Calendar

[Buddha Dudley]

Remember - Real Life can pack as many copies of Real Life Interferes as it wants. ;)

Thankfully, things for me are about to turn the corner, but still... its too late for me to have gone to GenCon this year.

CREED

Oh I know sir... Real Life Interferes sucks... My purpose of my last post, though it didn't come off that way, was actually meant to hopefully garner discussion on what would it take to garner more interest from people on here to consider making the trek to Gen Con next year, monetary aspects aside obviously.

We got alot of feedback from players who wanted to play in the qualifiers saying 5 decks for Worlds was too much, Saturday was a harsh day to take up all day at GenCon, Sunday was bad because people need to start going home, etc. There were also interesting points about making Worlds on Fridays, because a lot of the main things for Magic and other big games happen Saturday and Sunday. 

I'm just trying to start up a conversation how can we make Worlds more open and enticing to players?

-D

[Antigoth]

Moved, and new discussion started?

Hey you... yeah you who's reading this... Are you already going to worlds? What keeps you interested in going?

Hey you who's reading this... if you're not currently going to worlds - what would it take to get you to go to worlds?

Everyone, please be open to, and respectful to what everyone has to say. This is part of that discussion regarding "What do we need to do to grow the game."

[Hayus]

For me (who doesn't plan to go to the worlds) it's three things:

time,
money, and
re-mastering the game.

The first two are a common problem. The last is a little more difficult. I used to be really into the game (knew all the text of every card, etc). Now I'm getting back in and half the game may as well be in French. It feels like walking through quicksand in order to re-learn the game (it's gotten so big that it's kind of out of control).

I find the re-learning is quite daunting. Probably enough so that it would keep me away from going to the worlds. That and trying to get a hold of all the throwback cards; that is a major turnoff.

[Buddha Dudley]

For me (who doesn't plan to go to the worlds) it's three things:

time,
money, and
re-mastering the game.

The first two are a common problem. The last is a little more difficult. I used to be really into the game (knew all the text of every card, etc). Now I'm getting back in and half the game may as well be in French. It feels like walking through quicksand in order to re-learn the game (it's gotten so big that it's kind of out of control).

I find the re-learning is quite daunting. Probably enough so that it would keep me away from going to the worlds. That and trying to get a hold of all the throwback cards; that is a major turnoff.

Time and money, no one can help you on that.

The last one nearly isn't as bad as you think. Just make sure you pack Enough Shenanigans, and Really That's Enough Shenanigans in your BACKSTAGE for Virtual All Axxess and Virtual Classic decks, that's the MAIN THING. After that, we're TCO, if you don't have enough time to get caught up on Virtual, we as a community certainly will help you. As long as you mention that you're trying to make the transition, I'm sure many of us up on Virtual will help you get acclimated. Just post your favorite non-Virtual deck, and we'll all come to the rescue and say, hey try this or hey add that because Virtual LITERALLY, and this is not me just drinking the kool-aid, has allowed for so many more deck designs especially with all the new cards in Virtual 1.

The other thing you have to realize is that MORE THAN 75% of the cards in Virtual are Superstar specific, and you really don't have to "get up on them," just adjust when you end up playing against them, IE vs Raven, recognize his Actions are unreversible when you see his Backstage card and save those Sidewalk Slams OR it's newer Unique version Backhand Slap (TB).

And as for getting a hold of Throwback cards, are you talking about SS3 ones? You can always just borrow them. Most everyone who goes to Worlds will let you borrow them for Worlds if given proper notice before they leave for Worlds. If you're referring to getting a hold of virtual, you can print them for dirt cheap at your local print store or your own B&W printer really cheaply.

[Hayus]

That's pretty encouraging, thanks! I think part of the problem is that I'm trying to build a collection at the same time as trying to re-learn the game. It may get  easier when all that's left to do is play the game.

I've played a lot of them, and raw deal is awesome. There's just something that made me come back to the game. It is...that... damn...good!

Thanks again.

[Prong1978]

Open entry where anyone who pays the entry fee can play (maybe qualifiers can give out byes instead of spots)

No non-Virtual formats

No Revo cards...at all*

No chance of the event having to finish "off site" in a hotel room, Noodles and Co., street corner, Indianapolis Speedway, crack house etc...

Assurances that Antigoth, Creed, VelaCards, D2 and Daeva will attend.  


