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I normally don't go to events that I can't fly to, but I might go.

 Reecius wrote:
@Janthkin

Are the tickets not refundable? If so, that stinks and you should definitely reach out to them or the airline to see if an exception can be made in the event the tournament is cancelled.

Of course not; nobody offers refundable tickets (unless you pay a premium to get them). If you're REALLY lucky, they'll convert an unusable ticket into credit (which is standard practice at Southwest, but unlikely everywhere else).

I know this isn't directly in your control, Reece, but it's really poor form on their part, and it's behavior you should guard against in future contracts with similar events. If your attendees can't count on the event actually occurring, it's a lot harder to commit to attending early in the booking process (which is when you want people to commit).

@Blackmoor

Well, it's piss or get off the pot time my friend, if you want to go, get the ticket today. It is a zero risk venture, if it falls through, you get your money back. So, if you think you're going, grab the ticket like, now, please.

@Janthkin

I fully understand. And I am sorry, genuinely. However, we have been promoting the event every single week, multiple times a week since tickets went up for sale, we have definitely done our due diligence. Gamers by their nature tend to procrastinate and in this case it may bite us all in the ass.

Our goal is to eventually control all of our events top to bottom so that we are not at the mercy of any other decision makers. However, we don't have the money to start multiple GTs at once, it is simply too expensive. In order to keep the community strong and have lots of events to go to, we work with other companies and piggy back on their events. The alternative is that we all have less events to go to which I don't think anyone wants to see happen.

That said, a provision in future contracts to prevent cancellation is something I think we will most certainly consider strongly.

I'm in. Floor space me

 Janthkin wrote:

 Reecius wrote:
@Janthkin

Are the tickets not refundable? If so, that stinks and you should definitely reach out to them or the airline to see if an exception can be made in the event the tournament is cancelled.

Of course not; nobody offers refundable tickets (unless you pay a premium to get them). If you're REALLY lucky, they'll convert an unusable ticket into credit (which is standard practice at Southwest, but unlikely everywhere else).

That is why I love Southwest Airlines. Not only do bags fly free, but If something comes up I can just cancel and get credit. Most airlines charge $70 cancel/change fee.

It looks like I will not be going to any of the East Coast tournaments on Veterans day, so I will buy a ticket tonight when I get home.

@Cooper and Blackmoor

Awesome, thanks guys! That would be rad if we can throw up a hail marry here and make it happen! I have been texting people all morning to get them moving.

And coop, you can crash with us for sure, buddy.

Ticket bought. Let's keep this awesome event alive!

Tickets are still up for sale today, so it looks good so far. I talked to the VP last night and he said as long as they saw a spike in sales they wouldn't cancel it tomorrow.

So, it appears you can still buy tickets today, don't wait!

@Nick

Thanks, buddy!

I think it's pretty bogus that they are setting this quick of an expectation when they didn't even have the ticket sales available for a period of time.

@lajollagrad I completely agree with you. The tickets for this event didn't even show up on their website until about a month ago so I'm not sure why they would be getting so butthurt about an event not selling out that quickly. There was also a period of days AFTER they showed up on the site that they mysteriously disappeared! Also, Games Workshop is getting SO MUCH free advertising from the guys at Frontline Gaming. Cough...Cough...Prize Support...

On a side note I'm going for worst record for the third year in a row.

I hope this goes through. Comikaze is on my events for next year.

Well, tickets are still up for sale on the site and I have not heard any bad news (nor any good news) yet, but as soon as they get in touch with me I will let you guys know.

And yeah, the administration on this was less than stellar, IMO, but, our event is just one cog in a huge wheel.

@hotsauceman1

Haha, well if it is on your event schedule, get your ticket ASAP, please don't wait to see what happens. Your money will get refunded if it is cancelled as they told us.

Still no word guys, I am just waiting to hear form them as today was the deadline. As soon as I have info, I will pass it along.

I'm guessing based on the title, that you heard back? What could they possibly sub in this late (only 1 month to go till the event) that will garner higher attendance?

That sucks pretty bad... I'll be interested in knowing if you do have a clause in future contracts, as for those with travel plans (Janthkin) it's especially unfortunate... and costly.

No cancellation clause but honestly, we're taking anyone to court. It is a bummer and we are pretty disappointed but the attendance numbers just weren't there. What can you do?

Jathkin, you may still want to go to the Con on its own if you can't cancel, it's a super fun event even without 40K. But yes, that is crappy, I feel for you.

That sucks. Never good to lose events and have people be inconvenienced due to pre-arranged travel. Just had a similar thing happen to me when the Rose City Rumble got cancelled.

 RiTides wrote:
I'm guessing based on the title, that you heard back? What could they possibly sub in this late (only 1 month to go till the event) that will garner higher attendance?

That sucks pretty bad... I'll be interested in knowing if you do have a clause in future contracts, as for those with travel plans (Janthkin) it's especially unfortunate... and costly.

Perhaps they already have an event in mind to replace the 40k. That would explain their eagerness to can the tournament.

It would seem so... "eager" is a pretty apt description of their process of cancellation...

 Reecius wrote:
No cancellation clause but honestly, we're taking anyone to court. It is a bummer and we are pretty disappointed but the attendance numbers just weren't there. What can you do?

