What about in the case of CA players or others with similar situations, where there are two regionals that they can ideally go to; can they go to the SoCal stop in November and then go to the NorCal stop in April, or is there some sort of restriction? I wouldn't think so, but I've never played the TCG so maybe it's different.
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Regionals to be in November and April!
- Thread starter GreySong
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it would be pretty cool if they did break it up and gave closer places chances to play
like perhaps somewhere in Massachusetts for the northern east people
more places in the south and west.
who knows. and if they did do this, then the rules would be out by this coming up month, so i do think it may not happen, too short of a notice.
perhaps the regional tournament for the 2013 worlds,
idk
like perhaps somewhere in Massachusetts for the northern east people
more places in the south and west.
who knows. and if they did do this, then the rules would be out by this coming up month, so i do think it may not happen, too short of a notice.
perhaps the regional tournament for the 2013 worlds,
idk
This would be awful. It'd be better like this(taking 2011 stops):
In November players would play in DC.
Then in April players who couldn't make DC or jus couldn't make t16, get a chance in Newark, NJ
Seeing how these two stops are pretty close.
I'm kind of getting the feeling that this will only happen in the US, since Europe doesn't have Regionals (although we have City Championships and a few bigger TCG Championships). Maybe it'd be a trial run this year in America to see how it works, but I really hope something similar happens in the UK since we'd have to rely on a single National again.. Which is still Single Elimination.
If we can start to earn invitations at City/Regional tournaments that'd be amazing, then every National tournament could be swiss and best-of-three. Here's to hoping.
If we can start to earn invitations at City/Regional tournaments that'd be amazing, then every National tournament could be swiss and best-of-three. Here's to hoping.
I agree strongly with the idea of more than 1 single elim nat in The UK.
No, another national is stupid. Then you'd get double the players. It could be possible that they'll have some regionals in the UK, possibly following the trail left by the 1-UP events, but on the other hand, not all of the UK events were as visited as the UK. For example, Italy. In some of these places, if we were to hold regionals, there wouldn't even be an attendence! That's why, more likely then not, they either just do it for the US (also do you know what'd be nice? top 16 invites for nationals! Not the new regionals of course.) or they do numerous European "regionals" depending on population areas, then hold a large European event that would be similar to Nationals. With more payed flights of course. Since they don't have to pay for regionals this way, they may be able to do it.
But then again, this is definetly all speculation. Anyone know what the Card Game does for Europeans? They'll probably do that.
But then again, this is definetly all speculation. Anyone know what the Card Game does for Europeans? They'll probably do that.
Probably. All I'm saying is to stop complaining about regionals that you can go to Worlds with. Honestlly, no one complained that there weren't enough european regionals, so there won't be any more. If anything, they'll probably just bump up the full paid trips to Top4 for europe, maybe then you'd all stop complaining about it so much.
andrea
/me cresselias
I think the reason they don't do Nationals in Europe is because that may destroy the chance for a variety of countries to play at Worlds. The whole point of the worlds competition is to bring people from a variety of places, and a European Nationals might just bring only one country to the top.
Problems I see:
-Where would this event be held? You've got to pick one country and all other competitors have to travel there. Some of the regional qualifying UK players can't make it; there goes UK representation at Worlds.
-What about prizes? I think Europe got 10 paid trips this past season... having a Nationals would cut that down to 4, and then you would also have the problem of not enough country representation again because fewer people can actually afford it.
I'm all for bumping up your paid trips over giving a Nationals. I see that as a step back because it limits your player base, so to speak. Let's just all hope they stop single elimination tourneys; I think that would help out the most for a shot at Worlds.
I think people are misunderstanding what I'm saying here.
The UK (and all of Europe) don't get 'Regionals', these are not Regional tournaments, they are currently a single 'National' tournament in each European location. National, like the US National but Single Elimination instead of swiss & best-of-three games.
What I am proposing is that even in Europe, the current TCG City/Region Championships have a VGC tournament day as well, where the top placers earn an invite into their respective European National tournament. This is what will happen in America with the Regional tournaments (unless these proposed Video Game challenges have nothing to do with qualification, which is entirely possible still), and already does happen as you're all aware.
