Aiko presents : The UK Smash Grand Prix

[Aiko]

Well I did say my 1337th post was gonna be pretty big, so here it is. Make sure you read all of it before coming to any conclusions as its gonna be pretty different.


Aiko presents: The UK Smash Grand Prix (or SGP for short)

This will be a series of 4 smash tournaments, starting after Edster 2 (April) and will run throughout Summer and finishing around September/October. The aim is to bring both melee and brawl together but also to promote Smash in the UK. All 4 tournaments are likely to be held at the Global Gaming Arena in Birmingham.

There will be 2 melee tournaments and 2 brawl tournaments, so people not so keen on one game are not obligated to turn up, but I'm sure there will be plenty of people who are interested in both. Singles and Doubles will be in both games.

Prices are going to be £10 per tournament, or £35 for all 4 tournaments if paid to me in advance. Singles and Doubles are included in the price.

Heres where the interesting stuff comes.

Prize structure:

Prizes will vary from Vouchers to Games Consoles.

The best prizes will not necessarily be awarded to Winners as everyone should have a chance of winning. Whilst there will be some form of prize for the winners of the tournaments, the majority of prizes will be awarded for other reasons.

There will be prizes for each tournament, related to the tournament itself, and prizes for the overall performance of players after the Grand Prix has finished.

What we're looking for is improvement, dedication and effort. There will be prizes awarded to those who make efforts OUTSIDE of these tournaments (but within the time frame obviously). You will almost certainly be considered if you start up a new scene, or get a lot more people involved. And there will be runner up prizes too.

So far I am considering these awards:

Best Melee Player
Best Brawl Player
Best Smasher

Most improved Melee player
Most Improved Brawl player
Most Improved Smasher

Best Newcomer
Biggest Effort outside Tournaments
Biggest Banter
Finish award.

Before anyone thinks Charles is gonna win a lot of these, I'm not looking to just give them all to him. The aim is to give EVERYONE a chance and get EVERYONE involved.
This is by no means a final list, some of these may be taken away and new awards will almost certainly be added.

So with that said, I hope people really want to get involved in this. If it's successful, I will probably do another one next year and start looking for sponsers. I'm connected to a few high up people in some game companies as a result of work.

So please celebrate my 1337th post with me.

 

[Aiko]

1st post yayuuhz!!

Saved for editing.

 

[rustediron]

Woah. Sounds pretty dyamn awesome!

 

[Hao]

All 4 at GGT.

I came

 

[Fuzzyness]

uh does that mean there's no money prizes anymore :v I like coming back not losing money from travel XD

I like the idea of the constant tourneys and diff games for each one though. That's what we wanted in the first place but gotta make sure it dosen't get dry

 

[Kasper!]

Woah THIS SOUNDS BIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Aiko]

uh does that mean there's no money prizes anymore :v I like coming back not losing money from travel XD

I like the idea of the constant tourneys and diff games for each one though. That's what we wanted in the first place but gotta make sure it dosen't get dry

i know people like the idea of winning money, but the reality is only a few of us win money each time. 90% of the players pay travel and tourney fees knowing they are't going to get a return on the money. They go for smash and the people.

This way EVERYONE is eligible to win a good prize. Also, Im using this as an example to get sponsers. If it goes well, Sponsers will look at it more professionally as there are prizes, not cash.

 

[J03]

wow dude, epicness

 

[AmcD]

Sounds like a gd idea but I think you need to incorporate a prize for the winner of the tournament.
Also at each tournament will there be both games or just one?

 

[Kyuubi_x]

Awesome :D. Have one for the worst Melee/Brawl player as well lol. Btw, are you going to buy scrubs again?

 

[Fuzzyness]

Yo aiko you owe me a money match £1 Bowser vs Wario, you lost last time

+ the main tournament prizes make the finals more serious..look at mlg >_>

 

[Aiko]

There will be a prize for the winner in each tournament. but it wont necessarily be the best prize.

There will be 2 melee only tournaments and 2 brawl only tournaments. If you only melee, turn up to the melee only tournaments. If you play brawl only, go to the brawl only tournaments.

i will make a FAQ on this eventually.

 

[Fuzzyness]

I can help decide prizes, remember I went up to liverpool just to see you guys when you invited me =) and we did random prizes for the lols, I had no problem with it really

 

[Fuzzyness]

i think you should get this on neoempire too, they'll give some feedback on ideas...

double post I cheat!

 

[Aiko]

anyway, i wanted people to start thinking about it. I'm gonna put up some possible dates this weekend and hopefully we can start getting some registrants. Not sure when i'll start taking payments, but it wont be for at least a month.

yeah im gonna post this on NE too.

