Card Game DB
Sign In
Create Account
Welcome to Card Game DB
Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!
Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!
0
What are you STILL smoking?
Aug 20 2017 12:00 AM |
istaril
in Game of Thrones
FFG releases some truly great games with high quality components. But when it comes to product logisitics, public relations, and organized play - they have some real head scratchers.It wasn’t meant to be a series. It really wasn’t. But there was a first, then a sequel, then a third… Everyone says 4th time is the charm, right?
Another Gencon come and gone, and with it the North American Continental Thrones Championship. These FFG organized events are an opportunity for FFG Organized Play to take the reins and set an example for local community-run events. They have paid staff, the game designers on-site to handle rules questions, financial and infrastructure resources for prize support, and over 15 years experience organizing these things - so naturally, it went off without a hitch.
… I’m kidding, of course. And I’m not even going to go into prize support (arguably subjective), judge rulings (anyone can screw up), or any logistics forced upon FFG by hosting this at Gencon (fair enough).
I) Melee
I love melee. FFG doesn’t. So let’s start way back when Gencon was posted: Melee was originally advertised as a “1st edition†event. That was a mistake, corrected eventually (without announcement). Next up, it wasn’t made clear to anyone that Oberyn’s Revenge (CP5) would be legal for the event - a strict reading of the rules (products available upon release except for “premier†events) would say yes, provided you understood that the Melee Event was not premier. Which was made explicit… nowhere. The vast majority of people were caught off-guard be the announcement 2 minutes before the tournament. Players were repeatedly informed there wouldn’t be a top 16 (despite it being listed in the program) - although there was one in the end.
And we STILL don’t have melee tournament rules, so unless you’re one of the veterans who has attended FFG events before, you’re going in blind.
II) Joust structure
Since the Joust is the ‘main event’, and they clearly didn’t waste any resources on melee, every detail was planned out with meticulous detail.
… I’m just kidding.
FFG took the opportunity to use their ‘graduated cut’ system, one I truly think is superbly suited to conventions. You let a certain number of swiss rounds go by, then drop everyone who is mathematically eliminated from the cut out of the tournament, and continue with more swiss rounds with a smaller field until proceeding to a single-elimination cut. This gives players a nice milestone/goal, a sense of completion, a shorter tournament for the average attendee that has a lot of other convention activities to take their attention. It also facilitates the logistics, by making parts of the tournament smaller (freeing up space and resources for some of FFG’s many other games).
So how did they mess this up? In the words of Roger Rabbit, let me count the ways
- Mixed messages about prizes for the top 1/3rd vs making the graduated cut left many people who had earned a top 1/3rd prize not knowing they had, and failing to claim it. I’m not saying the prize should be a top 1/3rd prize - but get your messaging straight.
- A graduated cut that eliminated people who were not yet mathematically eliminated. After 5 rounds, they cut to anyone tied with the 32nd player (A 4-1) - which turned out to just mean 32 total players. After two more rounds of graduated cut, though, 6 5-2s made the Top 16.
- A horrible choice of graduated cut. With 172 players and 5 rounds, a 32+16 was going to end up as 32 players often, but if it didn't, it was going to end up with 16 of ~53 players making the graduated cut on SoS. You dodged a bullet there.
- A cut structure that ensures that SoS is still hugely important for making the cut. Despite recent efforts to make SoS less important, the tournament was designed in such a way that it’s actual outcome was very likely; 10 5-2s failed to make the cut based on SoS. While there are tools to prevent that entirely (see what Stahleck is doing), you can also just choose a number of rounds/cut that puts fewer people at the whims of SoS. For instance, a cut to top 8 OR an additional round of swiss would have resulted in only 2 people failing to make a cut based on SoS - not 10. And (here’s a nice kicker), if you’d chosen a Top 8, your choice of graduated cut would have been justifiable...
III) Top 16. Ish.
