Linkrkc
[10] Knight
I'm normally pretty forgiving of issues on the organizer side, and I admit being sick the entire weekend may have colored my view of the event, but this was likely my last Final Round.
My experience ... I ended up having my pool assignment shuffled more than once. Each time, I was given the impression that my pool was the next to be run, so obviously I'm not going to wander off. I only know I was moved around because I would sneak looks at the bracket or ask someone else who just saw it. The staff did allow us to see eventually, but near the beginning they basically said, "If we didn't call you for a match, go away." How are we supposed to know what pool we're in if we can't see? Especially considering one of the main rules posted was to be at your assigned pool or risk disqualification.
When my pool started, I played most of my matches in a reasonable time period. However, once I lost to Omega in winners finals, I had to wait for the losers bracket to finish. This wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that the entire bracket was held up by one guy for multiple hours. I'm not sure there was ever any intention of DQ'ing him, but interestingly enough, as soon as the missing player showed up, his opponent (Hates, who had gotten tired of waiting and stepped out) suddenly was on a "two minutes to DQ" clock.
Final Round did have a good amount of stations (12, in four tables of three), but about half of them weren't even used by the time it got to my pool. Yet they threatened to kick us out for trying to stay warmed up by playing casuals during our long wait. So, I had to just stand there looking at six unused stations for four hours. I could understand if they were still trying to run the tournament, but as far as I could tell no other pools were going on.
The "highlight" for me was getting shoved by what I presume was a staff member (unless they let just anyone transport the tournament monitors, in which case disregard this paragraph). There wasn't much room to walk, so what people did was make single file lines and follow each other, like first graders going to the cafeteria. I was in one of these lines, walking forward when I could, when I felt a nudge. I thought, okay, it's cramped, no big deal. Then I felt a hand on my back and was forcefully pushed; I actually stumbled forward a step, almost hitting the guy in front of me. I turn and glare at the guy the guy behind me and say, "Really?!" He quickly shuffles past me, avoiding eye contact. I know the staff has a lot of volunteers, but be more selective in the future. Actions like that reflect poorly on the entire event.
Really, the only good things to come from that weekend were that I was able to put faces to some of the new screen names I've seen around and that I got to see a lot of the old ones again. Atlanta always has strong competition and knows how to bring the hype, and I hope to see you guys more often. It just won't be at Final Round.
My experience ... I ended up having my pool assignment shuffled more than once. Each time, I was given the impression that my pool was the next to be run, so obviously I'm not going to wander off. I only know I was moved around because I would sneak looks at the bracket or ask someone else who just saw it. The staff did allow us to see eventually, but near the beginning they basically said, "If we didn't call you for a match, go away." How are we supposed to know what pool we're in if we can't see? Especially considering one of the main rules posted was to be at your assigned pool or risk disqualification.
When my pool started, I played most of my matches in a reasonable time period. However, once I lost to Omega in winners finals, I had to wait for the losers bracket to finish. This wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that the entire bracket was held up by one guy for multiple hours. I'm not sure there was ever any intention of DQ'ing him, but interestingly enough, as soon as the missing player showed up, his opponent (Hates, who had gotten tired of waiting and stepped out) suddenly was on a "two minutes to DQ" clock.
Final Round did have a good amount of stations (12, in four tables of three), but about half of them weren't even used by the time it got to my pool. Yet they threatened to kick us out for trying to stay warmed up by playing casuals during our long wait. So, I had to just stand there looking at six unused stations for four hours. I could understand if they were still trying to run the tournament, but as far as I could tell no other pools were going on.
The "highlight" for me was getting shoved by what I presume was a staff member (unless they let just anyone transport the tournament monitors, in which case disregard this paragraph). There wasn't much room to walk, so what people did was make single file lines and follow each other, like first graders going to the cafeteria. I was in one of these lines, walking forward when I could, when I felt a nudge. I thought, okay, it's cramped, no big deal. Then I felt a hand on my back and was forcefully pushed; I actually stumbled forward a step, almost hitting the guy in front of me. I turn and glare at the guy the guy behind me and say, "Really?!" He quickly shuffles past me, avoiding eye contact. I know the staff has a lot of volunteers, but be more selective in the future. Actions like that reflect poorly on the entire event.
Really, the only good things to come from that weekend were that I was able to put faces to some of the new screen names I've seen around and that I got to see a lot of the old ones again. Atlanta always has strong competition and knows how to bring the hype, and I hope to see you guys more often. It just won't be at Final Round.
