Issue 30: 15/07/08
Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 7:14 pmIssue 30: 15/07/08
Editor’s Note
Hello, tournament fans, players and organizers.
I hope you are all enjoying yourselves out there. Keep sending your submissions, and I will keep putting them in.
Thanks, and enjoy!
Gozar
Index
Message from the Tournament Directors
Currently Taking Signups
Tournament Updates
Coming Soon
The Tournament Roll of Honour
Interview with Marfski
Next Issue
Notes
Staff
Message from the Tournament Directors
From the Tournament Director's desk:
Hello again tournament organizers, players, and readers. As many of you may remember, I was out of town for two weeks and returned to see a bustling tournament forum. Today, there are roughly 45 more active tournaments and another 15 recruiting players than there was just 1 month ago!
I'm not surprised with this influx after the tournament medals were unveiled, but I would like to remind potential organizers to be prepared BEFORE announcing a new tournament as well as not announcing too many at one time. No one likes having to deal with abandoned tournaments. Also, remember that once a tournament is completed, you will not receive your medal until the following Hall of Winners update (Read here for details).
Recently, a pair of players decided to crash a tournament game. This does happen on occasion, so I just want to remind all the organizers to properly protect your passwords. If someone crashes a tournament you're organizing or participating in, please notify a Tournament Director ASAP. If you need any assistance with choosing secure passwords, please ask a Tournament Director for some suggestions. On a semi-related note, I have started a new poll in the General Q&A Forum asking how you join your tournament games. Please vote here.
Finally, I received permission from the admins to host a rare event here in the tournament forum: An Official Clan Competition. Based on the Beijing 2008 Olympics, this tournament will provide a venue for Conquer Club clans to duke it out on a variety of settings to discover which clan is at the top. If your clan is interested in competing, please visit the CC Olympics 2008 thread for full details (sorry, no individual players accepted).
Thank you for your time. May the cards and dice be kind to each of you.
~Night Strike
Tournament Director
Currently Taking Signups
Here are just some of the tournaments that are currently taking signups. Just click the title to visit the thread.
Teams Tournaments
Halo Quads Tourney
Organizer: LB Ninja
Conquer Club Island Soccer League
Organizer: sensfan
Don’t Take Too Long 2v2 Edition
Organizer: max is gr8
Battle for Middle Earth
Organizer: Lindax
AoR Doubles
Organizer: Kemmler
1 versus 1 Tournaments
Bring It On
Organizer: Lufsen75 and thekidstrumpet
Blake’s Bracket Tournament
Organizer: blakebowling
World 2.1 Knockout
Organizer: delboy01
New World Tourney
Organizer: red monke6
The Final Point Grabbers
Organizer: Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime is going into organizing retirement, and to make his farewell grand he has expanded the Point Grabber series into one massive, final tournament for the franchise. There are still 30 spots left, so hurry up and grab one before it is too late!
AFL Tournament
Organizer: Tk 421
Conquer the Castles
Organizer: kagetora
General Tournaments
Liscense To Conquer
Organizer: wpg27offsuit
8 Player Singles Tourney
Organizer: Rasputin!
You Never Know What
Organizer: Silver 2
Organizers vs. Players
Organizer: Mr_Adams
Emperor Of Rome
Organizer: RAM16
History of World
Organizer: markec
United States Civil War
Organizer: Tk 421
The States Tourney
Organizer: bspride
4 Maps Tournament
Organizer: markec
World War 3
Organizer: Tk 421
Indochina Tournament
Organizer: QingShiHuangDi
Conquer the New World
Organizer: keiths31
19 of 45 signed up
Australian Open Tennis
Organizer: Ryall55
Olympic Tournament
Organizer: Iron Maid
Privates of Privates
Organizer: Boss_oss_ss
Cooks of Cooks
Organizer: Boss_oss_ss
The Gun At the Top (Of a Ferris Wheel)
Organizer: max is gr8
The Dark Tower Tournament
Organizer: gdeangel
Reliving World War II
Organizer: anamainiacks
Terminator Madness, Kill to Win!
