I JUST started playing again at the regional pre-release (awesome hybridness). For some reason I just feel like this is some wierd step in the wrong direction.
Now the events held in the Philly area are ran by Gray Matter (at least I think they are), and I have participated in them for about geeze 8 or more years? (Since Urza Saga days.) I have nothing bad to say about them, I have always had a fun time, met and play people I wouldn't usually meet/play. And walk away with a story or two.
I believe that with this new era of prereleases I'll be missing out on the chance to play against someone I wouldn't normally play. Granted there are plently of other tournies and events I could attend too however I just like the prerelease better then those. Now I enjoy playing cards with my friends just like everyone else, but I really wouldn't want to knock them out of a prerelease tournie because we have no other options. I assume that with this new way there will be more splits then ever before.
Another thing I guess I am kinda upset about is what if you don't like your local game shop? For reason A or reason B not all places are what you would want to play at. I have my reasons why I don't like my local shop and that would prevent me from "going" to these new prereleases. I guess I need to hunt down another card shop and find one I like.
My last worry about this and it's really not a worry, is what about card's being leaked out before their time? There are going to be way more cooks in the kitchen and I am guessing WOTC has beefed up whatever security they have against this sort of thing because I think they are asking for some problems to happen.
While this news I guess is great for those new to starting the game, however counting myself as being a "regular" now to the game I guess I just feel like I have been slightly shafted.
:: end sigh ::
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Agreed. I think in the last 4-5 prereleases I didnt even play due to the crap ass prize support, lack of ideal way of running it, and people refussing to shower before hand.
Do you honestly expect this to get better at a local game store? Think about the prize thing. You go to a large prerelease and you go undefeatd in your pod. You don't enjoy the prizes you get so you decide not to go next time. You bring it to the TOs attention mostly falling on deaf ears b/c they can't alter their decisions based on one player's opinion. Now you go to the local game store that you go to every week. You go undefeated and you don't enjoy the prizes they give out (trust me don't expect them to be any better than the large prerelease offerings). You bring it to the owner's attention but it falls on deaf ears b/c he knows you'll be back for FNM and the next prerelease regardless. Do you decide just to not go next time? then you'd have no prerelease to play at because you figured you were entitled to more for winning an extremely casual event. Completely goes against this "grassroots" movement they're making. Also, now you not only have to deal with all of the annoying Magic players you don't enjoy seeing at the prerelease, but you also have the headache of any of the morons from other games you have to deal with week in and week out at a local shop. It usually isn't beneficial for a local store to alienate one game's players just b/c they have a large event occurring on the weekly night.
I work at the Philly prereleases for GM(Chas) and for a local hobby shop so I can easily see both sides. I just don't see how Wizards can justify this change if their motivation is to bring new players into the game. My shop may sign up a new player every month...maybe two if we're lucky. The prerelease would regularly sign up 10-20 players each day. I guess I'm just a little defensive of hurting the company that holds my PTQs. I wouldn't be surprised to see those get the axe in 2 monthsm, even if its not that the hands of WOTC.
/rant
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Do you honestly expect this to get better at a local game store? Think about the prize thing. You go to a large prerelease and you go undefeatd in your pod. You don't enjoy the prizes you get so you decide not to go next time. You bring it to the TOs attention mostly falling on deaf ears b/c they can't alter their decisions based on one player's opinion. Now you go to the local game store that you go to every week. You go undefeated and you don't enjoy the prizes they give out (trust me don't expect them to be any better than the large prerelease offerings).
The prize support at my local prerelease is 8 packs for a 4-0 record and 6 for 3-0-1 record, I believe.
The prize support (as it stands now) at my local store is prizes to the top half. For a prerelease, I would try to see if they could change that. In the end, what changes a prerelease from a release when they are held in the same place, with the same prize structure, and the same players? Nothing really.
Your point about not being able to go somewhere else kind of defeats the purpose of this idea though. There will be more prerelease locations than before, so people can choose to go elsewhere quite easily. There are one or two shops I can go to instead of the one I do go to, but this one is closest...
