Smash Note 4: Clearing things up
Its strange, now that I take a step back it seems as though what I wrote (part 3) and the comments I got in response in certain places (I've posted this in a few) seem to say a lot of good stuff, but that stuff implies that I've said things that I certainly didn't mean to. I don't have a problem with skill or people becoming skilled players or people using that skill to make a little cash, it simply bothers me. It bothers me in the way that makes me wonder, were they asshole? Were they humble or arrogant? It bothers me a lot because it's an important question with answers that lead to many implications. In my example with the Peter story I make a few mistakes that I knew I was making, but I was betting on the fact that people would grasp the point that I wanted them to grasp. The facts being that a number of people didn't have fun and that for being a competition, it really wasn't one.
I'm the kind of player that likes good close matches If I were to give a Japanese role playing game a tangible variable to measure whether it's game play was fun or not, I'd use the system of asking myself, how many boss fights came to the last hit? Did I steam roll everyone or did I cross my fingers a lot? Those moments of wondering who's going to throw the last blow is very essential, my whole body is flowing with anticipation, will I succeed or will I fail? It's a great feeling to have. Unfortunately for most JRPGs this feeling never comes across, but they can do other things with game play, score or story telling to make up for it.
Personally when I go to a tournament I expect to see good matches with people that don't play with one another. If it comes down to two close friends I don't watch because chances are I've seen this match played out already at their homes, my home or someone else's home. It's boring. When I had suggested that “pro” players not go to tournaments they don't belong to I didn't mean they should never go to public tournaments, I meant they shouldn't go to tournaments where they don't belong. In public tournaments for a prize I can understand going, I personally would too, I'll just feel bad about it If I happen to win, but some “pro” will go, so why not you? What I meant to suggest and failed was that they shouldn't go to tournaments where they know the people there well enough to know that they don't want to take the game to the next level. These tournament probably won't be large, but I come across people that talk about these on campus a decent amount and I don't indulge them because I don't want to ruin their enjoyment of the game and I imagine the cash for winning is small. In the same way that If I was playing Monopoly or Chess I certainly wouldn't want my friend to bring his Chess Pro to play against me, it's like, I know he's better then me, he knows he's better then me, and I could really care less about Chess, I was just dicking around. On the other hand If I was serious about either, a pro would be exciting. It's simple however to know the difference by communicating with those people and hearing how they interpret the matches they play rather then simply joining on board and crushing them.
There is a time and place for Competitive Smash and a place for Non-Competitive Smash, the problem I face is that there is nothing going on when the Non enter the Competitive, but there is something happening when the Competitive enter the field of the Non, and they should be aware of it. They should be aware of it so they aren't ruining the experience for someone else and while most of the people that read this accept the fact that gaming is an art and can be experienced however each person pleases I do believe it's wrong to ruin the experience for someone else. In much the same way as allowing your phone to ring in the theater. When the way you want to experience a game ruins the way another wants to experience the game, your doing something wrong. I'm all for people living they way they want to, but when that person happens to want to live in a way that is detrimental to other people, I get pissed off. Sure everyone has the right to live their life how they feel, but stealing from people or breaking their mail boxes with baseball bats is a dick move regardless of how you look at it.
I hope this is a good enough response to each of the comments and hope that clears stuff up. I really blame my title for some of the miss communication, but I didn't know where I was going to I was there.
I'm the kind of player that likes good close matches If I were to give a Japanese role playing game a tangible variable to measure whether it's game play was fun or not, I'd use the system of asking myself, how many boss fights came to the last hit? Did I steam roll everyone or did I cross my fingers a lot? Those moments of wondering who's going to throw the last blow is very essential, my whole body is flowing with anticipation, will I succeed or will I fail? It's a great feeling to have. Unfortunately for most JRPGs this feeling never comes across, but they can do other things with game play, score or story telling to make up for it.
Personally when I go to a tournament I expect to see good matches with people that don't play with one another. If it comes down to two close friends I don't watch because chances are I've seen this match played out already at their homes, my home or someone else's home. It's boring. When I had suggested that “pro” players not go to tournaments they don't belong to I didn't mean they should never go to public tournaments, I meant they shouldn't go to tournaments where they don't belong. In public tournaments for a prize I can understand going, I personally would too, I'll just feel bad about it If I happen to win, but some “pro” will go, so why not you? What I meant to suggest and failed was that they shouldn't go to tournaments where they know the people there well enough to know that they don't want to take the game to the next level. These tournament probably won't be large, but I come across people that talk about these on campus a decent amount and I don't indulge them because I don't want to ruin their enjoyment of the game and I imagine the cash for winning is small. In the same way that If I was playing Monopoly or Chess I certainly wouldn't want my friend to bring his Chess Pro to play against me, it's like, I know he's better then me, he knows he's better then me, and I could really care less about Chess, I was just dicking around. On the other hand If I was serious about either, a pro would be exciting. It's simple however to know the difference by communicating with those people and hearing how they interpret the matches they play rather then simply joining on board and crushing them.
There is a time and place for Competitive Smash and a place for Non-Competitive Smash, the problem I face is that there is nothing going on when the Non enter the Competitive, but there is something happening when the Competitive enter the field of the Non, and they should be aware of it. They should be aware of it so they aren't ruining the experience for someone else and while most of the people that read this accept the fact that gaming is an art and can be experienced however each person pleases I do believe it's wrong to ruin the experience for someone else. In much the same way as allowing your phone to ring in the theater. When the way you want to experience a game ruins the way another wants to experience the game, your doing something wrong. I'm all for people living they way they want to, but when that person happens to want to live in a way that is detrimental to other people, I get pissed off. Sure everyone has the right to live their life how they feel, but stealing from people or breaking their mail boxes with baseball bats is a dick move regardless of how you look at it.
I hope this is a good enough response to each of the comments and hope that clears stuff up. I really blame my title for some of the miss communication, but I didn't know where I was going to I was there.