I think this is not entirely accurate; if you attend only States/ Regs/ Nats every season and go deep into cut 3 times (of the 4 K-32 events offered under ELO) each year, that demonstrates consistent play as well.
I think it
is entirely accurate, and here is why. If you only attended States/Regionals/Nationals every season and go deep into cut 3 times out of 4, then that demonstrates that you were consistent from March onward. An important part you’re forgetting is that the majority of the tournaments over the year are Battle Roads and Cities. I’m going to estimate that competitive players attend about 10 Battle Roads and 10 Cities on average. This year, there were 3 States, 2 Regionals, and 1 Nationals. Performing well at States/Regionals/Nationals means that you were “consistent” for about 25% of the season (6 divided by 26). That’s not what consistency means—not at all.
Here’s an example. An NFL football team is “consistent” for 25% of its regular season. Let’s say it goes 4-0 during that stretch. Someone could make the argument that the team has been “consistent,” but that argument would be completely irrelevant because the determining factor of whether a team makes the postseason is performance over the course of the entire season—not over a portion of the season.
Now you can argue that the couple weeks before the postseason are the most important (just like States/Regionals/Nationals are most important), but if a team doesn’t perform well in the first 13 games, it doesn’t matter how lucky/streaky/“consistent” that team is come last quarter of the season. They’re not making the playoffs.
When you’re making an argument about consistency,
you have to define consistency in the relevant time period. Defining the time period of consistency to be only States/Regionals/Nationals is arbitrary and ridiculous.
The "period of time" could be several years, over which a given player consistently did well at big events.
Worlds invites have never been handed out based on performances at States/Regionals over the course of more than one season. I think you’re definitely stretching your argument a bit far here.
I think it's a stretch to claim ELO is the best-designed system to gauge consistency, but earning an invite in 4 events, if done year after year, is equally indicative of consistent performance, just over a longer span of time.
While performing well over the course of States/Regionals/Nationals over the course of many years is consistent, it’s not consistent in the relevant time period. The relevant time period is one season. Up to this year, Worlds invites have been handed out based on performance in the current season.
I think it’s rather convenient for you to leave out the two longest tournament cycles within a season—Battle Roads and Cities—to make your argument.
---------- Post added 07/22/2012 at 03:34 AM ----------
As with what Box of Fail said, if you go into cut 3 times at States events or higher that is consistency. Also wouldn't a year be a period of time?
The latter half of what you said is exactly right.
A year would be the relevant period of time. Logically, it is injudicious to just ignore Battle Roads and Cities, which comprise the majority of the season, when making your determination of what consistency is defined as.
---------- Post added 07/22/2012 at 04:11 AM ----------
This is the part that kills me every time. Nobody is FORCING you to be competitive for worlds. That is YOUR choice and yours alone. If you don't have time time/money to travel and you can't play unless you are going to be competitive then you need to reexamine your participation in the game. I know I did, and now I play MUCH more casually and I actually enjoy it!
If your ego needs to be fed with a worlds invite each year then you need to look for another ego boost. If you are playing for profit, as Pooka pointed out, you should probably find a different game.
At the end of the 2005 season, I had to quit Pokemon because my family was on food stamps, my parents could no longer support my hobbies financially, I was going to college, and I basically had no car and no money.
There’s nothing about me or my ego that needs to stroked by getting a Worlds invite. I play Pokemon because I love the game, I love the community, and I’ve made a lot of wonderful friends over the years of playing. That’s why I returned to the game. When I was living around the poverty line, I reexamined my priorities (as you said), and realized that I could no longer afford Pokemon. That’s why I retired for 6 years.
Now that I’ve graduated from college, found a decent job, paid off my debts, and have a little more financial stability, I’m coming back to the game that I love. That’s why I play. That’s MY choice.
I want to preface the rest of my post with the following information about myself. I have enough resources to fly to whatever tournament I need, book whatever hotel I need, and buy whatever cards I need to be competitive. My job also gives me flexibility in my work schedule, so if I need to take a vacation day to attend a Pokemon tournament, I can easily do it. For me currently, neither time nor money is an issue in my participation in Pokemon. As I said before, my opinions in this thread are based on what I think is best for the game, not out of selfish motives. Personally, I couldn’t care less if there were 2 or 3 Regionals. I wouldn’t even care if there were 5 or 6 Regionals, since I would be able to go to all of them. Clearly, not everyone is in my position, so I’m expressing my opinions about splitting Regionals into 3 weekends because I feel like
it’s the wrong choice for the majority of competitive players.
Here’s why I vehemently disagree with what you have said. Completely and utterly disagree.
- Competitive Pokemon is what many players strive for. Little kids don’t dream about being the best player at their local League. They dream about becoming a Regional Champion, becoming a National Champion, or even becoming a World Champion. That’s the nature of games, whether it is Pokemon, video games, sports, chess, or whatever else. Yes, being competitive at Pokemon is something that is an individual choice. No-one forces anyone else to play Pokemon. (At least I hope not!) However, it is also a critical part of the Pokemon experience. I can’t count how many times that someone else has asked me about what it’s like to compete at an STS or at Worlds. The choice to split Regionals into 3 weekends makes it more difficult for the competitive players to stay competitive.
- You say that if someone doesn’t have the time or money to play, then they need to examine their priorities. To some extent, that is true. However, TPCi may also need to reexamine their tournament schedule and Worlds invite structure if the new structure impacts so many competitive players. While 3 Regionals may be excellent marketing for the game, it hurts some of the game’s most dedicated and devoted players. That’s why I’m speaking up.
- Consider this quote from a Poke-parent earlier in this thread: “I AM TRYING TO SCREAM THIS AT YOU BECAUSE THE LOGIC SUPPORTING THIS IS JUST WRONG, US PARENTS ARE AT THE POINT OF BREAKING. SURE YOU HAVE OBSESSED ONES THAT ARE GOING TO ATTEND 25-30 EVENTS, AND TO THEM THE MORE THE BETTER. THE REST OF US ARE AT THE BREAKING POINT. MANY OF OUR KIDS ARE AT THE BREAKING POINT.” From talking to a few parents myself, I strongly believe that this is the majority opinion. People don’t want more tournaments. Pokemon already takes up 1/4 to 1/3 of the weekends in a year for the competitive players. The additional cost required to attend the “far” Regionals is compounded for the younger players, because a parent also needs to buy an airplane ticket to accompany their child.
I’m sincerely happy that you found a balance between Pokemon and life that makes the game enjoyable for yourself. However,
that does not give you an excuse for implicitly generalizing that competitive players who think the 3 Regional structure hurts them are egotistical and selfish. While you’re happy being a casual player, you need to understand that there
are competitive players out there who are being financially burdened by the 3 Regional structure. These people have every right to speak up, and it's really a shame that there are members on this board who would label them as egotists.