I dont consider it ripping if you let them know you think that your half of the trade is worth more than theres. if they still want to go through with it I wil normally offer some other stuff but not everyone accepts.
I haven't seen it brought up yet, but what kind of casual player drops after round 2.
Normally in the 0-2 bracket he will find the tournament much more enjoyable because there are people their with fun decks or people with good decks that are not out of contention and so its a much more relaxed atmosphere.
i emailed a a few weeks back as the dci page said they posted 4th of the 9th and i hadnt recived and was told wait till mid oct if still havnt arrived to email them again last week when i looked they resent same batch batch 23 with half the cards that it had 1st time fine with me as 1st time had 2x amount listed then should have for the points till havnt recived but the current points are 5 points short as they seem to have reset the points back to o after the shipment and not counting the 1st event
I don't like back draft because it means you have to trust random stranger not to switch rares (not really a big problem) but I bet it means that people will be trying to sneak a peak during deck construction to see what rares everyone got.
If they keep there rares then people who lose regularily are likely to keep playing which means we will get better attendance numbers as they are less out of pocket..."i went 0-3 but I got 5 rares!"
I don't actually think rare drafting has that big an effect on our local tourneys. At shop drafts even amongst the casual crowd there isn't anyone that I would expect to grab a bad rare second pick....even release day drafts you will see a rare come around 9th or 10th.
Even in an unsanctioned draft between my friends with no prizes we only have one guy who is likely to snap up bad rares over mediocre playables.
And new players taking the rares isn't much worse for the draft because they are not going to draft properly anyway. A player next to a new player has an advantage but that's the result of pods with players of different skill levels. It is the same for a lot of games e.g. Porto Rico.
I just think back drafting introduces a lot of tournamnet micro management for negligible gain.
If I am only playing one bad rare (constructed wise) in my deck and I know I get to keep it then I have the option of not playing in slips. If we are back drafting after wards then I would be obliged to use slips.
I don't see how stores are excited about this. If you went to big pre-releases as a store you made bank and now you are in a hole. If you didn't participate before, you should see a slight uptick in business 1 week before a release. This is just redistributing the money from the active stores who tried to build community to the guys who just sell cards and can cheat the system best.
The only dealers we ever saw at a pre release in my area was the actual TO. There was one event where another store bought a table but it obviously didn't work out for them as they never returned.
There was also a "no cash" rule in affect so you couldn't sell your own cards to players ...fair enough but it meant the only deals going on were trades or people selling their stock for a very small amount of cash back tot he TO.
Your right, i did misunderstand your post, (btw, in the US, we had pre-release and then 2 weeks later was our pre-release, Australia only has a day difference?). Here is the problem, for 10th edition, there was no release date, Magic Game Day was the only event available for magic players. Shards of Alara will have two diffrent events and they will be within 6-7 days of each other. That is how i see this not being as good as 10th: Stores will more likely than not only make money on one of those events. Unless it's payday week for the players, most will probably not like the idea of playing two sealed in the same week. That being said, some players are pissed that their huge pre-release is not going to happen anymore. A lot of PTOs have already thrown in the towel before seeing how this pans out, and the odds are, a lot more will quit when they realize that competeting with the stores for an event is not in their best intrest. A lot of stores won't like this because very few owners can run an FNM w/o a judge or tournament organizer, and now they have to run a pre-release. Even fewer stores will be able to seat more than 25 people.
Now there are a couple of exceptions: Players who seem to get the short end of the straw and live clsoe to 100 miles away from the pre-release will get a chance to play more locally. (ALthough in IL, the most i have had to drive was 45 miles and it was totally worth it). And their are a couple stores who can accomadate a good amount of players. But it seems like this pisses more people off than helps, and it is clear that wizards (really, Hasbro) chose to support this group because it is in their best intrest. Sorry for ranting.
In Australia it goes Pre Release weekend (usually a 2 day event) then the next weekend is Sneak Peak Weekend and then the next weekend is Release day weekend.
I agree with what you are saying above. I am not predicting stores to make a lot from the actual tournament. I just think stores will make more overall because smaller pre releases make it hard for players to get there hands on a lot of cards before the set becomes legal. If they want cards layers are going to have to buy them.
So I guess what I am saying is that players are getting less prizes so they will have to buy more from their retailer. Even the stores which don't hold a pre release should be better of because they no longer lose their players for a weekend. I know a lot of smaller stores in my area hated that there player went to the big pre release and spent more there in a weekend on cards (trying to get playsets of what they needed asap) than they do in a month at there local store.
To be honest though the big thing that still might kill my local store magic wise is the fact that even though they are not supposed to be able to players can source boxes from the USA for approx A$ 40 cheaper than buying locally and that includes shipping!
