Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Uk event calendar (tentative)

Venomex, thankyou for the more positive post. You are correct that it would be a bad rule, if only for the reasons that you state. I can think of more reasons too. Could be that is why it is not a rule! ;)

I am sure that you are aware that pokemon OP is probably the most expensive OP programme in the industry. Nothing prevents an organiser from running events throughout the year and demonstrating by completed attendance at those events that the venue and players should get a slice of the pie when the supported premiere events are handed out. However that is the hard route. Not because it is viewed less favourably but just because it is much harder to get players to travel away from their home league that is offering them the regular opportunity to play.

Every organisier that has applied has been allocated at least one event. There is every chance that the number of completed CC events this season will match the number for last year. There is also the possibility that we might be one or two events down this year and even the chance that we might have one extra completed event compared to last year.

As I said earlier thankyou for the more positive post. Negative press only drives players and parents away and the situation is nowhere near as bleak as some are suggesting. The road ahead for UK OP has some bumps but by working together we can ride out the bumps and players and organisers will end up with better OP.
 
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True: it would have been better kept private. Unfortunately that was not the route taken and here we are :(

Whilst what is said and done can never be undone it is possible to correct some of the incorrect information that was being spread.

or course I may have missed the point myself! :)
 
NoPoke said:
True: it would have been better kept private. Unfortunately that was not the route taken and here we are :(

Whilst what is said and done can never be undone it is possible to correct some of the incorrect information that was being spread.

or course I may have missed the point myself! :)
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Very True, although incorrect information spread privately can do as much damage and at least an open, frank discussion does give the protagonists a chance to respond to each other.

At the end of the day, this last part of this thread sees two people having a discussion about the future direction of UK OP. Both care for the game and OP here in the UK, and in their own ways both have helped and hindered the game in the past, as have most of us, either directly or indirectly.

Our passion sometimes leads us down the wrong path, it is a shame that often that passion is forgotten and only the path taken gets remembered. I know that past actions have changed the way I deal with people in all walks of life and sometimes I too forget the underlying cause, passion and reasoning behind the paths I and others have taken and why we sometimes end up in a fug.

It good sometimes to reflect on the wrong we all sometimes do, even if we think it is for the right reasons and then move on.

Certainly it seems we all need to remember that ...

"The King is Dead, Long Live the King"
 
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The UK OP king IS dead. But there is no new king. Maybe that is the root of some of the recent complaints? My role is support, coordination, communication, and a whole load of other stuff in a very long contract. I am not the new king, the king lives in Seattle, and I am the king's servant.

I have no favourites. Events will be allocated fairly across the country. There is no inner circle that will have priority. No area will be sacrificed to appease the more vocal. If anyone wants to talk to me about this then they are always welcome. I am not an ogre and have no hidden agenda.

=============

Unless there is a problem with the OP website I have no intention of posting an "official" list of events on the Pokegym. I encourage organisers to make best use of whatever resources that they have available to publicise their events and not to rely upon the efforts of others. Cooperation is good, cooperation is the way forward, but don't forget where responsibility lies.

Players should get used to using the Official Tournament Locator and asking thier local League Leaders, many of whom are also TOs and will be running premiere events.

The Pokegym is a very good resource and I personally recommend it to parents and players alike, but it will not replace the Organised Play website as the primary source of information for tournaments in the UK. It has to be this way if only because many players and in particular new players do not know of the Pokegym's existance.
 
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progress: that is a very difficult question to answer as you have qualified your question with "decent".

Prize support continues to follow the example set by the USA.

The old hands are still around and still doing well. Two multiple nationals winners are out of the running for the UK's paid trips to worlds next year in Hawaii as they both secured their place at this years Worlds in San Diego by finishing 2nd and 3rd. All three UK age divisions look much more open this year.

There are currently 340 players in the UK rankings, some 150 or so are new players this season (well new POPIDs at least)
 
I don`t see why people are complaining about the lack of events, in the past there have been a far larger number of cities but with low attendances. I think if people were more willing to travel in the past there wouldnt have been these low attendances. To be fair Nopoke and Ukpokemonpro, have done a fantastic job in the past advertising there events for alot of us to disregard them and just go to States/Nats. It doesnt take a genius to work out that players from the South have got to learn to travel around more to more northern places such as Leicester/Norwich/Manchester/Blackpool/Cumbernauld. And not just expect to go to BRS/Cities near them, we have one of the most developed railway system, I suggest people use it, I cant see one City that is hard to access. Put it this way, I dont think we have the drive motivationally to travel as much as some of American counterparts to play a City, its amazing how passionate and distances they are willing to travel (you just have to read there Facebook statuses).
 
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A few questions I just realised about, Ian -

I know last year we had Battle Royales at short notice, I think because of the UK needed more K Value or something? Does that mean we'll skip them this year?

Also just realised the Nationals date - is that definate and that its been booked? If so, are you able to tell us the venue now?

Thanks

Back to back posts merged. The following information has been added:

TheLegendKiller said:
I don`t see why people are complaining about the lack of events, in the past there have been a far larger number of cities but with low attendances. I think if people were more willing to travel in the past there wouldnt have been these low attendances. To be fair Nopoke and Ukpokemonpro, have done a fantastic job in the past advertising there events for alot of us to disregard them and just go to States/Nats. It doesnt take a genius to work out that players from the South have got to learn to travel around more to more northern places such as Leicester/Norwich/Manchester/Blackpool/Cumbernauld. And not just expect to go to BRS/Cities near them, we have one of the most developed railway system, I suggest people use it, I cant see one City that is hard to access. Put it this way, I dont think we have the drive motivationally to travel as much as some of American counterparts to play a City, its amazing how passionate and distances they are willing to travel (you just have to read there Facebook statuses).
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I agree with some of your points, but you can't compare America with the UK. Their CC's are alot bigger with alot more rounds and more K Value - meaning a bigger reward to the better players who play for that not boosters. Also the USA has an invite cut off of about 1850, about 100 more than us. That means they have the pressure to go furhter distances and attend more. Also, the majority of players in the UK are Juniors and Seniors. I'm pretty sure none from my league would be allowed to go on the train up to Scotland and back in one day, nor would they convince their parents to do that with them.
 