That all said, I still really don't like this.
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There will be more prerelease locations than before, so people can choose to go elsewhere quite easily.
So my players decide they don't like my prizes and go elsewhere for the prerelease? Another overlooked side effect if they're trying to promote play locally. It doesn't really build up a store's "community" if thats what Wizards wants from Wizard Play. This won't help local stores as much as WOTC hopes.
Our prereleases are 13-9-5 for Main Flights and 7-5-3 for Bonus Flights at Philly(and I believe all Gray matter preleases, correct me if I'm wrong.) and we usually run 5+ of each type of flight. These are given to all 4-0, 3-0-1, 3-1 finishers respectively. With the smaller turnouts at local stores they'll have to turn to single flights with Top 8 and prizes tiering down from first. Hardly an entry level system for tournaments if you ask me.
EDIT: Also:
Your point about not being able to go somewhere else kind of defeats the purpose of this idea though. There will be more prerelease locations than before, so people can choose to go elsewhere quite easily
Its actually quite a common complaint that people do not have a local game store, or the "local" store is an impractical distance to travel to for events.
I can't say I'm happy or pissed off about this -- but it makes sense when you stop and think about it. Personally, the Eventide PR will be the first I'm attending (because it's actually in my city) -- I've never attended other PRs because I've always found it ridiculous to do an overnight trip for big casual-esq tournaments. This way I'll actually get to play more, albeit in a small tournament (which is A-OK with me).
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I don't have any hard numbers on this, but I'm targeted more often than a black guy driving a beat-up sedan with a broken tail-light and no license plate, and Cy's well aware of that.
It's global. No more big prereleases anywhere. So the organizers that worked so hard to get you prereleases and PTQs? They just lost thousands of dollars with no respect for their years of hard work.
I'm sorry for the good TOs out there, but I can say that if it breaks a certain Montreal TO's stranglehold on prerelease events, I can only see it as a positive for our local community.
Its interesting that they're gonna use Intro Packs in these revamped prereleases.
The way it is worded, it seems like this is just a continuation of the 'Theme Deck tournament for newbies' side events that were already done in many Prerelease locations, including ours.
Ouch. The big pre-releases were the only tournaments I ever went to. Trying to find something at a small, local shop (of which there are not many, and they are indeed small) does not sound appealing at all. North Carolina had a really good tournament organizer as well.
If I'm being fair, I can sympathize with the people who always had to travel long distances to get to the pre-release locations. I had to drive 2 hours to get to the last one (because the Hotel 25 minutes from my house where the Organizer usually held the tournament apparently lost the reservation) and it was not fun.
I'm crossing my fingers that they'll still try to hold a large pre-release tournament. That may be wishful thinking though.
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As someone who has to work during the week, I view this as the end of pre-releases. You're telling me that now I can go to my local store and play with the new set the week "before" the set comes out and then go back the next weekend and play in the "release event" (the next time I would play any way)? It just sounds like the set comes out a week early to me.
This change is analogous to the cancellation of States -- just killing off another one of the big series of regional tournaments. I am interested to see how this whole play network thing works out.... My local stores already ran small tournaments like drafts and FNM. I don't quite see why Wizards needs to kill off all the big tournaments to further promote small tournaments. It seems like Wizards should be helping to organize larger tournaments which individual stores can't do on their own.
My overall reaction to the change is similar to Urzas (I assume we go to the same pre-release): it will be cheaper and easier for me to go to a local pre-release but at the same time I don't consider it much of a pre-release any more. The events in CT that I've been to have always been well-run and pretty well attended. There were a lot of people from around the state that I'd only see at things like pre-releases and states. I guess I won't see them much any more.
Finally, regarding the prize support:
So my players decide they don't like my prizes and go elsewhere for the prerelease?
