alepulp
Underboss
1536 Posts
    
Manchester, England
 | | 04/13/2006 9:53 AM |
| | Without slander or such as, what is the "thing" with the Tampa Crew? There are a lot of highly DCI rated players there? | |
One of these days WoTC will update their tournament page when I'm in the top 5... they never seem to do when I'm in that bracket :(
My Collection My DDM Website And My Trade Refs Be a part of the UK DDM Forum
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Hero of Skirmish
doubtofbuddha
Commander
3371 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 9:59 AM |
| They seemed to be nice enough guys the few times I met them.
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I am not gone. | |
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Wrackspawn
ChristopherGroves
Warlord
6093 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 10:06 AM |
| Some time ago (six months?) they started holding DCI tournaments multiple times a week. Four or so events a week with at least one/week hitting 30 or so players regularly. With that kind of frequency of play, some players jumped to huge DCI rating amounts.
Then the ... inconsitencies started happening.
First, the community kind of reached out to them to get them to participate on-line. Some of them jumped on here even and discussed some strategy questions, etc. This lead to one of their players (the #1 player in the world) dropping the "Gaze all day" band on the boards as his super-secret win-all kind of band. He passionately believed that his Medusa-led band could not be defeated (and this was recent ... with Chraals, Maruts, Helmed Horrors, Archmages, etc. running around). Obviously, folks began to question their real skill in relation to their DCI rankings.
Second, some folks had already seen some oddities w/ the DCI reports. There appeared to be two Ryan Michaliskis (or however his name is spelled) ... and in addition to being the new #1 player in the world he also seemed to be the Tournament Organizer for the bulk of the vents.
Third, folks from Orlando went to Tampa to play in some events. Short version ... all the Orlando folks won ... and mysteriously those events have never been reported to DCI (and the amount of DCI events reported has dropped off dramatically since).
Fourth, they withdrew from the online community. Save for the occasional post in the tournament forum announcing a monthly event, SilverDragonGames (who is Ryan Michalski) have dropped out of online participation.
You can draw your own conclusions from this. They have never responded to anyone in the community about the missing DCI events, the inconsitencies, etc. Before the non-reporting occurred there were already questions about the legitimacy of their events and reporting. | |
Triangle DDM Skirmish Group | My Email | 45-ish trades and counting | Stuff for Trade
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johnny.quest
Underboss
1344 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 10:09 AM |
| | I missed the whole thing, as my participation lessened during the off season. | | | |
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PatEllis15
Commander
4462 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 10:14 AM |
| Interestingly enough SilverDragonGames has once again posted notices in the Tournament forum for upcoming events. He was asked there about the missing reports, and he continues to bump his thread back to the top for people to see without any response to the question.
Pat E | |
"Games evolve. Otherwise we'd still be pushing rocks around the dirt. What do you think the cavemen said when some dude showed up with sticks?" - Chairman7w | |
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Wrackspawn
ChristopherGroves
Warlord
6093 Posts
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kgradert13
Sergeant
909 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 10:19 AM |
| | And only limited events..... | |
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johnny.quest
Underboss
1344 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 10:24 AM |
| | Would it be improper to respond to those postings with just the known facts? | | | |
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Hero of Skirmish
doubtofbuddha
Commander
3371 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 10:25 AM |
| | Actually its his brother, Marc Michalski, that has two ids and is listed as a tournament organizer, not Ryan. | |
I am not gone. | |
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lynchpt
Sergeant
926 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 10:30 AM |
| Peter,
Check for an email from me.
Regarding the Marc Michalski playing/TO discrepancy: as DCI understands it, there are two different Marc Michalskis (related). One of them owns the store and serves as TO, while the other plays.
Pat Lynch | |
Dreamblade Rules Advisor | |
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Avatar of the Tank
Newtoncain
Commander
2984 Posts
Land of 10,000 taxes
| | 04/13/2006 10:42 AM |
| | I left him a kind message on his thread. | |
They just don't know what's good in life...Conan, tell them what is good in life.
