Magic the Gathering
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Posted by xanathon jmiller1138 8 years agoon 5/26/2016 at 9:33 PM
#51

jmiller1138 wrote:
brotherbock wrote:
xanathon wrote:
derekguder wrote:
xanathon wrote:
GenCon could also enforce compliance with their timelines.  It makes GenCon and Pastimes look bad as they can't meet or enforce time lines for when the events go live.

We always add late events leading up to the show.Late events mean more games and more people playing games, so that policy is not going to change.
If you are unhappy with the timeline for event release for a particular gaming group or company, contact them directly and encourage them to submit earlier.
-
Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC
That's not my job.  I believe that would fall under your responsibilities and not something that you can pass onto others.

It's also not Derek's job to force anyone to submit events. It is acceptable and within Gencon event policy for anyone to submit events after the initial priority period. You can submit an event NOW, after event reg is live, if you want. Perfectly acceptable. That a company chose to wait is their issue. What should Derek do? Tell them to submit by March or not at all? Would you like that instead? No MtG events because Derek didn't accept late events? Or should he drive to their houses and force them to fill out paperwork? 
One of my favorite groups didn't submit a BSG larp this year. Is that Derek's fault? 
It is not Gencon's obligation to make sure another company keeps *you* happy.
It's not Gencon's obligation to make Pastimes submit their stuff on time, or even be a good vendor for mtg events.  But it is their obligation to take the feedback on Pastimes and use that information when finding a vendor to put those events on.  If they catch heat every year because people are unhappy with Pastimes, then they may reconsider their relationship with them.
Yes it is their obligation.  The last time I checked this convention is named GenCon.  Because it is named GenCon it is their obligation to set time frames and enforce those times frames, as much as it is to make the convention as good as it can be.

Now if they choose to not do anything about it that is their perogative.  However stating that it is not their responsibility to submit their stuff on time or to be a good vendor is simply pathetic.  It seems  to me that it is similar to stating that we don't care about the quality of our convention just as long as people attend it and spend money.

Posted by brotherbock xanathon 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 3:45 AM
#52

xanathon wrote:Yes it is their obligation.  The last time I checked this convention is named GenCon.  Because it is named GenCon it is their obligation to set time frames and enforce those times frames, as much as it is to make the convention as good as it can be.Now if they choose to not do anything about it that is their perogative.  However stating that it is not their responsibility to submit their stuff on time or to be a good vendor is simply pathetic.  It seems  to me that it is similar to stating that we don't care about the quality of our convention just as long as people attend it and spend money.

You don't seem to understand the process of event submission. 

*Event submission is STILL OPEN*. 

Anyone--you, me, or Pastimes--can submit events today, after ticket sales went live. Hence, the deadline that was missed was a *hypothetical* deadline. This means that it was a deadline *for a particular result*, but not an absolute sunset deadline. 

Gencon is not ignoring rules here or 'letting Pastimes slide'. They are treating them like every other entity running events. IF they get them in before an earlier date, they will go live with initial ticket sales. If not, they will go live later. This is the process. 

I ask you again, what should Derek do to appease the small handful of people complaining here? Just not accept their events because they didn't hit the early submission date? So you get NO MtG events? Or turn to all of the tons of other people clamoring to run MtG events...bit wait, there are none in evidence. 

So given that the RULES ALLOW FOR LATER SUBMISSIONS and there is no one evidently seeking to run a ton of MtG events in their place, should Derek break the rules and NOT accept their games--prevent them from running MtG--or should he accept their events like everyone else's? 

Seriously, what's your actual solution? You've got enough complaints, what's your solution? 

Posted by marimaccadmin 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 4:02 AM
#53

As Derek stated,

"We always add late events leading up to the show.Late events mean more games and more people playing games, so that policy is not going to change.If you are unhappy with the timeline for event release for a particular gaming group or company, contact them directly and encourage them to submit earlier."

I would add, we simply have no ability to force any company or gaming group to submit events to Gen Con.

