(Topic ID: 282469)

When will IFPA-sanctioned pinball events return? Poll included.

By Russell

3 years ago


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  • 84 posts
  • 36 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 2 years ago by CrazyLevi
  • Topic is favorited by 2 Pinsiders

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    Topic poll

    “When will IFPA-sanctioned pinball events return? Poll included.”

    • January, 2021 2 votes
      1%
    • February, 2021 0 votes
    • March, 2021 0 votes
    • April, 2021 3 votes
      2%
    • May, 2021 8 votes
      5%
    • June, 2021 12 votes
      8%
    • July, 2021 15 votes
      10%
    • August, 2021 17 votes
      11%
    • September, 2021 19 votes
      13%
    • October, 2021 8 votes
      5%
    • November, 2021 4 votes
      3%
    • December, 2021 1 vote
      1%
    • 2022 or beyond 43 votes
      29%
    • Never 16 votes
      11%

    (148 votes)

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    There are 84 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.
    #1 3 years ago

    Let's see if we can predict when we will get back to tournament & league play.

    #2 3 years ago

    Vaccines won’t be available to the general public until at least April. So probably April or later.

    I miss league bad.

    #3 3 years ago

    I used to live in Providence, but there wasn't a pinball scene there at that time. Where do you generally play? Are there any big locations?

    #4 3 years ago

    I've got friends in the concert industry and they aren't optimistic for 2021.
    Airlines are talking about requiring proof of vaccination before you fly.
    If that kind of thing becomes the norm, then you really need to wonder how long it will take to vaccinate 8 billion people. Twice.

    Certainly, developed nations would get vaccine before undeveloped ones.
    Pence was out last week and bragging about how there have been 170 million tests performed since March.
    Not bagging on Pence but 7 months for 170 tests...
    How is the US going to give 330 million people TWO shots in anything less than a year or two?

    #5 3 years ago

    I could see requiring proof of vaccinations for all sorts of things, including pinball tournaments...?

    #6 3 years ago

    I am hopeful that after the most vulnerable portion of the US population is inoculated with one of the new vaccines, that life can return to normal. I wear a mask because it is required in public, but it is a real pain. It appears to me that we have 2 distinct sets of opinions on this issue in the US right now. Those that are terrified that they will catch a deadly virus and those that think the pandemic is a control mechanism from the government and the medical community. Seems like the requirement for masks is based on how many ICU beds are available in my area and that number is rather low at the moment. Perhaps the number of people requiring hospitalization will decrease to a point where business can return to normal after a vaccine is widely available. It can't come soon enough for me.

    #7 3 years ago

    Let’s not turn this into a pandemic thread, or they will shut it down. I really started this to see what people think about events, specifically. My event, Dory Hill, usually happens the weekend after Labor Day. I think it will be borderline whether it can happen next year.

    #8 3 years ago

    My guess would be fall so around September but it just depends on vaccine availability and covid numbers.

    #9 3 years ago

    from our "players" point of view, not having meetings/tournaments is really sad & hard
    personaly, last time i compete was right 1 year ago !

    impossible to know when this will came back to normal

    but OK, there're things more important in life

    #10 3 years ago

    We have been having big tournaments down here.

    But having no WPPRs is definitely a downer ...

    rd

    -4
    #11 3 years ago

    In Australia hopefully never.

    #12 3 years ago

    Sept 2021 might work, with a lot of "IFs" but I think a lot of people will be pretty gun shy by that time, especially if there are problems rolling out the vaccine or if the vaccine turns into an annual thing.
    The 1918 Flu was in three waves...three cold and flu seasons...it isn't the same thing but it is probably the best real-world model we have.

    I can also see lots of folks start to have some events in the Spring/Summer of 2021 simply because they are sick of being shut in and so forth. There would probably be a significant decline in infection rates during that time period like there was in the Spring/Summer of 2020.

    I know that I'd be more inclined to take a calculated risk at some kind of event when it is warm out, if people are doing temp checks, wearing masks and spaced away from each other and so forth.

    #13 3 years ago

    Dory Hill is an outdoor event, which helps. But, we don’t want to do it unless it is IFPA-sanctioned (ideally). My impression is, this won’t happen until all sorts of events can occur everywhere, worldwide. That’s a high bar.

    #14 3 years ago

    Why does it have to be ifpa sanctioned? What is stopping you from just playing pinball?