Jathkin, you may still want to go to the Con on its own if you can't cancel, it's a super fun event even without 40K. But yes, that is crappy, I feel for you.

Just out of curiosity, what was their target number for pre-registration for the tournament? Just wondering if they thought hundreds would turn up like it was a MtG qualifier or something.

Aw balls. I was looking forward to this. No idea why ComiKaze staff were being pushy, but I'm sure they had their reasons. The LACC is an expensive venue to rent out, after all. I'll be talking with the ComiKaze people I know to try and get the full scoop.

If we were able to find a venue in LA (or san diego!) would it make sense to still put on an event?

We considered looking at Game Empire Pasadena to keep it going but with this little amount of time, it would be setting ourselves up for failure.

The staff didn't want to cancel, actually, they kept giving me more time to try and get people motivated but people didn't buy tickets, there's really nothing more we can say about that, honestly.

They wanted to see 34 sold by now, 64 at the event. Not unrealistic at all. It stinks as we had plans based around keeping Comikaze in our stable of events and of course, people were planning on going and now they can't which is a big time bummer.

We still plan on having a Southern California event, but for now, it is going to have to go on hold.

I don't know... giving an event a 1-week ultimatum (and having that basically passed on by yourself to players to "buy now or never") wasn't cool of whoever made the call. To quote your post earlier:

Reecius wrote:Yes I mean this week. There was a mix up with the web page and people couldn't find where to buy the tickets. So, the Comikaze administration thought tickets were moving too slowly. I explained the situation, the site is fixed now, but they want to see significant tickets sell this week.

So, in order to avoid further confusion, anyone who is able please be sure to buy your ticket this week. It would be a serious benefit for everyone planning on attending.

If there was a mixup and thus people couldn't buy tickets previously, you can't blame the players. Not everyone can up and pay for a GT with only a week's notice...

I don't know where the ball got dropped, but it got dropped hard, and people like Janthkin are left with plane tickets to an event that no longer exists with less than a month to go!

If there was an issue with ticket sales, there should have been a push by Comikaze (and thus yourself) with much more notice than 1-week to get registrations up to quota... imo, of course.

IMO its very bad form for an organization like this to do. They advertised and signed contracts. They made the decision and if they lost money, O well that's life, don't do it next year (live and learn). Especially one month out from the event. It comes off more flakey then anything and doesn't set a good precedent for people they might want to do business with in the future. Like money is more important than obligation or reputation (unless they stated in the contract they could cancel at any time, in that case that's your bad) but its basically putting any potential loss back on to a minority customer base and a vender to absorb.

That sucks Hard. It is absolutely their fault and they are blaming the players? It is just stupid.

Ah Bummer, well hopefully game empire then next year! Or emerald knights in burbank!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Maybe there needs to be like a tournament kickstarter or something where you can see if there is enough interest in running an event before having to commit more?

Either way you can count me in either a last minute southern cali tournament or one next year!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Or maybe instead you go for a generic "tournament ticket" that people can buy and then apply it any of your events.

It might make things more flexible for you guys so that ticket numbers arnt necessarily tied to one event, and you could start doing stuff like discount packs for lots of tournies... or what have you.

Largo39 wrote:
emerald knights in burbank!

Good to know their still open. Since the last grenadier closed down I haven't had much incentive to head out to Burbank unless I go to Porto's.

Well, that blows giant donkey balls.
See ya at the BAO.

So are you getting a full refund for all$70? And when will that be issued?

Lame the event is cancelled.

 RiTides wrote:
If there was a mixup and thus people couldn't buy tickets previously, you can't blame the players. Not everyone can up and pay for a GT with only a week's notice...

I don't know where the ball got dropped, but it got dropped hard, and people like Janthkin are left with plane tickets to an event that no longer exists with less than a month to go!

If there was an issue with ticket sales, there should have been a push by Comikaze (and thus yourself) with much more notice than 1-week to get registrations up to quota... imo, of course.

Comikaze also hasn't done squat to notify those of use who purchased tickets for the event that it has been canceled. Plenty of spammy emails from them, but none of them mention "BTW, we canceled your event."

Amateurish at best. They've managed to annoy me. Nothing the ticket purchase agreement (which is a contract between Comikaze and me) gives them the right to unilaterally cancel the event, and I've taken actions in reliance upon this contract. At a minimum, I'm going to give them some grief; at most, I'll file a small claims suit for the cancellation fee from my plane tickets, my Comikaze ticket, and my wife's.

Reccius wrote:Jathkin, you may still want to go to the Con on its own if you can't cancel, it's a super fun event even without 40K. But yes, that is crappy, I feel for you.

No Reece, I'm not going to go enjoy a show that has screwed around with my plans in this fashion.

I am sure they are thinking that a few more ex Hooters waitresses dressed up as anime characters will draw more traffic than the miniatures crows. They might be right, but cancelling a month out is pretty much actionable in ways Janth has stated. Bare minimum, they should front for change/cancellation fees on your airline ticket and full refund on con tickets. Reece can't say anything negative about the situation, because of his business position and stake in this, but that does not necessarily stop the rest of you guys from flinging a few well placed turds in public forums about how this was handled.