Are you a store owner? Isn't this how it always works (capitalism)? I mean, aren't they "your" players because they typically like your prize support? There are no stores within my town but a few within half an hour's drive. Some distribute prizes over a wide range of the player pool. Others concentrate the prize at the top of the standings. Different players (from the casual/competitive spectrum) are attracted to each.
The store I usually go to goes for the low entry fee/low prize support approach. I'll be happy if they use this for the pre-release as well. The store is also usually more oriented towards Yu-Gi-Oh and World of Warcraft so it will be interesting to see how they handle back-to-back Magic release tournaments.
I'm fine with it. Even though I live within 30 miles of two cities with fairly strong Magic communities, my nearest prerelease is over a hundred miles away. I've only gone to one prerelease in the four years I've been playing because it just isn't worth it. Four hours sitting in the car, 200 miles worth of gas, a couple sealed decks at $30 a pop, I'd rather just wait a couple weeks and put all that money toward a couple booster boxes. While I think the big tournaments are fun, I'd rather have a small tournament that I can play in than a big tournament that's too expensive to be worth going to.
Still, it does seem to make the "launch parties" completely redundant.
I certainly hope that the large prereleases can still occur. While I enjoy playing at my "local" cardshop (and by local I mean a 45 minute drive), I enjoy playing at the big events run by Cascade Games more. There is a wider variety of people there that I don't see on a regular basis. I will play some people that I may never see again and socialize with others whom I only see at these events becuase of where each of us reside. I expect that there will be no gunslinging at local PRs, which is another attraction to me about the large PRs. We often get card artists to come and sell their art and sign cards. This, too, is unlikely at small local shops.
I have spoken with my "local" shop owner about getting into doing PRs, but this isn't what I had in mind; I was hoping that he would be able to rent out a hall and do a big event, not run another "small" event in his cardshop.
This is great news for all central Ontarians. Our prereleases suck, and the prizes get smaller while the prices go up.
Not really. The one that Skyfox holds is pretty decent. The Primrose Hotel on Carlton across from the old Maple Leaf Gardens is a good venue. Since I come in from Pickering, driving there isn't so bad as the 401/DVP aren't as clogged as they would be on ar egular morning.
Mind you it's much better than the ones they held at the Agincourt Community Centre. That place was just...blah :xd: I mean, they had a pool there. I was so tempted to go take a dip during rounds, that's how bad it was. Fully clothed too.
This will definitely shock and hurt those venues who more or less rely on these prereleases to generate after-tournament sales.
These events don't necessary hurt TOs financially; the fees they charge for participation more than makes up for the supposed "loss" they incur during these events.
Then again, I'm going by what Skyfox does. They always inflate their prices so it c omes as no surprise if it does, in fact, hurt sales. $10 for a Rishadan Pawnshop. Hah.
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I live over an hour from a small card shop if I want fnm. I live about 150 miles from Orlando and the Atlanta one is about the same distance. I'm 100% for this
This is officially the last straw for me. I think that all of the changes taking place with Shards are terrible, and reek highly of being financially-driven. Is WotC really hurting that much for money, or is Hasbro just getting greedy?
Large prereleases and events like States were the only things keeping me buying new product. Standard is already way too expensive now, and despite the introduction of smaller sets with Shards, the prices of deck staples will only go down marginally. And God help everyone if one of those staples accidentally ends up being a mystic.
I'm going to sell off all of my Standard stuff, build a Legacy deck, and say my farewell to the game at GenCon. Not good news to get on my birthday, but I just turned 30 today, so maybe it's a sign that it's time to move on.
I don't like this. While my local store admittedly will have better prize support than the old prerelease did (any large tournament here is at minimum going to have a box for first and another for top 8), I'm not a fan of splitting up the 300+ people who attend our prereleases. It makes trading a lot worse, and it takes away some of the "epic" feeling of prereleases. My prerelease is going to hit more than 60 people under this new system, and I don't like that.
Personally, this really doesn't make any sense to me. I can see organizing the worldwide events, and I can agree with that, but changing the dates? Really not a lot of purpose there, in my eyes.