All that would change, is that the way people get into Nationals in Europe would be through an invite, like in America. Meaning the tournament isn't as largely populated, but it wouldn't be single elimination for everyone in that respective country any more. There could and probably would still be a Last Chance Qualifier tournament at Nationals, but all National tournaments would become the same format.
I'm not talking about a European National, I'm still expecting Nationals to take place in the UK, Spain, Germany, France, and Italy. Just that each individual country would get a small amount of Regional tournaments first in order to qualify. In essence, the same as America instead of relying on one Single Elim tournament to get to Worlds, where one loss means your year is over unless you can travel across Europe or get straight to Hawaii...
However, I am currently under the impression that this could be USA only for this year to see how it works, while Europe would just get tournaments during May/June/July again and have to rely on a single National where one loss is you done. I just hope it effects every country.
The one downside is that it'd be more difficult for European players to venture to other European locations as they'd most likely have to rely on getting through a LCQ to get into the actual Nationals (unless they can make it to Regionals as well). But I think this would be a small price to pay as the actual National tournament would be more fair.
Simple.
The UK (and all of Europe) don't get 'Regionals', these are not Regional tournaments, they are currently a single 'National' tournament in each European location. National, like the US National but Single Elimination instead of swiss & best-of-three games.
What I am proposing is that even in Europe, the current TCG City/Region Championships have a VGC tournament day as well, where the top placers earn an invite into their respective European National tournament. This is what will happen in America with the Regional tournaments (unless these proposed Video Game challenges have nothing to do with qualification, which is entirely possible still), and already does happen as you're all aware.
All that would change, is that the way people get into Nationals in Europe would be through an invite, like in America. Meaning the tournament isn't as largely populated, but it wouldn't be single elimination for everyone in that respective country any more. There could and probably would still be a Last Chance Qualifier tournament at Nationals, but all National tournaments would become the same format.
I'm not talking about a European National, I'm still expecting Nationals to take place in the UK, Spain, Germany, France, and Italy. Just that each individual country would get a small amount of Regional tournaments first in order to qualify. In essence, the same as America instead of relying on one Single Elim tournament to get to Worlds, where one loss means your year is over unless you can travel across Europe or get straight to Hawaii...
However, I am currently under the impression that this could be USA only for this year to see how it works, while Europe would just get tournaments during May/June/July again and have to rely on a single National where one loss is you done. I just hope it effects every country.
The one downside is that it'd be more difficult for European players to venture to other European locations as they'd most likely have to rely on getting through a LCQ to get into the actual Nationals (unless they can make it to Regionals as well). But I think this would be a small price to pay as the actual National tournament would be more fair.
Simple.
I think Regionals happen in Canada and the US because of the size of the countries. Europe does not have TCG Regionals so I wouldn't hold my breath for VGC Regionals or any change in how the events are run.
Edit: Should probably add that TCG Nationals aren't invite-based. The Regional wins just give you byes and affect your point ranking from what I understand.
Edit: Should probably add that TCG Nationals aren't invite-based. The Regional wins just give you byes and affect your point ranking from what I understand.
I completely agree with what Havak has been saying on the matter of Europe (the UK in particular) but the problem with this is demonstrated by 1-Up Events as I think someone else previously mentioned. The UK is ridiculously small and can't support a lot of regionals. The number of sign ups for the 1-Up regional tournaments was so low that ALL the Northern tournaments were cancelled. There are unfortunately just not enough people in the country playing to support a number of regionals like the US. But a small number could work. I believe the UK TCG had 4 Regionals last season, Manchester, Nottingham, London and Bournemouth. Correct me if I'm wrong I'm doing this from memory and I'm not a TCG player.
It's just a question of if it would be possible to hold VGC regionals in locations like that. From what I remember the successful 1-Up regionals were Sheffield, Bristol, Birmingham and London which are roughly similar locations to the TCG.
The UK VGC Nationals in Birmingham have been growing in popularity with people being turned away from the latest 2 due to spaces filling up. So, it could be possible to hold small scale regionals in the UK but are smaller scale tournaments what we want? And as for travel expenses, they are notably less in the UK with getting somewhere like Birmingham for Nationals rarely costing over £100.
