This thread is really not going to be the best place to have this conversation. I would urge you to submit a customer service ticket if you have questions about exemptions for deployment etc.:thumb:
Alex Frezza and 2010 National Champion Con Le Banned!!!
- Thread starter Jaeger
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This thread is really not going to be the best place to have this conversation. I would urge you to submit a customer service ticket if you have questions about exemptions for deployment etc.:thumb:
And any player had since the end of Nats last july 2012 to earn said 15 PP to qualify for nats 2013. Why wait till the very end of the window?? (This is a general argument to everybody)
Keith
The issue of Con aside I would like there to be some monetary price to by pass the play points. I'm currently searching for a job as a Police Officer where I'll be forced to work nights and weekends. Even if I could use my vacation time to attend Nationals I would most likely not have the play points...I would be shocked if I was the only one in this situation. While I understand the need for playpoints, they do stop a small handful of players who have moved on with there lives who would like to return for Nationals from doing so.
psychup2034
New Member
I'm warming up to the idea of something like "The Play! Point requirement is waived for players whose Player IDs are over 5 years old" or "The Play! Point requirement is waived for players who have over 300 lifetime Play! Points."
Mew
New Member
Although I've been out of the game for some time (I was led here by Ness's post on Heyfonte), my POPId only has 4 digits haha, and I like the thought of that. For people who have played the game for years and years being able to go to a tournament like Nationals would be nice, even though they don't have time to go to 4 Battle Roads any longer. But still participate in the the poke'community.
I do understand the need for PlayPoints and capping National's size, but they really should try to accommodate everyone they can.
You owe me a banner...I haven't forgetten.
TheRolesWePlay
New Member
Why should seniority grant special privileges? Especially if they aren't active in the recent format? Last time I checked Nats is the largest event in America, and is aimed at active and experienced players, who compete for a spot in Worlds. The 15 play point requirement is a fair compromise to make sure that the players are active and experienced, and no seniority doesn't replace that.
Would be interesting to see if the same response came from the community if there wasn't such high level players involved in this. I've seen multiple people get banned unfairly for months or years, but see no one discuss them outside of a bit of gossip at the next tournament, where it pretty much dies down.
Not saying I agree with the ban, punishment or the way the system is thought out, but this is starting to feel like Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks, where the bus boycott partially only occurred because she was a respectably member of society (as much as possible anyway) rather than Claudette who was a pregnant unmarried teenager, a "nobody".
Probably not exactly a suitable analogy of the situation at all, but something I thought I may bring up.
Not saying I agree with the ban, punishment or the way the system is thought out, but this is starting to feel like Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks, where the bus boycott partially only occurred because she was a respectably member of society (as much as possible anyway) rather than Claudette who was a pregnant unmarried teenager, a "nobody".
Probably not exactly a suitable analogy of the situation at all, but something I thought I may bring up.
TheDarkTwins
Active Member
I wrote a whole long response here, but then released why is this a public matter? It should be between Alex, Con, Pokemon, and the PTO/TO running the event. The fact we are discussing it shouldn't happen. It's nice that Dave and Dan decided to post, but frankly, it wouldn't have shocked me if they didn't. I personally think this thread should be locked because theres no reason for a bunch of people to be discussing this when they aren't involved and they don't have all the facts of what happened.
Drew
Drew
losjackal
Technical Administrator
I can imagine with a new job you might not have time to play in a day-long tournament. But how about pre-releases? Each one earns you 1 Play! Point. $30 each. So money can buy points, but you still need 2-3 hours for each.
You can get 8 Play! Points a year by being in a League. Just attend once a month.
Lastly, you can earn Play! Points via sanctioned, non-premier tournaments. If you have a Tournament Organizer nearby and some public space, sanction a tournament and plan to have 7 friends show up with you on a regular basis. Think of it as a poker night with the guys. You can earn 1 Play! Point per month this way!
Carlos I wasn't even referring to some small monetary value like Jason was saying $20. Heck make it $50, $75, $100...basically a value where getting the playpoints are far more appealing, but it gives opitions to hardcore players that literally can't make it to tournaments during the year.
