I've been frequenting the same game shop for 6 years now on and off.
I stopped going initially because I showed up to draft once and they were already playing ahead of the scheduled start time (which is when i got there); when i asked about why the draft started, the owner told me that when a pod is filled is when the draft starts.
Now I'm leaving them permanently because i went to draft Wednesday, waited around for an hour and a half for a draft to start to no avail and came back for the fnm draft (which i was told by the owner sign up was to start at 6). I got there at 6:01 to find the first 2 pods full. So i signed up for another pod in the hopes that people playing fnm who did poorly would drop.
I waited until after the first round to ask if any more were on the waiting list, at which point the owner said there was no more space to play anyways if it filled.
I asked how much store credit i had, got a pack with it, told my concerns to the owner, told him I'm probably not coming back tip the shop and left.
Was i wrong? Did i overreact? The only other store in my city does things at inconvenient times so i can't go to their drafts and stuff, but I'm not going to give money to people who i feel are screwing me.
The drafting thing makes sense, there is no point waiting if the pod is full and extra people could not participate anyway. Same for store capacity, it is what it is and you got unlucky.
Wouldn't say you were in the wrong but you should try to get there a little earlier.
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EDH BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern: RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
Agreed, I make it a point to arrive at the shop early for any event, but especially so for one that might get full. I'm generally an hour to 45 minutes early, which gives plenty of time for me to sign up then run out to get something to eat, jam a few casual games, or do some trades/buying. My high school band teacher had a saying: "If you're early you're on time and if you're on time you're late".
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Standard: GR Pummeler
Modern: Mono-Red Control, Lantern Control, Eldrazi Taxes, Skred Infect
Pauper: Affinity
EDH: Gaddock Teeg Kithkin Tribal, Meren
Legacy: 8 Rack, Omnitell (Both in progress)
You're not wrong for not wanting to go to a store. It's your opinion and you can do what you want. People here will certainly tell you you're wrong if you don't want to go to a store that had ***** on the toilet seat, but it's your own choice in the end. So, if you don't feel like going, don't go. You may end up realizing later on that you change your mind. Do what's best for you and don't let others judge you.
I'll give a story on myself. I went with some friends 77 mi. from home just to play Legacy, which I rarely, rarely get to do. It turns out that the tournament was for Store Credit, which is fine since I didn't really check ahead of time and I wanted to play Legacy. I split prizes in the top 8 since one of the guys I went with wanted to split. A month later, there is a PPTQ there. I drive there myself, 77 mi., since 2 separate rides canceled on me. It turns out that I can't use Store Credit to enter a PPTQ! This really disappointed me and everything else that I loved about the store basically went out the door. Now, I will give them my business very sparingly. It gives me a bad feeling about them since nearly every store I've ever known allows Store Credit for tournament fees.
*Also before someone says that I should just buy something there with the credit - they actually did not have what I needed - 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet or my second choice, KMC sleeves. What is the point of Store Credit when you have to get something that you don't want? (Sure I could get something valued and sell it as 1/2 price to my LGS or 3/4 price after Ebay fees, but that's not the best thing to me.)
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I quit going to my shop recently for two reasons. The player base had become unbearable. I was getting sick of playing against swore losers that went on tilt everytime they lost or had bad luck. It was getting to the point that going wasn't fun. There was a small group of players I liked everyone else was 30-40 year old man boys.
The second reason which was the straw that broke the camel's back; I showed up for a eldritch moon draft and my pod mysteriously had no tamiyo packs.. Of the 8 players in my pod no non flip mythics were pulled. Pretty easy to put two and two together and figure out where all the emrakuls in the case came from.
I am going back to mtgo for now. I might try another store eventually.
You're not wrong for not wanting to go to a store. It's your opinion and you can do what you want. People here will certainly tell you you're wrong if you don't want to go to a store that had ***** on the toilet seat, but it's your own choice in the end. So, if you don't feel like going, don't go. You may end up realizing later on that you change your mind.
Yeah!
