Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

California off to a GREAT start for 2007/2008

Status
Not open for further replies.
Mom is 100% right on this one, it is not part of the PTO responsabilities to be phisically present on all the events he does, he just has to be sure they are properly staffed, placed and made, I live in Mexico city, yet I run OP efforts in 32 out of the 33 states mexico has, yet i only have one house where I live, so by that logic, should all of Mexico just cease to have OP? and by the way getting new PTO's here is even harder for a simple reason, most mexicans DO NOT speak english, and even worse, most mexicans are not exactly trustworthy.

All of that aside... shouldnt this topic be made on the official forums? I mean, I love pokegym, moreso than any pther site, but I feel this could be better solved on the official boards, here it is just your opinion being voiced to people who mostly cant do a thing, against going to the opfficial boards were people from PUI might make a point to your situation; I know the PUI people comes here regularly, but whats wrong with doing the things the right way ?

SD PokéMom said:
and what's 'wrong' with that? =/

'mom
Click to expand...
 
Nothing is wrong with a PTO not being there, as long as the event is being handled properly.

From a player's perspective, it is kind of odd. Pokemon is a much bigger "hand holding" game than other games. People have the strange need to see their leaders.

Seems we are seeing a bit of "decentralization" of PTOs, where PTOs are becoming more and more local, and less and less Regional.

At one point I had Memphis, now Clay does...

It comes down to the efficiency of doing this, and having someone in the area willing to step up.

What players are failing to see is there are some PTOs who are hyper aggressive with scheduling battle roads and cities, and some PTOs are happy staying in their same locations.

There is nothing wrong with either group. Players will have a problem with them, most likely, as many players want to attend as many events as possible.
 
So, what Chad is saying is, why isn't there any BR OP in, e.g a city like S.D.?

Great city btw. Like he says, he's not complaining about lack of OP at Humboldt (forgive me if I got that wrong).

Matt Yuen asked me the same question and while I was sorting my collection (read, cleaning all my TO stuff out of my room and organizing it), I came up with these thoughts:

I think PUI is running more events with the same money. This changes the economics of organizing premiere events. Its hard to find a venue in a big coastal city, because of the sq ft economics of big coastal cities.

As an example, we almost didn't have a second BR event in Orange County (another populous and fabulous place) this BR season. Aside from Chrisbo (where is that guy?) running one at the FV Library, the other events are usually run at a hotel. You can't run a BR at a hotel any more (in SoCal) and keep it a free event. Hey, but I did some scouting of a card shop in Anaheim where my son went for a Bleach pre-release and voila, the local PTO did something I'm not good at, he called them up and landed us an event in Anaheim. Yay! BTW, I did try talking to them about an event, but they were iffy. Karl calls them and wham, event booked twenty minutes later.

Then there is schedule. Business schedule: The store where these events were held typically in SD, I think, but this is not my area, would not book us. A commercial venue is OUT for BR, so this leaves a local TO who has a track record to step up or someone to suggest a venue to Doreen, who will probably report it to Karl and wham.

Personal schedule: I wanted to run 3 BR, personally, if I would be allowed, but guess what. BR landed right on top of my previously booked 10 day training trip and my wife's cousin's out of town wedding reception (command performance, gentlemen, but I was happy to do it). Then, they decided to do a ladies weekend, so I am running two more... so far away that what I get in product and TO fee will NOT pay my gas (let alone meals out, etc.). We are working to develop these places to stand on their own for Premiere events, but you don't just add water and heat in the microwave!

Then, there is personnel. Running an event is non-trivial. Even many league leaders (and we don't have many leagues) don't want to do it (the software, the accounting, the dealing with older out of town players who don't go to your league (but in SoCal they are gentlemen). But we're blessed in SoCal with folks who can and do want to run events. I think Matt is running one. I am. Chrisbo is. JesseE is running a couple (but can't run others, so I hear, b/c of work schedule, can you imagine?!).

So, if there is no BR in SD, look to the above reasons. If someone qualified steps up, they will not be turned away, I'm sure. If a venue is found/suggested, it will be investigated and if feasible $$$-wise and it meets their schedule, booked.

I have talked to 6, now 7 different people in SLO (over the last 3 years) that love Pokemon Organized Play. I KNOW they can find a venue. I will come there and run the first few events. They have my phone and email. When I ask how its going on the venue and the possible venues I've suggested, they haven't been super aggressive on finding one. Is that a blame? No!! People have real lives apart from PKMN and they'd like an event, but don't have the experience or whatever to scout a venue. OK, so now one of my sons's buddies is at Cal Poly SLO and I have more hope because of his dedication and ability to deal with people. But then, there's midterms and school and stuff, so we'll see.

I keep thinking I'm going to stir up some premier events in Ventura and Santa Barbara, too. Those are fine places, as well. My best intent hasn't worked out due to schedule. These are placed where the publicity for the premiere event would be aimed at coalescing interested parties to form the league; a little bit reverse of the usual, but I think it can work.

