Thread - Playoffs at WSC/WPC 2017

@ 2017-04-10 11:37 PM (#22778 - in reply to #22765) (#22778) Top

prasanna16391

Posts: 1775

Country : India

prasanna16391 posted @ 2017-04-10 11:37 PM

Fred76 - 2017-04-09 3:11 PM

Do you have the consent of the WPF Board for doing that?
The current document (guidebook) mentions explicitly the playoffs, and although we can be sad by the poverty of the document, it seems that the decisions of the board are actually taken based on that document ("The guidebook does not currently have restrictions on Sudoku vs Non-Sudoku elements of the WSC, so in the end it is a personal opinion you hold").

Hi Fred,

I checked in with the WPF Board on behalf of the organizing team earlier this year about a few things, including this topic of whether playoffs are a must. I also communicated to them that we plan to have a poll to this end. The Board confirmed that playoffs need not be held and that the organizers can make a decision either way, and it was only after this that we started the poll.

@ 2017-04-13 8:32 PM (#22811 - in reply to #22730) (#22811) Top

prasanna16391

Posts: 1775

Country : India

prasanna16391 posted @ 2017-04-13 8:32 PM

Yuhei Kusui - 2017-04-03 12:17 PM

At the present moment I can't say excluding play-off is a bad decision because I don't know what "good alternatives" are; they should be revealed as soon as possible, as new ideas require plenty of time to be understood.

Hi Yuhei,

The alternative we are thinking of has been mentioned before, but I will elaborate once again. We are going to have an evening event, a Player vs Player knockout event open to everyone. As I have indicated before, we have a set system for this which worked at the National level last year and we are confident we can replicate that. This event will be exciting, fun, can be used for media and publicity, and most importantly, everyone can participate without worrying too much about 'fairness' and 'choosing a worthy World Champion'.

@ 2017-09-01 1:50 PM (#23064 - in reply to #22270) (#23064) Top

onigame

Posts: 18

Country : United States

onigame posted @ 2017-09-01 1:50 PM

I'm very very late to this discussion but I highly approve of the removal of playoffs. In my opinion, the playoffs have never been a good indication of choosing the best solver. Everyone has just gone through a dozen rounds of competition, and the dozen rounds are then condensed into less than 5 minutes of playoff advantage time. It would be like if you gave students a test, and the first 100 questions were worth 5% of their grade while the last 10 questions were easier questions and worth 95% of their grade.

The advantage of playoffs have always been for the spectators, to see what the best puzzle-solvers in the world can do, and a little bit for the players in position 10-20 to feel like they still have a chance of catching up and getting just the right amount of luck. But as the WPC puzzles become less and less accessible to the majority of casual viewers, they cannot understand what they are seeing in the playoffs. Without the playoff-solving being on camera, there is even less for the viewers to see. Ever since I stopped being good enough to qualify for playoffs, I discovered that I really didn't enjoy watching the playoffs. I would much rather take the playoff puzzles and solve them by myself. :)

We, the organizers of WSC/WPC 2017, are proposing an idea of replacing the Playoffs in the 2017 Championships with more rounds for all players to solve
Please share your opinion and thoughts about "Playoffs in the 2017 Championships"
Option	Results
Playoffs should be held at WSC & WPC 2017	35 Votes - [50%]
Playoffs need not be held, I prefer better spacing of the rounds and maybe an extra round	25 Votes - [35.71%]
Playoffs need not be held, I prefer more competitive rounds of solving	10 Votes - [14.29%]


	@ 2017-04-10 11:37 PM (#22778 - in reply to #22765) (#22778) Top
prasanna16391 Posts: 1775 Country : India	prasanna16391 posted @ 2017-04-10 11:37 PM Fred76 - 2017-04-09 3:11 PM Do you have the consent of the WPF Board for doing that? The current document (guidebook) mentions explicitly the playoffs, and although we can be sad by the poverty of the document, it seems that the decisions of the board are actually taken based on that document ("The guidebook does not currently have restrictions on Sudoku vs Non-Sudoku elements of the WSC, so in the end it is a personal opinion you hold"). Hi Fred, I checked in with the WPF Board on behalf of the organizing team earlier this year about a few things, including this topic of whether playoffs are a must. I also communicated to them that we plan to have a poll to this end. The Board confirmed that playoffs need not be held and that the organizers can make a decision either way, and it was only after this that we started the poll.
	@ 2017-04-13 8:32 PM (#22811 - in reply to #22730) (#22811) Top
prasanna16391 Posts: 1775 Country : India	prasanna16391 posted @ 2017-04-13 8:32 PM Yuhei Kusui - 2017-04-03 12:17 PM At the present moment I can't say excluding play-off is a bad decision because I don't know what "good alternatives" are; they should be revealed as soon as possible, as new ideas require plenty of time to be understood. Hi Yuhei, The alternative we are thinking of has been mentioned before, but I will elaborate once again. We are going to have an evening event, a Player vs Player knockout event open to everyone. As I have indicated before, we have a set system for this which worked at the National level last year and we are confident we can replicate that. This event will be exciting, fun, can be used for media and publicity, and most importantly, everyone can participate without worrying too much about 'fairness' and 'choosing a worthy World Champion'.
	@ 2017-09-01 1:50 PM (#23064 - in reply to #22270) (#23064) Top
onigame Posts: 18 Country : United States	onigame posted @ 2017-09-01 1:50 PM I'm very very late to this discussion but I highly approve of the removal of playoffs. In my opinion, the playoffs have never been a good indication of choosing the best solver. Everyone has just gone through a dozen rounds of competition, and the dozen rounds are then condensed into less than 5 minutes of playoff advantage time. It would be like if you gave students a test, and the first 100 questions were worth 5% of their grade while the last 10 questions were easier questions and worth 95% of their grade. The advantage of playoffs have always been for the spectators, to see what the best puzzle-solvers in the world can do, and a little bit for the players in position 10-20 to feel like they still have a chance of catching up and getting just the right amount of luck. But as the WPC puzzles become less and less accessible to the majority of casual viewers, they cannot understand what they are seeing in the playoffs. Without the playoff-solving being on camera, there is even less for the viewers to see. Ever since I stopped being good enough to qualify for playoffs, I discovered that I really didn't enjoy watching the playoffs. I would much rather take the playoff puzzles and solve them by myself. :)