Hey just wanted to weigh in here because when The Dufresne Bellworks put on the Grand Tournament of the Fury last year we ran into a lot of the same questions you've noted here.
1) Since the rules have been answered I'll speak to the theme. And really that depends on what you're looking for and what sort of audience you're after. There have been (and are) a number of different fighting tournaments so aside from time zone what are you looking to bring to the table? With the Grand Tournament we wanted, basically, to try and recreate 'ye olde fighting tournaments' with the same sort of fancy flair that Ishgard would support. I'd suggest maybe poking at a few of the EU FC leaders and seeing if they have any suggestions on what their members might be willing to participate in. Chances are if you see something of a 'hole' in the community offering (which you've already started by noting the EU folks are possibly missing a combat tournament) someone else probably has thought about it too. And more support is -always- a good thing because you don't want to try and run something like this on your own.
2) Going to echo Gegenji here and say that the rules work by and large because the Grindstone has literally been around that near everyone knows of it or has seen/participated in it at least once.
3) ExAtomos has the right idea here: Reach out to the people who run these tournaments regularly. The advice offered by Warren especially was invaluable in helping our tournaments run smoothly. It was nowhere near the turnout the GS regularly sees but for a group of first time runners like us it was still a bit of a chaotic mass.
One thing I'd say remember is, that it's okay if behind the scenes things don't go exactly according to plan. Someone may drop out right before the fighting starts or during the event and you have to scramble for replacements or there's always someone who's friend is running late, etc etc....just try and keep a calm face for the crowd. As long as people think the event's running smoothly, it'll keep doing so.
1) Since the rules have been answered I'll speak to the theme. And really that depends on what you're looking for and what sort of audience you're after. There have been (and are) a number of different fighting tournaments so aside from time zone what are you looking to bring to the table? With the Grand Tournament we wanted, basically, to try and recreate 'ye olde fighting tournaments' with the same sort of fancy flair that Ishgard would support. I'd suggest maybe poking at a few of the EU FC leaders and seeing if they have any suggestions on what their members might be willing to participate in. Chances are if you see something of a 'hole' in the community offering (which you've already started by noting the EU folks are possibly missing a combat tournament) someone else probably has thought about it too. And more support is -always- a good thing because you don't want to try and run something like this on your own.
2) Going to echo Gegenji here and say that the rules work by and large because the Grindstone has literally been around that near everyone knows of it or has seen/participated in it at least once.
3) ExAtomos has the right idea here: Reach out to the people who run these tournaments regularly. The advice offered by Warren especially was invaluable in helping our tournaments run smoothly. It was nowhere near the turnout the GS regularly sees but for a group of first time runners like us it was still a bit of a chaotic mass.
One thing I'd say remember is, that it's okay if behind the scenes things don't go exactly according to plan. Someone may drop out right before the fighting starts or during the event and you have to scramble for replacements or there's always someone who's friend is running late, etc etc....just try and keep a calm face for the crowd. As long as people think the event's running smoothly, it'll keep doing so.
Martiallais Heuloix - Duty. Honor. Faith.
Armand Tremaux - Justice, like lightning.
"We're all snowflakes in a great blizzard." - Virara 2017
Armand Tremaux - Justice, like lightning.
"We're all snowflakes in a great blizzard." - Virara 2017
