This post is going to be a little random and will start off slightly off topic, but will come back to this topic, kind of. This post is not directed at any individual(s) but to most players. If I seem a bit harsh, I apologize.
One thing a (P)TO and his/her staff in concerned about is time management. Tournament Staff must be sure that the tournament flows at a reasonable pace and finishes at a reasonable hour and/or the venue closes/becomes unavailable due to another event.
The most time is lost at REGISTRATION! Why do we lose time at registration? At times we (tournament staff) may be a bit slow at registration for miscellaneous reasons (computer problems, new person on staff trying to get into the swing of things, etc…), however from my experience, players, unintentionally, do number things to cause the tournament to get off to a slow start which cause us to lose time overall.
For example-
- 1- Deck List not filled out properly (no set/collection numbers, illegible, other various problems).
- 2- Deck presented to deck check out of order or slightly out of order.
- 3- Forgot/Don’t know player ID.
- 4- The Classic- Getting in registration line within the last 5 minutes of registration.
I’ll go quickly into detail on 1 and 2, then 3, then 4. Then tell you how you can help fix these problems, which will help save time.
- 1 & 2- Deck list Errors/Deck out of order may not seem like a big problem, individually each error is not because we can take 5-10secs to tell you to fix it or fix it for you or 15-20 sec to explain in detail what is wrong. But if we have a lot of those errors, those seconds add up and the registration line will get backed up.
- 3- In order to explain about #3 I will have to quickly brief how player entry into TOM works. Each TOs TOM Software keeps player information for any player who has ever played in that TOs events. We must enter a new (never played at the TOs tournament) players Player ID, First Name, Last Name, and DOB into TOM (Easily 10 seconds). To enter in a player who is already in the database we simply have to enter in the Player ID and press enter and that player is in the tournament (Under 2 seconds, then next deck list/registration slip). When players don’t know their Player ID we have to look it up. Again, not a problem individually, but the more Player IDs we have to look up the more time we lose. Really we may lose a minute or two at the player entry but when compounded with other errors I have listed above and the big one I am about to go into we loose a lot of time. Players not knowing their ID number has become more and more common.
- 4- My favorite, the Classic, players getting in the registration line within the last 5 minutes of registration. During registration, closer to the reg. start time, there are times when staff members are doing nothing! Deck Checkers are waiting for players and Computer operator is waiting to enter in players into the computer. This time needs to be utilized by players. If there is a line forming before registration begins and there is no line or a short line after registration, things are progressing on schedule. The more players who get in line towards the beginning of registration will allow the computer operator (if there is 1 specifically for that job who knows how to do a deck check) to jump in on deck check an start getting players registered early. Specifically what do players do to compel or force them to get into registration line towards the end of registration:
WHY PLAYERS GET IN LINE LAST MINUTE OF REGISTRATION said:
- ~Show up with a deck box filled with 58 empty sleeves and a binder of cards, and a completed deck list with the intent of building their deck on the spot, borrowing cards from other players and finding 2 more sleeves.
- ~Show up half way through registration with a completed deck but no deck list filled out. If you need to fill out a deck list you need to arrive 15 minutes before the tournament registration time. The staff should be there and they should have deck list.
- ~Socialize with players before registering. Here is an idea, get in line with your friend and socialize there.
- ~Socialize with players to gain insight into the metagame or just flat out hover around the tournament area to metagame just to get inline at the last minute.
- ~Players who come prepared but get to the tournament right at the end of registration. Just because registration starts at 10:30am and closes at 11:15am doesn’t mean you (players) should sleep in until 10:00am and take your sweet time to get to the tournament right at 11:14am to register. I kid you not, one tournament I was not a staff member at I saw 10 experienced players from 3 families plus individual players show up at 11:14am. 10 more players at 11:15, if there is only 2 judges on staff, each doing 5 of the deck checks in 2 mins flat that is another 10mins it takes to get the tournament started and that is not with out accounting for the rest of the line at 11:15What was really embarrising is more then half of them were from my league. Players who come prepared but show up right before registration closes is one of the most frustrating things of all.
