This place seems dead to me

[B-Will]

I just starting posting once in a while on smashboards.com after a 6 year hiatus. Back in the day, this site seemed to be a lot more active than it is now. What happened? Is it because facebook has taken a lot of its activity? Or is it just me and smashboards is just as active as it always has been?

 

[lordvaati]

The site as a whole? Lolnope, just that many are in the Smash 4, P:M and Light house sections.

This area? Well.....one upon a time, there was a strange man who mained Pichu. He was one who brought joy and utter confusion to all who posted here. But now he is gone, and the area is kind of in Standstill.

HOWEVER, the legendary events of 2013 as well as the amazing news of yesterday hint that a rise may return....

 

[Laudandus]

Facebook has taken a lot of its activity.

 

[Fortress | Sveet]

Ya, mostly just facebook. Smashboards is making a comeback though, with features other than just forums.

 

[groovy]

Ya, mostly just facebook. Smashboards is making a comeback though, with features other than just forums.

Revival Of Smashboards o/

 

[Ryan.]

Well I wasn't here for a long time and just joined in 2013, but I find this forum very active compared to many others I've seen. There are so many members here, just mainly in the Smash 4 discussion.

 

[Stratocaster]

A lot of community-wide conversation is on r/smashbros and local conversation is on facebook. Also, in terms of the melee boards, the game is old so a lot of topics have just been exhausted.

 

[Justkallmekai]

I just starting posting once in a while on smashboards.com after a 6 year hiatus. Back in the day, this site seemed to be a lot more active than it is now. What happened? Is it because facebook has taken a lot of its activity? Or is it just me and smashboards is just as active as it always has been?

Yea when I joined I thought that Smashboards was packed with people on the forums and everything, but now there's like 2 threads each day.

 

[Fortress | Sveet]

As someone who used to be an active poster, I agree that activity is lower. Thing is, everyone has a facebook account and it has event notifications, so its better for TOs. In some ways its better for discussions, since you rarely get trolled (real identity and all that). On the other hand, misinformation is an issue; everyone knows jason zimmerman and joseph marquez, but it can be hard to tell the difference between a '13er and an '09er if you're not friends with everyone you're talking to (ei, melee social). I think Smashboards has a definite niche for the community, but needs to evolve past simply being a forum. It seems AZ is already keen to that idea, with the recent updates. If nothing else, smashboards is always the best place to go for accurate information about the games.

Smashboards LPT: When searching for info, always use google.com and include site:smashboards.com in your search. Smashboards' local search engine has historically been an issue, both with finding the information you're looking for (you usually end up having to dig through a ton of deep threads for one specific post) and with performance (it has caused extensive service outages, sometimes lasting days and weeks). Google is the king of search engines, let them do what they do best.

 

[Bones0]

There also just isn't as much to talk about when the game has been out for 12 years... People used to be writing matchup guides and speculating about what the next Smash game would be like (lol). There is also just way more Melee content on other sites. There really isn't a huge need to go to SmashBoards to stay up to date on Smash-happenings, and it's not just FaceBook. People can find streams pretty much 24/7, 365. They can go on YouTube and have more hours of quality gameplay footage than they could ever watch. They can use Twitter to get updates on specific players or tournaments currently in progress. With more people spending time on streams, YouTube, and social media, it's expected that SmashBoards will have less threads about actual gameplay. Hell, in my region there's been a tournament almost every weekend, sometimes even multiple (there was a fest yesterday, tournament today, and another tourney tomorrow).

If people are frequently playing and getting info/entertainment from other sources, most people aren't going to want to spend the rest of their spare time posting on a Smash-related forum. I don't think any of this is relevant to SmashBoard's overall utility, however. It's a big mistake to assume an active message board is an important one or vice versa. The fact that you can go on SmashBoards, find tournaments, videos, streams, and general character info without posting is probably one of its biggest strengths. Having to hold a 40 post conversation to get information was a hassle, so the more streamlined it gets the better.

 

[TobiasXK]

There also just isn't as much to talk about when the game has been out for 12 years... People used to be writing matchup guides and speculating about what the next Smash game would be like (lol). There is also just way more Melee content on other sites. There really isn't a huge need to go to SmashBoards to stay up to date on Smash-happenings, and it's not just FaceBook. People can find streams pretty much 24/7, 365. They can go on YouTube and have more hours of quality gameplay footage than they could ever watch. They can use Twitter to get updates on specific players or tournaments currently in progress. With more people spending time on streams, YouTube, and social media, it's expected that SmashBoards will have less threads about actual gameplay. Hell, in my region there's been a tournament almost every weekend, sometimes even multiple (there was a fest yesterday, tournament today, and another tourney tomorrow).