To rip the boosters. To count the minis spilled out before you, and to hear the indifference of the women... | |
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Ack
Underboss
1476 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 10:44 AM |
| | I know that we are all aware of this.. but is there nothing that OP can do? with the discrepancy of being the event scheduler if nothing else. | |
Minis... Serious Business
Completed Trades (18 ) | Pending Trades (0)
Ebay seller to Avoid –Fantasy_Quest_Dist
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PatEllis15
Commander
4462 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 11:08 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Ack
I know that we are all aware of this.. but is there nothing that OP can do? with the discrepancy of being the event scheduler if nothing else.
That is probably a question that could only get answered by Ian over beer after the Dreamblade tournament at Gen Con...
There are way's to abuse teh system. That is how so many retailer kits end up on Ebay a well. abuse.
What could they do? All the DCI members need to be real, if they find that the members who participated were not real, then they could decertify the TO, or certainly any events where "fake" players participated (30 players?!). What if multiple DCI cards were submitted with the same handwritting? A bit a grey area to say the least...
Pat E | |
"Games evolve. Otherwise we'd still be pushing rocks around the dirt. What do you think the cavemen said when some dude showed up with sticks?" - Chairman7w | |
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PatEllis15
Commander
4462 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 11:10 AM |
| I should be clear: The only reason I am suspicious is that they didn't turn in the reports for th events that "outsiders" attended. If they did that, I'd be much more comfortable that things were on the up and up. It's only this deceit which causes me to doubt everything else about play over there.
Pat E | |
"Games evolve. Otherwise we'd still be pushing rocks around the dirt. What do you think the cavemen said when some dude showed up with sticks?" - Chairman7w | |
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lalato
Underboss
1546 Posts
Urbana, IL
| | 04/13/2006 11:29 AM |
| As noted by doubtofbuddha, every time we've met these guys they've been nothing but nice and personable. I never got the sense from them that they were trying to cheat the system.
That said, as PatEllis15 points out, when they didn't report the event where Orlando players were present it cast a bad light on them. I certainly hope it's all a misunderstanding and that everything is OK on their end. The last thing I want is there to be any animosity between players in Central Florida.
As for the Gaze All Day incident, I should note that they have never brought anything but tournament level warbands to events that I have witnessed. Keep in mind that Gaze All Day may have been a response to their local metagame which may be vastly different than your own. That said, it was obviously a sub-par build. Comments on these very boards made that plainly clear to the original poster.
In fact, it was about a week after Gaze All Day was posted that we held the non-sanctioned Florida Open. I believe we had two or three players from Tampa there, and none of them brought anything less than a viable tourney warband.
I'm certainly not going to malign another player's skill on these boards, but it should be noted here that Tampa players have not fared well when playing people outside of their own local group. Does that mean they're horrible players? Not necessarily, but it is telling of whether their skill matches their ranking.
--sam | |
I'm in Urbana, IL | |
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Felagund
Sergeant
922 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 1:01 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by ChristopherGroves
Fourth, they withdrew from the online community.
Were they ever really part of the online community? Aside from the aforementioned tournament postings and the "Gaze ALL DAY" incident, I don't remember hearing anything from them.
Also, from what I remember, they were tending to average about 2 tournaments/week with 8-12 players. Which is more than enough to jack someone's ratings through the roof if they consistently place well. I agree with Pat, that the only suspicious thing is that the tourney that doubt & co. attended was never reported. But sometimes stuff happens. We've had several tournaments here that DCI just didn't like. They always tend to be the ones that I win, however... [B)]
On a related note, the #9 and 10 ranked players globally are both from the same place. They have tournaments 1-2 times a week, and I'm not aware that they frequent the boards at all. So it's not lack the "Tampa phenomenon" is a rare occurrence. | |
Champion of Gnomes | |
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robbdaman
Underboss
2380 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 1:21 PM |
| Perhaps the Orlando crew should show up at his next tournament and annhiliate the competition again, ALL DAY. Then they could inquire in person about the missing DCI reports, ALL DAY. Or if someone is feeling ballsy they could ask who Michael and Ryan are to see if they are different people, ALL DAY.
