I used to play Heroclix competitively and here are my thoughts on high level tournaments:

1 - The buy in isn't that big of a deal. I remember the biggest event of the year was held at ECCC and we had to pay something like 20 bucks to enter. The prizes were typically custom pieces that winners sold the same day. When I won I ended up clearing 160 bucks(it could have been more, but I promised a friend that if I won I would give him the custom batmobile......bye bye 100 bucks!). From what I saw, hardly anyone cared about losing their buy in, they cared about losing their shot at the prize. Also, some people get quite intense(*cough* me*cough*) under pressure and can rub people who are "just here to have fun" the wrong way. And that's where the real issue is. Some people show up with the intention of winning and run on the assumption that everyone else is too. Others just want to have fun and don't mind paying a few bucks to do so. That dichotomy will always be there. I think it's up to the organizers to make it clear that the event is supposed to be competitive. But as a side note; this game doesn't have the raging neckbeards that Heroclix does, so big outbursts are unlikely.

2- You need people. Bottom line, big events work a lot better if the turnout is big and is not just 15 guys. Also, considering that the player base is rather spread out, it may be best to pick a location that a number of people could easily drive to(like within 3 hours preferably)

3 - Prizes need to be top notch. Money is good and all, but anyone can work a few extra hours and make some money. I think the cash side of things are more of a bonus than a main prize. I went to the ECCC event for Heroclix in 2011, there were about 100 people vying for the prize. Ditto for 2012. 2013 no longer had the custom pieces(prizes were booster packs and stuff) and attendance dropped to a shade over 30. There needs to be something outside of money and bragging rights to get people motivated to take the time(and possibly more money outside of the buy in) to show up. Just spitballing here, but what if someone could make a replica deathstar somewhere in between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball and find a way to modify it to operate as a DS dial for the game?

IDK if anyone can make something like that, or get it small enough to carry around(I personally would prefer something a shade over the size of a golf ball) to use in regular games, but that's a prize I would travel out to go compete for.

There's my 2 cents on the matter. I'm 100% down either way. I'm located in Las Vegas. I also created a facebook group for people who live in the area(or plan on visiting and would like to get a game in).

https://www.facebook...s/lvstarwarslcg