Feedback for The Solent 40,000 Challenge 2011
I am writing this the Monday after the event, having just read all the feedback forms and thread posts. I aim to take all your feedback on board and incorporate improvements for the next event.
Terrain
Thank you for the comments about the quality and variety of the boards and terrain, a good set up can make or break a game for me. For this event four more boards were added with line of sight blocking terrain (larger than 4”) and more scatter added. I am building more LOS blockers but unfortunately they do take a lot of time to make and are hard to store. Some boards were deliberately denser with terrain than others, but eventually every board should be the same standard.
Food
All gamers asked that food should not be included in the price. Fast and pub food was asked for, and most players said they would buy food if it was an option. One player asked for fruit to be available, this wouldn’t be practical although I am happy to arrange all special dietary requests . The table service proved to be popular. One player asked for drinks to be included in the price, but this wouldn’t be possible without a price increase.
Judges
Thank you for the feedback that the judges were polite, easy to find and approachable.
Timings
After last years feedback that players did not have enough time to finish games, timings were changed to allow 2.5 hours per game. There were still complaints that gamers did not finish games in time. With the extended timings there is not enough time between games to allow players any extra time. In future if players think they will over run with time they are to call a judge over. It was found that the annihilation missions were all finished within 2 hours, if this is the second mission on each day then another half hour can be added to lunch. Feedback also suggested that tighter timings are wanted.
1st Round Match Ups
Players have had strong feelings about this both ways. My concern is that a lot of the match ups were friends and played each other regularly. Next year a league will be used for the first two rounds, the highest ranked players in league 1 and those below in league 2. Match ups will then be random for the first round, and swiss chess for the second within the league. For round three onwards both leagues will come together and swiss chess will decide match ups.
Venue
The hall is crowded with 40 people in it, and does heat up fast. The owner has no intention of installing air conditioning. An effort will be made to improve circulation with the use of fans but this will not remove much heat. Players may be asked to vacate the hall between rounds.
Organisation
There are plans to purchase a projector so players don’t have to struggle to see the white board.
Price
Players were happy with the price, although one player did say it was overpriced. The event is priced competitively, and the money made goes back into improving future events.
The Future
The structure of the tournament is sound, but with a little more investment can pull the quality level so much higher.
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