Council of Elrond

Last Lure we had no prizes for tht top 3 players of tourneys for the first time.
With a few exceptions:
- since we had Worlds this time at Lure, there was a special prize pool for this event. Wont happen again (soon).
- the winner of each tourney still got a special Lure die. Will be continued, at least till supply lasts.
- Not really a prizes, still: Lure dice/promo for new players, reward for attending 10 times (cap) and 20 times (play mat). Will be continued, at least till supply lasts.

How did you feel about this? I am very much in favor of keeping the "no prizes" policy for several reasons:

- it takes a lot of efforts to take care of prize stuff each year. I am not so happy about this, in fact i am tired of it.
- its difficult to find something that players really like. Some prefer MECCG-related stuff only. Some already got everything they need for MECCG, so something else is wanted. Language matters - thats why boardgames sometimes were a problem. It should be small/light, cause many are travelling by plane.
- i dont like to have things produced, that shine for a few seconds, but then are hidden in a shelf at home.
- saving money
- the Lure event stands for having fun mostly, no extra incentive because of prizes.
- no prizes ceremonies on site: saves a lot of time.

Your opinion?

Absolutely agree! It's not for the prizes that players take part in tournaments I guess. I much appreciate all your efforts over the last years to come up with prices, but I fully concur with each of the points you've listed.

Agreed. It was of course nice to get prizes, but not getting them any more is not an issue at all.

It would be nice to keep the tradition of announcing the winners/top three in the morning announcements. Glory is the best prize

Also agree, maybe except dice tower we were talking this year I promise to bring it next year, use it and give you a proof it can be nice prize

I think if you are tired then don't do it.

And I agree that it could be hard because many players would already have everything they need for MECCG. But us Middle Earth fans are blessed to have an abundance of Middle Earth Product (crap?) available to buy.

A pack of playing cards is $10 and would be a fun gift. Plus, it's a prize that is usable between tournaments. There are other board games. And toys. I'd stick to easy non-MECCG LotR licensed products and call it good. No preparation, no fuss.

$5-10 depending on the set:


$20 "New" book collecting Tolkien's writing scraps:


$30 miniatures from GW:


$15 board game


$30 "Little People" for the kiddos


No idea what is going on here....

I agree: prices are nice, but playing is the reason I attend.

Nevertheless I acquired some nice goodies over the years and little has been “hidden on a shelf”. In fact the specially made Lure stuff is what I value most: the Lure beer mats are in use on my desk for years now, the Lure magnet constantly in the kitchen - to name just a few.

Prices are always nice, but I think most players are not playing for that. Lure is playing for the fun and friendship.

I agree with no prize policy, though I have yet to restart coming to Lure (but hoping it will be every year now, with kids getting bigger)

I don't particularly care for boardgames as prizes. The best prizes would be custom Lure merchandise IMHO.
Maybe it's an idea to only hand out prizes for certain events? Perhaps only for the GO tournament (the 'big one')?
On the other hand, what makes GO so special that it warrants prizes over the other events...?

Whatever you decide is fine with me. Prizes are nice, but definitely not necessary.

My opinion: please leave the prizes out, it does not add to enjoying the tournament. A small token such as the custom dice is nice though.

Hi fellows,
i think there should not be too much every year worries and energy about different prices. And if you dont feel good about that, you dont have to organize different stuff all the time Thorondor.
What i would suggest as a younger membership in the council is: A challenge cup in the style of the Schroll of Isildur (calling it `the schroll´ or `the Scroll of Lure´ for example) or as a white tree..... The everyyears bigger tournament winners are filled in with name/codename so we have something easy to maintain because engraving costs are not to high and they are good to calculate - so costs are low which is good for the Lure fee. The starting costs have to be invested but should not be too high.
I Think the most important thing about this is that the feeling of a community of individuals and different games around middle earth is kept alive and feels good for most of us (a challenge cup to bind them and to find them (after years of playing ). You can combine this trophy with the every year opening and ending what would be nice.
Big hug and dongelong

I totally agree ! Lure is the place for fun.
The special Lure dice is though very nice, a useful goodie which don't stay on a shelf.

Although I cannot attend the Lure this year (and sadly it will be difficult in future, too), I have always been at Lure because of the games and not of the prizes.
It was nice to get the prizes but there was no need for them.

Have a nice Lure,

Sam

having read the comments here and some Emails, it looks like there is a broad consent, that prizes are not really important, but nice to have.
Fun anf Fame is much more important. With that in mind, prizes will not be completely gone, but play a much less prominent role.

i received an offer of a group of young players (the next generation), that is mostly interested in Arda and would take it upon themselves to organize prize stuff for the Arda compatition (though not yet this year). This sounds very good to me. I like it a lot, since these youngster seem to have become attached to the game and the event.

there are 2 tourneys, that i consider more competitive than others: the General Opponet on Saturay and the DreamCard GO on Friday. as i already mentioned, i dont want make them even more competitive ny having big prize support. But why not at least honor those that came out victorious? Here comes the idea of Taladhan Bombadil on the table: a cup or something similar, that highlights the winner with his name on it. Not as a pesonal trophy, rather it would go from winner to winner each year.
or something similar: as some know, i used to organize also some AGOT tournements, and there we started a book (White Book of Stahleck), that has an entry for the winners of the big tourneys each year. Something similar can also be done for the 2 GO tourneys at Lure.

Finally, it came to my mind, that not (only) the most successful deck should be honoured, but also the most interesting one (based on creativity, making cards work that arent often seen, play style, ...). Each player rates the deck of the opponent after the game and gives some Creativity Points. In the end there is an alternate winner - not necessarily the winner by TPs.
Just an idea for now, not sure yet, if or how to apply it. So ideas and comments are welcome.

Finally, as already announced, we will keep:

thorondor wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 4:51 pm - the winner of each tourney still got a special Lure die. Will be continued, at least till supply lasts.
- Not really a prizes, still: Lure dice/promo for new players, reward for attending 10 times (cap) and 20 times (play mat). Will be continued, at least till supply lasts.

and at the 20th anniversary we had those special MP counters for each partizipant. We might have something similar again. But enough for today!