Marian McBrine
Event Coordinator
Gen Con LLC

Posted by njseahawksfan brotherbock 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 12:35 PM
#54

brotherbock wrote:
xanathon wrote:Yes it is their obligation.  The last time I checked this convention is named GenCon.  Because it is named GenCon it is their obligation to set time frames and enforce those times frames, as much as it is to make the convention as good as it can be.Now if they choose to not do anything about it that is their perogative.  However stating that it is not their responsibility to submit their stuff on time or to be a good vendor is simply pathetic.  It seems  to me that it is similar to stating that we don't care about the quality of our convention just as long as people attend it and spend money.

You don't seem to understand the process of event submission. *Event submission is STILL OPEN*. 
Anyone--you, me, or Pastimes--can submit events today, after ticket sales went live. Hence, the deadline that was missed was a *hypothetical* deadline. This means that it was a deadline *for a particular result*, but not an absolute sunset deadline. 
Gencon is not ignoring rules here or 'letting Pastimes slide'. They are treating them like every other entity running events. IF they get them in before an earlier date, they will go live with initial ticket sales. If not, they will go live later. This is the process. 
I ask you again, what should Derek do to appease the small handful of people complaining here? Just not accept their events because they didn't hit the early submission date? So you get NO MtG events? Or turn to all of the tons of other people clamoring to run MtG events...bit wait, there are none in evidence. 
So given that the RULES ALLOW FOR LATER SUBMISSIONS and there is no one evidently seeking to run a ton of MtG events in their place, should Derek break the rules and NOT accept their games--prevent them from running MtG--or should he accept their events like everyone else's? 
Seriously, what's your actual solution? You've got enough complaints, what's your solution? 
Thank you for articulating this better than I could.  Well said, sir.

Posted by jmiller1138 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 2:48 PM
#55

It's just that some of the MTG events will be in extreme high demand.  It would be nice to have a "go live" date and a queue for them so that we all have a fair shot at getting into them.  

I don't want to miss out on my favorite thing to do there because I was asleep when the events went live.  If Gencon said, we have the events and are going to put them in at x date at y time then I wouldn't be complaining at all.

Posted by felwred 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 2:52 PM
#56

This question is the for GenCon staff. I don't fault your handling of MtG here nor really blame MtG on this either. They decided to submit late, I'm sure they had reasons for it. You have to be fair to everyone in handling late submissions. No harm, no foul.

With that said, it would be helpful for people planning to do the big events in MtG to get a feel for when they will be going live so they don't miss out. The MtG people could help by publishing what the times will be for everyone who bought tickets to other events and need to dump them so they can have open slots available for picking these up when they do go live. Is it possible for both sides to do this to help the fans? It would resolve virtually all the problems.

Fred

Posted by xanathon brotherbock 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 3:18 PM
#57

brotherbock wrote:
xanathon wrote:Yes it is their obligation.  The last time I checked this convention is named GenCon.  Because it is named GenCon it is their obligation to set time frames and enforce those times frames, as much as it is to make the convention as good as it can be.Now if they choose to not do anything about it that is their perogative.  However stating that it is not their responsibility to submit their stuff on time or to be a good vendor is simply pathetic.  It seems  to me that it is similar to stating that we don't care about the quality of our convention just as long as people attend it and spend money.

You don't seem to understand the process of event submission. *Event submission is STILL OPEN*. 
Anyone--you, me, or Pastimes--can submit events today, after ticket sales went live. Hence, the deadline that was missed was a *hypothetical* deadline. This means that it was a deadline *for a particular result*, but not an absolute sunset deadline. 
Gencon is not ignoring rules here or 'letting Pastimes slide'. They are treating them like every other entity running events. IF they get them in before an earlier date, they will go live with initial ticket sales. If not, they will go live later. This is the process. 
I ask you again, what should Derek do to appease the small handful of people complaining here? Just not accept their events because they didn't hit the early submission date? So you get NO MtG events? Or turn to all of the tons of other people clamoring to run MtG events...bit wait, there are none in evidence. 
So given that the RULES ALLOW FOR LATER SUBMISSIONS and there is no one evidently seeking to run a ton of MtG events in their place, should Derek break the rules and NOT accept their games--prevent them from running MtG--or should he accept their events like everyone else's? 
Seriously, what's your actual solution? You've got enough complaints, what's your solution? 
I understand that events are still open.  You are missing my point.
As many people have said Magic events are a huge part of GenCon as the Magic area is always full of people playing.  I'm certainly not suggesting that they not allow Pastimes to submit events late and therefore have no Magic events.

