Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Medals at Nationals?

Ok, so cutting trophies added a few more STATE championships (3 right?) whereas I don't think it benefits the rest of the world so far. Where are the top 8 trips for USA nats, hotel vouchers for top 16, top 4 trips for CDN Nats, etc. Where are the bigger scholarships? I pay to play this game and I am asking what the cut medals from regionals and Nats bring to the table? I don't want to hear a story that they added another Nats in some unknown country with worlds invites? Lmk pls
 
smacktack15 said:
Ok, so cutting trophies added a few more STATE championships (3 right?) whereas I don't think it benefits the rest of the world so far. Where are the top 8 trips for USA nats, hotel vouchers for top 16, top 4 trips for CDN Nats, etc. Where are the bigger scholarships? I pay to play this game and I am asking what the cut medals from regionals and Nats bring to the table? I don't want to hear a story that they added another Nats in some unknown country with worlds invites? Lmk pls
Click to expand...

I am disappointed in trophies being swapped for medals for Nationals, and I actually started this god forsaken thread. But, this is too much!

You want to know what Pokemon can give you? You deserve a paid trip? You have a right to a bigger scholarship? They probably don't have the budget for trophies, let alone the other stuff. I had budget cuts at my job, but I had to lay off six workers. Some of these people had families, I bet they wish (along with me) I had the opportunity to replace trophies with medals instead.

You can feel disappointed, even ripped off with the medal over trophy. But do not feel that because you buy cards you have earned the right to get a trophy if you win a tournament.

I can defend their choice to changing from a Trophy to a Medal, but I will also defend my opinion that the trophy is better than the medal. Yes, even not seeing the medal I will say the trophy was/is better than the medal.

---------- Post added 03/15/2011 at 06:33 PM ----------

Oh, and mods. I think it's time to close this thread :smile: Or we should let this thread just die!
 
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Look, I would pay to enter tourneys and I buy cards? It's under my impression that this is a business that I support, why shouldn't I complain if things that already got cut got cut more? Other than a few extra state championships, what are the cuts for regionals and nats for?

---------- Post added 03/16/2011 at 12:42 AM ----------

Reading over my past few posts, I have realised that I am being way to harsh, my only goal is to put my opinion out there with no direct attacks on any single person or on P!P. I still would love trophies > medals but if it's for the better of the game, I guess I will have to live with it. I apologise to any that I have offended
 
I don't have a strong opinion about medals over trophies. I can see the benefits in cost of production and shipping out medals. It is a shame they do not have them ready though as it is a big let down to finish a tournament and not have your prize and they we will never be able to recapture those moments on "film".

Here is what I would like to see though in addition to medals. TROPHY CARDS!!! Something similar to what is given out at worlds. Does not need to be put in thick protector though ....just something to get it home safely. Maybe even T4 cards. They already have the State, Regional and Nats promos being printed so why not run them through an extra time and print out some with 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Place? Can't cost that much and then you have something worth while to play for that is cool to keep or "trade". A Victory Medal card is one thing but a 1st Place or even 2nd Place State card would be awesome.
 
Trophy cards would be cool. I haven't seen the medals yet, but at first thought, I was dissapointed. I guess we'll find out in a few weeks. I don't feel that strongly about it, but I'll defend the right of people who do. We are customers of this company. Between pre-releases, booster drafts, four new sets a year, not to mention official paraphenelia, I probably spend on the order of $1000 a year with this company, not including out of pocket expenses for travel and lodging. When a company changes what it gives to customers for their money, the customers have a right to complain. Obviously they've organized it in such a way that the marketing arm of Pokemon, P!P, takes all the expenses and none of the revenue giving the impression that this is all being done for us for free, but its the same company that charges us for the cards. It is not free.

Having said that, its quite brilliant as a marketing strategy. By making P!P entirely an expense center with no associated revenue, they effectively prevent anyone from entering the organized play business as a commercial venture (charging entry fees to make a profit), as they would have to compete with free events. Thus they are able to maintain control of the format and rules to ensure continued purchase of product. Imagine if organized play was done by independent PTOs who ran tournaments for profit and one day just decided that the most players liked DP-PT and they were just going to stick with that. The downside of this situation is that commercial OP, which is the norm in some other OP games like chess, has more tournaments, better prize support, better playing conditions, and better compensation for the staff.
 
You wouldn't even have to make a super-playable trophy card... you could just print a staple like Collector with alternate art (a holo Collector holding a medal and some pokemon) that has the placng on it. That way you could carry em in your deck to show to all.
 
Thats because you haven't seen how cool the medals are this year. Each national champion medal weighs 17 lbs and reads POKEMON CHAMPION in 6" high bubble letters plated with 24k gold. Each individual letter is bejeweled with 100 miniature 16k Swarovski diamonds. Anyone who makes top 8 will receive a much anticipated "World Series of Pokemon" bracelet.
 
Just give American Nats finalists a trophy, maybe Canada, and leave everyone else stuck with medals.

Politically correct version: Assign either a trophy or a medal based on last year's attendance, so that not being able to supply trophies to very small national championships doesn't mean big national championships can't have them.

Ice'Cold said:
Thats because you haven't seen how cool the medals are this year. Each national champion medal weighs 17 lbs and reads POKEMON CHAMPION in 6" high bubble letters plated with 24k gold. Each individual letter is bejeweled with 100 miniature 16k Swarovski diamonds. Anyone who makes top 8 will receive a much anticipated "World Series of Pokemon" bracelet.
Click to expand...