That is probably the big reason card single prices have gone up. I have always seen cards are much cheaper than in the USA but with the exchange rate and shipping it wasn't worth ordering. Now a bunch of foreigners can buy from the USA and you wont see under priced singles anymore
Random walk-ins will probably not happen with you, because if the system works, those random walk-ins will have some other store closer to them that they can buy product. And $1500 IS a ridiculous number a 1-2 day sale, especially considering that stores cannot sell the product itself, or draft it since wizards (really Hasbro) considers that the same as selling. If you think that the 15-20 people that come to your store (assuming none of them they go the the big one) will spend even close to $1000 in events is kinda of funny. Also assuming that you keep the same price as PTO's at $30 a flight. You will get $450-$600 for the day, not including the deductions for prize support since wizards isn't backing you up there, or judge support (unless you are a judge). The odds are that most of the guys playing will not want to play again or at least not all 15-20 of them. And that is once again assuming that none of those "tight fisted" customers go the the big pre-release for their fun.
It seems you are not on the same page as I as you have misread my post.
I am not talking about making money from the actual prerelease but instead the first week of sales i.e. the release weekend when people first get to buy the cards. I believe rwaldbiesser was talking about that too.
10th Edition and 9th Meditation despite being less interesting sets have had the biggest release day sales recently because for Core Sets there are no pre releases, only a sneak peak.
I know as a player for the last few sets Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor and Evenningtide I had reached saturation point by the time the product actually came on sale and did not need much.
The way 10th Edition releases worked is exactly how Shard of Alara is going to work so it seems pretty clear that this change should be good for stores….but bad for players.
Perhaps the US is different but in Australia we had a pre release, sneak peak and then the release day. The way it works now sneak seaks are being called pre releases and our old pre releases are disappearing (in my city anyway).
I still expect the store to do better from this change.
$1500? That is the most screwed up statistic i have ever heard. Unless your store was the one running the ONLY pre-release, there is no way that you would have sold $1500 in two days by selling product in your limited space. And as far as the relaease tourney, wizards gave a lot of incentive with a diffrent release promo that wasn't available with at pre-release and wizards also changed the system so that the set was type 2 legal the day of the pre-release, meaning you get a lot of sales from people trying to get the cards for their decks.
Sound realistic to me. The first week of sales for a new set is the biggest for magic. Our local shop only has about 15 regulars play at events but does sales like that in one week, and most of those sales come from random walk ins because the regulars are really tight fisted.
I know that the last time I bought a box was for 10th Edition because normally after Pre Release, Sneak Peak and release day drafting I don't need any more cards and have preferred to spend my money on more tourneys rather than product.
So the changes suck for me as a player but I assume there better for stores as now there is less time between when players first get there hands on cards to when they will need them for FNM.
You should play EEE or MMM sometime for some limited fun. Also try playing the current block season until eventide came out... it was mirrodin block level bad. Oh and tribal=crap
You are not supposed to be playing triple small set. Everyone knows it sucks and Wizards make no representations that triple Small set is anything other than "the suck"...or that triple core set is that great either.
In fact they even tried to stop Pre Releases hosting EEE drafts...but I think more for $ reasons than playability,
I'm... really starting to fall in line with the thought process that they are going under. I play a lot of Limited and PreRelease and Release events, but in my area we constantly see stores start and then fail, due to bad management or the fact that our playerbase simply refuses to support the stores when they instead prefer to just buy all their product off the net for cheaper and then screw over the younger kids at the shop for the last cards they need, while standing outside eating fast food for cheaper than the store food. Stores can't support themselves and go under, since you can't keep a business when everyone just wants "a free no money hangout".
I was reading your post, thinking you are in the same situation as me...... but I see this change as good for the stores.
Recently we have seen people buy from the US (which they are not supposed to be able to do) boxes at much cheaper than locally. The players are acting logically in this regard, and few buy singles from the shop when they can get them for a measly $1 or 0.50c cheaper online.
I still think they would all be shocked when there local store goes broke or stops supporting magic. The local store is all ready derided for just doing the min to hold an event but as magic sales fall from our local shop I wont be shocked when it stops running tournaments.
While these new changes don't seem great for players I know they will put a lot more money in the hands of my local shop. After going in multiple flights at a pre release, then sneak peaks come release most tourney players only needed a few cards. Now with one flight before release and the new cards being legal as soon as their sold there will be a lot more demand locally for singles and packs.
Magic players are pretty impatient so purchasing online may be too slow.
10. Put in vending machines that sell magic stuff - draft sets, sleeves, etc - it makes your life a lot easier
I have never seen this before. Are there stores that have these or is it just your own idea...it sounds cool.
Where I live there is a card store where the owner only opens for a few days a week. This would be awesome for him as he could get sales when he wasn't there...assuming its safe enough to leave these machines outside
http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/CampbellLive/tabid/367/articleID/83564/cat/84/Default.aspx
Normally in the 0-2 bracket he will find the tournament much more enjoyable because there are people their with fun decks or people with good decks that are not out of contention and so its a much more relaxed atmosphere.
