Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Issues Facing the TCG

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Jim, as far as Judges are concerned, here's my thought. I want one Judge for every 2 top cut matches. I strive for this at all of my local events. I have seen this at virtually every high-level event I've Judged at. Strangely enough, this ratio also serves as a pretty good amount of Judges for the Swiss rounds as well. So, in general terms, having Regionals over two days does serve to nearly double the Judge comp if a PTO comps in that manner.

And, Shen. As far as returning to work on time the following day. Well, that doesn't always happen. I was on Staff for the VGC this year, played in the Prof Cup, and I know that there was absolutely no way I would have been highly functional at work the Monday after. I took Thursday through Monday off from work. I know that most people don't have that luxury at their work places. And I know that I wouldn't particularly enjoy taking off Monday from work for a Pokemon event other than Nationals. I would do it without hesitation. I'd just rather use my limited vacation time for, well, more personal things, or more extended things, than just a three day weekend. Then again, my drive is 3+ hours to any Regional event I would likely staff, and I don't particularly enjoy midnight driving or showing up to work without a full night of sleep.
 
Shen said:
I don't get how starting early solves much. Everyone (staff included) admits the day can go on 14 - 16+ hours. If the event starts at 8 AM, 10 AM, or 12 PM, it will still run 14+ hours. That can make for a long day any way you look at it. Staff will have even longer days, getting there early and staying late.



Yes, but Nationals goes on for 3 days and the staff still manages to get time off from work/etc in order to help there. Why not Regionals? Yes, there's only so many vacations in a year, but maybe the people who serve at Regionals won't be able to do Nationals too. If Regionals is allowed to go on for 2 days, serving as a staff member may be just as rewarding as serving at Nats. (I mean no disrespect towards the Judges, I appreciate the time and effort they put forth)

On the other hand, I'm not very familiar with the staffing at these events, is it ever lacking? It may be a bigger problem if Regionals does turn into a 2 day event.
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Who do you think are your event HJ's at Reg's??? The staff from Nats and Worlds normally. Wouldnt you rather have the "best" staff you can have at Reg's (since those decisions can affect if you make a Worlds invite and scholarships) OR just save the "best" for Nats and Worlds?

There is a reason we get asked to staff/HJ major events. PokePop has been asked to staff every Nats and Worlds that TPCi (POP) has held. There is a REASON for that....he knows the rules inside and out! He has been HJ at these top events multiple times now. I have been HJ @ Nats in 2 diff. age groups now (see sig). The PTOs running Reg's reach out and invite these types of judges to work the events.

I am from TN and we have had a State Championship since 2004. Many of the years, it has been held in Memphis, which is a 7 hr drive for me (oppo side of a long skinny state!) Some yrs, it is in Nashville (3 1/2 hrs away). When I 1st started judging, I worked alot for Jeff R (PTO NC/SC) in N Car and S Car. Those events and venues were actually CLOSER to me than the rest of TN. Now, Jeff's (and Totoro's...been combined the last few yrs) Reg. is in upper VA (near DC). Yup, that is a 7+ hr drive for me. I have worked it 2 yrs in a row, even though last yr, there was a regional in Atlanta. (Was asked to staff there too!) Other than the Carolina Reg (in the past), the next closest was either Memphis or St Louis (depending on where Vince placed it).

Making Reg's a 2 day event would make it a 4 day trip for me....meaning I have to take Monday off to travel home, unless I drive half the night sunday to get home.....not wise) I know many others in similar "boats"

Keith
 
This is a little OT from the rest of the thread, but one thing that I think is a GLARING flaw with how tournaments are currently set up, is how they are distributed. I have seen NO effort at all by pokemon to even attempt to make sure CCs are spread out a little more reasonably, or that there is a cap to how many one can attend. If there is any one aspect of the rating system that's broken, this is it.
 
DarthPika said:
This is a little OT from the rest of the thread, but one thing that I think is a GLARING flaw with how tournaments are currently set up, is how they are distributed. I have seen NO effort at all by pokemon to even attempt to make sure CCs are spread out a little more reasonably, or that there is a cap to how many one can attend. If there is any one aspect of the rating system that's broken, this is it.
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Capping attendance would be stupid. I play in every CC I can travel to. Why? Because it's fun. I see absolutely NO benefit to limiting something like that.
 
