Announcing the 2012 Northeast Vintage Series! Time to play in NY and NJ!

[Prospero]

I'm a bit curious what sort of player count you expect for your Invitational event.  I'm assuming you ran some math on it to come up with the numbers you decided on; are you looking at 16? 32? 64+?

We're shooting for 40ish. 

If the standards are too high by the end of the year, and not very many people have qualified, then changes may be made to lower the bar.

[Iron_Chef]

2012 NEV Series Player’s Club Levels

Level 1 (6 pts): Play with free proxies
Level 2 (12 pts): $5 in Store credit at each NEV Series Event (better then free sleeves, right?)
Level 3 (24 pts): Invite to the 2012 NEV Championship
Level 4 (36 pts): Round 1 Bye at the 2012 NEV Championship
Level 5 (48 pts): Round 1 & 2 Bye at the 2012 NEV Championship
Level 6 (64 pts): Free Entry into every remaining NEV Event in 2012!

After listening to the many people that talked about the NEV events, and especially about how hard it was to qualify for the final tournament, I took a closer look.  It's hard; way too hard.  I've reformed the Player's Club Levels to it's current (and hopefully final) form.  If you may have noticed, there is no longer a way to receive a Round 1 Bye at NEV events.  I realized how strong that is, and in addition, how many players would be receiving it, especially towards the end of the year.  I wouldn't want to run a tournament where dozens of players would be receiving a Round 1 Bye.  The fact that it's easier to earn byes at the Invitational shouldn't be lost on people.  Players that achieve Level 5 are basically guaranteed to Top 8 the Invitational, worth at LEAST an Unlimited Mox.  That's what Level 5 is worth.

Remember, players are able to qualify for Level 1 and 2 without EVER WINNING A GAME.  That's right, if you showed up and played in every event, got mana screwed, had to mulligan, had to drop and go home for whatever reason, YOU CAN STILL REACH LEVEL 2!

I hope this makes everyone out there who is looking forward to Vintage in 2012 WANT TO PLAY THAT MUCH MORE!

-Nick

[forcethewill]

Wish I played magic in the north east...

[quicksilvervii]

Nick,

That wasn't my point at all. My point simply was to point that it is possible to not qualify for the end of year tournament despite going to every event. A massive cold streak or a more likely scenario of always being just outside the Top 8 and play in say almost all of the 19 events, would not qualify you for this big event. That was my only point to be made, not to diminish anything that both you and Nick Detwiler have put together. I'm actually excited for for the formation of this series and look forward to playing in as many events as I can. However, just simply knowing my luck lately in Vintage and doing the math, I can see a reasonable scenario in which someone could play in 17 of 19 events, never make the Top 8, and then not qualify for the end of year tournament. It is not finding fault at all, it is stating a simple fact.

Not to be a dick, but if you don't win a single game at a single one of the 19 tournaments what does it matter if you make the final tournament, you likely won't win a game there either.  Also, I think it makes sense that simply playing in every event doesn't grant you an invite to the "tournament of champions" esque event.  

I mean at the end of the day it is an Invitational...I don't really understand the whole " I played everyone of your tournaments but I am not qualified for your Invitational.." argument...Basically your just trying to buy an invite, what this tournament series is trying to foster is an improving (In terms of player ability) and increasing Vintage crowd for the Northeast. Anyone who feels they should be able to buy an invite or be entitled to one based off playing all the events is missing the point of the series I feel....

I agree with this completely, but I don't let it bother me for a couple of reasons.
The people who are zilching out at EVERY event won't last very long, so it's not like they're going to be a threat to the really competent players.  Maybe they shouldn't get an invite to the final showdown, but if this increases participation at any of the previous events, I feel like it's a win for the entire community.  I just want more people to play.  Who cares if they suck - we all started somewhere.  They'll weed themselves out in the end and the cream will rise to the top.

EDIT:

Remember, more people playing not only keeps Vintage alive, but it directly affects you NOW as it is likely to increase prize support.

[forests failed you]

Have you considered selling invites to the invitational championship?

I know for a fact that I would love to play in a Power Nine tournament against elite players, but because I live in Michigan it would be impossible for me to travel to New York enough times to generate enough points to qualify. 

That being said, I would strongly consider driving to New York to play in a large scale event once a year.  Even if you charged $100.00 entry or more I would still consider making the trip and paying the entry just for the experience of getting to play high level Vintage for a big prize, which doesn't exist in the Midwest. 

[LordHomerCat]

I think Mike (quicksilver) makes an interesting point; what if you made the threshold for the end-of-year tournament rather low, to make it more like a reward for attending events (therefore, directly rewarding player retention) rather than a reward for winning them?  If I win your events, I'm already getting a reward.  If I am a newer player, and I scrub out a couple times, and get beat up, I'm not gonna be super excited to go back when I know this whole year is building to an event I can't play in.

If, however, you changed the threshold so that someone who attended every event and lost was able to qualify for the last event... why wouldn't I attend?  All I have to do is get enough points to qualify, and then just get lucky one time and I can win a mox or better.  I show up to other events and get better at the game and don't have this huge pressure to make multiple top 8's in order to keep relevant, and I can sorta build up to the invite event knowing that, if I attend every month, I will be able to play there and maybe all these weeks of work will really pay off.  I mean, one mox is like 15 entry fees or something?  All I have to do is keep showing up, and if I make that one top 8, I am paid up for the year!  That's awesome!

