Actually, I think I worked out a way to make it so that the improvement tournament plateaus at about the same level most DDR players do.  A handicap can't bring you higher than 98%, so if you AAA a 7-footer and your opponent gets 94% with a 7% handicap, you'd still win.  I'm also considering making it so that the handicaps are great multipliers instead of flat percentages.  What I want to do is make it so that nobody has the advantage.  

Basically, I want there to be a normal-style tournament, a freestyle tournament, and then a tournament that puts everyone on the same playing field, so that nobody has to get left out.

yeeeeeuh, now we're talking.

Although... I wouldn't want to do any big routines on GK's machine because of its dangerous proximity to that ledge. That location just makes me so nervous of falling to the 1st floor  

5 panel is better for freestyling, so Big Als would be the location for that sort of thing.  None of us can freestyle though.  (Freestyle is not jumping over the bar, spinning, doing a handstand, and then knee dropping)

Yeah, Bigals is the only location where freestyle would really be possible.  We wouldn't want any freestyle on my SM machine because the pads will be too high off the ground to safely freestyle.  All the other locations have the pads too close to the cabinets for serious freestyle, and then, of course, the death drop onto a Joust multi-cabinet at GK.

Avalon would be the only place we could possibly do a DDREX freestyle.  But it's so boxed in.

Maybe I can talk to the manager at Milwaukie about moving the pads back from the cab 6", and moving that damned Extreme Hunting game into the corner (AKA 100 sq ft of wasted space)

Then there'd be plenty of room for freestyling.

Yes, none of us can really freestyle, but we can all learn. =)

Personally, I don't see why having more space is mandatory. I would say just adjust and work with what the machine gives you (I've aspired to freestyle in the past, and when I practiced, I never really stepped off the pads, but that's just my method of FS). I guess if there's at least one FS tournament, I may practice.

I'm also interested in the "Improvement" tourney... I don't think you should do a "pot" that accumulates over a year or whatever. As nice as that sounds, I wouldn't guarantee that people will stay committed to this, and I don't think people's money being stored somewhere yet to be paid out is just sketchy. As an alternative, maybe someone could post all the stats in the forum, and at one point tally it all up to award the #1 rank or top 3 with recognition for most improvement or something I don't think that should be the final plan, but it starts a good brainstorm.

For me, I guess there's both an optimal distance from the screen and a peripheral vision limit, and if those two requirements are met for me, I'm a lot more comfortable freestyling.

But if I'm the only one who feels that way, then I guess we could probably handle freestyle at Avalon. (not like sensitivity matters all that much in a non-score competition.)

Why not GK? -_-

If you or someone's going to use some move that will put you at risk of flying off the balcony, then just don't do it. heh

I guess that's a pretty valid point. xP

I'd primarily be worried about limiting my flips, which are the coolest thing I can do.

lalalalala your all a bunch a crazy bastards... I am totaly in..(even if I cant freestyle) we need to get this turny thing to the attention of GK so we dont screw up... a week in advance would probly be helpful to get the word out and such.

Dude I'd totally freestyle too, although the only one I can really do is just a ripoff of one of BBH's freestyles. Maybe I'll perfect my own... :DD

I'm not experienced enough to develop a great freestyle routine currently, but now that I have been mastering the easier levels and am making the transition into mastering the Standard and eventually Heavy levels, it has opened a window for perfecting my technique on the easier levels with a sort of synchronized dance routine!

That's why I've focused on getting AAA's on every track besides the Boss tracks from the easiest level upwards; training is like building a mental pyramid to me, where on the Beginner level you master timing on the simplest of steps, then on the Light/Basic level you begin filling in the spaces in-between those simple beats you mastered before and sub-divide rhythms, then when you get to Standard/Difficult, it's where you begin adding double jumps and more syncopated beats to the rhythm.

