Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

2009 State of the Game Observations

Status
Not open for further replies.
I personally thought Puerto Rico would have been a fascinating choice, just doesn't have the same "oomf" as "Win a trip to Hawaii".

The value of that mantra cannot be undervalued.

People will play all year for that chance to win a trip at Nationals.

Vince
 
meganium45 said:
I personally thought Puerto Rico would have been a fascinating choice, just doesn't have the same "oomf" as "Win a trip to Hawaii".

The value of that mantra cannot be undervalued.

People will play all year for that chance to win a trip at Nationals.

Vince
Click to expand...

I know a lot of people over here that just play nats because its the only tournament which offers something.
Everything else is just for the fun really, especially with ranking invites probably falling away. And playing BRs, Gas Money, getting the cards that will probably be worthless for nats and getting nothing in return doesnt make for good economics.
I know you should play for fun but if you get NOTHING back it really gets expensive really fast to the point where you really have to consider to not just skip a season except Nats.
 
meganium45 said:
I personally thought Puerto Rico would have been a fascinating choice, just doesn't have the same "oomf" as "Win a trip to Hawaii".

The value of that mantra cannot be undervalued.

People will play all year for that chance to win a trip at Nationals.

Vince
Click to expand...

Yes, that trip at nats, that is becoming harder and harder every year due to the ridiculous size event is becoming.

I think most players would rather have a nice but mostly accessible location, rather than a wow inaccessible location. I know I'm not alone on this.
 
What might be the best though perhaps the spark for many arguments would be to have one location for worlds, and have Pokemon/Nintendo/POP/Whatever rent a huge space next to it for players to sleep overnight. Just small rooms with beds and then one main room sounds fine to me. Even sleeping bags on the floor would be better than paying hundreds of dollars!

If you have a large space and provide cheap, mass produced sleeping bags + pillows, I'm sure it would be under $20 a person - much cheaper than hundreds on air fare!
 
Isn't Hawaii easier for Japanese players to get to?

Seems only fair that the country where the game is from should get a more convenient Worlds sometimes.

Qwachansey said:
Just small rooms with beds and then one main room sounds fine to me. Even sleeping bags on the floor would be better than paying hundreds of dollars!

If you have a large space and provide cheap, mass produced sleeping bags + pillows, I'm sure it would be under $20 a person - much cheaper than hundreds on air fare!
Click to expand...

LOL

That's basically what happens in the Hilton.
 
ryanvergel said:
Very true. We are all merely going by what they did last year. However, it should be noted that the TRIP structure has not changed since the last time it was held in Hawaii. We can do more conclusive analysis once more information is received, but I would be surprised and shocked if POP suddenly decides to give out more trips to a more expensive location, when for the past few years at cheaper locations they have not.

But I would LOVE for more trips to be given out so that the 94% can go down!
Click to expand...


Perhaps I understand you wrong but the TRIP structure between HI 2007 and 2008-2009 is very different.

In 2007 the rating invites came with TRIPS, in 2008 and 2009 there were no TRIPS for those who got a rating invite.

Like I said before, nothing is announced yet, and if there are no rating invites without trip, we will enter another troath cutting season again.
 
Rainbowgym said:
Perhaps I understand you wrong but the TRIP structure between HI 2007 and 2008-2009 is very different.

In 2007 the rating invites came with TRIPS, in 2008 and 2009 there were no TRIPS for those who got a rating invite.

Like I said before, nothing is announced yet, and if there are no rating invites without trip, we will enter another troath cutting season again.
Click to expand...

I'm really afraid of this happening, 6 invites or somethign for europe (and 1 less because of arco) makes for a very unpleasant season :/
 
Yoshi- said:
I'm really afraid of this happening, 6 invites or somethign for europe (and 1 less because of arco) makes for a very unpleasant season :/
Click to expand...

only if what happened last time repeats itself. The vast majority played fair for the Hawaii ratings invites.

======

Is Hawaii more expensive for the majority of players with MyPokemon accounts? Of course it is you say. But much like a 747 is more expensive than a Lear jet as I can afford neither no matter how much I might like one the comparison is misleading. For the majority of players, which would be those who don't go to worlds even when it is held on the mainland of the USA that increase is not releveant. Twice nothing is still nothing. Most USA masters don't go to worlds, or even to USA Nationals.

The us that Hawaii is more expensive for is the small number who go to Worlds on the mainland USA regularly. Even for that small number Hawaii is not actually more expensive until such time as money is spent. A potential expense is not the same as an actual expense.

I do not dispute that Hawaii as a location is bad for some and even demotivating for some. Lots of TV adverts are not aimed at me. Even some of those that might be, if I can't afford what they are selling it is down to me to accept that the advert no matter how appealing is just not aimed at me.
 
Last edited:
Qwachansey said:
What might be the best though perhaps the spark for many arguments would be to have one location for worlds, and have Pokemon/Nintendo/POP/Whatever rent a huge space next to it for players to sleep overnight. Just small rooms with beds and then one main room sounds fine to me. Even sleeping bags on the floor would be better than paying hundreds of dollars!

