It really isn’t a problem warranting any serious thought, just one of those “if I could have it all” things. I personally had more issues with groups huddling over machines writing down scores while I was playing next to them.
I did actually talk about this with some group members during one round as the topic came up, and the suggestion made was to close off the front even more (make a chokepoint) and use the souvenir badges as a pass to get into the tournament area. That would require someone to staff the chokepoint though, and it deters spectators, so not entirely viable.
16k unique visitors over four days sounds actually quite low to me. You of course won’t see all 16k people in the event at any one time though.
I help organise the pinball side of an event very similar to Replay FX in the UK, and over two days we get much more visitors than that (double actually)
World champ of pinball fashion checking in. No I was not in finals I was the hype man for a good friend in the tournament. Before the round started I asked if it was ok for me to be there. I did my best to stay out of the way and be respectful. If anyone asked me to leave I would of gladly left no problem. My intention was for pure morale support not for anything else.
@pinwizj Thanks I’m glad to hear that! I’m all for moral support. Sometimes you need that refocus to shake a state of mind. If it was crowded I would have never asked. I want everyone to play at the highest competitive level. Why else would I dress so nice?
