The flyer above went out last night to all NOVA Open registrants from last year. We're planning on opening registration on December 1, to give people as much lead time as possible for acquiring cheap plane tickets, making proper travel arrangements, etc.
There are a number of changes coming in 2012, and a number of improvements. It's in our fundamental mission and set of goals to always make the next year better in all ways than the year prior. We'll be sticking to that for 2012.
Take careful note of the various comments on the flyer - while we are returning to the Hyatt in 2012 (our biggest source of mixed reviews), we've teamed with them to address nearly every major concern from 2011 ... from beer prices to cell phone reception, they've pulled out all the stops.
The 40k GT will likely be moving to a different format ... based on user comments and thoughts, and on the notion of giving people more time and more relaxation, and not burning people out quite so much.
The GT is looking to start later on Friday afternoon, to give locals a chance to simply take off work a little early, and give travelers the chance to arrive on Friday instead of Thursday PM if they need to, and still make the start of the GT. The first two rounds will occur on Friday night, with the 3rd and 4th rounds on Saturday morning before the Lunch break. During Lunch, we'll split down to brackets just like last year after Round 4, with Rounds 5 and 6 being the first two rounds of the sub-brackets.
Renaissance Man will be determined by 6 rounds, instead of 8. More importantly, only the Final Four for each bracket will be required to play on Sunday morning. Continuation of a wide variety of evening trios, unique and narrative events from Thursday-Saturday will combine with Sunday only events to give 40k players not in each bracket's Final Four a huge range of competitive and casual gaming opportunities to continue throughout Sunday.
Narrative Gaming
The NOVA crew is busily working on a fully developed narrative gaming experience for the entirety of the NOVA Open. The Narrative track will be woven in among a variety of events in the weekend, and the overarching story will be built with a "setting" of Washington, DC. Our Minister of Terrain is busy planning with us to actually build out a variety of tables matching our nation's capital, and incorporating scale / half-scale versions of some of the most iconic monuments and landmarks of the city.
Narrative gamers will not only be able to participate in a unique, finely-tuned (we've been working on the framework for this quietly for a couple of years) gaming experience ... they'll also be able to participate in Washington, DC "scaveger" style competitions throughout the city during some of the days of the event. These excursions will directly impact and tie in with the overall gaming narrative.
There'll be more on the narrative opportunities at the NOVA as we move further, but expect an awesome product for those looking to take a less competitive, more immersive approach to their participation in NOVA 2012.
Longer Rounds, Food Lines, Extended Breaks are all things we're finalizing to help ease your experience and strengthen your ability to finish rounds, and be less stressed in getting around to your next games.
Note - Less $$ - Some of the biggest keynotes you should take from the Flyer are: Hotel Room Nights from $110 -> $85/night; Daily parking from $25 -> $12.50/day; Internet from $10 -> $5/day; Cell Reception installed throughout hotel, including gaming space; $4 beer.
Flames of War, Infinity, Expanded Fantasy and Warmachine/Hordes, Seminars, A Full Independent Painting Competition
It's important to the NOVA that we expand into something more than a 40k event with smaller side events. Warmachine and Hordes will be expanding to 64 slots, Fantasy will be expanding to 64 slots and will be adding weekend-long gaming events and opportunities. We are finalizing plans to add a 32 player Flames of War tournament. We've begun discussions with Corvus Belli to bring fully supported Infinity gaming to the NOVA.
There'll be much more to come in the next few weeks. Looking forward to seeing all of you back, and plenty of new faces for the NOVA Open 2012, which will be the biggest and best NOVA yet. Please continue to keep an eye on the website, the blog, the forums, and more as we get closer to next year's NOVA ... your input has always shaped how we build our events and plan our formats, and it will continue to be used as such.
Infinity, Flames of War, Terrain, Appearance, Warmachine/Hordes, Fantasy, and More Will All Be Blogged About This Year. Our various event heads are all signed on to participate in the blog, our newsletter, and the website; look forward to all of these subjects being discussed informatively, and in discussions for your feedback.
That's it for my "off the cuff" initial notice!
- Mike
No joke. I read the flyer and thought, "They Hyatt again? Sheesh. Hey, waitaminute... ... Wow."
ReplyDeleteGreat changes and I have no doubt it will be a better event. I wish I could go but Labor Day Weekend is a no go or me. :(
ReplyDeleteHoly crap. Wish I had the cash and an army. Hope to be in DC for work soon enough.
ReplyDeleteOn dakka, Nkelsch asked for a clarification / more data on the narrative event ... this was my initial reply (keep in mind this is still in its finalization stages, so don't hold me to it quite yet):
ReplyDeleteIt's actually going to be playable, and integrated with a variety of events.
Some of the tables will be terrained/designed to suit competitive play, some will be terrained/designed to suit the higher use of super-heavies, and at least one - the Washington Monument / National Mall centerpiece - will be more of a tactical map readout table, where the two overall faction commanders will work to assign teams/players to sections (tables), and "direct" the flow of the event.
These commanders, keep in mind, will mostly be part of the narrative/"cinematic" nature of it - perhaps even Black Library authors or the like if things work out ideally - and the event will be hard-wired, fine-tuned, and properly planned/run "behind the scenes" in terms of pairings, missions, formats, etc.
Think along the lines of the ability to register for team narrative, singles narrative, trios tournament, and perhaps some unique 40k mini-tournaments a la 6th Ed (if just out by then), mirror matching, fixed list, etc. ... all under the moniker of "Nighthammer" or similar, with most of them being primarily 3-4 round events occuring spread over the evenings Thurs - Sat, and Sunday during the day in more of a laid back fashion. These various events will be "Centered" on the DC tables, with events playing on table layouts appropriate to their design (i.e. the more competitive evening/side events being on more terrain-balanced tables, while the more narrative events happen on more cinematic tables with a higher concentration of DC memorials / accurate proportions / etc.). The net results of all events and individual games will have an impact on the day-to-day and overall final narrative.
There'll be a full line of blog posts, primers, etc., on this leading into the event.
Free Parking for staff? And much more to
ReplyDeletediscuss Sunday. See everybody then. My
RSVP since the evite doesn't seem to want
to play nice with me. :|
Best of luck to staff and attendees!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait Mike!!
ReplyDeleteShould be funtimes, the changes all sound good :)
ReplyDeleteThis may be a stupid question but how much does the 40k GT cost?
ReplyDelete