Great idea! An end of the year playoffs type of thing would definitely make people want to play more and win! New clubs , current clubs and old clubs from the EASHL will for sure be playing a lot and the EASHL would become alot more competitive. People would stick to their clubs and build chemistry. Looking forward to Next-Gen !
I don't like being the person to talk the negatives in a thread, but since I've was a pro gamer on the PC FPS/RTS platform in years past I feel I could have some use here. Don't get too excited about Scuf Gaming or any of the other gear companies because there's no market place [or should I say use] for modded controllers/custom controllers in general other than aesthetics as well as their headsets, gunnars, etc in the sports genre. Unless you have legitimate connections inside the company or a member of a team currently sponsored I feel that it will be very difficult for you to obtain a sponsorship from these companies since sports games can't utilize their products for what they're built for and they would need some heavy convincing to enter a large grey-area market place (Or what they could consider 'high-risk' if you will) like NHL. Just ask yourself why MLG or none of the current BIG gaming tournament companies have entered the NHL, let alone sports genre all together (Besides racing games)? 1) The skill-gap is too small no matter how you look at it. 2) Your tournaments can be decided by the games flaws rather than a users skill/errors which would only cause controversy and headaches. There is just to many unknowns for anyone besides EA or VG to step up to the plate and to be honest I doubt EA would be willing to sponsor. They haven't sponsored anything other than their own Gamescom or NASCAR races (A REAL NASCAR race) in years. They didn't even sponsor competitive tournaments for Battlefield 2 after 1 year of it being released and that's their biggest game to be released in the last 10 years. Now, we have to look at it from their stand point on what, in all reality, we have to offer to them. 1) Exposure with their name brand on website, etc and personal use of product 2) Willing people to compete. Although those two things are nice, gaming companies are looking for more. What is that? MONEY. Look at what these gaming companies and tournament companies (ESEA for PC, MLG for cross-platforms, LCS for LoL, DotA2, CoD) have turned gaming into. They have turned them into huge events generating millions in revenue. NHL doesn't have the user population, let alone overall gaming community interest to be turned into a large[r] gaming community. All the teams have their team uniforms, they usually live together and/or travel together to the various events (Or when the season is 'live') and the TEAMs are sponsored (CompLexity, Team SoloMid, Optic Gaming..) If they're going to enter a new gaming marketplace it has to be worth their time, effort & money and frankly I just don't see it happening in this game, at least for now. Having sponsors just to have prizes in the prize pool is great for a strictly online-based tournament but the sponsor-er needs to have something in it for them other than giving away free or highly discounted product to keep them interested in the long run (even if there are buy-ins). Despite what I just said, I am all for this and I wish you luck in this adventure as it would be great to bring more life to the NHL community as well as competitiveness.
Mostly, it isn't hard to gain access to Quebec (yes it is harder than USA and the rest of Canada) but, It would take 2-3 phone calls to the ''Régie des alcools, courses et des jeux'' and it will be done. For something like a NHL14 Playoffs (or even NHL15), this is not big enough for them to ask for a deposit. Most companys (Like EA) doesn't want to get through all of this because it takes times, and because they are a really big company, require deposit (For an High Prize-pool, if every winner are from Quebec, they take 10%, if Winners are from Canada including peoples from Quebec, they take 3%, For anywhere else, including someone from Quebec, they takes 0.5%... But it really depends on the intention of the tournament. EA Playoffs were declared as ''Publicity''... But for something as a Community-organised tournament with a very small audience like NHL... I don't think it should be a problem. With that being said, if there is any intentions of involving Quebec resident (We should, I mean, it will be a shame to lose Fearless, One of the top club, for a Tourney like this, + all others QC players spread across all teams). I could involve myself to get all the necessary agreements within our laws. Sorry for my even worst than usual english, Not completely awake. lol
I did a Mistake... Since it's an International Competition... It is only 0.5% of the Prize Pool... it doesn't depend on the winner but the aimed-audience. And even with this laws, It depends on the intention of the tourney... and we are not aiming the Entire Quebec... Maybe 100 players at best.... AT FAWKIN BEST... There wont ever be 100 QC players in the top teams. So, won't be an hard work.
I talked to master from mlg about this a while back and I told him this could take off like Call of duty, imagine a NHL LAN 6v6 like COD does. Ill tell him to hit you up nuge.
I've actually been messaging that guy and he said he'd support us. We all need to set up a chat with him
Yeah he's a cool guy. As long as we have a strong community behind it I don't see why this couldn't take off.