New TO needs some help!

[SuicidalSnowman]

Hello all, I am running my first tournament. I read the Handbook several times, thought real hard about what I wanted to do, and spent about 5 hours one morning putting up a thread.

I wanted 128 players, but I am wondering if I will get that many. I want to have my tournament move and not be languishing for too long, because I feel that if it takes too long, by the time I have 128 the first 15 will have moved on and be gone.

I also don't want to cut it off early, because I do not feel it is fair to those who already signed up to get bumped as reserves.

I would rather not have an odd number, because then the 1v1 nature of it would require byes, which was not part of the original plan.

Some things I have tried:

I PM'd the leader of the Freemium Forces, since mine is one game at a time.

I have sent out communication to all my current players, asking for their input. It seems to be voted wait for 128 so far.

I made a signature!

I am asking those of you who have done this before:

Should I be worried? Do these things tend to fill at irregular intervals?

Should I bother asking what my players think? I am the T.O!

Are there ways to advertise?

Thanks everyone who can offer help.

[barterer2002]

Welcome to the TO world Snowman.

Here's how I fill my tourneys.

1). for those in the 32 and less range I'll just allow them to fill naturally at this point.

2). 48-128 or so I'll send out to my list of regular players (which you develop over time) and the 48 or 64 man tourneys will fill in a day, the 128 can still take a week or so.

3). For larger tourneys (like the battle of escalating supremacy) I advertise. If there are certain maps and settings used in the tourney I'll do a search for anyone with an active game in that setting and will send out a mass PM. (or several mass PMs). Some people don't like to do this but my own personal feeling is that it brings many new players into the tournament fields who otherwise may not have found it and it fills the tourney faster keeping people interested.

[dittoeevee8888]

Should I be worried? Do these things tend to fill at irregular intervals?

Should I bother asking what my players think? I am the T.O!

Are there ways to advertise?

Thanks everyone who can offer help.

1. No, I don't think you should be worried, and I do believe these things tend to fill at irregular intervals.
2. Of course player's input is important, but since you already have had their input, I'm not sure if you need more.
3. Of course, you could do what amazzony did for her Olympics Tournament [Part 1] which was also a 1 vs. 1 tournament and search for 1 vs. 1 games and send them a PM [mass PM of course, if you want to make your life easier.] And I would suggest you to PM all the people of freemium forces if you really wanted them to join, vs. the leader, especially because you have no control what s/he does. And you could post in places where you would normally won't [forum games is an example] to get a bigger audience to view your sig. A graphic may work better, but I'm not sure if you want to devote time into doing that [and no, I can't help you with that, I'm computer-graphic disabled at the moment]

[fastposted by bart]

I'm not sure how useful number 2 would be at the moment, but you could always ask your players to be recruiters to your tourney.

[Night Strike]

New organizer + Big tournament = Potential Problems

Usually.

You've undertaken a pretty large tournament for your first go at it. That's bold in my book. Typically, it can be a bit harder for new organizers to get tournament regulars to sign up for their tournaments because many don't want to see it get abandoned.

That being said, it looks like you're doing a great job thus far. It's only been one week and you have roughly half of the number of players that you asked for, so there's no need to panic. Your first post looks great and detailed (not typical for new organizers), so that helps show a reader confidence that you can at least show that you know what you're doing. Your second post is a big long in my opinion, but since it doesn't contain crucial information, then you are probably fine.

One method to try to get more people to sign up is to write a blurb about your tournament for the next newsletter issue. Put together a catchy overview and submit it to Gozar to include in the newsletter. After that, just find a batch of people on the scoreboard and send them a PM invitation to join your tournament. It's always good to get new players and new knowledgeable organizers.

[And fastposted by 2 organizers.]

[Natewolfman]

Damn i was fastposted too, and after reading what they said i deleted my post completely as it was all covered you should place a link here in your thread though so everyone knows what your talking about

[barterer2002]

Damn i was fastposted too, and after reading what they said i deleted my post completely as it was all covered you should place a link here in your thread though so everyone knows what your talking about

Its in his sig Nate

[dittoeevee8888]

Damn i was fastposted too, and after reading what they said i deleted my post completely as it was all covered you should place a link here in your thread though so everyone knows what your talking about

Here's the link...I might be fastposted though

http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewto ... 90&t=69091

[fastposted by bart]

Damn, I was!

