Food bank wrap-up

System Commander Sun Nov 30, 2008 12:14 pm

First of all, thanks to everyone who showed for the event on Saturday. In total, we had 8 players including Ben who came in from Prince Albert. For a small point tournament and 16 guys in the league alone, I was very dissapointed. We ended up having more prizes than players this time around including some pretty juicy ones.

I think some people had the wrong perception of the event, even though I tried to emphasize it many times. It was purely an event to have some fun while getting some items raised for the food bank. With no restriction on lists or composition scores, I was expecting people to show with some big awful lists.

Next year I'll be making a few changes. The Warmachine guys have been doing it for three years now, so have some of the bugs worked out. And while I had Don for advice, I missed this rule. Everytime you use a ticket to re-roll one dice, the price doubles. This makes getting that one perfect roll a bit tougher if you start running it up to 16 tickets instead of 5.

We ended raising about 500 items, which is quite respectable. However, it pales in comparison to the Warmachine guys who came up with 1500. Yes, one guy did bring in over 800 himself, but we still got smushed.. and they had less guys then us. I think some people were undrestimating the amount of tickets some people could and would purchase.

Thanks again for everyone who came. Of course with all tournaments and events, you'll get league points for everyone you played who's in the league. I think everyone who was there is except for Ben and Trevor. I have the game match-ups and wins so will update the points accordingly.

As well, any concerns/problems/questions/priase you had about the event, feel free to post it here.

System Commander

System Commander Tue Dec 02, 2008 1:31 pm

No one's got any opinions? I know for sure one person disliked the event and has already told me they won't play in it again, I'm sure other people have something to say about it whether good or bad.

I'm looking for a discussion to get going primarily because I was using this event as a primer for the big tournament. People are always encouraging me to run a big event, but I think you can understand my apprehension when we can't even get half the league members out for a small fun event for charity that was boasting excellent prizes.

I want to work towards moving a Saskatoon event into a premier event for the prairies. Scott Radom has the same idea, but I start to question things when the game is going very strong in the city, but we still can't get any numbers out. Yeah, 8 was ok but we had alotted for 12 and I was actually hoping to steal room from the Warmachine guys.

So, feedback would be great. Open discussion, just throw out your opinion. If you dont like tournaments, let me know. If you like tournaments, but dont like how I run them.. that's fine to.. let the problems known. Can't fix it if you don't know it's broken. If you liked it and think everything is fine, let me know that as well.

System Commander

Cjihad Tue Dec 02, 2008 4:04 pm

Hey. I had lots of fun at the tourney. I found that the games where both players had a lot of tickets were fun and really unpredictable. Unfortunately in games where one opponent has a lot more tickets than the other, they were not as much fun.
I'm glad that we were able to collect that amount of food. I think the biggest problem is that that no one really knew what to expect in regards to how many food items to bring. Hopefully next time we do this we will be able to greatly increase the amount of food given... and tickets used.

Matthew G Tue Dec 02, 2008 5:14 pm

Well I LOVE tournaments, and should this happen again i would play in it. I had plans for Saturday afternoon that kept me from playing in the event, but I still brought down my "entry fee" in food donations as a way of saying sorry I couldn't play in this one, and because it was for a good cause.

I would very much like to see more tournaments, and I think you do well running events (from the one I saw).

ScottRadom Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:19 pm

Saskatoon WILL have a good tourny. I am shopping for hall space for the last weekend in February with the likely candidate being the Nutana Legion. This is a tremendous leap of faith on my part as I will be bankrolling it myself and we'll see if the "Cart before the horse" pans out.

What was the complaint on the event?

Saskatoon involvement in tournies has been quite pathetic for some time now. Not to sound a downer but I feel Robyn's pain of putting effort into something that many have perhaps badgered you for only to have a low-mediocre turnout. Complaints I have heard, some of them quite valid.....

-Why should I pay money when I know I can't win? My only answer has been to try and provide more "Random" prizes for bad luck etc. but without entry fees it's tough!

-The same people always win! I assure you the fix is not in here in town. The same core group ends up winning because they have painted armies, play a good sportsmanly game and do well in army comp. No secret there. Paint your armies, play nice, and you can be a winner too.

-No good prizes! Story time.... Since I have been involved in the hobby NO tourny has been run without the organizer LOSING money. Even with the Den's generous prize support and a free facility every person I know who has put on an event has done so at a financial sacrifice.

So we go back to Robyn's question. What did you like about the event? What didn't you like? Why did you choose to participate and would you do so again? With real feedback we can make the Saskatoon GW community even stronger! But feedback MUST be made. Don't worry about hurting Robyn's feelings, he has a heart like a stone with brains to match (YES!) but please let's give him what he's after. Here's some of my comments.....

-Why not involve the fantasy guys in this? together we could have knocked war machine on it's ass and brought balance to the force!

-There was no way I was going to make it on a Saturday. Not ragging on the day or anything but maybe next time several people should get together on the previous sunday/weekend for a little painting or something. Paint days are great, and I know I am going to make a bigger effort to do more of this stuff down at the den. Maybe these kinds of activities might help boost enthusiasm.

Bottom line is this, is events aren't attended they won't happen. It's embarrasing for the organizer to put time effort and money into an event and have a turnout of 3 people-ish. So let's talk about what we want to see!

Robyn! I'd like to do some paitning days. I could crack out the DKK models and get something going.

Paz Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:56 pm

I enjoyed the tournament quite a bit. The randomness of the events, the quick games (750 pts is a lot of fun!) and the atmosphere was nice. I think that while some people may have felt put off by the lack of tickets they had, they had plenty of time to get more food items during the break (i had to get another 40 as my 20something ran out quick), and i managed to use 40 tickets in one game, only pulling out a minor victory!