I'm only stating that this shouldn't have happened to begin with.

All of us here are frustrated that none of the Magic event from Pastimes are listed.  All I'm saying is that GenCon and yes Derek as the Events Manager, could have avoided this by discussing this with Pastimes to make sure that they have their events in on time.  To me it just looks really bad to not have these events listed.  If you disagree that is your perogative.

This is not the first GenCon and it is not the first time that Pastimes has not submitted their events in my the time events go live.  There is no excuse why these events were not listed by the time events went live as Pastimes knew when the date to submit events was as they have ran events before.

For all of you jumping on my posts realize that this is only my opinion.  In my job I don't have the luxury of making statements that it is not my responsibility or to miss deadlines.  I think it's unprofessional, but that's my opinion.

I also realize that most of you are likely simply defending the almighty GenCon as they can do no wrong so I don't expect many people to agree with me on this
 

Posted by njseahawksfan xanathon 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 4:05 PM
#58

xanathon wrote:
brotherbock wrote:
xanathon wrote:Yes it is their obligation.  The last time I checked this convention is named GenCon.  Because it is named GenCon it is their obligation to set time frames and enforce those times frames, as much as it is to make the convention as good as it can be.Now if they choose to not do anything about it that is their perogative.  However stating that it is not their responsibility to submit their stuff on time or to be a good vendor is simply pathetic.  It seems  to me that it is similar to stating that we don't care about the quality of our convention just as long as people attend it and spend money.

You don't seem to understand the process of event submission. *Event submission is STILL OPEN*. 
Anyone--you, me, or Pastimes--can submit events today, after ticket sales went live. Hence, the deadline that was missed was a *hypothetical* deadline. This means that it was a deadline *for a particular result*, but not an absolute sunset deadline. 
Gencon is not ignoring rules here or 'letting Pastimes slide'. They are treating them like every other entity running events. IF they get them in before an earlier date, they will go live with initial ticket sales. If not, they will go live later. This is the process. 
I ask you again, what should Derek do to appease the small handful of people complaining here? Just not accept their events because they didn't hit the early submission date? So you get NO MtG events? Or turn to all of the tons of other people clamoring to run MtG events...bit wait, there are none in evidence. 
So given that the RULES ALLOW FOR LATER SUBMISSIONS and there is no one evidently seeking to run a ton of MtG events in their place, should Derek break the rules and NOT accept their games--prevent them from running MtG--or should he accept their events like everyone else's? 
Seriously, what's your actual solution? You've got enough complaints, what's your solution? 
I understand that events are still open.  You are missing my point.
As many people have said Magic events are a huge part of GenCon as the Magic area is always full of people playing.  I'm certainly not suggesting that they not allow Pastimes to submit events late and therefore have no Magic events.I'm only stating that this shouldn't have happened to begin with.
All of us here are frustrated that none of the Magic event from Pastimes are listed.  All I'm saying is that GenCon and yes Derek as the Events Manager, could have avoided this by discussing this with Pastimes to make sure that they have their events in on time.  To me it just looks really bad to not have these events listed.  If you disagree that is your perogative.
This is not the first GenCon and it is not the first time that Pastimes has not submitted their events in my the time events go live.  There is no excuse why these events were not listed by the time events went live as Pastimes knew when the date to submit events was as they have ran events before.
For all of you jumping on my posts realize that this is only my opinion.  In my job I don't have the luxury of making statements that it is not my responsibility or to miss deadlines.  I think it's unprofessional, but that's my opinion.
I also realize that most of you are likely simply defending the almighty GenCon as they can do no wrong so I don't expect many people to agree with me on this
 
See, the flaw in your logic here is that it is somehow GenCon's fault that Pasttimes missed the deadline.  The deadline is Pasttimes' obligation to meet or else there are consequences ... in this case, the consequences are that their events don't get listed on time with all of the other events.  GenCon bears zero responsibility for this, and you just don't seem to grasp this concept.  If anyone here thinks that GenCon is "almighty" I'd say it's the person who thinks that GenCon can magically force Pasttimes to do something.

