So, who deserves to Win? Part 3
I've been hesitant to write this and I believe it has something to do with the idea that spoken fears somehow are more realistic then unspoken ones. I'm not crazy though, and the Smash community will grow and evolve regardless of what I write. However, I'm just not sure I'm ready to articulate well enough, my biggest concern.
Let me try a story;
I want to introduce you to Peter. Peter's not a real person he's of my invention, but he is every where. Peter loves Smash, he played the 64 version, the Game Cube version and now he has the Wii version. He can't get enough, he's been playing with his friends for years, the best of them no doubt and he's ready for his first Brawl tournament. He hasn't decided what characters he's planning on playing, he simply ready to play with anyone, it's not like he knows anyone that beats him, right? Top 5 for sure! No, make that Top 3.
Now before Peter gets to the tournament with some of his buddies that are assuming his number 1 spot is ensured, the pros at the venue are deciding their spots respectively. Their deciding what characters they will use against other pros and what characters they will practice with against the "scrubs." They will be hanging around one another, joking with one another, yet wondering, which of them is going to take the number 1 spot, number 2 spot and number 3 spot. Each of these players have practiced in tournament settings and know, that no one here can beat them.
Peter walks in, head held high thanks to his friends encouragement, and easily takes his first match, his friends however are half in, the other half already in the losers bracket. Peter's confidence remains high.
The "pros" all win their first matches and are pleasantly surprised that each of them are in different sides of the bracket. The top 4 of the winners should be the three of them, and one other.
Peter barely wins his third match, and suspects he can do better in the next match, all his friends are now out of the winners and losers brackets.
The Pro's are simply waiting for one of them to play another. Wondering how much the three of them will be able to rake in, and the least confident wondering if he can get the other 2 to agree to simply split the cash 3 ways before any of them have to face one another.
Peter loses two matches before the 4th spot, running into a "pro" that beats him effortlessly. The Pros take the cash, show the chain throws, the infinites, the 6 to 8 hit combos. Ride home happy. Half of Peter's friends refuse to go to another tournament again.
"'No items' is stupid," they say.
Now the real difference between Peter and the "pros" which I used very loosely to simply describe a competent competitive player is that one takes the game more serious then the other. Peter simply saw the game as a way to pass the time with friends while the other players had a desire apart from the game to excel. While Brawl is still very young, I suspect Peter's story will be common around the country. Having played Melee, this bothers me. This bothers me a great deal.
When I won my Wii at a Smash tournament in Oklahoma, it felt great, and it saved me 270 dollars with tax or what not, but It did make me feel like an ass being one of the two people there that had actually played it competitively. If I were to ever steal candy from another persons child, I imagine the feeling would be similar. I was a bit nervous because the TVs were laggy, but mostly because I knew it shouldn't be difficult and I was wondering if I'd be caught, if someone were to see a wave dash and then ask me to leave. Is is it really this easy? I thought. Looking back at that tournament the reason for the guilt is clear.
Smash tournaments were okay before because the only people that still played the game up until Brawl came out were people that played the game competitively, sure from time to time a new face would come to a tournament, but they were never seen again. They had simply figured the game had evolved since when they had played or that they had gotten worse. They could let it go. The problem with Brawl however is that Brawl is new and has never been sold or marketed to be a "hardcore" fighting game, there will be dozens of players like Peter that may or may not ever try to take the game serious because of a bad tournament experience. Some Peters may want to learn, others may want to move on, decide that Brawl may not be for them. Why not just go back and play Halo? Something clearly designed for competitive play.
It's this rift that will come between people and their ability to enjoy a game that I'm concerned about. Sure old Melee players will host tournaments and most of the players that go will expect Melee type tournaments with high level strategies and play, but what about those players going to tournaments that random people are running for fun, that have never heard about smash boards and would never think of practicing a chain throw. Is it right to go to those? I don't think Melee players should, do you really want to jump in someone else's birthday cake? To most people this is a gift from Sakurai, a gift to unite a group of people together with the simple goal of knocking each other off the stage with ridiculous amounts of stuff happening on screen. Most, if not all of it fan-service to create un-forgettable events. So that Drinking buddies, high school buddies, stoner buddies, whatever, could pass the time with Nintendo, Sonic and Snake nostalgia carrying them all the way through. The soundtrack the seal of quality that will ring in their heads well after they've laid the controllers down.
I guess what I'm saying is, competitive players just don't deserve to win at certain places. I'm asking competitive players to not enter tournaments that they don't belong in. I'm also asking non competitive players to accept defeat like a good sport if you find yourself at a tournament above your league. It's not your fault exactly, you just don't take the game as serious, but give credit where it's due when your opponent annihilates you and remember that they simply took the game a step further.