Organizer: poptartpsycho18
Hitman Europe
Organizer: ralphctpc
A Quick KO
Organizer: JoshyBoy
US Pro Sports Showdown
Organizer: gameplayer
Battle for the New World
Organizer: red monke7
Formula 1 2008ush Tourney
Organizer: Boss_oss_ss
Moto GP 2008 Season
Organizer: Boss_oss_ss
United Nations CC Conference
Organizer: anamainiacks
Best Player in Football
Organizer: buckeye1
CC Olympics 2008
Organizer: Night Strike
Clans only tournament
Double Elimination II
Organizer: max is gr8
King of Realms
Organizer: Risk_Killer_1
Needing Reserves
Reserve pool for all EIOT tournaments
Organizers: Natewolfman, Sir. Ricco, Gozar, Gilligan, amazzony, barterer2002, jennifermarie, lord voldemort
Age of Realms Trilogy Tournament
Organizer: Sir. Ricco
Tournament Updates
Here are how some of the currently ongoing tournaments are progressing. Just click the title to visit the thread. Want your tournament listed here? Use the form at the end of this letter!
Battle Europe II
Organiser: Gozar
Finals set to begin this week.
The Legend of Tor Na’Mit
Organizer: Gozar
The adventure to find the seven wands is now underway.
The Long Walk
Organisers: Gozar
Round eighteen games are now beginning.
Eight In One Tournament Headquarters
Eight tournaments by different organizers, with the winners competing for a premium prize. Join one, or join them all, the choice is yours.
Gilligan's Bracket Tournament III
Hath has won.
lord voldemort's Double Elimination Delight
Round seven underway
Natewolfman’s Lost in Translation Tournament
Round Three underway.
Sir. Ricco’s Mission – Survive the Longest V4.0
biscuit boy wins
Gozar’s Battle for Waterloo Tournament
Two games remain to determine the last finalist. Seven of eight finalists have been determined.
amazzony's Musical Chairs
EdwinG wins
barterer2002's Alien Invasion
EdwinG wins
jennifermarie’s The C-list
Standings update 30/04/08
Canadian Football League 2008
Organiser: keiths31
Currently in week six. Waiting on 1 game to finish...new games sooon
Amazing Race: USA
Organiser: Night Strike
This tournament has finally reached the final round. The first team to win 2 games will be crowned champion. If you're interested in 6 player doubles matches, be on the lookout for Amazing Race: Europe coming soon.
Mod Wars
Organiser: Night Strike
After an extremely long first round, Round 2 is over halfway finished. Currently, 3 Team CC members have made it to the final round.
School's Out for Summer 2008
Organiser: Night Strike and Arcee
Final exams have finished, and those who passed are currently on their summer vacations. These should begin wrapping up in a week or two.
Coming Soon
Here are some tournaments that noted tournament organisers are planning on running soon.
Olympics Part III : Fortius from amazzony
In the spirit of Olympics, Part III will be 3-8 player games.
Look for it: July/August 2008
The Tournament Roll of Honour
Here are some recent tournament winners.
”Doubles Elimination” –Natewolfman and JvdH
”The CC Poker Tournament” –Easy n Dirty
”Termination:Doodle Earth” –Steelhorse
”Eat or Be Eaten” –Gozo_the_Great
”Child Art!” –sunshiner
”The Allspark League” –BaldAdonis
”Battle of the Bands#1” –SargentGeneral
”NBA Playoffs 2008” –Killer619
”Friends Close, Enemies Closer” –gdeangel
”EIOT Alien Invasion” –EdwinG
”The Really Simple Tournament” –blindmatt
”NFL Europe Doubles” –Forza AZ and dragon dor
”Bite My Shiny Metal Bracket” –gameplayer
Interview with Marfski
This week we had the chance to talk with organizer and player, Marfski. All questions are reader submitted, so if you have something you want to ask an upcoming organizer; PM me. Next week’s interview will be with Kilazul. If you have not submitted your questions, you have until Tuesday to either PM me, or post in this thread.
Now, on with the interview.
Q: Hello, Marfski.
A: Hello!
Q: How did you find this website?
A: My aunt (fishydance) found it and told me about it
Q: Why did you join CC?
A: I originally started playing as a way to socialize with family members that I don’t see often.
Q: Why did you start to play tournaments?
A: Curiosity
Q: What made you want to start running tournaments?
A: My sister (MEK) was thinking about running a tournament and we were brainstorming ideas for it and next thing we knew a tournament with the exact theme as the one she was planning popped up on the site a couple days later! .I guess I got the bug from talking about it with her.
Q: How long have you been organizing tournaments?
A: Since May 30th, 2008.
Q: What tournament did you first run?