Now as far as Tampa players it could have little to do with them and in fact be one or two people, who just happen to own and organize the tournaments, that are the bad seeds.
R~ | |
Champion of the Titan
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Successful trades with: Tickparasite, Iyceman, Faragdar The Wise's friend, avrivah, Drakkengi, brucemc, Krush, maniacal_mini_monger, hung4treason, Gandy, NarlethDrider, Kunimatyu, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah..... | |
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lalato
Underboss
1546 Posts
Urbana, IL
| | 04/13/2006 1:45 PM |
| Michael and Ryan are two separate people. They are brothers. The first time we encountered the Tampa folks was at the Limited Qualifier. I believe at that event they brought 5 or 6 people in total. There is definitely a scene going on in Tampa with more than just two people.
Again, I reiterate, I have no reason to believe that there is anything nefarious going on here. There are really only two questionable things...
1. The tourney organizer may have played in some of his own games. That is evidenced by the fact that the organizer is Marc Michalski and there is also a player named Marc Michalski. It is possible, however, that it is a father and son. I have seen no evidence to believe, however, that that is the case. It is my belief that the player and organizer are one and the same. That's just my belief. I could be wrong, but I've never heard Ryan or Marc mention someone else named Marc in the two or three times we've met.
2. They did not report a match in which Orlando players were in attendance. I was not at that particular match. I've never been to the store. It is entirely possible that the match was reported, but not processed by the DCI. I have no idea what happened so I won't even speculate on the matter.
That said... while I do find humor in the ALL DAY jokes, it seems really petty and a bit overdone at this point.
--sam | |
I'm in Urbana, IL | |
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Wrackspawn
ChristopherGroves
Warlord
6093 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 1:49 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Felagund
quote:
Originally posted by ChristopherGroves
Fourth, they withdrew from the online community.
Were they ever really part of the online community? Aside from the aforementioned tournament postings and the "Gaze ALL DAY" incident, I don't remember hearing anything from them.
Also, from what I remember, they were tending to average about 2 tournaments/week with 8-12 players. Which is more than enough to jack someone's ratings through the roof if they consistently place well. I agree with Pat, that the only suspicious thing is that the tourney that doubt & co. attended was never reported. But sometimes stuff happens. We've had several tournaments here that DCI just didn't like. They always tend to be the ones that I win, however... [B)]
On a related note, the #9 and 10 ranked players globally are both from the same place. They have tournaments 1-2 times a week, and I'm not aware that they frequent the boards at all. So it's not lack the "Tampa phenomenon" is a rare occurrence.
I'm only explaining things as they happened.
They did participate here, albeit briefly.
They were running 3+ events a week (with some crazy Monday/Thursday 30-ish people events) ... I'm not insinuating they were not real events ... I'm just saying that they played a ton and this raised their DCI rating to astronomical values. Recall that in a few short months one Tampa person had eclipsed EVERY OTHER DCI tournament player by playing only in Tampa. Twice a week in local only events doesn't get you past Kiddoc ...
I *am* insinuating, however, that their rating does/did not reflect more cosmopolitan skills. They played round-robins and not swiss or elimination and they had no feel for the larger environment or else "Gaze All Day" would not have been seen as a band to defeat all comers (it obviously is only useful in specific environments).
I am also saying that I don't like the appearance of impropriety their actions (stopping to report DCI events at specific times) cause. They don't owe me an explanation but I'd still like to hear one. | |
Triangle DDM Skirmish Group | My Email | 45-ish trades and counting | Stuff for Trade
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lynchpt
Sergeant
926 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 1:52 PM |
| To add a little more infomation...
Two things stuck out in my mind as suspicious even more than the non-report.
Over the course of two months (9/2005 - 10/2005) they played 3 tournaments a week for a total of 24 events. The players at these events were averaging over 6 matches per event. For context, the other top 20 players in terms of games played average about 3.5-4.5 matches per event. No one else comes near 6. The idea that 10+ people were investing 20+ hours a week into sanctioned play is extremely hard for me to credit. Such intense tempo of play would be unprecedented and unheard of. The alternatives seem more likely to me.
