Remember back in 04-05 when attendance was waaay less than it is now? Us Nationals had like 6 rounds and a top 16 cut in 2004. How do you think the US player base got from there to where is is now? Here's how: POP gave a huge number of invites to US players to stimulate interest and growth in the game. Maybe Europe is in this stage now? When the US was in those "glory years" of 04-06, practically every decent player got an invite. Europe was pretty neglected during this period, but now that the US player base is well-established and showing constant growth, POP has shifted its focus to expanding the player base in Europe. They get more invites now than thay have ever got in the past. So it's easier to get an invite in Europe now, but the idea is to use that perceived easiness to attract more players to the game so that Europe will one day also have a large, stable, growing player base like NA does.
If POP doesn't increase US invites and continues to "neglect their best customer" (to take what some of you are saying) do you actually think the player base is going to stop growing? Just because a bunch of players don't get to play in Worlds? It won't.
But that still doesn't really answer the question of why the US isn't receiving more invites? They don't even have to be trips- just invites. The US gaining more invites won't make it any more or less difficult to get an invite in Europe. But the way it is now, the US is just really hurt with how few invites we are getting.
I know why Europe has a lot of invites- that is pretty obvious. If it's easy to get an invite, it is attractive to players. But that has nothing to do with why the US isn't receiving more invites. I don't want to reduce the number of international invites. Honestly, I'd love to see more, but I think we NEED to see more invites going to the NA zone, the the US specifically, and to have a new tournament structure. Especially for the NA zone where Canada isn't really even in the running, and in the US where Nationals is just stupidly difficult to do well at.
Why is having a proportional distribution, or at least MORE proportional system than what is in place, a BAD thing?
Why is it a BAD thing to see a field of 50 Americans, let's say 1/3 the field, if they make up more than half the players in the world? We are obviously putting in a lot of money to put everything on, and the US is likely responsible for a lot of sales, and we are seeing continued strong growth, but it is BAD to have us represented better, even when it isn't at the expense of any other country?
Sorry for wanting my path to Worlds to be as hard as anyone else's. Sorry that I think we should we more invites so that I am not penalized for having a lot of fellow players.
Back to back posts merged. The following information has been added:
NA zone has how many invites for Worlds in each agegroup available for USA citizen?
8 USA Nationals
25 Rating
4 Grinder.
So 37 options for an USA citizen you to get one.
For Europeans
20 Rating
2-4 Nationals.
Depending on the country you live in, the max is 24 options.
The Grinder is not an option for Europeans, the costs are to high.
And most Nationals don't have a trip for that 2,3,4th place invite so those might be added to the Grinder.
Which is MORE invites basicly for those who live nearby that location.
(and with nearby I mean those who don't have to pay $2000 trip only to get there).
Does it still looks so unfair?
What is WRONG about having MORE invites for the US? I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO HAVE LESS. INCREASING ONE DOES NOT MEAN DECREASING ANOTHER.
Do I need to just make a huge wall of text with those words? A lot of you refuse to understand this concept, that you can
ADD I
NVITES to the US to make it
MORE FAIR for us- but NOT HAVE TO take invites AWAY.
Does that make sense to you guys yet?
Hey, I know it's rough. Every area has some tough challenges. You don't think it's tough for some Americans? There are many places in America HUNDREDS OF MILES from any, ANY tournament. I am FIVE HOURS DRIVING away from any tournament. You don't think it costs me a lot to go to tournaments? It makes a rating invite virtually impossible (especially last year when I went to 2 tournaments total before Worlds) as I cannot afford to compete in many tournaments. Traveling to the Grinder is also way too expensive for me. There are thousands and thousands of Americans who won't be able to afford to grind, just like all those Europeans.
You want a real estimate for an average American?
You get 0 invites from nationals- because about 1% of players get an invite, it's SO MUCH harder to win here that it is very very unlikely
You get 0 rating invites- you are competing with 6000 other people, and you can't afford to go to more than 1 state, regionals, and maybe nationals. Unless you finish in the top 10% of of the first two, or the top 10% of the last one, you won't really get a rating invite.
You get 0 grinder invites- you ain't rich! You think you can afford to fly/pay for Nats AND worlds!? (Most people have to fly and pay for a nats vacation, as we are not like countries such as say, Belgium, that can finish a Nats in one day, have more than 5% of the participants walk away with trips, and spend about 2 days worth and little travel costs. Compare that to trying to fly out a group to an entirely far city for a few days, and spend at least 3-4 days usually, only to have about 3% of you benefit (those who get points bonuses, and the top 8).
Yeah, your numbers still look pretty unfair to me. Even if I don't estimate them as lower because of how IMPROBABLE it is to get one, just on a statistical level, there is still a huge and unnecessary negative bias against the US in terms of invite distribution.
Why NOT give the US 13 more invites via regionals and add 10 more to the NA zone?
This would actually let some Canadians have a shot at ratings too. The good placers at their Nats, and some more at Mexico's Nats, will have a real shot. Make it 15 invites for NA zone =D
That would be adding about 30 invites to worlds. Meaning we'd still see a MAXIMUM of 13 (regs) + 8 (nats) + 40 ratings + 4 grinder= 65, or still under the proportion of the field we represent.
None of these even need to be paid. What would it cost PUI? The cost to print the extra promo cards, the cost of the backpack, the binder, a few packs, a shirt. Like, very little honestly.
You may think I am asking for a lot (I think it's too little :wink
, but we could downgrade it.
Like I suggested to NoPoke- why not have top 16 at US nats get an invite, top 4 paid trips.
That is a total of 8 x3 divisions of invites, or 24 a year. That isn't a really high cost, and with the growth, I think it is warranted.
It would actually allow for Nationals to not just be RIDICULOUSLY difficult to get an invite at. Come on, guys. There are countries that have over 10% of its participants getting an invite to Worlds. Even countries with paid trips often have a MUCH bigger percent getting invites.
Why are you guys so against giving the US something like 5% of its participants invites? If we gave 5%, we would have given 34 invites, or roughly top 32. That would be absolutely amazing, and our tournament would actually better resemble every other Nationals, in terms of difficulty for size.