Are we nearing "20XX"?

[LovinMitts]

Something I've noticed recently (as a Ness main) is that there is almost no activity on the character boards except for the top five or so. Is this an indication that the metagame is soon to be stagnant?

Or is it possible that we simply aren't utilizing the low-tier characters to their fullest potential?

 

[Flippy Flippersen]

Lower tiered characters are less frequently played and have less options (things to talk about) smashboards is really old and you can see that there's a lot more threads in better character sections than in lowtier sections by an amount large enough to imply this isn't something new due to 20xx.

 

[Xyzz]

It's just that there isn't nearly as many people playing those characters.
I'd guess that most people who post on the boards play smash at tournaments every once in a while. When you look at what characters are played there, you'd have to believe that low tier mains were a lot more communicative than high tier mains, to think that their boards wouldn't be dead.
Writing down all the Falco mainsI know would be more text than I've written in this post so far, but Ness mains? Mofo? And, uhh, you, I guess? :D

But those low tier mains will always exist I think. Some people just click with that character (see Axe having a really good Falco, but still being way more successful with his Pikachu).
And yeah, that trend isn't new.

 

[Max?]

The boards have been dead since all the smash Facebook groups came out. Why bother posting in a forum full of scrubs when you can contact the best directly?

 

[MookieRah]

20XX is basically an over simplistic hyperbole. We don't even know if Fox/Falco are technically the best characters at the maximum of human potential, as we just assume that due to them being so amazing on paper. In practice their tech might not be enough to make them superior. It might not be humanly plausible for them to consistently out-perform characters that get more mileage from less tech (Jiggs, Marth, Sheik, etc).

Hell, I'd argue that we really don't know the capabilities of all the "low" tiers to make a call as to their viability. Pikachu, Yoshi, and Mewtwo have all had mains capable of doing amazing things, yet everyone chalks that up to the player and not the character. I don't think that the players of these characters are magical in any way, and their amazing performance is simply evidence that these characters are actually capable of performing well given someone good is playing them.

I'd also point out that a lot of these low tier mains have picked up other higher tiered characters, but despite the switch you don't see any significant tournament performance after the switch was made (with the exceptions of covering really poor match ups perhaps).

 

[Vorde]

20XX is basically an over simplistic hyperbole. We don't even know if Fox/Falco are technically the best characters at the maximum of human potential, as we just assume that due to them being so amazing on paper. In practice their tech might not be enough to make them superior. It might not be humanly plausible for them to consistently out-perform characters that get more mileage from less tech (Jiggs, Marth, Sheik, etc).

Yeah that makes sense, they're basically the best characters if you were a computer (or looking for a character to TAS the game with), but if you're playing Fox or Falco as a human, and you want those results, you have to play perfect everytime. You can't pick up the characters and expect to win just because of the character you chose. I play Fox because I find the game very enjoyable with that character, and I know he's tournament viable. However, if I play bad, I'm still going to lose. I think 20XX is more of a joke than anything else

 

[tttt]

20XX is just a joke. It's not a literal thing that will happen or has happened. There is still much untapped potential in characters. I personally believe the tier list is mostly final at this point, but with how big smash has gotten recently, there's a big chance people will find a hidden gem in a character since there are more people searching for them now.

 

[flacofaloc]

I would say people have just sorta accepted or come to terms with that fact that the spacies are the best. No one is truly trying to change the game, except for AmSa. Yoshi must be top tier.

 

[DerfMidWest]

There is still a lot of development in several of the mid-tier and lower-high tier characters.
The tier list has room to keep changing, especially considering characters with very high technical potential that hasn't been widely incorporated into play.

 

[TOGOpuff]

as a scrub i feel i shouldn't express my opinion sine it's not "the best" opinion

But I don't think 20XX will ever come as we have no idea how far unkown people in and out the US have come with certain characters. Most recent example is aMSa with Yoshi, and more are yet to come. We haven't explored under used characters enough to assume they're dead. Tiers on smash are very similar to pokémon tiers, they're based on usage and results. Marth was top tier back in 05-07 and now we have foxes running around every gamecube we find. Foxes and falcos have serious flaws off stage tho and a player with enough matchup data/experience and ridiculous ability on a not that used character can :shine: as a new god. Skill wise, i think under used and never used characters must have still a huge world to explore that goes beyond frame data and lab. Numerously speaking tiers and 20XX are here for a long time, but when we are talking about humans and how infinite our mental universe is, consider anything to be a resolved formula is underestimating human capacity to create new possibilites out of imagination and hard work.

TL;DR 20XX will beome 30XX and so on.

 

[AirFair]

While Fox is #1 on the tier list, that doesn't mean anyone who uses him is good from the get go.
20XX is a long way off if people like aMSa can still place well.

 

[AlphaQHard]

It's all about that new 20XXX

20XXX>20XX
20EggsEggs>20XX

 

[SuperShus]

It's not happening.

 

[ERayz]

The boards have been dead since all the smash Facebook groups came out. Why bother posting in a forum full of scrubs when you can contact the best directly?

So true!

While there seems to be a better ratio of pro vs scrub in the character specific sections of the forums, I feel there are a lot more newbies than there ever was in the scene. Which is nice in some way, since the newbies of today will be the pros in the future, and hopefully eventually beat the stagnant top 5.

Otherwise, it's getting harder and harder to find valuable informations on the forums, since we get to see more opinions of lower level players. But even then, some noobs are sometimes bringing good ideas or questions about the game. Still, it's hard for intermediate players to get good advice nowadays, unless they are in direct contact with top players.

 

[Jim Morrison]

The boards have been dead since all the smash Facebook groups came out. Why bother posting in a forum full of scrubs when you can contact the best directly?

You're killing me with your good jokes.

Yeah, I can't even count the times where I had productive discussion about player mindset and character matchups in the Melee social and MIOM groups! I'm glad that when you host a tournament, instead of just posting on smashboards, you have to post it in 10 nearby local smash groups just to spread a small bit. I not being able to find smash vids because there's no central forum to post them. The hunt of just looking for them is so much fun! What I love most is seeing everyone's real name and not knowing who is who.

Jesus, I miss Smashboards so much...

 

[Dan Where Is The Food]

I don't know what you people mean by 20XX

 

[TOGOpuff]

I don't know what you people mean by 20XX

the future.

where the boundaries between the technology we can do now and the unknown is crossed.