If you have a large space and provide cheap, mass produced sleeping bags + pillows, I'm sure it would be under $20 a person - much cheaper than hundreds on air fare!
Click to expand...
LOL, hey bub ... If I'm gonna go to the big show - WORLD'S - I'm gonna go world class - not go camping! Just kidding, but yeah, a room for me and my family would suit me fine. Sleeping bags .... no thanks.
 
Rainbowgym said:
Perhaps I understand you wrong but the TRIP structure between HI 2007 and 2008-2009 is very different.

In 2007 the rating invites came with TRIPS, in 2008 and 2009 there were no TRIPS for those who got a rating invite.

Like I said before, nothing is announced yet, and if there are no rating invites without trip, we will enter another troath cutting season again.
Click to expand...

I hope that the 2007 structure returns. My concern is simply that the best players are at worlds. Trips to all invitees insures this for the most part.... It would be a shame for the two highest ranked players in an age group to be absent at Worlds because they finished 5th and 6th at Nats and couldn't afford the trip.....
 
It won't be good in either way.

If we have only paid invites, everyone will play straight on rating, most of the fun is taken from Cities and States.

If we have an invite structure like the last two season, Worlds will not be a competition of the best but a competition of the richest.

The moment Hawaii was announced was the moment I knew the season won't be as good as last season - except we get something exciting new like Regionals in Europe.
 
billbilski said:
I hope that the 2007 structure returns. My concern is simply that the best players are at worlds. Trips to all invitees insures this for the most part.... It would be a shame for the two highest ranked players in an age group to be absent at Worlds because they finished 5th and 6th at Nats and couldn't afford the trip.....
Click to expand...

We almost had that in Juniors this year. If the trip had not passed down in Juniors, we would have had a Junior with a record of about 70-1 with his ONLY loss of the year in top 8 at Nationals be sitting home.

Luckily, it passed to the 5, and he was the 5. I was SOOOO happy for that Great Poke'family!!!

It is going to happen whatever system is put in place.

I just wish even the top 10 ratings invites would come with trips. Something to acknowledge a full season of superior play. Especially with Hawaii on the line.

Vince
 
meganium45 said:
I just wish even the top 10 ratings invites would come with trips. Something to acknowledge a full season of superior play. Especially with Hawaii on the line.

Vince
Click to expand...

I agree with this, also so people don't 4-0 drop at Nationals just to secure an invite.
 
If ratings invites do come with trips then I hope the invites are structured to avoid some of what happened last time ratings invites came with paid trips.

One check would be to restrict paid rating invites to one per age group per country. In the case of the USA Canada and Mexico that may have to be broken down into regions or even states. Again from what happened last time Europe may have to be chopped up into sub regions. From memory in 2007 all or very nearly all of the rating trips went to Scandanavian players. Not a happy memory that one.

To be honest I don't think our rating system is appropriate for anything more than unpaid invites.

More paid trips or even partially paid trips at Nationals seems the least likely to be manipulated or abused.

[edit: no matter how it works out I'm sure that most of the players will make the best of it. That glass is half full at least]
 
Last edited:
Time for Pain said:
I agree with this, also so people don't 4-0 drop at Nationals just to secure an invite.
Click to expand...

What you're describing is arguably the rating system working as it should. Players understand what performance at high level events secures their rating.

On the flip side, it could be considered a failure of the system if you believe that 6-1 is more impressive than 4-0. That kind of record could lose someone their invite. More likely is someone going X-1 and losing the first round of cut to lose their invite. The simple truth is that players mentally should be assigning a value to an unpaid invite. If they risk losing that prize, how does it stack up compared to winning another round? Once you're in cut the choice is made for you really, but I hope everyone gets what I mean.
 
ChaosJim said:
What you're describing is arguably the rating system working as it should. Players understand what performance at high level events secures their rating.

On the flip side, it could be considered a failure of the system if you believe that 6-1 is more impressive than 4-0. That kind of record could lose someone their invite. More likely is someone going X-1 and losing the first round of cut to lose their invite. The simple truth is that players mentally should be assigning a value to an unpaid invite. If they risk losing that prize, how does it stack up compared to winning another round? Once you're in cut the choice is made for you really, but I hope everyone gets what I mean.
Click to expand...

All I meant by my statement was that if the top 10 had paid invities we would see less people go 4-0 drop at Nationals because they needed their invite to be paid. I agree with you that 4-0 is better than 6-1 in some cases and could potentially be the difference in the invite.
 
NoPoke said:
If ratings invites do come with trips then I hope the invites are structured to avoid some of what happened last time ratings invites came with paid trips.

One check would be to restrict paid rating invites to one per age group per country. In the case of the USA Canada and Mexico that may have to be broken down into regions or even states. Again from what happened last time Europe may have to be chopped up into sub regions. From memory in 2007 all or very nearly all of the rating trips went to Scandanavian players. Not a happy memory that one.

To be honest I don't think our rating system is appropriate for anything more than unpaid invites.

More paid trips or even partially paid trips at Nationals seems the least likely to be manipulated or abused.
Click to expand...

I really doubt that the US is divided into Regions. I expect the same invite structure as 2007. There's really not any reason to believe otherwise. I do think 8 ranking invites is absurdly low for the US, and it's going to be unfair no matter how you distribute those invites, although I do think certain regions have major advantages over others.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top