Or all tie-breaks resolved via Doodlebug!!!
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Oh yeah, the flip for Steve and Karlâs tiebreaker went left (Family Guy bank), left (Family Guy or Doodle Bug), left (Family Guy). I was sad.
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Ah I missed that bit, good to hear!
Twitch is evil. If possible, it would be great if the broadcast recording is being pushed to YouTube the minute it is concluded.
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If the different units that made the stage, could hold just one game each, and could have a half an inch of free space around it, other games and players would not suffer if a player next to them nudged his game.
I didnât have to compete on the games on the stage, but as a spectator during the A-division final, it was obvious that the stage was a little bit wobbly.
I have nothing to complain about, the games were good, enought space, the other players fun to compete with, and a lot of fun stuff beside the tournament.
And a huge, Thank You Guys!, for all the hard work, during the tournament, after the tournament, and not least, months and months of hard work before the tournament. I know how much work there is putting together a big tournament, and this huge one must be at least 5 times worse.
So again, a big THANK YOU GUYS for all the hard work that you all put in!!!
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Why is Twitch evil? I enjoy watching the stream on there, even after the fact, because it will still show you the chat replay at the same time â but only on a computer⌠Not on a mobile device yet. 
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True about the chat. Did not think about that.
However. YouTube is superior on user interface, picture quality and stability. With less advertising too. The logical choice for archiving. And PAPAs choice too. So my point is, that it would be a great thing if a broadcast was shipped off right away once done.
I was tuning in on Pinburgh finals the next morning/mid day my time, which was about 4-6 AM Pittsburgh. Lots of drop outs on Twitch as well as several complete lock up of the player requiring a relaunch of the browser.
Congrats on a great event.
Chairs and layout were much better this year. I liked that the finals had there own area for all divisions this year. The seating for A finals were vastly improved which I think showed in the number of people that stayed to watch.
I would say in the stage or no stage debate with the improved seating I donât think the stage is really needed as either way all you can do is look at the players back. The bigger difference can be made in video display and broadcast feed. For those watching to stay invested they need to be able to see and hear what is going on. Having a large monitor or multiple larger monitors and speakers set up to broadcast the commentators is the direction to go. It was great getting to watch but there was a large amount of not being able to see and know exactly what was happening on each game and know the scores and standings.
Seating and layout - there were better options this year. I enjoyed the couches, and the neon signs in the middle of the rows helped a bunch with navigation. I still felt the middle rows were to crowded and had no where to sit. If you removed the tables from the sides and stretched the space between rows I think it would be better, The round tables could be moved to before and after the banks. It would be nice to see some chairs in the rows, I imagine short lines of chairs alternating side to side 5 or 6 in a row then a break for 3 or 4 chairs worth then another set of 5 or 6 chairs. Think these would get better use then the round tables on the outside of the banks.
I didnât have any problems with the bathrooms, but maybe that was because Iâm not a guy. I noticed that the larger set of bathrooms was at the far side of the hall (nearer to the Pinburgh backup banks than to the main floor), so that might be something to consider for layout and signage later.
I also didnât have any trouble finding water fountains; but again, Iâve been here before (and strongly avoid buying bottled water), so YMMV. If you see me drinking out of my water bottle feel free to ask where I filled it.
The stage was good for layout purposes; I agree that the sections with games should be more sturdy. It was better than it might have been - I noticed that the sections where people were walking werenât physically connected to the sections under games, so crossing the stage didnât transfer motion to the games as much as it might have. On the other hand, playing multiple games at the same time on the same stage section could cause interference.
One new suggestion - it was still too easy for random people to walk in and start playing the backup games. Could we use floor tape or something to indicate that youâre entering a tournament-only area? The pipe and drape was pretty clear but it was only around the front of the Pinburgh area. We could also tape off the tech couches to keep out the rif-raff 
Another idea is to have a badge sticker for Pinburgh players so we know who belongs there - not that most people always wear their badges (and some players had day passes and no badges). But it would also be kind of a conversation starter.
Also, for the PA issues, it might be nice to have some sort of visible signal that you should gather for announcements or photos or whatever. Like the Bat Signal.
The other snag I saw was that I wasnât sure whether I needed to check in the first day or what. We need to have clearer instructions about when you need to check in (a friend of mine turned up to play at 10, not knowing that he could be scratched after 9:30 - which he wasnât, butâŚ) Still not sure why I didnât need to, was it because I picked up my packet the night before?
Biggest issue: OMG BEER! Huge fail on the part of the convention center. (As I understand it, the venue decides where and when to sell, not the Replay staff.) I wrapped my last Pinburgh round on Friday and there was nothing available to buy on the floor. The next night, I asked the guys at the beer stand how long theyâd be open (at about 10:00) and they said they didnât know, they were supposed to close at 8⌠Please, more beer. Seriously.
Overall the tournament was a big improvement over last year. No glare and not crowded! I saw very few machine issues. Never seen a tournament over a hundred run that smoothly. Great job, guys.
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Our Twitch videos arenât immediately posted to YouTube because they have to be re-encoded for YouTube, and the process is time expensive. Mark does try to get to them in a timely fashion, and we can certainly see if the landscape for dual Twitch and YouTube streaming has changed much lately.
Iâm currently pricing out bouncers to stand at the Pinburgh entrance to keep out the riff raff.
Yes, picking up your badge the night before checked you in for Pinburgh. Iâm not sure how we could have been clearer about the 9:30 cut off. It was relayed via email and social media multiple, multiple times. We are more than open to suggestions on the matter.
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Thanks, Elizabeth, for all the hard work you put into Pinburgh, Replay, and PAPA! Much appreciated.
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I had an apocalyptic vision of pinball armageddon when I saw one of the dudes on stilts walking into the tourney area in the middle of a round before he was quickly stopped.
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I did have a small issue where I picked up my prepaid entry on Thursday morning. I was told at the Pinburgh registration desk that I was automatically checked into Pinburgh when I signed in. Decided to hang around the stage and I was one of the 30 or so names Bowen read off that were still needing to check in. Not a big deal, but just a heads up to the issue.
Thanks. Weâre going to work on that process for 2017 to streamline it and be as certain as possible of having the right players in the tournament field before it starts (and attempt to start on time!).
As a pinburg.com/live observer as well as watching finals on twitch, one thing I wished for would be a longer twitch stream. I understand requirements that go into that, as somebody has to man it, you need some people to fill the dead air, etc, but I would love to see broadcasts of qualifying play as well as more of the finals. As it was, a 3 day event was only shown for 3 (or so) hours, which was a bit disappointing.
I was there, but chose not to watch the finals because I knew I could watch it later on Twitch. I too was disappointed in the short amount of coverage. But Iâm pretty sure they intended to broadcast much more. There was a power outage on the stage at some point and I believe some other technical difficulties that hindered their efforts.
What does such coverage look like, and who does it? Everyone is playing, teching, or TDâing. Such a broadcast would need at least 3 people (producer + commentators) dedicated to just doing that instead of playing in the tournament.
I agree that a full 3-day broadcast would be outstanding and would love for it to happen. But it would be difficult to pull this off without heavy volunteerism.
Looking at the most recent California Extreme, the coverage was pretty good. I actually quite enjoyed hearing the commentary of the players that would jump in between rounds or even between balls to talk about whats being streamed, or their games. Yes there was some dead air, but thats fine - happy to just watch the games, or get up and do something else while nothing is going on.
But youâre right, it is quite hard logistically.
My comment wasnât meant as a criticism, but more of a +1 to âhey, not sure if anyone finds any value in streams, or missed having earlier rounds streamedâ.