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Hello, this is Mario Smith, and today I want to present to you something of which hasn't been presented or brought up before, and that is the revival of Taunt Parties.
Contents
I Introduction
II Execution
III Pros
IV Cons
V Potential Challenges
VI Plans for the future
Terms: TP = Taunt Party, TPs = Taunt Parties, FFA = Free For All, TPC = Taunt Party Crasher, TPCs = Taunt Party Crashers, SD = Self-Destruct(ion), SD'ing = Self-Destroying/Self-Destructing.
Introduction
"What is the purpose of this?", You may ask? The purpose is to restore the Fun to the For Fun mode. It was an understandable deed for Sakurai to make a mode separating the Casual players from the Hardcore players, it was even an understandable deed for Sakurai to impose rules and bans for the "For Glory" mode. However, on For Fun, it was neither noble, nor understandable for Sakurai to both prevent us from choosing our own stages or to impose
Anti-Taunt Party rules. The only difference is that one is outside of our power, the other isn't. So I call all who are willing to listen to read and take to heart my proposal on how to revive the Taunt Parties that defined Brawl and are on trial in Smash 4.
Execution
Due to all of the limitations in Smash 4, along with the in-general lack of TP knowledge, The Execution segment of this post will not only show people how to preserve the parties, but will inform new viewers on how to get in.
1. Constant-Crouching = Submission - This is the most basic and understandable way to let you know that somebody's interested in partaking in a Taunt Party. When I say "constant", usually 2 crouches at least will let you know that they are interested. One crouch can also imply this, however, sometimes people might crouch once as a mistake, so I'd advise that you crouch at least twice in response, and if they crouch again or taunt, then you're good to go and have now made a Taunt Party! Taunting at the start of the match can also signify one's desire to join, however some may simply be taunting for the sake of it, immediately before trying to have a fight. The best way to get a clear understanding on what their intent is, is to crouch in response, and if they crouch or taunt back, then you should be good. The reason that you probably shouldn't taunt in response to a Taunt is the same reason why you should crouch to confirm their desire to join; Taunting is a mixed signal.
2. People in Taunt Parties don't attack each other - In a Taunt Party, you can do just about whatever you want, however, when in relation to your fellow partners, don't fight them as you would a non-party member. It's okay if you hit them once or twice, but make sure to crouch afterwards, as, in that context, the crouching is being used as not only a signifier, but also as a means of "apologizing" to the player who you hurt. This rule does have exceptions though (see number three)
3. Make sure to occasionally hit your partners with a weak attack - In Smash 4, there are now rules that will ban players for consistently targeting one fighter (see number 5), and, in order to get around this, you will now have to hit your friends occasionally. The reason I say to hit them with a weak attack is because you aren't trying to kill them, you are simply hitting them as a means to reset the "hit counter", which in turn will keep you in the game longer and help you avoid the ban. It's best to hit your partner with a jab or weak aerial, but just make sure to crouch afterwards!
4. Honorable Suicide - Honorable Suicide is the act of SD'ing (annihilating yourself) during a Sudden Death out of respect and partnership with your fellow Taunt Party crew. Usually all Taunt Party people do this out of an act of selflessness. If you see somebody sitting by waiting for you to SD, while not even trying to do it themselves, then see number 5.
5. Taunt Party Crashers - In a For Fun FFA, if your "opponent" either doesn't crouch, taunts, then proceeds to attack, or simply does nothing, then they're a Taunt Party Crasher. TPCs don't always flat-out attack you, sometimes they will even masquerade as you and "play along" until around the last minute or 30 seconds, in which, after slowly (very slowly) increasing your damage, will Smash you into oblivion, throw an item at you, or use their Final Smash on you without doing number 7 to balance it out. Typically, TPCs will be the "reserved" person of the group, that is, until Sudden Death. once/if you make it to Sudden Death. During the Sudden Death segment of the match, you can usually tell somebody is a crasher if they sit or stand idly by waiting for you to SD, or if they flat-out charge at you and attempt a grab or dash attack. Some genuine players will do this, however, to "clean the perimeter", so you and your team can decide during the next match whether or not to accept them back into your group or not.
