Most players in a 1 day two round event?

[philstine]

I agree with that and wish most players saw it that way

Most player who don't pre-register but expect to show up day and be allowed to register even if the field is full do so because they know from past experience that TDs will knuckle under and accommodate them. And they're not going to change their behavior until they're turned away.

A simple but firm, "I'm sorry you drove all the way here, but the field is full. You might be able to get in if some of the players who pre-registered don't show. I can put your name on the waiting list if you hang out a bit. Right now there are people ahead of you on the waiting list" is usually sufficient to get the point across, although some of the slower ones may need to clank off the chastity belt two or three time before they see the light.

 

[DavidSauls]

With luck, you're about to transition to the "Filled 3 weeks ahead of time" status---next year, or the year after if people get locked out. Then you can spend those 3 weeks with other preparations.

Nothing reforms those fencesitters philstine mentions like getting shut out once.

 

[brianb]

^^^ True and for the A tier I run that usually fills in minutes I have no problem turning people away as the cap is clearly publicized.

This event can and has held 130-140+ players in the past with no major issues. I didn't say there was a cap for this event so therefore I couldn't in good conscience turn people away when they had travelled that far with no notice. There were 8 dnf's at this event with 4 of them being injury related or had too much fun (got too drunk) during lunch so I would say even though the rounds were long, people generally enjoyed the experience. Having said that, I will never put myself in a position like this again.

 

[brianb]

I clearly announced at this year's event that next year there will be a cap and registration will be pre-reg only that will open in tiers. Once it opens for all I fully expect it to fill within an hour if not sooner. If they miss out on their pre-reg window too bad for them!

 

[Grayson]

WoW! Hard to imagine how this worked. You must'a started at 7am and played til midnight! Seems there would have been 21-22 cards per round and at 5 per card, it had to be slow. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to pull this off!
Kudos to ya, though, for surviving!