I think that paid bids only advance to prelims...
Anyway, I cant answer WHY they changed it, but I think it was having to do how large some of the divisions were becoming. Even the most perfect of judges cant fairly judge 80 teams fairly. Last year when they split the divisions (My division I am concerned with is Small Limited, as I have a team in that division) it wasnt judged correctly in the fairness scheme of things.
It used to be the top 50% ish teams advanced to finals. Then with the split divisions, they decided that within the two split divisions, they would take the top 60% (The extra 10% was used, Im assuming, to account for any biases, etc) Anyway - Even with that being said, Group B last year in the Small Limited division had much higher scores then Group A. Some of the teams in Group B that didnt advance to finals (missing the 60% cut off) were still within the top 50% scores if they would have combined the divisions.
I am assuming, with that being said, that the reason they are doing something different, is because, IMO, what they did last year wasnt working, at least not fairly - So they are trying a new tactic - Trial and Error I think you call it.
I really do like the idea of Trials. It will weed out some teams that might not be easy on the eyes to watch, and will make Prelims and Finals consist of teams that TRUELY belong in Prelims. Looking at this from an athletes point of view, competing three times is a lot in a weekend, and from what I heard from the international teams that had to do trials last year, I think someone said in another post, that Top Gun International had to compete twice within under 2 hours of each other. That can really take a toll on someones body - Getting warm, competing, getting cold, warm again, and competeing.
I really think that I would more so like the idea of how NCA College Nationals does there Prelims to finals. You compete in Prelims and try to make the top 50% to move on to Finals. Whoever doesnt make the Top 50% goes and competes in the Challenge Cup. The winner of the Challenge Cuo moves to finals. Beings Worlds would probably have a lot more teams competing in the Challenge Cup then NCA (I think NCA only probabaly has like 10-12 teams in a Challnege cup AT MOST) The Worlds Challenge Cup could take like the top 5 or 10% placing teams into finals. That way everyone will get to compete twice - With another chance to prove themselves (incase a REALLY GOOD TEAM just falls apart in Prelims, it will give them a chance to make finals - If you cant prove yourself out of two performances, IMO, you SHOULD be left out of Finals)
Anyone else have any thoughts on this?