[CQ-Contest] Is the wpx a prefix test or dx contest?

[Cqtestk4xs at aol.com]

Let's face it.  The rules for this contest are not set in stone  either.  
Most of us can remember when USA to USA Qs were zero  pointers.  That was 
fun, wasn't it?  To run a string of 5 or 10  stations or so and get no points 
especially if they were 1 by 3 calls  which really were not needed.
 
There are inequities in all contests.  SS usually favors western  stations. 
 The ARRL 10 makes FL a choicer location than the NE etc.   

The WPX is not really a DX contest.  That concept disappeared when the  
zero pointers disappeared.  It is a hybrid of domestic AND DX, rather like  
ARRL 10 meter contest.  ALL Qs count for points and mults are domestic as  well 
as DX.
 
What does this mean, I'm not sure.  To throw stones at NQ4I and say  his 
ideas are self-serving is unfair since no one except Rick knows his  motives.  
I'm not saying we should weight all Qs equally, but isn't it  pretty unfair 
 for a western UA9 to get one point for working a Kamchatka  station for 
one point 5000 and miles away? But, he gets three points  for all the high 
density eastern EU stations which are relatively next  door?  This effect is 
intensified when you drop down to 40 and 80 and  really can skew the scores 
for stations in rule favored areas.  I think  this is what Rick was alluding 
to. 
 
If you think about it, very few major contests have not changed the rules  
from time to time.  About the only one I can think of that hasn't is  CQWW.  
Were all those changes meant to benefit a certain station?  I  don't think 
so.  They were an action to get more stations in the  contest...to make it a 
better contest.
 
Maybe we need to look at it a different way.  Will a given change make  
more guys participate, rather than will this change favor a certain area.   No 
one will argue that in 2013, being a W6 is not the place to be and that 
being  on the east coast is better.  Do we give W6 and W7 stations higher points 
 per Q than a W1?  Would that make it a better contest, with the definition 
 of a better contest being more people will participate?  How about making  
all Qs within a country 2 points?  Would that increase participation?   If 
the answer is no, the change should not take place.
 
WPX is a popular contest, just like IBM was a great typewriter  company.  
However, times do change and there is nothing wrong with adapting  your 
company or contest to make it better.  CQ does a great job with  the contest, but 
they have changed rules in the past and most of us will agree  the zero 
point elimination was a good one.
 
Bottom line:  Can any rule change make this a better contest?  We  should 
give it serious consideration.
 
If the log checkers don't seriously whack me this year it looks like I will 
 win the WPX SSB...from south of Atlanta.  I won it back in the early 2000s 
 too.  However, it was not by points per Q.  It was through sheer  quantity 
of stations worked, with a large proportion of them W/K stations.   Tons of 
one pointers.  I'm sure the guys in W5 have as many, if not more  one 
pointers than I do
 
In the end, it's all up to CQ.  My final comment on this is a hybrid  of 
Rick's rule and the present.  Maybe 2 points for same country Qs on  10-20, 
and maybe 3 points for 40-160?  Again, would that increase  participation?  
Would it increase the amount of stations from W0, and W6 as  well as other 
parts of the world?  If not, don't do it. 
 
Please don't flame me as I am only acting as the devil's advocate  here.  I 
plan to operate the contest regardless of the rules and am happy  with the 
contest as it is.  However, as with anything that is a success,  there is 
usually something that can be done to tweak it to make it a little  better.  
One who proposes change does not always have a self centered  motive.  Martin 
Luther King would probably  agree.  
 
Bill K4XS/KH7XS