vaporeon
Moderator
Here's what it comes down to for me (as a PokéMom). My son either earned Tropical Beach with an invitation to Worlds (which requires dedication and a certain amount of $$ from our family budget), OR he earns the money to purchase it. My son is a competitive player - he has earned (and I do mean earned) his invitation for the past three years. He deserves to gain a benefit from his years of practice, money spent in buying or trading for cards, and travel. Why should someone who decides to join the game *today*, have the same benefit as my son who has been practicing and paying for the past three years? My son plays at a COMPETITIVE level. This is NOT AYSO Pokémon. If it was, I would agree with the level playing field for all, no matter when they joined the game.
The other way to get a Tropical Beach is by volunteering. Not all of us with Tropical Beaches fall into the "elite" category. I earned a Tropical Beach myself at Worlds by volunteering for eight hours since I have no shot at qualifying. Again, for me, it comes down to what you can give back to the game, instead of what the game can give to you.
Now I have a problem with this statement. Many of us are competitive players, Worlds qualifier or not. Many of us competitive players know that a group of players who has an advantages over others via card pool will unbalance the tournament environment. We saw this with the Shiny Rayquaza when it was released. Many of us also can't get to worlds to do anything there but because you and your son happened to be able to go, it does not mean you have a right of passage. Beach is now affecting the game since the Catcher errata. This is now a issue we all as players need to look into.
ALL players who wish to be competitive need to be on the same competitive edge, not just the ones who won invites.