Pokemon TCG Unsteady?

[ninetales1234]

that's interesting: i seem to remember back when there were gym challenges that there was a lot of outrage that people could 'luck' their way into worlds by winning ONE tournament, and that there were no rewards..i.e. entry to worlds...for playaz with high ratings/rankings...

They're unhappy if you do
and unhappy if you don't...:nonono:

This year pokemon is limiting events and limiting top cut at events. This is getting lots of players frustrated. Shouldn't the top cut of a tournament be based on the attendance of that event.

I agree with you to the point that a player should not have to go undefeated in swiss to guarantee himself a spot in the SE cut. However, the "25% of the players" standard would have left us (Masters) with aT64 in US Nationals 2007. That's BIG. I don't remember who said it but someone here pointed out that the final swiss round can be thought of as a pseudo-T64 round.

And really, Does the 9-0 guy want to lose to a 6-3 guy in the first round of SE? #1 seed plays #64 seed? *thumb down*

Not to mention the premier rating invites is getting players to be more and more competitive.

Is that bad? Can we make this "comptitiveness" go away somehow?

These players aren't helping other players in the game

Those "1337 playerz" probably wouldn't help people anyway.

because POP has made it so tough to get to Worlds 08. Now your at the point that your just out for yourself. This kills the SOTG.

Not sure what you're saying here. The fact that people can't get into Worlds means they will quit (lol, entitlement mentality!)? I'm not sure I understand.

Just keep in mind
-all the players out there who go to Premier events rarely, and don't even consider going to Worlds
-all the players who have been to Premeir events that are not aware of the Premier rating system
-all the players who play in non-Premier tournaments or tournaments outside of POP
-all the players who only play in leagues
-all the players who only play for fun and are have never been involved with POP at all
-all the collectors, very young children, and other people who are not even aware there is game that can be played with the cards

People will still continue to buy the cards, so this game is not going away for a long time and neither is the POP tournament series.

Before premier rating invites came along you could go into an event with the feeling I'm going to have some fun. How can you walk into a tournament with the fear of losing rating points and have fun? I think this puts more pressure on the JR and SR players more then the MA players mainly because their younger and less experienced.

When I first starting playing this game everything was balanced, everything was steady. Now I don't know if it's just me but every year something in pokemon decreases and increases. The player base of pokemon has increased each year since I've played this awsome game.

The decreasing things that I see are fun, events, prizes, and mainly player's attitude towards Pokemon Organized Play. Were the customers of this great TCG and rating invites didn't work in the past yet they're still trying to make it work. With every choice someone makes you will always get a positive and a negative.

I wonder, how much of this observation is confirmation bias? (i.e. you expect something to happen, therefore that is what you observe).

whoever can attend more events ultimately will have a better premier rating.

I think in this situation, the right questions are not being asked. The commonly heard question here is: Why does my area not have as much events as that other area? Those other guys have an unfair advantage!

The better question is: Why is the rating system set up that way? Why are the ratings calculated in such a way, that there is a minimum number of matches required to get one's rating to X?

Though this thread is nothing new, I think you have handled this topic in a civilized manner. Not the "angry poor grammar rant" style so common of these threads. Let's keep it up.

 

[Bolt]

And really, Does the 9-0 guy want to lose to a 6-3 guy in the first round of SE? #1 seed plays #64 seed? *thumb down*

I don't think the 9-0 player wants to lose ANY rounds in single elim. But is it better to cheat (for lack of a better word) 6+ players out of making the cut or accommodate the top 6+ who are in the cut ANYWAY and would have an equal chance of winning the tourney as any other seed in there?

The Boltron sayeth non!

 

[GinoLombardi21]

He snuck his way into Worlds last year, do you disagree that sitting Nationals out to protect your record (which you earned through multiple joke tournaments) is cowardly? How about going to Nats and dropping after losing the first round?

Yea he did it in a cheap way but he found a way to beat pops ranking system. He dropped after round 1 of nats. That isnt cowardly it's wicked smart. Since he lost the first round he then decided I dont want to try and be national champion. I want to go to worlds and try and be world champion. If you could insure a trip to the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP you would do the same. If anyone else says they wouldn't they would be wrong.