A: Square Dancing
Q: Where did you come up with your tournament ideas?
A: Actually it could be from just about anywhere. I was trying to think of a name for my simple 16 player, bracket, single elimination tournament and an episode of SpongeBob Squarepants flashed in my mind where SpongeBob and Patrick are out in the wild and they think they have to eat each other to survive. Hence the title of that tournament ended up being “Eat or Be Eaten”.
Q: Who do you look to for inspiration when organizing your tournaments?
A: I have looked at other tournaments before to see if there was something unique or interesting that I could try, but mainly I try to work in humour or a theme of some kind to my tournaments. You probably won’t ever see me do any sports type tournaments, mine will be more quirky.
Q: Describe the experience of your first tournament ran, and first played in.
A: I don’t even remember what the first tournament that I played in was. Obviously I didn’t get very far! The first tournament that I organized was Square Dancing and it is currently in Round 3 of 20 and going smoothly.
Q: How many tournaments have you run already, and do you have a goal in mind for how many you want to run in total before you "retire"?
A: I currently have 6 tournaments running and the sky is the limit as far as how many I want to run before I “retire”. I agree with what Lufsen said in his interview though, I will quit when it is no longer enjoyable.
Q: What tournaments have you organized?
A: Square Dancing, Who is the Biggest Fish in the CC Pond?, Eat or Be Eaten, Pick Your Letter, Mashed Taters and Wizard of Oz
Q: What is your favorite tournament you’ve played in?
A: Any tournament that I make it past round one! Seriously, I am currently enjoying three of Poptartpsycho18’s tournaments. I am in both of her “Mole” tournaments and played in her Ladies of CC vs. the Gentlemen of CC tournament which was fun since the ladies won! I am also excited about playing in the Tor Na ’Mit tournament. I’ve been practicing hurling those curses around.
Q: Is there a specific type of format that you tend to gravitate towards? Why? Is there a format that is your favourite?
A: As far as organizing tournaments I have gravitated toward singles tournaments more than other types so far. I haven’t been doing this long so I think it is just easier to start out with a singles format. I actually prefer playing in the singles tournaments too. I prefer no cards, sequential, chained games.
Q: Do you find it easier to choose tournament settings yourself, or to let the players customize them?
A: I find it easier to choose the settings myself. I have done polls in a couple of my tournaments and have gone by majority opinion for the card choice.
Q: Overall, are you playing a lot in tournaments? If not, then why and where do you find your games to play?
A: With each new tournament that I have organized my personal game load has gone down proportionally! I have gone from having 70 games going at a time to under 20 now and most of those are tournament games. I enjoy “shopping” the Create/Join a Tournament thread to see what new tournaments I might want to play in.
Q: How excited where you with your first CC win?
A: Very excited. When I first started playing on this site I had never even played the board game version of Risk. I can still remember taking my first turn in my first game and not having a clue what I was doing. Didn’t have a clue what forting was, or what the cards were or anything. To go from that level to actually winning a game was very nice!
Q: Have you ever won a tournament?
A: No.
Q: What is your most disappointing tournament loss to date?
A: To be honest, I just have not had a good record in tournaments. I don’t tend to get very far in them so I haven’t had any high hopes that were dashed yet.
Q: In your mind, what makes a successful tournament?
A: A successful tournament is one that keeps the players interest so they will continue playing in it until the end.
Q: What do you consider to be the most successful tournaments you've seen run?
A: Well there is definitely no lack of skilled/experienced tournament directors on this site. I am very impressed with amazzony’s Olympics tournament. The work that has gone into it and continues to go into it must be unbelievable. There are many complex tournaments out there that are very impressive.
Q: What makes a successful organizer?
A: A successful tournament organizer is one that is organized and communicates with the players and updates the tournament thread on a regular/consistent basis. They also have to be willing to stick to it during the times when it isn’t fun and when they run into obstacles and problems that have to be solved.
Q: How do you attract players to your tournament, and what aspect (besides a reward of a premium prize or something like that) of a tournament do you think appeals to a lot of players and why?
A: I just try to make my original tournament thread visually appealing, interesting and detailed. (I don’t always accomplish it). I don’t have any bank of former players or anything like that to recruit from. I read a thread post from barterer2002 where he said his background in sales helped him create tournaments that were attractive and enticing to players, so he didn’t have a terribly hard time filling his them. That is a good mentality to have because what we are doing really is selling our idea, so our threads are sort of like a sales presentation.
