Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

NATS @ INDIANAPOLIS: Your Thoughts.

algernon said:
Great National this year. Food and lodging close by. Large venue space. Would love to see it here next year or at a similar location. Good times.
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From seeing your avatar, I thought a dam would suffice :) I agree with everyone so far. The downside is that parents that aren't into 'geeky' stuff like card games probably wouldn't enjoy Gen Con for worlds, so it could limit the Junior/Senior participation. With the price lower, it could also increase attendance.

One thing's for sure, though. Masters grinders would be HUGE.
 
Its was amazing I loved it mostly because of the Sky walks you could go to the mall and 2 different hotels with out steping out side. The place was HUGE!!!! I have been to worlds a few times and I have not seen a bigger place. Indianapolis gets an A++ in my book.
 
Being from St. Louis I have to say this:

They should keep NATS at this location EVERY year.

It was elite!

I had a great time, great venue, great connection to the community and honest beggars...

"Need money for beer!" Who says that? Got 2 bucks from me with a smile!

Yeah, yeah, I know, shouldn't support, blah, blah, blah...but still.

Vince
 
This was an elite event coming from a VGC Staff member.

The main hall was nice and open and there was plenty of space for everybody to hang around or do whatever they wanted. It was nice that they separated each age group into their own little areas, also nice that each age group had (at least) their own clock. It looked from my perspective that the TCGers had plenty of space to play in Nationals. Looked like they hadn't prepared for the number of Seniors they actually got, but they just commandeered some of the empty Junior space for the last few Seniors tables. Excellent use of space there.

The League Play area was big enough for this year. It would have been nice to have the League table and the Side Events tables separated so that there isn't any confusion about where players are supposed to meet. Given that there was a MASSIVE open play area separate from the rest of the tournaments, I would've liked to have seen the League being set up in there and leaving the Side Events area where it was. And, as I said last year, it would help out a TON if they would simply add one more reporting area for the League. That line was LONG this year, it was LONG last year, and it was LONG the year before. Put in one more computer and one more prize area, and it'll make everything a whole lot smoother. Also, on Sunday, they started putting pack cards into the League prizes. I thought this was a bad move considering what they had been giving out actual prizes up until that point, and have been for every Nationals I've been at. Would've been nice is all I'm saying.

It was a FANTASTIC idea to have the 24-hour Open Gaming area. That space was LUSCIOUS, and we fit first a 60-something tourney on Friday and then a 180-something tournament on Sunday without even taking up half the room. It was also nice that it was always open, so there was always a time where we could sit down and play against somebody across an actual table.

The Indiana Convention Center itself was a fantastic location. There were Skybridges to three of the main hotels downtown, plus that system connected to the mall a couple blocks away that had a fully-stocked food court, not to mention all of the sit-down and pesudo-sit-down restaurants in the area like Steak & Shake and Noodles&Co. I was a little disappointed that everything in the mall closed down at 5pm on Sunday so there wasn't really anywhere relatively inexpensive to eat if you were staying overnight (which I know a lot of people did).

The Video Game area in particular was awesome. It was great to not have to lord over the increasingly cutthroat TCG for a weekend and see people that apologize profusely when some RNG goes their own way (such as freeze or crits). No matter what, looked like all of the VCGers had a great time. It also looked like the parents were enjoying the matches as well, especially given that at least 8 matches each round were put on the nice plasmas in the area. The floor was nice and padded, which kept my feet nice and comfortable for most of the weekend. And they finally brought in CHAIRS on Saturday so that the kids didn't have to kneel on the floor to actually see their games.

Some improvements I'd like to see for next year.

It would be nice to have the VGC in a completely separate room from the TCG. There were many times during the weekend that the audio from the VGC was drowned out by the TCG audio, and, even though the staff tried everything they knew to keep things moving, it still presented a problem a couple of times when time was being called simultaneously in both competitions. Plus, it would give both areas a lot more space if the TCG is in two halls and the VGC is in a third.

