Quoted from tayamo:1) Those of you who have been personally attacking Josh for this change need to look themselves in the mirror and be ashamed of yourselves. You've belittled Josh, called him greedy, and a host of other stuff that he doesn't deserve. Josh (and Zach - and others) work their tales off to help bring lots of fun and joy to a lot of people who love competitive pinball. Get off your high-horses and stop making personal attacks. It only makes you look like an ass.
2) Josh did reach out to a bunch of people to talk about this idea. I'm currently ranked in the 3000's, but I'm a State TD, and I run most of the tournaments held here in South Carolina. There was a long and robust discussion with all of the State TD's about this topic. While there were many of the same reservations, but I can tell you that the discussions there were much more civil. Again, I say to those being dicks - Stop! If you have concerns or reservations, then express them. Don't impugn the integrity of others - that's just not right. Also, for those of you who think that Josh hasn't thought this through, that's ridiculous. I am quite, quite certain that Josh has given this far more thought than any of us, so stop with the holier-than-thou approaches.
3) Those of you with reservations, I get it. But, come on now. It's a dollar. You spend that to play one game. Those free tournaments are most certainly NOT free. Venues don't put on free events. They almost always get compensated. Whether it's $1 for a game, or $10 for booze or food. Come on now, let's be real. You offer a "free" tournament, but I'd venture to say in 99% of those tournaments, folks are paying for play, paying for food and drink. Asking them to pay and extra $1 is not a big deal. Period.
4) I think it's a great idea, myself. I love the idea of having a much larger prize pool for the State Championships. In fact, I think it's far, far more righteous to do that than the way it's done now. I think that if someone competes and wins the State Championship, that they should be able to go to Nationals regardless of their financial standing. I believe that so strongly that last year, as the State TD, I personally paid for the winner to go to the National Championships. I spent $500 of my club's money doing that, because it was the RIGHT thing to do. Of course, I didn't do that this year, because Trent came down to SCarolina, kicked our tails, and I knew he was making the trip anyway, so I didn't subsidize his trip - sorry Trent! By offering a much larger State Championship prize, this dilemma gets solved - so I'm in full support.
5) All that being said, I do understand that there may be some legal aspects that are problematic - especially in WI, I guess. I'm no lawyer, so I can't speak to that.
6) Finally, this is a comment for Whysnow. The personal attacks and venom you've directed at Josh, and your self-important attitude really make you look like jerk already. But what really gets me is that you attack Josh, question his integrity, and are generally a jerk to him. But, then you turn around and beg him for the details and specifics, including formulas, etc. for computing WPPR points. You're essentially asking him to give you IFPA Intellectual Property. What? Really? You hurl abuse at Josh, but then want to take his IP. That takes an awful lot of gall, dude! I have say, I give Josh a lot of credit for being kind to you and offering to provide it to you.
Finally, I want to thank Josh, Zach and all those who contribute their time to the IFPA. You guys rock! Thank You!
Patrick Pietras
Palmetto Pinball Club