Q: Is there anything in particular that you dislike about tournament organizing?
A: Probably just dealing with the obstacles that come up such as dead-beaters, people being banned who have joined your tournaments, and so on and so on.
Q: For you, what is the best part of being a tournament organizer?
A: I really enjoy the organizing aspect of it, but I have loved getting to know people and I also enjoy all the chat and dialogue that results from communicating with the players.
Q: What mistakes do you see tournament organizers make the most?
A: I am no expert and am new at this myself but I would just encourage any new tournament organizer to make sure they have dotted every I and crossed every T before they even consider posting their tournament. The more that is done on the front end, the less headaches on the back end.
Q: With experience comes the wisdom of knowing what mistakes you've made in the past so you can avoid them in the future. What mistakes have you made in your tournaments that you are sure to avoid in future tournaments?
A: Probably just about every mistake that it’s possible to make. I have left people off emails, sent out wrong game numbers, updated the thread with wrong information, etc. etc. Aside from the clerical type errors like that I have learned from each tournament things that I might have done differently and would probably do differently in the future.
Q: What is your opinion on organizer neutrality? Should organizers be allowed to place themselves against their own clanmates in tournaments? Should organizers be allowed to join their own tournaments at all?
A: I would definitely say it is the tournament organizers choice whether to participate in their own tournament, whether to play against clan member, etc. I have found personally that I prefer to not play in my own tournaments because I enjoy encouraging everyone, and when I play in my tournaments I am torn between wanting to win myself and being supportive of the other players!
Q: Do you use a "schedule" for updating your tournaments, or do you just wait until they need an update?
A: No, I just update them when I have time.
Q: Should “question marks” be allowed to join tournaments?
A: I have pondered this question myself because I had a question mark join and then deadbeat after playing one game. It would be harsh to ban a whole group of players because of the behaviour of one person, so I have decided in future tournaments to check out any interested question marks history. If they do not show a pattern of dead-beating then they will be allowed to join..
Q: Do you feel it is better to give a bye to players whose opponents deadbeats the tournament, or to use a reserve?
A: I have learned the hard way that it depends on the type of tournament. I am currently trying to decide how to work out a situation in one of my tournaments where I gave the players a bye instead of using a reserve and found out later because of the way the games are set up that using the “bye” option will skew the results in the end.
Q: If you could change one thing about Conquer Club in general, what would it be?
A: This is just my personal opinion. I would get rid of the Flame Wars thread. I don’t think it enhances the site in any way, and in fact feel that it reflects negatively on the whole site. Remember! This is just my personal opinion!
Q: If there was something that the Conquer Club administrators could implement into the game to make tournaments easier to manage, what would it be? Similarly, is there anything you would like to see taken away from Conquer Club to make running tournaments easier?
A: It would be a nice option to have some way to check and see if a player in your tournament has been perma-banned, forum banned, busted, etc.
Q: Is there anything that you would recommend to encourage new tournament organizers?
A: Plan, plan, plan and then take the plunge! It’s fun..
Q: List your top 5 biggest tournament headache's to this point
A: Dead-beaters, babysitting to get people to join games, having people get busted or banned during a tournament, mainly anything that slows the momentum of the tournament.
Q: How much time does CC take from your day?
A: Between ½ hour on a slow day to 2-3 hours on a busy day.
Q: Are you a member of any clans or user groups?
A: Sky Force clan
Q:: Why did you pick the name Marfski?
A: It’s partly from when I was young and partly a mixture of my first and last name.
Q: Where are you from?
A: Tennessee
Q: Favourite play colour?
A: Definitely red
Q: Favourite and least favourite map?
A: I can’t say that I have a favourite, but I don’t like Waterloo, AO maps or Feudal and freestyle is too spastic for me!
Q: Any tournaments planned for the future? What are they?
A: Oh absolutely!!! My sister laughs every time I call her and announce I did it again! I would like to do an assassin tournament and a triples tournament and then some more singles tournaments and…….
Q: Thank you for your time.
A: Thank you
Next Issue
Interview with Kilazul Kilazul will answer your questions in our tournament interview series.
Notes
If you want your tournament included in a future issue, please PM Gozar using this form:
----------------FORM-------------------
Tournament Name: (with link)
Organiser Name:
Status:
Brief description or update:
Rough estimate of percent complete/signed up:
---------------FORM---------------------
You can also write articles to submit for publishing, I can't keep this running by myself, I need YOUR help!
