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Quoted from Frax:To be fair, I did forget that all the separates at TPF can be 25+ points now. Whoops.
I'm sure that Marcus is doing everything he can to max the value of that... it just was a total brainfart on my part there. My apologies for that. Maybe I should look into volunteering to help this year, by the sound of it.
Any idea when the retroactive part of WPPR 5.0 will go live? I.E. the extra two entries, 4th year decay etc...
Since the SCS is still new, I'm sure directors will continue to find ways to improve their tourney. Here is an improvement I implemented this year in Alabama. We play at a public location(BumperNets) that has around 30 pins. Last year we just let all the pins that were not currently broken to be available for selection. This created some issues; loud birthday party in one area of the store, waiting for public players to vacate machines, etc. This year we are putting 8 games in a special area with limited access by the public. Once our field was set, I solicited votes from the top 16 + 2 alternates for their top three pins they would like to see in the tourney! It has been interesting to see which way the votes have gone. All of the voting is not in yet, but it looks like it will be 6 Sterns, 1 Data East, and 1 EM.
I have 1 for sure and maybe 2 "committed to attend" who have actually committed to show up. That way if there are any no-shows we can still fill the full field of 16 and not have any 1st round byes. I think that is important.
That extra $10 is a states choice depending on where the tourney is held. We play at a public location so players food is on their own dime.
I feel the SCS/Nationals is set up fairly with regards to entry fees, who is eligible, prizes, format, etc. My personal opinion based partially on what I see here in Alabama is the % of states represented in the Nationals will be lower this year than last year. I won state last year but elected not to go. So our runner up decided to go, mainly because it would be a great father/son trip and they could drive(even though it was 20 hours one-way). This year I doubt that whoever wins(Myself, Timmy, or several others who are quite capable of winning) would pony up a flight/hotel/expenses from Alabama to Vegas, especially since those of us here who do travel to events are already planning 3 or 4 out of state pinball trips this year.(Louisville, Southern Fried, Pinburgh, Papa?)
I would absolutely love to win the SCS and make the trip to Vegas, but I just don't see it happening.
I think I can explain that. These other large events are planned for well in advance. Pinburgh is a good example. Registration paid for and hotel arrangements are made 6 months in advance. Days off from work must be secured. These are not cheap trips. Now, my pinball playing time is potentially over 20 hours. Lots of bang for the buck. Same goes for Louisville and SFGE, which are both PAPA Circuit events.
The National Championship is only 7 weeks after the State Championships. Now, I don't know until after Feb 7th if I am even eligible to attend. I know it would be awesome to attend, but my potential could be 4 games and I'm done. Plus the distance traveled makes it quite possibly more expensive than any of the other trips mentioned. Another factor is that this is only the 2nd year of this. It is new, and is still catching on. In the future, if it grows and seems like a bigger deal to myself and the entire pinball competition community, I might change my priorities and move this to the top of my list.
Quoted from Whysnow:I would assume you would still be tracking everyone like you do, just making it a requirement to play in the SCS that you are paid in full of annual dues by mid-year. You could of course make a rule for people that have played their first event ever in this year, that they would need to pay in by Dec 1st or something more reasonable/later in the year.
I would say paying an annual membership is much more palatable to me than the current seeding model (forcing the hand of a mid tier player like me that qualified for SCS and wants to play with locals only, feels way more biased that offering a membership to all people that want the opportunity to have scores tracked for SCS purposes) . I think the IFPA does some really cool things (and alot of tracking work!) for me as a player already and I would be fine paying a small annual fee to support this. Maybe make some added data or a few more analytics available to those that are paying/card carrying members of the IFPA. That would help with the perception that people are getting something new for their membership.
I only bring this up as a suggestion again because now 6 people in WI from this years top 16 have said things to the effect of "I don't like the current national seeding structure, but just think of this as an annual membership fee for them maintaining my profile" in the email poll I sent out. Knowing the local WI players pretty well, I think you would probably get the top 50 players that would be happy to pay in an annual membership fee with very little concern > just a rough guess. I am guessing that number would grow each year, but even at onset that would be 5x the seeded prize pool of the current design.
I don't really see this fracturing the player base, because we get quite a bit of cool stuff from IFPA system already.
I am playing in and running the Alabama SCS. Took 1st last year and hope to repeat! We play at a public location so I have been busy getting all the games in shape. This year I let all the top 17 cast votes for which games would be in the tourney. And the line-up is.............
TWD
ST
MET
WOF
TF
LW3
Shrek
Lost World
EB
Aztec
Interestingly, the game that received the most votes overall was.......... Aztec! Second was Metallica.
Quoted from Frax:LW3.....time to ramp out, baby!
Yes, but only after I get the flippers rebuilt today!
Quoted from Frax:Even better. I think my personal record for ramp shots on a single LW3 game was around the 115 mark. I know it was over 100.
Quoted from Pinball-is-great:Great post LOTR_. That was very cool of you to take input from the other players, and that you are helping to ensure the machines are cleaned up & working well. Thumbs up for including an e-m and a couple early ss machines in the mix. Sounds like you will have a great tournament.
The Louisiana state tournament will also likely include a mix of modern dmd, ss, & e-m's.
I met 4 or 5 of you guys from AL one time at a pinball tournament that you went to in Denham Springs, LA. You've got a great group of pinball players to hang out with and compete against.
I predict Alabama will have a new winner this year. I don't think they will let you repeat.
Oh Yeah, the Spanks tourney! Small world!
Alabama top 4:
Chris Warren(that's me)
Tim Street
Travis Bender
Bill Miller
Our tourney ran from 10:30 AM to 6:30PM with only a 45min. break for lunch. Long fun day!
Last match went the full 7 games. Was decided on the 7th game, last ball, on Eight Ball of all games! Timmy will be representing Alabama in Las Vegas! 
Quoted from funtimewithdave:If its not on the calendar for 30 days, its not for IFPA points.
We played at a public location where all of the games are also for sale. We had ten games lined up but they sold the Lost World two days before the SCS! So we just went with 9 and it worked out great. 6 Sterns, 1 Early SS, 1 EM, 1 DE.
Quoted from stevevt:Were the games set aside for the tournament, or were you sharing space with the public?
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Fultondale, AL