Were you wrong? No. You may have overreacted and you may go back later, but regardless it sounds like the situation was a pain in the ass. Do what thou wilt.
I don't mean to sound cold here, but I think this is actually a good lesson on why punctuality is important. And no, showing up at the exact time it starts is not being punctual. let me give and example or two. If you go to the movies, and show up at the exact time the movie is scheduled to start, can you really be upset that once you get in the theatre the lights are already dimmed and it's hard to find a seat? Should everyone else have to wait the two extra minutes for you to pay for your ticket, get in the theatre, and find your seat? How about if you show up to work at the exact time your schedule starts; should your employer give you an extra 3-5 minutes to put your stuff away/ change into work clothes/ go to your locker...etc? I'm not saying you are overreacting to the situation you were in, but under reacting to your own part in creating that situation. in any of these scenarios if you showed up 5 minutes before the scheduled start time, you probably would have been fine. The draft may have been started 5 minutes before and you missed it then too, but the point is, punctuality is really about respecting yourself and others in that, when something is scheduled to begin, it actually begins at that time, not a couple minutes later. sorry to sound harsh, I'm truly not trying to be a jerk, but it seems you were actually pretty upset about the situation when it happened; so in the future you now at least have the perspective that you may feel this way again if you don't show up early.
*Also before someone says that I should just buy something there with the credit - they actually did not have what I needed - 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet or my second choice, KMC sleeves. What is the point of Store Credit when you have to get something that you don't want? (Sure I could get something valued and sell it as 1/2 price to my LGS or 3/4 price after Ebay fees, but that's not the best thing to me.)
I have about $80 of store credit, (I don't like just opening packs and thats the prizes offered), that since I can't use it for tournament fees I have no idea what to do with it.
I managed to use it to build thermo-thing (plus dragonshields to sleeve it in) but that deck is so cheap it barely made a dent and I bought a new rare file. Thermo-thing easily made its cost back in prizes so far. :/. I actually don't know what to do about it.
The store is soooo convient just 7 min from my house and I have bigger problems with the next closest two stores. 15 min away store, rare redrafts thier drafts and I find that unfair for new players and don't go there much on principal. The 20 min away store, changed thier policy on thier commons/uncommon boxes because I got, and bragged about, 4 ancient stirrings and 3 lantern of insight out of thier boxes
for the listed 50c each price, then when I went up with less valuble stuff they started looking up the prices.. one or the other grr.
as for the original poster, It can be a massive pain in the arse to be dissapointed like that, similar things have happend to me.
When I was at uni the nearest store was a small store in the center of the city, it actually has very limted space so on release days for the new sets the drafts would often fill up. Uni is a little bit out of the city and due to parking issues I always took the bus/train to uni. So if I had a class that ended at 5 pm at uni it would take me, 10 min to walk to the bus stop at uni (unis are big places), 15 min bus ride, 10 min walk to the store from the bus stop a Draft that would start at 6 pm. It was very likely that it would fill up with no chance of me getting there. It was however possible to book a place the week before and I started doing that, or calling up earlier in the day to book a place. (Argh calling people! anxiety!)
I understand being dissappointed and how much that makes me mad, so if you actually can't be any earlier I suggest asking if you can book a draft place ahead. You could if it is really important to you just lie and say you have work and therefore don't have time to arrive earlier to see if you can convince them to allow you to book places.
slightly off subject but stores never allow store credit to be used on entries; at least i've never run into them.
Well, mine does, at least.
@OP: My store has the opposite problem. They always wait until everyone shows up before even assembling pods, and events always start late due to that. The Conspiracy 2 drafts last Friday were scheduled to begin at 7:30pm, but didn't start until 8:00. The problem here is that the employees usually try to avoid closing up the store too long after closing, so some events risk getting cut short. Fortunately, this hasn't ruined any of my evenings yet.
