Nats date

> -cutting prize support fairly drastically (3 boosters for a ptq top 8?
> really?)

When was that? I don't recall only giving 3 boosters to my top 8
players last weekend? For the life of me I can't remember what I did
give mind you...

The info I was given had PTQ prize support/judge support remaining
exactly the same?

Dave Salisbury
FB3

As someone mentioned Birmingham, thought I'd cobble this together (using nat
rail timetables to arrive day before event late afternoon if poss)

Approx travel time in hours to Brighton from:

Edinburgh 6.75

Manchester 4.00

Cardiff 4.00

Sheffield 4.00

London 1.00

Birmingham 3.25

Oxford 3.00

Approx travel time to Birmingham from

Edinburgh 4.00

Manchester 1.50

Cardiff 2.00

Sheffield 1.00

London 1.50

Birmingham n/a

Oxford 1.25


You can happily assume fares will be proportional to travel time. Nat's
haven't been in Birmingham of late by accident.

I accept that a seaside venue in summer is attractive from the point of view
of bringing the family along, but what proportion of attendees are likely to
do this? Not as a general concept, but those specific days which are pretty
much at the height of holiday season. As a consolation, it doesn't clash
with pride week, or already challenging accommodation would quickly become
impossible.


Anyway, back to the specific point I first raised. Are there any details
lurking of schedule, venue detail etc? I can't see anything on the (search
unfriendly) WotC site.

On 21 Dec, 10:48, "Bryan Connolly" <portl... RemoveThis @blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
> As someone mentioned Birmingham, thought I'd cobble this together (using nat
> rail timetables to arrive day before event late afternoon if poss)
>
> Approx travel time in hours to Brighton from:
>
> Edinburgh    6.75
>
> Manchester  4.00
>
> Cardiff         4.00
>
> Sheffield      4.00
>
> London       1.00
>
> Birmingham 3.25
>
> Oxford        3.00
>
> Approx travel time to Birmingham from
>
> Edinburgh  4.00
>
> Manchester  1.50
>
> Cardiff        2.00
>
> Sheffield     1.00
>
> London      1.50
>
> Birmingham n/a
>
> Oxford       1.25
>
> You can happily assume fares will be proportional to travel time.  Nat's
> haven't been in Birmingham of late by accident.
>
> I accept that a seaside venue in summer is attractive from the point of view
> of bringing the family along, but what proportion of attendees are likely to
> do this? Not as a general concept, but those specific days which are pretty
> much at the height of holiday season. As a consolation, it doesn't clash
> with pride week, or already challenging accommodation would quickly become
> impossible.
>
> Anyway, back to the specific point I first raised. Are there any details
> lurking of schedule, venue detail etc? I can't see anything on the (search
> unfriendly) WotC site.

I'm pretty sure Rail isn't the only way to travel the UK nowadays.
Edinburgh and Manchester can prolly allow a flight to Gatwick, which
is v close to Brighton. Also the location has been set and it's NOT
gonna change, so what's the point in all this?

On 21 Dec, 22:29, nickx <nick....TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On 21 Dec, 10:48, "Bryan Connolly" <portl....TakeThisOut@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > As someone mentioned Birmingham, thought I'd cobble this together (using nat
> > rail timetables to arrive day before event late afternoon if poss)
>
> > Approx travel time in hours to Brighton from:
>
> > Edinburgh    6.75
>
> > Manchester  4.00
>
> > Cardiff         4.00
>
> > Sheffield      4.00
>
> > London       1.00
>
> > Birmingham 3.25
>
> > Oxford        3.00
>
> > Approx travel time to Birmingham from
>
> > Edinburgh  4.00
>
> > Manchester  1.50
>
> > Cardiff        2.00
>
> > Sheffield     1.00
>
> > London      1.50
>
> > Birmingham n/a
>
> > Oxford       1.25
>
> > You can happily assume fares will be proportional to travel time.  Nat's
> > haven't been in Birmingham of late by accident.
>
> > I accept that a seaside venue in summer is attractive from the point of view
> > of bringing the family along, but what proportion of attendees are likely to
> > do this? Not as a general concept, but those specific days which are pretty
> > much at the height of holiday season. As a consolation, it doesn't clash
> > with pride week, or already challenging accommodation would quickly become
> > impossible.
>
> > Anyway, back to the specific point I first raised. Are there any details
> > lurking of schedule, venue detail etc? I can't see anything on the (search
> > unfriendly) WotC site.
>
> I'm pretty sure Rail isn't the only way to travel the UK nowadays.
> Edinburgh and Manchester can prolly allow a flight to Gatwick, which
> is v close to Brighton. Also the location has been set and it's NOT
> gonna change, so what's the point in all this?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

The point is to give feedback to wizards uk - why shouldnt we say if
we dont like the location change?

