I have to say, I'm definitely in the "east is better than west" camp.

On to serious stuff.......

As far as this ROC event I have several things to discuss. When I first seen this specific event I commented at one point how much this event gave me a bad feeling. This event set the bar very high for Super Q's with it's prizing and is at a level that I definitely could not match. And although it pulled over 50 people I don't really consider that much of a success with the level of prizing that was invested in the event. I'll even go as far as to guess that the organizers did not break even or if they did they barely did so. This worries me for my event and I'm only running a qualifier. We had to run just the Qualifier to see if there was still interest after WK backing out and I'll be honest, 5 people signed up has got me worried.

Another thing that should be discussed is the "house rule" situation. You had some people find out right before the event. Did the home players know sooner than that? Maybe days or even weeks ahead of time? The idea of a set format needs to be addressed again and not just for a top 16, for Super Q's period. Also wasn't the event always listed as 300 Modern on several different locations? Shouldn't someone of noticed "ROC age" beforehand?

Obviously I'm very underwhelmed with how this turned out. I'm sure I'm not the only person who was paying close attention to these first couple super Q's either. Hopefully the super Q next month does better. Or at least the same but with less prizes.

Depends on what figures they use. I mean there are plenty of figures who are just mechanics with a lifespan.

I know there are some figures WK designed so terribly that a resource is a great way to fix the WK screw-up and make them enjoyable and competitive.

What I mean is, one of the venues I've played at bans a lot of extras - Feats, Team Bases, Resources, Colossals, etc - and players still find a way to build a team based on mechanics as opposed to characters.

I've got to say, you're really bumming me out, man. It hasn't even been a week, and the number of people wanting to criticize, mock, and otherwise tear down a perfectly well-run event is... depressing.

50 people played in the main event. There were other events that brought out others. There were just under 100 unique players throughout the weekend. The "house rule" has already been addressed numerous times by Monday morning quarterbacks and ROC officials. It MAYBE affected four players who decided to run "he who shall not be named." I say maybe because there's no way of knowing if they were going to try that empower "trick" (and really, that's all the stat boost to the torpedo attack is) without actually asking each one. But I digress.

As someone who was actually there (I'm always astounded by the sheer volume of people who comment on an event they didn't attend), I can attest to the amount of FUN I had. Yup--fun. At a high-level tournament with great prizing, no less. Imagine that.

Ultimately, even though business concerns come into the calculus of whether someone should run a qualifier or Super Qualifier, I would wager that the owner of Majestix genuinely loves the game and wants to see it grow. To expect 100+ people this early in the game (especially when naysayers can't wait until the whole ROC Open Series ends to poo-poo its prospects or predict its demise) is unrealistic at best and delusional at worst. Don't get me wrong--I want that many (and more!) to show up to these events, but I won't look at the numbers and see failure; I'll simply see room for growth.

So, relax, let Ryan enjoy the limelight for a while, and do your best to create buzz in your area. With any luck, we'll look back years from now when Heroclix is the most popular game in the world (THE WORLD!) and laugh about a time when people worried that players wouldn't show up to these events.

Hey Steve,

I think I can answer those questions. I talked to Patrick on the phone today and I asked him this very thing. First there were 70 players at the event. 50of them played in the main event. Secondly, Patrick is very happy. This tournament was very profitable for him. He would like to see larger number of players as in 100 plus people but again he was very happy with his turnout and return investment.

As you know Patrick is one of ROC board members. he has been there right from the start when we created ROC. A lot of our ideas have been modeled after the way Patrick runs his Majestix 1k and how he involves the area and venues around him. We continue to push that way. You will see a new kit soon that is meant to work in conjunction with Super Qualifiers. These kits are call Campaign kits and you will get the details of them next week.

I have also asked Patrick to write an article on how to make a successful Super Qualifier. This article will be a blueprint that a venue should be able to take, duplicate, and make it work. It will cover all aspects from advertisement, investment, expectations plus much more. After the article is written look to see Patrick on "The Quarry" podcast to discuss it.

As far as the other concerns please go here and read:

http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=490467

That is posted in the ROC forum. The ROC forum is something that is growing guys and it is where we shall be talking and where you guys should discuss ROC.

EDIT: wrote this,let it sit while playing with the units section, then posted it. So it's a little old...Anyway, on to bed.

You have all the right in the world to defend your event. I mean, if it were me I would probably defend it too. But I can't go to my store owners and talk them into dropping $650 for "love of the game". If your owners are into that kind of thing that's great. But like I said, I'm not the only person looking at your event trying to see if the ROC is really taking off or not.

If the house rule thing was addressed I'll drop it. I been working doubles every day and can't really go on realms that often. And I'm not raining on the winners Parade. He won, congrats to him. My issue is that you had a crazy good prize pool and even if somehow someway you got almost 50 people for 3v3 and BR's, which I doubt, you still only got over 50 for the actual Super Q. If a prize pool like that and $15,000 at the ROC championship can't fill seats then what can?

And I'm not just some guy looking to hate on the ROC. Like I said, I'm having a qualifier and approved for a super Q of my own. But my owners don't have money to throw around. I need people to show up for this qualifier and to be able to show proof that the Super Q's are doing well. Because let's face it, these events are way more than $650 no matter how you look at it. I need to be able to show them this will make them money or at least break even. Growing the game doesn't pay their bills. Boosters moving off the walls and entry fees would though.

