So... I've been busy with life, other games, and when it comes to Smash: PM. Last I knew Blind was recruiting for the B+BR.. A ton has changed since I last checked in. To be honest, I'm shocked (kind of). I have to admit, it's saddening.
I've been with Brawl+ since long before its established name, all the way back to when the simple no-tripping code was an amazing achievement. I've been with Brawl+ every step of the way until I joined PM.
I assumed Brawl+ was doing well, it had always been the most popular mod, but now I've come to realize that likely only because it was the first of them.
In my somewhat recent reading of the interwebz, I started noticing more negativity regarding B+, though not over any specific aspect of it. However, Brawl+ seemed to have attained an "uncool" vibe about it.
In reality, it was never really easy for B+, it faced so much needless opposition over every little thing. The community chocked it to death. I mean, many complained because of the nightlies (the experimental builds), and the ample updates, sayin that they wanted a stable metagame. Now that they have that (albeit a flawed update-- from what I read about boundaries) they now WANT updates.
The real problem with Brawl+ is a combination of many things: inconsistent leadership, policies, a troublesome community and the looming PM.
Brawl+ will always be held in somewhat of a high regard because it paved the way for Brawl-, BBrawl, and PM. Without Brawl+ those other mods wouldn't have been possible. While Brawl+ paved the way, it was simultaneously digging its own grave. There was never a closed development stage. Never a point where the team could code, and create the mod behind closed doors, then release it once ready. Because of this, every changed made in Brawl+ was scuitinized and examined. The community's incessant whining shaped Brawl+ in a terrible way, as the team didn't want to defy their whining. Because of this, Brawl+ was never able to break free, and try anything "risky."
Then, one day a mod came along boasting the "risky" idea, and called themselves Brawl- (the name even pokes fun at Brawl+, haha). With this mod, people found that taking some creative liberty isn't actually a bad thing-- at all, granted Brawl+ never would have gone to such creative extremes. Still, people cried about mapping foot stooping elsewhere. If they can whine about that, they can (and did) whine about anything.
Brawl-'s development, from what I'd assume was a ton different. They took many of the codes made for Brawl+, and made a number of their own, and also had some fun with PSA. When the team felt it was time to release what they were working on, they did, and in a formal thread. From there, to my understanding, they've made a number of updates, but with more of a breather in between. This is a much better design scheme.
PM is like this, only on a larger scale. This is not meant to infer anything about Brawl-, but to point out that it's been in closed alpha development for about a year and a half now, and the public is well aware of this, but by-and-large the development is behind closed doors, safe from the community that can both love and destroy it. Only when it's ready--to the degree that we want--can it be released to the masses.
Sorry for the wall of text, I just find this all to be very interesting. For the record, PM is absolutely amazing! The hype train is so worth it, because this game delivers every step of the way! For those of you yet to try it, you will be amazed at what the team has achieved, It's amazing!
Without further adeu,
R.I.P Brawl+
Thanks for the good times,
Orca