To me, every AAA is an achievement. Getting an AAA on Heavy, even Oni in rarer instances, is truly a far more epic and gargantuan achievement, but getting an AAA on any level requires utmost focus and concentration, while also not thinking too hard either, and as I'm close to sweeping all the tracks on the Basic level with AAAs, I will go from there developing my Standard/Difficult level game, and so forth!

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

Okay guys, maybe no tourney this time around.

Let's get on this quicker for the next one though.

And let's not wait a full month; 2 or 3 weeks is plenty of time to heal from any traumas you may experience from being near Steven. (sorry, man, I couldn't help it. ;P)

WHAT

Godammit I want a tourney. Why can't we have one exactly? Just a quick 8-person tourney wouldn't be hard. I mean hell:

BBH
discovolante
Phylicia
Steven
Dancing Tofu
Zeppy Gorilla
Kyrandian
Noah

THAT'S EIGHT RIGHT THERE I MEAN COME ON

If you believe this is sincerely best for all of us, then perhaps it may be best to re-schedule for early or mid-May.

But out of curiosity, I wonder why the sudden change of heart? You were most enthusiastic leading all the way up to this weekend, and now when all of a sudden this re-thinking comes up, I can understand how unexpected things often come up for everyone, from school to work, but I think a brief explanation may be helpful.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

May's a bad month for me. ODS, end of term, graduation. Then in June I go to California. Shit.

WELL SHIT MAN LET'S DO IT!

But we can't do anything fancy unless we plan quick.  How 'bout we each throw in a buck, single elim?

P = 2, G = 1, OK = 2, everything else = 0?

I'm gonna be really busy this week, so I probably won't have a foolproof handicap system good to go by Sunday.

But we can probably work something out so that Steve, Noah and I don't just get our asses tossed out like a sack of potatoes.

Someone email Art.  If nobody's done so and posted it here tomorrow by the time I get on, I'll do it myself.

EDIT:

FUCKIN' LAME

OH YEAH I KNOW IT TOTALLY SUCKS DICK

I haven't seen any of my friends in LA for like four years dude And I get to stop in Ashland and see plays, and stop in Fresno and see bullshit, and stop in Frisco and see awesome.

As for protecting you guys from getting eliminated, I think we can just have an easy starter bracket and start with a cap of 6-7 feet.

I guess that would work.  The tourney at K-con was plenty fun for everyone, even the ones that got eliminated first round, so I think that even without a fighting chance we'll still have fun.

well actually, if there's three rounds (8 -> 4 -> 2), then we'd have to start at 7 to 8 so we can then have 8 to 9 and then 9 to 10 for the finals.

Oh, and is it a winner-takes-all pot?

Yeah, I like this idea.

I expect to rank at or near the bottom this time around, and the next two-three times around as well at least, saying that not because I am pessimistic, but because I'm realistic that I'm not a seasoned player as most the rest of you are (not to mention have barely ever set foot on a pad other than a soft pad, at least so far). But that isn't really the point here, and that I'm excited about this weekend because it's all about social capital; sharing our appreciation of the game in good company, and learning from one another by watching as well.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

and to watch discovolante rake in da money$$$$$$$$$

I approve of WTA.  If we did something else, I'd magically get matched up against people I could beat and pull off second place and somehow manage to make money. ;P

right, so 100% to winner. we're all only pitching in a dollar anyway, so that's like 8 bucks. whoo.

Hey guys.

My mom's taking my computer away because I've apparently "betrayed her trust" by having a myspace account.  Allegedly it's dangerous, despite the fact that my profile's private and my friendslist is limited only to people I know well IRL. :/ (and as of yesterday, the only public picture of me there is a bitmap image of a pixel character)

So, I won't be here in a while.
Find someone else to organise the get-togethers.
When you do, that person should IM Matt (zeppy) to get my phone number, and let me know when any get-togethers are planned or I'll gladly help you with organisation.

Sorry guys. :/
I'm probably far more pissed off by this than any of you are.

But you're still coming to the get-togethers, right?