I can only say that the LVO did. Prior to the pandemic there were attempts to build up repeating tournaments on the West Coast, but those got de-railed obviously. Give it a year or two. In any case, keep in mind what the Satellite tournaments mean - they only matter if you're going to the Interplanetario. And it's not like the real good West Coast players have had trouble finding slots...
it's funny because that's exactly what happened. But you can't grat a satellite to a region if no request have been sent
Or, even if a request has been sent, you may not wish to grant a newly established tourney Satellite status. If the tourney has no track record to prove they can meet expectations, well, they may have to get a few years under their belt first.
Hiya!!! First of all, I'm glad to see you're excited for the return of the Satellite Tournaments. I'm super excited too. It's time to recover that fun big tournaments. After reading @Savnock 's questions, I would like to clarify something (although @Savant has already specified his case ;) ). I would also like the distribution of the satellites to be more spread out and even more! I miss some "mythical" ones, like the Rose City Raid. But this is not because they have been left out of the selection, this is because no applications have been sent to be satellite tournaments. And if that application is not sent, I don't even know if it will be held. That's why we can't give Satellite status to some tournaments that we knew and that were already satellites in their day. Let's remember that the pandemic has affected the competitive scene. That is why we must take into account that some of these organizers may simply not be any more. And without that engine and if no one picks up the baton, a tournament simply disappears. I would like to believe that tournaments will be as big or bigger than they were before the pandemic. But let's be realistic, the pandemic has left us touched and we will have to recover that "golden age" and it will be through smaller tournaments. As the situation improves and confidence is regained, these will grow in number. Now is the time to recover what we had and have fun again without fear. So, although the applications for Satellite have been closed, we are always open to study new applications that arrive after the deadline, it would not be the first time that we do it ;) A nice compliment :D
@HellLois thanks for the explanation. It's really surprising to hear that there were zero applications from the whole west coast U.S. I guess it's time for more of us to get involved. (It really is a lot like where you guys live, by the way. Come on out and visit Seattle or Portland sometime, we owe you guys a tour.) Thanks all who explained the reality of the situation here, for helping me (and maybe others) have a little more perspective and patience with the Satellite process. I too am really looking forward to seeing how the tournament scene regrows this year and next too. I guess I need to keep in mind that getting back towards "normal" takes time, and that the Infinity tourney scene was still developing over here even before the disruption. In areas with a lot of options and groups to choose from for a Satellite maybe, but in a country or region with no representation yet, they might need to start with people with a solid plan and the right experience. Gotta start somewhere. Good call and good reminder. Also I guess some of us who mainly just play need to find a way to support those efforts (like spending some time collecting venue bids, or setting up ticketing websites, etc.). I'd love to volunteer for a few of those tasks, once I figure out who's setting something up. Gotta disagree there though. The prestige from Satellite status definitely attracts more players and I'm guessing from further afar as well, even if they're not shooting for Interplanetario. Satellites' visibility and that little extra official-ness can really make players a lot more likely to visit another region or country for a specific tourney, or cross their own area if it's big and a pain in the ass to drive across (France to Germany for example, or from Seattle to San Francisco). It's a wise choice to create higher-tier events for organized play, and it definitely makes things feel even more exciting at those events. Fun as a local ITS is in its own way (especially if they do crazy rules stuff that might elicit whingeing at a larger event), people really do try harder at Satellites IME.
