A bit on the early side, but just an FYI that I will be running at least two aGoT tourneys at KublaCon - May 22-25th in San Fransisco.

For people who haven't gone, historically it has been one of the largest aGoT tourneys in the country. And certainly one of the most competative, with strong players every year...~even when SacTowners came We have been playing since, dang, the first year it came out when it was old-timers like myself, the Kingg21, and Erwo. John Bruno (Mathlete) has led the charge the last few years, but he obviously is taking a break (true story, he is coaching cheerleading in LA this year...some guys have all the luck after they almost die... ).

So, I will take up the mantle, as I did the first few years. Obviously, with SacTown done, and other metas in iffy stages, I don't know what the attendance will be...but whatever it is, we always have fun. Kubla is actually my favorite con, all in the same place with really fun people and enough things to do without being overwhelming like GenCon.

I would love to see PDX, NoCal, and the rest of SoCal make it, plus anyone that just wants to have a good time. ~Hopefully we will even get a Harry Potter tourney in!

Matt/rings

I don't know who's more excited, myself about Kubla, or mathlete about the first day of cheerleading practice.

I will be there, and force as many people against there will to come with me as possible.

KUBLA!!!!!

What formats are you thinking for the events?

(Have you seen the airline prices you can get if you book in the next couple of weeks...?)

Go Rings go! Kubla has always been one of the bellwether Thrones events of teh calendar year. i ahve been veyr depressed altely because ti is chiCon saeson and its absence is sorely missed. i look forward to seeing all of the rpeorts that come out of Kubla this spring.

Well, people know what a Joust snob I am... So probably I will run two events:

1. The main event, a Joust!

2. A "cube draft". People who have not done this in other games are in for some fun. 450-500 highlander draft, drafting classic power cards. Probably will have a 'fixed starter' as well - for sure 5 plots, and maybe 5 locations? We are going to test it out a few times before Kubla to try and get the right mix.

Jester might be running 1-2 other events. I usually leave somewhat early on Sunday, and Friday is always a little crazy.

rings said:

1. The main event, a Joust!

LCG, Standard (or Extended or whatever people are calling it), or Legacy?

I'll set something up for Sunday depending on what format rings decides to run.

If he runs a standard (ITE+) Joust, I'll run a standard (ITE+) melee. If he runs a LCG Joust, I'll run a standard (ITE+) Joust, unless anyone else has a preference. I aim to please .

I vote for a standard joust (ITE forward) for the Saturday main event. Although I will NOT be able to attend this day I do think that running Standard format will help to entice those players who love the game but are hesitant about the LCG format to make an appearance. (and lets be honest, how many new players who only know the LCG format are going to be ready for tournament play anyways?) IMO the LCG format (at this time) would hurt our attendance numbers.

Additionally the standard joust for the main event would lead to the standard Melee event on Sunday which is the day I WILL be able to attend, and I want to play Melee.

There are my two cents.

So here's what I'm thinking for Sunday:

Standard (ITE+) Melee with Special "Honor" Rules in place.
3, 105 min. rounds with a cut to the top 3 or 4 depending on numbers.

Banned Cards:
Gathering Storm (ITE F241)
Jaquen H’ghar (ACoA F43) (or do people think he’s ok with the errata?)

Normal melee tournament scoring rules will be in effect, with the following 2 special rules:

3 player table Gencon scoring rules:
When players at a 3 player table calculate their scores at the end of the round they must take into account a fourth "Ghost" player. The "Ghost" player is considered to have 3 power (or be 12 power away from the victory total). For example, if you need 15 power to win, players with 3 power receive points for a tie, and players with 4 or more power receive points for defeating the "Ghost" player.

Bonus "Honor" Points:
After calculating their scores at the end of each round, players will receive 2 additional points if they are considered to have fought with honor, as voted upon by their opponents. Players who “King Make” (purposefully allow or help an opponent win the game) are not considered to have fought with honor. If a player would like to contest the vote of his or her opponents, or in the case of a tie, the TO will make the final decision. Of course, players are still allowed to work together, just don’t throw the game someone else’s way.

Any ideas, thoughts, concerns? If not, I’ll go ahead and set it up tomorrow or Monday with Kubla.

Hey Rings man its been a while since i've been on the boards but i'm just here to let you know that i'm seriously thinking of playing thrones at kubla, although i need to really do some brushing up on the rules and which cards have cycled, but hopefully i'll be able to bring some SacTown Rep to the Con this year.

-Matt

i will talk to Myers. i would love to make it.

aloha, binder

If you guys want to attract the newer players, I would strongly encourage at least one LCG event. Even in my area there are new players who won't play anything but LCG, as they don't want to play against the older cards. Believe me, I think that "standard" is going to be around a long time in an unofficial way, but if we want to keep the new blood interested, LCG needs to make a presence.

JerusalemJones said:

If there is a population of new players interested in playing LCG, then I agree we should have something for them. The Bay Area meta is the only meta that has seen any growth over the past year (they're actually the only ones still playing the game), so they know best. If they have people interested in LCG, I'd love to see them run something LCG for new players.

Wow...decisions, decisions...

I was assuming LCG only. There are obviously reasons for both Standard and ITE, but I was really hoping for some new blood. But I certainly understand the reasons to keep with Standard for one more year.