Finally, just after getting the top ranking (note this involved going from ~1600 to 2000 in just 2 months) for Ryan, the Tampa group almost entirely ceased play/reporting. They have reported only 6 of their 35 scheduled tournaments from 11/2005 through the present, and none since mid February.
Although there is certainly no proof of anything untoward, the actions observed appear similar to those a group would undertake if they wished to "game" the DCI system and catapult a group member to the top, where he could stay forever by the simple expedient of no longer playing. (Unlike some rating systems such as FIFA, the DCI rating system does not seem to incorporate any notion of scores "degrading" over time).
Pat Lynch | |
Dreamblade Rules Advisor | |
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robbdaman
Underboss
2380 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 2:02 PM |
| Yeah, what Pat said. I just make fun of the GAZE ALL DAY because it was such an amusing thing when it was posted. If he truly thought that was a competative warband concept then he's a loon and obviously there is something fishy going on. I only care because he's supposed to be the top ranked player in the world. If Dagni was popping in offering something as crappy as GAZE ALL DAY I'd be as fishy of him. I don't like that the DCI system could be that faulty that anyone could falsify reports. It's that simple for me.
R~ | |
Champion of the Titan
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Successful trades with: Tickparasite, Iyceman, Faragdar The Wise's friend, avrivah, Drakkengi, brucemc, Krush, maniacal_mini_monger, hung4treason, Gandy, NarlethDrider, Kunimatyu, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah..... | |
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Felagund
Sergeant
922 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 2:07 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by lynchpt
Over the course of two months (9/2005 - 10/2005) they played 3 tournaments a week for a total of 24 events. The players at these events were averaging over 6 matches per event. For context, the other top 20 players in terms of games played average about 3.5-4.5 matches per event. No one else comes near 6. The idea that 10+ people were investing 20+ hours a week into sanctioned play is extremely hard for me to credit. Such intense tempo of play would be unprecedented and unheard of. The alternatives seem more likely to me.
Hm, now that's something I didn't realize. That is a lot of time. Even I'm not willing to play minis that much on a regular basis. | |
Champion of Gnomes | |
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YRM_DM
Sergeant
905 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 2:08 PM |
| Sam, are you coming to the Pittsburgh qualifiers?
If you are, I hope to see you there.
What exactly was the GAZE ALL DAY build? Anyone remember? | |
Completed good trades with Demagogue, PigSnot, DoB, and Alepulp.
I know you can hear MY thoughts... Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow... | |
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Felagund
Sergeant
922 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 2:13 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by YRM_DM
What exactly was the GAZE ALL DAY build? Anyone remember?
Well, without trying to dig up the thread, what I remember was:
Medusa
Half-Elf Hexblade
Trog Captain
Grim Necromancer
Cursed Spirit (summoned)
I don't recall what the other 17 points were. | |
Champion of Gnomes | |
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lalato
Underboss
1546 Posts
Urbana, IL
| | 04/13/2006 2:17 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Felagund
quote:
Originally posted by lynchpt
Over the course of two months (9/2005 - 10/2005) they played 3 tournaments a week for a total of 24 events. The players at these events were averaging over 6 matches per event. For context, the other top 20 players in terms of games played average about 3.5-4.5 matches per event. No one else comes near 6. The idea that 10+ people were investing 20+ hours a week into sanctioned play is extremely hard for me to credit. Such intense tempo of play would be unprecedented and unheard of. The alternatives seem more likely to me.
Hm, now that's something I didn't realize. That is a lot of time. Even I'm not willing to play minis that much on a regular basis.
As Chris Groves noted, they were playing Round Robins not Swiss. The effect of which was that they played a lot more rounds per event than you would at a normal event. It should be noted that there is nothing that says you can't play round robin, it's built into the DCI software. Had they had any knowledge of the DDM scene prior to starting up, they might have known that Swiss was the more standard tourney format.