To subscribe/ unsubscribe for the tournament newsletter, visit this thread.
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Staff
Editor in chief- Gozar
Recruiting Editor- Gilligan
Title Design- spinwizard
Contributors- People like you!
Editor’s Note
Hello, tournament fans, players and organizers.
I hope you are all enjoying yourselves out there. Keep sending your submissions, and I will keep putting them in.
Thanks, and enjoy!
Gozar
Index
Message from the Tournament Directors
Currently Taking Signups
Tournament Updates
Coming Soon
The Tournament Roll of Honour
Interview with Marfski
Next Issue
Notes
Staff
Message from the Tournament Directors
From the Tournament Director's desk:
Hello again tournament organizers, players, and readers. As many of you may remember, I was out of town for two weeks and returned to see a bustling tournament forum. Today, there are roughly 45 more active tournaments and another 15 recruiting players than there was just 1 month ago!
I'm not surprised with this influx after the tournament medals were unveiled, but I would like to remind potential organizers to be prepared BEFORE announcing a new tournament as well as not announcing too many at one time. No one likes having to deal with abandoned tournaments. Also, remember that once a tournament is completed, you will not receive your medal until the following Hall of Winners update (Read here for details).Recently, a pair of players decided to crash a tournament game. This does happen on occasion, so I just want to remind all the organizers to properly protect your passwords. If someone crashes a tournament you're organizing or participating in, please notify a Tournament Director ASAP. If you need any assistance with choosing secure passwords, please ask a Tournament Director for some suggestions. On a semi-related note, I have started a new poll in the General Q&A Forum asking how you join your tournament games. Please vote here.
Finally, I received permission from the admins to host a rare event here in the tournament forum: An Official Clan Competition. Based on the Beijing 2008 Olympics, this tournament will provide a venue for Conquer Club clans to duke it out on a variety of settings to discover which clan is at the top. If your clan is interested in competing, please visit the CC Olympics 2008 thread for full details (sorry, no individual players accepted).
Thank you for your time. May the cards and dice be kind to each of you.
~Night Strike
Tournament Director
Currently Taking Signups
Here are just some of the tournaments that are currently taking signups. Just click the title to visit the thread.
Teams Tournaments
Halo Quads Tourney
Organizer: LB Ninja
Conquer Club Island Soccer League
Organizer: sensfan
Don’t Take Too Long 2v2 Edition
Organizer: max is gr8
Battle for Middle Earth
Organizer: Lindax
AoR Doubles
Organizer: Kemmler
1 versus 1 Tournaments
Bring It On
Organizer: Lufsen75 and thekidstrumpet
Blake’s Bracket Tournament
Organizer: blakebowling
World 2.1 Knockout
Organizer: delboy01
New World Tourney
Organizer: red monke6
The Final Point Grabbers
Organizer: Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime is going into organizing retirement, and to make his farewell grand he has expanded the Point Grabber series into one massive, final tournament for the franchise. There are still 30 spots left, so hurry up and grab one before it is too late!
AFL Tournament
Organizer: Tk 421
Conquer the Castles
Organizer: kagetora
General Tournaments
Liscense To Conquer
Organizer: wpg27offsuit
8 Player Singles Tourney
Organizer: Rasputin!
You Never Know What
Organizer: Silver 2
Organizers vs. Players
Organizer: Mr_Adams
Emperor Of Rome
Organizer: RAM16
History of World
Organizer: markec
United States Civil War
Organizer: Tk 421
The States Tourney
Organizer: bspride
4 Maps Tournament
Organizer: markec
World War 3
Organizer: Tk 421
Indochina Tournament
Organizer: QingShiHuangDi
Conquer the New World
Organizer: keiths31
19 of 45 signed up
Australian Open Tennis
Organizer: Ryall55
Olympic Tournament
Organizer: Iron Maid
Privates of Privates
Organizer: Boss_oss_ss
Cooks of Cooks
Organizer: Boss_oss_ss
The Gun At the Top (Of a Ferris Wheel)
Organizer: max is gr8
The Dark Tower Tournament
Organizer: gdeangel
Reliving World War II
Organizer: anamainiacks
Terminator Madness, Kill to Win!
