Mike, thanks for the attention.
1. I play at a store called GamingETC in Stratford, CT. I also frequent Kings Games in Brooklyn, NY often because of the dearth of events in this state.
2. Regionals and weekly drafts. Battlegrounds will come once a steady user base is established (so basically all 3).
Regarding regionals... It would be nice if regionals in CT are scheduled earlier in the season. The reason for this is because early in the season, most players are still working toward getting qualified and would make the extra effort to drive to this state I call a pit stop between NYC and Boston. Last year, our regional events attracted players from both NYC and Mass region (turnout were in the 20s). This year, our realm qualifier was the very last qualifier of the season and the only people who attended were locals (the turnout was 7). I also know that the PTO for our state is different from the PTO in NYC, so scheduling would require coordination on a PTO level and may be out of UDE's hands. Or is it?
Weekly drafts... Would it be a good idea to promote this format by establishing prize support for draft like it's being done for Constructed-format Battlegrounds? Speaking of prize support, how about creating an incentive for merchants to promote your product? Let's say if a store is able to do 10 drafts with 6+ people in a span of 3 months, they get dibs on exclusive stuff like being able to run a Spectral Safari or something. At GamingETC, they are ambivalent about most WoW events; they have no information regarding special events such as the Ogre Smash & Bash and the recent Realm qualifier Battleground weekend. They are ambivalent because the WoW playerbase is so small; but the playerbase is so small because there are no stores giving WoW serious support.
3. I've visited several stores in CT. There is one called Heroes Comics in Norwalk. They use to run events when HoA came out, but then they stopped when people stopped coming. Norwalk is close to Stratford though, so I would think the playerbase is one and the same (we get a regular drafter who lives in Norwalk). There is another called DJ Comics in Wallingford in central CT. I know there's a couple players there who are very casual players. They would not make the trek to Stratford but if there are events there I'm sure that would lure them out. GamingETC is a great store, but perhaps CT regional events could be scheduled at other stores to try to draw out new players? The PTO might not want to risk "wasting" a premiere event on untested locations. Perhaps you could allot a few more events for our PTO just so he could try to expand the playerbase here. Some areas I would suggest would be Danbury, which is near the NY border near Newburgh and could attract some players there. Springfield, MA could attract players from Northern CT, and I know there are a couple of semi-hardcore players in that area. It would also draw in the players in Boston. New Haven, Waterbury, and Meriden are also good spots. I would also suggest someplace in Eastern CT near Rhode Island, but no one lives out there and I'm not even familiar enough with the area to suggest anything.
This is probably more than you can chew, but I hope it helps!
