From: Crowell, Andrew [acrowell@WILL.uiuc.edu]
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2001 12:17 AM
To: 'cardtips@pojo.com'
Cc: 'dacc@soltec.net'
Subject: Replying to Ness' 'rant' of 6 Dec

I can share considerable sympathy for Ness' position here, as another 15+
division player. I felt a sense of total outrage when, last winter, we were
about to be cut out of the Pokemon TCG. True, this would've just affected
STS participation, but with that being the major event for the game, it
would essentially be as I've stated. We would've been out. And I raised my
voice along with hundreds more in raising total hell about this ill-made
decision, one which I will note is NOT one that came from Wizards of the
Coast, but from 'higher up'...with all indications being that the 'higher
up' in question was either Media Factory or The Pokemon Co., or both. It is
no small secret that both entities have a certain dislike for the
participation outside Japan of people other than the game's original target
demographic, and the emphasis on 'excessive competition' that we appear to
have. But there's nothing they can really do about it. We hold a lot of the
money that goes into WotC and the licenseholders' pockets. We make up at
least 2/5ths of the participants at the STSs and, presumably, the game at
large. We're not going anywhere...and they've been made painfully aware of
it.

Now, one thing not stated here is a very curious...discussion of sorts which
took place on the Wizards PokeGym in the wake of the reinstatement of the
15+ division. This was the 'Small Steps' thread, one which had some fairly
deep participation, even from the WotC MTs themselves...albeit with a lot of
guarded language. As it turned out, I was later told at the ECSTS by someone
with WotC (and I will not disclose whom, to keep their NDA intact) that the
initial post, which I had made, mirrored a lot of internal WotC discussion
as to what to do with the game. They were a bit curious as to how these same
points were being made by someone 'outside'...but in all truth, these points
are ones that stem from simple business and gaming logic. There was no
magic, no mojo involved.

Since then, a number of decisions have been made by WotC which have, thru
clues made by the MTs, been linked to the 'Small Steps', which was a
strategy for getting changes to the game past Media Factory/TPC which they
might find objectionable. It involved remaking the game to eventually arrive
at several major alterations, through slow increments:

1)	A tiered tournament system, not unlike one used for Magic: the
Gathering, that broke down in a state -> regional -> national -> world type
of tiering. It was figured that this would be exceedingly objectionable to
MF, since at the time they were trying to push a party line of Pokemon being
a fun game for kids, and not a competitive thing. However, there are now a
lot of hints that this will be adopted.

2)	The elimination of the current form of the STS in favor of more
regionalized League-oriented events not unlike the old 'Mall Tour' events.
The format for these would be public events, single-day, in a number of
major metro areas which would have 'shootout' matches and other activities
not unlike the League area of the STS itself. This would accomplish a number
of things...it would provide prominent Pokemon events for promo and PR
efforts, it would act as a promotional vehicle for League, it would lower
the cost versus the STSs as these would require less personnel and
logistical outlay, and would spread such events across a wider geographic
area and timespan than the current plan for two two-day STS-format events
per year. The noise that this was the 'last STS' could mean that we're soon
going to see the first of these, possibly as soon as next summer.

3)	The alteration of the format of League so that it would serve as a
'feeder' into DCI tournament play, by emphasizing proper play in League
sessions and vectoring these toward League tournaments held in a DCI-style
ModSwiss format. This has, in fact, come to pass and will be the model used
for League starting in January 2002.

4)	The adoption of a DCI-sanctioned certification for Pokemon
tournament judges. A leak in the wake of the WCSTS has stated that this is
in the works, and will involve extensive participation by the current 15+
division.

Now, before the WCSTS, the MTs made a few cryptic warnings to people on
WizPoG to not flaunt fake cards, bootleg T-shirts and other merch, and not
to do anything that might hack off a number of TPC reps that were supposed
to be there. It was hinted that some 'extensive discussions' would be taking
place that would bear on where the game went in the coming years, and how it
fit within TPC's effort to transition Pokemon into a 'sustaining brand'.

Looking at the current weather, my guess is that in those discussions, the
'Small Steps' suddenly became giant leaps, as all the leaks now show that
we're headed with some speed toward the end-point of those suggestions. It
was expected that these would take time...but now, it seems we've gone from
A to B to C to N to awfully near Z.

So what might this mean? Well, it'll mean a rather different game, for one
thing. It'll also spell a different role...NOT EXCLUSION...for the 15+
players. Instead of focussing solely on competition, it appears that we will
be tapped to serve the game itself...as organizers for those tiered events,
as a vastly-expanded judge pool (with certification!) for all DCI-sanctioned
Pokemon events, as GLs for new Leagues (note that the language about
'Premiere Stores' has been dropped!) and so on. We now get a chance to put
up or shut up...are we in this for the game, or merely to win something? And
no, I don't think it means we're being cut out totally...but that we should
expect our role to be expanded into something very different and very
important. Given some of MF/TPC's objections, this should take care of
silencing those and majorly assisting the game in of itself so that it can
grow to a new level.

All along, the point of the 'Small Steps' has been to try and ensure a
surviving game, in the face of opposition to the heavy North American
competitiveness by Media Factory and TPC, in the face of the market
contraction after the end of the Pokemon fad, and in the present climate of
a shrinking economy, both here and especially in Japan. It is possible that
this may happen, now. It will not exactly be Pokemon as we've known it, but
it will still mean that this game that we love will survive, potentially for
years to come. It will be a leaner, more economically-sensible climate for
Pokemon, and one which plays nicely into the 'sustaining brand' strategy.

And my bet is that those of us in 15+ will not be left merely to haul around
the stagecraft, so to speak. There's noise about 'events for the 15+
division' that've leaked...and this might mean a central event, sort of a
'Seniors Tournament', for us...perhaps a weekend's worth of blowout at some
preselected location, with the kids out of sight and where we can let our
hair down, and play a BIG tourney to decide the top 'Professor'. Where did
that term come from? Well...the STS, since that's now the term for the 15+
division: "Prof. Oak's Challenge". When that name came up, it was noted
offhandedly that that hinted at more than just a different division
name...now we may be seeing what it _does_ mean.

So I don't think this is a time to be frothing at the mouth. Yes, I know we
all still feel a sting from the hamfisted 15+ exclusion fiasco of last year.
So is WotC. I think that they know that they CANNOT do that again. At least,
I would certainly hope that they have the smarts to know how disastrous it
would be. No...I think that, from all the hints, cues, leaks, and parallel
developments that we're following a path that I and others accidentally
charted...unknowingly copying some identical charting inside the walls in
Renton. If it's true, and I hope it's true, 2002 will be the beginning of a
new direction for the game, and one that we're apt to be following...if
lucky...for some time to come.

Lugia909 @ WizPoG