Organizer: poptartpsycho18
Hitman Europe
Organizer: ralphctpc
A Quick KO
Organizer: JoshyBoy
US Pro Sports Showdown
Organizer: gameplayer
Battle for the New World
Organizer: red monke7
Formula 1 2008ush Tourney
Organizer: Boss_oss_ss
Moto GP 2008 Season
Organizer: Boss_oss_ss
United Nations CC Conference
Organizer: anamainiacks
Best Player in Football
Organizer: buckeye1
CC Olympics 2008
Organizer: Night Strike
Clans only tournament
Double Elimination II
Organizer: max is gr8
King of Realms
Organizer: Risk_Killer_1
Needing Reserves
Reserve pool for all EIOT tournaments
Organizers: Natewolfman, Sir. Ricco, Gozar, Gilligan, amazzony, barterer2002, jennifermarie, lord voldemort
Age of Realms Trilogy Tournament
Organizer: Sir. Ricco
Tournament Updates
Here are how some of the currently ongoing tournaments are progressing. Just click the title to visit the thread. Want your tournament listed here? Use the form at the end of this letter!
Battle Europe II
Organiser: Gozar
Finals set to begin this week.
The Legend of Tor Na’Mit
Organizer: Gozar
The adventure to find the seven wands is now underway.
The Long Walk
Organisers: Gozar
Round eighteen games are now beginning.
Eight In One Tournament Headquarters
Eight tournaments by different organizers, with the winners competing for a premium prize. Join one, or join them all, the choice is yours.
Gilligan's Bracket Tournament III
Hath has won.
lord voldemort's Double Elimination Delight
Round seven underway
Natewolfman’s Lost in Translation Tournament
Round Three underway.
Sir. Ricco’s Mission – Survive the Longest V4.0
biscuit boy wins
Gozar’s Battle for Waterloo Tournament
Two games remain to determine the last finalist. Seven of eight finalists have been determined.
amazzony's Musical Chairs
EdwinG wins
barterer2002's Alien Invasion
EdwinG wins
jennifermarie’s The C-list
Standings update 30/04/08
Canadian Football League 2008
Organiser: keiths31
Currently in week six. Waiting on 1 game to finish...new games sooon
Amazing Race: USA
Organiser: Night Strike
This tournament has finally reached the final round. The first team to win 2 games will be crowned champion. If you're interested in 6 player doubles matches, be on the lookout for Amazing Race: Europe coming soon.
Mod Wars
Organiser: Night Strike
After an extremely long first round, Round 2 is over halfway finished. Currently, 3 Team CC members have made it to the final round.
School's Out for Summer 2008
Organiser: Night Strike and Arcee
Final exams have finished, and those who passed are currently on their summer vacations. These should begin wrapping up in a week or two.
Coming Soon
Here are some tournaments that noted tournament organisers are planning on running soon.
Olympics Part III : Fortius from amazzony
In the spirit of Olympics, Part III will be 3-8 player games.
Look for it: July/August 2008
The Tournament Roll of Honour
Here are some recent tournament winners.
”Doubles Elimination” –Natewolfman and JvdH
”The CC Poker Tournament” –Easy n Dirty
”Termination:Doodle Earth” –Steelhorse
”Eat or Be Eaten” –Gozo_the_Great
”Child Art!” –sunshiner
”The Allspark League” –BaldAdonis
”Battle of the Bands#1” –SargentGeneral
”NBA Playoffs 2008” –Killer619
”Friends Close, Enemies Closer” –gdeangel
”EIOT Alien Invasion” –EdwinG
”The Really Simple Tournament” –blindmatt
”NFL Europe Doubles” –Forza AZ and dragon dor
”Bite My Shiny Metal Bracket” –gameplayer
Interview with Marfski
This week we had the chance to talk with organizer and player, Marfski. All questions are reader submitted, so if you have something you want to ask an upcoming organizer; PM me. Next week’s interview will be with Kilazul. If you have not submitted your questions, you have until Tuesday to either PM me, or post in this thread.
Now, on with the interview.
Q: Hello, Marfski.
A: Hello!
Q: How did you find this website?
A: My aunt (fishydance) found it and told me about it
Q: Why did you join CC?
A: I originally started playing as a way to socialize with family members that I don’t see often.
Q: Why did you start to play tournaments?
A: Curiosity
Q: What made you want to start running tournaments?
A: My sister (MEK) was thinking about running a tournament and we were brainstorming ideas for it and next thing we knew a tournament with the exact theme as the one she was planning popped up on the site a couple days later! .I guess I got the bug from talking about it with her.