To be sure, it is possible that they used the Round Robin format to "game the system", but there is no way to prove that so there is no point in making such an accusation.
--sam | |
I'm in Urbana, IL | |
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lalato
Underboss
1546 Posts
Urbana, IL
| | 04/13/2006 2:22 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by YRM_DM
Sam, are you coming to the Pittsburgh qualifiers?
It's a distinct possibility. My wife's family is from there and her 92 year old grandmother is ill. So ill, in fact, that she could not make it to the wedding. My wife wants to visit and give the rest of the family a break from taking care of her... even if it's just for a few days. It'll be a chance for her to visit with those relatives that couldn't come to the wedding too.
As soon as I heard her mention the possible trip... I asked what the time frame was... and it fit neatly with the qualifier. So yes, I might be at the Pittsburgh qualifier if I can get a cheap flight. I have a free ticket coming to me from Airtran so I might use that. :)
And now we return you to your regularly scheduled discussion...
--sam | |
I'm in Urbana, IL | |
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Hero of Skirmish
doubtofbuddha
Commander
3371 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 2:23 PM |
| | When we went down there (we being Jim/Mindtrick, Neil/Neilasauraus, and myself) we played round robin. | |
I am not gone. | |
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Felagund
Sergeant
922 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 2:39 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by lalato
As Chris Groves noted, they were playing Round Robins not Swiss. The effect of which was that they played a lot more rounds per event than you would at a normal event. It should be noted that there is nothing that says you can't play round robin, it's built into the DCI software. Had they had any knowledge of the DDM scene prior to starting up, they might have known that Swiss was the more standard tourney format.
Sam, regardless of the format used, 6 matches per tournament means that the tournament is going to last 6+ hours. So a tournament starting at 6 wouldn't finish until midnight. Going from work to DDM to bed three nights a week is the thing that Pat was skeptical about, I believe. | |
Champion of Gnomes | |
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Wrackspawn
ChristopherGroves
Warlord
6093 Posts
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kgradert13
Sergeant
909 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 2:57 PM |
| Man...that rocks.
To give you an idea, the QCs has a pretty active tournament schedule, 200pt constructed every week (with an off week here and there) since August 2005.
Our highest rated player has been in 22 events and 64 matches (in 7 months). He's over 250 pts behind GazeAllDay (but still tied for 30th globally). I have trouble conceiving how someone can gain 450+ in 2 months time. | |
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lynchpt
Sergeant
926 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 3:05 PM |
| quote:
Sam, regardless of the format used, 6 matches per tournament means that the tournament is going to last 6+ hours. So a tournament starting at 6 wouldn't finish until midnight. Going from work to DDM to bed three nights a week is the thing that Pat was skeptical about, I believe.
Indeed, that was the key sticking point for me. And even if we grant that the Tampa community did have an average of 10+ players with a sufficiently fanatical passion for DDM to play 20+ true games a week, how is it that the passion so utterly collapsed almost instantaneously? The record does not show the average attendence steadily dropping as individuals burned out on the game. The tournaments stopped on a dime, indicating that at least 6 people simultaneously got tired of the game they so loved in the same week. And this collapse in attendance occurred on not just any week, mind you, but the week or second week after one of their members decisively moved past Brian Mackey.
For all this to happen naturally and aboveboard is possible, so I make no accusations. But alternate explanations seem more likely to me, so I harbor suspicions. I fully understand and respect the point of view of those who find me cynical and my suspicions baseless. I even hope they are right[:)].
Pat Lynch
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Dreamblade Rules Advisor | |
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Fry
Underboss
1724 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 3:24 PM |
| | All I know is I want to play a couple sanctioned games against Gaze All Day, so I can get chow down on the sweet, sweet rating boost that comes from being over 400 rating points behind. | |
"Why am I all sticky and naked? Did I miss something fun?"
