Toomai
Smash Ace
Everyone who's been around here even remotely recently has noticed the thousands of tier list discussions popping up. And yes, this is another one. But it's different in the way that I believe I have an answer to the problem.
What is a tier list? For such a simple question, it's difficult to answer. What is for sure is this: newbies to Smash who see a tier list have a high chance of seeing it as a list of who wins the most. Is this a good thing? I wouldn't think so.
Of course, most of you will say "But it isn't a list of who wins the most, you dumbell dirigible dingbat." And you'd be right in a way. But if a newbie sees it as such the first time, it takes a while to "unlearn" it. Even then, there is little evidence against said idea.
Yes, I'm aware that it will be a while (probably a year, from what I'm hearing) before the big cheeses around here can even begin to construct a tier list. But really, that's just delaying the issue. (I am assuming that Brawl will have a tier list, despite everything the development team's done to avoid it. It's not a stupid assumption.) What we need is a way to completely ignore this tier list stuff. Do you have any idea what it would be like to play Brawl without worrying about a tier list for as long as your Wii works, not just for a year or two? Plus, think about the amount of "why isn't x char top tier?" or "wut is teh teer list?!" topics that are made. It would really keep the forums cleaner.
The solution is this: DO NOT CREATE A TIER LIST UNLESS IT CAN BE OBJECTIVELY AND/OR NUMERICALLY PROVEN.
Imagine how much more fun the Mario Kart DS online scene would be if snaking was kept a complete secret. Don't let this happen to Brawl.
What is a tier list? For such a simple question, it's difficult to answer. What is for sure is this: newbies to Smash who see a tier list have a high chance of seeing it as a list of who wins the most. Is this a good thing? I wouldn't think so.
Of course, most of you will say "But it isn't a list of who wins the most, you dumbell dirigible dingbat." And you'd be right in a way. But if a newbie sees it as such the first time, it takes a while to "unlearn" it. Even then, there is little evidence against said idea.
Yes, I'm aware that it will be a while (probably a year, from what I'm hearing) before the big cheeses around here can even begin to construct a tier list. But really, that's just delaying the issue. (I am assuming that Brawl will have a tier list, despite everything the development team's done to avoid it. It's not a stupid assumption.) What we need is a way to completely ignore this tier list stuff. Do you have any idea what it would be like to play Brawl without worrying about a tier list for as long as your Wii works, not just for a year or two? Plus, think about the amount of "why isn't x char top tier?" or "wut is teh teer list?!" topics that are made. It would really keep the forums cleaner.
The solution is this: DO NOT CREATE A TIER LIST UNLESS IT CAN BE OBJECTIVELY AND/OR NUMERICALLY PROVEN.
- This does not deny that a tier list exists. It simply says "I'm not telling you which character's best, you go get good at the game and find out yourself."
- If the tier list can be proven objectively or numerically (such as "X beats Y 75% of the time in pro matches"), then there can be no arguments about which chars are better until a new playstyle or technique is discovered. (Personally, this would suck, but it's better than saying "X can [technique] to Y and therefore wins every time" even though [technique] is very difficult to do and Y may pwn X otherwise.)
- There is a flaw with this idea: there may be a bunch of "Here's my tier list" topics. But I would suspect most of those topics would come from a non-pro Smasher, and therefore wouldn't carry much weight. Plus, if board policy were to be "We're not telling you which character's best, you go get good at the game and find out yourself," then only pure newbies would even care.
Imagine how much more fun the Mario Kart DS online scene would be if snaking was kept a complete secret. Don't let this happen to Brawl.