Hey everybody! Adam, from TFG Radio, here to talk about 40K, or some such thing.
I’ve run a lot of events over the years. They have ranged from small 6/8 man events to one of the largest events in the world. No matter what they involve some time and effort in order get them doing. Things do not always go smoothly and emergencies do come up. Luckily they are not like threatening but they are still moments of anxiety as you go about spinning the plates that is your event. The popularity of the ITC means that you can find an event almost anywhere. Well, at least once most of us are allowed outside to play. This also brings some amount of pressure for both the player and the organizer as people contend for prizes and placings within the ITC.
Whispering in your ear
I was an early adopter of the ITC at my local store. I had talked to the manager at the time about using the ITC format and the probable benefits to do so with very little drawback. Our tournaments had more attendance so we decided to try to run our own grand tournament. That year we had 56 players show up. Two people shy of being classed as a major. I’m not going to lie, I was very tempted to register a couple of people off the street or call in a couple of players that I know lived close by in order to make that mark. it would have been so nice to hit that mark in our first year, especially since there were not that many major worldwide at that time. This wasn’t the first time something like this has come up for me. There have been regular RTTs that had a low turnout and couldn’t be counted for the ITC because of that. Again, I was tempted to maybe bring in just about anybody so we could hit those numbers but in the end didn’t do it. There are also the times where judge calls or decisions need to be made and it will affect the outcome of someone you know and like or someone you do not like. The temptation to rule in your buddy’s favor or against someone you may not like is almost always there, even if that is for a fraction of a second.
Get behind me, Satan
So why did I not just add the people? Why didn’t I help a buddy out or “punish” someone with a reputation? As corny as it sounds, I don’t do these things because I actually care about the integrity of my events, as I hope all organizers do. This will help with both your reputation and the reputation of the event/store. Sometimes it’s hard to maintain this, sometimes it’s easy. In the first example it was an easy choice. The organizers of the ITC actually attend my event so it’s kind of hard to do something like that with the bosses there. In the other examples, you don’t want to give the player with a reputation more reason to think people are “out to get him”. And it really comes down as who you are, at least in the world of competitive 40K. It is really easy to just do it because “No one is looking” and 9 times out of 10 you are right, but that usually applies to RTTs. If you are running a grand tournament, assume that you are always being watched because you are. there are people who look at tournament results and games all the time. Mainly to keep up with how people are doing during the tournament. However, if something seems odd or out of place they will let people know. In case you haven’t noticed many players are in a number of different groups so word gets around fairly quickly. It is always best to just let the chips fall where they may and make the best decisions for your event in a way that doesn’t look questionable to the outside viewer. Keeping this in mind will hopefully keep you out of trouble. Nobody wants to be banned from something they enjoy. In the end it is just imaginary points in a game of war dollies, or what my late grandmother used to describe as “monitos”.
That’s all for this week. Hope you enjoyed the article. Let me know what you think, and examples of people being less than honest or showing integrity at tournaments, in the comments section below. Don’t forget to visit our Facebook, Twitch, and Patreon pages to stay up to date on what we’re up to and when episodes drop!
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