-Vindicated champion of Tordek, Dwarf Champion | |
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lalato
Underboss
1546 Posts
Urbana, IL
| | 04/13/2006 3:31 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Felagund
Sam, regardless of the format used, 6 matches per tournament means that the tournament is going to last 6+ hours. So a tournament starting at 6 wouldn't finish until midnight. Going from work to DDM to bed three nights a week is the thing that Pat was skeptical about, I believe.
I know that this is a sticking point for you guys, but every time I've discreetly touched on the subject with the folks from Tampa, they've talked about staying at the store well past midnight playing DDM. It is entirely possible that they were, indeed, playing an average of 6 matches per event if they were playing Round Robin (which they were).
The group that came to the Limited Qualifier had obviously played before. They honestly expected to do really well at the event. They talked about how much they had been playing. Only one of them made top 4, and that was on opponent's win % as he was tied with 3 or 4 other people (me included).
I have no idea whether or not anything was falsified in any shape way or form. However, based on my (albeit brief) conversations with them, it doesn't strike me as a group that was out to "game the system". Have they done some questionable things? Yes. Would I like them to explain these things more fully? Absolutely. Other than that I'm not sure there is anything I or anyone else can do.
The thing that makes me question whether it was intentional or not is... what's the incentive/motive? To get an invite to Nationals? That's not worth any money. In fact, it will cost you money just to get to GenCon. It just doesn't add up.
Sorry guys I'm just not seeing a diabolical scheme here. Shenanigans, probably. Schemes to get to the top? Just doesn't seem likely. I could be completely wrong. Maybe there is a scheme, but I just don't believe in conspiracies (until they're proven).
--sam | |
I'm in Urbana, IL | |
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Wrackspawn
ChristopherGroves
Warlord
6093 Posts
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Felagund
Sergeant
922 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 4:31 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by ChristopherGroves
I don't think anyone is suggesting diabolical activities Sam ... I think though that our opinions are affected by the fact that they haven't responded to any queries and requests for explanation via email or on the boards.
So, I'm skeptical.
I'd agree with Chris. There's just a lot of things going on there that make the rest of the community wonder. I think you're right to point out that there really isn't much of an incentive to "game the system", Sam. But lack of communication always has the ability to make people assume the worst. | |
Champion of Gnomes | |
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Chad the DragonLordofAiur
Underboss
1085 Posts
Southeast PA
| | 04/13/2006 4:33 PM |
| To me this seems to imply that the DCI system is faulty if a person can raise their ranking so highly by playing the same players over and over. If I play 50 matches against the same 4 people and win 90% of the matches why should my rating continue to climb if I am simply defeating players I should be expected to defeat?
I could be wrong but I was under the impression that World Chess rankings did it differently. A person's rank could only improve if they defeated someone with a higher rank than theirs. As I said, I could be wrong, as I've never played in a chess tournament. | |
Member of Team Amish
3rd Place in 2007 Constructed World Championship
My combined DDM Skirmish record of all games ever played in all formats.
486 - 188 - 4 | |
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alepulp
Underboss
1536 Posts
Manchester, England
| | 04/13/2006 4:39 PM |
| Well, that question was really pretty unpleasant to see the responses to. Very concerning.
The issue *might* simply be that their local metagame is not aligned with the rest of the gaming world. Having so many DCI points *might* make you think that you are in fact the best and your opinion is what goes. And, maybe it does - but only locally. Hence the need to play a broader community to see where you really are. DCI can be a very poor measure of skill when you only play locally. It also relies on a continuous stream of players who come in to farm points off. Most of these just drop off the end.
An illustration at hand - before last years UK Nationals I was at 1719 pts. #1 in the UK and in Europe at that point - based, primarily, on local games (although I'd played a smaller tournament in Calgary). Result - high opinion of my own skill, ideas and knowledge.
I saw some Italians on Vassal and invited them and also sent an invite to the Berlin DDM mailing list. To my delight 5 Italians and Adkainen from Berlin decided to come and join in the UK Nationals (which became a GenCon qualifier for 2 players - neither decided to travel across).
