Hey everyone, Derek here and on behalf of all of our member locations, let me officially welcome you to Northeast Pinball Challenge Season Two. Let’s get in to it!
When’s it start? NPC Season Two starts the week of February 15th, and runs through April. It’s still the same 7 week, 5 best count league of last time, we’ve just built a little more time in to the schedule to help our locations deliver for you, to dodge the biggest event in pinball in the Northeast, and to give ample time if we need to dodge snow days!
What’s the same? It’s still $30 dollars a season, all games played at one location over 7 sessions. Your best 5 weeks count for standings. After 7 weeks, everyone plays at a location final for cash and prizes — we’re committed to making sure you can compete and win regardless of if you can or want to go to Grand Finals. 4 players from each location will advance to the NPC Grand Finals.
When and where are Grand Finals? Grand Finals will be held May 2nd at Capital Pinball in Concord, New Hampshire.
So, what’s new this year? We’re so glad you asked! We’ve made a few changes based on feedback from our locations and players since last year!
- Sites can now elect to send the top 4 finishers from their finals, or their top 4 finishers in league standings to Grand Finals. We heard from some players and sites that they wanted more emphasis on league standings, and now each location can choose how to send their representatives before the league starts. You can see what each location chose right now on the locations page.
- We’ve made changes to the team finals format at Grand Finals. Now, no players are eliminated, and the impact on time is better controlled. You can read about the new format on the information page. Team finals is our favorite part of NPC — so this year, the top 4 teams will be competing after round 4.
- Locations can now choose to do pairings that are the same for the night, or to treat league play like a tournament and have 4 different groups each week. You can see what each location chose right now on the locations page.
- Locations may elect to accept opt outs to IFPA sanctioning at an individual level. Because planning for Season Two began last summer and are intertwined with IFPA sanctioning, this is the best we can do in Season Two to compromise on what our locations and players are asking for. I ask that you read my blog on IFPA sanctioning and Season Two for more detail, and to keep feedback coming. NPC will review our relationship with IFPA prior to Season Three.
- We now have merch! Yes, some people asked last season. We’ve worked with an amazing print vendor through Printify to find high quality garments that can be direct printed and sent to you for as low a price as we could. NPC shirts can be had for under twenty bucks, and some locations even have exclusive colors and site logos on the sleeves for a little bit more. And since we know not everyone wants swag, these are fully optional and we never use your league fees for it. Check out the shop here if you’re interested!
If you’re a location interested in joining for Season Two, good news! We still can accept a few more locations before sizing out of Grand Finals. Please reach out to derek@npcpinball.org as soon as possible and we’ll do our best to bring you on board.
For now, it’s time to start planning your season and finding your favorite location. We’re just about 8 weeks from welcoming you back to the fold. And feel free to reach out if you’ve got questions or feedback — you can find me on Discord or reach out to my email above.
Welcome to Northeast Pinball Challenge — let’s get flippin’!
Derek Correia, Vice Dictator, NPCPinball