 

[PokePop]

Yea he did it in a cheap way but he found a way to beat pops ranking system. He dropped after round 1 of nats. That isnt cowardly it's wicked smart. Since he lost the first round he then decided I dont want to try and be national champion. I want to go to worlds and try and be world champion. If you could insure a trip to the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP you would do the same. If anyone else says they wouldn't they would be wrong.

qft

 

[mcoville]

Everyone needs to stop thinking of them selves and the masters and lets remember we have kids playing this game also. My daughter, who is 10, got to win her first tourney when she won a battle road. It helped build her interest in the game and her confidence. She then went on to win 4 out of 6 Cities, her 6 year old sister end up in a top four in one city. By taking out the smaller, low K value, events you rob the kids of an opportunity to win. I also can describe how much the kids I talk to like seeing their names on the ranking list. After Cities all the kids at league would not stop talking about seeing themselves and their friends on the pop rankings.

Also why should PUI pay for you to go to a FREE event. They already give a lot to us for FREE. Granted I did not play when WOTC was in charge and I hear there was a lot of great prizes, but that stuff was paid for by Magic the gathering. If you want better prizes and free trips... BUY MORE CARDS!

I do not work for PUI but I would hate to have someone who does read this post and see everyone acting like spoiled and ungrateful brats. Have fun or go home. There are enough of us that are grateful to PUI for all they do and I look forward to the States and Regionals coming up.

 

[ShadowCard]

No one can blame the rankings for killing the SotG. That's a really poor excuse. You are blaming something else for your own poor behavior. YOU kill the SotG when you succumb to unsporting behavior and dishonestly to get ahead.

Everyone needs to stop thinking of them selves and the masters and lets remember we have kids playing this game also. My daughter, who is 10, got to win her first tourney when she won a battle road. It helped build her interest in the game and her confidence. She then went on to win 4 out of 6 Cities, her 6 year old sister end up in a top four in one city. By taking out the smaller, low K value, events you rob the kids of an opportunity to win. I also can describe how much the kids I talk to like seeing their names on the ranking list. After Cities all the kids at league would not stop talking about seeing themselves and their friends on the pop rankings.

You're absolutely right. And since there are also more BRs and CCs in a state than higher tournaments, you can guarentee more of those younger ones can attend and therefore find themselves on that rankings page.

You play this game for fun, and occasional booster box. But an invite to Worlds is a bonus. You don't deserve it, it isn't something to cry about because neither you nor your mom got an invite, and that's where a lot of people are confused.

I find it amusing that people think that players, posting on Pokegym, are going to convince POP that making Worlds easier will increase sales and overall tournament attendance when, as ninetales1234 pointed out, most of the people who buy cards don't play in premier tournaments. It just decreases the credentials of what Worlds is and what credit a participant of Worlds has. Even if you sat out of Nationals, you still had to play in and do well in enough tournaments to get yourself high enough to take that risk.

 

[BigChuck01]

Rating system is fine right now. No AMAZING players missed worlds last year; only the mediocre/bad players did. It worlds guys; only the best of the best. When the good players start whiffing, I'll complain with you.

 

[Scizor]

So Pooka is a mediocre/bad player.

 

[BigChuck01]

Did I Stutter? :-d

 

[pat460]

No one can blame the rankings for killing the SotG. That's a really poor excuse. You are blaming something else for your own poor behavior. YOU kill the SotG when you succumb to unsporting behavior and dishonestly to get ahead.

Rankings make SOTG a more retarded concept. Why should someone care about SOTG if it means loosing a chance at worlds? Why would I care about any single thing in the SOTG if it makes getting that chance harder? If I could do something that is against SOTG(like dropping from an event after round one) to get into world, why wouldn't I? think about it......

 

[yelsha]

Ok you only get premier ratings from premier tournaments right? If you're so cut up about it dont go to premier events. After all there are plent of non-premier tournaments. But ultimately it's your own mentality that destroys the spirit of the game. The only person who can spoil your fun is you. I mean the idea of worlds is for the best right? Not everyone can go. So you lose a few rankings points, everyone else is too, and if theyre not, they obviously deserve to go to Worlds dont they? You cant win every game and you cant go to Worlds unless you get it in your head that losing is an important part to any game.
Personally i think you're all acting a bit childish about it.
The only point i agree with (which was made somewhere in this topic) is that prize support should be determined by the size of the event, because otherwise there's no real point in trying to attract new players if they arent getting anything out of it.

And thats my 15 minute rant :lol:

 

[Masquerading Gliscor]

The player base of pokemon has increased each year since I've played this awsome game.

Thats one of my few problems though. The player base has INCREASED and the prizes and top cuts have DECREASED.