But for anybody too lazy [and doesn't realize it], just look up.

[SuicidalSnowman]

Thanks so much everyone!

Let me summarize:

You guys are awesome. The community here is so supportive of new tournament organizers.

I picked 1v1 for my first, because I thought it would be easiest. I didn't realize how much 128 really was at the time. I had originally written my brackets for 256! Still, I recognize that I am new, and this is partially why the second post is so long. But I will remember that next time.

I'll post a link next time, although it was in my sig, I have learned that it is always on you to make it easier for others, at least when you are asking for help/sign ups! And if I knew how to do graphics, you can be I would have!

I have been sending blurbs to Gozar, and trying to make them catchy and interesting.

I am hearing a lot about increased advertising. I will start to bump this up in the future. Also, you know how awesome she is, Amazzony offered to share some names from her 1v1 tournament with me. So hopefully that will be helpful. I also will identify 1v1 players, and perhaps continue with Freemiums. I also will try to get some lower ranked players, since this tournament is for the Underdogs.

Thank you all for being so helpful, and the votes of confidence! You guys are awesome.

[Gilligan]

Here's my two cents that hasn't been said before.

I've ran four bracket tournaments before (3 with 64 players, 1 with 128). The 64ers were fine to run, but it was only 1 game per matchup. You're doing 3, 5, 7, and 9. I am not, by any means, saying you can't do it, but that's a lot of games to create for 128 people, and if you're willing to do it, I say go for it. Best of luck with it, nice to see a new guy in our world

[SuicidalSnowman]

Well, it shouldn't be that bad, because the first rounds are less games per round.

Also, I am doing it on an as needed basis, so hopefully some of the match ups will be over before the full amount.

The communication is what so far I think will be toughest, but I borrowed from Tactik and have developed a google spreadsheet to make tracking everything easier.

I'll just keep running here crying whenever I feel lost!

[Boss_oss_ss]

Well, it shouldn't be that bad, because the first rounds are less games per round.

Also, I am doing it on an as needed basis, so hopefully some of the match ups will be over before the full amount.

The communication is what so far I think will be toughest, but I borrowed from Tactik and have developed a google spreadsheet to make tracking everything easier.

I'll just keep running here crying whenever I feel lost!

lol go for it!!! Just don't forget about your tournies- its so easy to do and you get seriously punished for it! another thing is if people are not joining there games, pm them saying "Join this game by #Date# or you will be replaced" ect ect.

Also dont forget to get reserves- i rely on them sooo much and often run out of them- even in tourneys with 16 players (which get slagged off a bit )!!!

Another thing is to try and get an intresting name- my tournament Art Attack filled up quicker than my others.

Good luck and let me know how you got on,
Boss

[Gilligan]

Necro-bump

[Boss_oss_ss]

Necro-bump

lol yeah well i havent been in this forum for a while and should really look at the dates

[sailorseal]

I would not worry the spots will fill up sooner then you expect...

[SuicidalSnowman]

Lol, well since someone else bumped this...

Basically, this is 100 times harder than everyone said it would be, and I was warned thoroughly. I had no idea how much work it would be, even with all the prepping I did and all the advice I received.

Few things:

1) If people don't reply on time, kick them. No questions. It gets to be such a hassle if you don't.

2) Letting users pick the settings is a pain, and I will not do it again. You say, send me map, reinforcements, spoils, and fog. You get "Malta, Standard, Sequential, Unlimited, Adjacent" Then it takes 9 more PMs to straighten that mess out.

3) Seeding 128 players was a mess as well.

My first round ran way to long. My second round is much more under control. 32 games is more manageable.

Will I do it again? Probably, but I will use settings that will be easier for me to manage.

