Countdown to Kong Off 3 (Score to beat)

[LMDAVE]

With the news of Jeff Wolfe's latest score (congrats again Jeff), I thought it was a good time now for everyone shooting for a top 12 spot to take a close look of where we are at, what to shoot for, and the biggest....when is the official dead line.

According to KO3 rules:

"The Kong Off 3 will feature 22 machines for gameplay. The Top 12 Twin Galaxies ranked players, as of 10/25/13 will have their own dedicated machine for gameplay beginning on Saturday. Machine selection for the top ranked players will take place at 5pm, Friday November 15th."

10/25/13, Does this mean verified by 10/25 or played before 10/25? Maybe if there's something in the queue it'll be considered. Trying to nail down what a good drop dead date is for submission will be kind of tricky.

We're about at the 1 month countdown, but we may have less than that if it's to be in the system by 10/25.

Either way, with Jeff's score to be submitted, I'll try to use this thread to keep up to date what "theoretical" #12 is. So, whenever a top 12 score that is known to be submitted by not verified yet, this "score to beat" will be updated based on that submitted score being verified.


SCORE TO BEAT: 1,025,700  Robbie Lakeman

[hchien]

I cannot say officially but I would assume that the Oct 25th is a submitted before deadline since the verification can take a variable number days and is out of your control.

Keep in mind that several players in the top 12 may not go to KO3, so if you end up at 13th/14th/etc, you may still get a dedicated machine.  Obviously if you want to be 100% guaranteed a machine you should aim to be in the top 12.  Also remember that Kyle also has a 1.018M (he is not sandbagging-- I actually advised him to hold onto that score in case he beats it before Oct 25).

[LMDAVE]

I knew about Kyle's score and it was confusing about what he was doing (some said he's not submitting it, and some say he is), but now with Jeff's score, that eliminates the confusion since that puts Robbie at #12.

I know not everyone visits this board, but just to be fair to those who are aiming for top 12, if you're within the top 12 or have recent scores that land within the top 12, let us know (if possible) your intentions.

[mikegmi2]

"The Kong Off 3 will feature 22 machines for gameplay. The Top 12 Twin Galaxies ranked players, as of 10/25/13 will have their own dedicated machine for gameplay beginning on Saturday. Machine selection for the top ranked players will take place at 5pm, Friday November 15th."

I always assumed this statement meant that you had to have a score submitted and verified as of 10/25/13...due to the fact that it says "top 12 Twin Galaxies ranked players"...and you can't be an officially ranked player until your score is verified by a ref and put up on the website.

But, I am sure TG could make an exception if someone does 1.05M on October 23 or something like that.  That's not to say it would probably cause some controversy though, lol. 

Regarding "sandbagging"...it would be kinda crappy if someone did that, but there would be no way to prove it unless the TG ref that verified the game disclosed the date spoken by said player during the recording, to the DK community.  Otherwise, someone could be saving a 1.06M game until a couple weeks before, and submit it.  I doubt anyone would do that though.

[lifereboot]

Good luck to everyone trying to qualify for a dedicated machine!  I'm sure DK will get even more interesting in these last weeks!

[hchien]

I knew about Kyle's score and it was confusing about what he was doing (some said he's not submitting it, and some say he is), but now with Jeff's score, that eliminates the confusion since that puts Robbie at #12.

It may still matter.  Say the scores stay the way they are now and one person in the top 12 doesn't go.  Then if Kyle submits he's #13 -> #12 if he doesn't then you become #13 -> #12.

I know not everyone visits this board, but just to be fair to those who are aiming for top 12, if you're within the top 12 or have recent scores that land within the top 12, let us know (if possible) your intentions.

Yeah I think we should all agree as a community, no sandbagging for the purposes of Kong Off qualifying.

[lakeman421]

SCORE TO BEAT: 1,021,100 Robbie Lakeman

Fuck... Sheeit

[lakeman421]

Since I'm right on the bubble now I was also wondering the same thing if say someone streamed a qualifying score days before the deadline since verifying takes time sending it in and getting it up on the board.  I have heard that some of the top 12 might not attend sending others in.  I was just curious to see where some people were at or if they were going to get some others out of the top 12 a general idea of their chances.