- ~Players who are indecisive about deck choice (Deck A or Deck B) or deck list (1-10 card changes then what is sleeved and written on list)
- ~Any combination of the above items
I just explained what players do that can delay registration. Now let me tell you what you THE PLAYER can do to speed up registration. These might be a bit obvious and I may repeat something I said above.
- 1- Fill out your decklist in advance so you don’t have to rush during registration. If you have a friend you can trust, double check each others decks for errors before registering. You will save the tournament staff time if your friend can inform you of the error.
- 2- When you come up for deck check, please have your list in order
- 3- Know your player ID, if you don’t put it on your deck list/reg slip you will cost Tournament staff time
- 4- Again fill out your decklist in advance, have your deck sleeved and in order of your deck list, arrive to the tournament and get in line as early as possible, socialize with friends later, testplay in advance and read forums like Pokegym, Pokebeach, HT, etc… so there will be no need to metagame, if you are going to a venue that is new to you leave your house early incase you get lost (it is better to be 30 mins early then 1 min late), leave your house early incase of car trouble/traffic
- 5- Didn’t mention anything about this yet, if you see a new/young player filling out a decklist or a tournament staff member helping a new player build a legal deck or fill out a list, offer to help. If you can free up the tournament staff member to do other things you are doing a great service to the tournament because that staff member can now go do other things to get the tournament started. I know it may not be your responsibility but it does show good Spirit of the Game
I just made a very long rant about registration and time, by now you are probably wondering when I am going to link this to 90 min time limits in top cuts. I am almost there.
Tournament Organizers expect this from and understands that this will happen with the new players. The fact that experienced players do these things, especially wait until towards the end of registration to get registered, adds time to the tournament. Tournament Organizers must account in their planning of tournaments that registration can be slow when these errors or oversight (getting in reg. line towards end of reg.) by players occur. If experienced players could be more responsible the tournament could start quicker which could allow more time for the tournament. Time that could be used for LONGER TOP CUT TIMES. If a TOs player base is really good at registering that TO could find themselves with more time to do a longer top cut if there are no other issues preventing them from doing so.
Let me end by saying this, I am a full supporter of 90 minute top cuts, but as a judge who has worked side by side with TOs in the planning and execution of tournaments I know what factors have to be accounted for when hosting a tournament and realize that there are time constraints and that 90 minute top cuts may not be possible in some venues. Also let me be clear my rant above is no way placing blame on players that a delay in registration is completely their fault or that any delay in registration prevents longer top cuts from occurring. The purpose of this post is to encourage players to be more responsible at registration which will allow the tournament to start quicker and possibility allow more time for a longer top cut. At the least I hope this post has given you insight into time management issues that tournament staff has to be aware of at registration.
tl:dr or just want a summery.
- Time Management very important to Tournament Organizers & Staff
- The most time is lost at registration
- Players are the cause of some of the loss
- 1- Deck List Errors
- 2- Deck out of Order
- 3- Players not knowing Player ID
- 4- BIGGEST ISSUE- Players getting in line during latter part of registration.
- What can players do to help tournament staff save time
- 1- Fill out your deck list in advance. Get a trustworthy friend to double check each others lists/decks in advance
- 2- When you come up for deck checks make sure your deck is in order
- 3- Know your Player ID, put it on your decklist/reg slip
- 4- Get to the tournament as early as possible, be prepared (deck, decklist, etc…), get in reg. line when it opens.
- Will doing these things get you a 90 min top cut?- NO
- Will doing these things allow tournaments start sooner?- YES
- If the tournament starts sooner, will your TO do a longer top cut?- MAYBE, It is up to them, but now they have more time to allow for a longer Top Cut, your chances did get better though. There still may be venue availability issues.
- You have done all these things and encouraged your fellow players to do the same, your local tournaments now start minutes after registration ends and you still don’t have a longer top cut!!!- At least the time between registration’s end and tournament’s start is now shorter. What did you lose by doing this?
Again, this post went off topic and may have been harsh to the player base as a whole at times, I apologize. I just felt the need to provide examples of time management issues that causes a tournament to lose time that I have experienced while working a tournament.