Player Rewards

[losjackal]

One other small gripe: I really wish we had known about the Top 100 thing sooner. Then I could have actually worked harder to make Top 100 last year. If the trainer really IS Tropical Beach, then that's a little frustrating. If not, then I guess it doesn't matter so much.

I've been thinking about this myself, since I participated in nearly everything my son did last year, and I'm at 125th place. Believe me, I played in a LOT of events....paying for gas driving and spending the night in hotels.

It's way cheaper to just buy two Tropical Beaches than to try to attend enough extra events to end up in the Top 100.

 

[homeofmew]

why would judges get player points? they aren't playing.

But I get what you are saying don't get me wrong. But even still it's not hard to get the 15 points. Will a Judge that judges a lot get player of the year? nope because they are a judge. Heck if they play their cards right on playing AND judging they may get t100.

On top of that player rewards are for players, judges already get judge support. So they get paid for their work.
There's been some people that prefer to judge now because of the meta or whatever, this may change their mind up on doing both.
Overall I think it's healthy for the game.

One of the bigger problems then Judges are PTOs, they can earn 8 points maybe a little bit more. but all they can earn is league points if you think about it.
For a PTO to get 15, they would have to go to another PTOs event.
Maybe PTOs should get a half a point or something.

On the non US countries thing I agree with, some countries do not have regional or that many CCs or BRs.

The buying play points idea with professor points:
That's actually not a bad idea, but obviously could not be 1 for 1.

Anyway just food for thought I'm currently in t100 as it is.

 

[CFOURCOLTSFAN]

i guess i have to go to BR's this year...ngl i'm kind of sad about this development, although if it's a trop. beach it is for sure worth it

 

[eriknance]

I've been thinking about this myself, since I participated in nearly everything my son did last year, and I'm at 125th place. Believe me, I played in a LOT of events....paying for gas driving and spending the night in hotels.

It's way cheaper to just buy two Tropical Beaches than to try to attend enough extra events to end up in the Top 100.

It's not really about the money though, it's about the prestige. Almost every competitive player understands this by now. It's currently the nature of playing this game.

 

[Stealth]

Overall, this system is a little strange to me. The fact that Nationals is worth more Play Points than most other events together means a Nationals PTO/judge would therefore very likely 'sacrifice' his ability to get the 15 PP rewards. Sure, they get compensated as well, but I don't think P!P should discourage judging this much, because with this new system playing has insane benefits compared to judging, even if you are atrocious at the card game.

The proposed P(l)ayer of the year system is outright ridiculous. I understand P!P would want people to attend tournaments as much as possible, but the goal is not only unrealistic for 90% of the world's (non-US) inhabitants, it's also a flawed reason to reward someone. People already get rewarded for attending tournaments if they manage to play well and eventually pick up a Worlds invite. Making it a contest of who travels all over the place to snag PP does not create the kind of 'poster child' I'd want to create if I were them.


On a side note:
Given the quality of the player rewards from previous years, I can only conclude that the Trainer promo is a foil Energy Search, sent to our houses right after it rotates out of the format.

 

[losjackal]

It's not really about the money though, it's about the prestige. Almost every competitive player understands this by now. It's currently the nature of playing this game.

Yes, but being the in the final Top 100 is going to be hard to attain. Remember how everyone raced for ELO relative to each other? Same thing, except the only thing you are competing for is a couple of worthwhile cards and the prestige. If you're saying the additional cost of attending every single City and all three States and all three Regionals plus four pre-releases and all of the Battle Roads is worth the prestige of maybe ending with Top 100, I can't argue with that. But I will disagree.

And even if you managed to accomplish all that, you're still going to have 20 Play! Points less than the guy or girl who participated in 8 league seasons and 12 non-premier sanctioned tournaments. Maybe you're still in Top 100, but maybe not.

 

[losjackal]

Sure, they get compensated as well, but I don't think P!P should discourage judging this much, because with this new system playing has insane benefits compared to judging, even if you are atrocious at the card game.

Could you please clarify how the benefits of playing are so insane? I don't know if you're referring to what you get if you have 15 Play! Points, or if you're referring to what you get if you're in the final Top 100.

I'll skip ahead. You must be referring to Top 100. I just illustrated above how so very difficult it is going to end in the Top 100. But if you dedicate yourself to attending that many events, you're spending A LOT more money. Versus a Judge, who is often compensated by half a booster box, maybe a Staff promo card, and maybe Professor Points. Let's say after two days they have a full box. That is more than the value of one Tropical Beach right there. I'd argue the benefits of judging are insane, but comes with the tradeoff of not playing and working instead. That's tough for a serious player to choose to do. So I just don't see the converse....of a non-serious player choosing to play all year and race for Play! Points just to end up with two valuable cards, maybe.

 

[losjackal]

People already get rewarded for attending tournaments if they manage to play well and eventually pick up a Worlds invite.

Not true. The Player of the Year last year in Master's division...didn't earn a Worlds invite. Neither did #2. In fact, of the Top 100 Play! Points players, only 40 earned invitations. It's not flawed to think these dedicated Play!ers deserve a reward too.

 

[Swordfish1989]

It's way cheaper to just buy two Tropical Beaches than to try to attend enough extra events to end up in the Top 100.

Quoted for truth... two tropical beaches will cost you, what, $250? I dunno about you, but it'll cost me $250 for a flight to a regional that isn't my regional.