Sundays are great for painting, and I am always available then if anyone needs painting tips or a good painting partner. I find its better to paint with friends, so you can talk about technique etc. Maybe some kind of painting club? If anyone is interested in a regular painting group, I am more than willing to take responsibility for planning such a group, as I know both Robyn and Scott are busy guys. If Anyone is interested in a weekly or even by-weekly gathering on a more organized and set schedule than 'paint days', pm me!

Spamus Eatus Tue Dec 02, 2008 11:57 pm

Well I can say I had an awesome time! If not only for being able to play some new people! I'm sorry, but I cannot remember who I played against, I'm terrible with names, but they were all fun, thanks guys!

BLATANT ADVERTISEMENT TIME! Come on down to PA this sunday for extreme gaming goodness! Someone must have wheels around there.

I'll say that I had no clue of the sheer volume of food that was gonna be there. I'll remember that for next time, though I have trouble giving that much ramen to people in good conciseness. How many tickets would a few huge bags of rice or pasta net me? I'm going to officially steal the ticket idea for a future event. I may just do a food-bank event for easter perhaps. The prize-donations is a good idea as well.

I guess one little thing I thought of is the outrageous lists that Robyn expected. For the most part, from what I've been noticing on various forums and my own experiences, the superhero HQ's and and one-trick-pony lists are going away, with basic troops being emphasized more. Also, it's just kinda hard to cram in the really juicy stuff at only 750. Perhaps 1000 points, and you might see some more scary things. I can say that if it was 1000, I would have plopped down a raider, just to be badass.

Veyure Wed Dec 03, 2008 12:32 am

The limited experience ive had with saskatoon tournies (only one in the very distant past) it was very good. I would have participated in this food bank challenge if i was not in need of the charity myself. I barely had food for my family let alone any for other needy people. Also, being a student with negative income it is necessary for me to work during every moment im not in class leaving a bit of time for my family (one reson why they often accompany me to 40k night on thursdays). I need a good notice to take the day off work and it needs to be a guaranteed date and time without it changing or being cancelled last second (like the mea battle, which caused me to lose a day of work for no reason which was about 100 dollars in tip plus a wage).

So in a tight little list some things to keep in mind:
-Advanced dates and times. No "arounds" or "sometime end of..."
-no cancelling events. makes people become nervous about making the plans.

the beginning of my coment wa just a sorry for not being at the last event which i wanted to do.
I hope i helped.

System Commander Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:49 am

Understandable on Greg's part, I'd be a little wary to if I had to book a day off of work and an event was just cancelled. Thanks for the up front answer, that's exactly what I was looking for.

As for the rest of people, no excuses allowed! The date was booked far, far in advance so plenty of time to make arrangements if you had wanted to come.

As for mega amounts of ramen noodles, I definitely want to implement a cap of some type. I dont think it's fair to unload that much on the food bank either. Like Ben said, rice, flour, etc. are all items that are needed more so then a pallet if ramen, so I'll probably have a cap of like 20 or 40 for next year.. just to help the mix of items a little bit.

The negative feedback I did receive was that the person did not like the event because he believed you could basically buy your win with lots of tickets. I wasn't sure what to think of the comment, since that was the whole underlying factor for the tournament. If you bring enough food, you'll get rewarded and if you don't, you'll pay the price. At the end of day it's about getting food items raised. So for this event, in my opinion, if you want to bring 1000 items, awesome on you. You probably will win all your games and you probably will win a prize and I really hope that person does because they deserved it with with the $50 or more they spent on groceries. The thing I was confused about when I got the comment was that this was all up front. By reading the rules, I dont think it would of been unreasonable to believe that some people could and would bring 100 items. So, the only reply I had back was that they were looking at the tournament with the wrong attitude... we want lots of tickets bought.. ! Mind you, he had only a couple of tickets for re-rolls and his opponent was overflowing at the time with extra ones. The person is a friend so that's probably why the dialogue was pretty open about it. I'm perfectly fine with the comment and am quite glad I got it.

From my end it just means I have to make sure everyone knows ahead of time some people might be bringing over 100 items. Just to keep things in perspective, Warmachine had 6 guys and raised 1600 items. Ryan Friesen alone had 860 tickets..,.. mind you, it was all ramen noodles.. but still. That means the other 6 guys brought in 800 items themselves.

Thanks for the comments so far. I want to keep the discussion rolling.

System Commander

kerr_matt80 Wed Dec 03, 2008 1:53 pm

im in the underestimated how many tickets people would buy boat as well...i would definitely be for putting a cap on the max tickets for next time

System Commander Wed Dec 03, 2008 2:24 pm

I'll definitely not put a cap on the max tickets... why would we want to limit how much people could donate?

I would potentially cap the amount of ramen noodles you could donate, but that would be it. Keep in mind.. we were trying to raise the most items we could. The prizes were all things donated to reward the people who were donating food items.

You have to really look at this as different from a regular tournament.

Spamus Eatus Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:33 pm

If people are going to bring large bags of rice, flour or pasta, there would need to be a system for deciding how many tickets one would get. Easiest would be 1 ticket per kilogram or pound of said product. I kg of rice can go a LONG way.

ScottRadom Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:53 pm

How about money? Food bank likes cash too! I think next time I'll make an effort to take part in this.

System Commander Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:12 pm

I gurantee that a kilo bag of rice would be worth more than one of two tickets. Even rice is expensive these days!

We had an offer of money at the tournie, but no way to account for it.. as in how many tickets it was worth. I had to force Ben to go and find some food, luckily though.. Lu's market sold ramen noodles to!

Spamus Eatus Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:33 pm

Not my proudest moment.

Cjihad Thu Dec 04, 2008 7:19 am

What is wrong with ramen noodles?

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