Posted by thejoltess xanathon 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 4:06 PM
#59

xanathon wrote:
brotherbock wrote:
xanathon wrote:Yes it is their obligation.  The last time I checked this convention is named GenCon.  Because it is named GenCon it is their obligation to set time frames and enforce those times frames, as much as it is to make the convention as good as it can be.Now if they choose to not do anything about it that is their perogative.  However stating that it is not their responsibility to submit their stuff on time or to be a good vendor is simply pathetic.  It seems  to me that it is similar to stating that we don't care about the quality of our convention just as long as people attend it and spend money.

You don't seem to understand the process of event submission. *Event submission is STILL OPEN*. 
Anyone--you, me, or Pastimes--can submit events today, after ticket sales went live. Hence, the deadline that was missed was a *hypothetical* deadline. This means that it was a deadline *for a particular result*, but not an absolute sunset deadline. 
Gencon is not ignoring rules here or 'letting Pastimes slide'. They are treating them like every other entity running events. IF they get them in before an earlier date, they will go live with initial ticket sales. If not, they will go live later. This is the process. 
I ask you again, what should Derek do to appease the small handful of people complaining here? Just not accept their events because they didn't hit the early submission date? So you get NO MtG events? Or turn to all of the tons of other people clamoring to run MtG events...bit wait, there are none in evidence. 
So given that the RULES ALLOW FOR LATER SUBMISSIONS and there is no one evidently seeking to run a ton of MtG events in their place, should Derek break the rules and NOT accept their games--prevent them from running MtG--or should he accept their events like everyone else's? 
Seriously, what's your actual solution? You've got enough complaints, what's your solution? 
I understand that events are still open.  You are missing my point.
As many people have said Magic events are a huge part of GenCon as the Magic area is always full of people playing.  I'm certainly not suggesting that they not allow Pastimes to submit events late and therefore have no Magic events.I'm only stating that this shouldn't have happened to begin with.
All of us here are frustrated that none of the Magic event from Pastimes are listed.  All I'm saying is that GenCon and yes Derek as the Events Manager, could have avoided this by discussing this with Pastimes to make sure that they have their events in on time.  To me it just looks really bad to not have these events listed.  If you disagree that is your perogative.
This is not the first GenCon and it is not the first time that Pastimes has not submitted their events in my the time events go live.  There is no excuse why these events were not listed by the time events went live as Pastimes knew when the date to submit events was as they have ran events before.
For all of you jumping on my posts realize that this is only my opinion.  In my job I don't have the luxury of making statements that it is not my responsibility or to miss deadlines.  I think it's unprofessional, but that's my opinion.
I also realize that most of you are likely simply defending the almighty GenCon as they can do no wrong so I don't expect many people to agree with me on this
 

People are getting frustrated because you are complaining about the wrong people here; Pastimes is responsible for making the deadline and didn't. I don't know about you, but I got e-mails from Gen Con several times about the event submission, and I haven't even run a single game at Gen Con. If Pastimes ignored the e-mails from Gen Con that reminded them all the way up until the event submission, what else is Gen Con going to do? The Con didn't just post the event submission date on their website and hoped that people would see it there, they posted it everywhere, with reminders. As far as I am concerned, Gen Con did everything in their power to let Pastimes know WHEN the deadline was, and it was Pastimes here, and only Pastimes, that dropped the ball.

 

Posted by xanathon 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 4:33 PM
#60

No I hold Pastimes just as accountable because it seems they didn't make an attempt to get their events in on time before events went live.

I've been attending GenCon since 2002, with an exception for last year.  I've played in the Magic events for years and the events not being listed when the GenCon events go live has only become a recent problem.

While many of you don't view it as a problem I do.  I'm certain that I'm not the only person that it screws up making a schedule of events for since we don't know when the Magic events we want to participate in will be.  There are other events that I want to sign up for, but am waiting as I put Magic events as top priority.  Especially with the possibility of an Eternal Masters sealed event I want to make sure that the Magic events I want I get into.

I do agree with GenCon's stance of adding late events.  Some of the best events I've attended were late events, such as the D&D murder mystery dinner celecbrating the start of The Sundering.

However it's not like the Magic schedule has changed much over the years.  It's been pretty much the same for Standard, sealed, win a box, and two headed giant events.  The only variance has been in the Legacy, Vintage, Modern, and special events such as the TCG $1000 tournament.