Q: How long have you been organizing tournaments?
A: Since May 30th, 2008.
Q: What tournament did you first run?
A: Square Dancing
Q: Where did you come up with your tournament ideas?
A: Actually it could be from just about anywhere. I was trying to think of a name for my simple 16 player, bracket, single elimination tournament and an episode of SpongeBob Squarepants flashed in my mind where SpongeBob and Patrick are out in the wild and they think they have to eat each other to survive. Hence the title of that tournament ended up being “Eat or Be Eaten”.
Q: Who do you look to for inspiration when organizing your tournaments?
A: I have looked at other tournaments before to see if there was something unique or interesting that I could try, but mainly I try to work in humour or a theme of some kind to my tournaments. You probably won’t ever see me do any sports type tournaments, mine will be more quirky.
Q: Describe the experience of your first tournament ran, and first played in.
A: I don’t even remember what the first tournament that I played in was. Obviously I didn’t get very far! The first tournament that I organized was Square Dancing and it is currently in Round 3 of 20 and going smoothly.
Q: How many tournaments have you run already, and do you have a goal in mind for how many you want to run in total before you "retire"?
A: I currently have 6 tournaments running and the sky is the limit as far as how many I want to run before I “retire”. I agree with what Lufsen said in his interview though, I will quit when it is no longer enjoyable.
Q: What tournaments have you organized?
A: Square Dancing, Who is the Biggest Fish in the CC Pond?, Eat or Be Eaten, Pick Your Letter, Mashed Taters and Wizard of Oz
Q: What is your favorite tournament you’ve played in?
A: Any tournament that I make it past round one! Seriously, I am currently enjoying three of Poptartpsycho18’s tournaments. I am in both of her “Mole” tournaments and played in her Ladies of CC vs. the Gentlemen of CC tournament which was fun since the ladies won! I am also excited about playing in the Tor Na ’Mit tournament. I’ve been practicing hurling those curses around.
Q: Is there a specific type of format that you tend to gravitate towards? Why? Is there a format that is your favourite?
A: As far as organizing tournaments I have gravitated toward singles tournaments more than other types so far. I haven’t been doing this long so I think it is just easier to start out with a singles format. I actually prefer playing in the singles tournaments too. I prefer no cards, sequential, chained games.
Q: Do you find it easier to choose tournament settings yourself, or to let the players customize them?
A: I find it easier to choose the settings myself. I have done polls in a couple of my tournaments and have gone by majority opinion for the card choice.
Q: Overall, are you playing a lot in tournaments? If not, then why and where do you find your games to play?
A: With each new tournament that I have organized my personal game load has gone down proportionally! I have gone from having 70 games going at a time to under 20 now and most of those are tournament games. I enjoy “shopping” the Create/Join a Tournament thread to see what new tournaments I might want to play in.
Q: How excited where you with your first CC win?
A: Very excited. When I first started playing on this site I had never even played the board game version of Risk. I can still remember taking my first turn in my first game and not having a clue what I was doing. Didn’t have a clue what forting was, or what the cards were or anything. To go from that level to actually winning a game was very nice!
Q: Have you ever won a tournament?
A: No.
Q: What is your most disappointing tournament loss to date?
A: To be honest, I just have not had a good record in tournaments. I don’t tend to get very far in them so I haven’t had any high hopes that were dashed yet.
Q: In your mind, what makes a successful tournament?
A: A successful tournament is one that keeps the players interest so they will continue playing in it until the end.
Q: What do you consider to be the most successful tournaments you've seen run?
A: Well there is definitely no lack of skilled/experienced tournament directors on this site. I am very impressed with amazzony’s Olympics tournament. The work that has gone into it and continues to go into it must be unbelievable. There are many complex tournaments out there that are very impressive.
Q: What makes a successful organizer?
A: A successful tournament organizer is one that is organized and communicates with the players and updates the tournament thread on a regular/consistent basis. They also have to be willing to stick to it during the times when it isn’t fun and when they run into obstacles and problems that have to be solved.
Q: How do you attract players to your tournament, and what aspect (besides a reward of a premium prize or something like that) of a tournament do you think appeals to a lot of players and why?