I think the thing to be done in Europe is to find a way of improving the lone 5 European Nationals just because Regionals would be too small (not to mention people such as myself would be able to make it to most for a particularly country barring them being on the same day) all across Europe and a European Championships ultimately defeats part of the point of Worlds.
It's just a question of if it would be possible to hold VGC regionals in locations like that. From what I remember the successful 1-Up regionals were Sheffield, Bristol, Birmingham and London which are roughly similar locations to the TCG.
The UK VGC Nationals in Birmingham have been growing in popularity with people being turned away from the latest 2 due to spaces filling up. So, it could be possible to hold small scale regionals in the UK but are smaller scale tournaments what we want? And as for travel expenses, they are notably less in the UK with getting somewhere like Birmingham for Nationals rarely costing over £100.
I think the thing to be done in Europe is to find a way of improving the lone 5 European Nationals just because Regionals would be too small (not to mention people such as myself would be able to make it to most for a particularly country barring them being on the same day) all across Europe and a European Championships ultimately defeats part of the point of Worlds.
Interesting, perhaps something lke this; 2 (nats in each country), spread out to either cover the two highest population zones? Eg london for thr south and manchester ish for the north? 2 nats would be good, as it would then means thatbthe USA shud be able to have double the number thru to worlds, essentialy making worlds a much bigger venue, and slighlty easier to make? I'm just brainstorming here.
The difference with 1-Up Events was that the entrance fee was £12.50 (probably more than $20 for you Americans), which people had to pay on top of their travel money. That's a lot of money to play Pokémon, and the official tournaments wouldn't charge entrance fees (although I'm sure a lot of VGC players would accept paying a small fee if it meant that TPCi could give out more paid invites, but that's for another discussion). I myself spent over £200 going to the official VGC, and the 1-Up tournaments, I don't think many players would be willing to stretch that far.
Regardless, I do understand that the UK (and most European countries) are generally too small to warrant multiple regional tournaments. However, I'm not talking eight or more like the USA, I'm thinking maybe four at the most. It'd just be better for most players if we could have a swiss + best-of-three National tournament in the UK. We obviously can't do this with 512+ players at once, but four or so regional tournaments with invites, and then a LCQ would suffice.
Hoyle is right about the TCG tournaments in the UK. The invite system doesn't have to work the same as TCG, but playing a VGC tournament at each TCG event is seemingly what could happen, so it's feasible to allow Nationals invites for the top placers, especially since the LCQ would be there anyway. If you want to wait until that, you're welcome to. It's exactly the same as the US but on a smaller scale.
I agree with Firestorm and Hoyle for the most part. However, while the regional tournaments may have a low-ish turnout, they'd still be fun and due to having a LCQ at wherever the main National tournament is, the turnout to that would still be relatively large.
I also wouldn't be expecting major prizes at regional tournaments if that was on anyone's mind. TCG tournaments I've been to just give out booster packs and medals for the most part. I'd be completely happy with small regional tournaments where all you get is your Nationals invite and a medal for 1st & 2nd. That seems completely fair and not overly costly.
I don't think two Nationals in each European country would work, or be fair on Japan or America. It'd be too hard to space them apart, and running them both on the same day would require more staff and only hinder the turnout of each one (not to mention defeating the purpose of giving people the chance at actually losing a game and still progressing, as they'd have to go to one or the other, not both).
Regardless, I do understand that the UK (and most European countries) are generally too small to warrant multiple regional tournaments. However, I'm not talking eight or more like the USA, I'm thinking maybe four at the most. It'd just be better for most players if we could have a swiss + best-of-three National tournament in the UK. We obviously can't do this with 512+ players at once, but four or so regional tournaments with invites, and then a LCQ would suffice.
Hoyle is right about the TCG tournaments in the UK. The invite system doesn't have to work the same as TCG, but playing a VGC tournament at each TCG event is seemingly what could happen, so it's feasible to allow Nationals invites for the top placers, especially since the LCQ would be there anyway. If you want to wait until that, you're welcome to. It's exactly the same as the US but on a smaller scale.
I agree with Firestorm and Hoyle for the most part. However, while the regional tournaments may have a low-ish turnout, they'd still be fun and due to having a LCQ at wherever the main National tournament is, the turnout to that would still be relatively large.