Now, unless i'm bad at math, player base going up=more money being made. So, more money being made should not=prizes for this larger player based, more money making game, to drop greatly.

But that could just be me =/

Rankings make SOTG a more retarded concept. Why should someone care about SOTG if it means loosing a chance at worlds? Why would I care about any single thing in the SOTG if it makes getting that chance harder? If I could do something that is against SOTG(like dropping from an event after round one) to get into world, why wouldn't I? think about it......

I agree there, which i why it would be interesting to make battle roads not count for rankings, to just have fun every once in a while, start off the season with some fun events with low prizes, and then all the competitive stuff passes (nats, regionals, states, cities) and you get a few more battle roads in that don't count for rankings, and enjoy yourself. Then comes worlds, not to mention battle roads would be kinad nice for play testing some new deck you built and it could also give devoted judges a time to play as most love doing,

I also agree with regionals giving out invite. Whether its travel included or not, w.e thats their choice.

So you lose a few rankings points, everyone else is too, and if theyre not, they obviously deserve to go to Worlds dont they?


The only point i agree with (which was made somewhere in this topic) is that prize support should be determined by the size of the event, because otherwise there's no real point in trying to attract new players if they arent getting anything out of it.

And thats my 15 minute rant :lol:

Ok, first point. No, thats not true everywhere, some places just do not have competition like others. For instance, florida. Eric Craig, John Silvestro, Steven Silvestro, Zachary Fischer, Bobby Malec.

Vs other places who only have 1 or 2 good people

Second point, Maybe something like, if you bring someone who has never played in a tournament before, you both get 1 booster box of the new set (jk) maybe like a pack each or something.

1) More prizes for larger player base since before, not less prizes as it has been going.
2) Cuts that depend on the amount of players with say a limit of top 16
3) Some kind of fun tournaments with small prizes such as binders with small amount (like 4-8) packs
4) Invites for regionals
5) A pack or two for people who bring friends

 

[Xtreme Pillow Fighter]

2) Cuts that depend on the amount of players with say a limit of top 16
3) Some kind of fun tournaments with small prizes such as binders with small amount (like 4-8) packs
4) Invites for regionals
5) A pack or two for people who bring friends

i think that sounds good

 

[NoPoke]

Hmm SoTG is not retarded.

If the only time we do the decent thing is when it is easy then what does it say about us and societies' values.

 

[meganium45]

The oddest thing is that the BEST players exhibit SOTG as much, if not more than the players who just think they are the best.

High ranking, high SOTG players, from what I have seen personally....

Jason K. (Ness)
Alex B. (Big Chuck)
Eric C. (Florida)
Steven and John S (Florida)
John K (TX)
Go Y (Jpn)
Stephen F (Europe)
Yamato (Jpn)
Steve and Michael P (Colorado)

I have seen every one of these players win, and I have seen every one of these players lose.

They handle themselves with class, often (Mr. Silvestro) when they can use a "Cheap Trick" to try to steal a win, they choose to take the high road and win or lose with honor.

The low SOTG players are usually the players who think they are better than they are, or players whose entire existance depends on whether or not they win or lose the Pokemon TCG.

My list is certainly not comprehensive, but it is from personal experience.

Truly great players are in all things, truly great.

Vince

 

[Squirtle]

They handle themselves with class, often (Mr. Silvestro) when they can use a "Cheap Trick" to try to steal a win, they choose to take the high road and win or lose with honor.

Times up, you win.


Seeing as I haven't taken a prize I guess I concede... (****, it's only nationals top 8, why should I take the win... let me repeat myself... ****)

 

[pat460]

Is there a "nicest player award"? I thought not. So why be nice when I can try to win? I get prize for winning, not for being nice. Put SOTG in that

 

[vietgamer1021]

^ lol there should be, and there should be a "most creative deck" award

 

[~`Flygon`~]

Rating system and SotG are two different things, Rating system is just what it is,win tournments and dont complain about it. SotG is when ure winning,not when ure losing,its fun to play pokemon but its a competitive game and people are super competitive these days. Losing hurts,especially in the top cut,no spirt there I promise you.

Rating system is fine like I said,if they make another system and somethings wrong somebody else is gonna complain about it anyway,so let it be.

 

[Rainbowgym]

Is there a "nicest player award"? I thought not. So why be nice when I can try to win? I get prize for winning, not for being nice. Put SOTG in that

Well there was a SotG prize in 2004, I actually won one.
But it disappeared after complains of "winners", who couldn't stand people who are "loosing with grace", getting rewarded.