A cunning way to win premiere events

As I've repeatedly stated the DCI guidelines are two booster boxes per
32 person kit as prize support, breaking down to somewhere like two and
a quarter boosters per player. The winner is supposed to get in the
region of one booster per two players, so a flight of 32 would give
half a booster box.



At Fan Boy Three we've always given slightly less than that, so we can
guarantee a deeper prize pool. Golly, wouldn't you know it - out of 54
Sneak Peeks organised for Guildpact, 51 stores in the UK stuck to that.



Any guesses who didn't?



Players are always going to like a policy that gives them more stuff
for less. Buying at trade prices. Winning booster boxes. Singles sets
for £85. Don't kid yourselves - we all know why they do these things,
and it isn't rampant altruism.



But you know what - it's not just Manchester. All over the UK, clubs
that want to sell stuff for next to nothing and run multiple
pre-release events so they can pocket the profit are going head to head
against struggling retail stores trying to justify keeping Magic on
their shelves when nobody wants to buy at RRP. You're intelligent guys
- do you not see the writing on the wall here?



Retailers who don't have second incomes don't like rampant prize
inflation. At Fan Boy Three our Guildpact booster box sales were lower
than our Saviours sales (and don't you dare tell me again that I should
sell them at trade to remain competitive).



The distributors don't like rampant prize inflation. There were so many
pre-releases and sneak peeks giving stock away that their pre-orders
for Guildpact were seriously down. And most deep discounting box
shifters buy from sources outside the UK.



The DCI don't like rampant prize inflation. They want stores and clubs
to play nice together, support each others events and grow the player
base. And sourcing product from outside the UK means those sales don't
show up on Hasbro UK's bottom line, which means the money for UK based
premiere events is constantly under threat. You'll notice we've been
getting a few less PTQ's recently...



The judges don't like rampant prize inflation. The DCI have guildelines
for a reason, and judges are supposed to enforce them. Plus, in the
long run it forces ALL TO's to follow suit or haemorhage players like
we did at Guildpact. Leading to more prize inflation.



Casual players don't like rampant prize inflation. Everyone got at
least two free boosters at the Fan Boy Three Sneak Peek. And sure, the
TM one gave everyone loads of stuff (but seriously guys - more than two
booster boxes for 12 people? That's THREE times the DCI guidelines),
while Gamers Crypt gave nothing to the lowest third. And you know what?
My casual players actually buy stuff from me at RRP, so I kinda like
them more.



The US doesn't like rampant prize inflation. It makes their events look
bad. As Kabir has pointed out, information like this filters right up
the chain to the grand high nabobs of Magic. Everyone knows about the
Manchester situation. Everyone.



And nobody likes it except you guys.



You know what else nobody likes? They don't like selling stuff at
trade. They don't like scheduling spoiler events. They don't like clubs
competing directly with stores. They don't like players casually
trading store allegiances at Grand Prix's just to score a free trip to
Paris.



God knows I've tried to support the Magic community in Manchester. I
like to think I've been proactive in not just giving you a place to
play, but in helping you improve your competitive edge with the Sunday
Night drafts, driving players to Grand Prix Cardiff out of our own
pocket, scheduling fun formats that aren't big money makers. Before TM
and GC opened we sold Magic booster boxes at the cheapest of any brick
and mortar retail store in the UK. We did everything we could to build
the single best Magic hub in the UK.



And as many of you have experienced, I've tried to explain the
realpolitik time and time and time again. We built that hub - for
Pokemon, for Vs, for D&D Minis, for Warmachine, for Confrontation, for
HeroClix, for MechWarrior, for Star Wars Minis, for Yugioh. In fact,
the only game we haven't built it for is Magic. Because some of you
guys can chop and change your allegiances to whoever gives you the best
damn deal on a weekly basis. Free tournaments. More prize support.
Everything at trade. Dual lands for a fiver.



Do you think the sight of three stores and one club fighting over
Manchester Magic plays well to anybody? Do you think the fact that I'm
the only TO who refuses to get down and wallow in the mud might have
something to do with why I'm running the next pre-release?



Seriously guys. I know you don't think there's any difference between
TM, GC and myself. But all those judges, those casual players, the DCI,
the distributors, the other retailers and the US?



They think there is.



Dave Salisbury

Fan Boy Three

All you have to do is have a go at all local stores all the local
players.After reading this email the reply from the DCI was as follows.

The DCI and the Manchester Dissension Pre Release.



The organiser for the Manchester Dissension Pre Release will be Fan Boy
Three, and the event venue will be the Piccadilly Hotel.



In the Manchester area we currently have 3 venues which all offer
excellent organised play opportunities, as well as an independent
organiser, who has supported premiere events consistently over the past
years.



As we can only have one organiser for each premiere event, we felt that
Manchester needed to be looked at. We have been looking at trying to
create an equal playing field for all organises which would give a fair
and transparent system for the allocation of premiere events.



The plan was that a rotation of premiere events may be the solution for
the Manchester scene, and with this plan in mind, we allocated the
first of the new events to Fan Boy Three, as they are currently the
most active organiser in the area.



The change of organiser decision has no bearing on the skills or
organisational ability of any previous organisers in the Manchester
area, and is based on the organiser's record of support for organised
play in the local community. FanBoy Three has consistently shown itself
to be one of the top organisers in the UK, posting constant high
numbers of tournaments and new member numbers.



Altrincham Gamers currently does not support any organised play in
Manchester outside of the premiere events program, an area in which it
has a proven record and has fulfilled all that has been asked of it in
the past. Therefore Altrincham Gamers have been allocated a pre release
in Altrincham, its local area.



FanBoy Three would have liked to have used the regular venue that has
been previously used for pre releases, but as another local store The
Gaming Crypt, already has the venue booked for a competitors regional
event, the decision was taken to move to a new venue.



The DCI Supports all of our current organisers in the Manchester area,
and hopes that all organisers will support each other in running any
events and work together for the benefit of the players, each other and
the organised play system.



In light of the many discrepancies in the assigning of premiere events
across the UK, The DCI has decided to implement a new merit based
system that will begin with the allocation of events for the Cold Snap
set.




All recipients of this email are welcome to publish to their local
website or Newsgroup, with the text unchanged.



Cheers

Colin Smith

Organised Play Representative, WotC
Hasbro UK
Direct Dial: +44 (0) 20 8744 6211
Mobile: +44 (0) 777 575 3138