Tournament!!!

[smbhax]

I kind of want all extra balls removed AND you only get one shot at a table, like this is finals rather than just qualifying. : P I mean, really, because the way it is now, they're basically saying "if you want to have a good placing, play these tables nonstop until the end date." Man I had other stuff I had planned to do before the 6th. : P

Can't complain really I guess since I'm currently number #2 on Gorgar ("Neopaleface"), more than doubled my leaderboard high score. Shock! : O

Squid: Nooo, persevere! Or at least, just get enough to get the #1 spot, then drain your balls. Wait that sounds gross.

 

[Kaoru]

You're lucky to have finished a round of Ripley. I've tried 3 times already and I keep on gettin' the damn lost ball. I think i'm gonna sit this one out.

Yeah, really lucky. Sometimes one ball would go astray game after game after game. And then there are times in which nothing of that sort is going to happen. Luckily that mentioned game above was in that latter block.

I kind of want all extra balls removed AND you only get one shot at a table, like this is finals rather than just qualifying. : P

But I thought that one already has this one shot? Because the "Points sent out!" only popped up one time, and that was after the first play of each table. And after that I never saw it again...

 

[Squid]

Alright! If I'm gonna persevere, I'll need more beer.
(Ugh! Once a Marine, always a Marine.)

I also agree on the idea of one shot at a table with no extra balls.

 

[Kaoru]

Curiously enough, Black Hole didn't spit out any extra balls for me! I collected specials and whatnot... but nothing increased on the ball front. Or it did and I was just too stupid to notice.

And now I know why the "Points sent out!" notice only popped up once for me. It only comes when you broke your personal highscore within the tournament.

Due to this tournament I find myself playing tables that I haven't really looked into for a longer while. And with having to play them again I remember why I left them alone for so long. TOTAN is just drainy bastard... and I still don't find it particularly fun. And I actually really like TOM! However, it kinda bothers me that it's apparently easier to go into multiball mode than starting a magic trick. It just feels a bit unbalanced in that regard...

 

[JPelter]

Curiously enough, Black Hole didn't spit out any extra balls for me! I collected specials and whatnot... but nothing increased on the ball front. Or it did and I was just too stupid to notice.

And now I know why the "Points sent out!" notice only popped up once for me. It only comes when you broke your personal highscore within the tournament.

Due to this tournament I find myself playing tables that I haven't really looked into for a longer while. And with having to play them again I remember why I left them alone for so long. TOTAN is just drainy bastard... and I still don't find it particularly fun. And I actually really like TOM! However, it kinda bothers me that it's apparently easier to go into multiball mode than starting a magic trick. It just feels a bit unbalanced in that regard...

TotAN is kind of unique among the tables in TPA in that it is almost impossible to get full control on no matter how hard you practice. Almost every important shot on the table has a return that is either totally random or lethal. I kind of hated it for a long time for that reason, but it does force you to practice your on-the-fly and reflex play, and I think it has a deserved spot in the lineup for that reason. That is not to say that nudging and normal ball control isn't important, just that very often it won't be enough.

 

[Kaoru]

Well, I feel pretty much the same about the Star Trek TNG-table, so that kind of gameplay isn't all that unique, at least to me. But then again I never played TNG not even half as much as I ever did with TOTAN, so I think I just never went far enough with that when it comes to even attempting practising.

 

[smbhax]

I was kind of surprised they included TotAN with its exploitable glitches (that were in the actual physical table I mean), and even Gorgar which is basically just grinding the saucer... But I guess while they aren't great for really high-end scoring competition, they do all right for most of us non-pros; and also they probably picked the tables most people have.

Hopefully the UI overhaul they've been talking about will make the tournament stuff clearer. Like, they really need something obvious on the game's main menu to show there's a tournament underway, because how many players don't check here or the Facebook page and are just playing normal play, with no idea there's a tournament going? And that front text screen in tournament mode should at least explain the basics, ie that you can play each table as many times as you like up to the end date, that a table will show your existing leaderboard score until you register a tournament score, that such and such tables have extra ball disabled, etc. And there should probably be some kind of indicator on tables in the table menu as to whether you've played them or not--and it would be nice if your tournament point (0-100) score was clearly visible next to each one.

 

[JPelter]

I was kind of surprised they included TotAN with its exploitable glitches (that were in the actual physical table I mean), and even Gorgar which is basically just grinding the saucer... But I guess while they aren't great for really high-end scoring competition, they do all right for most of us non-pros; and also they probably picked the tables most people have.