 

[Stealth]

Not true. The Player of the Year last year in Master's division...didn't earn a Worlds invite. Neither did #2. In fact, of the Top 100 Play! Points players, only 40 earned invitations. It's not flawed to think these dedicated Play!ers deserve a reward too.

Couple points here.
To acquire a spot at Worlds, you need a set amount of PP, curently 400. That was what I was referring to. Doesn't mean every single person who accumulates PP will get one, obviously.

The reward for dedicated (good) players are the tournament prizes. Can't say that they are stellar, in fact I think they're not worth it at all, but they're rewards nonetheless.

Regarding your other post:
Besides the promo rewards, you forget to mention the other benefits of playing vs. judging, which is indeed working towards that aforementioned 400 CP limit to get into Worlds, together with chances to win trophies, prizes and in the case of Nationals, a trip.

 

[ApachePrime]

Couple points here.
To acquire a spot at Worlds, you need a set amount of PP, curently 400. That was what I was referring to. Doesn't mean every single person who accumulates PP will get one, obviously.

The reward for dedicated (good) players are the tournament prizes. Can't say that they are stellar, in fact I think they're not worth it at all, but they're rewards nonetheless.

Regarding your other post:
Besides the promo rewards, you forget to mention the other benefits of playing vs. judging, which is indeed working towards that aforementioned 400 PP limit to get into Worlds, together with chances to win trophies, prizes and in the case of Nationals, a trip.

400 PP will not get you into Worlds. The requirement for Worlds is 400 Championship Points, not Play!Points.

Championship Points are rewarded for placing high in tournaments, Play!Points are given for simply showing up and playing at least 2 rounds.

 

[losjackal]

Stealth, you may be mixing up Championship Points with Play! Points. A player needs 400 Championship Points (CP) to have a Worlds invitation, and you only get those by winning. But you earn Play! Points (PP) just by showing up. There is no absolute number for those, instead it's the Top 100 and the #1 Player that get Play! rewards.

Dang, ninja'd by ApachePrime...and the timing was real this time!

 

[KazamBolt]

There are A LOT of people with 15 Play Points. Almost every competitive player I would suspect. I don't think they would put that many new Catchers out in circulation, but hey, I have really no foundation to base that on. If they truly have no concern for the secondary market, maybe it doesn't matter to them at all.

They made Claydol and Uxie into league promos when Claydol were $20 and Uxie were $10-15 back in the day, they made Yanmega Prime a box promo when it was a $50-70 card, Darkrai and Mewtwo were just tinned after they hit the $50 mark, etc. I'd say they don't care about the secondary market haha.

 

[Stealth]

Stealth, you may be mixing up Championship Points with Play! Points. A player needs 400 Championship Points (CP) to have a Worlds invitation, and you only get those by winning. But you earn Play! Points (PP) just by showing up. There is no absolute number for those, instead it's the Top 100 and the #1 Player that get Play! rewards.

Dang, ninja'd by ApachePrime...and the timing was real this time!

Yeah, didn't mean to mix them up, that was an actual typo. Point still stands though, because the only way to acquire CP is by playing the game, which will also net you PP.

 

[losjackal]

Okay, but 399 Championship Points gets you nothing. Not even a set of steak knives.

Point is, there are plenty of good players who top cut but don't win, and even more that only sometimes cut but go to a lot of events. How do you develop a "player rewards" program for those that you'd be okay with?

 

[pokeMATHter]

Okay, but 399 Championship Points gets you nothing. Not even a set of steak knives.

Challenge accepted: Get to 399 Championship Points with the fewest number of Play! Points.

3 Battle Roads 9 CP from 2 9-12th place finishes + 1 17-32nd finish: 3 PP
1 City Championship 10 CP from 9-12th place: 2 PP
3 States/Regionals 100 CP form 1st place finishes: 9 PP
Attend league once to meet PP minimum for US Nationals: 1 PP
9-12 at US Nationals: 80 CP, 10 PP

399 Championship Points, 25 Play! Points

Get: Promotional Energy, + 3 Promo Trainer cards

 

[losjackal]

I did mean nothing in terms of World invitation, because Stealth said "People already get rewarded for attending tournaments if they manage to play well and eventually pick up a Worlds invite". So I agree these Play! Rewards are deserved for someone like that. Great example.

I was also thinking, did it make sense that the Top 100 PP players should exclude those that earned a Worlds invitation? I surmise no, because not everyone invited will be able to take the trip, and thus not get their Tropical Beaches there. So they should still be able to merit them via Top 100.

 

[Biggie]

It's way cheaper to just buy two Tropical Beaches than to try to attend enough extra events to end up in the Top 100.

That is good because getting into the Top 100 is not one of the ways that a Tropical Beach can be obtained as it turns out. Sorry if anyone got their hopes up on that one.

 

[Envoyofduels]

That is good because getting into the Top 100 is not one of the ways that a Tropical Beach can be obtained as it turns out. Sorry if anyone got their hopes up on that one.

could you address my request for farther clarification to my question on the 2nd page?

 

[losjackal]

That is good because getting into the Top 100 is not one of the ways that a Tropical Beach can be obtained as it turns out. Sorry if anyone got their hopes up on that one.

LOL! Thank you for the news. Indeed it was speculation on our part that was beginning to run rampant.

However, I can already see the flames beginning for what else the "highly sought after Pokémon Trainer card" is actually gonna be. Good luck, sir.