This on both accounts. My LGS allows store credit to be used for entry into tournaments and I have never attended a regular REL tournament ANYWHERE, that fires at or before the start time. Typically if a Tournament is scheduled to start at 7. You can feel pretty safe in thinking it won't actually fire until 7:10-7:15. Also (maybe this is just my area) but 90% of the people who show up to play in an FNM or TNM typically show up AT the start time or a couple minutes after. Idk.
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Decks
Modern BGR Jund RGB BW Eldrazi and Taxes WB BWGAbzan CompanyGWB
This sort of situation goes both ways, honestly. As much as a player has the right to determine which LGS to patronize (assuming one has several), stores also have the right to determine their timing/store credit policies. Most stores have their policies align with the majority of how their businesses work in that area (because even if they have the right to do otherwise, it's just poor business decisions to go against the majority most of the time).
Some stores have the "reservations and wait it out and start late systems" because they most likely have regulars and/or customers that spend substantial amounts at their stores and they're willing to delay their events to accommodate those regulars/customers. To a non-regular/new player it may seem like a bad practice, but the store's not going to run into the risk of losing customers by starting on time (because bluntly speaking there's no guarantee you'll attract a new group of "punctual" regulars, so it's safer for a small business to focus on staying afloat, not really their fault).
Likewise, the opposite can happen. A store that always fires its events on time may not have as much regular customers, or most of their regular customers are the kind that don't mind missing out on an event or two if they're late, or maybe most of their regular customers are always punctual to begin with. They're not going to risk alienating these expectations of the regulars by delaying an event for a non-regular player.
I've seen LGS on both ends of the spectrum. If you're lucky to have several LGS not terribly far away from yourself (like I do), the best way is to recognize each store's usual pattern and your own plans. Rushing off after FNM for another appointment? Best not show up for FNM-always-fires-late LGS. Likewise, going to be late for an event? Head towards that store instead for a better chance. Even better if you're at least a semi-regular there so you can call them up beforehand (they'll probably waiting for a few others as well anyway). Otherwise accept that there's a chance you'll miss it because you were late.
As for events starting early, that usually happens to drafts since like many mentioned, you can't really go beyond 8 people in the first place. If that happens to other events on a frequent basis, you may exercise your right not to visit that store, or adapt by turning up early instead. There are very few situations where turning up early doesn't net you a place at an event and honestly, tardiness is a "privilege" some stores may choose to grant to their regulars. Also, for drafts in particular, demand floats and falls irregularly regardless of regulars/customers in the first place, so most stores just "8 people and we'll fire" instead since regulars also understand not all of them want to draft all the time either.
slightly off subject but stores never allow store credit to be used on entries; at least i've never run into them.
In the places that I've gone to in Southern California, stores almost always allow you to use store credit for entry. It's gotten to the point that I just assume that a store will follow the same policy there as most other stores (and by most, I mean actually more than 90%). My LGS that I go to has free FNMs, so there is no entry for those, but when they do Drafts, GPTs, IQs, or PPTQs, store credit has always be allowed for the tournament fee. I have even used my store credit to pay for someone else's tournament fee.
I always cringe when I hear practices in other areas. We do really have it good in some areas.
*I should also say with me, it's also the combination of not having very common, new set cards. It's not like I'm asking for a Beta Balance, which they actually did have. I'm not asking for a Crimped, Promo textless Negate. I'm asking for a darn Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. The problem is that this particular store's customers play exclusively Legacy and Vintage.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I feel the big thing to take out of this is to start showing up a bit early if possible just to make sure you can get in to play. I tend to try and show up at least 30 minutes early to make sure they don't start early
as for the capacity issue, I'm not sure what its like in your area as I didn't bother to check but capacity limits can be pretty serious if authorities found out they were not followed. If a fire inspector would find out someone around here was over capacity, they could fine them
If you otherwise like playing at the shop then my takeaway from this experience would be: get to events a little earlier than their scheduled start times when possible. Quitting is just hurting you.
They didn't do anything wrong IMO, just fired 8-mans as they filled, which is common practice. No point in waiting to fire when the draft is already full.
You were late. The event started on time. You're being a baby.