I don't really see anything holding down more OP around here other than finding people and venues who will run the event (and the low site fee possibilities do exclude some venues). If you want to run some OP and are qualified, contact PT&E games directly.

I think Chad is right, we should have more OP opportunities. But, they don't grow on trees: there has to be money, people and venues to get it done. All three have to line up on the right days of the year.

The thing that could hack me off is, while I'm doing my part, I don't get to play. That's not a small thing for me.
 
Last edited:
^Kim: Great post! If ppl dont get why OP events are hard to set up in bigger cities now, they will understand now.

Places for events are usually not free. You gotta have a place or 3 that are willing to work with you. I'm blessed in my area to have a couple of spots and always looking for more! I miss playing too, but I see how many other folks get to play, including my son (hopefully the younger one will develop a bit more patience to play also), that keeps me going and the reason I stepped up to do this.

There are alot of great folks in this game, both as players and PTOs, TOs and Profs. People also have lives (read work) that have to be done. I will be coming off court weeks 3 of 4 consecutive weeks leading up to my 1st BR. I would prob have set up a 3rd BR myself if it wasnt for a brief due to the Court of criminal appeals at the end of this month. All part of life :biggrin:

Keith
 
Kim wins the thread with some great analysis, and adequately qualifies both sides of the argument.
 
bulbasnore said:
As an example, we almost didn't have a second BR event in Orange County (another populous and fabulous place) this BR season. Aside from Chrisbo (where is that guy?) running one at the FV Library, the other events are usually run at a hotel. You can't run a BR at a hotel any more (in SoCal) and keep it a free event. Hey, but I did some scouting of a card shop in Anaheim where my son went for a Bleach pre-release and voila, the local PTO did something I'm not good at, he called them up and landed us an event in Anaheim. Yay! BTW, I did try talking to them about an event, but they were iffy. Karl calls them and wham, event booked twenty minutes later.
Click to expand...

I wonder if a certain university with a new student center and many public areas will allow small tournaments like BRs and CCs to take place...

I'll have to find out. :D :D :D
 
Water Pokemon Master said:
I wonder if a certain university with a new student center and many public areas will allow small tournaments like BRs and CCs to take place...

I'll have to find out. :D :D :D
Click to expand...

Join the gaming club. Get them to sponsor. Event is free, so should be no problem.
 
I remember one year Alex and I had to do the most ridiculous driving to stay competitive.

When I lived in Jacksonville, the closest GC was 2.5 hours away, with the other two being 5 or 7 hours away. If we went to South Carolina (which we did) we had to drive for 8/9 hours.

One weekend we drove 7 hours down to West Palm, then after that drove 7 hours home, slept for 1 hour, then drove the 8 hours to South Carolina to get in that GC. That's a total of 30 hours of driving in one weekend for 2 GCs.

Florida can be very difficult, too. A bunch of us just moved to Tallahassee where the closest BR is like 4 hours away. States/regionals is like 3.5-4 hours minimum.
 
A new card store opened up in our town, Monterey County (middle of no where). I got them to sponsor us but it was to late to hold BR but will be ready for Cities. As thing progress I might be opening up a second league or just moving the one I already have.

Alot of Cards store will be willing to help out alot cause in the end they make profit by people attending and buying stuff. Doesnt hurt to ask. I did and landed it. Good luck
 
meganium45 said:
Scizor...first thanks for the vote of confidence.

It is going to be unpopular...but I feel your pain.

It is amazing to me that a Battle Road is not run at every location that a league is at. That should be the bare minimum, and if a PTO does not want to do it for whatever reason, then a TO or LL should be allowed to step up and run the event.

I will warn you, I am only a PTO because I am in this for my kids. Before I stepped aboard, I went to some of the most HORRIFICALLY run events in history, under the WOTC era, with judges who either were biased for their kids (blatantly), or simply ignorant of the game they were judging. There were some decent events, but, man, there were some STINKERS. I decided that instead of arguing, I would make a stand, and if not allowed to judge and run events, I would simply leave the game.

The key Scizor is to find someone with that type of passion in an area, who is willing to step up and make things run.

All that being said, I have no idea why SD is getting few to no events, or SoCal as a whole.

With the attendance at States and the like, I would be gunning for every event I could find a home for there.

I think PUI has some understanding of the player base and attendance, as there have been 2 regionals for California ever since Regionals started. PUI knows a lot more of what is going on than many people give them credit for.

Talk to you later.

Doreen, this is NOT meant to step on your toes or be a critique in any way. I realize you are not the PTO of this area.

Vince
Click to expand...

Vince, thanks for the kind words. I applaud you for what you have done for this game in your area, nationally and worldwide. I think it's wonderful that you take the time and make the effort to organize and run events.

I know there are passionate people here (as evidenced by the last few posts), and I hope we can better our situation. I'm just personally appaled by this last season's results. When you have PTOs, Judges, Staff and several players from around the World telling you that you deserved Worlds, it really makes you think about things. But this isn't about just me. Heck, we got 0 Masters players into Worlds.
That's just unacceptable to me and it should be to everyone in the World: how does the #1 playing area in the World get 0 Worlds Invites.

