On September 2nd, Ikeda had a chain of twitter threads where he talked about LGS and tournament support, so let's take a look! It started up with Ikeda clearing up a misunderstanding about whether Card Kingdom (the LGS chain Ikeda owns) would be carrying Gate Ruler.
"Its a misunderstanding, please do not be confused. Directly managed Card Kingdom stores will not carry Gate Ruler stores. This is because some people will suspect fraudulent singles purchases. (Its ridiculous but it can't be helped)
Of course, we will still handle sealed product, and franchise Card Kingdom stores are privately owned, so they are free to choose whether to carry Gate Ruler singles at their own discretion. (No one wants to suppress the freedom of individual stores, right?)
Gate Ruler will support all stores that carry it, whether they are in rural areas or privately owned. If someone says "there is no Gate Ruler in my area", it is not the fault of the manufacturer. Your local stores just don't carry it. If you order through a store, you will definitely be able to get it. There is no reason not to. The idea that manufacturers will not send to rural areas is absolutely impossible." (Source: 1 2 3)
Next, Ikeda talked about Gate Ruler's rural support.
"Q: What does Gate Ruler think of rural support?
A: We support rural and urban areas alike. There is no difference there.
Right now is a ridiculous era where its difficult to hold tournaments in urban areas, and when people in Tokyo try to do business in rural areas or even other urban areas they are told not to come.
Certainly in the old days it was true that "Manufacturer's sales people only go to the city" and "The National Convention is always at Higashi-Meihan", but since those sales cannot be done right now it could be said the regional disparities have disappeared as a result.
In addition, it is difficult for manufacturers to hold tournaments in urban areas right now, but it could be said that individuals in rural areas holding tournaments is more doable due to the atmosphere of the region.
Honestly speaking, it is difficult for manufacturers to hold any large-scale tournaments right now due to the various hurdles. It would be helpful if individuals took the initiative to hold tournaments.
We will prepare a tournament kit for you!" (Sources: 1 2 3)
Next, Ikeda talked in depth about tournament kit and event exclusive promo availability.
"A problem I want to solve is "because there are no events where I am, I can't get the event exclusive promotional cards".
However, there are pros and cons. That is..."to sell the tournament kit for a fee". We would make a tournament kit for 8 people, and put prizes equivalent to the price as well as promotional cards inside so that individuals can hold tournaments. That way, you can purchase the kit from the manufacturer or through the store, and that would allow:
Anyone to easily hold a tournament without an application process.
Even if you can't compete, you can still buy the promotional card.
Even if there is a big tournament and there is an exclusive promo only obtainable there, we will reprint it as soon as possible.
I am someone who knows the pros and cons of promo cards more than anyone. The cons go without saying, but the pros are very real and necessary. I think the question is how much we can cancel out the cons while keeping the pros.
We plan to explain this in detail in live broadcasts, but let me tell you one thing.
I say that I want to do this, but there will always be disagreements. Some of the objections make sense, but there is always an opposition. So, when I say I want to do this, I would like you to avoid unreasonable stance of "follow my opinion". After all, the goal is to do it better than ever without following the method already attempted." (Sources: 1 2 3 4 5)
Ikeda then continued into another thread about the benefits of a paid tournament kit.
"I want to spread this. The kit being paid has a lot of meaning.
If you make the tournament kit free, you need a registration system in order to exclude people who want to get a large number of kits illegitimately. There are people who would mess up the tournament promotion by applying even though they had no shop and would not hold a tournament. In order to investigate and exclude such people, a registration system is necessary and the investigation requires personnel costs.
But even then, the fraud doesn't go away.
However, if you sell the tournament kit for a fee, all of these problems are solved. If you have this kit, you can hold a tournament, or you can distribute the participant's promo and winner's promo without holding a tournament.
If you just want the promo cards, you can just buy the kit and be good to go. Of course, if you want to hold a tournament, you can still use it that way.
Moreover, there is no troublesome registration or official reporting of results. There is no injustice. After all, I pay for the product! Until now, it was distributed free of charge, so there was fraud. This idea is not original to me though." (Sources: 1 2 3 4)
That is all Ikeda said on the subject on September 2nd, but there are some older tweets that we haven't covered before that we'd like to take the opportunity to cover before. First up, on August 25th, Ikeda had this to say regarding banning cards.
"Since Gate Ruler isn't released yet, for the sake of honesty with those who are considering buying the product.
Eventually there will be banned cards.
When that time comes, I would like to fulfill my accountability as described in this MTG article" (Source)
And going even further back then that, on August 2nd, Ikeda had this to say about tournament support for Gate Ruler during a thread talking about TCG players with bad attitudes.
"As a game becomes more competitive, and there is something valuable to be won, people with bad attitudes will gather. More and more people will use any means to win.
