HELP!!!

[Arashi]

I know, I wasn't questioning anything like that Sojo. I was just trying to say that it isn't fair to hold a bunch of unannounced tournaments that only the dwellers of that store will be able to participate in. I'm fine with you holding two events a week, but at least you post them on the events list and make them known to the public. Unannounced tourneys just aren't fair to the rest of us. And I know that in order to keep your ranking up you have to go to events an win. But when there are a plethora of unannounced tourneys it's kind of hard to do so. Do you see what I mean?

[sojomojo]

Oh don't worry I didn't take anything from it. I'm just putting my 2 cents in there because I would really hate to see that ME says for now on only 1 sanctioned event a week. I like to be able to give my customers choices. Some players can only attend during the weeks, some on weekends, and some can do both.

Sojo out!

[spiller]

I can see your point on holding a few tournaments a week. I still think there needs to be some strick guidelines on holding sanctioned events. The situation is amplified right now because of the size of the player base. I personally have a huge issue with unanounced events. I think that limiting sanctioned events to possibly 2 a week is reasonable. There is nothing saying you couldn't hold 5 events each week, just make only 2 of them sanctioned.
This has no effect on me personally. I have no intent on trying to compete for the overall title. I just would hate to have this game rocked by some point scandal. Right now, there is nothing from stopping it from happening.

[Keith Katsikas]

We are setting some new (more strict) guidelines for tournament sanctioning effective the start of the Summer Season. These new guidelines will not necessarily limit the number of events a store or location can sanction, but will instead give players ample time and opportunity to learn of these events and attend the ones they can. In all seriousness. Some of the concerns voiced here lately, however compelling they may seem, are kind of silly. For example, we are running 6 santioned events this week in CA. How many of you are going to make these events? Is it fair to the players here that we don't run sanctioned events, just because you will not be able to attend them? How about all the players here, who are seeing all the activity in New England, while not being able to attend those events, or gain points for rank. Is that fair? Should Northeast Games, pay for every player to attend every event? Or perhaps we should only run one event each month in a central location and give every player in the country equal chance of making each event. Does any of this sound as silly to you as it sounds to me? If our contacts in Cali start running the number of events they are claiming to start running (all of which in different store and non-store locations) between now and GenCon and, if we get a traveling player base that attends these events then there is a serious chance that, unless Chris and Jeff play harder, they could lose their spots. The fact is that the more players play a game in more locations, throughout the world, all playing for the same prize, the less likely it becomes to win. Chris, Jeff, and Rebecca have been very lucky to date that most activity has been limited to the New England area. That is now changing. I wish you all the very best of luck in your fight for the top. Our goul is to make it easy for every player to play in sanctioned events all over the country and eventually the world. We will do our very best to keep stores and non-store locations from cheating the system. I have checked with many stores in CA, IN, and in New England in the past few days regarding this, and many have told me that they, on many occasions, run multiple sanctioned events for games such as Magic, and Yu-Gi-Oh! This is not at all uncommon or unfair. Except for the stores that attempt to sanction events at the last second with no chance of outside players attending. This activity will not be allowed. Our new Summer Season Tourney Kits will be very defined in how to run sanctioned events and we will be on top of things every step of the way. Our player-base is growing rapidly and we know how important it is to keep this system tight, fair, and corruption free. I am very happy with all of you voicing your concerns. This has allowed us to look into the situation and fix what needed to be fixed and clarify things that needed clarification.

Thank you. =)

[spiller]

Good news! Thanks.

[Deleted]

sojomojo said:

So Q's right that someone may try to abuse the system so it may be worth looking into if something like 5 events becomes an issue.

Sojo out!

Um, can someone remind me what I said or did? I don't remember...

Ok, so this past Saturday at the Indy regional, which had 15 players and was supposed to be CGE, Keith had a little trouble with the computer and did the rest of the tournament manually. I did ok at that tournament, but does this mean that the ratings will not go through?

[Deleted]

Also I would like to point out that while other games like Magic or whatnot can run any number of sanctioned events, that doesn't bode too well in ME because...

1. ME isn't that big yet...the majority percentage of activity is happening in NE and maybe now Cali, so someone like myself in Illinois who could only play in perhaps 1 tournament a month would never have a prayer in reaching the top spots. and ...

2. ME has a huge reward for highest constructed for the season. This merit should be acheived more along the lines of excellent play and not necessarily just playing more. (not that you shouldn't be rewarded for playing in every single tournament you have access to, simply that if Chris Norton had an opportunity for 100 tournaments, and I for 10, well...)

Not at all is this a complaint though, at least from a Windy side. As I've said, our priority for ME hasn't necessarily been playing. Also, I hope that we can generate enough excitement around here to have weekly events and maybe even a league. I just thought I would comment on the differences as objectively as possible. Not to take anything from you NE elite!

