Prospero
Aequitas
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« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2011, 12:18:21 am » |
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To respond:
1. Starting Up
I ran power tournaments for about eight months, and while I had solid turnout, I didn't have spectacular turnout. There were a few things that contributed to this. I was maxing out on the number of guys that I could reasonably expect from the surrounding area (New Jersey and Pennsylvania.) I wasn't getting close to what I felt I should have been getting from the local community. There were two routes to take - I could either back down, lower my prize structure, and potentially lose the whole scene, or I could double up on my efforts and potentially lose money on the events. I had a few events with less than stellar turnout before I started to see a turnaround. In speaking with the local MtG players, I found that many more were interested in Vintage than I thought. Most of the guys that were interested just didn't feel like spending $25-$30 on a major event (re: power prize) was a good way to spend their money. They didn't feel like they were going to have a shot to beat the guys who were better than they were.
How do you fix that?
I think that the only real way to do it is to have something small and consistent in order to build a community before you build up to a bigger event. I run weekly events with $10 entry for duals (usually blue duals) with smaller prizes added depending upon the number of entrants. The weekly events never get more than 15 players, but the important thing is that it's almost never the same 15 players. We don't have a small crew of regulars, we have a rotating crew of guys who show up for the events.
Players feel like it's an acceptable expenditure to pick up Vintage staples because there is a scene for them to regularly use those staples.
Additionally, the smaller tournaments help those players who felt like they didn't have a shot. They try things out, learn the ropes and they eventually come to the bigger events. The smaller tournaments serve as feeder events for your bigger events. You create a community in bits and pieces, not in great strokes.
If you were going to run events, I'd suggest running smaller tournaments with prize support consisting of Vintage staples. Jace isn't a bad thing because it plays well in so many formats, but most of the new players I've gotten into the format like the idea of playing for dual lands, Mana Drains, etc. There is a nostalgia factor for some of the players, and there's an "oh, that's a cool prize" factor for others.
2. Judges
If you're confident in your ability to give most Vintage rulings, I'd suggest no judge for the 10-20 player events.
Paying a judge for a major event will usually run you somewhere in the $75-$100 range. That money is money that you need to be heading back into your prize support. You want your players to feel like most of their money is going back to support the event. It's not to say that you should be an altruist - far from it, I think that your time and effort is worth money and that you should be compensated. Still, players notice when the T/O is only giving 50-60% of his entry fees collected back as prize support. If the players feel like they're being cheated, they may not even tell you. They just won't show up the next time around. Put as much back into the prize support as you can, it's really, really, really important.
And when you're looking to hold a major event, and you expect 30+ players, think about a judge. Make sure that your guy knows his stuff (many judges are unfamiliar with Vintage interactions and will frequently be consulting the Oracle for text, etc.) I have a level 2 judge and he wasn't well versed in Vintage before I had him judge a few events for me. It's the nature of the beast.
Speaking of judges - there will be bad rulings. It just happens. The frequency with which it happens depends on your judge, but this all comes back to you. As a T/O, you're essentially a customer service representative. Talk to your players, don't bash your judge, but try and resolve any potentially contentious issues without them becoming a real problem.
If your players know you to be a decent, upstanding guy, they'll be willing to forgive the random things that go wrong. They'll keep coming to your events. Things will go wrong. Sometimes they'll be big things that go wrong. If you've done all the necessary preparation and things still go wrong, then fine. Make sure that you dot your i's and cross your t's. And when things do go wrong, know that the only thing that you can control is the aftermath, and your reaction.
3. Growing a Community
I think, as I said before, that the best way to grow a community is to start small.
Proxying up decks, and having extra decks to lend out, is a really important thing. It allows players who aren't actually invested in the format to get a taste of it and to experience it with nothing more than the cost of an entry fee paid. I have gotten more than a few guys into the format by lending out decks of mine, and watching as they went out and built their own.
You're going to have to go out to other events for other formats. Many of your prospective Vintage players got home from playing in FNM just a few hours ago. More of them will be drafting this weekend, and going to the pre-release. You can't be insular, you have to branch out. You'll know that you're successful the first time somebody that you brought into the format brings one or two friends of their own to one of your events. The guys that you got in will be bringing more and more guys in, until you start seeing faces you've never seen before.
4. Maintaining a Community
First up, you're going to lose players. The rate of attrition is going to vary, but guys are going to come in and out of the format and you can't change that. Accept it.
Having consistent events is a really good way to maintain the community. Guys who spent a few hundred dollars putting a deck together don't want to feel like their investment in Vintage staples was wasted.
Keep reaching out to the guys who play other formats. You can't let your pool of guys remain the same and become stagnant. Having one successful event guarantees nothing. I had 90 guys for the second iteration of the Grudge Match and if I don't keep pushing all the things I mentioned, I'm going to have awful turnout on 2/26 at my next major event. Just the way it is.
This post turned out longer than I'd expected, but I hope this helps.
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