I want to ask the entire Smash Bros. community a set of inner questions:
1. Do you desire to figure out Sakurai's roster for Smash Switch? Does figuring the Smash Switch roster go as far as just predicting newcomers? Or do you go further beyond and predict which veterans will remain or be cut?
Sort of? Like I'm not driven by an all desiring need to guess Sakurai's choices. Any chance of that for me died when Wii Fit Trainer was announced. Yeah, even R.O.B. was workable, but WFT? Forget it.
I'm mostly about the newcomers as bizarrely I don't feel very invested in a lot of the potential cuts. Roy and Mewtwo were sad to see go in Melee and Wolf, Squirtle and Ivysaur was disappointing in Brawl but in 5mash a lot of the ones brought up for being on the chopping block I could easily live without.
2. If so, what is the main reason for joining the Smash community to speculate? Bragging rights, joining the hype train for fun, watching the reactions, liking Sakurai as a developer, or for other personal reasons?
Fun, spread the passion of my favourite characters, listen to those who get passionate about other characters, learn about franchises I'd otherwise never try; example: that talk about Elma in the Smash Switch thread made me want to try Xenoblade X out, talking in Sm4sh's speculation opened my eyes to the possibility of Duck Hunt pre leak and made me very happy to get the one retro I wanted, and the reactions to reveals are always good.
I also like watching how quickly people 180.
"PAC-MAN IS A TERRIBLE FIT FOR SMASH"
*Pac-Man trailer releases*
"WELL OF COURSE PAC-MAN GOT IN, HE'S THE GRANDADDY OF GAMING"
Heck, I'm guilty of it. I went from hating the idea of Bowser Jr to him being my favourite newcomer thanks to the way Sakurai implemented him. Koopalings and a Clown Car are infinitely more interesting to me than the standard "Paintbrush, Shadow Mario transformation" movesets that everyone was so sure on.
3. When it comes to discussion about potential newcomers, why do you participate in it and argue why a certain character is possible or impossible?
Got a bit of a personal story here, if you'll indulge me.
Smash 64 landed me my very best friends as a kid.
I was a scared kid who'd just moved and didn't know anyone else. This pair of twins got to talking about this new game they got and how it starred Mario and Pikachu. It sounded crazy but I was a fan of both so I went over with my sister as she was also a huge Nintendo fan. Instant friendship was formed and I began to become a fan of Yoshi, one friend loved Mario, the other Sonic(who got in later) and my sister's favourite Nintendo character? Toad.
I was always disappointed for her since she loved the mushroom ever since she was a very small child and his involvement in other games such as Super Mario Kart helped her make friends she'd otherwise struggle to do. I was wishing for Toad for her until Brawl when I suddenly realised how big a character he was on my childhood as a result too.
I'd played hours and hours of Wario's Woods, completed SMB2 as Toad due to his speed(okay I needed Peach for THAT airborne level but give me a break), we'd grown up watching the original Super Mario Super Show, playing Mario Kart together, Mario Tennis 64, etc and continued to play Mario platformers and sports games through to present.
Then 3D World and Captain Toad Treasure Tracker were announced and blew me away. Also Toad is an All Star recognised by millions and I find his(or Captain Toad's) exclusion kind of glaring in general.
OUTSIDE of Toad, I find it very interesting to see people's passions and sometimes arguing or engaging is the best way to find out more about a character and share in that passion.
4. Is there anything you hope to gain by participating in Smash Bros. speculation?
I believe this is something that will provide very interesting discussion for the Smash community in general. I am VERY curious, and heavily desire to know what the inner specific answers are.
I'm at peak creativity(although also peak distraction) during Speculation Season. Just hoping to use it as an excuse to polish some art skills and engage in something fun.