My issue has largely been with Derek's comment that it is not his responsibility to make sure the events are turned in before events go live.  He is the event manager.  While I understand GenCon's policy regarding events, he should have never stated this as while he is only one voice, his carries the most weight when it comes to complaints to Pastimes.

Pastimes can simply ignore player complaints as, lets face it, we are still going to play Magic at GenCon.  However if Derek contacts then to state that they need to get at least some of their events in so that they are listed before event listings go live, Pastimes is forced to listen to him.

Hence  what I have been trying to say, albeit very poorly, is that GenCon should take a more active approach to situations like this in order to eliminate them from happening.  There is no reason why the general listing for Pastimes can't be in when events go live and then give them the opportunity to add more events after.  

 

Posted by roundtop 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 4:58 PM
#61

Ok, I'm going to make a statement about what Derek is most likely NOT telling you. From my years dealing with conventions as an organizer (and not to the level of Derek), he cannot (not will not, CAN NOT) tell you his communications with Pastimes.  So while he can say that they did not make the deadline (fact), he can't tell you "I've been emailing and calling them for weeks and they are not getting back to me".

And that is what I think is happening. Pastimes are likely trying to still work out the details of the events and have not provided any information to GC other than "yes, we will take that hall and be running events".

The is nothing GC can do, and they can't push too hard on Pastimes as it is in the end up to Pastimes to come to the con, they don't want to piss them off severely.

So my guess is that GC has been emailing Pastimes weekly asking for updates, and not getting any.  You will not see any of that here, nor will the GC staff confirm or deny this sort of communication, because they can't (due to proper business practices).

Until and unless Pastimes states that they have given it all to GC, it is not on Derek and crew. (and at that point it is mostly data entry and validation)

Posted by xanathon roundtop 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 5:44 PM
#62

roundtop wrote:
Ok, I'm going to make a statement about what Derek is most likely NOT telling you. From my years dealing with conventions as an organizer (and not to the level of Derek), he cannot (not will not, CAN NOT) tell you his communications with Pastimes.  So while he can say that they did not make the deadline (fact), he can't tell you "I've been emailing and calling them for weeks and they are not getting back to me".
And that is what I think is happening. Pastimes are likely trying to still work out the details of the events and have not provided any information to GC other than "yes, we will take that hall and be running events".
The is nothing GC can do, and they can't push too hard on Pastimes as it is in the end up to Pastimes to come to the con, they don't want to piss them off severely.
So my guess is that GC has been emailing Pastimes weekly asking for updates, and not getting any.  You will not see any of that here, nor will the GC staff confirm or deny this sort of communication, because they can't (due to proper business practices).
Until and unless Pastimes states that they have given it all to GC, it is not on Derek and crew. (and at that point it is mostly data entry and validation)
I agree with you in that is the most likely scenario and I find no fault on GenCon for that.

My criticism has been largely on Derek's comment that it is not his responsibility as I know that is not the case.

Also if the vendors that GenCon has running events want to take this type of stance with them GenCon can take a harder stance with them.  Now it is up to GenCon to do that and if they don't it is fully understandable why they don't.

If Pastimes is not willing to abide by GenCon's rules then it might be that a new vendor for Magic events should be selected.  There are others than can run an events of GenCon's size.  It is possible to get Star City or TCG Player to run them.  Star City already attends GenCon so the transition would not be difficult.

Thank you for understanding my point in this and being able to post seomthing that offered further insight into this rather than just attacking me for my viewpoint.

Posted by zaphod 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 5:50 PM
#63

At this point, the delay is 100% on Gen Con LLC.  Past Times submitted their events before event registration began, along with many other companies whose events are still missing.  If it takes weeks to add events that have been submitted , then Gen Con needs to hire more staff.  The entire process is slow, and frankly embarrassing for them.  I keep expecting things to become more professional on their end, but it never happens.  Gen Con as a convention is thriving, so some of that money needs to be invested in more staff that can do their job in a timely manner.