6. Stopping a Crasher - This is the point where you want to utilize your team. When fighting one of these players, one of the best ways to combat them is to keep them in place while another team member attacks, although the best way is to simply go all-out against them, just make sure not to attack your teammates! The best tactics would be to shieldgrab them (since they'll mostly be in the air), or to punish them for trying to dodge or attack a fellow teammate's attacks. If you are a competitive player, then try to be the "front-soldier" of the group by going all-out and keeping your teammates in a "safe corner" (if possible). If you accidentally kill your partner, see number 7
7. Evening the score - If you accidentally get killed by your teammate, then simply go to them, crouch once or twice, attack them (preferably with a jab), and crouch once or twice again. If the player who killed you is a true Taunt Party player, then they will SD after this to balance it out, but make sure to hit them, so you can get the +1 and balance the score, because if you don't hit them, those points could go to the wrong member or the enemy.
8. Health Resetting - This is the act of killing your opponent, then having them kill you, to effectively balance the score and reset both player's health back to 0%. This one may be more confusing for beginners, but it is essential for maintaining yourselves and keeping yourselves from getting killed by the enemy camp. To do this, either jab and try to get them to SD like in number 7, or simply kill them yourselves if they don't understand and then even the score on yourself to balance it out.
9. Don't stand by for too long - Unlike in Brawl, you can't just sit around, make sure that every 5-10 seconds to throw out a jab or aerial; something, just to ensure that you don't idle too long and get banned for it (if you do though, don't worry, as the bans are only temporary).
- If there's anything I missed, just let me know! -
Pros
Some may wonder what the pros are to having Taunt Parties, so allow me to explain them
1. It builds connections - I have heard of some players who have actually made online friends from having Taunt Parties, due to sending friend requests, and even if that doesn't happen, it allows you to interact with and enjoy the company of other players. It allows you two to do things together, rather than just fighting. There was actually a fun moment where two players played as Cloud and Zero Suit Samus and had a little "relationship" (I just hope they were a male and female respectively), and I played as Falcon to try to take the Samus from Cloud (Zero Suit apparently has Zero-Tolerance for such acts). These rich and interesting moments wouldn't be possible if everybody simply threw items and heartlessly attack one another.
2. It provides a break - Sometimes an interesting phenomenon occurs where people want to play Smash, but don't necessarily want to engage in an intense fight. By having Taunt Parties, you can take however long you need to recoup before jumping back into the actions.
3. It alleviates aggression - As a competitive player, I can assure you that aggression and tension can arise within players of the caliber, and quite frankly, this isn't really healthy in high amounts. Having Taunt Parties can also help with this, as it's just a nice, relaxed, chill, environment, for all (or most) to enjoy.
4. Checks and Balances - Smash 4 has some balance, but it's definitely not as good as it could be, and any For Glory player online would agree with me... because they exploit this to their own ends. Smash 4 typically punishes offense in the form of high Base KB, weak attacks (save for spammable smash attacks), fast evasion moves, floaty gameplay, and powerful shields, while rewarding the campy, defensive, shield-spamming, Smash Attack abusing players, though, by having three players combating this one type of player, it helps to put these arrogant, cocky fighters in their place. Some say "git gud" but I say "git a party"
5. It's fun - It's quite pleasing to sit around and be able to enjoy the little things within Smash 4 with your fellow party members. Smash 4 may have some glaring flaws, but Taunt Parties actually made me appreciate the game more, as the focus was no longer on balance, but on the beauty of the items, or Mewtwo's Nair, or the romantic interactions between Cloud and Zero Suit (My Falcon will still get her somebody!). And nothing's quite as fun as you and your compadres teaming up on one player together!
Cons
Some people dislike Taunt Parties, so, for representations' sake, I'll include their arguments
1. It prevents people from having "real fights" - I agree, however, we both view this truth in two different ways. How they view it, is as a roadblock that gets in their ways. This group argues that by having these parties, they can't "play the game as it's meant to be played", however, In the party's defense, people trying to play the "real game" shouldn't be on For Fun in the first place.
2. It's not fun - This is a subjective argument. It's also important to note that 1 and 2 are connected here, as they're saying "since it's not being played the way it's intended to, it isn't fun".