 

[AmcD]

I just don't see how this is bringing brawl and melee together when the games are being played on different dates :S

 

[Kasper!]

very true. these are separate tourney's arent they???

 

[Fuzzyness]

It's more like making tournaments for brawl rather than just melee :x

 

[ROOOOY!]

I'm interested.

Brawl + possibly Melee.

 

[FoulPlay]

I just don't see how this is bringing brawl and melee together when the games are being played on different dates :S

I said this to Ant as well over MSN, but apparently there isn't enough time for both. But I thought the whole point of the future tournaments was to bring us together too and make the scene huge rather than two separate scenes. I don't see how this can be possible to be honest to make two happen at one tournament if we don't have enough time.

 

[Professor Pro]

I should be most improved melee player as I have been playing the shortest out of all the top players in the UK. Look at everyonelse join date.......(not inculding the new brawlers and pops)
If its not be the most improved (when they show up to an event) will be either 4stock or last dragon...or they might get best newcomer cos they havent been to anything major.....I dunno, penas.

If Zeppo doesnt get most banter what is this world coming to. I will throw my hat in digust AND I will switch to brawl if he does not.

 

[~ Gheb ~]

You should include an award for the best OoS Melee/Brawl player, since I'm intrested in attending a Brawl tourney. If you'd do a Brawl tourney in autumn it's very possible that I'll take part. Idk about spring/summer yet but I already take part @Smash Attack in April so I may not have enough money to travel at that time. We'll see...

If you really want to promote smash you should inculde prices for OoS smasher to make it more attractive to come.

 

[Cpt.Zeppo]

I liked everything except lack of cash prizes. Where is the tenner going for entry fee exactly?

 

[J03]

aye, im agreeing with the Z here. I love the idea, and it will definatly rattle up some interest. But im curious as to the percentages and shiz. As i recall, frosty finished 3rd in singles and 2nd in teams and only just made his money back from the entry fee. To compensate we'd need more attendance, but how many can we fit in the venue. imo we'd need to expand into the PC area and i dont know if the big man would approve =/

 

[Willz]

I. Will. Be. There.

There is no way in hell I'm missing this. As I probably can't make Edster.

 

[ROOOOY!]

You should include an award for the best OoS Melee/Brawl player, since I'm intrested in attending a Brawl tourney. If you'd do a Brawl tourney in autumn it's very possible that I'll take part. Idk about spring/summer yet but I already take part @Smash Attack in April so I may not have enough money to travel at that time. We'll see...

If you really want to promote smash you should inculde prices for OoS smasher to make it more attractive to come.

Gheb, get your sexiness down to the English shores.

 

[~ Gheb ~]

Gheb, get your sexiness down to the English shores.

Yea, I'll come when I can + if some1 could house me at that time.

I always wanted to go to the UK once

 

[grayfox]

I agree with the pish banter about separating the games for different events.

It just alienates our current scene into 2 smaller scenes which can only speed up the process of its demise. Melee needs Brawl players to stay afloat and Brawl players need Melee players experience to run a community in the early stages.

On the idea itself I'm torn. I don't like the idea of the top places getting less and not even the best price. Although I like the idea of people turning up and being made to be felt a part of the community and get rewards outside of placings, who cares who is the most up and coming or who is the best if all you get for being on top is an average prize. I think again this would promote stagnation and a lack of intensive to improve.

 

[Yeniths]

Mehh, I'll be there for all. Hopefully bring a few from my area down with me.

I. Will. Be. There.

There is no way in hell I'm missing this. As I probably can't make Edster.

Get your *** to my next fest, rawr <3

 

[Aiko]

Thanks for feedback guys. The SGP is in its very early stages so identifying what people want is key.

I just don't see how this is bringing brawl and melee together when the games are being played on different dates :S

With separate dates it doesn't "exactly" bring brawl and melee together, but at the same time, I need to target the players as much as possible. There will be people who will come purely for melee and will not want any brawl whatsoever (and vice versa). I can't waste the time of these players if they want melee only. Thats why they have the option of just 2 melee tournaments or 2 brawl. The point of having separate tournaments for both is:

1. Give brawl some tournaments.
2. Get people involved in the COMMUNITY
3. Not to waste time for non-melee/brawl players.

If we get brawlers to the brawl only tournaments, they'll want to go to ranbats and thats where they will see melee is a great game and will consider taking part in future. Not to mention we have some players who went to TKI which was brawl only and have since converted to melee.