They're probably trying to increase the sales in the opening week. They've already made the cards available for constructed the day they go on sale so people will anxiously rip open packs to find the cards they need.
The disadvantage to those who go to the pre releases is that you have less time to make back the money you spent at the release. I don't like that, but as long as they keep putting the full spoiler out 2 weeks before the cards are released, I'm okay with it. Otherwise it's gonna be a mad frenzy the week before trying to figure out what to play the next week when a set that just got released is legal for play. Am I overreacting?
Something I haven't seen mentioned.
The local card shop here only has 1 tournament on any given day whereas pasttimes can support multiple flights all day and if you want to drop because you're doing badly, you just start a new one. I usually spend $80+ on PRs and only $15 on releases.
Based on what they say there as well as if you follow the link in that article to the Wizards Play Network (WPN) level requirements, it also seems like Prereleases will not longer be held at a central location for each area but instead will be run at & by local stores much like the regular Release Events.
I am HUGE fan of this - I found traveling 2 hours to spend $30 on a Prerelease Flight prohibitively expensive. Knowing I can go 30 minutes to my LGS for a Prerelease means I will attend every single one.
Also, some people with DCI numbers only attend Prereleases. This draws those people into their LGS to play, which they might otherwise never do.
The disadvantage to those who go to the pre releases is that you have less time to make back the money you spent at the release. I don't like that, but as long as they keep putting the full spoiler out 2 weeks before the cards are released, I'm okay with it. Otherwise it's gonna be a mad frenzy the week before trying to figure out what to play the next week when a set that just got released is legal for play. Am I overreacting?
Make back money you spent? I really don't think Wizards is (or should be) worried about pandering to card speculators who try to go to the prerelease as some kind of moneymaking enterprise.
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Something I haven't seen mentioned.
The local card shop here only has 1 tournament on any given day whereas pasttimes can support multiple flights all day and if you want to drop because you're doing badly, you just start a new one. I usually spend $80+ on PRs and only $15 on releases.
This is one of the reasons retailers would complain about prereleases. People would spend a lot of their money at the prerelease and get a bunch of cards they need/want. Then when the release comes around, people are less inclined to buy more because they have a lot of what they need.
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What, it won't be at huge central locations? That sucks! Those were amazing grounds for trading/selling and playing people you don't know. I honestly hope they don't get rid of Pre releases and make only tournaments like releases available. I'm cool with both. At one time you could go to the Pre release two weeks before the release, the Release one week before, then the set would be released that Friday. They probably had too many problems with store owners selling product early so they stopped doing the release tournaments early. But I'm still not a fan of eliminating Pre release tournaments (which are at a much higher level than a local tournament). If they do, I'll probably still travel over an hour to get a bigger crowd and k level at the tournament.
Gateway level organizers will have access to great prize support in the form of the network kits that accompanies each major release and great programs like Magic Launch Parties.
To participate as a Gateway organizer, you need to do the following:
* Be 18 or older.
* Have access to a public venue.
* Contact us / apply for inclusion in the network at www.wizards.com/wpn.
* Have a DCI number.
* Give us your contact information so that it can be displayed in our event locator.
* Schedule at least one instance of play so that it can be displayed on our locator.
As a Gateway organizer, you'll get the following:
* Access to great content and play format suggestions to build your community
* Magic Launch Parties
* Magic Prize Support Kits
* Dungeons & Dragons League Kits
* Star Wars League Kits
I have a feeling unless this particular aspect goes over huge that there's going to be issues.
I like the big prereleases. Unless this "Gateway" program allows for a LOT more grassroots play, they're shreding thier offerings for little gain.
Given that it has to be open to the public, I think they lost a bit of the favor they would have gotten from some people by allowing thier weekend playgroups with friends to be included in an incentivised program.
I'm begining to see the sliver of people that are actally served by these changes shrink and shrink... and it's cutting from both ends... tournament players have already lost out pretty big, and this new program really does very, very little to serve the kitchen table gamer, it seems.
