The UK Open - 27th to 29th September in Croydon

[Wayne J]

PinSteps for John Wick

This item ships with 2 PinSteps along with 0.25° black non-slip rubber pads (1 pair), you will need 2 pairs of PinSteps to deck out all 4 of your legs with these stylish kicks! The dark Purple/Blue shimmer color with Neon Green accent of these PinSteps will really look good on your John Wick...

pinside.com

these are the offending articles. Honestly I'd insist they were removed before playing if I was in the comp. Should never have been fitted.

I don't see what's wrong with standard furniture casters? You can get them for both wooden and carpeted floors.

If anybody DOES want a set of PinSteps, I will shortly be selling a completely unrelated product "PinStairs". PinSteps retail at $25 plus P&P (really!) 'PinStairs' will be just £24.99 with FREE P&P. I will have to design them first, so you'll probably have to wait 5 minutes after you order for me to design them.

 

[Wayne J]

Thanks for explaining... out of interest why was he disqualified for that game, what was the "offence"?

Knocking the machine off the raisers.

 

[David_Vi]

I personally think the pinsteps DQ is a too literal interpretation of the IFPA rules which were written with something else in mind.

Those pin steps tip over easily, I saw it when the techs tried to move a machine during setup and it fell off the steps and tipped into the adjacent machine. I understand the maker was a sponsor so wanted his product in use, but some games had them on the back and some on the front as well as back, making the games move inconsistently when players attempted saves.

However, Neil made a call in a high pressure situation. Being a TD and dealing with high pressure situations is no easy feat, sometimes you have to make the call and stand by it.
Most TDs have made calls they may in hindsight think they should have dealt with differently, but what's done is done.

There's plenty of 'experts', like those in twitch chat who watch a lot of tournaments who interpret what they've seen in particular ways without ever truly reading the rulebook. One example is people thinking a trapped ball should be placed in a particular flipper, this comes up so often, but is not defined in the rules at all.

So being a TD you have to make the calls and try not to be influenced by everyone else's opinions.
It definitely helps to have a few TDs for those moments where rulings should be discussed.

 

[Wayne J]

Zach's qualifying ticket might go down as the greatest ticket ever in this format.

2nd on TNA with 13mil (2 mil ahead of 3rd place)
2nd on St Th with 782mil (behind his own score of 990mil and ahead of his 3rd placed score of 440mil) next best non ZMac score was 336mil
1st on JB60 with 62Thou (next best score 34Thou)
1st on Rush with 487mil (only 47mil clear of 2nd place)
2nd on John Wick with 321mil (behind his own score of 360mil)

 

[MarkS]

Knocking the machine off the raisers.

That's explicitly listed in the rules? Or was it an interpretation of some more vague rule? Just wondering how it differs from say a leg leveller breaking off?

 

[Epotech]

That's explicitly listed in the rules? Or was it an interpretation of some more vague rule? Just wondering how it differs from say a leg leveller breaking off?

moving a machine off its feet (any) is a DQ, no interpretation required. The situation should never have arisen, though.

 

[VeeMonroe]

Zach's qualifying ticket might go down as the greatest ticket ever in this format.

2nd on TNA with 13mil (2 mil ahead of 3rd place)
2nd on St Th with 782mil (behind his own score of 990mil and ahead of his 3rd placed score of 440mil) next best non ZMac score was 336mil
1st on JB60 with 62Thou (next best score 34Thou)
1st on Rush with 487mil (only 47mil clear of 2nd place)
2nd on John Wick with 321mil (behind his own score of 360mil)

The highlight for us (there's one every year) was @MadMonzer queuing behind Jason Zahler for A:IQ.

When I arrived to see if @MadMonzer had finished his ticket, Jason was up to 1.7 billion (yes, you read that right). By the time a small crowd had formed, consisting of - among others - @Mike Parkins, Jason was up to about 2.5 billion. Then, a few of the onlookers started grumbling that the game was beginning to look showy and anti-social because there was an actual queue forming up to play and he was so far into first place that it wasn't clear he shouldn't just drain for the wider benefit of the tournament.