I also have that, it may be an Australian thing.
If they keep there rares then people who lose regularily are likely to keep playing which means we will get better attendance numbers as they are less out of pocket..."i went 0-3 but I got 5 rares!"
I don't actually think rare drafting has that big an effect on our local tourneys. At shop drafts even amongst the casual crowd there isn't anyone that I would expect to grab a bad rare second pick....even release day drafts you will see a rare come around 9th or 10th.
Even in an unsanctioned draft between my friends with no prizes we only have one guy who is likely to snap up bad rares over mediocre playables.
And new players taking the rares isn't much worse for the draft because they are not going to draft properly anyway. A player next to a new player has an advantage but that's the result of pods with players of different skill levels. It is the same for a lot of games e.g. Porto Rico.
I just think back drafting introduces a lot of tournamnet micro management for negligible gain.
If I am only playing one bad rare (constructed wise) in my deck and I know I get to keep it then I have the option of not playing in slips. If we are back drafting after wards then I would be obliged to use slips.
The only dealers we ever saw at a pre release in my area was the actual TO. There was one event where another store bought a table but it obviously didn't work out for them as they never returned.
There was also a "no cash" rule in affect so you couldn't sell your own cards to players ...fair enough but it meant the only deals going on were trades or people selling their stock for a very small amount of cash back tot he TO.
In Australia it goes Pre Release weekend (usually a 2 day event) then the next weekend is Sneak Peak Weekend and then the next weekend is Release day weekend.
I agree with what you are saying above. I am not predicting stores to make a lot from the actual tournament. I just think stores will make more overall because smaller pre releases make it hard for players to get there hands on a lot of cards before the set becomes legal. If they want cards layers are going to have to buy them.
So I guess what I am saying is that players are getting less prizes
To be honest though the big thing that still might kill my local store magic wise is the fact that even though they are not supposed to be able to players can source boxes from the USA for approx A$ 40 cheaper than buying locally and that includes shipping!
That is probably the big reason card single prices have gone up. I have always seen cards are much cheaper than in the USA but with the exchange rate and shipping it wasn't worth ordering. Now a bunch of foreigners can buy from the USA and you wont see under priced singles anymore
It seems you are not on the same page as I as you have misread my post.
I am not talking about making money from the actual prerelease but instead the first week of sales i.e. the release weekend when people first get to buy the cards. I believe rwaldbiesser was talking about that too.
10th Edition and 9th Meditation despite being less interesting sets have had the biggest release day sales recently because for Core Sets there are no pre releases, only a sneak peak.
I know as a player for the last few sets Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor and Evenningtide I had reached saturation point by the time the product actually came on sale and did not need much.
The way 10th Edition releases worked is exactly how Shard of Alara is going to work so it seems pretty clear that this change should be good for stores….but bad for players.
Perhaps the US is different but in Australia we had a pre release, sneak peak and then the release day. The way it works now sneak seaks are being called pre releases and our old pre releases are disappearing (in my city anyway).
I still expect the store to do better from this change.
Sound realistic to me. The first week of sales for a new set is the biggest for magic. Our local shop only has about 15 regulars play at events but does sales like that in one week, and most of those sales come from random walk ins because the regulars are really tight fisted.
I know that the last time I bought a box was for 10th Edition because normally after Pre Release, Sneak Peak and release day drafting I don't need any more cards and have preferred to spend my money on more tourneys rather than product.
So the changes suck for me as a player but I assume there better for stores as now there is less time between when players first get there hands on cards to when they will need them for FNM.
You are not supposed to be playing triple small set. Everyone knows it sucks and Wizards make no representations that triple Small set is anything other than "the suck"...or that triple core set is that great either.
In fact they even tried to stop Pre Releases hosting EEE drafts...but I think more for $ reasons than playability,
I was reading your post, thinking you are in the same situation as me...... but I see this change as good for the stores.
Recently we have seen people buy from the US (which they are not supposed to be able to do) boxes at much cheaper than locally. The players are acting logically in this regard, and few buy singles from the shop when they can get them for a measly $1 or 0.50c cheaper online.
I still think they would all be shocked when there local store goes broke or stops supporting magic. The local store is all ready derided for just doing the min to hold an event but as magic sales fall from our local shop I wont be shocked when it stops running tournaments.
While these new changes don't seem great for players I know they will put a lot more money in the hands of my local shop. After going in multiple flights at a pre release, then sneak peaks come release most tourney players only needed a few cards. Now with one flight before release and the new cards being legal as soon as their sold there will be a lot more demand locally for singles and packs.
Magic players are pretty impatient so purchasing online may be too slow.
I have never seen this before. Are there stores that have these or is it just your own idea...it sounds cool.
Where I live there is a card store where the owner only opens for a few days a week. This would be awesome for him as he could get sales when he wasn't there...assuming its safe enough to leave these machines outside