Probably...I will stick with LCG format on the descriptions. But everyone please bring a Standard deck, if we don't have new players show, then obviously we will switch if that is the consensus. I was just really hoping for the main day to open to anyone who just started - i.e. LCG only plus a cube draft...anyone feasibly could play in both even starting up that weekend! We need some new faces peps! Regardless, I will have at least two standard decks on me at all times for in-between games

Wolfknight I would LOVE to see some Sactowners make the trip. I was going to send some messages via Xbox sometime to guilt as many of you in as I could And Portland for sure - the two-headed giant of Myers/Binder would rock. And thanks to Deathjester and Chaos for the help - ~Chaos you better get out of whatever silly thing your wife has set up for you on Saturday Picking out new sheets can wait!

Nate and FFG will be supporting the Con - they have been very helpful so far - thanks guys!

rings said:

Probably...I will stick with LCG format on the descriptions. But everyone please bring a Standard deck, if we don't have new players show, then obviously we will switch if that is the consensus. I was just really hoping for the main day to open to anyone who just started - i.e. LCG only plus a cube draft...anyone feasibly could play in both even starting up that weekend! We need some new faces peps! Regardless, I will have at least two standard decks on me at all times for in-between games

Sounds like a good plan for exactly those reasons.

Are you working on making Kubla a Regional event, too?

hmmm.... sounds like a good idea.

I changed the info on the Kubla site asking players to please bring LCG decks with them in addition to their standard decks. If anyone new shows up, we will switch the melee to the LCG format. Unfortunately, I already named the event "Standard (ITE+) Melee" and can't seem to edit that on the Kubla sight now that it has been submitted, but there's a note about it in the event description.

Hey, obviously there is at least ONE card I would like to play in Standard more often with

I am checking on the Regional part. But with a small con, we can go wtih the breeze a little...just falling back on getting new players if possible.

rings: If you want to try and make this a regional, feel free to incorporate the melee on Sunday into it. If so, it will obviously be LCG only with no special rules etc.

Feel free to get my phone number from mathlete or cha0s and call me up if you want to coordinate things.

Deathjester26 said:

You asked for some feedback, so here goes:

I like the idea of the "ghost" player in the 3 player melee but I am not sure it is equitable. I realize that if you do get stuck at a table of 3 players, your point totals will be less than if you had a 4 person table, but likewise it is also much easier to win a 3 person table than a 4 (which is reflected in the point totals). IMO to be awarded 10 points you should have to earn it and defeat 3 opponents; that being said, I am aware that with random table asignments a player who is more than willing to take on a table of 4 may end up at a 3 person table, which is no fault of their own.

Perhaps we should brainstorm some ideas that bring the 3 player table up to the difficulty level of the 4 player table. For example, we could impose a 'No Title Card' rule on the 3 person table. Or even better after the last player's challenges (of the 3 table) each player rolls a D6: a 1 or 2 is Military, a 3 or 4 is Intrigue and a 5 or 6 is Power, then they must fulfill claim with a value of 1 for that challenge type. This seems like a good way to represent the "ghost" player. How does that sound?

For the 3 player tabel rules are what they used at Gencon (although I can't quite remember if it was exactly 3 power the ghost player had).

I'm more concerned with trying to eliminate Kingmaking from the game. I love the melee format, but absolutely hate it in competitive enviroments because of strategic Kingmaking. All three of my melee games at Gencon were thrown so people could lock up points, and I absolutely understand why they did it. Especially since I was the one to blame in 2 of the 3 games. It takes all of the fun out of it to me, but in a competition, its a sound strategy. I'd like to make it not so.

Of course, if rings wants to make this a two day regional, where he runs one day and I run the other, there will be no such special rules.

I see your point, although I believe the 'kingmakers' are a very nedly part of the game. In the game of thrones you must align yourself with the right players at the right time and some times you have to cut your losses which is acting in your own best interest to secure points and therefore live to fight another day. I realize that, to some, that may not seem 'honorable' but lets not forget Ned Stark and how far his honor got him! Why should it benefit you to be honorable when you are fighting for the Iron Throne? There will always be those Walder Frey type of players and I am not sure trying to mitigate this is doing the game justice.

lol.... so I get this text "I'm arguing with you on the boards." And this is all I get?

Oh, I agree it's Nedly, but it's not fun and does not make for a enjoyable experience IMHO.

Or, are we so worried about Neddliness that we need to forego having fun in order to best recreate the feel of Westeros? ~What's next? Executions, murders, and smashing babies' heads in? Huzzah!!!!

Deathjester26 said:

I can't resist, but who among our community reminds you the most of The Mountain (~and your not allowed to say The Mountain that pwns)?

cha0s said:

What you have to remember for Gencon was that with 35 players and 3 preliminary rounds, being assigned to the 3-person table could very well mean you would miss out on the final table even if you did win. The missing 3 points could make or break the whole thing for you. The other thing to remember is that since pairing is completely random in Melee, it is possible for someone to end up at the 3-person table more than once. TOs try to fix that (and reassign), but it isn't always that easy.

That's why the "phantom player" was put in to fill out the table of 3. But, as you say, the "phantom player" reverses the inequity because you come out with 3 free points if you're assigned to the 3-person table. That's why the "phantom player" was given a power threshold. Something higher than 3 might have been in order, though.

But if you have fewer than 20 players or more than 3 rounds, the "phantom" player is probably not needed, with or without a threshold.

Well, I am not touching the multi-player more than likely - I have barely played it, and don't enjoy it (mainly for the reasons that have been put out there many times, including king-making). Any rules are good by me...DeathJ you are the man for that part

Just because it is Nedly, doesn't mean it is fun, as someone said. Otherwise Lanni would win all the time...oh, wait...

Haven't quite gotten my plane tickets, but assuming i will be in Friday afternoon and leaving Sunday afternoon.