I won’t even bother with another “how this should have gone smoothly I’m just kidding†gag, because at this point, we’re all just sighing, “What now? What could they have ruined here, in a 16 person event?â€.Well, they turned it into a 15 person event, that’s what. And, by all accounts, it was almost fewer. The program listed a start time of 9:00, with a “show up at 8:30â€, but FFGOP changed this to an 8:30 start, “show up at 8:00â€. A former World Champion was DQd for arriving at 8:30. Other players were caught off-guard by the change too.
Look, I’m not saying circumstances can’t force a change in schedule. They shouldn’t, but **** happens. When **** happens, it is not too much to ask for you to go through the logistics of contacting a mere 16 people and informing them, explicitly, of the change in schedule.
Conclusion
Now if this were the persona of Istaril elsewhere, I’m sure he’d point out a number of things that were done right and/or better. But here you don’t get the benefit of fair and balanced - you get the question “What are you STILL smoking?â€I’m not sure what OP’s purpose is to the company. I can guess. I’m not sure what role hosting these big, prestigious events plays in OP’s strategy. I can guess; a presence at big conventions, a carrot to dangle in front of the competitive player that also keeps them engaged throughout the year (selling product and stabilizing local playgroups), and marketing the product in a big campaign centered around this pinnacle of play.
But every year, you do a little harm - and eventually, that harm outweighs the good. The image of the game is further tarnished by your sloppiness and lack of planning. Each “what are they smoking†article, the real Istaril takes a little step further from “they mean well, but..†to “they’re either incompetent or actively trying to sabotageâ€. Running big tournaments is difficult (but not *that* difficult). Mistakes will happen - and yes, FFG, we’re far more willing to forgive those gaffes when local organizers are volunteering to make a tournament experience for us - as we should be. I cringe (or just laugh?) at the idea of L5R selling itself on the strength of an organized play program, when FFGOP has time and time again proven they are not up to the task.
You want to know where to start, FFGOP? Communicate. If you have an odd tournament structure, explain what constraints and assumptions you were operating on. When you inevitably screw up, tell us what happened, why, and how it’s going to improve in the future. Show a willingness to engage with the community, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll mean something to it.
- Andre, JCWamma, Tomdidiot and 8 others like this
6 Comments
Honestly, if they had such a hard time thinking up a tournament structure they could have just, oh I don't know, asked the community for help? It's not like there's literally people who organize bigger events (eg. Stahleck, maybe even Flea Bottom) that can give advice based on first-hand experience. "Oh but that would make them look clueless and be bad for PR" - Well, you know what's worse for PR? DQing a World Champ.
Seriously FFG, if you're having a tough time, let us help - we'd love to. Or at least talk to us. The disappointment from your OP is already at an all-time high, what have you got to lose from trying a little community interaction? I swear, we're not all the trolls some of the FB discussions may suggest and, even if we were, again, you can't really go any further down at this point.
I'd also like to add a little personal note, without the persona inherent in these articles.
A year ago, FFG screwed up some Gencon stuff. But they had just brought on a new head of OP, promise of change was in the air. He came on to a podcast (The White Book) to discuss it, communication - the first thing that needs to be fixed - was discussed a great deal. Even being *on* a podcast was a step forward. I had hope there'd be change.
A year later, it's clear communication, at least, has not changed.
That's what is most disheartening.
...“they’re either incompetent or actively trying to sabotageâ€. The only explanation left with this many "mess ups". I firmly believe in the active sabotage, people actually communicate (key word) when they are incompetent; not keep you in the dark.
Have I imiagined it or have you written there was some problem with judges? Care to elaborate?
I heard of a bad ruling call, but I don't have the details. Even if I did, I wouldn't really hold it against FFG - a judge making a bad call in the moment 1) happens, and 2) doesn't illustrate wide-spread lack of planning/sloppiness.
I made a bad call. It was a stupid 1.0 call despite this very clearly being 2.0 and I didn't realize it until too late. That was me. I agree with istaril that it isn't a fault of FFG. We had 4 judges all of which had good qualifications and at least 3 of which have judged multiple Gencons before. You can criticize FFG for not having a judge program but even if they did, I'm confident that all the judges there would have passed it (except when my brain goes stupid for a minute).