Again, thanks so much for everyone's help on this board. It is the only way I would have ever been able to do something like this

[Kotaro]

1) If people don't reply on time, kick them. No questions. It gets to be such a hassle if you don't.

Disagree, usually because asshole TO's give you "24hrs", which is shit. I often leave for community projects with my church, and sometimes, we don't get back until the next morning. And I find I've lost a tournament because of it? Wtf is that.

2) Letting users pick the settings is a pain, and I will not do it again. You say, send me map, reinforcements, spoils, and fog. You get "Malta, Standard, Sequential, Unlimited, Adjacent" Then it takes 9 more PMs to straighten that mess out.

?? Only when you let retards into your tournament

3) Seeding 128 players was a mess as well.

random.org is your friend

And who is the 'tard that's bumping really old threads?

[amazzony]

I'll just throw in my 2 cents.

1) If people don't reply on time, kick them. No questions. It gets to be such a hassle if you don't.

Disagree, usually because asshole TO's give you "24hrs", which is shit. I often leave for community projects with my church, and sometimes, we don't get back until the next morning. And I find I've lost a tournament because of it? Wtf is that.

I agree, 24 hours is bs. Giving at least 48 hours + then another 48 hours is good enough time because not everybody sits behind computer all the time and even if there are more active people (like myself) then there are days when you are too tired or too buys to check messages so it might take a couple of days to work through all the PMs. But if the given time is good enough then after 3-4 days it's quite alright to kick out a player. Waiting too long is slowing down the tournament and it's not fair to freemium players to sit in a game too long without opponent.

2) Letting users pick the settings is a pain, and I will not do it again. You say, send me map, reinforcements, spoils, and fog. You get "Malta, Standard, Sequential, Unlimited, Adjacent" Then it takes 9 more PMs to straighten that mess out.

?? Only when you let retards into your tournament

I guess you haven't ran too many of tournaments like that, Kotaro? I've had enough of experience with these kind of things and I can assure you that there are more of those players than you can imagine.

3) Seeding 128 players was a mess as well.

random.org is your friend

If he wants real seeding, aka making bracket according to points, then random.org won't help. Though taking points at sign up and using excel helps there a lot.

[Boss_oss_ss]

And who is the 'tard that's bumping really old threads?

not me!

[dittoeevee8888]

*mini-bump* but I'll just put my advice here as well.

1) If people don't reply on time, kick them. No questions. It gets to be such a hassle if you don't.

Disagree, usually because asshole TO's give you "24hrs", which is shit. I often leave for community projects with my church, and sometimes, we don't get back until the next morning. And I find I've lost a tournament because of it? Wtf is that.

I agree, 24 hours is bs. Giving at least 48 hours + then another 48 hours is good enough time because not everybody sits behind computer all the time and even if there are more active people (like myself) then there are days when you are too tired or too buys to check messages so it might take a couple of days to work through all the PMs. But if the given time is good enough then after 3-4 days it's quite alright to kick out a player. Waiting too long is slowing down the tournament and it's not fair to freemium players to sit in a game too long without opponent.

I'd normally do 3-5 days plus an additional 3 days-ish before I kick people out. And then I agree with what amazzony has said above.

2) Letting users pick the settings is a pain, and I will not do it again. You say, send me map, reinforcements, spoils, and fog. You get "Malta, Standard, Sequential, Unlimited, Adjacent" Then it takes 9 more PMs to straighten that mess out.

?? Only when you let retards into your tournament

I guess you haven't ran too many of tournaments like that, Kotaro? I've had enough of experience with these kind of things and I can assure you that there are more of those players than you can imagine.

I think it'd just be easier just ask for maps and then you choose all other settings. But you still have to go through the PMs of "what map do you want" because some people don't actually bother to read what the first posts ask for. But I don't think it'd take 9 more PMs if you do it like that.

3) Seeding 128 players was a mess as well.

random.org is your friend

If he wants real seeding, aka making bracket according to points, then random.org won't help. Though taking points at sign up and using excel helps there a lot.

Or just do it in order of signups and that would save you a lot of trouble. Of course though, that has it's problems and I won't go into them.