You should include an award for the best OoS Melee/Brawl player, since I'm intrested in attending a Brawl tourney. If you'd do a Brawl tourney in autumn it's very possible that I'll take part. Idk about spring/summer yet but I already take part @Smash Attack in April so I may not have enough money to travel at that time. We'll see...

If you really want to promote smash you should inculde prices for OoS smasher to make it more attractive to come.

Whilst this is primarily to get the UK scene moving with regular tournaments we always welcome OoS players. We generally don't attract Outside UK players, so to make an award just for 1 person may seem a bit weird. However once the dates are finalised and you know which tournament you want to come to, speak on the boards and I'm sure someone would be happy to house you. In terms of prices, it would be exactly the same, £10 for the day.

aye, im agreeing with the Z here. I love the idea, and it will definatly rattle up some interest. But im curious as to the percentages and shiz. As i recall, frosty finished 3rd in singles and 2nd in teams and only just made his money back from the entry fee. To compensate we'd need more attendance, but how many can we fit in the venue. imo we'd need to expand into the PC area and i dont know if the big man would approve =/

This was always a big concern of mine. My main arguement for non-cash prizes is that 90% of players come to all events without ever seriously thinking they will see any money back. They come purely for the experience, the community and the love of smash. Yes I'm aware Frosty and Chrisboi received very little money back last time but with 8 teams, money was always gonna be a little on the short side.

The point is, yes this may deter the top players as they are "used" to getting some money back.

My other reasoning for considering non-cash prizes this time is that I'm looking to get sponsers next time I do something like this. This would be HUGE for the smash scene. By having non-cash prizes, it seems a lot more professional and gives more incentives for newer players to come when they hear they could win a games console, rather than cash.

The prizes for placings will still be of greater value than the entry fee, but when distributing prizes for awards and stuff, saying you win £20 is somewhat "dodgy" as opposed to winning a video game or a new controller. Obviously the money goes to funding the prizes, but I'm prepared to actually donate some of my own money to get this working.

 

[AmcD]

Yeah I understand that there will be only brawl players and only melee players but you might get players who will enter the other tournament if both are present.
Also, like you said about people purely going just to see people etc having both games at the event means more people so I just see this as another reason for both to be at the event.
Obviously this can only happen if you have enough space.

 

[Aiko]

space and time are a great issue. And we just dont have either.

Don't have the capacity to hold 40+ players and no time to run both brawl and melee singles, let alone teams.

 

[~ Gheb ~]

I know what you mean, Aiko. However if you do a Brawl event at the autumn date I'm very likely to come. October would be perfect since my semester just started and I have no exams or anything like that and by then I'll probably have some money from working in the summer. Of course you don't need a prize for best foreigner if nobody else comes

 

[Bullet Bill]

It think melee and brawl players are seperate anyway or at least for the most part. On one hand you've got most of the old melee players that would rather stick to melee. And the new brawl players that are happy with brawl. Ant having separate tournaments makes sense to me. Having actual brawl tournaments would give brawl a leg to stand on at least

 

[FoulPlay]

I understand why you're not combining the tournaments, but it's the fact we need to combine them to keep the scene alive. Doing this is going to be near enough impossible though unless we have side events for each game at every tournament after GG2 as this is near enough impossible to have both Melee singles and teams and Brawl singles and teams, as it would take more than a day and a half to get out of the way probably.

Hm... Is it possible to get a bigger venue that can support 40+?

 

[Cpt.Zeppo]

Why dont you just host a large Brawl and Melee tournament with a different format?

Theres no proper housing anyway lol so you could just look into a large hall and host a large event why not? If you're going all out with this then its not much use holding it in a tiny internet café.

I still dont like the lack of cash prizes. £35 entry... you're going to have to make up for that somehow.

£10 Money match list :suess:?

 

[AmcD]

Ant I know were you want to go with this but the cash prize is needed.
Look at XL they are probably the biggest gaming company for tournaments in the UK (possibly Europe) and their prizes are cash prizes.
For this to work you would need sponsors to go along with it now not later.

 

[Retroking2000]

i really want that finish award

 

[Inertia123]

It sounds good. The time restriction is pretty annoying but theres nothing you can really do apart from have a bigger venue like Zeppo said or make every event two days.

I think with the prizes it would be good to have cash prizes for the winners and then actual prizes for things like the finish award.

 

[J03]

i agree, i love the venue we have and it works great, it has also gotten the scene back up and running. i do think we need to look into a bigger venue though. Brummy is an ideal place though so somewhere in that area would be gg's