I already touched on the League and Side Events earlier, so I won't do that again.

The vendors were overall better than last year. At the very least, more professional looking and sounding. However, their selection was IMO somewhat weak. I would've liked to have seen more Pokemon stuff that was completely not related to the TCG at all in both camps, as well as more inexpensive items. Last year, I spent about $200 on toys and gifts for the raffle that I run at all of my Premier events. I've still got some of this stuff left over. I spend the same $200 this year, but I seriously doubt that what I bought will last the entire year. And I didn't get the same variety that I got last year, which was really a shame. One thing that I prided myself on last year was that there were very few repeat prizes. This year, probably not so much.

I don't know about the rest of the Professors out there, but I LIKED being the center of attention at the Professor Cup the last couple of years. This year, it kinda felt like we were being shunted aside and given second-class status by being put as far away from the rest of the players as possible. I want people to know that I've spent the year Judging and running Leagues, and this is my one chance to show people how rewarding doing such activities truly is. If nobody can see it, and it's not really commented on by any of the staff in any meaningful way, then how are we going to get more people to help out by Judging or starting up Leagues in their areas?

I'll probably have more to rant about later when I remember it. Suffice it to say, this was probably the best Nationals experience that I've been a part of, and I hope that it just gets bigger and better next year.
 
I'm from Ohio and I think this is a superior choice to C-bus at Origins. The con hall was massive and even I was surprised about the free play area being there.

I think my only qualms were about the vendors and how long it took to get stuff sold (I waited in line for an hour and a half and there was only one person working in both rooms.) Not to mention the lack of merchandise was somewhat questionable.

The selection of food and stuff to do in the general vicinity was fantastic. But I knew this already due to Gencon. (And this shows the perfection that the Indianapolis Convention center had. They even did the tear down FOR Pokemon! You can't tell me the St. Louis people thought the same thing.)

Love the city. It saddens me to leave here any time I'm there. Hold it there again so we can continue to enjoy our time. :3

There were many times during the weekend that the audio from the VGC was drowned out by the TCG audio, and, even though the staff tried everything they knew to keep things moving, it still presented a problem a couple of times when time was being called simultaneously in both competitions. Plus, it would give both areas a lot more space if the TCG is in two halls and the VGC is in a third.
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Not to sound belligerent, but while I was playing in the swiss rounds for the TCG, I'd have to say that the VGC's speakers were blaring far louder than the TCG's. It might have been bad positioning and I agree that they should be placed in separate rooms for numerous reasons including the fact that it apparently made two players in Seniors top cut scoop when VGC called time for their swiss round on Saturday.
 
Well... I was talking about location. Which was HOTTNESS.

Indianapolis = BEAST location.

Now.. if we're going to go on about the event itself..

Sound System:

I'm, somewhat, of a sound tech. So, the first thing that bothers me about Pokemon events is the lack of a decent sound system setup.

This is very simple. You mount a seperate sound system on each playing area. Speakers need to be a, both, the front AND rear of the play areas for a clean, understandable
delivery of sound.

Ceiling speakers are not appropriate for NATS; you simply need a PA on each play area (1 on Masters and 1 on Seniors/Juniors)

A clean system will not need to be YELLED into. You can whisper over everyone if it's set up correctly.


VENDORS ....

That's a bit of a sore spot for me.

I wondered why Collector's Cache and Troll and Toad weren't considered for last year.

This year, I understood why Gathering Grounds got the nod.

I would LOVE to see Gathering Grounds return because they had a SSSSSSICK amount of Pokemon merchandise and their prices were very reasonable. I NEEDED to see that inventory to stock up for prizes for my league events.
The inventory was WHACKness. The focus was on ripping card singles; this appeared to be true w/ both shops.

I think that multiple vendors is definately the way to go; I do not think these vendors appreciated our invitation and support. The prices were VERY opporutunistic and didn't lend themselves to the spirit of the event.