Or you could just do this :p
 
I find it entertaining that there are so many people complaining about this when 90-95% of them won't make it high enough in the tournament to even get said medal. Not a testament of any of you people's skills, just plain numbers.

Plus, medals are easier to put up (you can frame them and put them on the wall) and run less of a risk of breaking if they fall off a shelf for example.

This is a very 'much ado about nothing' issue lol
 
I was just letting this thread die, but since it has been revived by others, I thought I would post this thoughtful insight.

My view is that a Trophy is (almost always) more prestigious than a Medal, others disagree. What do you win when you play the TCGO? A Trophy of course. Pokemon itself thinks (virtual) trophies are better than (virtual) medals.

It is now (three or) four weeks after States and I will say the Trophy received last year is better than the no-medal received this year.
 
Virtual trophies are more interesting to design then virtual medals, and cost nothing to give.
 
According to my 10 year old, "It seems conceited and cocky to wear your medals to a tournament." And he won 2 states and regionals this year. The award itself doesn't really matter. I just thought it was kind of sad not to have the medals at the tournaments, especially at Regionals. It'll be fine; he doesn't play for the trophy, but it would have been nice to have that ceremonial aspect of it. But oh well....we had a blast with our Pokefriends and family!
 
Swordfish1989 said:
I find it entertaining that there are so many people complaining about this when 90-95% of them won't make it high enough in the tournament to even get said medal. Not a testament of any of you people's skills, just plain numbers.
Click to expand...

So it's fine to neglect the minority? Just because you didn't win nats doesn't mean you don't feel bad for those who end up stuck with medals.

Awhile ago, Pete De Shaw came on here and made a compelling defense for the switch to medals. I don't think the cost differential is so extreme to order medals for US and Canadian nats that his argument is applicable here. When you go from the Regional level to the National level, the numbers get a LOT more manageable.
 
There are around 15 Regional Championships worldwide (including the ECC and a couple of others).

There are at least 20 National Championships worldwide.

Tell me which one's more cost effective?
 
I will be so happy if Pokemon decides to re-instate the trophies next year. I'm not the only one that feels this way, either. Looking over the other posts I can see plenty of others feeling this way.

If they do give us trophes back, then I hope they go with States upwards like originally.
 
Everyone, ask yourselves this...

If Citys/States/Regionals/Nationals started with medals and never had trophies, would we be talking about this?

Lets see how much money is spent on us BEFORE the medal/trophies (assuming $1,000 for travel awards per person, not including parent escort)

Battle Roads prize compensation per event
1 boxes product
3 promo cards

citys prize compensation per event
3 boxes product
3 <prize>

states prize compensation per event
7 boxes product
$900 in vouchers
12 <prize>

Regionals prize compensation per event
24 boxes of product
$7500 in scholarships
$3000 appx. travel award
12 <prize>

Nationals prize compensation per event
78 boxes of product
$51,000 in scholarships
12 DSi ($1800)
$12,000 appx travel award
12 <prize>

Worlds prize compensation
144 boxes of product
$100,500 in scholarships
$12,000 appx travel awards
9 <prize>

This is factoring in all 3 age divisions, and all this information is on the pokemon.com site for P!P

And the <prize> is not factored because thats what the rest of the budget will go for.

Honestly, those of you who are whining about events being "downgraded" from trophy to medal, just listen to yourselves. P!P can do what they want with their budget, and if that means having to "downgrade" a prize to allow more people the opportunity to play, or to even get more prize support, then I am all for it.

Have I ever won anything? Yes, 1 city championship back in 2005-2006. If I won States/regionals/nationals and got a mdeal, I would be proud of that, and not complain about not getting what last year got!

Think of it like this. Do you complain to the gas station attendant that you only paid $2.60 a gallon last year? You get what you see. Inflation, the bad economy, and peoples personal shopping habits had much more of an impact than you may think. My favorite things have gone up 150% in price since last year and now instead of those being a treat, those are now a luxury that I cannot get all the time. Pokemon is doing everything they can to keep everything balanced, and if you haven't noticed, booster pack prices have NOT changed in a long time (or changed less than $0.50 from what people have told me). You want trophies for states, then perhaps Pokemon should jack the booster pack prices up.

$6.00 a pack should suffice, $200 a box, $30 for a tin, oh and lets not forget the prerelease events, $35 for those at a minimum.

Which road would you want to travel? I like the current one where packs are an affordiable luxury.

~Duke
 
I think the main school of thought is:

Player base has been growing each year, which means there should be more income for Pokemon, yet the prizes seem to decrease each year, including this change.

I wonder how many more Battle Roads, Pre-Releases, and City Championships TPCi is organizing this year compared to 4 years ago. I think it's up, definitely up. Obviously these new events cost money.

TPCi has to worry about gaining more area for big events like Nationals and Worlds to make up for the new players.

I always felt bad when I'd see someone list their trophy on eBay. That seemed like some people just didn't care about them and just wanted the cash so they could buy more cards.

I do one of the TPCi guys nailed it on the head when they said that a player can more easily take their Nationals medal to an event somewhere than their fragile glass trophy. That's definitely a pro.
 
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