---------- Post added 05/18/2013 at 11:04 AM ----------
Respect your elders...at the expense of sounding arrogant some of us have devoted years to this game, supported this game (before it was as big as it is now), and clearly know how to play. The simple fact that we supported the company and the game long before it became "huge" alone should mean a lot.
Think of it less as "special privileges" and more of a "rewards program"
Would you really get made at somebody who gained special rights because they were a long time consumer at a store?
Bilbo Baggins
New Member
The topic changed a long time ago too from the original topic. So it's not anymore that people are discussing it, it's the fact this thread is 3 things in one now.
psychup2034
New Member
Why should seniority grant special privileges? This questions is so obvious to the point I'm wondering whether you're feigning ignorance or just being facetious. Obviously, seniority should grant special privileges.
The answer "seniority should grant special privileges" is so obvious that you unwittingly provided the answer to this question in your post. You claim yourself that "Nats it the largest event in America, and is aimed at active and EXPERIENCED players, who compete for a spot at Worlds."
Now think about how experience is measured. Experience can either be measured in terms of the length of time that someone has been playing the game or by the quantity of tournaments that a player has attended. My proposal allows the Play! Point requirement to be waived for EXPERIENCED players who have (1) played for X amount of years or (3) accrued X amount of Play! Points. If Nationals is for active and experienced players to try to compete for a spot in Worlds (as you claim), then my proposal would be perfect.
Let's just take Jaeger as an example. Jaeger has earned several (9?) invitations to the Pokemon World Championships. He has Top 4ed U.S. Nationals a couple times as well. When he becomes a police officer, he will have to work nights and weekends (with inflexible vacation time). There is no chance that someone who has played this long (and is this experienced) in the game is going to sign up for U.S. Nationals to get the door prizes and drop after the prizes are handed out. An unintended consequence of the current Play! Point requirement is that players in good standing that have real life get in the way (and in Jaeger's case, who are serving the country and protecting you and me) can no longer play in Nationals, even if they are competitive and going to make a serious effort to win the event.
Remember, the goal of the Play! Point requirement is not to keep actual players out of the tournament. The Play! Point requirement is a reaction to the hordes of Pokeparents that signed up for Nationals 2011 just to get the door prizes and dropping after the prizes were handed out.
why blame 'hordes of pokeparents' for the nationals drops? i saw plenty of posts on pokemon collecting/fan communities talking about reg'ing at nats to 'get a free shirt'...and the vast majority of members of those sites are teens and college-age adults, NOT parents.
The necessary corrective action to the T-shirt problem was hand out the prizes at the end of Day 1, which they already did last year. So why keep the Play Point requirement for Nats if that was the real reason? Regardless, I feel like the Play Point requirement is extremely dumb and is a negative mark on OP. 15 PP is a fairly difficult benchmark for a variety of reasons (work/school commitments, finances, sports, volunteer organizations, etc.). Not everyone has a league/tournaments nearby, with some having to drive multiple hours for a simple Battle Road. Any combination of the above factors make it either time or cost-prohibitive to get those 15 PP, on top of spending hundreds of dollars and a week of vacation going to Nationals.
The reason most of us play is because of the community. For 90% of the people there, Nationals is not about becoming national champion. It is about seeing your old friends, and making new ones. Nationals is the one event where everyone goes to, and serves as a great motivator to continue playing the game. It is also a great recruiter for new players. Most people are not going to get too excited over spending a Saturday going to a Battle Road in a hole in the wall card shop. Nationals is where thousands of fellow Pokemon fans come together and share their enjoyment of the game.
To those who argue that one can go to Nationals without playing in the main event, and just play in league/side events: It is not even remotely the same experience not playing Nationals. Some may not enjoy the structure/time commitment that Nationals requires, but let the player (customer) decide that for themselves.
The reason most of us play is because of the community. For 90% of the people there, Nationals is not about becoming national champion. It is about seeing your old friends, and making new ones. Nationals is the one event where everyone goes to, and serves as a great motivator to continue playing the game. It is also a great recruiter for new players. Most people are not going to get too excited over spending a Saturday going to a Battle Road in a hole in the wall card shop. Nationals is where thousands of fellow Pokemon fans come together and share their enjoyment of the game.