I think that approach would be awesome for the goal of getting people to come to a lot of events.  You don't even really have to scale up prizes, since it's a free final event and player count doesn't really matter.  You can keep byes and stuff as rewards, too, so that Paul Mastriano is rewarded for winning half the events while someone who did really bad all year but kept showing up still gets to play, just not with two byes (sorta grand prix-like).

[Iron_Chef]

Before I talk about what I'm hoping the NEV Series will accomplish, let me share a few statistics with you.  As of the 9th BBGD of 2011, there were 137 unique players that had attended at least 1 Blue Bell Game Day.  137!  How many of those 137 players do you think attended half of the events, made the commitment to make it to every other event.  100?  50?  Nope, only 21 players played in at least 5 events.  There is a huge pool of people who I'd consider regulars, that I then realized only played in 1, 2, or 3 events this year.  Just imagine what type of tournaments we'd have as a community if HALF of the people that played in a Blue Bell Game Day showed up to play on an average day.  We'd be having 70 player events on a monthly basis!  

I feel that larger events really are a better thing for the community.  You get to play more rounds, you get to meet and hang out with more people, there's so many more opportunities opened up by having a larger event.  My main goal with the NEV Series is to provide incentive for players to PLAY MORE VINTAGE!  It's for that reason that I want the Invitational to not be cakewalk to qualify for.  You need to earn it, by playing the format we all love (tough road ahead, right?).  

At 24 points, I think it's reasonable to qualify for with a solid finish or two and consistent tournament attendance.  With 20 events available in 2012 (at this time) I think 24 points is a very reasonable level to reach for most players.  If you went to 10 tournaments, Top 8'ed 3, Top 16'ed 5, and 0-2 dropped 2 of them, you'd be very close to qualifying.  And that's only with average results, and only attending HALF of the events we're offering!  Get off your couch, trade shifts with someone at work, get the day off, and make the effort to come play Vintage!  You'll be glad you did.

[metalhead666]

Get off your couch, trade shifts with someone at work, get the day off, and make the effort to come play Vintage!

A lot easier said than done.

[Iron_Chef]

Get off your couch, trade shifts with someone at work, get the day off, and make the effort to come play Vintage!

A lot easier said than done.

I understand that it's tough; people are scheduled to work weekends, people have to study, people have family obligations, there are other things that are fun besides magic!  BUT it's my opinion that if you enjoy playing Vintage and enjoy the company of everyone in the Philadelphia area, then those other things can be shuffled around to make time to play.  I enjoy three hour road trips with 5 people, leaving at 8AM and getting back at 3AM 17 hours later.  I LOVE a long day spent away from the stresses and problems of life, spent with friends and playing a game I love.  I understand that it may not be your thing.  Hopefully it is, and Nick Detwiler and I will see you and many others playing at our events throughout 2012.

[Ravager Sam]

I have to ask, Nick Coss, why don't you do weekly vintage?

Doesn't even have to be for points (unless you want to give out some to top 2/4/8 based on attendance).

[Iron_Chef]

Basically I don't think enough people live close enough to make it feasible.

[Madpeep]

I just want to say, "well done TO's".  I account for atleast 4 of the people who showed up to only a handful of events last year.  Living in CT, but having no Eternal scene whatsoever anymore (barring 4-6 days out of the entire year for a Straterbury), we have to drive 4-8 hours to any event, roundtrip.  That gives us a ton of options, but unfortunately that also gives us.....a ton of options.  Last year my car was coerced into going to more and more Legacy events.  Every single time I brought up a Vintage event, I was met with lukewarn or even all-out hostile reactions.  I could spend an entire day talking about the reasons why, but it doesn't matter as far as this post is concerned, all that matters is the result, which of course was  rare vintage appearances.  I've always considered myself a vintage player, but I've spent way too much time playing Legacy the last 2-3 years.  That will change this year. 

Coss, Det, Grimm (listed alphabetically), you will see my car at the MAJORITY of your events.  I'm finally putting my foot down and saying, "to hell with the people in the back seat who don't pay for gas, sleep the entire time while I drive them to events, then loan them money for which I never get paid back, just to hear them complain about how they lost and suck at magic, and then that they don't want to stop and eat on the way back because they don't have any money because they didn't win any prizes".  Wah, fucking, Wah.

Thanks for getting together and creating this series so that I can finally vent my frustrations and do what I really want to do, which is play vintage.

[Jblaze4lif]

I would like to start playing Vintage. How do I find out more about event schedule and card shops they are held at. I live on Long Island will travel around an hr to play.

[Iron_Chef]

Take a look at the Tournaments announced in this subforum that have NEV or Northeast Vintage in the post subject.  Brothers Grim hosts a TON of our Vintage events, and is located in Selden, NY

[mikekilljoy]

Take a look at the Tournaments announced in this subforum that have NEV or Northeast Vintage in the post subject.  Brothers Grim hosts a TON of our Vintage events, and is located in Selden, NY

They hold a ton of events, period.

Seriously, it's very player-friendly place for a ton of different games and formats.

[shrewarmies]

Out of Curiosity, what was the original prize structure which was amended?