My 7-year old son and I started playing this season, so we never had any thoughts about going to Worlds this year. But if we did go, I can only imagine how upset my son would be after losing in the first round. Yes, on the one hand it is great that Pokemon organizes this last chance to get into Worlds--I think it democratizes the whole process, and helps players who maybe haven't been playing the entire season and don't have enough points to get in. But, on the other hand, the new LCQ format seems almost an exercise in cruelty against 6-13 year olds. I'm sure their disappointment wears off after just a couple of hours, and that when they think back on the weekend, they will always remember having fun. But after the lead-up to an event like this--the flight, the hotel, the promise of three days of tournament play--how could a first-round LCQ loss make a child anything but extremely unhappy? (And that has to happen to half of all the kids that play?) Sure, critical losses are learning experiences, but do I need to fly my child to San Diego for him to get one? It sounds like the side events are great, but why have them instead of a full LCQ? So I think we won't ever be attending the LCQ in its existing format--we'll qualify, or we won't go.
I do not know why TPCi changed the format--someone said that it was to keep the limited number of judges they have fresh. So could they hire/rotate more judges? Is cost or manpower an issue? Keeping this in mind, I'd like to make two promises to TPCi, and I welcome anyone else to join me:
1) It may be that cost is a limitation for having the full LCQ--that TPCi could get more judges, staff, space, whatever if the rewards for judging were higher or they had more money to pay the hotel. (What do judges at Worlds get now? Travel & lodging support? Just packs?) If this is the case, I would gladly pay money for my son to participate in a full Swiss-format LCQ. I understand that Pokemon tournaments are free, and that TPCi takes great pride in this, and I think they should. But wouldn't this be the one place & time where it might make sense to make an exception? If I was spending $1500 for flights, hotels, meals and goodies for my son and me, I would certainly be willing to spend $50 to ensure that my son could play in the LCQ for 4 hours instead of 30 minutes. People who qualified based on ratings or Nats/Regionals wouldn't have to pay--this would just be for LCQ participants. TCPi could use the money to help defray the costs of judges who helped on LCQ day, or for the space, or whatever is necessary. I'm sure that there will be folks on this forum that would object to that amount, or any amount, and I know that economic times are tough. But I also understand that the LCQ has to be paid for somehow, and I am personally willing to help with that. Maybe others are too.
2) It may be that volunteer manpower is the issue--there just aren't enough people to run it. If TPCi switches back to the Swiss LCQ, I will volunteer all three days (or more) at every Worlds my family ever attends. I currently do some judging, some volunteering, and some playing in my local Pokemon community. I think it would be fun to play at Worlds. But this issue is important, and I'm willing to put my time where my mouth is. You get me, for free, at any Worlds that we attend that has a full LCQ--I'll judge, I'll be a "runner", I'll take out the trash, whatever you need. I'd also be willing to network with other parents to try to find more volunteers for you (though I suppose the only time I can promise is my own). Let me know.
As this last season comes to a close, I am genuinely excited about being more active and involved this coming year. The Pokemon community is great, and TPCi works for that community and makes decisions that serve the game and its players. (The mid-season rotation...awesome!) I'm sure Worlds is a challenging event to run, and I know that TPCi weighs lots of factors in deciding what it will look like. But does anyone--including TPCi--think that the LCQ format this year was *better* than last? If not, how can we work to make it better?
Andy Taton
No offense meant, Andy, but the grinder is not meant for the casual player, not even in Juniors. It is made for those that have a fair amount of tournament experience, especially at the top tables and in elimination rounds. Those that can handle getting the loss should play. Those that can't, should not.
Personally, I find the old format to be crueler. Players have their hopes up for hours and hours, playing round after round with their one or two losses, thinking that they might still have a chance, only to find out that their record put them out of contention many rounds ago.
With this format, you know where you stand. And, you have a chance to recover from a donk in the best-of-three format. People keep forgetting that! You can lose a lot of games in the best-of-three format and still be in contention as long as you don't lose more than one in a match!
As for cost: You can't afford what it would cost to pay for the extra cost and space to expand the tournament. I remember two or so years ago we had 400 masters grinding in. They ran it as swiss that year and I was assigned to grab a group of staff, head off to the free play area, toss everyone out, set it up for a flight of 200 masters, and run a Regional-sized tournament on the fly, almost like a "pick-up" tournament! It is a testament to the quality of the staff that we have available at Worlds that we not only did it, but we did it well!
But, we had to kick out all the players from the free play area.
We had to run a third of the LCQ far away from the rest of the event.
It stretched the staff thin and made dealing with translation issues a nightmare for that part of the staff.
This year, we were talking about a 50% increase in the masters numbers! 600+ instead of 400.
To expand the area available, bring in a sizable crew of staff (just for a side event!), pay for their trip, lodging, and food) and manage it all... you're probably talking about $100,000 at least. So it wouldn't be $50 you'd be kicking in. It would be closer to $500 per player, or $1,000 per Master, to expand.
Still want to kick in the extra money? :wink:
The Grinder serves one purpose and one purpose only: To give people a shot at invites to Worlds that they didn't earn during the tournament year, that everyone else had to earn (except for those invited back from last year, of course). It is not a party event. If people have fun during it, great. But that is beside the point and not what it is for.
By using Single Elimination, Pokemon was able to have all hands on deck for the first two rounds of Masters and then bring in the smaller groups of Juniors and Seniors as the Masters size shrunk down to 256 players. Were there lessons to be learned from the first time it was done this way?
Yes, in the future, if SE-LCQ is done again, I'm sure they'll move the JR and SR registration to a later time (with the option for early reg along with Masters parents, if desired). It was not a good thing to bring the young players down and then make them wait for many hours to start play.
So that was a learning experience.
But, in terms of how the event ran, it ran great and I don't see Pokemon going back to Swiss. At least not on the mainland. Attendance will be smaller in Hawaii, so I can't speak for that.