A really thick piece of humblepie followed as the UK players were beaten down to 7th position and below (I came 9th). Adkainen won and the Italians came in the next 5 positions. I thought I had run a clever variant of LRB, using 2 Eyes of Gruumsh and a LRD...[:(] I could've sworn it was tier 1.[B)]
It made me really think about things. The next tournament I knew I'd play was in Pittsburgh, after having been on summer holiday in Sweden. My poor son had to endure scores of games of DDM with me playing an Archmage build against all the Tier 1 warbands around (nearly put him off DDM forever [V]). Once I had really understood it I played 3 tournaments - Pittsburgh, Fanboy3 (Manchester) and Lucca Games in Italy. Only after that run of 3 tournaments, without loss, did I really understand what it meant to master a warband... Before the 2005 UK Nationals I really didn't know what it meant to understand a warband in depth - they were usually based on what whim I had the day before and what I'd expect to work at Fanboy3.
With that in mind *maybe* Tampa, having been equally insular, and suddenly hitting against players with much broader experience and thus much better, realised that they are in fact just not as good as they thought they were and decided that they didn't like the "real world"... It would be great, though, if they took on the reality. raised their local game and became a part of that reality. I know that I am not the only UK player who really decided to raised their game after being taught a thorough, and deserved, lesson...[^] We're ready for the EU Championships... (I hope.... [:o)]).
On the other hand it *might* have been more sinister and related to the need to promote a particular shop. I'm not in a position to judge...
Thanks all for answering my question. I nearly feel the need to apologise for asking it...[:I] | |
One of these days WoTC will update their tournament page when I'm in the top 5... they never seem to do when I'm in that bracket :(
My Collection My DDM Website And My Trade Refs Be a part of the UK DDM Forum
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lalato
Underboss
1546 Posts
Urbana, IL
| | 04/13/2006 5:00 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by ChristopherGroves
I don't think anyone is suggesting diabolical activities Sam ... I think though that our opinions are affected by the fact that they haven't responded to any queries and requests for explanation via email or on the boards.
So, I'm skeptical.
A healthy dose of skepticism never hurt anybody. [:D]
And I agree that it is disturbing that they haven't come on here to explain things, but I'm big on benefit of the doubt laced with, as you say, skepticism. As a former forgetful president used to say, "Trust, but verify." [)]
--sam | |
I'm in Urbana, IL | |
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Master of the
Awesome Sauce
Teflon Jeff
Warlord
7507 Posts
Sector 2814
| | 04/13/2006 5:04 PM |
| It's possible to have high rankings playing locally and dominating. When I got active (Deathknell prerelease) the number one player, ranking wise, was in Twin Falls, Idaho. I remember it vividly, because at the prerelease, I beat him. Is he a good player? Yes. But he was a step ahead of the local metagame, in that him and a friend were always practicing, so they were ahead of more casual players. The meta has slightly caught up, but for a while, he was taking all comers. But it was a lot of playing, and a lot of time. He's still a very good player, he just doesn't have the "NOST" factor going for him anymore.
The time frame, and the sudden stop at a specific time is what made it a source of intrigue to me regarding the "Tampa" situation. | |
Official Delegate, Wizards of the Coast
Against The Giants Called Shot: Huge Green Dragon
Icons Called Shot: Gargantuan Prismatic Dragon
"Rejoice, for bad things are about to happen." | |
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nedleeds
Warrior
239 Posts
| | 04/13/2006 5:25 PM |
| Regardless it seems as though there is a flaw in the ranking system if you can beat down the same toddlers 3 times a week and become the #1 player in the world in two months.
Example. I offer college geeks $10 + pizza and free use of my mini's 3 times a week to take a beating. We organize and play three DCI sanctioned tourneys a week (the FLGS already has sanctioned MtG). All matches are played, but the whole thing was rigged. The real problem is that I can set the whole thing up, get that ranking and shut it down in *2 MONTHS*, thats crazy. Now time it near the qualifier season :) Medusa's will be everywhere at Gencon. | |
Champion of Zarak - Evil Half-Orc Assassin | |
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