Worlds to be Invitation Only and Steaming

[Crossroads Bulletin]

The 2016 Pokémon World Championships is fast approaching. It is to be hosted in San Francisco, CA from August 19th through the 21st.
In the past this event has been open to the general public for spectating but there will be a change in this year’s Worlds. It has been decided that only competitors and their family members with official badges will be allowed in. This is due to an unprecedented response from invited players that plan to attend the event.
News of this restriction comes less than two weeks before the event, but fans can still watch highlighted matches from home. The most reliable way to do this is by logging on to Pokemon.com. There will also be streams on Twitch. Players from over 30 countries will be competing in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pokémon video game and Pokkén Tournament. There will be no Pokémon GO events involved with the 2016 Pokémon World Championships. A combined prize pool of over $500,000 in scholarships and travel awards will be awarded over the weekend.
See a full list of the streaming schedule below (all times are PDT).
General Event Coverage
Friday: 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Sunday: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. (Finals Coverage for Pokémon TCG and Video Game)
Pokémon Video Game Championships
Friday: 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Pokémon TCG Championships
Friday: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Pokkén Tournament Championships
Friday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. (Last Chance Qualifiers coverage)
Saturday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Post-event coverage will also be available at Pokemon.com.
The post Worlds to be Invitation Only and Steaming appeared first on Pokémon Crossroads.


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[Otter Mii-kun]

Too bad TCPi didn't have the Foresight to find a venue with enough capacity, unless this year's venue is the only one they could find in the host city.

I believe the real reason behind this decision is one or both of the following:
*Security concerns after the foiled mass-shooting plot during last year's event
*Event organizers didn't know ahead of time of venue capacity limits imposed by a government agency, such as a building inspection department or fire marshal.

[SassySnivy]

I wonder if all the BS with those douchebags wanting to shoot the place up in the past has anything to do with this restriction....

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

This is sad :( I suspect you guys are onto something about the reasons. Maybe the huge number of people playing Pokemon Go also worried them, that too many people would show up and cause issues.

[Suicune's Fire]

Yeah, I reckon there was something related to Pokemon Go as well. I'm kind of glad they aren't hosting any Pokemon Go events (how could they anyway? xD) because then people who aren't really fans would come (if not for the restriction), since it's not really a "proper" Pokemon game...

[SassySnivy]

Glad I'm not the only one noticing that Pokemon GO is bringing forth all these "not fans". :\ There's old fans that got back into it BECAUSE of Pokemon GO, then there are...non-fans that are just kinda annoying. You know, the people that play it cuz its so popular lololol

I don't see why Pokemon GO would make more people want to go to worlds, though. The GO players that you guys speak of, do you REALLY think they'd go to a tournament where they literally do NOT know what the **** is going on? You know, because they got their heads stuck so far up in Gen I that it's pathetic? Just saying.

Lol but the elitism from Xanthe's post alone is strong and just like, so true. xD It's how I actually feel about stuff, too, despite not wanting to admit it half of the time.

TL;DR: PoGO brought forth a lot of casual fans and mainstreamers, but it's not like it brought forth a whole bunch of dedicated fans or anything. (On that note, does anyone even PLAY Pogo anymore? I got so freaking bored with it because Niantic are horrible developers and the same Pokemon get old after a while)

[MC Elesa]

I think it is a mix of planning and lack of foresight on Pokemon's behalf. Also just catering to the competitors.

I am sure that when Pokemon was planning Worlds for this year that they based this on previous years. They may have saw that the last few Worlds brought in x amount of people so they decided to get a venue that can hold x + y amount of people. In this case, y stands for the amount of extra people that would come because they qualify for Worlds this year because of the lower Championship Points needed to get an invite. Pokemon didn't put into their formula the amount of people who were interested in Pokemon because of Pokemon GO and the 20th anniversary because there was no guarantee that those two thing would bring more people to Worlds. After all, for all Pokemon know that these two things could just fail and they would have a bigger venue with just normal amount of people and just too much space.

