Proverbs
Smash Lord
Link to original post: [drupal=3256]A Letter to the Smash Community[/drupal]
After a good deal of thought, I've decided to quit Melee. I've decided to pick up competitive yo-yoing instead, as a replacement. Aside from yo-yoing simply just being more fun, more interactive, an activity you can still talk to people during, something fun you can do anywhere, and something you can do to impress people that they'll actually be interested in, there are other reasons why I'm choosing yo-yoing instead. A lot of it has to do with the community they've developed, and the lack of community here. This doesn't mean I'll never play again, just means I'm no longer playing 'competitively'. However, I do want to spend this time helping you understand what's pushed me away from the smash community.
1. Arrogance and Pride--I can't tell you how many times I find people getting so prideful and arrogant over smash. Either people think they're above others for being better, boast when they win, or say generally discouraging remarks. I've seen smash go from being a friendly activity to some pretty serious anger--I'm not innocent of this, either. This generally creates a feeling of hostility. I'm never going to feel relaxed while playing smash if people are always going to 'play to win' and tell you you're only losing because you're just trying to have fun (or use a character who isn't gay).
2. Lack of Personability--This might seem like an odd thing to list as what's pushed me away from the smash community, but I just generally feel like no one's very personable. I don't feel like I'm 'friends' with many of the people I play smash with. We're usually just focused on the screen, and if we're ever hanging out, it's always smash. I couldn't tell you much about most of the people I play smash with, honestly. Sure, we've had some good conversations, but if I wasn't religious and didn't really try to spark those conversations, they wouldn't come up themselves. From what I've seen there's a general lack of realness in the relationships built in this community. The only thing I really see thriving here is the desire to win, which while that can be healthy, often isn't. Likewise, people often just don't want to hang out with bad players. One of my friends came to a Melee tournament with me, and he is pretty good. But he played against someone from his own town who was a ton better than him and lost to him in the tournament. Impressed, my friend said they should hang out sometime since they live so close. The guy responded that he wasn't really looking to get back into smash, since he had been gone for a long time. That was a blatant lie, since I've seen him at tournaments since and have heard of him getting back into smash. He simply saw my friend as 'beneath' him. One person I really appreciate is ArcNatural, because I've never felt that coming from him. Sure he yelled at me sometimes when I kept doing stupid stuff over and over, but I never felt like he didn't want me at his house.
3. Lack of Morals--Honestly, I've seen some pretty low moral standards among you guys. Someone dry humped one of Mattdotzeb's sister's friends while staying as a guest at his house. I've heard of plenty of players getting completely wasted before tournaments, or doing drugs leading up to them. When I think of young players like Irish Mafia, I wonder what sort of example they think they're setting. Many good players are simply deadbeats with no real direction in life. I don't want to see Mafia thinking that's his calling in life, he's a much smarter kid than that. That's why I've always felt good about hanging out with him whenever he asked, even if I didn't have a ton of time. I wanted someone to be a better example in his life than the people I saw around him. The fact that many of you are rather unsavory characters that I wouldn't want my child to spend time with (if I had one), is incredibly unsettling for the younger players, and frankly pushes me away from you.
I've been yo-yoing for about a week and a half, and I've already found the exact opposite. Everyone is incredibly nice and generous. As I'm starting out, I've been given tons of free supplies from everyone I've spent time with. I don't think I've ever hung out with a yo-yoer and not gotten something for free when I've been with them--they're always looking to give. Even when at a yo-yoers apartment in Brookline, I realized I hadn't eaten yet and he offers whatever he had--which happened to be a grapefruit, but even still. Since being with them I've felt like I was honestly appreciated as a person, and that I was actually friends with them, even though they're leagues better than me.
And so, I make this appeal: Melee or Brawl, if you're looking to pull more people in, you simply need to pull your act together. The Smash community can often be one of the least enjoyable communities to be around.
Plus, yo-yoing's awesome:
http://www.vimeo.com/8872077
http://www.vimeo.com/4652406
^That's the guy who gave me the grapefruit, as well as a ton of supplies, lessons, and an interview for a project that I was working on.