I can understand the location change for the GP as birmingham wasnt
brilliantly attended and its not the best venue for a good 'gp
experience' - i know that when i travel to foreign gps i prefer the
venue to be at least reasonably close the host town/city centre so
that you can do some sightseeing/go out etc., which the NEC isnt. I
guess for cost-cutting it also makes sense to just use the same venue
for nats this year. However, as Bryan has pointed out, Brighton is a
LOT harder to get to for almost everybody, whichever way you look at
it, train, car or plane (the NEC is very easy to get to by any of
those and is central), so I hope that this change of the nats venue is
only for this year.

As someone who was happy to see the GP go the Brighton. Yes I live in
London, but I am not worried about traveling, if Nationals was in
Glasgow I would travel. I am not so happy to see they have tagged
Nationals on as well.

I fully understand the costs involved in running events, but people
like me, non pro, play for more for the fun and social aspect, this is
a pain.

Spending a weekend away from the family goes down okish with the
partner, but four days of magic! Do they not realise that people have
families and jobs?

What is the logic of moving Nationals back to two days and in the
week?

> What is the logic of moving Nationals back to two days and in the
> week?

Money. Probably. Costs of 2 weekends totalling 5/6/7 days including
peak Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays exceeds that of Thursday - Sunday
on one occasion. Expenses will be lower, getting staff etc out just
the once. Is Wizards affected by the recession?

On Dec 22, 11:38 am, Guy <wilderbee... RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote:
> > What is the logic of moving Nationals back to two days and in the
> > week?
>
> Money. Probably. Costs of 2 weekends totalling 5/6/7 days including
> peak Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays exceeds that of Thursday - Sunday
> on one occasion. Expenses will be lower, getting staff etc out just
> the once. Is Wizards affected by the recession?

I agree with all your reasoning, of course less players able to
attend, less cost on product as well!

How many players with small cash flows can afford to stay in a hotel/
B&B for 4/5 nights?

Accomodation not looking good ... even the lodges want £75 per
night .... none seem to have any advanced booking discounts


On 22 Dec, 12:42, jp_sav... DeleteThis @talk21.com wrote:
> On Dec 22, 11:38 am, Guy <wilderbee... DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > What is the logic of moving Nationals back to two days and in the
> > > week?
>
> > Money. Probably. Costs of 2 weekends totalling 5/6/7 days including
> > peak Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays exceeds that of Thursday - Sunday
> > on one occasion. Expenses will be lower, getting staff etc out just
> > the once. Is Wizards affected by the recession?
>
> I agree with all your reasoning, of course less players able to
> attend, less cost on product as well!
>
> How many players with small cash flows can afford to stay in a hotel/
> B&B for 4/5 nights?

My guess would be that they are trying to boost numbers by hoping
attendees at nats will stay for the GP also

On 22 Dec, 21:04, Wile Coyote Uk <wilecoyot... RemoveThis @aol.com> wrote:
> Accomodation not looking good ... even the lodges want £75 per
> night .... none seem to have any advanced booking discounts
>
> On 22 Dec, 12:42, jp_sav... RemoveThis @talk21.com wrote:
>
> > On Dec 22, 11:38 am, Guy <wilderbee... RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > What is the logic of moving Nationals back to two days and in the
> > > > week?
>
> > > Money. Probably. Costs of 2 weekends totalling 5/6/7 days including
> > > peak Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays exceeds that of Thursday - Sunday
> > > on one occasion. Expenses will be lower, getting staff etc out just
> > > the once. Is Wizards affected by the recession?
>
> > I agree with all your reasoning, of course less players able to
> > attend, less cost on product as well!
>
> > How many players with small cash flows can afford to stay in a hotel/
> > B&B for 4/5 nights?

I've found at least one hostel that has rooms for £18 a night. That's
the cheapest, though.

Any hints on a venue? Would be useful with accom. Cheers.

On Dec 23, 11:03 am, Guy <wilderbee....DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Any hints on a venue? Would be useful with accom. Cheers.

Also, do we know if there is an extra day before the nationals start
for Last Chance Qualifiers and any other assorted events?