He persisted anyhow until he got to >3 billion, at which point we all saw the end screen, the Avengers won, and the machine appeared to barf and reset to the opening. Can't remember what happened then, but his final score was 3.16 billion - yes, you read that right too. He got a round of applause and @MadMonzer shook his hand.

Anyway, I checked the queues after 11:45pm that evening (seeing if a last-minute grown-up entry was going to beat my son's card!) and Jason was on one of the machines, still going at it. Can't remember which one, but he'd definitely qualified by that time!

 

[Taxiturn]

That's explicitly listed in the rules? Or was it an interpretation of some more vague rule? Just wondering how it differs from say a leg leveller breaking off?

Here it is:

 

[steve brum]

Zed Mac the pinball unicorn.

i loved the 3BN on fishtales with no bonus x and no fish . MB all the way!

 

[Wayne J]

That's explicitly listed in the rules? Or was it an interpretation of some more vague rule? Just wondering how it differs from say a leg leveller breaking off?

"Any player who moves a game to the point it slides off of a rubber foot beneath the game’s leg will be given a score of zero for the game. This is determined based on any portion of the leg leveller being in physical contact with the ground. A Tournament Director will then attempt to put the game back onto the rubber foot. If successful, the game will continue. If a tilt-through occurs, the appropriate tilt-through procedure will be followed. Should this happen to the last player on the last ball of the game, the same rules will be enforced, with a score of zero being given to that player"

That's the official paragraph from the IFPA rules. As you'll see it actually specifies a RUBBER foot (twice). This wasn't a rubber foot so shouldn't have been disqualified.

 

[mufcmufc]

"Any player who moves a game to the point it slides off of a rubber foot beneath the game’s leg will be given a score of zero for the game. This is determined based on any portion of the leg leveller being in physical contact with the ground. A Tournament Director will then attempt to put the game back onto the rubber foot. If successful, the game will continue. If a tilt-through occurs, the appropriate tilt-through procedure will be followed. Should this happen to the last player on the last ball of the game, the same rules will be enforced, with a score of zero being given to that player"

That's the official paragraph from the IFPA rules. As you'll see it actually specifies a RUBBER foot (twice). This wasn't a rubber foot so shouldn't have been disqualified.

Incorrect, there are RUBBER feet on the bottom of the ridiculously WEIRD Pinsteps (a mod that never needed to be designed)

 

[VeeMonroe]

Incorrect, there are RUBBER feet on the bottom of the ridiculously WEIRD Pinsteps (a mod that never needed to be designed)

I don't understand Pinsteps. Surely the leg levellers are there for levelling the machine?

 

[Wayne J]

Incorrect, there are RUBBER feet on the bottom of the ridiculously WEIRD Pinsteps (a mod that never needed to be designed)

I looked at them on his for sale thread on Pinside, they've got a rubber slice on the bottom but are made of PLA. I bet if it had happened to Escher, Lefkoff Associates would have argued that point
I agree that they are something that just didn't need designing in the first place.

 

[mufcmufc]

I don't understand Pinsteps. Surely the leg levellers are there for levelling the machine?

There are different angles of step. So for example you can buy 2 degree steps if you want to raise the game by 2 degrees, I think you can do back or front only and all sorts of other weird combinations.

 

[Epotech]

There are different angles of step. So for example you can buy 2 degree steps if you want to raise the game by 2 degrees, I think you can do back or front only and all sorts of other weird combinations.

last I looked, the OEM leg levellers are adjustable.

 

[mufcmufc]

I looked at them on his for sale thread on Pinside, they've got a rubber slice on the bottom but are made of PLA. I bet if it had happened to Escher, Lefkoff Associates would have argued that point
I agree that they are something that just didn't need designing in the first place.

The DQ shouldn't have happened because the shoes should never have been on a comp game, that was the real mistake I think but hindsight is a wonderful thing. I was baffled when Neil got shouted at for putting the ball on the upper flipper on Medusa in the classics finals after it got stuck on the upper playfield. IFPA rules are lower flipper which just shows a complete lack of fairness and common sense

 

[Genotime]

Huge thanks to the entire UK Open team, such a great event again with so many people required to make it run smoothly, far too many to name but I hope I found most of you to say thanks last night. The work you all put in is really appreciated and is such an enormous part of what makes the UK Open a world-class event.

