Ok, this seems like the best place to post this, and you guys are the best people to ask. Recently, a friend of mine in another state (seriously, this isn't one of those stories where "my friend is actually me"
) went to his first DCI event in that state. In fact, it's the only place in his state that holds DCI tournaments. He had played with me in my home state a lot and was used to the high caliber of play here. So the event he went to was a 200 point SANCTIONED DCI Swiss-style event. He had made a decent Imperial squad and was ready to face some good competition. When he got there it seemed pretty laid back, and his first opponent was just a kid with a squad consisting of separatists and fringe. Other than that, the only somewhat odd thing was that the kid had never heard of gambit area and victory points. No biggie, some kids don't know about that.
Then the second match up. This was against the #2 in the state, someone with a very high ranking and in the top 50 in the world. My friend placed down his squad of Imperials and Fringe. His opponent then placed his down, consisting of Rebel, Republic, Vong, and Sith figures. My friend was confused and asked him about it, but the guy just said mixed faction was fine. Being the new guy, he didn't want to press the matter since it was his first time. Of course the guy beat him (again, no gambit) and even had some "suspect" rulings. So my friend at this point assumed this just wasn't a DCI event and he was just misinformed.
The final match-up was a similar mix of factions and this person actually argued with him over playing with gambit points. Again, no biggie, it's just a fun game.
After the match-up he asked the administrator. It was in fact a scheduled 200 point DCI event. Rather than press the matter, my friend was just content with his first tournament there, and gave me a call asking me about sanctioned DCI mixed faction events. Of course I told him there is no such thing (at least not to my knowledge). He got a little bummed at this point since he was hoping for some real DCI game-play, and not casual play where you get ranked. Not only that, but he said their understanding of the rules was horrendous, and there were times where he knew an obvious ruling but everyone disagreed with him (Boba Fett evading non-attacks for instance). He said he actually had a good time, but was concerned over their format, and felt slightly abused. I told him they are abusing himself as well as the given format.
So here's my question and problem. Is this even supposed to be going on? Should this place even be running DCI events with their own house rules? Should someone be notified? I don't want to get the place in trouble or anything; in my opinion any place that gets people together for gaming is obviously a terrific idea, and SWM even more so. But something about it really bothers me, especially when I'm so used to quality DCI events in my area.
Is it our responsibility to even address this, or should things be best left alone? I actually feel really bad for my friend. He says he had a good time, but he played a legal squad against illegal ones. He used erroneous rulings against himself just to fit in. And this place runs DCI tournaments like this EVERY WEEK. They have players in the top 50 of the country. Is this even allowed? Is this not allowed but is a common and often overlooked part of the game? Should my friend be concerned? Never mind us, should HE say something?
Please let me know guys. You guys are THE people to ask. I'm sure some of you veterans will have interesting opinions on this, and the opinions of the people on this forum I respect the most. Thanks in advance for your advice.