I want to make Gate Ruler valuable to competitors, but I want to make sure winners rarely get things that are too profitable." (Source)
"Its a misunderstanding, please do not be confused. Directly managed Card Kingdom stores will not carry Gate Ruler stores. This is because some people will suspect fraudulent singles purchases. (Its ridiculous but it can't be helped)
Of course, we will still handle sealed product, and franchise Card Kingdom stores are privately owned, so they are free to choose whether to carry Gate Ruler singles at their own discretion. (No one wants to suppress the freedom of individual stores, right?)
Gate Ruler will support all stores that carry it, whether they are in rural areas or privately owned. If someone says "there is no Gate Ruler in my area", it is not the fault of the manufacturer. Your local stores just don't carry it. If you order through a store, you will definitely be able to get it. There is no reason not to. The idea that manufacturers will not send to rural areas is absolutely impossible." (Source: 1 2 3)
Next, Ikeda talked about Gate Ruler's rural support.
"Q: What does Gate Ruler think of rural support?
A: We support rural and urban areas alike. There is no difference there.
Right now is a ridiculous era where its difficult to hold tournaments in urban areas, and when people in Tokyo try to do business in rural areas or even other urban areas they are told not to come.
Certainly in the old days it was true that "Manufacturer's sales people only go to the city" and "The National Convention is always at Higashi-Meihan", but since those sales cannot be done right now it could be said the regional disparities have disappeared as a result.
In addition, it is difficult for manufacturers to hold tournaments in urban areas right now, but it could be said that individuals in rural areas holding tournaments is more doable due to the atmosphere of the region.
Honestly speaking, it is difficult for manufacturers to hold any large-scale tournaments right now due to the various hurdles. It would be helpful if individuals took the initiative to hold tournaments.
We will prepare a tournament kit for you!" (Sources: 1 2 3)
Next, Ikeda talked in depth about tournament kit and event exclusive promo availability.
"A problem I want to solve is "because there are no events where I am, I can't get the event exclusive promotional cards".
However, there are pros and cons. That is..."to sell the tournament kit for a fee". We would make a tournament kit for 8 people, and put prizes equivalent to the price as well as promotional cards inside so that individuals can hold tournaments. That way, you can purchase the kit from the manufacturer or through the store, and that would allow:
Even if there is a big tournament and there is an exclusive promo only obtainable there, we will reprint it as soon as possible.
I am someone who knows the pros and cons of promo cards more than anyone. The cons go without saying, but the pros are very real and necessary. I think the question is how much we can cancel out the cons while keeping the pros.
We plan to explain this in detail in live broadcasts, but let me tell you one thing.
I say that I want to do this, but there will always be disagreements. Some of the objections make sense, but there is always an opposition. So, when I say I want to do this, I would like you to avoid unreasonable stance of "follow my opinion". After all, the goal is to do it better than ever without following the method already attempted." (Sources: 1 2 3 4 5)
Ikeda then continued into another thread about the benefits of a paid tournament kit.
"I want to spread this. The kit being paid has a lot of meaning.
If you make the tournament kit free, you need a registration system in order to exclude people who want to get a large number of kits illegitimately. There are people who would mess up the tournament promotion by applying even though they had no shop and would not hold a tournament. In order to investigate and exclude such people, a registration system is necessary and the investigation requires personnel costs.
But even then, the fraud doesn't go away.
However, if you sell the tournament kit for a fee, all of these problems are solved. If you have this kit, you can hold a tournament, or you can distribute the participant's promo and winner's promo without holding a tournament.
If you just want the promo cards, you can just buy the kit and be good to go. Of course, if you want to hold a tournament, you can still use it that way.
Moreover, there is no troublesome registration or official reporting of results. There is no injustice. After all, I pay for the product! Until now, it was distributed free of charge, so there was fraud. This idea is not original to me though." (Sources: 1 2 3 4)
That is all Ikeda said on the subject on September 2nd, but there are some older tweets that we haven't covered before that we'd like to take the opportunity to cover before. First up, on August 25th, Ikeda had this to say regarding banning cards.
"Since Gate Ruler isn't released yet, for the sake of honesty with those who are considering buying the product.
Eventually there will be banned cards.
When that time comes, I would like to fulfill my accountability as described in this MTG article" (Source)
And going even further back then that, on August 2nd, Ikeda had this to say about tournament support for Gate Ruler during a thread talking about TCG players with bad attitudes.
"As a game becomes more competitive, and there is something valuable to be won, people with bad attitudes will gather. More and more people will use any means to win.
I want to make Gate Ruler valuable to competitors, but I want to make sure winners rarely get things that are too profitable." (Source)
Edited by HunterSerge on 4th September, 2020 at 3:20pm CST