If people are frequently playing and getting info/entertainment from other sources, most people aren't going to want to spend the rest of their spare time posting on a Smash-related forum. I don't think any of this is relevant to SmashBoard's overall utility, however. It's a big mistake to assume an active message board is an important one or vice versa. The fact that you can go on SmashBoards, find tournaments, videos, streams, and general character info without posting is probably one of its biggest strengths. Having to hold a 40 post conversation to get information was a hassle, so the more streamlined it gets the better.

i think an argument can be made that we're approaching too much content spread across too many sources, which is a situation where having one central hub, organized and able to conveniently serve the content that you're looking for, would be totally desirable for a bunch of people. but Smashboards isn't that; it's not organized or convenient, really. not even really getting into specific structural issues with the site relative to the services it performs, it's just easier to find encyclopedic knowledge on something like ssbwiki (even though it technically has way less and worse information than Smashboards). and it's easier to find out about events and current community news/issues through social media outlets and MIOM. and it's easier to get direct p2p answers by asking a friend or posting in your city's FB Group or Group Chat or even spamming the MIOM group or bugging some random pro or personality on ask.fm (seriously there are people who would ask Leffen directly how to L-cancel rather than come here).

 

[Zoler]

Facebookssss.

 

[victra♥]

RIP ICG the legend

 

[imperfectspider]

... (seriously there are people who would ask Leffen directly how to L-cancel rather than come here).

As a new member of this site, I would rather ask Leffen, to be perfectly frank. This website honestly kind of sucks. Sure, it has a ton of content, but all of that content is on the average 6-7 years old and written by people whose names I do not recognize. Why should I trust guides written by names that I don't recognize at all (CunningKitsune, SCOTU, etc.)? There is absolutely no endorsement of these guides that I can find that is modern and relevant, and it is hard for me to care about what a random person (in my mind) has to say compared to somebody who actually places well in tournament.

Of course, all the information that I could want is on these forums. With that being said, all of it is nearly impossible to find. For example, I want to learn how to TAS so that I can do some research on my own. Thus, I go to these forums and search for "TAS guide" and get nothing. I get no information I want for basically any query that I give the search function, and I think that this is a huge turn-off for the site.

In order for this website to really catch my interest, I am going to need a little more from it. Smashboards could take notes from http://nuggetbridge.com/, the Pokemon equivalent of these forums. There are tons of guides and articles written by top players in the game that are easily digestible and simple to find, with topics ranging everywhere from game mechanics and statistics to strategy. With that, the qualifications of the author of each guide are posted so that I know that I can trust their advice.

I think that this website has a long way to go before I am willing to participate, as a new member of the community. All of the information is way to disparate and unreliable for it to be worth it to use. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Elyssa Xey Hexen]

As a new member of this site, I would rather ask Leffen, to be perfectly frank. This website honestly kind of sucks. Sure, it has a ton of content, but all of that content is on the average 6-7 years old and written by people whose names I do not recognize. Why should I trust guides written by names that I don't recognize at all (CunningKitsune, SCOTU, etc.)? There is absolutely no endorsement of these guides that I can find that is modern and relevant, and it is hard for me to care about what a random person (in my mind) has to say compared to somebody who actually places well in tournament.

Of course, all the information that I could want is on these forums. With that being said, all of it is nearly impossible to find. For example, I want to learn how to TAS so that I can do some research on my own. Thus, I go to these forums and search for "TAS guide" and get nothing. I get no information I want for basically any query that I give the search function, and I think that this is a huge turn-off for the site.

In order for this website to really catch my interest, I am going to need a little more from it. Smashboards could take notes from http://nuggetbridge.com/, the Pokemon equivalent of these forums. There are tons of guides and articles written by top players in the game that are easily digestible and simple to find, with topics ranging everywhere from game mechanics and statistics to strategy. With that, the qualifications of the author of each guide are posted so that I know that I can trust their advice.

I think that this website has a long way to go before I am willing to participate, as a new member of the community. All of the information is way to disparate and unreliable for it to be worth it to use. Just my 2 cents.