Let me try a story;
I want to introduce you to Peter. Peter's not a real person he's of my invention, but he is every where. Peter loves Smash, he played the 64 version, the Game Cube version and now he has the Wii version. He can't get enough, he's been playing with his friends for years, the best of them no doubt and he's ready for his first Brawl tournament. He hasn't decided what characters he's planning on playing, he simply ready to play with anyone, it's not like he knows anyone that beats him, right? Top 5 for sure! No, make that Top 3.
Now before Peter gets to the tournament with some of his buddies that are assuming his number 1 spot is ensured, the pros at the venue are deciding their spots respectively. Their deciding what characters they will use against other pros and what characters they will practice with against the "scrubs." They will be hanging around one another, joking with one another, yet wondering, which of them is going to take the number 1 spot, number 2 spot and number 3 spot. Each of these players have practiced in tournament settings and know, that no one here can beat them.
Peter walks in, head held high thanks to his friends encouragement, and easily takes his first match, his friends however are half in, the other half already in the losers bracket. Peter's confidence remains high.
The "pros" all win their first matches and are pleasantly surprised that each of them are in different sides of the bracket. The top 4 of the winners should be the three of them, and one other.
Peter barely wins his third match, and suspects he can do better in the next match, all his friends are now out of the winners and losers brackets.
The Pro's are simply waiting for one of them to play another. Wondering how much the three of them will be able to rake in, and the least confident wondering if he can get the other 2 to agree to simply split the cash 3 ways before any of them have to face one another.
Peter loses two matches before the 4th spot, running into a "pro" that beats him effortlessly. The Pros take the cash, show the chain throws, the infinites, the 6 to 8 hit combos. Ride home happy. Half of Peter's friends refuse to go to another tournament again.
"'No items' is stupid," they say.
Now the real difference between Peter and the "pros" which I used very loosely to simply describe a competent competitive player is that one takes the game more serious then the other. Peter simply saw the game as a way to pass the time with friends while the other players had a desire apart from the game to excel. While Brawl is still very young, I suspect Peter's story will be common around the country. Having played Melee, this bothers me. This bothers me a great deal.
When I won my Wii at a Smash tournament in Oklahoma, it felt great, and it saved me 270 dollars with tax or what not, but It did make me feel like an ass being one of the two people there that had actually played it competitively. If I were to ever steal candy from another persons child, I imagine the feeling would be similar. I was a bit nervous because the TVs were laggy, but mostly because I knew it shouldn't be difficult and I was wondering if I'd be caught, if someone were to see a wave dash and then ask me to leave. Is is it really this easy? I thought. Looking back at that tournament the reason for the guilt is clear.
Smash tournaments were okay before because the only people that still played the game up until Brawl came out were people that played the game competitively, sure from time to time a new face would come to a tournament, but they were never seen again. They had simply figured the game had evolved since when they had played or that they had gotten worse. They could let it go. The problem with Brawl however is that Brawl is new and has never been sold or marketed to be a "hardcore" fighting game, there will be dozens of players like Peter that may or may not ever try to take the game serious because of a bad tournament experience. Some Peters may want to learn, others may want to move on, decide that Brawl may not be for them. Why not just go back and play Halo? Something clearly designed for competitive play.
It's this rift that will come between people and their ability to enjoy a game that I'm concerned about. Sure old Melee players will host tournaments and most of the players that go will expect Melee type tournaments with high level strategies and play, but what about those players going to tournaments that random people are running for fun, that have never heard about smash boards and would never think of practicing a chain throw. Is it right to go to those? I don't think Melee players should, do you really want to jump in someone else's birthday cake? To most people this is a gift from Sakurai, a gift to unite a group of people together with the simple goal of knocking each other off the stage with ridiculous amounts of stuff happening on screen. Most, if not all of it fan-service to create un-forgettable events. So that Drinking buddies, high school buddies, stoner buddies, whatever, could pass the time with Nintendo, Sonic and Snake nostalgia carrying them all the way through. The soundtrack the seal of quality that will ring in their heads well after they've laid the controllers down.
I guess what I'm saying is, competitive players just don't deserve to win at certain places. I'm asking competitive players to not enter tournaments that they don't belong in. I'm also asking non competitive players to accept defeat like a good sport if you find yourself at a tournament above your league. It's not your fault exactly, you just don't take the game as serious, but give credit where it's due when your opponent annihilates you and remember that they simply took the game a step further.