not sure how more gps will work out, but that's the only positive change i see coming outta that announcement.

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Since it is obviously inconceivable that all religions can be right, the most reasonable conclusion is that they are all wrong.
-Christopher Hitchens

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Originally posted by DerangedHermit:
Oh man! Because I certainly will miss those "awesome" Gray Matter prereleases.

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you've always hated GM, so that statement outta u, not a surprise. not that any of the random nowheresville long island events u speak of sounded amazing, if anything, given the attendance you mentioned, and the product support you mentioned, they're shorting the base minimum given out, as well as running it in an sketchy format.. so whatevs.

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__________________
Since it is obviously inconceivable that all religions can be right, the most reasonable conclusion is that they are all wrong.
-Christopher Hitchens

1) Likely no artists
2) 95 person prereleases in crowded basements.

May just go up to Manchester for these events instead of the one 10 minutes away.

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Originally posted by Havoc Demon:
Hate this for two reasons:

1) Likely no artists
2) 95 person prereleases in crowded basements.

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Originally posted by Liq:
Used to love going to a Regional PR. Meet up with old friends, find new ones, have a blast. However since they've allowed LGS to run them, they've lost their luster. Should have done this at least a year ago.

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Yeah. Gonna suck to not have the "big" pre-release. Gets boring as hell to play with the same people all the time. Plus, the trading sucks.

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Originally posted by Mr.C:
Yeah. Gonna suck to not have the "big" pre-release. Gets boring as hell to play with the same people all the time. Plus, the trading sucks.

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These are about as severe as the downsides get.

i love the increase in GPs.

now mtg will have more global appeal. Imagine us europeans having more premier events.

im specifically hoping to see 2 legacy GPs in europe next year.

with 40 GPs every year, its plausible.

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Originally posted by Hooskdaddy:
did i misread this or are they doing away with all the side events at Pro Tours? "focusing solely on the pro tour"

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I think you read it correctly. That will not be a popular change.

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For players looking to get their fix for public events and other activities previously offered alongside the Pro Tour at Magic Weekend, the expanded Grand Prix program will provide ample opportunity to interact with the wider Magic community at large-scale events.

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Originally posted by Mr.C:
Yeah. Gonna suck to not have the "big" pre-release. Gets boring as hell to play with the same people all the time. Plus, the trading sucks.

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We have several people that only come to the store for prerelease events. There are weeks when I have trouble getting 8 people for an FNM, but can consistently draw 40 for a prerelease. I know that's not many on the grand scheme, I'm just illustrating that we don't have that problem. I also don't anticipate a large increase in the number of players in our events. We're about 1.5 hours away from Pittsburgh, but I can't imagine that many people from the area travel there instead of staying here. Gas is too expensive for that sort of stuff. At any rate, it doesn't really affect us because no one at WotC cares about WV. Not suggesting they should, per se.

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Originally posted by Meddling Pimp:
I think you read it correctly. That will not be a popular change.

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What other professional sports have amateur side events? I think it's a good thing.

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Originally posted by Zakman86:
We also don't have large regional pre-releases around here, so I don't understand the backlash about that.

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Just because you do not have something means you can't understand why other people who have it and like it are mad about losing it? Please Explain......

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Originally posted by JoshSherman:
What other professional sports have amateur side events? I think it's a good thing.

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What other "professional sport" can have people out of nowhere qualify and play the next week? Also what other "professional sport" are presented in a convention setting that cater to "non professionals" attending them?

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Originally posted by JoshSherman:

What other professional sports have amateur side events? I think it's a good thing.

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I wouldn't call this a professional sport by any stretch of the imagination. But that's just me nitpicking.

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Originally posted by AlmostGrown:
These are about as severe as the downsides get.

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Originally posted by Hermann -ICE-:
Did any other country apart from the USA have these regional pre-releases?

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Originally posted by Mr.C:
At least Canada and Brazil.

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They did in Japan. I pwned at the draft table at the Coldsnap pre-release in Chiba City. And then I got pwned in the Tokyo Eventide one (In, uh, Asakusa?)

I guess if I'd ever been to a "fun" regional pre-release except for my time in Japan I might care more. The Vancouver one was pretty sucky until they allowed game stores to run them (though I do recall getting a decree of pain for my pearl dragon. In 2004. MEGA TRADES!!!), and afterwards it was uber sucky. I think I got one trade in the RoE one and then fifteen idiots saying "your force of will, my foil plains".

I actually like the adding of more GPs, since the attendance has been growing more and more every year. I just wish they would release it all at once.

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(My Nationals)

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Originally posted by I3Iood
Also what other "professional sport" are presented in a convention setting that cater to "non professionals" attending them?

edit: formatting

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That's my point. Why do it?

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Because of the ambitious nature of this schedule, we plan on announcing upcoming Grand Prix and Pro Tours closer to when they occur rather than announcing the entire season at once.

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this is the worst part of this announcement. It makes it very hard to plan out what I want to attend. Seeing a GP well off into the future to save up money for a hotel and plane ticket is kinda good. If we're given 3 months or so then its not really ideal. Hopefully they realize this error quickly, but my bet is they aren't planning the GPs that far ahead and just throwing out random ideas then announcing them.