Posted by derekguder felwred 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 6:08 PM
#64

felwred wrote:
This question is the for GenCon staff. I don't fault your handling of MtG here nor really blame MtG on this either. They decided to submit late, I'm sure they had reasons for it. You have to be fair to everyone in handling late submissions. No harm, no foul.
With that said, it would be helpful for people planning to do the big events in MtG to get a feel for when they will be going live so they don't miss out. The MtG people could help by publishing what the times will be for everyone who bought tickets to other events and need to dump them so they can have open slots available for picking these up when they do go live. Is it possible for both sides to do this to help the fans? It would resolve virtually all the problems.
Fred

I wish I could give a concrete timeline, but unfortunately there are some revisions that need to be made to the schedule before they can be activated, as well as operational questions that need to be answered.

For events on the scale of Magic at the show, it's not simply a question of "Yup, looks like last year, good enough." There are a lot of other variables that need to be finalized. Some of those are on Gen Con's side, some from the facility itself, and many from Pastimes.

That back-and-forth can take a while for something as complicated and large at Magic, and that's why the event submission deadline is so early in the year. Events that come in after that can simply take too long to get resolved when we might all prefer them to be.

All I can say on the timeline is that I'm trying to get things live as quickly as I can and hope to have it resolved soon.

That said, if anyone involved in this conversation wants it to be productive, I would suggest doing something other than saying "Gen Con is at fault!" "No they aren't!" The reality of the situation is that it takes time and it's still ongoing and there are thousands and thousands of events we are still confirming details on. Y'all have made your positions clear, so if it's just gonna be a back-and-forth on that one point, we might as well lock the thread.

-
Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

Posted by xanathon derekguder 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 6:24 PM
#65

derekguder wrote:
felwred wrote:
This question is the for GenCon staff. I don't fault your handling of MtG here nor really blame MtG on this either. They decided to submit late, I'm sure they had reasons for it. You have to be fair to everyone in handling late submissions. No harm, no foul.
With that said, it would be helpful for people planning to do the big events in MtG to get a feel for when they will be going live so they don't miss out. The MtG people could help by publishing what the times will be for everyone who bought tickets to other events and need to dump them so they can have open slots available for picking these up when they do go live. Is it possible for both sides to do this to help the fans? It would resolve virtually all the problems.
Fred

I wish I could give a concrete timeline, but unfortunately there are some revisions that need to be made to the schedule before they can be activated, as well as operational questions that need to be answered.For events on the scale of Magic at the show, it's not simply a question of "Yup, looks like last year, good enough." There are a lot of other variables that need to be finalized. Some of those are on Gen Con's side, some from the facility itself, and many from Pastimes.
That back-and-forth can take a while for something as complicated and large at Magic, and that's why the event submission deadline is so early in the year. Events that come in after that can simply take too long to get resolved when we might all prefer them to be.
All I can say on the timeline is that I'm trying to get things live as quickly as I can and hope to have it resolved soon.
That said, if anyone involved in this conversation wants it to be productive, I would suggest doing something other than saying "Gen Con is at fault!" "No they aren't!" The reality of the situation is that it takes time and it's still ongoing and there are thousands and thousands of events we are still confirming details on. Y'all have made your positions clear, so if it's just gonna be a back-and-forth on that one point, we might as well lock the thread.
-
Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC
Derek,

I agree with you that it does no good to state it's the fault of GenCon or Pastimes.  For GenCon and for Pastimes this incident has made both parties look bad in the eyes of those attending GenCon simply because it should not have happened.  I do understand that it's up to Pastimes to get their events in on time and if they do not respond to you then you have a decision to make as to whether or not Pastimes continues to run Magic events at GenCon.

As I said before I understand GenCon's policy on event submissions and I find no fault in allowing events to be added after events have gone live.  My guess is that is not meant for an event listing as large as Pastimes though.

I disagree with your comment when you stated that it's not your responsibility as I have said in several posts.  I understand that you are doing what you can and what is in your capacity to do.  I trust that you are doing what you can to get the events listed.

I hope that something is done for next years event that helps avoid this from happening as there is no point in continuing to allow something like this to happen.

Posted by derekguder 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 6:45 PM
#66

To avoid this problem in the future with Pastimes, or any other gaming group or company, encourage them to submit their events early and completely, and to follow up on any special or strange requests they might have, so we have the time to properly address them.