I live near Chicago. I have had to deal with Pastimes for years. They lie, cheat and just plain suck. I know for a fact many people write in complaints on them every prerelease. I was wondering why they were having there tournaments at really nice venues lately. Cause they are gonna lose them GREAT! I would rather goto my local store and support them, not some slimy TO who cant be bothered to take a credit card when they said they would. I have heard alot of stories about the people running Pastimes (dealers and judges) I hope this is the deathknell of them.
We should all support our local shops. They are the ones who got this game to its popularity. They deserve our patronage.
I'm pretty sure that my LGS is a Core Level store in the new set-up. That means that I only have to travel for 20 minutes to attend a Pre-Release event. I am all for that. I know that some of you love the huge, centrally located events. I think those will still continue. If you read the entire article, there is an Advanced Level for large venues that has enhanced prize support. The larger venues will likely have more booster boxes available to win than the smaller venues. I just like the idea of not having to travel for what amounts to 4 hours to play at the larger events. Sorry, but that's how I feel.
I am wondering what the judge requirement is for these events a lot of stores dont have a judge. and I do not believe every store will be running them do to this
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I JUST started playing again at the regional pre-release (awesome hybridness). For some reason I just feel like this is some wierd step in the wrong direction.
Now the events held in the Philly area are ran by Gray Matter (at least I think they are), and I have participated in them for about geeze 8 or more years? (Since Urza Saga days.) I have nothing bad to say about them, I have always had a fun time, met and play people I wouldn't usually meet/play. And walk away with a story or two.
I believe that with this new era of prereleases I'll be missing out on the chance to play against someone I wouldn't normally play. Granted there are plently of other tournies and events I could attend too however I just like the prerelease better then those. Now I enjoy playing cards with my friends just like everyone else, but I really wouldn't want to knock them out of a prerelease tournie because we have no other options. I assume that with this new way there will be more splits then ever before.
Another thing I guess I am kinda upset about is what if you don't like your local game shop? For reason A or reason B not all places are what you would want to play at. I have my reasons why I don't like my local shop and that would prevent me from "going" to these new prereleases. I guess I need to hunt down another card shop and find one I like.
My last worry about this and it's really not a worry, is what about card's being leaked out before their time? There are going to be way more cooks in the kitchen and I am guessing WOTC has beefed up whatever security they have against this sort of thing because I think they are asking for some problems to happen.
While this news I guess is great for those new to starting the game, however counting myself as being a "regular" now to the game I guess I just feel like I have been slightly shafted.
:: end sigh ::
Do you honestly expect this to get better at a local game store? Think about the prize thing. You go to a large prerelease and you go undefeatd in your pod. You don't enjoy the prizes you get so you decide not to go next time. You bring it to the TOs attention mostly falling on deaf ears b/c they can't alter their decisions based on one player's opinion. Now you go to the local game store that you go to every week. You go undefeated and you don't enjoy the prizes they give out (trust me don't expect them to be any better than the large prerelease offerings). You bring it to the owner's attention but it falls on deaf ears b/c he knows you'll be back for FNM and the next prerelease regardless. Do you decide just to not go next time? then you'd have no prerelease to play at because you figured you were entitled to more for winning an extremely casual event. Completely goes against this "grassroots" movement they're making. Also, now you not only have to deal with all of the annoying Magic players you don't enjoy seeing at the prerelease, but you also have the headache of any of the morons from other games you have to deal with week in and week out at a local shop. It usually isn't beneficial for a local store to alienate one game's players just b/c they have a large event occurring on the weekly night.
I work at the Philly prereleases for GM(Chas) and for a local hobby shop so I can easily see both sides. I just don't see how Wizards can justify this change if their motivation is to bring new players into the game. My shop may sign up a new player every month...maybe two if we're lucky. The prerelease would regularly sign up 10-20 players each day. I guess I'm just a little defensive of hurting the company that holds my PTQs. I wouldn't be surprised to see those get the axe in 2 monthsm, even if its not that the hands of WOTC.