To those who argue that one can go to Nationals without playing in the main event, and just play in league/side events: It is not even remotely the same experience not playing Nationals. Some may not enjoy the structure/time commitment that Nationals requires, but let the player (customer) decide that for themselves.
ShadowCard
Active Member
No league? League goes all year long. Players who cannot make it to tournaments during the year can't do 1 day/night every 6 weeks? Leagues tend to be 2-5 hours and it isn't like you have to come at the start time. You could walk in 2 hours into the session.
Okay, maybe there is no league in your area and the time restraints keeping you from attending tournaments during the year also keeps you from running league locally. What about getting someone to become a tournament organizer and run a tournament once a month? The guy who steps up may not get into Nats this way because he isn't earning play points but he can get into the professor cup in this way with professor points. Find a library, ask them for a time for their meeting room, schedule the tournament. Unlike leagues, which are trying to run on some kind of regular schedule, the sanctioned tournaments are once-a-month and so will run into less library scheduling restrictions.
Previously, I had said that 15 points is exclusionary. That is when looking at it from it getting raised and other divisions getting it lowered. Put into context of how easy it is to get play points, it is reasonable (the previously mentioned military assignments not included). You are being asked to play in 2 events a month: league and sanctioned tournament.
Even if Alex and Con are indeed guilty as charged that does not change my opinion of TCPI's recent policies. The Play Point requirement is a joke.
I'm going to go ahead and just say I heard of a player that received 15 play points to play in U.S. Nationals and/or the Last Chance Qualifier without actually playing an event! I'm not going to name names but I trust him that this is true. If so, that is some serious favoritism. I mean, you're giving a player who hasn't played all season a free pass? What about me? What about the tons of other players that have played over the years that are forced to get play points? You have got to be kidding me!
I doubt I will even receive a positive response on here and I don't really care. I would bet that TCPI will get many nasty e-mails about this but I have little reason to not make this public. As a company they are being so contradictory and illogical with decisions like this.
Bring it on, TCPI apologists.
I'm going to go ahead and just say I heard of a player that received 15 play points to play in U.S. Nationals and/or the Last Chance Qualifier without actually playing an event! I'm not going to name names but I trust him that this is true. If so, that is some serious favoritism. I mean, you're giving a player who hasn't played all season a free pass? What about me? What about the tons of other players that have played over the years that are forced to get play points? You have got to be kidding me!
I doubt I will even receive a positive response on here and I don't really care. I would bet that TCPI will get many nasty e-mails about this but I have little reason to not make this public. As a company they are being so contradictory and illogical with decisions like this.
Bring it on, TCPI apologists.
Knowing that this is unlikely to actually be implemented...
In the sake of compromise, what if the threshold for Nats was either 15 Play! Points OR 15 Championship Points. To put this in perspective, that means either you have to attend several events or you have too do one of the following or a combination of lesser placings:
Win a Battle Roads
Top 8 a Cities of 32 or more players
Top 16 a States of 64 or more players
Top 32 a Regionals of 128 or more
It achieves the goal of making sure those who enter Nationals know how to play, and it gives busy players another way to gain entry to Nats without having to waste a lot of gas to attend events they don't have the time or ability to make it to. Now, I'm making this suggestion as a player who, right now, could not make either of those requirements since a busy work schedule (and occasional judging when I have the time free) keeps me from playing several events and mediocre play skills keep me from earning Championship Points. But do those on either side of the argument think this would be a fair compromise?
In the sake of compromise, what if the threshold for Nats was either 15 Play! Points OR 15 Championship Points. To put this in perspective, that means either you have to attend several events or you have too do one of the following or a combination of lesser placings:
Win a Battle Roads
Top 8 a Cities of 32 or more players
Top 16 a States of 64 or more players
Top 32 a Regionals of 128 or more
It achieves the goal of making sure those who enter Nationals know how to play, and it gives busy players another way to gain entry to Nats without having to waste a lot of gas to attend events they don't have the time or ability to make it to. Now, I'm making this suggestion as a player who, right now, could not make either of those requirements since a busy work schedule (and occasional judging when I have the time free) keeps me from playing several events and mediocre play skills keep me from earning Championship Points. But do those on either side of the argument think this would be a fair compromise?
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