3. Winning matches becomes nearly impossible - This, is also true, since, as it's always been, when you have 3 people against one, even if they were all noobs, unless they sucked 110%, then at most, you'll die at Sudden Death, but under normal circumstances, you would've lost way before then.
Potential Challenges
Reviving Taunt Parties won't be an easy task. In fact, it could be quite difficult, so here are the challenges that we'll have to face
1. Sakurai - Sakurai, via Single-Player-Targeting banning, Idle-banning, and SD-banning, has removed (or suppressed) the three most prominent forms of Taunt Party methods, so in order to work around this, players must now be extra cautious when Taunt Partying.
2. Community - A small, but vocal amount of people passionately dislike the idea of Taunt Partying, and then there's the big bulk of people who don't really know or care about it, and lastly, the slightly bigger minority of people who love Taunt Parties.
Plans for the future
Since this will be a big task, there will also have to be some goals
1. Making Taunt Parties become an acceptable thing - This is the most essential component to making this work. We have to lower the amount of people who hate them, and increase the amount of people who like them, perhaps, by doing this, Sakurai will retract the bans that he imposed on us.
2. Keeping it anonymous - The spirit and the essence that makes Taunt Parties so good isn't present when it's orchestrated and everybody truly knows who everybody is. If you befriend somebody, you shouldn't set up Taunt Party matches with them, that's when you really fight like intended. If you do see them, however, on the With Anyone modes, then by all means it's still the same!, It simply can't be connected and orchestrated to the point where it isn't "real", because that's when it becomes empty and time-wasting. There might be a Taunt Party online With Anyone, but nobody's going to have a "Taunt Party Tournament" for example, as that takes away from it, and you could just talk to the person, as they'd be right next to you.
As I always say: You have to be part of the experience, not the experience part of you.
3. Building a community - The purpose of said community wouldn't be to invalidate number 2, but rather, to capitalize on it. The community wouldn't so much be a "matchmaking" community, so much as a "storytelling" community, where people share similar posts to the one I did about Cloud and Zero Suit. Just something to get us out there
I hope that people begin to consider Taunt Parties and start to give them a chance, and I look forward to seeing what all people will/can do with them. Thank you for reading my post!
-Mario Smith
Contents
I Introduction
II Execution
III Pros
IV Cons
V Potential Challenges
VI Plans for the future
Terms: TP = Taunt Party, TPs = Taunt Parties, FFA = Free For All, TPC = Taunt Party Crasher, TPCs = Taunt Party Crashers, SD = Self-Destruct(ion), SD'ing = Self-Destroying/Self-Destructing.
Introduction
"What is the purpose of this?", You may ask? The purpose is to restore the Fun to the For Fun mode. It was an understandable deed for Sakurai to make a mode separating the Casual players from the Hardcore players, it was even an understandable deed for Sakurai to impose rules and bans for the "For Glory" mode. However, on For Fun, it was neither noble, nor understandable for Sakurai to both prevent us from choosing our own stages or to impose
Anti-Taunt Party rules. The only difference is that one is outside of our power, the other isn't. So I call all who are willing to listen to read and take to heart my proposal on how to revive the Taunt Parties that defined Brawl and are on trial in Smash 4.
Execution
Due to all of the limitations in Smash 4, along with the in-general lack of TP knowledge, The Execution segment of this post will not only show people how to preserve the parties, but will inform new viewers on how to get in.
1. Constant-Crouching = Submission - This is the most basic and understandable way to let you know that somebody's interested in partaking in a Taunt Party. When I say "constant", usually 2 crouches at least will let you know that they are interested. One crouch can also imply this, however, sometimes people might crouch once as a mistake, so I'd advise that you crouch at least twice in response, and if they crouch again or taunt, then you're good to go and have now made a Taunt Party! Taunting at the start of the match can also signify one's desire to join, however some may simply be taunting for the sake of it, immediately before trying to have a fight. The best way to get a clear understanding on what their intent is, is to crouch in response, and if they crouch or taunt back, then you should be good. The reason that you probably shouldn't taunt in response to a Taunt is the same reason why you should crouch to confirm their desire to join; Taunting is a mixed signal.