Actually the event started early. He was told sign-ups begin at 6pm. He arrived at 6:01 to two full pods. It is impossible to sign up 16 players in one minute.
You were late. The event started on time. You're being a baby.
Actually the event started early. He was told sign-ups begin at 6pm. He arrived at 6:01 to two full pods. It is impossible to sign up 16 players in one minute.
No, according to the OP the scheduled *start time* was 6:00, not the sign-up time. Every gaming store I've ever been to allows you to sign up an hour before (and they prefer it if you do - the organizers at my store get a bit cranky when people show up an hour before and they chat with friends and don't register until like a minute before the event starts)
Even if they had waited until 6:00 the pods would have been full of people who were already registered, so there was no reason not to start them early once they were registered. Unfortunately with draft it really is first-come - first-serve. If you were playing constructed (where there is technically no limit to number of registrants other than available seating space) then the OP's grievances would be justified.
The only way the OP will get what they are looking for is if the store regularly only gets 4-6 people for the draft and can easily add one more person (Which is what happens at my store - most people play modern and people are often unsure if Draft or Standard will even run)
People gave the example of a movie theatre - but a more accurate example would be a flight. If the boarding time is 6:45 and you show up at the airport at 6:40 - you will not get on that flight.
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You were late. The event started on time. You're being a baby.
Actually the event started early. He was told sign-ups begin at 6pm. He arrived at 6:01 to two full pods. It is impossible to sign up 16 players in one minute.
No, according to the OP the scheduled *start time* was 6:00, not the sign-up time.
It gives me a bad feeling about them since nearly every store I've ever known allows Store Credit for tournament fees.
All the stores I've ever been in never allow tournament fees to be paid in store credit. I've asked some owners about it and the fear is that if they didn't have such a policy in place, people who wind up doing consistently well in tournaments would never have to spend a single dollar in the store. I don't doubt there are plenty of people who would just buy cards online and play for free off their tournament winnings if they had the chance.
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Standard - RIP Cat
Modern - Death & Taxes
Commander - Mazirek, Trostani, Angry Omnath
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I've been frequenting the same game shop for 6 years now on and off.
I stopped going initially because I showed up to draft once and they were already playing ahead of the scheduled start time (which is when i got there); when i asked about why the draft started, the owner told me that when a pod is filled is when the draft starts.
Now I'm leaving them permanently because i went to draft Wednesday, waited around for an hour and a half for a draft to start to no avail and came back for the fnm draft (which i was told by the owner sign up was to start at 6). I got there at 6:01 to find the first 2 pods full. So i signed up for another pod in the hopes that people playing fnm who did poorly would drop.
I waited until after the first round to ask if any more were on the waiting list, at which point the owner said there was no more space to play anyways if it filled.
I asked how much store credit i had, got a pack with it, told my concerns to the owner, told him I'm probably not coming back tip the shop and left.
Was i wrong? Did i overreact? The only other store in my city does things at inconvenient times so i can't go to their drafts and stuff, but I'm not going to give money to people who i feel are screwing me.
Wouldn't say you were in the wrong but you should try to get there a little earlier.
BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
Modern: Mono-Red Control, Lantern Control, Eldrazi Taxes, Skred Infect
Pauper: Affinity
EDH: Gaddock Teeg Kithkin Tribal, Meren
Legacy: 8 Rack, Omnitell (Both in progress)
RGTron
UGInfect
URStorm
WUBRAd Nauseam
BRGrishoalbrand
URGScapeshift
WBGAbzan Company
WUBRGAmulet Titan
BRGLiving End
WGBogles
Fool me once shame on you.
Fool me twice...
I'll give a story on myself. I went with some friends 77 mi. from home just to play Legacy, which I rarely, rarely get to do. It turns out that the tournament was for Store Credit, which is fine since I didn't really check ahead of time and I wanted to play Legacy. I split prizes in the top 8 since one of the guys I went with wanted to split. A month later, there is a PPTQ there. I drive there myself, 77 mi., since 2 separate rides canceled on me. It turns out that I can't use Store Credit to enter a PPTQ! This really disappointed me and everything else that I loved about the store basically went out the door. Now, I will give them my business very sparingly. It gives me a bad feeling about them since nearly every store I've ever known allows Store Credit for tournament fees.
