prize support for the players for the $25 entry fee left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.
I do believe that the Chicago Regional
Top 32 got playmats as well as some store credit.
Everyone got a couple alt art cards beyond the kit.
The redemption tournament was free and had some pretty nice prizes.
So, if you werent in the top 32, the prize support dropped off significantly, but worst case scenario, you went home with 2 alt arts created by gold squadron.
Indy
Lunch was catered by Buffalo Wild Wings as well as donuts in the morning during registration.
Everyone received an alt art Lowhhrick.
I do not think there were any other prizes above and beyond the kit for higher ranking people.
Redemption tournament had some old kit prizes and was free.
Only downside of indy was that they only had 1 judge.Indy Regional gave out a Catered Lunch to its participants plus the tournament kit. So you may not have gotten an Alt Art card in the below Top 64 tier but you got a lunch for your $25.
I am not begrudging the Pandemonium Games for wanting to make a profit at their store for hosting the Regional. We need our local stores to make money to stay in business so that we have places to buy our Plastic Crack Addiction. I do believe that with the cost of the kit and template cost for the judges gifts as they were not paid cash they could have and should have given every player that walked into that building something for coming.
Things that went right at Pandemonium Games. A very clean venue with very clean restrooms. Well laid out gaming area with plenty of room. Pleasant and professional staff and judges. A well stocked vending machine area and store for just about anything you need gaming wise. Pandemonium also offered a 20% discount that day which was great. The space was in my opinion not too hot or too cold but just right. They had menus from just about any restaurant that deliver and would announce when the delivery got to the venue. They did their best at trying to get the tournament running on time. They were using Cryodex tournament software which is probably the best out there. I truly think that they have a wonderful gaming venue and store, it is worth going there even for us Eastsiders.
Now for the really great stuff. I believe that the Michigan X-Wing Community is fantastic. I was fortunate to meet so many different players from all over. What a great group of people. I did not meet one person who was “That Guy”, rude or foul in any way. We were playing to win of course but we were also doing it while having fun. We knew our rules and when we didn’t each of us explained to each other and and moved on. Was it hard to lose yes but it felt like losing to a friend not as an enemy. Good feelings all around especially when we won a match.
Many stickers were traded and many Alt Art cards were as well. Phone numbers and emails exchanged. And many faces were put to faces as we met people we only knew in forums or chat rooms. It was a wholesome day on many fronts for the community in my humble opinion. I think as a whole the X-Wing community is very much healthy and happy.
Now the big question, would I do another “Big” tournament? A simple question but a not so simple answer. Here is mine. If it was to be another tournament set up and done the exact same way as this years Michigan Regional, NO WAY. Sorry not going to do it. I would not participate in such an event. I may go to watch it and to hang out but not to play. It was not worth the $25 to enter without any Swag. Let’s face it we like the Swag. If there was Swag or a meal involved then YES, count me in. Let me get something for the money. Anyway that is my take on the Michigan Regional this year for good or bad, whether you agree or disagree (and yes I know many of you have your own opinions feel free to let me know what they are) that’s where I stand.
Now what we need to do is get some TO’s together and figure out what we would like to do for our Region and take it out of a stores hands and do it ourselves and see if we can do it better for our community. Please feel free to reach out to me with questions and or comments.
Happily submitted to the Community,
Robert Munro
Sterling Heights, MI
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