After a good deal of thought, I've decided to quit Melee. I've decided to pick up competitive yo-yoing instead, as a replacement. Aside from yo-yoing simply just being more fun, more interactive, an activity you can still talk to people during, something fun you can do anywhere, and something you can do to impress people that they'll actually be interested in, there are other reasons why I'm choosing yo-yoing instead. A lot of it has to do with the community they've developed, and the lack of community here. This doesn't mean I'll never play again, just means I'm no longer playing 'competitively'. However, I do want to spend this time helping you understand what's pushed me away from the smash community.
1. Arrogance and Pride--I can't tell you how many times I find people getting so prideful and arrogant over smash. Either people think they're above others for being better, boast when they win, or say generally discouraging remarks. I've seen smash go from being a friendly activity to some pretty serious anger--I'm not innocent of this, either. This generally creates a feeling of hostility. I'm never going to feel relaxed while playing smash if people are always going to 'play to win' and tell you you're only losing because you're just trying to have fun (or use a character who isn't gay).
2. Lack of Personability--This might seem like an odd thing to list as what's pushed me away from the smash community, but I just generally feel like no one's very personable. I don't feel like I'm 'friends' with many of the people I play smash with. We're usually just focused on the screen, and if we're ever hanging out, it's always smash. I couldn't tell you much about most of the people I play smash with, honestly. Sure, we've had some good conversations, but if I wasn't religious and didn't really try to spark those conversations, they wouldn't come up themselves. From what I've seen there's a general lack of realness in the relationships built in this community. The only thing I really see thriving here is the desire to win, which while that can be healthy, often isn't. Likewise, people often just don't want to hang out with bad players. One of my friends came to a Melee tournament with me, and he is pretty good. But he played against someone from his own town who was a ton better than him and lost to him in the tournament. Impressed, my friend said they should hang out sometime since they live so close. The guy responded that he wasn't really looking to get back into smash, since he had been gone for a long time. That was a blatant lie, since I've seen him at tournaments since and have heard of him getting back into smash. He simply saw my friend as 'beneath' him. One person I really appreciate is ArcNatural, because I've never felt that coming from him. Sure he yelled at me sometimes when I kept doing stupid stuff over and over, but I never felt like he didn't want me at his house.
3. Lack of Morals--Honestly, I've seen some pretty low moral standards among you guys. Someone dry humped one of Mattdotzeb's sister's friends while staying as a guest at his house. I've heard of plenty of players getting completely wasted before tournaments, or doing drugs leading up to them. When I think of young players like Irish Mafia, I wonder what sort of example they think they're setting. Many good players are simply deadbeats with no real direction in life. I don't want to see Mafia thinking that's his calling in life, he's a much smarter kid than that. That's why I've always felt good about hanging out with him whenever he asked, even if I didn't have a ton of time. I wanted someone to be a better example in his life than the people I saw around him. The fact that many of you are rather unsavory characters that I wouldn't want my child to spend time with (if I had one), is incredibly unsettling for the younger players, and frankly pushes me away from you.
I've been yo-yoing for about a week and a half, and I've already found the exact opposite. Everyone is incredibly nice and generous. As I'm starting out, I've been given tons of free supplies from everyone I've spent time with. I don't think I've ever hung out with a yo-yoer and not gotten something for free when I've been with them--they're always looking to give. Even when at a yo-yoers apartment in Brookline, I realized I hadn't eaten yet and he offers whatever he had--which happened to be a grapefruit, but even still. Since being with them I've felt like I was honestly appreciated as a person, and that I was actually friends with them, even though they're leagues better than me.
And so, I make this appeal: Melee or Brawl, if you're looking to pull more people in, you simply need to pull your act together. The Smash community can often be one of the least enjoyable communities to be around.
Plus, yo-yoing's awesome:
http://www.vimeo.com/8872077
http://www.vimeo.com/4652406
^That's the guy who gave me the grapefruit, as well as a ton of supplies, lessons, and an interview for a project that I was working on.
If you didn't check out the videos--please do. They're mind-blowing. That guy's only been yo-yoing for three years and he's sponsored by a small company. Also, I just love how I can entertain others with yo-yoing. That's half the fun, in my opinion.