I also wouldn't be expecting major prizes at regional tournaments if that was on anyone's mind. TCG tournaments I've been to just give out booster packs and medals for the most part. I'd be completely happy with small regional tournaments where all you get is your Nationals invite and a medal for 1st & 2nd. That seems completely fair and not overly costly.
I don't think two Nationals in each European country would work, or be fair on Japan or America. It'd be too hard to space them apart, and running them both on the same day would require more staff and only hinder the turnout of each one (not to mention defeating the purpose of giving people the chance at actually losing a game and still progressing, as they'd have to go to one or the other, not both).
One big speculative change I enjoy the prospect of is a Surrey regionals for VGC. If they were to be held at the same locations twice (one regional in Nov., one in Apr.) then there's nothing to complain about. That being said, it would make me wonder what would happen to states like Seattle who had a VGC regionals, but I don't think a TCG regionals.
I have no clue how the TCG regionals work (though I plan on getting involved in em this year!), but I like the prospects for VGC.
I have no clue how the TCG regionals work (though I plan on getting involved in em this year!), but I like the prospects for VGC.
I assume that regionals would be somewhat like what happened with the Spanish Championship in 2009, with one weekend having four regionals (Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and A Coruna) and the top two of each regional having invites to the national in Madrid a week later. Of course, if this is the model implemented, this would imply that the regionals wouldn't be too fancy (no TVs, small corner to play, etc.) in order to cut costs, and with all regionals happening at once, the staff that actually knows something of the game would have to be split between all regionals, resulting in many of the staff in each regional not knowing about the rules (which could lead to the funny events that happened in the spanish regionals of 2009 :P ).
nuff said.
Oh no. The "should Europe get more paid invites or travel contributions" debate is going to rear its ugly head again. I'm kinda bored of this one guys, so it's simple.
Yes, lets get more people to worlds across the board to have a good time. Problem solved.
Yes, lets get more people to worlds across the board to have a good time. Problem solved.
OK guys let's stop discussing Europe. There has been no information posted at all about Europe and is all just your ideal VGC's. You Europeans are better off looking into your TCG format and determining what direction VGC in Europe is heading towards by that. In the US, we are pretty much already mirroring the TCG with a few minor differences but the majority of it is the same (same number of Worlds invites and paid trips, all finals are played at the same time with Masters, Seniors, and Juniors from left to right, and now the possibility of having multiple Regionals at the same time in the same location as the TCG Regionals). I would say expect Europe to get nerfed to whatever the hell you guys have as your TCG format, because that is TPCI's plan. If you UK players wanted to have a TCG like National Championship, have fun with your ONE paid trip. How's that for your ideal VGC?
I concur with my learned colleague above. We should just be content with the format we've got, and get on with it. Bigger countries like Australia, and some little place called Canada (anyone heard of it?) get diddly squat. I'm not discussing prize changes either.
Back on topic. I'd like to see the US get more regionals. The actual season starting earlier cuts the gap between VGC's nicely, and means we get more time to play with the rules officially released, rather than second guessing.
Back on topic. I'd like to see the US get more regionals. The actual season starting earlier cuts the gap between VGC's nicely, and means we get more time to play with the rules officially released, rather than second guessing.
I'm very interested to see how this plays out when future iterations of the game are released. You could have Fall Regionals operating under one game and then Spring Regionals, Nationals and Worlds under a completely different game / rule set. TCG already does that as new sets are released, but it would be a big change for VGC.
Just for the record, I'm not sure why you (and other people) instantly jump on the paid trip bandwagon when that's something I tried to avoid mentioning. What I've basically said is that I expect the US VGC Regionals to coincide with the TCG Regionals over the same weekend (which is what the current information from Pokébeach suggests). That would be in the only difference. If we're jumping into prizes/rewards, I'd expect them to be extremely similar to what everyone got this year. My idea of Europe was basically emulating this, the same thing that currently happens in America - Regionals as well as a National, with similar prize support as previous years. Just because VGC is becoming more like TCG in regards to tournament frequency does not mean the prize support will be exactly the same for both (as they never have been).
I don't understand why people are rambling on about this.
Regardless, yes. I do think this is more likely to effect America only. But I'm hoping that we get a few regional tournaments in the UK, I'd like to have the chance to play in more than one a year as I'd be willing to travel for them.
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