    #15 3 years ago

    I have changed my league to be 8-player groups. It’s a version of linear scoring, so everyone plays 8 machines 1 time and points are awarded based on placing for each machine. I had a 4-player finals when IFPA was running to satisfy that requirement, but don’t have that happening for now.

    IFPA is a global group, so if one area of the world is still locked down then I don’t think they would start back up. But, I don’t think there are any large areas with pinball that aren’t developed, so everyone would likely have access to the vaccine in a reasonable time.

    -2
    #16 3 years ago
    Quoted from Russell:

    Dory Hill is an outdoor event, which helps. But, we don’t want to do it unless it is IFPA-sanctioned (ideally). My impression is, this won’t happen until all sorts of events can occur everywhere, worldwide. That’s a high bar.

    These events won’t happen until they can be held in Chicago, so That’s your bar.

    Why would the IFPA overlords start sanctioning events when they can’t play in them? Simple as that.

    #17 3 years ago
    Quoted from Russell:

    I used to live in Providence, but there wasn't a pinball scene there at that time. Where do you generally play? Are there any big locations?

    There is FreePlay arcade- a barcade concept. There was 10 or 12 machines at Pizza J. And a collector in West Greenwich had a private club. Pizza J and the club are gone now.

    #18 3 years ago
    Quoted from CrazyLevi:

    Why would the IFPA overlords start sanctioning events when they can’t play in them? Simple as that.

    That’s a bit cynical. I think the IFPA people are just trying to recognize two things:

    They aren’t worldwide ranking points if you can only play in some parts of the world

    And they’re trying to keep people safe.

    #19 3 years ago
    Quoted from Richthofen:

    They aren’t worldwide ranking points if you can only play in some parts of the world

    This. IFPA requires events to be open to any participants. Covid restrictions in any area will prevent that from happening, so no sanctioning.

    #20 3 years ago
    Quoted from Richthofen:

    That’s a bit cynical. I think the IFPA people are just trying to recognize two things:
    They aren’t worldwide ranking points if you can only play in some parts of the world
    And they’re trying to keep people safe.

    It’s not cynical.

    Just ask them!

    #21 3 years ago

    Asking for snark? No thanks

    #22 3 years ago

    I've been wondering this as well. Especially as we did not get to play, the circuit finals out.

    #23 3 years ago

    Airlines, concerts, Tournaments and such need to realize that proof of vaccination does NOT equal proof of "safety". TDs are advised not to require such proof as their means of providing a "safe" event. Even if a vaccinated person is protected from severe symptoms by it, being vaccinated does not guarantee they can't spread the virus to others. We all may need to learn to play wearing masks even if one or more vaccines work. Small events may get green lighted in 2021, but I don't expect to see a TPF or EPC before 2022. I don't know what IFPA's size criteria is for the "on" switch. If some locales can hold 25-person events but not 100 or 250, while others can hold large ones, that's still unfair to the capped countries or states. I don't foresee a fair "on" switch until every location can host the maximum size event they've historically had.

    #24 3 years ago

    You know, the number of venues that survive the closures, restrictions and lockdowns will likely also have an impact.
    If a lot fo pinball related businesses tank, you have fewer places that could host a tournament.
    Not a deal breaker, for sure, but certainly a complication.

    #25 3 years ago
    Quoted from ss-pinball:

    You know, the number of venues that survive the closures, restrictions and lockdowns will likely also have an impact.
    If a lot fo pinball related businesses tank, you have fewer places that could host a tournament.
    Not a deal breaker, for sure, but certainly a complication.

    Would be nice if we see more people step up with locations and collections. If they really want to see ifpa pinball return some people are gonna have to think about how much they really want it and if they are willing to contribute.

    #26 3 years ago

    Levi is not being snarky(I know, I know, how is this possible?). He is talking facts. I am the IFPA state rep for Alabama. Josh Sharpe keeps a data base of all the states and also country's and the director of each votes yes/no for their area. Josh has always said that he will vote yes for Illinois when the local gathering restrictions are such that the majority of their previous tournaments would be allowed. I can't recall if that number is 50 or 100.

    When the majority of all states and countries vote yes, that is when IFPA events will resume.

    #27 3 years ago
    Quoted from LOTR_breath:

    Levi is not being snarky(I know, I know, how is this possible?). He is talking facts. I am the IFPA state rep for Alabama. Josh Sharpe keeps a data base of all the states and also country's and the director of each votes yes/no for their area. Josh has always said that he will vote yes for Illinois when the local gathering restrictions are such that the majority of their previous tournaments would be allowed. I can't recall if that number is 50 or 100.