Some of the salesman had bad attitudes. Dude, it's SO hard for me to remain non-violent when I'm holding money out and somebody who I'm giving the money to is coming at me sideways and dismissive. It's like, I'm not THAT good of a Christian yet, so, please, just talk to me like that ONE MORE TIME .. *breathe... let it go.. * sorry y'all. Flashback...

You would think that, after passing out free shirts last year, Collector's Cache would've been the downright nicest and appreciative vendor staff ever... right? not.

PARENT AREAS

I can't say enough how much I appreciate the effort of having tables available for non-playing parents to sit and feel like they have a watchful eye over their children. The "stay out of the play area" thing is cool, but, we're NOT going to last much longer as a children's game if we keep kicking the parents out of the ROOM and into the hallways!!!

1,000 x appreciated for this effort. Thank you so much for remembering that kids have caring parents!!

League Play -

I got hosed at league play man.

I got on a 3 hour grind to earn prizes for my own league kids (to avoid breaking the bank on eBay).
Well, I got nothing useful from league play at all. Everytime someone beat me, they got a playmat (every kid that beat got a playmat).
HOWEVER ... Everytime I won, I got a pack of cards or sleeves.
Draw your own conclusions there...

Anyway, I officially came back w/ nothing to give to my league kids.

Side Events:

I was able to do a couple of 8 man tourneys.
The small number of volunteers were on a serious grind man. MAD PROPS to them for negotiating that madness.
The sheets were filling up faster than they could be put out and they just kept sitting people down and keeping the things going.

The only thing that could be better is if they predetermined the 8-man staff and put them ONLY on 8-man events.
Then, we'd have "specialists" that would truly keep things going like clockwork.

I appreciated the 8-man tourneys a great deal.

Main Event:

I got to meet people that were just amazingly good personalities and players. Liz Reed was among one of my favorites because she was a PokeMom that had mad skills and a rediculously rational thought process. There was a guy who ran a G&G deck that was just fun to play against because we got into jovial smack talkin' (which is so fun if the spirit is mutually fun and harmless). I, somehow, avoided the sticks-in-the-mud that make the event sour (i.e. the people who take themselves way too seriously :/ ).

I don't understand the delays before and between each round. There was something logistically bad about the way things were planned during the main event. I've seen many large events move along so much smoother. It was like we just waited.. and waited...and waited. Then played.. and waited.. and waited... etc.

Even the posting of the matchups papers were a hot mess.

Why can't we post up Flat Screens in each area and powerpoint slide it up a little? Matchups can be posted as a slide so easily and screens can be mounted higher than tag boards. :/

Open Gaming Room:

SSSSSSSSSICK idea!
Just...SUPER cool commodity right there!

I love how it doubled as the "large side event" room.

This was planning gone RIGHT. Props for actualizing this concept.

Professor's Cup:

I agree w/ Bullados. It was on a Sunday and in an entirely different room.
If there's any way to get this on the main floor on Thursday, that'd be awesome.
(I understand, however, how leaving the main room untouched facilitates planning and preparation for the main event).

Mutant Draft:

I was not happy about this being associated w/ being an official PokeGym hosted event. I don't think it promoted the brand in a positive light; it was extremely inconsistant w/ what I thought we were doing as a website:

1. not Child-focused: The event went WAY beyond anyone's bedtime (master's included !)
2. unFriendly environment: Organizers were grumpy and dogmatic. (this really puts me off )
3. Lack of Planning: I'm not certain that the organizers planned for success. This is a business term that refers to planning for the best case scenario as well as the worst case scenario. For example, what happens if EVERYONE wants to participate and has money/packs in hand? I saw no paricipation limit, no plan for disseminating information to a large group, a lack of staff assistance, and a big fat time delay.

Somebody turned off the lights to get the crowd to quiet down for announcments. Ordinarilly, you'd just blink the lights and everyone looks to the front of the room. However, this person left them off.

This wasn't a big issue for anyone.. except... my mildly disabled daughter who just freakin' LOST IT because she was terrified beyond control until the lights came back on. Not a good look fam.

