Hey Moon Walkers,

Last month I decided to throw a ton of prizes at the community via 2 win a box tournaments and 2 Savage Beatdown tournaments on the 4 Sundays of April. Total attendence of those 4 event=11. All events were massively undercosted for the prize pool they were offering. People were more willing to lay $10 multiple times and turn up for a poker night on a Saturday night than cruise in and pay $5 for an arvo of VS.

I haven't as yet scheduled anything for May, other than a probable sealed tournament May 27th(the 2 card pool draft final kind). I also realise that there is a fair bit of apathy for VS at the moment and am trying my best to compensate for that. What I am asking is what events, and how many, would you like to see run in May?

After 3 years of playing this game with you guys, I know 2 things that are indisputable:

1)you all like the game

2)through oodles of drafting of each set, you have an abundance of cards so don't need to spend any more $$$ on them for ages

So, given that you have the cards to make pretty much whatever you want(or be able to get the cards easily)how do I get you guys to front up and play a tournament?

Please let me know

Honest

VS fan

Exasperated VS T.O

For me Keiren it isnt anything you are doing. In fact if it weren't for you I would think VS was altogether dead. I can't speak for everyone but for me to get back into it as much as I was there needs to be some overall big UDE tournament to look forward to.

I know me personally im not showing up, because others arent showing up... its a circular thing. We need UDE to get off there asses and supply the community that is with something to look forward to. We need to know in Sydney that we arent not being neglected which we currently are. I know how frustrating for you it must be cause your putting all this up there for us and we're not returning it. Unfortunatly its not somethign you alone can solve I'm sorry to say.


I knwo i will be there on Tuesday because ivfe been told people will show up. Thats all i need. A day where dudes say ill be there, and ill go. For 2-3 weeks in a row i turned up on Tuesdays and Fridays and nothing happened. I was often the only person there with the exception of 1 maybe 2 people. Thats what made me not show. If we can solve these problems VS can come back cause it is such a good game, and the people are the GTs.

I join u in ur exassperation Keiron, and Im sorry i couldnt help.

Last few times showing up with hardly anyone else there isn't really encouraging. Personally, I'm waiting for the World's Finest release* to kick start the game. Until then, don't have much motivation to build a deck, and so not much motivation to play the game for the interim. I still love the game, just need more reasons to play.

* - when is that btw?

I would like to recognise Honest for his contribution to VS. I see your enthusiasm making its way down the M5 to the ACT , i really hope the sydney crew respond and get into the store?

The next stage of VS has been laid out: retailers need to support VS for the game to survive. If people arent playing and not buying product this will lead to a withdrawl of support form UDE.

Good luck Honest and well done for keeping the game alive in Sydney.

bignuts

I suspect the days of weekly weekend tournament are over. It's much easier to get people to turn up once a month as they know that's when everyone else will show.

It looks like the need for some big tournament to look forward to is getting urgent over there. The UK will go the same way once the MC is over. If no long term support is announced soon, the only way I'll be able to keep our team together is for us to all switch to the same game

DTee

Isn't this a shining example UDE?

If the previously most popular VS venue in the country is incapable of GIVING cards away then maybe you need to rethink the current (to call it strategy would be farsical) of dropping all of the responsibility on the retailers?

But we've already concluded that you don't give a **** what we think so sorry for wasting your time.

Dont knwo about your end but this is a load of horse ****. SGC promote the game, create tournaments and are overall doing UDEs job. Its great to see UDE support the game in the US with city championships and what not but how about something for us. I appreciate CZ looking into things and I know its only been a week or so since hes actively started saying something on these forums (which in UDE speak is 3 years worth of research right there), but UDE either cut us loose or show us we're being supported. **** or get off the pot.

-Word

it would appear that ude (europe) have already decided to withdraw support from australia. this is an inference drawn from the lack of activity that has been apparent since the end of pc sydney. it may seem surprising, but i don't regarding 'doing the pontius pilate (read: hand-wringing)' and relying upon the effort of retailers to maintain, if not, increase, the growth of the game as support.

what appears to be happening at this point in time is that ude (europe) are now considering the sort of support, if any, they're willing to re-instate.

i believe that the lax attitude gripping the community results from the community's desire to see if VS has a future (unfortunately this attitude is even stronger that kieran's efforts to maintain some sort of interest in it). the longer time goes by without any sort of positive support from ude (europe), the greater the indifference grows, neutering any sort of remaining interest, which increases the possibility that VS will just die in the arse. maybe this is what ude (europe) wish to happen. if so, they're going about it the right way!

I dont know if you are having a go or not? But retailers need to buy product now off UDE/suppliers for the game to survive.

bignuts

edit - which translates into bums on seats at SGC and GG's tournaments.

I don't that Scott was having a go at you Scott (though a Scott vs Scott duel may be amusing ). I think he was saying that in Sydney retailers are very strongly supporting Vs (esp honest) and that that is not enough.

The most important part of what Bignuts said was a quote from UDE themselves

"retailers need to support vs for the game to survive"

bullshit. The makers of the game need to support VS for the game to survive. you expect to make a product and then let the responsibility of promoting and getting people to play fall to people outside your organisation. Ill say it again bullshit. Ive been playing since before day 1. I was there at the start looking at spoilers and rules on how to play this new game. Ive travelled to tournaments not only interstate but internationally. And you know what UDE event im goign to next. NONE! Because there arent any. Get your act together. We love your game, lrn2sellitnubs.

While I agree with some if not most of your arguments, Scott (CZ), I think it's important to realise that the gate swings both ways.

A commercially focused - and viable - company will not continue to produce a product if it does not generate adequate returns, no matter how passionate the few loyal customers are. This is where it is up to us to be good customers and support the product if we want to see it continued.

On the flip side, though, the impetus is on the company who makes the money to promote their product to drive their sales. In all but the most successful TCGs advertising isn't really an option, and OP is essentially the means to drive demand and growth. So it is fair to say that not having an official OP structure at the present time is bruising the player base.

Then again, Kieran is breaking his back to try to do a little bit to fill that void. Even if you can't find it in your heart to support UDE right now, try to support what Kieran is doing.

Apathy is contagious. If Kieran's enthusiasm and effort is met with "meh", then his passion will fade.

If it's mainly an organisation issue (meaning, "I want to play but I don't want to turn up unless X number of people are there"), then use these forums to declare that. Start a list of people who are willing to commit to playing, conditional on turn out. It'll help, as communication is the only missing ingredient, as players stay home because they assume no one else will turn up.

Other than just trying to help drum up support for Kieran's efforts, this is aimed at saying "when there's a perfectly adequate ham sandwich available don't starve yourself just because you're used to eating steak". The game is still good, the people who play it are still brilliant and any excuse to play is better than not playing at all ... at least in my opinion.

I think that the competitive environment of Sydney means that people don't come just and only for fun. I think most people prefer to play if it means something, anything. Take Silver Age right now. Currently, the next PC is going to be Modern Age, soon, GL will wheel out of Silver, and so, there is no real reason to play Silver Age except, really, to play Silver Age. Golden is less so, since Golden has, well, the usual fanatical adherents to certain teams who will play for whatever.

With no competitive reason to play, the motivation is dulled, and this I believe is the "something more" that Scott yearns for.

amen to that. people need to cut their cloth accordingly