    When the majority of all states and countries vote yes, that is when IFPA events will resume.

    Levi said that we won't have them until Josh can host events in Chicago. Then you said he's telling the truth, but then went on to describe a voting system based on a majority, where Josh is just one vote out of 40ish.

    Just want to clarify Josh's vote has exactly the same weight as yours @lotr_breath, and every other state rep. (Unless I'm misunderstanding something).

    #28 3 years ago

    Josh can vote that IL is ready for tournaments, but if other states have significant lockdowns, I don't think they'll be able to sanction anything as a whole without violating the open-access rule.

    Based on past actions, it may be that IL is one of the last states to lift restrictions.

    #29 3 years ago

    My guess is Nov., but I voted Oct.
    The IFPA World Championship Will hopefully be in Nov., and I suspect there will be effort to get sanctioning up before that, or sooner.
    You can head over to Tilt Forums and probably get a response from The Man himself...
    It’s all still a guess though, even for him.

    #30 3 years ago
    Quoted from metallik:This. IFPA requires events to be open to any participants. Covid restrictions in any area will prevent that from happening, so no sanctioning.

    This is the correct answer.

    #31 3 years ago
    Quoted from CrazyLevi:

    Why would the IFPA overlords start sanctioning events when they can’t play in them? Simple as that.

    All it will take is approximately 60-70% of SCS reps to vote yes. I think it’s currently around 20%

    #32 3 years ago

    Ryan, I guess I did kinda contradict myself. My point is that even with a system in place, I don't think IFPA will seriously consider sanctioning events until they can be held in Illinois. On the flip side, I think eventually IFPA events WILL be held even if they cannot be held 100% in all areas of the world.

    #33 3 years ago

    While I'm analyzing things globally with the amazing help from our volunteer reps from all over the globe, my vote is strictly for Illinois as the IFPA State Rep here (and the only metrics I'm actually following close enough to comment on).

    When we hit Phase 4 is when I voted "YES". I looked at what the Phase 4 rules were, which allowed for gatherings of 50 or fewer people to occur with certain social distancing guidelines in place.

    I then pulled up all the sanctioned events within Illinois from the 2019 season and saw that 93% of our sanctioned events had 50 or fewer players. To me that was a reasonable amount of events that COULD take place based on the guidelines that we were in.

    Illinois has now reverted back to Phase 3, so we're back to being a "NO".

    That's me analyzing ONE STATE. Our army of volunteers go through their process and based on some pro rata metrics (think House of Representatives style), we come up with a percentage of the world that has indicated to me that sanctioned events are okay to occur based on existing guidelines.

    We plan on only considering reopening once we have a majority in favor, and we're currently at some crazy not even close number (I think ~19%).

    Perhaps once Illinois hits Phase 4 again I'll change the rules to Levi's approach ... If Zach and I can play that's all we need!

    -2
    #34 3 years ago

    We've been back to public social pinball meets around these parts since July. The cold went through here, seems plenty had it.

    Countries should be making their own call based on individual situation, but anyway, meh. Some regions could be afflicted for years yet depending on demographic, actions, and health. "International" does not mean the structure couldn't have been carried on for open countries individually, and stopping the "championship" at any national level.

    It's a bit silly to hold back entire countries that are open, just because other countries still decide to not have official tournaments.

    I went with never. We'll just continue with doing our own thing here without sanctioning, which is fine anyway really.

    #35 3 years ago
    Quoted from razorsedge:

    It's a bit silly to hold back entire countries that are open, just because other countries still decide to not have official tournaments.

    That's interesting because Australia is still a "no" vote on our spreadsheet from the Australian Country Director.

    Australia alone has a 24% impact on the international vote to reopen, roughly 7% impact on the global vote to reopen.

    We feel comfortable in our process, knowing at some point there will still be areas of the world where sanctioned events won't be happening once we reopen.

    #36 3 years ago
    Quoted from razorsedge:

    It's a bit silly to hold back entire countries that are open, just because other countries still decide to not have official tournaments

    Currently tournament organisers don't have the ability to 'decide' whether or not they can run a comp in the UK, or the majority of other European countries without breaking the law - simple as that.

    Maybe people need reminding what the 'I' stands for in IFPA?