Congratulations to Yuen for flying the UK flag longest in main and PBR so that we had at least one player in both quarter finals, with Craig and Rich getting to the quarters in the classics. Was great to be watching in the room with so many people cheering on the amazing pinball skills on display.

Very thankful for the B Final giving the rest of us a chance at finals and it seems I’ve finally found out how to improve my play: going away and not touching pinball machines for a month!!! I’m sure few will be surprised that my best games are to be found by me not actually playing pinball

Also, it makes a change for me to be the only one coming home with a trophy, which clearly makes me ‘Top Iles’ for now

I'm down for the Martyn Iles method of going on holiday to the Amazonian Rainforest for a month before a tournament. Should be the norm really

 

[steve brum]

the trickiest call was when KISS reset. Everyone then praying it didnt do it again !

 

[Arv]

There's plenty of 'experts', like those in twitch chat who watch a lot of tournaments who interpret what they've seen in particular ways without ever truly reading the rulebook. One example is people thinking a trapped ball should be placed in a particular flipper, this comes up so often, but is not defined in the rules at all.

It's down to the TD to choose either the plunger lane or a flipper of his/her choice.

 

[Paul]

What a sensational event. Thank you so much to Neil, the whole PBR team, the tech team, the score keepers, the front desk team, everyone, thank you so so much. I'm so incredibly proud that we have one of the best events on the entire planet in our country. I still can't quite believe we had 8 of the top 10 players in the world, plus a shed load more from the top 50, dueling with each other in Croydon! Some of the moments and memories created were truly sensational.

Thank you so much everyone.

Highlight of the weekend, B divisional finals, ball 1, Martin Iles steps up and bangs out a 70m+ ball 1 on a John Wick that was chewing up and spitting out those same top 10 players in the world in qualifying, with lots of them not being able to get 10m on 3 balls!! What a moment, what a winner!!! Well done mate, huge achievement

Craig - Your commentary at 1:30am this morning along with the two other chaps was legendry!!! Worth tuning in at that silly time on it's own!

Whatever peoples thoughts on Neil,. he does know how to put on a great show!

Well done to all, especailly all those unsung-heroes behind the scenes, and also those that made it happen.
And of course everyone that took part!

Very much like Field of dreams.... if you build it, they will come....

 

[Tilt_Birmingham]

End of the day Viggo took it on the chin and conducted himself better then most others word.

Both Viggo and his dad congratulated Neil and us when they left at 2am this morning and said can't wait for next year.

Pinsteps were the big sponsor of the tournament, once they were fitted they had to remain through out.

They did feel unsteady on some machines with the bigger ones on and I personally wouldn't use them.

Esher and multiple of the other best players tried to knock Whirlwind off them again once the cameras moved and could NOT replicate it... So it was either very unlucky on viggos part or he used too much force.

 

[Tilt_Birmingham]

Craig - Your commentry at 1:30am this morning along with the two other chaps was legendry!!! Worth tuning in at that silly time on it's own!

Whatever peoples thoughts on Neil,. he does know how to put on a great show!

Well done to all, especailly all those unsung-heroes behind the scenes, and also those that made it happen.
And of course everyone that took part!

Very much like Field of dreams.... if you build it, they will come....

I say it every year but I'm honoured to be included in such an amazing team.

Literally field of dreams! As @roadshow16 said 8 out of top 10 in the world in little old Croydon and all want to come back next year!

Next year will be bigger and better!

 

[David_Vi]

It's down to the TD to choose either the plunger lane or a flipper of his/her choice.

That's what I'm saying. It can go anywhere, but so many people seem to think it should be a particular flipper. I see it often in twitch chat during comps.

Even then the rules are only guidelines according to Josh

 

[Arv]

That's what I'm saying. It can go anywhere, but so many people seem to think it should be a particular flipper. I see it often in twitch chat during comps.

Even then the rules are only guidelines according to Josh

I know you were. I was pointing it out for the people that don't. Most of the time it's on whatever side the ball is stuck on is what i see.

Yes this is true. Only guidelines.

