So I started writing this post before MNF. I'm not deleting it even though tons of people have said things I completely agree with since.
Thanks for that. Time to hit post...
It's not hate, Brandon. It's not "us vs. them."
We host tournaments more often in Plainville because:
1) There is clear demand for them.
2) The community asks for them regularly.
3) The staff here are the people responsible for every aspect of organizing and executing 40k events for Battleground (outside of terrain transportation).
4) The community here doesn't mind a competitive event environment.
The Abington 40k crowd is awesome. I know many of them pretty well. At least we can all agree that they're very different. Events WILL happen in Abington, which has been said. Sometimes it takes hearing from the community, even if it comes across as lashing out, to let us know it's time to give them an event that they want.
Here's the current dilemma:
I am going to run a 1250pt "Power Armor" event in October in addition to the Plainville Doubles. I was planning to host it in Plainville on the 19th.
Now, we've got 4-5 "unhappy" Abington people. So with little thought the solution seems simple... Run it in Abington on the 19th instead. Except that there's a Magic event for charity scheduled on the 19th (for lots of different reasons).
Aside: It makes little sense to me that someone in Abington might see the event, think "This is awesome!" and then not play only because it's in Plainville."So do it on another weekend in October!"Well... Plainville has an event on October 5th, and Plainville will have an event on Nov 2nd also. Putting an event in Abington on the off weeks has us running back to back. Running 40k events on back to back weekends isn't something I'm interested in until the staff and terrain situation is at a point where it doesn't tax either location's schedule too much.
"So do this event in Abington on Nov 2nd instead."This isn't an optimal choice. The reasons why might take too long to get into.
"So run it on a Sunday."Is this an option? Is Sunday better? Is a tournament something you ACTUALLY want, or is this all belly-aching for any event instead of something specific? Will someone from that community check lists so I don't have to have Sam do it? Am I better off setting it up for Abington than I am Plainville?
I was recently sent an email that I feel is best addressed publicly. It's a list of comments and questions which I'll take one by one.
1. a small tournament in Abington that had 10 players show up from the local community is considered a failure by [Chase], but a success by the regulars.
--- This should highlight part of the problem, I don't think anyone in Abington is requesting huge events to draw from across the neighboring area, they just want an excuse to get down and have fun.
I don't consider it a failure, but if I said I wasn't disappointed in the Abington attendance I'd be lying.
For a long time Abington people asked for this specific event. We brought it there. Half the people that went were Plainville regulars, some were tournament regulars, and 40% of the people were from the community the event was held for.
I think this person is exactly right about this highlighting the problem. No one in Abington is requesting huge events that draw from the neighboring area. In fact, points later further down this list suggest that they're interested in specifically the opposite. So I'll ask...
Why on earth would I spend time, effort, energy, and money (to pay employees, if nothing else) on promoting and advertising some sort of exclusive event targeted to only people that frequent one location? Why wouldn't I allow and encourage ANYONE who's willing to play to show up, roll dice, meet some new people, and have some fun? Is it okay with the Abington guys to have a few Plainville people show up? What about some of the more competitive tournament regulars?
If it's all about getting down and having fun, tournaments are not the answer. If tournaments aren't the answer, are the complaints about tournament frequency moot?
2. A lot of that community really does not enjoy playing in Plainville, that's coming over as excuses and travel issues etc. but the reality is the fun factor is a different, or at least perceived as being that way. Right or wrong its a perception and that is everything which means people are not going to go to Plainville.
This is a shame. It's my opinion that a lot of the Abington community hasn't been to Plainville either:
1) More than once, or..
2) In over a year.
The one guy that has played in a 40k event in Plainville this year has specifically said that he doesn't like having to travel here early in the morning. I get it. It's a shame, but I get it.
I think saying that they don't enjoy playing in Plainville translates into "They don't enjoy playing tournaments in Plainvillle." I'm not sure people outside of Brad, Mike M, and Jeff have played a non-tournament here game here in Plainville... umm... ever? It might be an over statement, but it's not far from being accurate if it isn't already.
If Brad, Mike M, and Jeff are the people representing the Plainville community up in Abington, I am 100000% comfortable with that. They're all amazing and I can't imagine anyone having a less than enjoyable game against any of them. In fact, BRAD was the only person who emailed me after I asked if anyone there would be comfortable hosting / running any smaller events!