[ChrisP]

For the record, here is the TG Top 12 as of today:

1   1,138,600   Hank Chien
2   1,135,900   Vincent Lemay
3   1,105,400   Jeff Willms
4   1,079,400   Dean Saglio
5   1,064,500   Steve J Wiebe
6   1,062,800   Billy L Mitchell
7   1,058,200   Steve Wiltshire
8   1,054,900   Jeff Wolfe --- PENDING
9   1,052,900   Mark L Kiehl
10   1,037,500   Shaun Boyd
11   1,023,600   Mike Groesbeck
12   1,021,100   Robbie Lakeman
-----------------------------------------------------------
13   1,015,000   Dave McCrary
14   1,012,800   Kyle Goewert --- 1,018,xxx PENDING
15   999,800   Estel J Goffinet

Hank mentioned that some in the top 12 might not be going.

At this point, now that Shaun has confirmed that he will go, the only "maybe" is Jeff Willms. (I am really hoping, for the sake of the event, that Jeff goes, as a Kong Off 3 without a defending champion would be a little embarrassing.)

Other than that though, everybody else is going to be there. So I'm feeling that the 12 spot really is pretty firm now.

[hchien]

As of yesterday, Dean was a maybe as well.  I think the wife needs some convincing.

[ChrisP]

"The Kong Off 3 will feature 22 machines for gameplay."

12 main lineup + 8 wildcard machines = 20

To whom do the other 2 go?

I am hoping to 13th and 14th, and not wildcards.

[LMDAVE]

Well, all of these different scenarios, other than qualifying, makes me feel like I didn't earn my way in. I really would hate to be in the top 12 by default because others pulled out, and I would not want the dedicated machines increased either. (LOL, y'all would hate me as a Kong Off organizer, I still think the contest should be top 10 only, and that's it, but understand 12 since BIlly and Steve will always be in.)

I know when I eliminate my stupid mistakes and my recent pace game reaches the end, it'll probably be inbetween Wiebe and Dean on the list at #5. Had two different level 21 loss games that would have landed right in that area.

[hchien]

It looks like there will be 10 wildcard machines as the following line is: "The Top 12 Twin Galaxies ranked players..."  That's a bit too many in my opinion.  How many wildcard contestants were there last year?  20 or so?  If you exclude the top 8 (or 10?) from the online qualifiers, that means roughly 12 (or 10?) people for 10 machines on Friday.  Basically you get a dedicated machine on Friday night if you walk in off the street and 8 (or 10?) of those 12 (or 10?) move on to Saturday (only 4 (or 0?) are eliminated).  So the online qualifiers are rendered meaningless.  In fact, it's arguably better to walk in off the street so you get playtime on Friday.

If there were say 30 wildcard contestants, then having 10 machines would make sense (Basically I'm going with n/3 as the optimal # of wildcard machines so that 1/3 of the field gets eliminated each day and the top 1/3 gets a dedicated machine Sunday). 

Does everyone think there will be more or fewer wildcard contestants this year?

[Fast Eddie]

i asked about the extra two cabs when Richie asked for KO3 questions for the arcade culture show, i dont think Richie said anything about it, but the question of extra machines was put to John Salter and he said it was just the 8...

so i guess its top 14, or 2 cabs for random punters to have fun on, or 22 was a typo...

 

[mikegmi2]

I would think there would be more wildcards this year compared to last year, but maybe not.  At least 3 of last year's wildcards are now in the current top 12.

There might always be a few local wildcards that participate this year now that, maybe, the word has spread within the Denver area that there is a "Kong Off" at the 1UP now.  People that love Donkey Kong, have seen KoK, but aren't tapped into these forums or the DK scene yet...may have found out about the event via news reports, internet, etc...and might want to come out and compete for the fun of it.