 

[cooldan]

I was watching Pinstep-gate. While I think the decision was harsh, Neil dealt with it well by making a decision, which was his job as TD. The player took it well, and everyone learned a lesson.

I think Pinsteps maker may be licking his wounds now. Worst new product outing since New Coke

Well done Neil and all the team for a top event. I loved it and was only there to see old friends. Seemed to go very smoothly, and without a bit of controversy things are boring.

 

[David_Vi]

Anyways.

What a fantastic weekend! I went as a normal punter but due to various reasons I wasn't as keen on playing as others. I put in a lot of hours on the front desk and helping the scorekeepers.
It's great to support an event of this status in the UK and you can tell a lot of people in the UK are proud and want to help make it a success, and a success it was.

The tech team and volunteers worked their behinds off. With some people scorekeeping for the majority of their stay at the venue. Heroes!

I'm a mediocre player at best, I did put a few tickets in when I had spare time, mainly to get some play on the games but then had to improve on my standings
But for the most part I enjoyed the social side tied in with watching the playoffs and finals on the TVs. I love the atmosphere this creates, watching fellow Brits make finals against the best in the world is something you're unlikely to see at any other UK event. Some truly exciting play, right on your doorstep

It is wonderful to have a competition of this level in the UK, we've got a bit of everything here, from friendly leagues and fun competitions in people's living rooms to bigger scale Matchplay comps and the mini card format comp at Pinfest.

Although there's always room for improvement I'd struggle to be negative and pick holes in the UK Open as it's a huge undertaking to pull off, it'll only get better. Thanks to the team for an insane amount of hard work, from early morning to... Early morning! (3am finish for one competition this morning).

Claire and I were so exhausted we missed breakfast but so many were working through the night to make it happen. Not to mention the weeks and months of build up.

 

[Wayne J]

Even then the rules are only guidelines according to Josh

It pretty much states after every 'rule' that they are only guidelines and it is down to the TDs discretion - as it should be. (For a major it maybe should be a bit stricter).

It even says in the rules that games should be set up as default factory settings, including ball saves. I believe Josh was the TD who started making it standard to have no ball saves at all at start of ball. Seems particularly harsh on MBs in TMNT though when the balls are held on the magnet and thrown towards the sidelanes on release, or when getting to a 2 ball Dimension X. Especially as MB is pretty much the way to score your points on TMNT, and it's such a grind to relight it again.

The 'problem' with changing the software settings in a lot of instances is it has unpredictable undesired effects, and can lead to a one dimensional game, or even making gameplay longer.
Certain games are just not suitable for tournaments with the top level players these days.

 

[MarkS]

Incorrect, there are RUBBER feet on the bottom of the ridiculously WEIRD Pinsteps (a mod that never needed to be designed)

Apart from the slope changing, the other benefit seems more useful which is to raise the height overall which for players like me who are 6’6” with a knackered lower back would actually be a nice feature to prevent stooping over so much But Sterns are wobbly enough already and it’s not like you can remove them between balls for other players.

 

[dave]

Certain games are just not suitable for tournaments with the top level players these days.

Indeed. It's a shame F-14 conked out because a game like that would have sped it up. Trons not a bad choice either or Ironman.

 

[ItsOnlyDanO]

I'm probably going to be reiterating what most people have already said in the thread but I enjoyed going to my second UK open even more than I did last year! All the PBR staff and scorekeepers did a fantastic job with everything so a huge hats off to them, I ended up doing 3 scorekeeping shifts and they all went pretty well even if it felt like I did get quite a few stuck balls on my shifts ha.

I always love the UK comradery whenever a finals starts, always plenty of support for anyone in the finals and you can feel the wave of energy when someone gets things going or disappointment when they drain a ball, it's what makes watching these events and seeing some of the ridiculously high level of gameplay from the worlds best even more special.

I was pretty happy with my play during the event, I think I improved all my positions from last year and even managed to get the top qualifying score on Genesis on the UK open bank which is definitely not something I expected!

No real downsides for the event to me, although I'd maybe like the return back to having two classics tournaments (one friday / one saturday) so at least there's a final going on everyday.

Roll on 2025!!