Anyway, I said enough. I'll just wait to see what happens with my qualifier. I'll post info, good or bad, once it happens on the 18th.

This isn't a rhetorical question, I really would like to know, but aside from Gencon or Origins (or any convention-level event), what Heroclix event can attract more than 70 people? Other than Clixathon that Norm runs on the East Coast, which gets around the same number of players we normally get, what are you comparing this to? Seems to me like you're expecting this to be like Magic or YGO, which Heroclix most definitely is NOT.

Regarding the amount of money put out, let's just be blunt: not all venues can run an event of this level. You need to be heavily invested into heroclix and store owners need to really care for heroclix. The reason why a lot of venues can't run something like this is because YGO and Magic is king. While we do crazy YGO and Magic numbers (we run PTQ events for WotC which draws 250+ players), I set aside a budget for Heroclix since it's "my game." I am really passionate about the game and really want it to explode on the tournament scene. When it comes to the prizing part, since I am a store owner, we have leftover OP Kits from all of the storyline events, and they are all in storage, so these are things that have already been paid for and accounted for long before the event is announced. This is not even counting the fact that we take trade-ins and get a lot of the prizing that way. The only thing I really had to "buy" were a couple of Belt Items and some of the Con LEs. Our group went to Gencon and we came back with a boatload of LEs (including Trinity of Sin, loads of belt items, etc), so that right there was already "paid for."

Aside from that, our booth at the event and the booth that rented space from us did CRAZY sales since there aren't many places that sell Heroclix singles to begin with. We made back the money for the event on Saturday alone in entry fees and sales. We also had amazing trade-ins so we can stock our stores and online store. We made a little profit when Sunday came. BUT, that's not the point of it all. Besides the fact that we want a celebration of Heroclix and have a community come together from time to time, the event was a great advertisement not only for my two Gaming stores, but also for our online ebay store. The custom ATA cards we handed out had a business card on the back that told people to go to our ebay store for all of your heroclix needs.

That kind of advertisement is something that you cant' put a price on. SQs should be large Regional-type of events where people come for the whole weekend, not just a suped up Fear Itself, and ours is that. Like I mentioned before, there will only be a select (handful) of people who can successfully run an SQ, and the money thing is just one hurdle that many places will have to get over. To be completely honest, if you're not a store owner, you shouldn't even be looking to run an SQ. That's just my opinion, though.

Stevebo, I think I've addressed all of your concerns regarding running an event, and if you still don't think it's worth it, then don't run it. Like I said, it's not for everyone. My firsthand testimonial says that you can be profitable but you have to look at it from a different point of view. This is our 4th event like this by the way, the last one had 100 players last Spring, FYI.

Thanks again to everyone involved and everyone who competed! Great times, good people all around.

Why are things that should be talked about privately being addressed in this thread? Steveboo, if you have nothing nice to say then don't say it publicly because you just sound like and A*hole. I understand that a venue probably thinks about the success they would have as an ROC, but seriously? You just stated you won't do a 1k. What's to incentive "me" to fly out from California to participate in your event? Currently, nothing because your stating that my plane ticket will cost more than your prizing alone, which is bewildering. I know you don't know me, but understand this, if anything, "you need money to make money," that's a fact. And if you don't have it then prepare for a loss of profits or a lack of growth margin because your doing business wrong.

Though I constantly kicked around the ideas of using Iron Man or Blue Beetle, it never occurred to me that it might be a good idea to use them together. I think my brain's broken.

Still it looks like a diverse game setup. There wasn't any specific dominating tactic or build, even if some were more popular than others. That's always good to see.

Awesome teams and turnout. We had our small scale ROC event last night and it was a blast. Will get info and details here soon hopefully. Very optimistic about ROC after seeing 20+ players show at our tiny venue for the smallest level ROC event, and seeing 70+ people show for a Super Qualifier.

Can't say I disagree here.

I don't think he was belittling anyone.

Here's my take: Resources have become the bedrock of HC, particularly in competitive play. I say "bedrock" in terms of Resources being a given. It isn't a case of "Oh, this is a solid team, and I can use this Resource to boost it," it's a case of "Alright, I'm definitely playing this Resource, time to build around it."

Can't say I understand either.

Reading comprehension is your friend. Go back and read Spawn10's response. He actually read Stevebo's post and saw where it was coming from, and it clearly shows.

I don't know that this is true, though. You have multiple resources that have a roughly equivalent effect to cost ratio, so a resource is a given, but the resource still needs to complement the team. And since the figure meta is much more than just the resources, I don't think you can really build figures around a resource and expect to do well just because you have a resource because the resources have such different effects. I think it's much more of a resource to suit the figures than figures as filler for the resource.

My 2¢. :shrug:

Good point. I guess I mean that the Resource is a given, as you say. You know you're going to use one, it's just a matter of which and on what type of team.

Yeah, that I agree with, with the only time that comes into question when you want to use a vehicle/team base/M10 Iron Man.

And I didn't mean to come off nit-picky if I did. I see it as a significant difference, but I can get why others wouldn't. And I haven't have enough coffee yet today...

#### you and the team of picked nits you rode in on!