Goatboy’s 40k Thoughts – Competitive Crap
Goatboy here again – I can’t go a day without seeing something about competitive this, victory points that, kill points suck, and whatever other thoughts “competitive” players want to talk about. I have some words about this…
I want to just say one thing real quick, if you go play at a tournament – you are a competitive player. You are using your time to play in a competition. No matter whatever rules and design the tournament might have – it is a competition. There will be a winner. There will be lots of not-winners. There will be a majority of “baby seals” at the event as well as a smaller group of seasoned “pros”.
So with those facts behind us – lets look at ways to make tournaments more fun. Now we might all be competitive but we all don’t find the same things fun. I know a few players that just love getting beaten up. I also know those players that if one dice roll goes bad feel their world is ended. So is there an actual hope to getting both sides at least somewhat happy? Sure – lets look at how to create a better environment.
1. Create better Scenarios/Missions/Game Types!
I have seen lots of ways to create a mission. Whether you go into a Primary/Secondary/Tertiary style game or a winner take all type there are a bunch of different options. What I think might work the best is a mixture of all of these. Creating a mission type that is both interesting, different, and fun is very hard to do over 5+ games that a lot of these tournaments do. I think the idea of a straight W/L system is neat, but I just don’t like how a lot of these have for all intents and purposes produced boring as hell missions. I think a little mix up and change up including different missions at a single event track will let this still be W/L set up, create one winner, and still make for neat stuff that isn’t just a random mix up of the exact same mission over and over.
2. Spread the Prize Love!
We all know this game is expensive. Winning something, even a blister pack, makes someone happier to have spent their weekend drinking, talking, and breathing these games. I’ve won and placed high in some events and enjoyed winning some things and think it would be neat if more people got something. The grab bags at these events help out a lot as well as the door prizes. I know going to an event is expensive and coming back with something to help balance the overall cost is a great way to keep people coming from all over. I know a lot of events are doing this and I feel this is something that will continue as events get larger and the overall loss incurred by providing extra prize support will get less as more and more people come to watch and play in the event.
3. Create More Spectacle for the Event!
When I won the overall at Adepticon last year I got a crazy huge steel Thunder Hammer. While a trophy is cool I think coming back with something rather ridiculous helps spread the word of the event. We all know that Ard Boyz started off awesome with the prizes at the end being cool FW items as well as some kind of nutty weapon replica. Adding these cool trophies and prizes will help make this event a lot more memorable. I also think the push from the Nova to show a webcam of the event is another awesome way to make it seem like something more then a bunch of guys throwing dice in a stuffy hotel ballroom. Create some interviews, have people talk about it, and try to push into the media more to create an event that is more then just a tournament – make it a fun time. We have some plans for Wargames Con and hopefully this will help make going to some of these bigger events a must do for any wargamer – whether competitively serious or just a plastic crack addict.
4. Add in More Than just the Event.
We all like to play but having more options to do other things can create some cool things that break from just throwing dice. Maybe have a BBQ dinner that people can go to afterwards. I am sure some places can be helpful with catering said event. What about hosting a movie or something after the games end for the night and have people hanging out and talking more? Maybe some game seminars or how to play settings to help new players? There are a lot of options that can be done with some of the veteran players. There are plenty of ways to give people more then just a tournament to hopefully keep them coming year after year.
I know these are simple things and just some thoughts I have had as I’ve read a ton of different blogs and other tournament thoughts this past few weeks. I haven’t had a bad time at any event yet. The great social aspects of all the events have more then made up any issues I might have had with whatever missions, restrictions, and nonsense I played against during said event.
