Thank you from the NVGA
Nori, before you past judgment there is a lot you don't know as I have explained a lot of this players like I.C.E, Something-Unique, out of country players, Eddypistons, etc, etc. They are much more educated on how the NVGA and all circumstances surrounding the event then you so that's why a lof of them can make comments on the event with full knowledge.
I have been running tournaments longer than those guys, or just as long. You PMed me your number and I'll be calling you later, cause I can't wait. However, talking on the phone is one thing, but you are NOT helping yourself by hiding and saying "these guys know more than you". That's your defense from having the venue 40 minutes away and not planning everything right?
Also, as far as Chingacook goes, everytime I go to NM, this guy helps run very organized good tournaments. I can vouche this guy knows what he's doing and defending nats IMO is a VERY uphill battle.
Jaxel: Take my opinion as you will, but I wouldn't go as far as to "distance ourselves" from the NVGA. I think one "chapter" royally fucked up, doesn't mean these guys are the v-games people. ICE/EP have consistently proved NVGA is pretty good in Dallas.
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I hate to see all the work by both 8wayrun and NVGA which was put toward the SC Nats tarnished. The event had some good points and had some bad points. As Ice said, let's keep it in perspective. We will be addressing the issues you raised as well about our lack in responding to your concerns as one of the event organizers/sponsors. It's very possible to use the experience as a stepping stone rather than stones to throw.
DFG as a person, I like a lot. Know the guys since SC2, so a lot of the decisions that were made again, blew my mind. As I mentioned, I will be calling him later because everybody in TX that has ever attended a tourney I ran have never complained to anything close to this extent. So let me wrap up in a nutshell what should have happened:
Problem: Venue 40 minutes away
Solution: Have it 20 minutes or less away (make it convenient for your local players to pick people up).
Problem: Not having it at a hotel
Solution: If a player who looked like the walking dead the next day (Suirad/Oofmatic) wanted to take a nap (like Cedric also mentioned), they should have been able to simply go upstairs. Or AT LEAST a hotel within walking distance/shuttle distance. I happened to have a massive discount at Residence Inn, and still spent 200$ because I stood until tuesday. The hotels around there were pretty expensive
Problem: Too many regionals
Solution: Less regionals, not so spread out. TX did not need 2 regionals a month and 2 weeks apart. I can't speak for Cali, but there were just too many. From the first regionals to last week was WAY too long of a time
Problem: Calling it "nationals"
Solution: Let's be honest, the minute we let canada/DR enter, it has not been nationals. Yet, people had a problem w/the french entering. Why? Call it internationals. It just sounds better, because what OTHER game has internationals as their main event? Sounds great to me, but I'm only 1 fish in a big pond so take a vote on that.
Problem: Plane tickets and communication
Solution: Buy the plane ticket immediately. Don't wait. People are skeptical to come if their plane ticket comes months and months later.
Problem: Qualifiers and letting anybody in
Solution: Don't. There are many people who just flat out "entered". So since so many people didn't come, you were damned if you do, damned if you don't. You would have had a small tourney w/out letting just anybody enter. However, letting everybody in was disrespectful to the people who traveled all around to qualify
Problem: Starting the tournament at 12:30pm while demanding we all get there at 10am
Solution: Having a major at 10am is just not a good idea if you can avoid it. You had people like Cedric only LANDING (this is not getting your bags, getting picked up, checking in, and THEN crashing out) at 12am the night before. After all this time, you have to realize this is a mental game and everybody needs time to sleep. Also, you told me yourself you had to redo the brackets because your comp froze. Why did you not save as you went? How can you let that happen?
Problem: Transportation
Solution: Before you purchased tickets, you should have got together w/the people who were going to pick them up. You had VERY little amount of people doing the driving, and there was no reason for that. You can't expect people to get a cab when it's 40 minutes away. Again, if the venue was close, cabs wouldn't have been an issue
Problem: DJ/Lights/Distractions
Solution: There was ZERO reason to have to pay for lights/DJ. We didn't need one, the MASSIVE majority did not enjoy the music. Loud shit talk on the mic and the crowd screaming for your blood is one thing, that's to be expected and it's enjoyable. But hearing techno while trying to concentrate makes a hard tournament even harder. I heard a rumor about how much you paid for lights, but I'd rather not post it if it's not true, so I'll call and ask and pray I heard wrong
Nobody likes complaints w/out solutions, so pick any of the above and have at it
