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Here's my view on the LVGT:

Rules questions: (of which there were few) the staff were on the money and on time. Part of this is the advent of 5th edition and part of this is...well, it appears only the good judges were brought in. A very wise decision by GW.

Time. Things were a little late, but should not be. It didn't really affect anything, but asking everyone to show up at 8:30 for meaningless announcements then not 'starting' until 9:20 isn't really a good thing.

Food. Finally, a GT that served food you can EAT. Didn't cause the runs, filled you up, was a balanced meal...and that includes the box lunch. Costs were a bit high, but here is my 2 cents: CHARGE WHAT YOU NEED TO TO COVER IT DAVE! I will gladly pay an extra 20 bucks to get taken care of so well. Oh, and more Roast Beef sandwiches next year...I got done early so I got one of like twenty boxes lol.

Painting. So now that you have the rules judging in hand, you need to get the painting done better next time around. All weekend long, you were calling out about getting armies paint judged. Please for the love of mike, TRAIN people to be the paint judge. Stop sending people out by themselves, always send out two or three judges together to judge armies and give an AVERAGE score. What you are doing now is called weighting. One judge might like something more than another, but what is on the CHECKLIST is all that matters. That was definitely not done this past weekend. It's the only place I can wonder who was scoring what armies. It would be nice if the checklist score for painting (what you did or did not do) was placed somewhere for people to review after the tournament. Not so people can complain (and I know they will) but so they can at least see what they did wrong. I think a judges painting table and a queue system for players to bring their army to be judged would also work. It's not like you don't have the capability to know exactly when two players are done early and call them over to a centralized judging area immediately, ya know.

Announcements. FYI, no one in the back half of the hall could make out what you were saying. Do not make announcements during the games. Write them down, and make them once all game play (or 95% of it) has ceased. Please, no more RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE. The front half of the hall can hear you, and it HURTS.

Dice Cheating: Please, you have got to do something about big dice. I mean the ones that are 4x the size of normal dice. People pick them up an inch, and drop them. They don't roll them. I didn't face any opponents who tried that bs during the tournament, but I did during the doubles tournament. Yes, I too can make AMAZING saves if I use dice a casino would have me thrown in jail for using and rolling the way people do in GT's. You have to do something about it.

Personally I'd ask that you do this: As part of the cost of the event (yes, I am saying raise it, we can all afford another 20 bucks), and as a RULE of the event, you provide a measuring device and dice of one color (not one commonly used) and prohibit players from using anything else. GW scatter/artillery dice also, as needed. One color for fantasy, one color for 40k. Then let's see how well people really do without their cheating tools.

Terrain: Better than before, by a long shot. Thank you for removing the lava tables. Really. The new terrain was quite a bit better and there was alot more of it than the usual 5 pieces. Very well done. However can you maybe make some rules to help terrain stay where it should?
Extra table space is very hard to come by, but if you could please do any of the following it would be awesome:

1) Ban large display tables. Holy crap, it's so stupid...a 3x3 board means ALL the terrain gets moved around. Then it has to be moved back, and funny how the terrain that was placed properly to give everyone cover suddenly doesn't. Give them a place to put their board, but if it's over a certain size it needs to be clearly told to players that they will have to put it to the side.
1x2 should be the maximum size, since you often don't have to move 5 pieces of terrain to place it.

2) Provide an extra chair for every table to put armies on.

3) When the terrain is messed up, put in the rules that players should not place the terrain but a judge should. Last year I wouldn't have said this because there were alot of nincompoops, but this year the judging staff was very high quality.

That's it on that subject. Please, no more display boards larger than the gaming table sitting on it, ok? lol Make the terrain something judges should move, not players.

Judges: I only noticed a little bit of this, but despite knowing who you are and who the regulars are...you need to be judges first and friends second, not the other way around. Any hint of familiarity and friendliness can be (and was) construed as unfair by other players, ESPECIALLY new players.

Awards: This is just a minor fail, but please...stop letting TWO awards go to ONE person. Spread the love around. One trophy is really enough for one person at one event. It's OK to say you can't win two. I do it all the time, because players hate it.

