Now, typically, a lot of tournaments do not offer “door prizes” as much more than a novelty prize of some type. However, in our tournaments the door prizes are legitimate awards. In GW tournaments you win back your entry fee, or in X-Wing, a whole ship.
After running tournaments over the past six months, we have received a lot of feedback. It has been a mixed bag a lot of the time. However, that just comes from players having different expectations. One thing that is ever present at our events is that the value of 1-3rd placing isn’t HUGE. Don’t get me wrong, first place is still a considerable prize. However, it isn’t 70% of the entry fee’s piled together. Now, the reality is that there are a large number of players who won’t have commission painted armies, or the latest meta-build. So why should they come to tournaments? Well, for the “soft” (as they have been referred to) prizes! Having random door prizes gives you decent chance of getting something (remember you can’t be eligible for the door prize if you have won another award). At our X-Wing tournament this resulted in you having a 1/10 chance of getting it. Which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s better than going home with nothing!
Aside from that, it really comes down to having a friendly environment. If you design your tournament to only focus on giving the competitive players the edge, then you will get the competitive crowd. If you design it to have “soft” prizes and scores, you will get the corresponding players. This isn’t to say that the competitive players aren’t welcome, or that those tournaments won’t be enjoyable. It is simply a model in which to promote your events from.
Anyway! Hopefully we will see you at one of our events!
- Out