2. People in Taunt Parties don't attack each other - In a Taunt Party, you can do just about whatever you want, however, when in relation to your fellow partners, don't fight them as you would a non-party member. It's okay if you hit them once or twice, but make sure to crouch afterwards, as, in that context, the crouching is being used as not only a signifier, but also as a means of "apologizing" to the player who you hurt. This rule does have exceptions though (see number three)
3. Make sure to occasionally hit your partners with a weak attack - In Smash 4, there are now rules that will ban players for consistently targeting one fighter (see number 5), and, in order to get around this, you will now have to hit your friends occasionally. The reason I say to hit them with a weak attack is because you aren't trying to kill them, you are simply hitting them as a means to reset the "hit counter", which in turn will keep you in the game longer and help you avoid the ban. It's best to hit your partner with a jab or weak aerial, but just make sure to crouch afterwards!
4. Honorable Suicide - Honorable Suicide is the act of SD'ing (annihilating yourself) during a Sudden Death out of respect and partnership with your fellow Taunt Party crew. Usually all Taunt Party people do this out of an act of selflessness. If you see somebody sitting by waiting for you to SD, while not even trying to do it themselves, then see number 5.
5. Taunt Party Crashers - In a For Fun FFA, if your "opponent" either doesn't crouch, taunts, then proceeds to attack, or simply does nothing, then they're a Taunt Party Crasher. TPCs don't always flat-out attack you, sometimes they will even masquerade as you and "play along" until around the last minute or 30 seconds, in which, after slowly (very slowly) increasing your damage, will Smash you into oblivion, throw an item at you, or use their Final Smash on you without doing number 7 to balance it out. Typically, TPCs will be the "reserved" person of the group, that is, until Sudden Death. once/if you make it to Sudden Death. During the Sudden Death segment of the match, you can usually tell somebody is a crasher if they sit or stand idly by waiting for you to SD, or if they flat-out charge at you and attempt a grab or dash attack. Some genuine players will do this, however, to "clean the perimeter", so you and your team can decide during the next match whether or not to accept them back into your group or not.
6. Stopping a Crasher - This is the point where you want to utilize your team. When fighting one of these players, one of the best ways to combat them is to keep them in place while another team member attacks, although the best way is to simply go all-out against them, just make sure not to attack your teammates! The best tactics would be to shieldgrab them (since they'll mostly be in the air), or to punish them for trying to dodge or attack a fellow teammate's attacks. If you are a competitive player, then try to be the "front-soldier" of the group by going all-out and keeping your teammates in a "safe corner" (if possible). If you accidentally kill your partner, see number 7
7. Evening the score - If you accidentally get killed by your teammate, then simply go to them, crouch once or twice, attack them (preferably with a jab), and crouch once or twice again. If the player who killed you is a true Taunt Party player, then they will SD after this to balance it out, but make sure to hit them, so you can get the +1 and balance the score, because if you don't hit them, those points could go to the wrong member or the enemy.
8. Health Resetting - This is the act of killing your opponent, then having them kill you, to effectively balance the score and reset both player's health back to 0%. This one may be more confusing for beginners, but it is essential for maintaining yourselves and keeping yourselves from getting killed by the enemy camp. To do this, either jab and try to get them to SD like in number 7, or simply kill them yourselves if they don't understand and then even the score on yourself to balance it out.
9. Don't stand by for too long - Unlike in Brawl, you can't just sit around, make sure that every 5-10 seconds to throw out a jab or aerial; something, just to ensure that you don't idle too long and get banned for it (if you do though, don't worry, as the bans are only temporary).
- If there's anything I missed, just let me know! -
Pros
Some may wonder what the pros are to having Taunt Parties, so allow me to explain them
1. It builds connections - I have heard of some players who have actually made online friends from having Taunt Parties, due to sending friend requests, and even if that doesn't happen, it allows you to interact with and enjoy the company of other players. It allows you two to do things together, rather than just fighting. There was actually a fun moment where two players played as Cloud and Zero Suit Samus and had a little "relationship" (I just hope they were a male and female respectively), and I played as Falcon to try to take the Samus from Cloud (Zero Suit apparently has Zero-Tolerance for such acts). These rich and interesting moments wouldn't be possible if everybody simply threw items and heartlessly attack one another.
