Match Play Events: The Next Generation

Just a thought from someone who is currently a “Pro” account. I would pay more to see other people’s individual machine stats as well (especially with States right around the corner).

Edit: I mean specifically other’s arena stats.

I don’t want to get into a situation where someone can pay me money to see what machines any random person is bad at playing. It just feels wrong. So you can only see your own.

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Would be interesting to see just machine scoring data for those that record scores to help with pingolf targets for certain machines.

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My understanding is that one’s IFPA name need not necessarily be a legal name. This came up in our local community as well; we’ve had at least a couple of players use obvious aliases.

[quote=“reclaimarcade, post:698, topic:6921, full:true”]
I can certainly mention the option, but it does put me in a tricky situation where it appears I’m shifting the burden of responsibility.[/quote]

Privacy is ultimately always the responsibility of the individual who feels they need to maintain whatever level of it. As a TD I would mention the IFPA and MP records are public and offer to sign the player in under an alias instead if there’s a concern. For 90%+ percent of players though, it seems playing under one’s real name is just fine.

As someone who has been stalked and has known others who have been stalked, there is an element of safety in play. Luckily I’ve never felt this way in pinball, but it happens, and it’s good for people to know they can adjust their visibility.

Gene’s tip that we can make our own name whatever we want it to be - clutch :slight_smile: I’ll be sharing that with other players. And good to know you can essentially be anon in the IFPA systems too.

There are enough players who don’t want to have to self-isolate every time a tournament or stream happens, valid and necessary concern for some. The live aspect of matchplay turns up the anxiety notch a couple spins when you’re concerned someone is trying to locate you in the moment. Sure, they can go check up on your usual hangouts, but nice to feel like you aren’t broadcasting your live location. It’s a concern for some parents also, not wanting their kids’ live wherabouts to be available online.
I’m glad this question was asked.

Also thanks again haugstrup, on the excellent software and the improvements you’ve been implementing. Feels like something that just keeps getting better and better (such a difference from a lot of other software platforms I have to interact with on a regular basis). Congrats.

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What if Matchplay could use any name during the event and add the IFPA number later? That would at least remove the ability for a stalker to know your location for the duration of the event.

You can just have a different name in matchplay. eg I’m Benjamin Harris on IFPA, but Ben Harris on matchplay. When you submit to IFPA it only matches on the number.

If you don’t want your stalker to know you’re attending the event you might use a different Matchplay name every time.

I think the only drawback would be you would not have your match highlighted in the list (since you would not use a Matchplay account during the event). If the TD could add your IFPA number after the event then your Matchplay stats could still be maintained.

this is an option, plus the TD can post-hoc merge the pseudonyms into the main one that has the IFPA number saved

We have some experienced players without an IFPA # in their Matchplay record and when we cut/paste the results from MP to IFPA, we only send the names, which works fine - IFPA must use their name to xref their #.

Does IFPA use the # if it exists (meaning you could have any name in MP as long as you had the right #) and use the name to match only when the # isn’t included?

If your IFPA results are missing the player ID the IFPA submission form does its best to search for a similar name and propose their number as a match. It works well unless it’s a common name.

Somewhat related, I find the process of getting player IDs into match play events do be quite finicky.

If the player does not have an IFPA ID on their account, then when the organizer sets the IFPA ID for that player it breaks the link to the person’s match play account.

So instead you have to first ask the player to go to their account settings and set their own IFPA ID there. After that the organizer can set it on that player and they’ll stay in sync.

@haugstrup Is there a trick I’m missing in that workflow?

Nope, you have it right. The player needs to add their IFPA number to their account. Doesn’t matter if it happens first or last though. As long as it happens.

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It’s an important conversation to have. Like it’s been mentioned in the thread I also recommend playing under an alias to anyone that have stricter privacy concerns.

If you’re just starting out, you can pick any name. If you’ve been playing for a while and are at risk please contact me and we’ll get your name updated quickly. I do regularly for players who have, for example, changed their name due to gender transitions. It’s a manual process that does take some time so it’s not something I do when “Benjamin” wants to be “Ben” everywhere (in that cases, ask your TD to update your name).

As always, please get in touch if you feel using Match Play puts your health and safety at risk. We’ll work something out that won’t require TDs to jump through hoops. Thankfully, this hasn’t come up (that I know of, at least) in the past 9 years of Match Play, but I’ll work with you if you’re affected.

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Wait… I’ve been adding IFPA numbers to my players for over a year. Many many times. I’ve never heard of any issues, so I’m not sure what it’s “breaking”. Should I not be doing this?

when you do this and the player isn’t claimed, it’s possible for them to find themselves upon creating an account and putting their IFPA number in. should be fine.

You should absolutely be adding IFPA numbers to your players. If a player complains then show them how to add their IFPA number to their user account:

  1. Open account settings: Match Play Events
  2. Scroll down to the “Linked accounts” section
  3. Click the button to add an IFPA number

I think it’s generally less of a problem these days because the user signup flow now asks people to add their IFPA number when they create a user account

1 Like


I’m trying to look at opponent stats, but the tab is empty. is this a bug or has this feature not been built yet? on a patron plan.

url: Match Play Events

You can only view “Opponents” stats for the user account you’re logged in as and the user account you’re logged in as must have at least a Pro subscription (the lowest level at $30/yr).

I’m guessing you’re logged in as a different account than “Phil Grimaldi” because that user account doesn’t have a subscription?

ohhh i see. I only pulled up my page as an example so i wasn’t taking a screenshot of someone else names. I’m not actually interested in looking at my stats.