*Also before someone says that I should just buy something there with the credit - they actually did not have what I needed - 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet or my second choice, KMC sleeves. What is the point of Store Credit when you have to get something that you don't want? (Sure I could get something valued and sell it as 1/2 price to my LGS or 3/4 price after Ebay fees, but that's not the best thing to me.)
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)The second reason which was the straw that broke the camel's back; I showed up for a eldritch moon draft and my pod mysteriously had no tamiyo packs.. Of the 8 players in my pod no non flip mythics were pulled. Pretty easy to put two and two together and figure out where all the emrakuls in the case came from.
I am going back to mtgo for now. I might try another store eventually.
Yeah!
Were you wrong? No. You may have overreacted and you may go back later, but regardless it sounds like the situation was a pain in the ass. Do what thou wilt.
I have about $80 of store credit, (I don't like just opening packs and thats the prizes offered), that since I can't use it for tournament fees I have no idea what to do with it.
I managed to use it to build thermo-thing (plus dragonshields to sleeve it in) but that deck is so cheap it barely made a dent and I bought a new rare file. Thermo-thing easily made its cost back in prizes so far. :/. I actually don't know what to do about it.
The store is soooo convient just 7 min from my house and I have bigger problems with the next closest two stores. 15 min away store, rare redrafts thier drafts and I find that unfair for new players and don't go there much on principal. The 20 min away store, changed thier policy on thier commons/uncommon boxes because I got, and bragged about, 4 ancient stirrings and 3 lantern of insight out of thier boxes
for the listed 50c each price, then when I went up with less valuble stuff they started looking up the prices.. one or the other grr.
as for the original poster, It can be a massive pain in the arse to be dissapointed like that, similar things have happend to me.
When I was at uni the nearest store was a small store in the center of the city, it actually has very limted space so on release days for the new sets the drafts would often fill up. Uni is a little bit out of the city and due to parking issues I always took the bus/train to uni. So if I had a class that ended at 5 pm at uni it would take me, 10 min to walk to the bus stop at uni (unis are big places), 15 min bus ride, 10 min walk to the store from the bus stop a Draft that would start at 6 pm. It was very likely that it would fill up with no chance of me getting there. It was however possible to book a place the week before and I started doing that, or calling up earlier in the day to book a place. (Argh calling people! anxiety!)
I understand being dissappointed and how much that makes me mad, so if you actually can't be any earlier I suggest asking if you can book a draft place ahead. You could if it is really important to you just lie and say you have work and therefore don't have time to arrive earlier to see if you can convince them to allow you to book places.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Well, mine does, at least.
@OP: My store has the opposite problem. They always wait until everyone shows up before even assembling pods, and events always start late due to that. The Conspiracy 2 drafts last Friday were scheduled to begin at 7:30pm, but didn't start until 8:00. The problem here is that the employees usually try to avoid closing up the store too long after closing, so some events risk getting cut short. Fortunately, this hasn't ruined any of my evenings yet.
Decks
Modern
BGR Jund RGB
BW Eldrazi and Taxes WB
BWGAbzan Company GWB
Mtgo Modern
G Company Elves G
Some stores have the "reservations and wait it out and start late systems" because they most likely have regulars and/or customers that spend substantial amounts at their stores and they're willing to delay their events to accommodate those regulars/customers. To a non-regular/new player it may seem like a bad practice, but the store's not going to run into the risk of losing customers by starting on time (because bluntly speaking there's no guarantee you'll attract a new group of "punctual" regulars, so it's safer for a small business to focus on staying afloat, not really their fault).
