LOL @ Joelker41 'QFT"
How about "QFM" (Quoted for Misstatments)
shinja wrote:
@Boris
It costs me a plane ticket to fly to Gencon, just like it would cost you a plane ticket to fly to PAX.
It costs me a plane ticket to fly to Gencon, just like it would cost you a plane ticket to fly to PAX.
Okay, well you are personalizing it, and ignoring some facts that are inconvenient to your argument. First of all, GenCon was not always in Indianapolis. In fact, it was in Milauwakee, WI, for a very, very long time. And it had at least the size crowd that it has today. In fact, it has grown.
As for the plane ticket issue, what is better in terms of SWM? 20-25 people who have to fly to GenCon because its too far to drive, or 125 people who have to fly to Seattle? I'm sorry if this offends you, but if our roles were reversed and I lived out there and you lived where I live, I would say the most prestigious events should be at GenCon. It's where WotC holds all of the major events for its other games, and its where the biggest gathering of players from across the country can easily reach. The needs of the many and so forth. Does it suck if you're not in that driving distance? Well sure it does. But life isn't perfect.
That said, I have long advocated that other conventions be allowed and be supported in the opportunity to host SWM events, and I think WotC has embraced that by bringing Jim onto the team in a capacity that allows for official organization. Even PAX is going to benefit from that endeavor.
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I realize there is a bigger community in that part of the country. But what came first: SWM at Gencon, or most of the dedicated SWM community living within a day's drive of Gencon?
Well the answer is SWM at GenCon came before the dedicated community living within a day's drive. SWM debuted at GenCon 04.
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And regardless of the answer, how much have the two factors influenced each other?
I'm not really sure what your point is, but I'm inferring it has something to do with the idea that you think that because major SWM events started at GenCon that people flocked there under that expectation. Perhaps, but you are forgetting what I frequently point out: every other WotC-sponsored competitive game has its national championship at GenCon. So it's not just SWM trying to get some sort of special treatment. It's the basket in which the company has always put its eggs. But a lot of this is from an old argument of which the merits have already been proven, so I don't see the point in rehashing it any further.
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I think if WotC keeps holding major tournaments in other areas, it will encourage the player base to grow in other areas. Seattle-area SWM exploded right after PAX. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but maybe not.
I agree, and I can't see anywhere from any posts I or anyone else made that said major tournaments should ONLY occur at GenCon. The Championship should be held at the same location as all of WotC's other games. If someday they move everything they sponsor to DragonCon or Origins or even PAX, then that's fine. Isolating one game in terms of the biggest tournament of the year from the rest of the roster simply proved to be a mistake, and one that I don't think they will make again.
