I want to clarify as I know there is some concern about limited space, car pooling, and requests to watch matches/ stick around when you are knocked out.
Things are very tight in my house. Those that have been before, already know
Those that haven't come before, will see for yourselves. We have 3 rooms with pinball machines and in all 3 rooms it can be tough to walk by behind a player without inadvertently interfering with their game.
Out of respect for all players I want to avoid others from negatively impacting the ongoing game of any player. This means sometimes just waiting for someone to be done with a ball before crossing over behind them. This means also staying out of their sight-line/periphery/audible distraction while they are playing.
With a field of 24 is will be a very packed house and this is why I have requested a few things:
1. Top 8 that have a bye during round 1, please stay in the living room area and not in pinball rooms during that round. Let the 9-24 seeded players do their thing.
2. Once round 1 is over, those that have been knocked out (tie for 20th position) are asked to depart so we can start round 2. If you have chosen to car pool, then please be aware of this request and plan accordingly (i.e. drive separately or be prepared to walk, uber, etc... to someplace else to wait it out while your carpool buddy is still playing). If waiting elsewhere is an issue for you then I suggest driving separate.
3. Once round 2 is over, the next 8 will be knocked out (tie for 12th) and again asked to depart so we can start round 3.
4. Once we get to the final 8, we will be playing all matches out to determine all of the top 8 positions. If you are in the remaining field of 8, you are welcome to stay when your matches are done but asked to again stay in the living room area and specifically not distract those still playing (stay out of pinball rooms and no audible distraction; I know we all like to cheer on friends but if you are not part of that match please just be respectful of those still playing).
When you are actively playing in a match you are of course able to watch and spectate that match, but please be courteous of others playing. In some of the rooms their will not be room for you to easily stand behind your opponent without possibly interfering with another active player. Please be respectful of each other and let each person play their best. Exit the room as needed to provide others space and if any other player in the room asks you to move/exit while you are spectating (even if your match) then please give them the space.
I wish I had more room and a full stage to put games on with a streaming rig over each one (a dream for the future), but given the space constraints in our house, I appreciate everyone's understanding on this.
I have spoken with Tom and we are going to do a trail run at the warm up this upcoming weekend to see if a stream is feasible for NACS. IF (and that is still a BIG if) we can get things to work without being a distraction then we will plan to stream matches on the NACS. Stay tuned on this...
Hoping it works out so then those that have been eliminated are still able to watch some of the further rounds as the day progresses from their phone while drowning their sorrows (if we can Twitch then I may be able to get IO to put it on the big screen if people are heading there).
I will also update the progress of matches on the Challeonge and we can even start a thread on here for quick updates as the day goes on.
See many of you this Saturday for some pinball fun with the warm up and will see the rest of you in 2 short weeks