OK, so some of you know the story, but for the benefit of those of you that weren’t around on SRK when the APEX divisions were made, I’ll tell it again:
Originally, the Atlantic North and the Atlantic South were combined into one large section, simply called “Atlantic.” LiquiTed and I, along with a few others that no longer post on here, petitioned the SRK staff to get the division divided in half. That request was granted, however there was still a problem - where do we draw the line?
I suggested the Mason-Dixon, but Virginia would have nothing of that, and now I understand why; NOVA is close enough to some of the major areas that they all travel North, and SOVA is, as Rod West put it, “a beast all their own.” The thing that surprised me the most was that NC players, who, at the time, had major gaming hubs in Charlotte, Fayetteville, R/D, etc. ALSO wanted to be in the Atlantic North. To me, this defeated the purpose; I felt that the southern states would be overshadowed by the northern states, and that no one here would ever take us seriously (not to mention the fact that our threads would constantly be reaching page 2).
Fast forward to today - when Anderson (Upstate SC) still had an arcade, we constantly got a draw from Charlotte, Asheville, and even R/D on occasion (especially in the later years). A large majority of the players at FRX were from NC. We’re all friends, and we have even adopted a few players from the Grover area and Asheville as “unofficial” Upstate players of our own. I, and many like me, would like to see NC “secede” from the Atlantic North - we could make it happen if you guys wanted to. I would like to hear your opinions - please take a moment to post on the subject (not just NC, but any other Atlantic South states as well). I have posted a link in the NC thread - let’s see what everyone has to say.
Back before APEX was first formed, our local scene started out going to tournaments in the Tidewater (VA) area after a couple of pioneers had ventered out that way. This was about late 2000/early 2001.
It wasn’t until a bit later that the Charlotte tournaments came about, and that’s when we met a lot of people from SC/GA. After that point we as a state tended to go towards the south for tournies much more than the north, but the APEX region lines had been drawn already based on the VA history. That was all anybody outside of the state knew about us at the time.
That’s a short synopsis of what happened for those who weren’t around for it. I spoke with Kyah about this while at FRX, and I told him I thought our gaming experience and vibe was more closely Southern than Northern (always has been)… but I didn’t compete anymore anyway and therefore didn’t feel I had much place to say about it.
So that’s what I say - ask the people in the state who still compete and roll out for tournies. See what they think.
I don’t really see the point of moving them now. Back when everything was split, SRK actually supported their APEX baby by posting real time stats that updated daily. At that time we were travelling to Charlotte alot to play those players and in return, several of the NC players travelled south for Anderson tournaments and the Final Round yearlies.
Now, all the seperation means is that it’s easier to locate posts that are relative to your geographical location.
I think NC should be part of the South, but does it really matter?!?