[synergy]

IMO me and chris are earning our trip. going to as many tourneys we can, making great new decks as much and many as we can, and playing well.

and if everyone goes to all these tourneys they would have to go to multiple a week and win often to catch up.

[Keith Katsikas]

That's true Jeff. You and Chris have a really good head start.

[Deleted]

synergy said:

IMO me and chris are earning our trip. going to as many tourneys we can, making great new decks as much and many as we can, and playing well.

and if everyone goes to all these tourneys they would have to go to multiple a week and win often to catch up.

Sure. And no one is taking that credit away from either of you. At least I surely don't mean to. I think both you and Chris know just from my posts that I personally have respect for both of you.

But I think you're missing the point. Myself, for instance, let's say I wouldn't be as good or active as you. Still, if I had the opportunity to play in as many tournaments as you, then at least I would have had the chance to EARN it like you. So let's say you played in 15 of the 20 tournaments available and you played well. Let's say I only played 4 out of 20...you definitely earned it because I could have maybe done somethin about it but didn't.

On the other hand, let's say I play 2 out of 2 tournaments accessible to me, even if I played well. Did I even have the chance to earn it? That's all we're saying. It takes nothing away from NE's awesome accomplishments.

I consider it my fault anyway. I should try to motivate my people down here more to play more and have more tourneys.

[sojomojo]

I've had to put alot of time and effort into getting the player base we have. From throughing product at them both ME's and my own. But I will say we where probably the first area to really kick it into tournament mode. This is because I really see this right now as more of a competitive game than a collector valued game. But I'm sure this will change. If anyone wants tips of how we did this feel free to PM, I'm whiling to help where I can.

I think Kieth spoke well for what this problem really is vs what people are affaid it might be. With the rest of the map just now really starting to kick it in I'm sure things could still change. Will the top people be unseated maybe/maybe not, but this dosen't mean that it was wrong it was just bad timing.

With that all said I'm happy with what I read as long as it dosen't lead to the one a week, one a month crap. My store has put to much money into this to watch that happen and then see all the product I just ordered sit there and collect dust.

Good luck to everyone and hopefully the best player wins from East, West, North, South well you get what I'm saying.

Sojo out!

[Deleted]

Well put. A game shouldn't have that type of restriction anyway. For this season, NE will assuredly take the top spots, but they should be anyhow, since they were the only region playing for that season. The rest of us came late.

Hopefully we can get activity going for this summer season though.

[kevmo]

I would think the best way to use up your product and keep everyone happy would be to hold one booster tournament and one contstructed tournament. And that is from a business owner prospective. seems the best way to make money to me. And with a limited number of UR's it gives ppl a chance to collect them all. Im in no way trying to defeat the growth of ME or the wonderful job stores have done like Igamespot in promoting ME. But quite honestly anyone can lose and anyone can win in such an explosive gaming environment such as this. I equal the current ME format to type 1 in MTG. How many tournaments are there in magic for type 1 in the country? Do you think there is a reason? I have been doing nothing but trying to help the game become an equal partner in the gaming industry. To say that Jeff and Chris couldnt lose their spt easily is so untrue. HOw much promotion is going to continue in NE until Gen con doesnt seem like much and that is ok because you have to get to as many ppl as possible. THe thing is no one has put it into perspective.

[spiller]

I have been putting in a lot of thought on this sanctioned tournament issue. With such a huge prize on the line, players are going to extreme lengths to raise their ratings. Sojo has even stated that he has had a huge demand to hold tournaments because players want to bump up their points before the season ends. This is the problem. The top players are going to be the ones that play in the most tournaments. There needs to be restrictions on how many tournaments a single shop can hold.
I will use an example to try to clarify my point. We will use 3 players, Cali, Windy, and England. Cali is from the west coast, Windy is from the Midwest, and England is from the northeast. All 3 are the best players in their store and thus will perform well a majority of the time.. Windy’s store is a small store but has a loyal following and holds one tournament a week. England’s store has been hosting events for a while and has enough players to host two tournaments a week. Cali’s store is one of the largest gaming stores in the country. They hold events daily and end up having enough players to host an event 5 times a week. It is obvious who the number one player will be at the end of the season. Yes, England and Windy can travel to other stores to try to increase their ratings but they would be hard pressed to find enough tournaments (or the time to travel) to compete with the overall title.
Without a limit to the number of events, players from certain stores will have an overwhelming advantage. I understand you cannot completely control the tournaments but there needs to be REASONABLE limits. Is it really going to take someone abusing the system for us to establish them?

[Deleted]

I can't help but to agree with Spiller. As much as I wouldn't want to impose some silly rule upon anyone, it does seem just a little imbalanced. I mean, if this were just about ratings, it wouldn't matter as much. But it's the lucrative season prizes that other CCGs don't have that give the incentive for abuse.

Times like these make me glad not to be the Sithmasters. It seem like a decision will soon have to be made that unfortunately will upset at least some people.