Why did you make an account here specifically to post this? Who are you trying to reach?
Using your first post on the forum to call something a “load of shit”, especially when it’s operating within the rules, is a pretty lousy way to start out. That’s not really how things run here.
Do you envision pre-sale access to be available in the future?
At least one of our leagues here in the FSPA offers what amounts to free Pinburgh registration at the appropriate time of year, by refunding the winning player’s money out of the league coffers once that player secures a spot. It’s a popular prize pick and is always selected. I could see us being interested in securing that spot outright via one of these promotions.
I joined the waitlist last year and started at around 250. Came to about 200 before the waitlist really started picking up.
I finished at around 27 or so on the list by the time the tournament started, and it ended up being too close to call that I just bailed on Pinburgh. (Would have made it in, too; heard it went as far as 80 people the day of.) This year I want to get in with confidence, not like how it ended up last year.
We’re considering the idea of using these types of opportunities to help other leagues, locations, etc leverage Pinburgh’s popularity to benefit themselves and pinball as a whole. Full details will be announced when / if it becomes an annual opportunity. Nothing is set in stone right now, but best practices on how to move forward are being discussed and weighed against the inevitable blowback.
Either way, as Doug says, it will at most be a very small percentage of overall tickets and will be announced publicly well in advance of 2019 dates. One of the problems we’ve begun to face is the annual slew of people who run promotions without our consent, followed by the panicked requests from organizers who realize they’ve awarded a prize they cannot produce. This situation isn’t good for anyone, so we’re looking into a more established and transparent system for this aspect of the tournament / show.
There were a few people sent invitations this afternoon, so the waitlist is currently up to date. It’s not moving very much this year, which is both good and bad, I suppose, depending on your perspective.