A: I just try to make my original tournament thread visually appealing, interesting and detailed. (I don’t always accomplish it). I don’t have any bank of former players or anything like that to recruit from. I read a thread post from barterer2002 where he said his background in sales helped him create tournaments that were attractive and enticing to players, so he didn’t have a terribly hard time filling his them. That is a good mentality to have because what we are doing really is selling our idea, so our threads are sort of like a sales presentation.
Q: Is there anything in particular that you dislike about tournament organizing?
A: Probably just dealing with the obstacles that come up such as dead-beaters, people being banned who have joined your tournaments, and so on and so on.
Q: For you, what is the best part of being a tournament organizer?
A: I really enjoy the organizing aspect of it, but I have loved getting to know people and I also enjoy all the chat and dialogue that results from communicating with the players.
Q: What mistakes do you see tournament organizers make the most?
A: I am no expert and am new at this myself but I would just encourage any new tournament organizer to make sure they have dotted every I and crossed every T before they even consider posting their tournament. The more that is done on the front end, the less headaches on the back end.
Q: With experience comes the wisdom of knowing what mistakes you've made in the past so you can avoid them in the future. What mistakes have you made in your tournaments that you are sure to avoid in future tournaments?
A: Probably just about every mistake that it’s possible to make. I have left people off emails, sent out wrong game numbers, updated the thread with wrong information, etc. etc. Aside from the clerical type errors like that I have learned from each tournament things that I might have done differently and would probably do differently in the future.
Q: What is your opinion on organizer neutrality? Should organizers be allowed to place themselves against their own clanmates in tournaments? Should organizers be allowed to join their own tournaments at all?
A: I would definitely say it is the tournament organizers choice whether to participate in their own tournament, whether to play against clan member, etc. I have found personally that I prefer to not play in my own tournaments because I enjoy encouraging everyone, and when I play in my tournaments I am torn between wanting to win myself and being supportive of the other players!
Q: Do you use a "schedule" for updating your tournaments, or do you just wait until they need an update?
A: No, I just update them when I have time.
Q: Should “question marks” be allowed to join tournaments?
A: I have pondered this question myself because I had a question mark join and then deadbeat after playing one game. It would be harsh to ban a whole group of players because of the behaviour of one person, so I have decided in future tournaments to check out any interested question marks history. If they do not show a pattern of dead-beating then they will be allowed to join..
Q: Do you feel it is better to give a bye to players whose opponents deadbeats the tournament, or to use a reserve?
A: I have learned the hard way that it depends on the type of tournament. I am currently trying to decide how to work out a situation in one of my tournaments where I gave the players a bye instead of using a reserve and found out later because of the way the games are set up that using the “bye” option will skew the results in the end.
Q: If you could change one thing about Conquer Club in general, what would it be?
A: This is just my personal opinion. I would get rid of the Flame Wars thread. I don’t think it enhances the site in any way, and in fact feel that it reflects negatively on the whole site. Remember! This is just my personal opinion!
Q: If there was something that the Conquer Club administrators could implement into the game to make tournaments easier to manage, what would it be? Similarly, is there anything you would like to see taken away from Conquer Club to make running tournaments easier?
A: It would be a nice option to have some way to check and see if a player in your tournament has been perma-banned, forum banned, busted, etc.
Q: Is there anything that you would recommend to encourage new tournament organizers?
A: Plan, plan, plan and then take the plunge! It’s fun..
Q: List your top 5 biggest tournament headache's to this point
A: Dead-beaters, babysitting to get people to join games, having people get busted or banned during a tournament, mainly anything that slows the momentum of the tournament.
Q: How much time does CC take from your day?
A: Between ½ hour on a slow day to 2-3 hours on a busy day.
Q: Are you a member of any clans or user groups?
A: Sky Force clan
Q:: Why did you pick the name Marfski?
A: It’s partly from when I was young and partly a mixture of my first and last name.
Q: Where are you from?
A: Tennessee
Q: Favourite play colour?
A: Definitely red
Q: Favourite and least favourite map?
A: I can’t say that I have a favourite, but I don’t like Waterloo, AO maps or Feudal and freestyle is too spastic for me!
Q: Any tournaments planned for the future? What are they?
A: Oh absolutely!!! My sister laughs every time I call her and announce I did it again! I would like to do an assassin tournament and a triples tournament and then some more singles tournaments and…….
Q: Thank you for your time.
A: Thank you
Next Issue
Interview with Kilazul Kilazul will answer your questions in our tournament interview series.
Notes
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