Open House (OH) RTT Tournament

[Alpha 11]

So, who all is going to play?!? Got my ticket! Going to be RDF. Hopefully we'll have a more diverse playing field then at that first tournament. My goal, to have fun and not come in last place.

[Alpha 11]

So..., I heard like half of the tickets had been sold. So were is everyone?

[Alpha 11]

Ok, someone just said to me that people might be confused about what the OH means. It means Open House, and it means the Palladium Open House (OH) that is coming up this May.

[Stocktigon]

I will be there though I am trying to get my army finished before we have to be there. Still have pieces to put together and paint...wish me luck!

[Forar]

Ok, someone just said to me that people might be confused about what the OH means. It means Open House, and it means the Palladium Open House (OH) that is coming up this May.

I initially thought it meant Ohio until I clicked on the thread.

Might be simpler to change the thread title to make that clearer.

[Alpha 11]

I will be there though I am trying to get my army finished before we have to be there. Still have pieces to put together and paint...wish me luck!

Good luck! And I'm still painting myself!

Ok, someone just said to me that people might be confused about what the OH means. It means Open House, and it means the Palladium Open House (OH) that is coming up this May.

I initially thought it meant Ohio until I clicked on the thread.

Might be simpler to change the thread title to make that clearer.

Done.

[zyanitevp]

So doing the tournament means that you are giving up your entire Saturday, which is a big commitment.

[Veritas]

You say that like it's a bad thing!

[Forar]

Even doing things we love can wear on a person after 14 hours.

Back in my old WoW raiding days we discovered that longer days were less and less productive, as people's attention wandered, their focus waned, they had to hit the restroom, or do X, Y or Z other things.

While this isn't a direct apples to apples comparison, as I noted in another tournament thread, even playing cards in a competitive setting can be a test of endurance when it's 4 or 5 hours, let alone a literal entire day. Having 15 minutes between games to compile info and post new pairings will help a little, as will having presumably 2 longer (hour?) breaks for lunch and dinner, but I imagine some people will be fading fast by the time they get to their 5th or 6th game, if not earlier.

During the campaign we were told that a 300 point game between 2 experienced players should take about an hour. Going to 175% of that time on ~85% of the points (or roughly double the expected time to play by size (actually even more, as the lower game size can reduce possible interactions and rules to work with considerably more)) seems a bit excessive. At that point I'd lean more towards something like 200 points and 75 minute rounds, with a requirement to bring 2+ squads (as having single giant squads seems to be a concern at lower scale gameplay). Keep 15 minutes between matches 1&2, 3&4, and 5&6, have a longer 40 minute break between 2&3 and 4&5, and you end up with a 10 hour event that still has roughly half an hour padding to get people sorted out at the start/award prizes at the end, and can start at a more humane hour like 10am and still be wrapped up by 8pm.

People are still spending most of the day playing, but they also don't have to be up at like 7am or earlier to play in it.

Even 10 hours is probably pushing it for a single day event, but the goals and implementation seem to be at odds. The declaration is to have a more casual/laid back tournament, but casual/laid back/new folks also aren't generally the ones showing up at 8am to play for ~11 hours out of the day.

Note that these numbers are all used as examples, not what I consider the absolute ideal in terms of timing or game experience. Simply to note that by tightening the game time slightly and reducing the points total a bit, one might manage to create a more realistic time frame to play out the games, and thus improve everyone's experience. Nobody is going to be happy if they walk away from later games realizing that simple mistakes cost them, and after 8-10+ hours, mistakes are going to be made.

With tickets already being sold I imagine this is all academic, but I think it's valuable to consider for future events.

I don't think a 14 hour tournament would fly well at Gencon, for example, and while one would likely consider Gencon attendees more likely to be closer to that 300 point / 1 hour kind of player, it's also only 3 months away.

Long story short, I suspect the kind of person willing to commit literally an entire day to play out 6 games are going to be the exception, not the rule, and to have broad appeal one needs to account for those common denominators.

[Alpha 11]

Live and learn. You could be right, it might be to much, if it is, they can always change things so it will be better next time. And for all we know, things might turn out just fine, too. We will see. And back on topic! So who is all playing and what army are you going to field?

[Stocktigon]

In regards to time, most of the miniature tournaments I play in are 12-14 hour events, especially at Gencon and other large conventions. What surprises me is the number if rounds as well as the number if people. 20 is a strange number though I need to go in and read the rules for this event.

@ Alpha: Hopefully RDF, need to finish painting. Must...try...harder.

[Forar]

In regards to time, most of the miniature tournaments I play in are 12-14 hour events, especially at Gencon and other large conventions.

Oh, which events at Gencon are 12-14 hours? As my group and I plan to attend Gencon this year for the first time, I'm sincerely curious.

I've been looking through the 2014 listing and the longest I've found has been the X-Wing finals at 9 hours.

To be clear, I'm talking in a single day. 10-14+ hours across 2 or more days absolutely happens when combining qualifying flights and finals.

But I've yet to find one that's quite so long across a single day.

[Alpha 11]

In regards to time, most of the miniature tournaments I play in are 12-14 hour events, especially at Gencon and other large conventions. What surprises me is the number if rounds as well as the number if people. 20 is a strange number though I need to go in and read the rules for this event.

@ Alpha: Hopefully RDF, need to finish painting. Must...try...harder.

You can do it!

[Stocktigon]

Most Warmachine, Hordes, Warhammer, Warhammer 40k will say one time, then they will go longer. I remember two years ago at Adepticon I played in a team tournament for Warmachine and my partner and I were up at 8am for registration and we finished at 11:22pm. No breaks other than when you finish your game. I always pack a pair of khakis or a jacket with pockets to stuff granola bars and drinks, etc. Best way to deal with mental fatigue is to stay hydrated and fed.

Also, many events base their length on rounds based on number of players. Example 8 players is usually 3 rounds. 16 is usually 4. 32 is 5. It's based on records of who can they get to the top 2 w/o losing.

[Alpha 11]

Who all is bringing Zentradie?