Your pretty much right that the site needs a bit of an overhaul in terms of organization. Many of the topics in melee for example are written back at a time where the metagame was much different. Some information is still relevant while bits are completely useless. My experience is that there is enough content to progress from beginner/intermediate.

Although, I think you might be able to recognize that some people are not very friendly or helpful. A person's prowess in tournament means nothing for their ability to actually convey information in a well-written format. If someone of lesser ability is willing contribute while a better play is not, I would rather take the information I can get. It also doesn't help that a person who actually does really well in tournament will talk about the game from a perspective a newbie simply does not have the experience to relate too. Therefore, they interpret the guide incorrectly or focus on the wrong stuff.

I am not sure how much you actually wanted to know about TAS, but that seems a worthy topic for someone to make something about. Personally, I have never tried doing TAS with this game, but I imagine the first starting tools would be Dolphin and the game to be emulated. I know it has a TAS tool for making inputs and frame advance this way. I unfortunately have no idea about how recording is managed. Starting with other TAS site forums I would look into that.

Apart from the technical aspects of how to accomplish the TAS I cannot imagine there is anything else to learn about other than how the mechanics of the game are set-up. For example, abusing SDI and DI to achieve some ridiculous survival.

 

[Sizzle]

Cunning Kitsune is a god in the fox community. His guide is among the finest material on this website. I don't understand how someone new to this site can make such a bold claim. His guide has been updated many times, and is currently undergoing another one. He has been among the highest level fox players for almost a decade.

 

[-ShadowPhoenix-]

Most top players have no interest in contributing to guides on here because it is of no benefit to them. Also we live in an age where doing something like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MwZGaNtQ_c takes less effort than sitting down and typing/formatting a 1-2 page guide.

 

[imperfectspider]

Cunning Kitsune is a god in the fox community. His guide is among the finest material on this website. I don't understand how someone new to this site can make such a bold claim. His guide has been updated many times, and is currently undergoing another one. He has been among the highest level fox players for almost a decade.

I'm not trying to discredit the guy in any way. I just don't really know who he is. When I search for videos of him on youtube, I get mostly videos that are 4-7 years old and one convincing video from TBH2 where he takes a game off of SFAT. I'm glad that he is currently updating his guide, but in its current form I am not sure how much I can trust it simply because it is so old. Of course I have read it, and it is helpful in several basic ways. But it also talks about stuff like counterpicking Corneria, which causes it to lose some credibility. I'm not being a hater, but I am trying to express how I think many people new to the community feel. I've definitely learned more just from watching videos of top 100 players play than on these boards, no contest. I think that I will continue to learn more from them, too, while discovering things about the game on my own through training and TAS. Smashboards doesn't really fit into my equation for improvement at the moment, as it stands.

Most top players have no interest in contributing to guides on here because it is of no benefit to them. Also we live in an age where doing something like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MwZGaNtQ_c takes less effort than sitting down and typing/formatting a 1-2 page guide.

I think if Smashboards wants to stay relevant, it will need to start sponsoring/producing content like that video. I'm sure that within the plethora of well-known high level smashers, that there are a few that are interested enough in the community to write a guide for their character. For example, this thread by PPMD has tons of great information for new Falco players and players in general (and it isn't even in a sticky!). Smashboards should find a way to feature all of this great content that he has produced, and similarly they should find somebody to produce content like that for several of the most popular characters. They don't have to be top 5 players, but they probably should be names that have some clout in 2013, such as names on MIOM's top 100 players list.

 

[Fortress | Sveet]

Smashboards has a TON of old content, thats the point.

CunningKitsune was one of the best foxes in the nation during the MLG era, but has rarely entered tournaments in the post-brawl era. He still plays, but rarely enters tournaments. He spent the last few years training the Purdue smashers (Little England, Lanceinthepants, Jason_Voorhese) and can still go even/beat the top midwest players.



If you are a new player and you see a guide, READ IT. Especially if its stickied. Those people put many many hours of work into sharing their knowledge with you. You are at the bottom of the food chain right now, which means you have things to learn from virtually every other player. Don't be stuck up because the author isn't a top 5 world player; those players rarely write for the community since they have to put their energies elsewhere. Be happy there is anyone writing to help you: when I started there was significantly less content (though, the ckit guide was in existence back then too O_O)

 

[imperfectspider]

Smashboards has a TON of old content, thats the point.