DarthPika said:
This is a little OT from the rest of the thread, but one thing that I think is a GLARING flaw with how tournaments are currently set up, is how they are distributed. I have seen NO effort at all by pokemon to even attempt to make sure CCs are spread out a little more reasonably, or that there is a cap to how many one can attend. If there is any one aspect of the rating system that's broken, this is it.
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Wow I'm agreeing with DarthPika here. It has nothing to do with dedication but more to do with location.
 
JUST GIVE US HGSS-ON

ugh

IT would fix everything....
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Wait, what? What does this have to do with anything?

If people are traveling 7 hours or more for Regionals, should we have an additional one? I know I've got it easy having to drive 30 minutes - 2 hours to get to my regionals depending on the year, but 7 hours is super crazy. People who are driving 7 hours: do you have a state championship in your state? How many people normally attend?
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Good point that hasn't been brought up yet. I don't have a map of where all the Regionals are, but I thought having to travel for 3 hours took a long time, 7 hours is insane.

I'll reach out to some Magic judges I know, but if another game can have 18 grand prix events in a year, each at 2 days, and 4 3-day weekend events on top of that (Pro Tour events), and manage to have staff for those, I don't think the difficulty is insurmountable. Could this all be a money issue? Yes, maybe.
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To be fair, Magic also charges entry fees for all of those events, which I personally wouldn't want Pokemon to implement. It's a good point, but I think wer'e far off from reaching the level of Magic events.

This is a little OT from the rest of the thread, but one thing that I think is a GLARING flaw with how tournaments are currently set up, is how they are distributed. I have seen NO effort at all by pokemon to even attempt to make sure CCs are spread out a little more reasonably, or that there is a cap to how many one can attend. If there is any one aspect of the rating system that's broken, this is it.
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To be fair, this is a TO issue more than it is an OP issue. If there's no tournaments in a certain area, it's because there are no TOs there. Not really a fault of Pokemon.

I also think we need to consider that only some regions would have to have 2-day regionals. Are the events that people are traveling 7 hours for the same events that have 8 rounds and a top 32? I'm not saying they aren't, just honestly wondering.
 
kwisdumb said:
Good point that hasn't been brought up yet. I don't have a map of where all the Regionals are, but I thought having to travel for 3 hours took a long time, 7 hours is insane.
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Every other year, if I wanted to go to Regionals, I'd have to travel 10+ hours. Yeah, it's not as easy to get from place to place here in the Mountain West, so that is a consideration there.
 
kwisdumb said:
For sure, that's ridiculous. How many people attend your Regionals?
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I don't remember the numbers. Around 150-200 or something, I think, though. Of course, the bulk of the players are from either Colorodo or Utah depending on which year it is (we alternate back and forth).

I'm not meaning to complain in any way; I'm just saying that there are lots of considerations to make if you are talking 2 days for Regionals. Different Regionals have different needs, and so things should be considered on a case by case basis. A blanket "all Regionals should be 2 days" is a bad idea.
 
Oh, I completely agree on that last point. I would say there are only a handful, maybe even less than a handful of Regionals that need to be two days.
 
I don't think anyone who has been advocating two-day regionals is doing so in cases where PTOs are having the turnout and event size to comfortably run a single day event.

The geographical dispersion of events is the discretion of the PTOs from everything I can tell, and this is a small reward from POP for all they do (either pick a venue that is good for you, or your players).
 
I'm sure not every Regionals requires two days, but the ones I've played in (Great Lakes, Southeast) do. From what I've read, California needs it too, and the Northeast already had it.
 
I'll add that the NW needs it as well, I think we were the 2nd biggest Regional last year. We were definitely done before 4am, although I can't remember the exact time. It seems we're a little more efficiently managed than a lot of the bigger ones out there (no offense to anyone).

So it seems like a solid 4-5 of the Regionals out there could benefit from two days?
 
My regionals (PA/NJ) hasn't ever gone to a late enough hour I couldn't reasonably play or drive home, but Dorian is super-solid on timely events.

That being said, I could enjoy a 2DR (two-day regionals), and hope those who it serves a /need/ for would receive it first.
 