/rant
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The prize support at my local prerelease is 8 packs for a 4-0 record and 6 for 3-0-1 record, I believe.
The prize support (as it stands now) at my local store is prizes to the top half. For a prerelease, I would try to see if they could change that. In the end, what changes a prerelease from a release when they are held in the same place, with the same prize structure, and the same players? Nothing really.
Your point about not being able to go somewhere else kind of defeats the purpose of this idea though. There will be more prerelease locations than before, so people can choose to go elsewhere quite easily. There are one or two shops I can go to instead of the one I do go to, but this one is closest...
That all said, I still really don't like this.
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So my players decide they don't like my prizes and go elsewhere for the prerelease? Another overlooked side effect if they're trying to promote play locally. It doesn't really build up a store's "community" if thats what Wizards wants from Wizard Play. This won't help local stores as much as WOTC hopes.
Our prereleases are 13-9-5 for Main Flights and 7-5-3 for Bonus Flights at Philly(and I believe all Gray matter preleases, correct me if I'm wrong.) and we usually run 5+ of each type of flight. These are given to all 4-0, 3-0-1, 3-1 finishers respectively. With the smaller turnouts at local stores they'll have to turn to single flights with Top 8 and prizes tiering down from first. Hardly an entry level system for tournaments if you ask me.
EDIT: Also:
Its actually quite a common complaint that people do not have a local game store, or the "local" store is an impractical distance to travel to for events.
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I'm sorry for the good TOs out there, but I can say that if it breaks a certain Montreal TO's stranglehold on prerelease events, I can only see it as a positive for our local community.
The way it is worded, it seems like this is just a continuation of the 'Theme Deck tournament for newbies' side events that were already done in many Prerelease locations, including ours.
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If I'm being fair, I can sympathize with the people who always had to travel long distances to get to the pre-release locations. I had to drive 2 hours to get to the last one (because the Hotel 25 minutes from my house where the Organizer usually held the tournament apparently lost the reservation) and it was not fun.
I'm crossing my fingers that they'll still try to hold a large pre-release tournament. That may be wishful thinking though.
This change is analogous to the cancellation of States -- just killing off another one of the big series of regional tournaments. I am interested to see how this whole play network thing works out.... My local stores already ran small tournaments like drafts and FNM. I don't quite see why Wizards needs to kill off all the big tournaments to further promote small tournaments. It seems like Wizards should be helping to organize larger tournaments which individual stores can't do on their own.
My overall reaction to the change is similar to Urzas (I assume we go to the same pre-release): it will be cheaper and easier for me to go to a local pre-release but at the same time I don't consider it much of a pre-release any more. The events in CT that I've been to have always been well-run and pretty well attended. There were a lot of people from around the state that I'd only see at things like pre-releases and states. I guess I won't see them much any more.
Finally, regarding the prize support:
Are you a store owner? Isn't this how it always works (capitalism)? I mean, aren't they "your" players because they typically like your prize support? There are no stores within my town but a few within half an hour's drive. Some distribute prizes over a wide range of the player pool. Others concentrate the prize at the top of the standings. Different players (from the casual/competitive spectrum) are attracted to each.
The store I usually go to goes for the low entry fee/low prize support approach. I'll be happy if they use this for the pre-release as well. The store is also usually more oriented towards Yu-Gi-Oh and World of Warcraft so it will be interesting to see how they handle back-to-back Magic release tournaments.
with so many people the potential for trading just doesnt compare to a tiny local store event.
Still, it does seem to make the "launch parties" completely redundant.
I have spoken with my "local" shop owner about getting into doing PRs, but this isn't what I had in mind; I was hoping that he would be able to rent out a hall and do a big event, not run another "small" event in his cardshop.
They took away the States/Champs and now thisl
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Not really. The one that Skyfox holds is pretty decent. The Primrose Hotel on Carlton across from the old Maple Leaf Gardens is a good venue. Since I come in from Pickering, driving there isn't so bad as the 401/DVP aren't as clogged as they would be on ar egular morning.