Hopefully the UI overhaul they've been talking about will make the tournament stuff clearer. Like, they really need something obvious on the game's main menu to show there's a tournament underway, because how many players don't check here or the Facebook page and are just playing normal play, with no idea there's a tournament going? And that front text screen in tournament mode should at least explain the basics, ie that you can play each table as many times as you like up to the end date, that a table will show your existing leaderboard score until you register a tournament score, that such and such tables have extra ball disabled, etc. And there should probably be some kind of indicator on tables in the table menu as to whether you've played them or not--and it would be nice if your tournament point (0-100) score was clearly visible next to each one.

I don't see any exploity caliber TotAN scores in the tournament leaderboard so far. Are you sure it's in the ROM version TPA uses? I can't recall what the exploit is, but it doesn't seem like people are doing it so far.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

2 #1's and 2 #2's so far
TOUGE_KILLER

 

[Tann]

Because the "Points sent out!" only popped up one time, and that was after the first play of each table. And after that I never saw it again...

And now I know why the "Points sent out!" notice only popped up once for me. It only comes when you broke your personal highscore within the tournament.

I have the "Points sent out" screen after each game, highscore broken or not.

Hopefully the UI overhaul they've been talking about will make the tournament stuff clearer. Like, they really need something obvious on the game's main menu to show there's a tournament underway, because how many players don't check here or the Facebook page and are just playing normal play, with no idea there's a tournament going? And that front text screen in tournament mode should at least explain the basics, ie that you can play each table as many times as you like up to the end date, that a table will show your existing leaderboard score until you register a tournament score, that such and such tables have extra ball disabled, etc. And there should probably be some kind of indicator on tables in the table menu as to whether you've played them or not--and it would be nice if your tournament point (0-100) score was clearly visible next to each one.

Yeah, same opinion here. And a little more:

- Add a friend filter in the tournament leaderboards
- And in the tournament rules, inform the player that:

• In case of a new personnal highscore, local highscore and "all-time" leaderboards will not be updated (even if you can enter your initials at the end of a game... )
• Standard/wizard goals are not granted.

So, this tournament is a dilemma: without wanting it, I beat my highscores on ToTAN ( ~450M -previously ~150M) and MM (~ 500M -previously ~350M), and have a good ranking (so far) for theses tables (5th). But at the end of the tournament, these scores will... vanished.

In my opinion, a singly try on each table would make more sense.

 

[Paul Petrissans]

So this tournament simply counts each users personal score per table, or what?

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

I also agree on the idea of one shot at a table with no extra balls.

I agree with the no extra balls, but not with the idea of one shot only. It essentially replaces skill with luck at that point - pinball is an extremely volatile game in terms of scoring; even world-class players can have abysmal games on occasion.

I'd still like to see something like the PAPA qualifying format, where each "attempt" is a round of eight games, one on each tournament table. You can have as many attempts as you like. However, after each attempt, you must either accept all of the scores from that attempt (replacing all previous results regardless of whether each individual table score is better or worse than on any previous attempts), or you must discard all of them.

This would reward consistently good play, rather than letting people grind out Table A until they have a good game, then repeat with Table B, etc.

 

[smbhax]

I don't see any exploity caliber TotAN scores in the tournament leaderboard so far. Are you sure it's in the ROM version TPA uses? I can't recall what the exploit is, but it doesn't seem like people are doing it so far.

According to the "Tactics and Strategies" thread in the TotAN board here, it is still present. There are other glitches I've seen people refer to without describing them in any particular way; one real problem with normal tournament play though is that a good player can just keep Genie Battle going more or less indefinitely.

 

[smbhax]

I agree with the no extra balls, but not with the idea of one shot only. It essentially replaces skill with luck at that point - pinball is an extremely volatile game in terms of scoring; even world-class players can have abysmal games on occasion.

I'd still like to see something like the PAPA qualifying format, where each "attempt" is a round of eight games, one on each tournament table. You can have as many attempts as you like. However, after each attempt, you must either accept all of the scores from that attempt (replacing all previous results regardless of whether each individual table score is better or worse than on any previous attempts), or you must discard all of them.

This would reward consistently good play, rather than letting people grind out Table A until they have a good game, then repeat with Table B, etc.

