My thoughts on it is that we should have tournament games that are being used specifically for the tournament rather than using free play games to run it on as in Allentown. The variety of using the free play games is nice, but there inevitably are errors on the games that can make tournament scoring inaccurate and frustrating. With designated tourney machines we can make sure every game is 100%. Just my $.02.

Possibly a classics division, A division, B division set up like PAPA championships. High score qualifying for match play finals.

Last time I checked, PBWA uses Aurcade. I recommend you avoid Aurcade because of the weighting system it uses for scoring.

Look here for an example:
http://www.aurcade.com/games/format.aspx?id=687

Basically, the top scoring player gets 100%, then all other players' scores are reflected as a percentage of the top player's score. So, if Player A gets the high score on Tron at 80 million and Player B has the next best score at 40 million, Player B gets 50 points.

This is far different from how IFPA and PAPA scoring work -- and there's a reason why these are considered the standard.

I don't like the Aurcade system, because it increases the relative importance of "big games" and a third party's big game can change the outcome between two others.

The Aurcade system makes the top score on a game 100 points, and the other scores are a percentage of the top score.

For example, let's say the high score on Monster Bash is 100 million, Bob has 80 million and Al has 40 million; then Bob has 80 points to Al's 40. Now Cayle comes and drops a billion; suddenly Bob has 8 points to Al's 4. This works heavily in Al's favor. Meanwhile now Cayle has 100 and nobody else has more than 10 on that game; those who can't top 100 million barely have a reason to play the game any further compared to others.

Similar logic shows that "exponential scoring" games become more important than "linear scoring" games under this system.

I highly recommend the PAPA scoring system with 100 for first, 90 for second, 85 for third, 84 for fourth, ..., 1 for 87th place. It has been used for 10+ years at the PAPA World Championship, players know it, and it's easy to explain.

I am a fan of aurcade we play it at all the flippers pinball tournament in outer banks. We use it to get the top 16 in the elimination round playing the games all day till cut off time of 5:00pm. then double elimination for top 16. big games are a part of this format but if someone has a big game you need to step up to the pin and have a big game as well. Have gone back and forth in past about this with Bowen and do not want to rehash it. Aurcade system is fun to play to see which pins you think you can better your score at or take away points from a person who might be on your tail. If anyone wants to see how it works come to the Outer Banks on November 8 th at noon to flippers it is a fun day of competition.

A second example, this from the last New England tournament. First day, some people have been playing Family Guy and the high is around 50 million. I put a 400 million on the game. The effect was that very few players even tried to play Family Guy from there on, because the relative value of points was suppressed. I had similar reactions to other players' big games -- it didn't make me want to step up and have a big game. Instead, it made me less likely to play that game, because I could be more efficient playing something else.

In the PAPA scoring format, a monster score is worth a lot, but also won't stifle the other players' competition on a machine. The positives that triadwatch posts about still occur: you still can see which pins you think you can better your score at, taking away points from a competitor. I feel there is also a positive feedback for novice players in a system that gives points by position instead of by score -- the novice player gets to say they finished 29th on a game, instead of saying they got 3% of the best player's score.

The PAPA scoring format is used at a large number of major events, including Pinball Expo, INDISC, California Extreme, and the NW Pinball Championships, all of whom independently chose this format. There are multiple software packages available to run the format.

One thing Aurcade used to have as a huge positive was the ability to enter scores on tablets and have instant updating, but this is now possible using Karl DeAngelo's "Drains Tournament Manager" software. This software also configures and runs final rounds, and has been used at many big events in the last two years to increase efficiency and save scorekeepers' sanity.

It's all good, and I'm glad for anyone who takes the time to organize an event, regardless of the scoring. It's a huge undertaking and deserves a big pile of thank you.

Just checked out Karl's software and have to say it looks amazing. It certainly seems like the best/easiest route to go as far as keeping things organized and not getting swamped. Jim and I will have plenty of time to familiarize with it so that we can do our best to run this smoothly.

Thanks Bowen for the heads up on the software. I have used some simpler spreadsheet formatting to achieve the same goal, but this will keep track of way more and let players view their status real time. Is this software available to the public?

Just got in touch with Karl and working on getting this set up. Excited about the possibilities! Thanks again Bowen.

Hey guys. I'd just like to personally thank you all for chiming in on this subject. I didn't even know Gabe posted this thread. I know he did this because he wants to see everyone happy.

All we really care about is everyone having a fantastically fun and exciting time with the tournaments. That why it's good to talk about things publically and get a feel for what others are thinking. This is going to be a huge event and I know Team Sanctum will nail this and which ever way the decide to go, it will be a hit!

Bowen, it's unfortunate that you can't make it next year. Of all the events for you to be at, it's your own home event. I'm sorry about the time clash, For the 2016 shows, we can talk about dates and make sure you can make that event. Although, I may have to tie one hand behind your back to even the playfield!

Anyway, we'll miss ya, but good luck at Extreme!

Thanks again everyone. This is YOUR tournament and we want it to be all that you want it to be.