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nnaann said:
A few questions I just realised about, Ian -

I know last year we had Battle Royales at short notice, I think because of the UK needed more K Value or something? Does that mean we'll skip them this year?
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The Battle Royal events were "Extra" K Value events for the UK and not part of the Official OP Schedule - just something to fill a gap in the OP Calender last year - so unlikely to return I would say.
 
venomex said:
The Battle Royal events were "Extra" K Value events for the UK and not part of the Official OP Schedule - just something to fill a gap in the OP Calender last year - so unlikely to return I would say.
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Thought so, thanks :thumb:
 
TheLegendKiller said:
I don`t see why people are complaining about the lack of events, in the past there have been a far larger number of cities but with low attendances. I think if people were more willing to travel in the past there wouldnt have been these low attendances. To be fair Nopoke and Ukpokemonpro, have done a fantastic job in the past advertising there events for alot of us to disregard them and just go to States/Nats. It doesnt take a genius to work out that players from the South have got to learn to travel around more to more northern places such as Leicester/Norwich/Manchester/Blackpool/Cumbernauld. And not just expect to go to BRS/Cities near them, we have one of the most developed railway system, I suggest people use it, I cant see one City that is hard to access. Put it this way, I dont think we have the drive motivationally to travel as much as some of American counterparts to play a City, its amazing how passionate and distances they are willing to travel (you just have to read there Facebook statuses).
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I second this. I went to manchester for CC's just last week and there was me (From Leicester League) and one other person from down south. Despite the fact that there was quite a large player base their which included players from Blackpool/Manchester, it would have been nice to see more faces there. In my honest opinion, it was good that the amound of CC's this time around were reduced. Perhaps if people start travelling and attandences rise at current Citys, we may get them back for next season? (However, I do agree that Cumbernauld is a little far for people to travel from down south!) And I know it doesn't help because of the economic situation at the moment...

Just my 2-pence worth

Donz
 
You will find that the Masters division is actually the largest that is very well represented in the numbers from Nationals last year etc. Btw Cumbernauld, isn`t that far from Glasgow I mean apart from the fact theres one train an hour to Motherwell and its a mission from the station. And other than the fact it looks like Emmerdale with no people, I would go there again.
 
reduced? 19 completed CC events last year. 19 are likely this year too.

There will be a reduction in wasted support. TOs are already seeing the benefit of this as there is staff support for each and every rated event this year. This should result in better events for the players.

All events need local players. The local players are the bedrock upon which OP is built.
 
TheLegendKiller said:
You will find that the Masters division is actually the largest that is very well represented in the numbers from Nationals last year etc. Btw Cumbernauld, isn`t that far from Glasgow I mean apart from the fact theres one train an hour to Motherwell and its a mission from the station. And other than the fact it looks like Emmerdale with no people, I would go there again.
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Its bad to base it on Nationals attendence, since older people are alot more capable to go. Seniors is actually the largest division so far this season, not Masters based on people in Go-pokemon rankings. Even so, it would be a long train ride.
 
To be fair, the "better players" havent even played a Premier Event due to other commitments such as a University, And for alot of the K-Value doesnt justify playing to them. I can think of 4 of the Top 5 at Nats that havent even touched an event.There is probably a few certain individuals that only play Nats and Worlds only. But having said that by the end of the season the largest division will be the Masters, by far, you can only go on past figures and the trend tends to show this. Btw people tend to get old not younger, as NoPoke pointed out this year will be probably one of the most competitive.

Btw I knew quite a few Seniors that disobeyed there parents to go to tournaments as Seniors, actually even plenty that went abroad on there own. Its whether or not your willing to do anything about it, "when theres means theres a way".

Booster Pack Anyone?
 
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TheLegendKiller said:
To be fair, the "better players" havent even played a Premier Event due to other commitments such as a University, And for alot of the K-Value doesnt justify playing to them. I can think of 4 of the Top 5 at Nats that havent even touched an event.There is probably a few certain individuals that only play Nats and Worlds only. But having said that by the end of the season the largest division will be the Masters, by far, you can only go on past figures and the trend tends to show this. Btw people tend to get old not younger, as NoPoke pointed out this year will be probably one of the most competitive.

Btw I knew quite a few Seniors that disobeyed there parents to go to tournaments as Seniors, actually even plenty that went abroad on there own. Its whether or not your willing to do anything about it, "when theres means theres a way".

Booster Pack Anyone?
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There is really a small majority of people who can't go to Nats, as opposed to people who don't make Nats but attend other tournaments. Theres about 300 people who have played in a tournament so far this year, and Nats had an attendence of about 185?

Again, there's an exception to any rule but I'd be suprised if the majority of seniors would do this, Its not just about when theres means theres a way, but having the guts to tell your parents you're at a friends house for a sleepover then ring up and say "Hey mum, I'm actually in Belguim for the Benelux Cup" is something different lol.

You can go on past trends, but there seems to a huge jump in Juniors and Seniors from last year in the rankings, but little to no change in Masters. Most tournaments I've been to so far have had Seniors with the highest attendence, and Masters tend to travel further distances.
 
I would travel if the sale value of the prizes was greater than the total cost of entry plus travel, plus a fee for my time.
 
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