CunningKitsune was one of the best foxes in the nation during the MLG era, but has rarely entered tournaments in the post-brawl era. He still plays, but rarely enters tournaments. He spent the last few years training the Purdue smashers (Little England, Lanceinthepants, Jason_Voorhese) and can still go even/beat the top midwest players.



If you are a new player and you see a guide, READ IT. Especially if its stickied. Those people put many many hours of work into sharing their knowledge with you. You are at the bottom of the food chain right now, which means you have things to learn from virtually every other player. Don't be stuck up because the author isn't a top 5 world player; those players rarely write for the community since they have to put their energies elsewhere. Be happy there is anyone writing to help you: when I started there was significantly less content (though, the ckit guide was in existence back then too O_O)

I mentioned in my post that I have read CK's guide. I think that it is a good guide, and that most of the threads that are stickied are good threads. But I also think that a lot of the stickied information is out of date and not regularly maintained, which makes it difficult for me and other new players to recognize which information is still relevant or not. For this reason, I am stoked for CK's 2014 update, and I think that this site needs to encourage projects like it in some way. Beyond that, there are tons of other great guides and threads that are not stickied that have been buried under the thousand "help me multishine pls" threads in the same forum. The problem with this site is the organization and relevancy of information. That is all I am trying to say. I enjoy reading Leffen's ask.fm because I know that the information is relevant, and I find listening to Mango's match analyses because I get to see how high level players think. At this point (having read all of the main stickied threads), my time is better spent observing top players and experimenting with TAS to understand what they are doing. This is because I am taking the stickied guides to be nothing more than a good starting point, and all the other content on this site is buried under pages of useless posts and not worth my time to find when I can figure it out myself.

 

[Fortress | Sveet]

If you say so; even old stuff is still highly relevant. The game of melee hasn't been touched, the only thing that has changed is our ability to execute and our knowledge of situations. If you read a Chess book from a few years ago, would you think its irrelevant? No. New things may have been found, but the old things still exist. The only difference in this case is that melee is ~15 years old while chess is ~150 years old, so a "few years" to the chess community is a bit different.

As a new player, your biggest problem isn't knowing the next-level meta, it is catching up with the years of public knowledge. If you ignore the past meta, it is like building a house with no foundation. Today's metagame is built on countering what was good in the past; if you want to learn why things are done the way they are now, you simply look to how they were done before. After looking at the past long enough, you will be able to see the patterns and understand what is good now and predict what will be good in the future.

I also want to note, you will never be able to read/be told about the top level of play; you can only experience it and learn it on your own. Even if someone wrote about the top level, it would immediately become public knowledge, the meta would shift to counter it, and it would no longer be the top level.

Smashboards definitely has the most high quality content about smash, period. Like you said, though, the biggest problem is that so much of it is buried. It would be great if there was a movement to consolidate some of it into a FAQ or somthing, but I don't think it is something one man can do alone (or at least, not without having access to the database directly...)

 

[Zoler]

With Teamliquid joining in I see Liquipedia becoming huge for smash info.

 

[imperfectspider]

If you say so; even old stuff is still highly relevant. The game of melee hasn't been touched, the only thing that has changed is our ability to execute and our knowledge of situations. If you read a Chess book from a few years ago, would you think its irrelevant? No. New things may have been found, but the old things still exist. The only difference in this case is that melee is ~15 years old while chess is ~150 years old, so a "few years" to the chess community is a bit different.

As a new player, your biggest problem isn't knowing the next-level meta, it is catching up with the years of public knowledge. If you ignore the past meta, it is like building a house with no foundation. Today's metagame is built on countering what was good in the past; if you want to learn why things are done the way they are now, you simply look to how they were done before. After looking at the past long enough, you will be able to see the patterns and understand what is good now and predict what will be good in the future.

I also want to note, you will never be able to read/be told about the top level of play; you can only experience it and learn it on your own. Even if someone wrote about the top level, it would immediately become public knowledge, the meta would shift to counter it, and it would no longer be the top level.

Smashboards definitely has the most high quality content about smash, period. Like you said, though, the biggest problem is that so much of it is buried. It would be great if there was a movement to consolidate some of it into a FAQ or somthing, but I don't think it is something one man can do alone (or at least, not without having access to the database directly...)

Thanks for your advice. I think that you are pretty much the correct one here based on my past experiences in other games. I'm just antsy to get as good as I can at the game as quickly as I can. I just have to remember that there are no shortcuts to being good. However, I can take advantage of others' hard work by absorbing as much of the information they have given me as I can.