Keep in mind that the Dallas area -- and the specific incident referenced, which if true, is a shame -- is certainly not representative of all or most of the people down in Texas.
And there are plenty of us in Texas that hold the IFPA and WPPR system in high regard, and have enjoyed -- and will continue to enjoy -- growing pinball here.

Thanks for making the trip to enjoy TPF and play in the tourney! We hope to see you again next year along with the strong contingent from CO that made the trip.

While I wish that increased popularity, visibility, and prestige for competitive pinball would come without increasing prize pools, I have faith in someone like Josh -- with his experience at Raw Thrills and their success in dramatically growing the competitive scene of Big Buck Hunter -- to develop and execute a plan to give us the best chance of doing the same. I look at the atmosphere I see from BBH or darts or other hobby/sport championships and want that for pinball.... not because of bigger prize money, but because it would mean more people are playing and competing in pinball.

I don't have a good answer for how to manage the hassle of transactions for events/leagues that currently have no entry fee, but hopefully one of the range of options that's been discussed will work for each league.

No need to wait... here's a rough estimate of the PAPA and Pinburgh contribution to PA SCS: approx $1,300.
PAPA A Div: $150
PAPA Classics: $360 (120 x 3)
Pinburgh: $800

And I have no problem at all with PAPA taking the $1/player from the prize money pool that is being paid out to those that finish in a spot that receive prize money.

Also note that PAPA's B, C, D, Juniors, Seniors, and Women's division tournaments are a great template for how a tournament can operate just fine, still have demand for it, not receive any WPPRs, not pay $1/player, and people still have a ton of fun playing in them.

Indeed, there is. Sorry. I didn't make my point very well: Tourneys, leagues, and events can be successful with alternative draws/attraction than just WPPRs at stake, even when they intentionally design the tourney to not be eligible for IFPA WPPRs. Those other tourneys at PAPA award 0 WPPRs and 0 credit toward the state's SCS.

You know I have incredible respect for you and what you've done and continue to do in New Orleans, but I don't think that what you've mentioned here is the norm for competitive pinball players and thus, inaccurate in the broad sense you paint it. In fact, I think it's quite the opposite. Every tourney I've been to, video stream I've watched, tutorial I've watched, etc, has had an overwhelming sense of camaraderie for anyone that's competing and willing to learn. Tip/tricks/rules are shared by even the best of the best.

I don't doubt that. My point is that a couple of top players does not equal all or most top players.

True. But my perspective comes from traveling to competitive events in other states and even 4 other countries.
On the whole, I've found competitive players to be just as social and helpful and friendly as those that don't play competitively. I've met some unfriendly social players and unfriendly competitive players. But that doesn't mean I jump to the conclusion that most or majority of that type of player are unfriendly. Remember, my counter to your point was about the secrecy comment.

I agree that some competitive players treat smaller events that have a social/party atmosphere with too much hyper-competitiveness.

Do what works for your scene. Sounds like they don't care about WPPRs or IFPA rank -- so do what you do and what's working for you/them.

If you have players and/or TD's that do value IFPA or SCS ranking, I'd be curious to see what the median $ per player that would have been paid in 2016 to judge how big of an impact this will have. Based on what you're saying, I'm guessing it would be quite low.

Wait... so you mean that the model the IFPA is proposing has already worked elsewhere in a competitive arcade gaming community? Could this forced growth in BBH State and National prize pools have possibly led to the growth in the popularity of the game, growth in the number of BBH players around the country that are made up of now-larger pockets of people in their local communities, growth in people willing to try playing the game, and growth in the amount of coin drop for BBH operators/locations?

As a complete outsider to this little side discussion, I'm curious: did you expect the people who you accused on a public forum of "bitch, bitch, bitch"ing, to not defend themselves and express their side of the story? For the most part, their responses to your derogatory post were quite tactful and courteous.

It's a shame you're going to cancel events -- that does the most harm to your local pinball scene relative to the harm it may do to out-of-towners that (from the sounds of it) aren't planning on attending anyway due to whatever disagreement they had with you.