Overall: This was far better than last year and I'd say was probably the best one I've been to in at least eight years. Please raise the prices as needed to cover the event. The cost of the event is NOT what is going to keep people from coming, even 200$ is still quite low and reasonable. Paid alot more to get there, eat there, and stay there. Trust me, Vegas ain't cheap and neither is our hobby! lol

Technology: I don't know what system you guys are using for scoring, but I wager it needs improvement. I think if you did what other major tournaments do (outside of our hobby) you'd be in much better shape. Have a client view screen. It won't show everything, just what the players scores are to the players. They agree, and they get entered immediately, and the players leave. Make players wait if you have to to turn in their scores, so there aren't any mistakes made.

Scoring: The scoring system wasn't that great. Alot of the bonus objectives didn't really fit. Kill points are an epic failure. I suggested on Dakka and on my blog that it should be D3+2 units are the 'kill point' units, troops first. The game flows really well with objectives (5 of them) but not so much with kill points...because players stop playing the game and instead kill the weakest enemy unit first. This is a legacy of 4th edition, please kill it. It has needed to die for the longest time...it's the exact same thing as VP's in the old system. Now you skip 'what's worth more' and just kill what is easiest to kill. Lame, and not fun. Also, the capture and control mission doesn't work well in tournaments. It's too easy to abuse just two objectives. Mech can shock you off it with a last turn grab, and that too is a 4th edition effect that should be killed. It would make the mission quite a bit better if there was always a 3rd objective placed in the exact center of the table on those missions. You DO want players to mix it up in the middle of the board, and having that 3rd objective is the only thing that will force it. The 5 objective missions were the most fun AND the most challenging. I think that says alot, especially coming from me--jaded tournament player.

Personal: I'd like to give a big shout out to Clay, who gets my vote for favorite judge this year. He seemed to always be on the ball, and was always pleasant. All of the judges were like this, but Clay stood out. Chris and Dave are always nice. Thank you again Dave for providing John with a tape measure when his blew up.

Store: The store was nice, and watching you give out the Space Marine books was also nice...but, if you'd had those books on sale for mucho $$$ you'd have gotten alot of sales. Yes, it's legal. Yes, I'd have bought one. Even for 100 bucks. The joy of the store USED to be you could get bits AND early releases. Well, bits are pretty much gone. Early releases need to come back. Else, you might as well save the expense of running it. Please think about that, it'd be real nice to have something exciting to get at the GT's again.

Place: Oh and is there any other venue in Vegas that is smoke free? I don't know if the Wyndham has a space but I loved staying there. The smoke environment is horrible when you leave the hall. Just a pet peeve, I'm horribly allergic to it and it was killing me. lol

Thanks for running such a great event, fellas. I have alot to say, but this year was really one of the best in many many years.

Thank you again Dave for providing John with a tape measure when his blew up.

can you or john provide a video? gotta see this

Oh and is there any other venue in Vegas that is smoke free?

objection.
not all people mind, just the ones with intact lungs.

what is it these days with allergies?
open a packet of peanuts and every person in a 2 mile radious drops dead.

lol!

You can always go smoke outside.

Don't get me started on the drunk bumpkins getting drunk while playing...not a good thing, forgot to mention it. lol

Maybe Dave has pictures of the tape measure, I don't sadly didn't think to take any. lol

:O
how F'in dare you
thats right, throw us out side in the rain lol
ill request an outside table if i ever go, preferably with a nice slim blonde judge, whats the chances they will?

and whats wrong with drinking? i'd say the smell of beer is better than the smell of some fat guy next to you.
(no offence to anyone on the chunky side, weather its either big boned or glanduler, you still tipping the scales)

exploding tape, might be a power point idea XD

You're obviously closer but in my more halcyon days I remembered the casinos being full of smoke, except for the non-smoking rooms.

and whats wrong with drinking? i'd say the smell of beer is better than the smell of some fat guy next to you.
(no offence to anyone on the chunky side, weather its either big boned or glanduler, you still tipping the scales)

I vote for cocktail waitresses also. Nothin like whiskey and 40K then it won't matter who wins or loses and everyone gets high sportsman scores. Then that same fat guy doesn't stink anymore and doesn't look half. On second thought after about 20 drinks that is.

you could drink at the gaming table? I should have gone. a good scotch and a cigar 40k at its finest

lol, ok, thats 2 for the waitress idea, we need a petition (sp?)
and i need to learn to spell.
and whiskey aslong as its jack daniels.

fat guys should be placed under the air con units to save everyone else.