That put me in a, seriously, bad spot w/ the family. Then, when we finally reassure my daughter that everything is OK and she decides to go take her seat, attention is called to her that isolated EVERYONE's attention to just her standing there.... as if SHE is holding up the entire thing. That was a salty experience man.

It's nothing but a PreRelease-ish event. I don't understand how this was not done better.

Parking:

Yeah, parking was like $25 per day = $75 for the weekend. But, I didn't have to worry about my car at all; it was right under the Westin and I could take an elevator down to retreive whatever I wanted without even going outside. So, since I saved so much on the room (using Priceline; big ups to jrwaxman), the parking factored into the expenses just fine.

DECOR:

I don't think that enough appreciation is given to whoever is in charge of the decorations for NATS. Man, there were RANDOM PEOPLE walking in like "OMG!!" and snatching out their cameras! The two large Pikachu's and all of the banners just make everything look so darn PRO! I really want to thank you for that effort (whoever you are!). I think people must believe that those things are created via fairy dust or something. The designing and placement of those things were on point. Great job.

PREREGISTRATION:

Great Idea. Once you started the line, it was butter. I went from back to front like DAAAAANNNNGGG!!! LOLz.

SUGGESTIONS:

Handouts - Main Event rules being on the tables during main event are BOUND for the trashcan. I'm sorry; holding onto paper at that point in time is not a player's focus. Give all handouts at pregistration/registration tables.

Judging - Treat your friends as you treat all others. That's all I'm going to say about that.


Conclusion:

I'm not 100 percent satisfied with the logistics of the event, but the location was on point!
 
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Mr. Washington, I think you somewhat got shafted on the sellers front because you were a parent, I suppose, with different purchase desires and whatnot compared to myself. I didn't come in looking for merchandise (until too late, unfortunately, trying to pick up a plush or sommat for babygirl), I just came in looking for a few things we were missing from our collection that had been proxied for too long.

As a general rule, though, if what you're looking for is a "staple" or even a quasi-staple, it will be beyond a comfortable price point. I comparison shopped and got a Drifblim FB and a Honchkrow SV for a dollar each, and to be honest I was happy with that. Of course if you need that Luxray GL Lv. X, $85 will sting. Then again, that's kind of what should be expected coming into the event.

I don't know what happened to you in particular, so don't think I'm trying to start beef, just explaining my view. The staffers were a bit less responsive but much more relaxed than GG from last year. GG did have Fossil boxes for like $64 bucks last year though, something I missed (I love WotC era swag).

Mutant draft was not a draft, it was a sealed event (with an uncanny amount of HS:UL packs in it hehehe). I didn't like being kicked out of the OPEN GAMING area halfway through a good Dialgachomp v. Palkia lock game for it, either.
 
Rogue Archetype, I'd like to respond to a few of your points.

First of all, Indy was a terrific place to hold the event. The hall did look awesome and was generally set up well. I loved the viewing area on Sunday for the VGC, for example.

A sound system redesign is definitely in order. Trying to hear over 1400 of us is a bit tough. Smaller, area specific, sound systems would help, but you still need to have one hall-wide PA to get everybody to listen. The one beef I have about a projection system would have to be for the Professor Cup. You couldn't hear anything. Even a bullhorn would have been helpful.

The line for league play was long, yes, but it generally moved well. As with just about anything, more staff would have made things run more quickly. That said, those who were working did a great job moving people through, I thought. As for sleeves and packs being "officially nothing" to give to league kids, just send them to me, then, because my league kids would love them.

I had no problems with the vendors except for how few there were. Things got a bit crowded sometimes.

I have heard very little positive about the mutant draft (sorry), but I didn't participate because it started too late. Sounds to me like it needed to planned a bit better.

I liked the rules on the tables. There were only two problems I had with the main event were the problems with recognizing the two flights and posting the pairings. Perhaps try a "blue flight" and a "red flight." The colors were too easy to confuse, and the whole "flights" thing was never really explained well. As for posting the pairings, I agree that there must be a better way than having 400 + players gathered around a list on paper.