    IF (and I have no reason to believe this will happen) IFPA were to start sanctioning events and issuing WPPRs before close to 100% of people could attend AND travel to, I for one would never host/organise a sanctioned event again.

    #37 3 years ago
    Quoted from WJxxxx:

    ...
    IF (and I have no reason to believe this will happen) IFPA where to start sanctioning events and issuing WPPRs before close to 100% of people could attend AND travel to, I for one would never host/organise a sanctioned event again.

    I think people will just move on, with or without, doesn't matter... most are in it for Pinball, not for points.

    #38 3 years ago
    Quoted from razorsedge:

    I think people will just move on, with or without, doesn't matter... most are in it for Pinball, not for points.

    I agree, I certainly miss the social aspect far more than the WPPRs, but reading on here not everybody feels the same way.
    I don't understand the clamour to get WPPRs and sanctioned events so quickly?

    #39 3 years ago
    Quoted from WJxxxx:

    I agree, I certainly miss the social aspect far more than the WPPRs, but reading on here not everybody feels the same way.
    I don't understand the clamour to get WPPRs and sanctioned events so quickly?

    Remembering the people whom don't care about "sanctioning" or "wpprs" usually wouldn't even visit this sort of thread. They are the vast majority in the pinball world as well, but the slim minority in here.

    12
    #40 3 years ago
    Quoted from WJxxxx:

    IF (and I have no reason to believe this will happen) IFPA were to start sanctioning events and issuing WPPRs before close to 100% of people could attend AND travel to, I for one would never host/organise a sanctioned event again.

    We have received emails on both ends of the spectrum. We already have organizers refusing to run IFPA sanctioned events in the future because we aren't already re-open, and we have people like yourself that will refuse to run IFPA sanctioned events if we aren't waiting for the whole world to be able to do so.

    Like most things we do, we are definitely going to piss off some cross section of organizers with whatever decision we make, and that's something we've learned to live with over the years.

    #41 3 years ago
    Quoted from ifpapinball:

    We have received emails on both ends of the spectrum. We already have organizers refusing to run IFPA sanctioned events in the future because we aren't already re-open, and we have people like yourself that will refuse to run IFPA sanctioned events if we aren't waiting for the whole world to be able to do so.
    Like most things we do, we definitely going to piss off some cross section of organizers with whatever decision we make, and that's something we've learned to live with over the years.

    Take your time!

    I'm enjoying not beefing in tournaments.

    #42 3 years ago
    Quoted from CrazyLevi:

    I'm enjoying not beefing in tournaments.

    Wait a minute, I thought NEVERBEEF productions was a thing? Are you telling me it’s really Sometimesbeef?

    #43 3 years ago
    neverbeef (resized).jpgneverbeef (resized).jpg
    #44 3 years ago
    Quoted from YeOldPinPlayer:

    Wait a minute, I thought NEVERBEEF productions was a thing? Are you telling me it’s really Sometimesbeef?

    Shit. Brand damaged!

    As if our venue turning into a homeless shelter and our games supplier going tits up wasn't bad enough.

    #45 3 years ago

    Beyond Beef? Hey, weird coincidence, the COO of Beyond Meat is named ... Sanjay Shah!

    #46 3 years ago
    Quoted from bobmathuse:

    Beyond Beef? Hey, weird coincidence, the COO of Beyond Meat is named ... Sanjay Shah!

    Is that so?

    I had no fuckin' idea! He's a never beef guy for sure.

    5 months later
    -5
    #47 2 years ago

    It’s time, if your scared stay home, time to sack it up and pull the trigger based on CDC recommendations today IFPA dude, [removed].

    Anyone tried to create a competing world ranking site?

    #48 2 years ago
    Quoted from bcrice2446:

    It’s time, if your scared stay home, time to sack it up and pull the trigger based on CDC recommendations today IFPA dude, [removed].
    Anyone tried to create a competing world ranking site?

    Yes, people have tried and they’ve been awful. Hobby isn’t big enough for two governing bodies.

    And it’s not “scared”. Plenty of IFPA sanctioned competitors are under 12 and cannot be vaccinated. Plenty of IFPA competitors cannot be vaccinated due to medical issues or other pre existing conditions. The IFPA won’t open until more people can be vaccinated. USA has great vaccine numbers but in Canada the two shots are spaced 4 months apart due to availability. It’s a world ranking system not a US only thing.

    3 weeks later
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