Anyhow, all of that is pointless. People think the fun factor is different. That perception, right or wrong (like the person asking these questions said), means people from there aren't going to come to events here. It seems strange to me, especially when it's based on the vocal opinions of VERY few, who's last experiences were probably a year ago, but it is what it is.
I'd encourage anyone who thinks it's less fun to play in Plainville to come down on a Thursday night. I am reasonably sure that they'll be able to find any sort of game they're looking for. We've got new people, veterans, tournament guys, and non-tournament guys that show up every week. The culture here does promote playing by the rules though. This isn't any sort of jab, but I know some people dislike when they're corrected and view it as "rules lawyering" which may leave a bad taste.
3. Being told you MUST go to Plainville events to get one in Abington; seriously? Why have two stores? This also feeds into point 2 above..
I feel like I've addressed this one a couple times in this thread so far. I feel like people who are interested in 40k tournaments are typically willing to travel 35-45 minutes to attend one. The events go up on these boards roughly a month in advance, they go up on Facebook, a Facebook event is created specifically inviting everyone I can think of that might be interested, a newsletter gets sent out promoting them, and a results post gets made after each event.
Point: People know about them, they run often, and almost no one from the Abington community comes out for them. This sends a VERY clear message to me. That message is: "We do not enjoy competitive 40k events (tournaments)."
Do you have to come to Plainville tournaments to get events in Abington? No. Events will be run in Abington, but it will be far less frequent (more on this below). If this is less about tournaments and more about events, can I please remind the Abington community that you are just wrapping up a ten week league there? That's a lot of 40k over the summer and into this fall.
I feel like I've said it a few times, but Abington WILL continue to get events periodically. We purposely did not want to schedule a tournament while the league was running.
About having two stores... Well there's obvious reasons I won't touch on. Really, it allows us twice the amount of Saturdays and Sundays with which to organize and plan events on. You know what it doesn't do? It doesn't give us twice the time to organize and plan events with. In fact, it greatly reduces the amount of time I (we) have to organize and plan events with at a given location because I (we) have to divide time between the two stores. Sam doesn't have twice the time to check lists with, Matt doesn't have twice the time to get terrain set with, build the packets with, etc. The Abington employees, for the most part, have an ENDLESS stream of shitty work they should be doing at all times. I don't envy them and don't expect any more from them.
So, given that, Keith's post is right on the money. It makes poor sense to shift events away from where they're consistent and successful. Limited time allows for limited events. When there is extra time, there might be extra events (based on other scheduling stuff). I would expect to see more than normal in October and November. Each month presents difficult things to schedule around, but I should be able to get them done. (You know, when I'm not spending time defending and justifying myself to the people I'm trying to provide a fun environment for.
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4. Expectations were set by Staff about more numerous events at Abington, can you blame people for wanting to play in their shiny new store?
Absolutely not! I don't blame them at all. We ran 2 events there in the first 4ish months it was open (on either ends of PAX). They were both well attended, as is to be expected. It probably is worth mentioning again that the first two events in the new location were not (in my opinion) heavily attended by Abington regulars. This, plus the whole Abington people going to Plainville thing leads me to believe that tournaments aren't in demand. If tournaments were in some sort of huge demand, doesn't it stand to reason that a bunch of Abington guys would have come out for the first couple 40k events in their new, shiny, awesome home base?
I'm just trying to be logical about all of this. I'm not interested in shorting anyone or neglecting any given community.
Now, I will concede that there should have been (and should be) more non-competitive events there and in general. Sadly, they take time and feedback to develop. Two and in the works currently.
5. Terrain, if we need to wait until we've more tables built and terrain built then that's understood and will happen, just don't get all butt hurt when the Abington players point out that a lot of terrain from their store is now in Plainville...
I'm used to Abington guys talking about the terrain situation, even if I couldn't disagree with them more.
Currently Abington has more tables than Plainville and better terrain than Plainville. Plainville happens to have more terrain than Abington for one very obvious reason: We host more events.
Throwing together 6 awesome tables in Abington is very doable. Throwing together 17+ tables there without making a trip to Plainville and back isn't realistic. This is an issue that plays into deciding where events happen. I've covered it in this thread already.
Really, if Abington wants smaller, casual, non-competitive events, I think it's best if the community comes together to design, organize and execute them.