Mind you it's much better than the ones they held at the Agincourt Community Centre. That place was just...blah :xd: I mean, they had a pool there. I was so tempted to go take a dip during rounds, that's how bad it was. Fully clothed too.
This will definitely shock and hurt those venues who more or less rely on these prereleases to generate after-tournament sales.
These events don't necessary hurt TOs financially; the fees they charge for participation more than makes up for the supposed "loss" they incur during these events.
Then again, I'm going by what Skyfox does. They always inflate their prices so it c omes as no surprise if it does, in fact, hurt sales. $10 for a Rishadan Pawnshop. Hah.
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Large prereleases and events like States were the only things keeping me buying new product. Standard is already way too expensive now, and despite the introduction of smaller sets with Shards, the prices of deck staples will only go down marginally. And God help everyone if one of those staples accidentally ends up being a mystic.
I'm going to sell off all of my Standard stuff, build a Legacy deck, and say my farewell to the game at GenCon. Not good news to get on my birthday, but I just turned 30 today, so maybe it's a sign that it's time to move on.
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http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/20080618
Personally, this really doesn't make any sense to me. I can see organizing the worldwide events, and I can agree with that, but changing the dates? Really not a lot of purpose there, in my eyes.
The disadvantage to those who go to the pre releases is that you have less time to make back the money you spent at the release. I don't like that, but as long as they keep putting the full spoiler out 2 weeks before the cards are released, I'm okay with it. Otherwise it's gonna be a mad frenzy the week before trying to figure out what to play the next week when a set that just got released is legal for play. Am I overreacting?
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The local card shop here only has 1 tournament on any given day whereas pasttimes can support multiple flights all day and if you want to drop because you're doing badly, you just start a new one. I usually spend $80+ on PRs and only $15 on releases.
Based on what they say there as well as if you follow the link in that article to the Wizards Play Network (WPN) level requirements, it also seems like Prereleases will not longer be held at a central location for each area but instead will be run at & by local stores much like the regular Release Events.
I am HUGE fan of this - I found traveling 2 hours to spend $30 on a Prerelease Flight prohibitively expensive. Knowing I can go 30 minutes to my LGS for a Prerelease means I will attend every single one.
Also, some people with DCI numbers only attend Prereleases. This draws those people into their LGS to play, which they might otherwise never do.
Make back money you spent? I really don't think Wizards is (or should be) worried about pandering to card speculators who try to go to the prerelease as some kind of moneymaking enterprise.
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This is one of the reasons retailers would complain about prereleases. People would spend a lot of their money at the prerelease and get a bunch of cards they need/want. Then when the release comes around, people are less inclined to buy more because they have a lot of what they need.
Chas Hinkle
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Number of members banned after I posted a BTR: 7
Looking for honest buyers, sellers, and traders.
I have a feeling unless this particular aspect goes over huge that there's going to be issues.
I like the big prereleases. Unless this "Gateway" program allows for a LOT more grassroots play, they're shreding thier offerings for little gain.
Given that it has to be open to the public, I think they lost a bit of the favor they would have gotten from some people by allowing thier weekend playgroups with friends to be included in an incentivised program.
I'm begining to see the sliver of people that are actally served by these changes shrink and shrink... and it's cutting from both ends... tournament players have already lost out pretty big, and this new program really does very, very little to serve the kitchen table gamer, it seems.
I live near Chicago. I have had to deal with Pastimes for years. They lie, cheat and just plain suck. I know for a fact many people write in complaints on them every prerelease. I was wondering why they were having there tournaments at really nice venues lately. Cause they are gonna lose them GREAT! I would rather goto my local store and support them, not some slimy TO who cant be bothered to take a credit card when they said they would. I have heard alot of stories about the people running Pastimes (dealers and judges) I hope this is the deathknell of them.
We should all support our local shops. They are the ones who got this game to its popularity. They deserve our patronage.
Courtesy is contagious. Go out and catch some.
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