2. It provides a break - Sometimes an interesting phenomenon occurs where people want to play Smash, but don't necessarily want to engage in an intense fight. By having Taunt Parties, you can take however long you need to recoup before jumping back into the actions.
3. It alleviates aggression - As a competitive player, I can assure you that aggression and tension can arise within players of the caliber, and quite frankly, this isn't really healthy in high amounts. Having Taunt Parties can also help with this, as it's just a nice, relaxed, chill, environment, for all (or most) to enjoy.
4. Checks and Balances - Smash 4 has some balance, but it's definitely not as good as it could be, and any For Glory player online would agree with me... because they exploit this to their own ends. Smash 4 typically punishes offense in the form of high Base KB, weak attacks (save for spammable smash attacks), fast evasion moves, floaty gameplay, and powerful shields, while rewarding the campy, defensive, shield-spamming, Smash Attack abusing players, though, by having three players combating this one type of player, it helps to put these arrogant, cocky fighters in their place. Some say "git gud" but I say "git a party"
5. It's fun - It's quite pleasing to sit around and be able to enjoy the little things within Smash 4 with your fellow party members. Smash 4 may have some glaring flaws, but Taunt Parties actually made me appreciate the game more, as the focus was no longer on balance, but on the beauty of the items, or Mewtwo's Nair, or the romantic interactions between Cloud and Zero Suit (My Falcon will still get her somebody!). And nothing's quite as fun as you and your compadres teaming up on one player together!
Cons
Some people dislike Taunt Parties, so, for representations' sake, I'll include their arguments
1. It prevents people from having "real fights" - I agree, however, we both view this truth in two different ways. How they view it, is as a roadblock that gets in their ways. This group argues that by having these parties, they can't "play the game as it's meant to be played", however, In the party's defense, people trying to play the "real game" shouldn't be on For Fun in the first place.
2. It's not fun - This is a subjective argument. It's also important to note that 1 and 2 are connected here, as they're saying "since it's not being played the way it's intended to, it isn't fun".
3. Winning matches becomes nearly impossible - This, is also true, since, as it's always been, when you have 3 people against one, even if they were all noobs, unless they sucked 110%, then at most, you'll die at Sudden Death, but under normal circumstances, you would've lost way before then.
Potential Challenges
Reviving Taunt Parties won't be an easy task. In fact, it could be quite difficult, so here are the challenges that we'll have to face
1. Sakurai - Sakurai, via Single-Player-Targeting banning, Idle-banning, and SD-banning, has removed (or suppressed) the three most prominent forms of Taunt Party methods, so in order to work around this, players must now be extra cautious when Taunt Partying.
2. Community - A small, but vocal amount of people passionately dislike the idea of Taunt Partying, and then there's the big bulk of people who don't really know or care about it, and lastly, the slightly bigger minority of people who love Taunt Parties.
Plans for the future
Since this will be a big task, there will also have to be some goals
1. Making Taunt Parties become an acceptable thing - This is the most essential component to making this work. We have to lower the amount of people who hate them, and increase the amount of people who like them, perhaps, by doing this, Sakurai will retract the bans that he imposed on us.
2. Keeping it anonymous - The spirit and the essence that makes Taunt Parties so good isn't present when it's orchestrated and everybody truly knows who everybody is. If you befriend somebody, you shouldn't set up Taunt Party matches with them, that's when you really fight like intended. If you do see them, however, on the With Anyone modes, then by all means it's still the same!, It simply can't be connected and orchestrated to the point where it isn't "real", because that's when it becomes empty and time-wasting. There might be a Taunt Party online With Anyone, but nobody's going to have a "Taunt Party Tournament" for example, as that takes away from it, and you could just talk to the person, as they'd be right next to you.
As I always say: You have to be part of the experience, not the experience part of you.
3. Building a community - The purpose of said community wouldn't be to invalidate number 2, but rather, to capitalize on it. The community wouldn't so much be a "matchmaking" community, so much as a "storytelling" community, where people share similar posts to the one I did about Cloud and Zero Suit. Just something to get us out there
I hope that people begin to consider Taunt Parties and start to give them a chance, and I look forward to seeing what all people will/can do with them. Thank you for reading my post!
-Mario Smith
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