*I'm WELL aware that this isn't happening, but since I have no interest in the Revolution format (and own no cards), I'm not likely to play in a format that requires them.  I wish Revo (and its players) no ill will, but it is something that would make ME more likely to attend worlds.

[ZSlash]

I will likely attend worlds as long as it exists simply because I live in Indy and there is very little reason not to go enjoy some good old Raw Deal nostalgia with strangers / old friends.

That beings said...one of the biggest selling points of attending worlds...especially for those looking to get back into the game is that its IMO the best place to find all the cards you are missing or looking for in raw deal. Often you'll find several people that show up not to play, but with the sole purpose of offloading extra foils if not entire collections.

Just something to think about when considering getting back into the game / attending worlds.

[Daeva]

Assurances that Antigoth, Creed, VelaCards, D2 and Daeva will attend.  

Why on Earth would you want an assurance that -I- would attend? Don't I annoy you enough every month as it is?

[Prong1978]

Assurances that Antigoth, Creed, VelaCards, D2 and Daeva will attend.  

Why on Earth would you want an assurance that -I- would attend? Don't I annoy you enough every month as it is?

It makes me a little sad that you, Creed and Vela haven't been able to go to Gen-Con recently considering all of the work you put in on Raw Deal, and it would be fun to "get the gang together."

[Rio D]

For me really it was money, and I didn't want to embarrass myself with crappy tech...  But then my buddy thebear308 qualified with a deck I helped him on, so that made me feel better about my ability!  Maybe next year if I can save some funds (bought a house last year so things have been tight)

[Gasket]

Getting a solid deck together and paying down my credit card from this year's Gencon, which I hope are reasonable feats.

[unknown_soldier78]

The money is the biggest problem and most of the time I am on duty for most things. I also have a huge loosing streak cause I don't get to play raw deal enough undertakers streak has nothing on me and my loosing streak LOL. I am afraid to put my deck on here in case somebody was to tech against it. If I get better I would go to worlds.

[The Softcore Legend]

I'd like to see the world championships be a reflection of the current play environment and players.  Playing a format like non-Virtual All Axxess or tornado tag as a qualifier does not make sense to me.  These formats are outdated, stale, and in my opinion, broke as hell and NOT a good representation of what the RDPC has done to improve the game.

I'd like to see 5 formats:

Revolution Thursday at 12:00
Tornado Tag Thursday at 6:00
Classic (Qualifier) Friday at 12:00
Tag Team Friday at 6:00
All Axxess (Qualifier)  Saturday at 12:00

Then, SATURDAY NIGHT'S MAIN EVENT!!!
2013 RAW DEAL World Championship playoff Saturday at 6:00 pm (top 4 players of each quailifer plays, crown champion saturday night, commence to party with the champ.)

Sunday, say goodbye and leave.

All formats are Virtual.  The game continues to grow and breath with the new superstars, concepts, and players.  If something is unbalanced in a Tag Format, Banned lists are cool, Shenanigans cards are cool too.  

All Formats are represented, The 2 main formats are qualifiers, the rest are fun formats, so who cares if something slipped past playtesting the virtual cards.

Doesn't a big celebration party crowning the New Champ on Saturday night sound like more fun than doing it after the convention hall closes on Sunday?

Also since there are more non-qualifier tournaments, you could decide not to play in them if there is something else that you wish to see at the convention center.  GENCON is a pretty cool place, and I have only seen a tiny fraction of all that it has to offer.  Some of my best times at GENCON have been NOT playing Raw Deal.  I demoed Sentinals of the Multiverse over the con, and ended up buying the whole set.  AMAZING Game.  I would not have gotten to demo it had I played Raw Deal All Weekend.  I'd like to see Raw Deal available all weekend, but not required all weekend.

Another thing that I wish we had this year was a "HOME BASE".  An area where you could spread out a little bit and play side games, or different non-Raw Deal Games with your friends at the con.  We had 3 very cramped tables with everyone's bags and laptops, and cards, and drinks, and food, and ect... on top of them.  Not like the good old days where we had our own room.  or even a space in the dealer room.  Is there a free play area at GENCON?  I'd almost be up for staging some of the non-qualifiers there.  That way if you don't play, you could still hang out and check in on people.

A Larger turnout would be nice too...
Just my 2 cents...

[The Softcore Legend]

Another thought,

CRAZY, Exclusive, alternate art, stacks of cool promos ;)

[Turd Ferguson]

If worlds were held in Michigan that would make me be able to attend. The drive to Indy plus hotel costs is prohibitive to me.