Likewise, the opposite can happen. A store that always fires its events on time may not have as much regular customers, or most of their regular customers are the kind that don't mind missing out on an event or two if they're late, or maybe most of their regular customers are always punctual to begin with. They're not going to risk alienating these expectations of the regulars by delaying an event for a non-regular player.
I've seen LGS on both ends of the spectrum. If you're lucky to have several LGS not terribly far away from yourself (like I do), the best way is to recognize each store's usual pattern and your own plans. Rushing off after FNM for another appointment? Best not show up for FNM-always-fires-late LGS. Likewise, going to be late for an event? Head towards that store instead for a better chance. Even better if you're at least a semi-regular there so you can call them up beforehand (they'll probably waiting for a few others as well anyway). Otherwise accept that there's a chance you'll miss it because you were late.
As for events starting early, that usually happens to drafts since like many mentioned, you can't really go beyond 8 people in the first place. If that happens to other events on a frequent basis, you may exercise your right not to visit that store, or adapt by turning up early instead. There are very few situations where turning up early doesn't net you a place at an event and honestly, tardiness is a "privilege" some stores may choose to grant to their regulars. Also, for drafts in particular, demand floats and falls irregularly regardless of regulars/customers in the first place, so most stores just "8 people and we'll fire" instead since regulars also understand not all of them want to draft all the time either.
In the places that I've gone to in Southern California, stores almost always allow you to use store credit for entry. It's gotten to the point that I just assume that a store will follow the same policy there as most other stores (and by most, I mean actually more than 90%). My LGS that I go to has free FNMs, so there is no entry for those, but when they do Drafts, GPTs, IQs, or PPTQs, store credit has always be allowed for the tournament fee. I have even used my store credit to pay for someone else's tournament fee.
I always cringe when I hear practices in other areas. We do really have it good in some areas.
*I should also say with me, it's also the combination of not having very common, new set cards. It's not like I'm asking for a Beta Balance, which they actually did have. I'm not asking for a Crimped, Promo textless Negate. I'm asking for a darn Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. The problem is that this particular store's customers play exclusively Legacy and Vintage.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)I wish I had that problem. Too many standard kiddies out there.
UBBreya's Toybox (Competitive, Combo)WR
RGodzilla, King of the MonstersG
-Retired Decks-
UBLazav, Dimir Mastermind (Competitive, UB Voltron/Control)UB
"Knowledge is such a burden. Release it. Release all your fears to me."
—Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
as for the capacity issue, I'm not sure what its like in your area as I didn't bother to check but capacity limits can be pretty serious if authorities found out they were not followed. If a fire inspector would find out someone around here was over capacity, they could fine them
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UR Blue-Red Control
Modern:
UBR Grixis Control
UWR Jeskai Control
They didn't do anything wrong IMO, just fired 8-mans as they filled, which is common practice. No point in waiting to fire when the draft is already full.
Actually the event started early. He was told sign-ups begin at 6pm. He arrived at 6:01 to two full pods. It is impossible to sign up 16 players in one minute.
No, according to the OP the scheduled *start time* was 6:00, not the sign-up time. Every gaming store I've ever been to allows you to sign up an hour before (and they prefer it if you do - the organizers at my store get a bit cranky when people show up an hour before and they chat with friends and don't register until like a minute before the event starts)
Even if they had waited until 6:00 the pods would have been full of people who were already registered, so there was no reason not to start them early once they were registered. Unfortunately with draft it really is first-come - first-serve. If you were playing constructed (where there is technically no limit to number of registrants other than available seating space) then the OP's grievances would be justified.
The only way the OP will get what they are looking for is if the store regularly only gets 4-6 people for the draft and can easily add one more person (Which is what happens at my store - most people play modern and people are often unsure if Draft or Standard will even run)
People gave the example of a movie theatre - but a more accurate example would be a flight. If the boarding time is 6:45 and you show up at the airport at 6:40 - you will not get on that flight.
Emphasis mine.
And I've made flights showing up 5 minutes before the gates close.
Standard - RIP Cat
Modern - Death & Taxes
Commander - Mazirek, Trostani, Angry Omnath