Tournament Scene Safety

A note before we start the thread; please make sure to keep this on the topic of security measures in place at events, rather than allowing this to devolve into a never-ending discussion about gun laws themselves.

In the last few years, there have been an increased number of tragedies at events, and I’m sure most on these forums are aware of the shooting which occurred during a Madden tournament in Florida. I happened to see this article today and thought this was a worthwhile discussion to have here, as I know there are a lot of people in the KI community who attend tournaments on a fairly regular basis; I’m curious how those with more event experience than myself view changes like this.

Personally, I think the safety of the staff and attendees is paramount, even if it requires something like opening a fight stick. I understand that some may see a potential for such a requirement to have an effect on player mindsets and potentially even how the fight stick will perform, but I think it’s important that something is being done to hopefully prevent any more tragedies in the future.

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT INCREASED SAFETY FOR TOURNAMENTS AND OTHER LIVE EVENTS IS REQUIRED?

  • Safety at any cost, no matter what is required of competitors.
  • Safety is important, but there must be limits to the requirements.
  • My opinion is entirely neutral (or I do not compete).
  • I believe the existing safety procedures at live events are sufficient.

0 voters

Tagging a few people I know to be organizers and frequent tournament goers, as I’m specifically hoping for more experienced opinions than my own.

@FinchoMatic @RoTeNdO @F3Sleep @FallofSeraphs76 @TheNinjaOstrich @TheKeits @TempusChaoti @UABass @PCKPharrohYami @STORM179 @FallibleJoker14 @LetalisVenator @MandrillManiac

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Opening fight sticks though? Most cases can barely fit a pcb, 8 buttons and a jlf joystick.

Given the size of even the smallest firearm, it’s not going to fit. Now I’m arcade/fight stick aficionado. I can tell you right now, that even the largest stick on the market, Hori’s VewLix premium will probably be the closest case that may conceal a firearm… if you remove all the buttons.

Metal detectors and pat downs, as if you’re entering a club. Should suffice.

Correct me if I am wrong please because I do not own a fight stick myself but this seems like a reasonable request that may be a minor inconvenience to some but is just the nature of the beast now thanks to a despicable person.

This could be a preventative measure to the storing of a firearm (if possible with a large enough case for a stick) but also the storing of an explosive device of some kind.

I’m legit not going to tournaments anymore because of the these tragedies (and I hate traveling too)

I’ll have to stick online stuff. But safety is always first.

Opening a fightstick isn’t that big of deal imo. I have watched players open up their stick mid match to fix a button instead of pausing & taking a loss automatically. But Rotendo is right. there isn’t much room in them & 99% of people that can fit stuff in theirs is usually replacement wires / buttons from what I have seen. But can def carry a knife of some sort in it. but so can pockets. Its a very iffy situation if you ask me,
But it shouldn’t stop any of us from doing what we love, Basically saying of because of this im not travelling anymore is like saying oh 9/11 happened its not safe outside anymore. Life is never safe. not 100%.
The best we can do is add security measures & keep on trucking.
Also if your every at an offline & see something fishy always grab someone on staff. even if it turns into nothing better safe then sorry :slight_smile:

I’ve come to the opinion that (as a small event organizer myself) organizers and organizations must have a plan and procedure because just going about the status quo prior to Jacksonville will not suffice. But at the same time, there is only so much one can do.

Let’s be honest and frank. The FGC does not have pools of money to spend or draw from aside from a select few organizations. It is a meme of sorts that organizers hold together tournaments and events sometimes with chewing gum and tin foil. And again being honest and frank, FGC players do not put in money for events until the very last minute, and many times, 10 minutes after that.

I’m still taking in opinions and information (even the responses to this thread) but right now, if asked if i would implement a ‘search all fight sticks’ guideline for my event, my answer would be no. My answer at events of my expected level is …

  • Updating code of conduct to reflect no tolerance of firearms.
  • Blacklisting/banning of players based on not following agreed upon code of conduct of current or other events, be it for firearms infractions or any and all other types of infractions which include being threatening, provoking violence, discriminatory insults, harassment of any kind and physical altercations of any kind.
  • Bag and/or stick searches can be conducted at any given time, including at the door prior to entry.

If the goal is to avoid every type of event/location that has been in a mass shooting in the past 10 years, then that list would include:

  • Church
  • Elementary School
  • High School
  • Music concerts
  • Movie theaters
  • Pizzerias/local videogame gatherings
  • Baseball fields
  • Corner of local supermarket

That’s a (very) non-exhaustive list of just well-publicized mass shootings in the past few years. My point simply being that it’s pretty impractical to entirely avoid all sites and situations that have been associated with such tragedies. At a certain point you just have to live your life…what will be will be, and you’re still more likely to be killed by someone you intimately know or die in a car crash than be the victim of what we think of as the prototypical mass shooting. I’m not going to stop going to church or pizza places because of fear, and I’m not going to stop going to events I deem fun and otherwise worth it either.

In terms of security that’s reasonable, I think it kind of is what it is. For large events bag checks and pat downs should likely be mandatory, and for the very largest things like Evo metal detectors and/or stick checks are probably worthwhile. I wouldn’t be in favor of anything but small cursory checks (if that) for locals, but it’s not like I’d boycott an event or anything for choosing to do more than that.

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I’m all for safety…

I believe all the safety measures should be inplace in case of a fire or a minor disagreement that turns physical betwewn two individuals.

But is it the event organiser’s responsibility to do something about an armed individual ? I mean what do you even do in that situation ? It doesn’t happen often enough that I think it would be feasible to defend against.