[Rio D]

I would go for sure if it was in MI.  Where are you at Turd?  I'm in Grand Rapids, its just thebear308 and I here.

[wallister]

It's all about getting the time off. 

If you want to attract new players, allow proxies of CI cards to lower the cost of entry.

[TheGreatWhiteDope]

Another thing that I wish we had this year was a "HOME BASE".  An area where you could spread out a little bit and play side games, or different non-Raw Deal Games with your friends at the con.  We had 3 very cramped tables with everyone's bags and laptops, and cards, and drinks, and food, and ect... on top of them.  Not like the good old days where we had our own room.  or even a space in the dealer room.  Is there a free play area at GENCON?  I'd almost be up for staging some of the non-qualifiers there.  That way if you don't play, you could still hang out and check in on people.

Basically what you're looking at there is some sort of hotel lobby. There are about 2-3 hotels I can think of that have this size. One of which requires a keycard at night to work the elevator / use the stairs and the other is on the bottom floor but might have an attendant sitting to look for room kays...maybe. The second is far much more possible than the first.

Of course next year we could try to get Raw Deal into one of those conference rooms in one of the 5 hotel rooms that run things. Union Square (train station hotel) would be a good bet.

[monkey]

At first I thought that Classic and virtual Revo should be 2 of the 3 formats. But after further thought I think I would be ok if neither of those were not formats. I personally love Revo..but it is the thing that killed the game so I understand that's it's the least popular format. And with Classic I realy do think you just need to add the back stage cards to your deck and you are ready to go! So I think I would be OK with Virtual Classic,Virtual AA.

As for what would draw me/ppl I know:

1. Open Champs with a custom belt/I Pad level prize
2. A bundle of virtual cards needed to turn your old decks into virtual. like 1 file of the most used virtual cards.
3. Only 3 formats
4. It being held on the Friday, If it's Sat or Sun it's a no go.

[ponder505]

Wanting to go to Worlds isn't the issue. It's pretty much exclusively that I can't afford either the time off or the cash investment to get from Philly to Indy.

One of these years, I'll make it happen somehow, but it's just not feasible at the moment.

[monkey]

Closer to me can start a transportation/hotel thread! maybe if we can work together on lowering the cost of the trip more ppl could go!

[piperspitt]

For me, going to Indianapolis creates no interest. I liked the old days when worlds was at Wrestlemania so the vacation wasn't only about Raw Deal. I'd play in the LCQ, go to Wrestlemania, and then catch opening day of the Angels, White Sox, Tigers etc. Plus, there is more interesting stuff to see and do in Seattle, New York, LA, Chicago, Detroit.

[originaldeadman88]

The biggest for my area is no qualifiers around here. Granted not a lot of people play consistently any more but if there was a qualifier near here I'm sure people would play again.

[Suicidal_Sephiroth]

I personally also enjoy just hanging out at GenCon and checking out stuff, possibly cosplaying while I play in the tourney "bit out of shape to cosplay Sephiroth anymore without shaming myself or him" but what would make me the most excited to do is have more cordination when it comes to getting the tco group together, like 3-4 months ahead of time we all pick which hotel to go to for the convention and most of the play group goes to that hotel so after the tournament is over we can hang out in the lobby or float around in the pool and talk about raw deal or just whatever. That's what I would really enjoy.

[JDub]

Reason I haven't been to GenCon in 6 years is time/money. If I went I would have played Raw Deal.

But I think some people may be afraid because of the Virtual Cards. I never payed attention to them because no one around here played anymore so I never had a reason too. There are probably a lot of people in that same position and feel like they don't know the meta, how the Virtual stuff actually works, etc so they don't bother going or playing RD at GenCon. Like I said if I would have went to GenCon I would have played RD regardless just to be able to play again but I can see why others would not.

As far as next year goes I'm really going to try and make it to GenCon. For HeroClix mainly, but we have had some players locally get back into RD and we started having tournaments every few months so my interest in playing the game is growing again because I actually get to play! And an open World Championship would make me even more interested in playing because trying to play in Qualifiers and balancing other games kind of sucks. Otherwise you have to set time aside to play in Qualifiers and also have a back up plan for something to do if you don't qualify for Worlds. It makes it less likely that I would play in qualifiers, unless I had the time, just because I don't want to take time away from other stuff just to possibly get the chance to play in Worlds.