I reach out to everyone I can to remind them of deadlines and try to touch base with them about plans for that year, but ultimately I cannot force them to submit anything and there may well be issues outside of their control that prevent early confirmation.

Either way, you have made your point clear and there should be no need to further belabor the point.

-
Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

Posted by felwred 8 years agoon 5/27/2016 at 10:10 PM
#67

Is it possible to post what are certain times that are set? For example, if the big tournament qualifiers will run every Y hours starting at a certain day and the finals will be Z time. With the deadline for pre-reg coming up in a couple weeks, I'm guessing a good number of players want to get some of this nailed down before that timeline.

Fred

Posted by brotherbock jmiller1138 8 years agoon 5/28/2016 at 2:48 AM
#68

jmiller1138 wrote:
It's just that some of the MTG events will be in extreme high demand.  It would be nice to have a "go live" date and a queue for them so that we all have a fair shot at getting into them.  
I don't want to miss out on my favorite thing to do there because I was asleep when the events went live.  If Gencon said, we have the events and are going to put them in at x date at y time then I wouldn't be complaining at all.

This is certainly a fair expectation, no question. 

Posted by brotherbock xanathon 8 years agoon 5/28/2016 at 3:00 AM
#69

xanathon wrote:I understand that events are still open.  You are missing my point.
As many people have said Magic events are a huge part of GenCon as the Magic area is always full of people playing.  I'm certainly not suggesting that they not allow Pastimes to submit events late and therefore have no Magic events.I'm only stating that this shouldn't have happened to begin with.
All of us here are frustrated that none of the Magic event from Pastimes are listed.  All I'm saying is that GenCon and yes Derek as the Events Manager, could have avoided this by discussing this with Pastimes to make sure that they have their events in on time.  To me it just looks really bad to not have these events listed.  If you disagree that is your perogative.
This is not the first GenCon and it is not the first time that Pastimes has not submitted their events in my the time events go live.  There is no excuse why these events were not listed by the time events went live as Pastimes knew when the date to submit events was as they have ran events before.
For all of you jumping on my posts realize that this is only my opinion.  In my job I don't have the luxury of making statements that it is not my responsibility or to miss deadlines.  I think it's unprofessional, but that's my opinion.
I also realize that most of you are likely simply defending the almighty GenCon as they can do no wrong so I don't expect many people to agree with me on this
 

If you understand that event submission is still open, then it makes no sense to equate missing some deadline at your job with what Pastimes has done. They missed a date for the opening of ticket sales. They have not missed the event submission deadline. If you think that's a firing offense, you either are or work for a horrible boss. 

You say Derek could have avoided this by speaking to them. And you know, I assume, that he has not spoken to them? No company is ever later than they want to be if only someone else speaks to them about it? Derek can *assure* that this won't happen by just speaking to them? Really? You do realize that Pastimes is staffed by PEOPLE, right? And people, as a group, are notoriously un-assurable. 

And the motivation for my arguments shouldn't be an issue, as they are good arguments regardless of motivation. But if you're concerned that I'm someone who always defends Gencon because they can do no wrong, just buy Marian or Derek a drink at the Con and ask them what they really think about me :) They won't tell you, because they are decent people. But I know I've made myself a pain in their butts more than several times. Gencon is staffed by generally good people who try to do good. Sometimes they make mistakes, like any people. This is not one of those cases. 

Posted by brotherbock zaphod 8 years agoon 5/28/2016 at 3:04 AM
#70

zaphod wrote:
At this point, the delay is 100% on Gen Con LLC.  Past Times submitted their events before event registration began, along with many other companies whose events are still missing.  If it takes weeks to add events that have been submitted , then Gen Con needs to hire more staff.  The entire process is slow, and frankly embarrassing for them.  I keep expecting things to become more professional on their end, but it never happens.  Gen Con as a convention is thriving, so some of that money needs to be invested in more staff that can do their job in a timely manner.

I submitted my events in January, and they only went live in May. I think you have serious misconceptions about what the process takes, as well as misconceptions about how big of a company Gencon is. 

YOU have defined 'timely' in a way such that this timeline is too slow. How fast should scheduling thousands of events across a dozen venues for sixty thousand people happen? And for hiring new people, how many cooks do you think could work on that same soup? What sort of data are you working with to make those claims? 

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