We’ve made the decision not to change the format of the biigest and longest running comp in the UK - the UK League. Despite the winner having to play, on average, over 40 games; over 250 players entering it won’t be worth a single WPPR for the vast majority now, and virtually nothing for the finalists - such a shame, but its not all about WPPRs.
If people chose a format that their players liked, and stuck to it, there wouldn’t be the constant arms race between the IFPA and TDs trying to find loop holes to max out pts.
Sorry ignore my previous post - It’s a regional league which runs different formats to qualify (!) - in the london league we play 20 games that count - 4/6 meetings (4 balls!) for qualifying best game format; but other regions play more/less and then there are finals for the top with qualifiers of each league region both A and B. The qualifying positions are aligned to the region’s size.
The finals are best game across 6 games with top 6 qualifying and a single game played semi and final. (www.pinballleague.Uk)
The issue I guess one issue is that (from memory) the number of players who attend each league meeting is widely variable and you can’t count folks who just turned up once (which in my view is 100% correct).
If I was to win the UK league I’d have played 28 games (plus ten not counting because of 4/6). Finals games selected by the winners of each league region and then pre-selected ahead of the event for the semi and final.
So the issue here is what? Everything you’ve brought up sounds right.
The biggest point, that hasn’t been mentioned, and has been in place since v5.7 is… you can no longer aggregate all those players (for # of players in the league) in a multi-site league that has finalists from each site play in one unified grand finals. That already got nerfed. Sadly.
You can still run that type of league, but have to count each site’s qualifying play as its own event, and the grand finals as its own event (like a series/circuit final).
“Any tournaments or leagues already sanctioned for play with a starting date in January 2022 will be grandfathered in under the old rules. Any tournaments or leagues that begin play in February 2022 will have to follow these new requirements.”
Events get calculated based on the formula in place at the end date, however we don’t “unsanction” events that were already sanctioned based on the rules that were in place when the event started.
So if you scheduled it in that period before Feb, your league with 4 weeks count 2 would be sanctioned because that was fine under 5.6.
But would the players need to attend 2 sessions or 1 session to be included? I guess what isn’t clear to me is whether the player eligibility clauses are part of “Sanctioning” or the WPPR formula? I am assuming sanctioning, but I am not sure.
If we made a change to TGP rules where every game played got 2% instead of 4%, that would be something that would be under the ‘new rules’ for this example.
Got it, so it is really things decided when submitting the results (inputs to what you make Shep implement) vs things in calculation used in the rebuild.
I’m a little confused. Does the “elimination” refer to the qualifying portion needs to eliminate players to get to the finals (10% to 50%), or does the finals format itself need to be several rounds where players are eliminated along the way?
To give a concrete example, I was considering a format where 6 players make the finals after 6 weeks of league play (4-player group match play each week for league qualifying). The finals would be 5 rounds of 3-player group match play where the pairings would have each finalist play each other finalist in 2 of their 5 games (10 opponents over 5 rounds). All 6 players would play 5 games each. This strikes a balance between the qualifying being meaningful and the finals favoring skill over luck while still fitting into the time restrictions of the venue.
Would this type of finals qualify for the 100+% TGP?
All of the previous qualifying rules still apply, so that portion of the event needs to eliminated at least 50% of the players (or that activity doesn’t count as meaningful for TGP). It also needs to advance at least 10% of players to finals if the qualifying format was Indirect Play.
I expanded on the “elimination format” to make it clearer by adding this sentence - “This elimination format must include a round where a maximum of 4 players remain.”
In your example, you would need one additional round where the top 2, 3, or 4 players from that finals example face off directly against one another to determine the winner.
and tie breakers don’t count as around? and you have more then 4 players in that last round? say 6 people tie and they just have all 6 play one last game?
The tournament format I’ve been hosting has ended with multi-matchplay; of the 4 player game variety, not recording scores for a bunch of single player games. Realize some see this change as more of a feature and ensuring quality, however I also want to respect the time of my players both local and traveling and give them the best I can come up with for a single day event.
For reference:
7 single game matchplay rounds qualifying
3 three game matchplay rounds finals with two from each group eliminated
good for 29 to 32 MGP in 5.7
average of 5.5 hours
Likely change if palatable to my players:
10 rounds up from 7
3 four game rounds finals (at 1x)
good for 30 to 32 MGP in 5.8
estimate it to be 7.5 hours+
These are assuming 24+ players. I’d be interested to get critique on this or hear alternative format to fit my goal.
7 Match Play Rounds : 7x2 = 14
Top 8 playoff, 3 Machine : 2 (3x2) = 12
Total 26 (regular play)
Takes normally 4 hours to play with anywhere from 30 - 55 players a night.
Our players don’t like going over 4 hours so be interesting if your players will accept a 7.5 hour tournament I am always quality over quantity for IFPA points need to be balanced in the approach so you can continue to grow your base.
i am running monthly 5x group matchplay qualifier into top 8 multimathcplay finals (4 games in parallel). I will not be changing my format and happy with the 72%.
I want the time to be reasonable but i also like that everyone has 4 games in finals round to get a chance to qualify to the next round.
But your games are brutal, LOL. If we ran this exact same format, even alternating rounds classic/modern. With classic going first it would be 4 classic rounds and 3 modern rounds. I still think it would take us 5 hours 20 minutes minimum to run this format.
I appreciate the feedback. Building up the player base is a major goal. For the most part though people are willing to stretch if they make the finals.
That’s an impressive time for that many games. Typically for 6 total games for finals that could take up to 3 hours if we ran it that way. Maybe our games are too easy for the skill of our tournament players, but the games are on location at a bar and need to be approachable to casual players as well.
26 (regular play)