The Alamo Indy GT (for Warhammer) has beer wenches. It's not outside the realm of possibility.

Stelek wrote:Thank you for removing the lava tables.

I've never been to a GT, so what is/was the issue with the lava tables?

They made hobbyists stop coming to the GT's, first and foremost.

They are horrible boards to have to play on.

First off, there's no real terrain and certainly none that blocked LOS in 4th.

Second, there is a huge lava river in the middle of the board that is difficult terrain (that's...6-9" across).

Three, when you roll dice...they all fall into it and you can't see them all.

Fourth, when you move your figs inside it or go to get your dice, the edges hurt your hands.

I've only played on them once during round 1 at Baltimore years ago, but it was so horrible an experience I vowed to never repeat it.

Gotcha. I thought there might have been some sort of special rule regarding the lava that was the issue.

Well yes actually there usually was.

Any units that failed a difficult terrain test lost a model.

Tanks and MC would die.

See, lots of fun.

I can see how that would start become aggravating real quick!

Well they existed for...six years? Something like that.

Stelek wrote:Well they existed for...six years? Something like that.

Well, this is GW we are talking about. That's usually about how long it takes them to get the hint that the community doesn't like something, right?

Sigh. Yes. I hope that changes, Dave really does seem to be much more 'on the ball' these days. It's like...he cares.

Oh, no! It's the Apocalypse! Someone at GW actually cares what the community thinks. lol

Wasn't it also the case that the lower placed players would be stuck on the lava boards, so if you were doing badly, then got shunted to a lava board, and that screwed you up even more, then you'd still be stuck on the lava board for the next game?

BYE

I seem to remember when they first hit the scene (like 2003 maybe?) that you rolled a d6 for all models crossing the lava, and on a 1 they took a wound - saves allowed. I seem to remember losing lots of orks into one chasm.

Stelek wrote:Thank you for removing the lava tables. Really.

Hearing that makes me so very happy.

The lava boards were around for years, though the rules were tweaked multiple times. The last few years I believe the lava rivers were just difficult terrain, and the rock templates were difficult and area terrain. Which meant that there was a good amount of cover on the table, but way too much Difficult. The molded rivers were a pain to roll dice and move models over, since they covered so much of the table. Naturally each type of table is usually in a big section with other tables just like it, because logistically that makes the tables easier to set up and tear down, especially with distributing all the modular terrain pieces that match the appropriate tables. If the lava tables were down at one end and tables were assigned based on placement, you could definitely get stuck on them.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Wasn't it also the case that the lower placed players would be stuck on the lava boards, so if you were doing badly, then got shunted to a lava board, and that screwed you up even more, then you'd still be stuck on the lava board for the next game?

BYE

Afraid so.

The GT in my experience was great as well, thanks Dave for taking the time to hear all of the different thoughts, complaints, and suggestions.

As far as Stelek's thoughts on cost I agree, if I have already ponied up $150 for a ticket plus $500 for an army, plus the time and energy to convert/paint it, plus travel & lodging, $20-30 more for dice or whatever is no big deal I had never been to a GT before so I have no frame of reference, but I will be a regular attendee of the LVGT in years to come.

As far as the space for armies not on tables goes, our FLGS has a 2 foot section at the end of every table for people to place their armies on, this is great and would only really increase the space needed for tables by about 25%.

At one of the big WHFB tourneys in Oz we have a 'beer wench' (a late teens early twenties bar worker) who brings drinks to the tables.

Waaagh_Gonads wrote:At one of the big WHFB tourneys in Oz we have a 'beer wench' (a late teens early twenties bar worker) who brings drinks to the tables.

On a six figure salary no doubt. Y'know - hazard pay and all that.

BYE