I think that as a community (players) with leaders (PTO's)- there should be more effort on TCPI in making this community and it's leaders more happier.

Players can be more understanding in some areas as to the needs of it's leaders. Players can be doing more to make events run smoother. There are lots of things that can be done from the players to support the leaders.
Here are some ideas:
Instead of playing at every event- volunteer at one of the events. PTO's do alot to make these events as fun as possable. I am sure they can use some help in areas throughout the event.
Provide some door prize items. Like- the box of cards you bought at a pre=release has a lot of commons and uncommons and common rares that maybe can be spared as door prize.
Pitch in as a group to pay for a hotel room for a PTO-
All I am saying- if we are a community, we need to start acting like a community and support in anyway we can with what resourses we have- no matter how little.

PTO's- Charge a small event fee. Why not? Or, work out some deals with venues as to get a better deal. Look for other things that the venue could use/need in exchange - after all- we are a community, right?
Recruite more staff- ask for players to volunteer- be a bit more aggressive in getting help from the players, I am sure they will be glad to help in some way.

TPCI- Really? Come on. Do I need to do your thinking when it comes to running a business when it comes to spending a bit more on those who buy your products (players) and those who promote your product (PTO'S)?

To make money- you have to spend money.
Annual Membership fees? Sponcers? More advertising?
Sure- player rewards is cool and all, but, without listening to a community is a bad choice and answering with BUDGET BUDGET blah blah blah BUDGET no no and no-
THERE are OPTIONS and ideas- shooting down these ideas and not looking into possable options for a community that keeps you in business is just bad business.

there- rant over- and just saying-
OPTIONS and IDEAS- try before shooting down a community of people who like to have fun among family and friends.
thanx for LISTENING- All I ask. Care to listen more on ideas and options? I got more. And they are just that: ideas and options.
 
Benzo said:
I think that as a community (players) with leaders (PTO's)- there should be more effort on TCPI in making this community and it's leaders more happier.

Players can be more understanding in some areas as to the needs of it's leaders. Players can be doing more to make events run smoother. There are lots of things that can be done from the players to support the leaders.
Here are some ideas:
Instead of playing at every event- volunteer at one of the events. PTO's do alot to make these events as fun as possable. I am sure they can use some help in areas throughout the event.
Provide some door prize items. Like- the box of cards you bought at a pre=release has a lot of commons and uncommons and common rares that maybe can be spared as door prize.
Pitch in as a group to pay for a hotel room for a PTO-
All I am saying- if we are a community, we need to start acting like a community and support in anyway we can with what resourses we have- no matter how little.

PTO's- Charge a small event fee. Why not? Or, work out some deals with venues as to get a better deal. Look for other things that the venue could use/need in exchange - after all- we are a community, right?
Recruite more staff- ask for players to volunteer- be a bit more aggressive in getting help from the players, I am sure they will be glad to help in some way.

TPCI- Really? Come on. Do I need to do your thinking when it comes to running a business when it comes to spending a bit more on those who buy your products (players) and those who promote your product (PTO'S)?

To make money- you have to spend money.
Annual Membership fees? Sponcers? More advertising?
Sure- player rewards is cool and all, but, without listening to a community is a bad choice and answering with BUDGET BUDGET blah blah blah BUDGET no no and no-
THERE are OPTIONS and ideas- shooting down these ideas and not looking into possable options for a community that keeps you in business is just bad business.

there- rant over- and just saying-
OPTIONS and IDEAS- try before shooting down a community of people who like to have fun among family and friends.
thanx for LISTENING- All I ask. Care to listen more on ideas and options? I got more. And they are just that: ideas and options.
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I only want to comment on one aspect of your post, that being entry fee's for tournaments. I personal feel that that is the best way to drive new players away from the tournament scene, ESPECIALLY younger kinds whose parents are the ones paying the fees. It's better for the growth of the game, especially in the young divisions (whose attendance is already not so great these days), to have free events.
 
^no problem- I did say that these are just ideas. I think the main rant I have is that this is an "everyone effort"- and that ideas and options for resolving issues to get a happy medium is my intent.
 
I'd just like to chime in with the old argument of "In Europe we pay 5 euro a tournament and it sure ain't driving kids away here"
 
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