I know the main reason we did not get players into Worlds was our lack of events, whether anybody else will admit that, oh well, it's the cold, hard truth. Whether it be by PTO problems, venue location issues, what not, we got screwed, and nobody can possibly argue against that. Despite my warnings PRIOR to the season start that the West would get minimal players in, (what do you know we got 1 player: Ross, in Masters).

I'm worried about this year, of course I would be. The 10 BRs isn't a good start.

I know I'm spewing a lot out here in response to you, but this is for everyone to read.

I know that States are a hugely flawed part of the rating system, because California is bigger than every state but Texas that plays. I've suggested making these worth more in K-value on the West Coast, thus probably increasing attendance numbers, aka = more $$$. Increased prizes by attendance is possible too, it's been done in other games.

We do get 2 Regionals, rightfully, every season. Honestly, if our Regionals would have just given invites, nobody would be complaining. The problem is that we have to travel so far for events to build a rating. The West Coast NEEDS those 1 tournament auto-qualifer events, period. I know one event can be luckbased better than anyone, but that's the way it is going to have to be here, if we're going to be piling everyone in the U.S. into one rating category.

So, I'm hoping whenever we get the tournament structure up, that our Regional invites are back, heck I don't even need a free trip, I just want the opportunity to play, and it's hard to say I got that chance this last season.

Back to back posts merged. The following information has been added:

To everyone else: this is NOT about just me, and this is NOT just about California's Battle Roads. I hope everyone has realized that by now.
 
Last edited:
Chad,

There hasnt been a tournament held in Chicago since I won the 2004 city championship. The only other event held in chicago, I had to run. It will never get better. Once they give up on a city, they dont look back. We currently drive 2 hours for the closest testing ground or tounament area.

I dont mean to be rude here, but why should they care about "2" players (you and Truk) if they can get huge attendance elsewhere? Same issue as in Chicago.

Good luck and welcome to my world. It will not get any better anytime soon. Just got to accept that.

My suggestion, Buy yourself a hybrid car!

Jimmy
 
Eh, I'm not unhappy about my situation. 4 Events is good enough for me. I've learned to deal with it. I understand the east coast has 4 events within One hour. But hey, thats the position there in. Its the entire state. I'm not just thinking about myself, i'm thinking about the entire state and the players I see whenever I go down to Southern California. Before POP Took over, there were 0 Tournaments up here in Northern Cali, only events were the STS Qualifers and one Gym Challenge I remember in Mountain View for a STS. Thats it. One of our parents here stepped up and became a PTO, a damn good one too. She has her limits, and I understand that. She does what she does for the kids here.
 
I am working on a BR event in San Diego, probably the first weekend on October. So stay tune for more details.
 
Last edited:
Jimmy, I love you man, but I have to disagree.

I do not think PUI has "given up" on Chicago, but it does take someone raising their hand and saying...HEY! I will run events here!

Then PUI does their checks, and the ball gets rolling.

As I said in my post, PTOs work best, in MY OPINION, in a centralized situation.

I had a blast in Memphis, but realized it would be in better hands with a local, and the IDEAL LOCAL stepped up, in Clay Mitchell, who with his team have kept that area going....

And he has spread the love to Nashville, where the love is growing...and so on...

It's not as easy always to fit the right person in the right position.

They continue to try.

Vince
 
lik said:
I am working on a BR event in San Diego, probably the first weekend on Octboer. So stay tune for more details.
Click to expand...

THIS! *points ^^* THIS my friends, is what happens to many of the STRONG over 30 players. So, I don't want to hear any more stuff about this being a young champions's game, b/c you keep losing your more mature championship players to ORGANIZING :nonono:

However, if you think you've gotten Lik out of the way, just be glad his son, 7 y/o James, doesn't play in the Masters!

Lik, I apologize if you are 29 or less and I misjudged. Way to go man! If you need anything, LMK. Also, come to Anaheim or Granada Hills to pwnzor the youngins on the following weekend.
 
meganium45 said:
Jimmy, I love you man, but I have to disagree.

I do not think PUI has "given up" on Chicago, but it does take someone raising their hand and saying...HEY! I will run events here!

Then PUI does their checks, and the ball gets rolling.

As I said in my post, PTOs work best, in MY OPINION, in a centralized situation.

I had a blast in Memphis, but realized it would be in better hands with a local, and the IDEAL LOCAL stepped up, in Clay Mitchell, who with his team have kept that area going....

And he has spread the love to Nashville, where the love is growing...and so on...

It's not as easy always to fit the right person in the right position.

They continue to try.

Vince
Click to expand...

I certainly haven't given up on Chicago. If I get a job there, I'm definitely looking to start a league.
 
A lot of top players rag on those that "only" judge or run leagues or run events.
This is the flip side of that.
You miss them when they're not there.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top