By the way, street parking was free on Saturday an Sunday. It meant you had to walk a bit (I have blisters to verify), but well worth the walk, I thought.

That's my two cents. Great job, Pokemon. Let's do it again next year.
 
Quote from Rogue Archetype
"League Play -

I got hosed at league play man.

I got on a 3 hour grind to earn prizes for my own league kids (to avoid breaking the bank on eBay).
Well, I got nothing useful from league play at all. Everytime someone beat me, they got a playmat (every kid that beat got a playmat).
HOWEVER ... Everytime I won, I got a pack of cards or sleeves.
Draw your own conclusions there...

Anyway, I officially came back w/ nothing to give to my league kids."

What conclusions might that be? A conspiracy against Rogue Archetype! Get real, just bad luck, that's all, sometimes that's life! I'm a league leader and I would love to bring sleeves to my kids and parents, packs too! So better luck next year.

chuzzoe
 
bullados said:
Some improvements I'd like to see for next year.

It would be nice to have the VGC in a completely separate room from the TCG.

Agreed. From a judge's and player's viewpoint, the noises alone could be confusing.

I already touched on the League and Side Events earlier, so I won't do that again.

Agreed aswell. People kept trying to sit in the area for the modified events thinking it was the league area.

The vendors were overall better than last year.

I disagree. My main complaint is sort of yours as well; a lack of different products. Also, I felt the buying of cards from players by the vendors was very lackbuster. Very, very low prices, and I feel many players walked away unhappy with their sells. I almost feel like it should be not allowed in the first place. Many players have no idea how little they are getting paid for their cards, and will jump at $20-30 for cards worth double that.

I don't know about the rest of the Professors out there, but I LIKED being the center of attention at the Professor Cup the last couple of years. This year, it kinda felt like we were being shunted aside and given second-class status by being put as far away from the rest of the players as possible.

I didn't even know when the professor cup had started or where it was on Sunday! I was totally blown away when someone told me it had already started.
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Very well run Nationals. I think some of the suggestions for next year are very good suggestions.

Parking was outrageous and unless you had a travel stipend to help, you were paying close to $150+ over a handful of days. I spent more money on parking than food.

People mention that there was a lot to do, but I found the downtown to be a little empty. I found a cool comic book store, but other than that, nothing else to really interest me. I didn't get to check out the downtown mall, so that is one place that could have interested me.

The one-way streets were a pain and a half to navigate.

The convention center was great. No complaints about anything. The city itself? Not my favorite.
 
Memo to Pokemon:

The 2010 Indy Nats experience is now quite simply the benchmark standard. You apparently listened to the feedback from the St. Louis experiment. Well done. :thumb:
 
The parking was the absolute worst part of it for me. I probably spent over $100 on parking alone!

PUI isn't to blame for that, of course ;)
 
Someone obviously didn't know how "cutthroat" the VGC was...then again, considering just about all the top 16 belong to the same website, guess it was inevitable you didn't the cutthroats just yet.
 
poinko said:
The parking was the absolute worst part of it for me. I probably spent over $100 on parking alone!

PUI isn't to blame for that, of course ;)
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Again, if you were willing to drive around a bit and walk, street parking was free on Saturday and Sunday. No need to feed the meters. That will improve for, say, next year when construction around the convention center won't be as bad.
 
My family and the other families that attended from our league loved Nats at Indy. I won't reiterate everything that has already been said but it was sooooo much better than St. Louis. Loved the extra Open Gaming Room too as we always make a 'home base' for all our kiddos to find us and in the past we have been moved multiple times during events because of new modified events, etc. Not a complaint because we understand but LOVED that there was a totally new option. Tons of food options. Hotels and parking are going to be expensive ANYWHERE and I didn't think these were horrible.

One suggestion to TCPi - bring UPS for the computers.
 
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