I thought it was simply an unfortunate tragedy that nobody could have anticipated.

I feel like the main intent of security is to prevent there from ever BEING a situation with an armed individual, so there doesn’t need to be some sort of intervention during an attack.

If something does occur, I would think that there should also be escape plans in place, the same way there are evacuation plans/routes during a fire or earthquake.

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For the time being there has to be an entry and RE-ENTRY check at all entrances of any event. There needs to be some sort of Security/Police dressed personal at the entrance to “scare” away anyone trying something crazy.
This Madden incident , the guy went out to his car and brought the gun in did he not? SO RE-ENTRY needs to be a focus point. Not just your first entry point.
Im all for it… its a minor inconvenience to enjoy the event.
Im speaking about large events like KIT, Combo Breaker, EVO, KIWC,…not Jimmy’s local fight night.

It gets sketchy from state to state and laws update themselves, but in general, any place i’ve worked for or worked with that used event space as a gathering of people cannot obstruct or obscure building designated emergency exits as a fire code violation. (I don’t know how many brides i’ve encountered that were upset they couldn’t decorate doors) And i believe such exits must be clearly marked, but not certain on that. So it’s more of a direct responsibility of the venue to have said exits and routes in place and an obligation of any licensee of a venue to communicate that to patrons. Do they? No, not really. Probably something that will have to change, even if it’s as simple as supplying a floor plan that copies a buildings exits and/or escape plans to players.

Although I tend to agree with @RoTeNdO about the possibility of actually concealing a firearm in a fight stick case the problem has less to do with real security and more to do with demonstrating that they are “doing something.” It sucks for many reasons but there is an unavoidable chain of logic:

The next time any incident occurs at a video game tournament, the venue and the organizer will both be sued for not preventing it and possibly the sponsor as well (not because they are in any way responsible but because they have money). The sponsor is not going to want to deal with this so they will require that the venue has security and likely insurance to cover the lawsuit. The insurer will require the venue to do all kinds of stupid stuff because stupid stuff doesn’t cost them anything and insurance companies don’t like to make payouts. Further, as we know from all the grandmas being patted down at airports the actual effectiveness of the screening is not important.

So I think stick screening will be a thing whether it makes sense or not. I think the real issue is that event organizers need to work to prepare participants for the screening, and minimize the disruption. This will be a real challenge. As @FallofSeraphs76 points out there will also be a big push to keep people from entering and exiting the venue - both by organizers deliberately and by participants who don’t want to go through security multiple times. So I would expect to see more events in controlled environments (rather than shopping malls for example). As always, weeklies at GameStop will be unaffected and the CEO’s and EVOs that are well sponsored and attended will absorb this. But those middle size tournaments are going to be hurt badly and may disappear. Sad. As always, one ■■■■■■■ ruins it for the rest of us.

Just as an aside @MandrillManiac, you obviously are free to make your own choices based on whatever reasoning you choose. I e never been to a tournament just because I haven’t found the time or energy so I’m not one to talk. But based on the information we have I would say video game tournaments are remarkably safe. You have thousands of young men (our most violent demographic) participating in very intense competition but literally zero stories of violence up until this one event. As @STORM179 points out, the odds of you having an experience like this are likely no higher at a game tournament than other places. Like I said, your decisions are yours to make but I thought I would throw this out there.

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This is what troubles me the most… its like whenever something bad happens the first instinct we have is to find some individual or organisation to blame.

It’s more I hate traveling in general these days. I get panic attacks or worse when I’m on a plane or at the hotel and this doesn’t help my mind that much.

I should’ve worded my original post better. Sorry.

As I stated before, rather, voted, I’m all for added security. Metal detectors, bag checks, even pat downs if necessary.

I do not, I repeat, do not agree with opening up one’s fightick. With the ONLY exception going to those carrying fighting is that can be readily opened AD DESIGNED by the manufacturer. (Maintenance compartment) Now with those, that makes sense… despite that you really can’t conceal a firearm due to lack of space. So I suppose those individuals needs to find other ways to hide their umm… recreational medicine.

Fightsticks that can only be opened using tools should be excluded. As doing so voids warranty and I’m not one who would want to drop another $200+ on a new stick if anything were to happen and customer service refused to do anything due to a voided warranty issue.

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Right, only the Te2 style sticks that are made to open. My main fight stick doesnt open as its custom made. It does however have a clear bottom so they could look into it. But you cant hide anything in there anyways.
I think the main focus needs to be on reentry… thats where the perp can slip through just like the Madden guy was able to do.

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before i start, i would like to say i hope nothing like that madden tournament incident ever occurs at any FGC tournament. i consider the FGC as my community even tho i never make it out to tournies cuz theyre too ■■■■ far and im always busy.

i think for security, pat downs and metal detectors. its also wise to have armed security on the premises because ppl who want to shoot up venues are cowards. if they see armed guards they wont even think about it. they want it to be shooting fish in a barrel, not a situation where there will be reprisal.

i could understand opening fight sticks (though personally im against being searched and that includes the aforementioned methods i brought up), but i see no point. this is with one of my guns in the fight stick. you aint hiding ■■■■ in there, even if i disassemble it

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Defintiely armerd gaurds at every entrance. Scares the cowards away at that point, makes them rethink their descisions. MOst popel that would do this are ones that are mad they lost, go to their room or vehicle and come back with a weapon. I doubt a terrorst is going to just pick a tournament to shoot people for no reason.

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naw terrorists will go for political/religious targets. they dont care about blowing up or shooting a bunch of salty fighting game weirdos lol

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