I dunno, I think then I'd just be grinding sets of scores, rather than individual scores. Finals in PAPA are playing a set of tables once each, and those are still recognized as decent measures of skill, aren't they? Of course luck will be a factor, but that's part of pinball. And the PAPA qualifying format constrains how much grinding you can do--it's only for a day or two, isn't it, and for whatever hours the facility is open. Whereas this is a week, potentially 24 hours a day.

The one-ball challenge thread in the general discussion forum works well because it's a one shot deal--no practice rounds allowed, even, so you just play and have fun and that's that. So personally at least I think I'd like more frequent tournaments, but allowing just one completed score per table.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

I dunno, I think then I'd just be grinding sets of scores, rather than individual scores.

Try it. I'm serious, play each of the tournament tables once each back-to-back and see if you can get a good score on all eight tables in one attempt. Take as many attempts as you want, but no mixing scores between sets.

You will find it's much easier to grind one table at a time than all eight at once because in the former case, after you do well on a table you no longer need to play it. Your progress is saved, as it were. So a player with poor skills and lots of time can just play Table A until he gets his miracle game, then Table B until miracle, Table C and so forth.

Whereas if you have to take your scores all-or-none, you're faced with the task of trying to play 8 consistently good games in a row. A player with poor skills is not going to be able to do this no matter how much time he has (or at least until all that practice makes him a better player!) because he is not consistent enough to do it by skill, and the odds are massively against him getting lucky 8 times in row - or even on any 5 or 6 of the 8 tables.

The one-ball challenge thread in the general discussion forum works well because it's a one shot deal--no practice rounds allowed, even, so you just play and have fun and that's that. So personally at least I think I'd like more frequent tournaments, but allowing just one completed score per table.

Part of the reason that 1-ball challenge is so fun is that because good players occasionally have bad games, it puts all of us on relatively equal footing - which is fine for friendly lighthearted competition. But for more "serious" tournaments, I'd like to think that my results are indicative of my actual skill level and not solely of whether I had good fortune on my one and only attempt.

 

[smbhax]

I'm not disputing that grinding one table at a time is easier than a set of eight (the eh Williams Challenge or whatever it was in PHoF was kind of like that in a sense, with an even larger set of tables), I'm just saying I'd still feel compelled to grind, whether it's one at a time or all eight. Granted, eight would at least enforce some more regular variety in my play while doing it.

But because this is a set of eight, and the tournament scores are based on your relative placement per table, it seems to me that's a plenty big enough opportunity for skill to come out on top with all eight tables taken together, even if everyone just plays them once. And again, that's how the PAPA finals work, more or less. Anyway, to me, playing each table just once would be a lot less of a chore, and would feel a lot more like a tournament, where each play really mattered, whether you got three house balls in a row or not. As it is now, playing a table over and over feels just like what I'd be doing outside a tournament anyway, except my high scores won't save to the main leaderboard, and I'm a bit stressed over the whole thing because I'm trying to figure how much time I can actually squeeze in.

And hey that's another thing: this format really really really favors people with more time on their hands in any given week. That is a MASSIVE imbalance in the current format. I was psyched about this tournament because I had a few hours available last night and I figured I'd give it a whirl, but it turns out that I basically have to keep coming back to it all week long--and I don't usually have playing time during the week, not if I want to sleep--in order to feel like I have a chance of putting up a good showing. That makes it a lot less fun for me, and what's probably going to happen is that I'll just have time for a few plays on each of the other six tables I haven't played yet, and will in all likelihood not do nearly as well on them as I have on the two tables I played this weekend. Hm... No, actually what I'd better just do is pretend it *is* limited to one play per table, and just content myself with that--otherwise it'll be driving me bonkers all week long. Whew.

Another thing with comparisons to PAPA qualifying: people entering into PAPA contests have the opportunity to plan their schedule out months in advance for those tournaments, and they've basically set aside that weekend to play pinball. This tournament was announced what just a few days in advance, and I'm sure we all have other things we'd planned to be doing this week--most of us didn't have this week set aside to grind through pinball scores, but that is essentially what this format asks us to do.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

Disd I just double the MM score on ball 1 oopsies!

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

Anybody else notice the little changes per table?
MM is waaaay too easy now
TOTAN is a nightmare and has a new skill shot order....HEY FS! how about a rules list or tell us what we WIN! only way I found out there was a tournament was on this site I dont FB.

 

[shimoda]

Sucks here as I don't own a single tournament table. I own all the rest!

 

[Palmer Eldritch]

Sucks here as I don't own a single tournament table. I own all the rest!

you don't own TOTAN, BH or RBION?