Then there is the lack of foresight on Pokemon's behalf due to the lower CP needed to get your invite and the time frame between Nationals and Worlds. The last chance to get the needed CP for Worlds is at Nationals which is early July. Though the invites for Worlds tend to go out during mid to late July. Based on this year, it would seems like the date that invitees have confirm that they were going was early August. That means that they have about one or two weeks to set up seats for everybody and their guests who are going. Pokemon didn't put in any turn around time to get another venue or tell fans that they can't house spectators.

In order to avoid what I mention in the previous paragraph, Pokemon would need to either host Nationals (Or now North American Championships earlier or send out Worlds Invites as soon as NA/National Championships are done.

Lastly, Pokemon is thinking about the competitors. Worlds is for the competitors. They are the ones who battled all season to earn their invite to Worlds. They are the ones who deserve to be there after such a tough season. The event may have been open in the past but because of the low CP requirement and the amount of people going, the event has to be closed in order to ensure the ones who are suppose to be there have an enjoyable time but also keep the event safe. Sucks this happen but Pokemon is trying to cater to those who are suppose to be going.

[Suicune's Fire]

Glad I'm not the only one noticing that Pokemon GO is bringing forth all these "not fans". :\ There's old fans that got back into it BECAUSE of Pokemon GO, then there are...non-fans that are just kinda annoying. You know, the people that play it cuz its so popular lololol

I don't see why Pokemon GO would make more people want to go to worlds, though. The GO players that you guys speak of, do you REALLY think they'd go to a tournament where they literally do NOT know what the **** is going on? You know, because they got their heads stuck so far up in Gen I that it's pathetic? Just saying.

Lol but the elitism from Xanthe's post alone is strong and just like, so true. xD It's how I actually feel about stuff, too, despite not wanting to admit it half of the time.

TL;DR: PoGO brought forth a lot of casual fans and mainstreamers, but it's not like it brought forth a whole bunch of dedicated fans or anything. (On that note, does anyone even PLAY Pogo anymore? I got so freaking bored with it because Niantic are horrible developers and the same Pokemon get old after a while)

Hey, that wasn't elitism. xD I'm just saying; it's not a real pokemon game! It's a Niantic game with pokemon in it. Just like how Pokemon Monopoly isn't a pokemon game; it's Monopoly with pokemon in it. Also I wouldn't be surprised if Pokemon Go players who aren't hardcore fans would still want to go, because they'd probably not know what it's like and go just to see and just because it's a pokemon related event. Perhaps even go in the hopes that Pokemon Go stuff would be there. If not for this closed invite/no Pogo stuff, I mean. Whatever. It was just speculation. xD

[SassySnivy]

Hey, that wasn't elitism. xD I'm just saying; it's not a real pokemon game! It's a Niantic game with pokemon in it. Just like how Pokemon Monopoly isn't a pokemon game; it's Monopoly with pokemon in it. Also I wouldn't be surprised if Pokemon Go players who aren't hardcore fans would still want to go, because they'd probably not know what it's like and go just to see and just because it's a pokemon related event. Perhaps even go in the hopes that Pokemon Go stuff would be there. If not for this closed invite/no Pogo stuff, I mean. Whatever. It was just speculation. xD

Thanks for the insight, Mike!

And nah Xanthe, I know you didn't mean it as that but it sounded hilarious because of this sentence:

because then people who aren't really fans would come (if not for the restriction), since it's not really a "proper" Pokemon game...

And yeah, it basically IS just Ingress with Pokemon elements inserted into it ;p

I'd love to see that and then them become sorely disappointed and then go to whine about it on Facebook. Ah, if only. c;

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

I think the other thing is that worlds is usually in Hawaii right? So that would already limit the number of people who would show up to watch since you gotta fly there etc. which you wouldn't bother doing just to watch. Whereas having it in SF means a lot more people could easily show up and there would be more fans around.