Lots of catching up to do!
Sakurai isn't the only one in charge of designing all characters and balancing everyone. They came out during development to speak that they now have multiples of people working on that.
Hence, why we get "balance patches" to further keep the standards they are invested in.
Yes and no. Game development is more complex than that, as is the special nuances of Smash and its development.
Sakurai has absolute control over all gameplay parameters. He in an INCREDIBLY hands-on director who micromanages certain things to an extreme degree--for example, he poses 4 keyframes for every combat action in the game in his design doc. This level of control can be good or bad, and frankly that's a matter that exclusively his development team is able to judge. The only thing it means to us is that the end product tends to follow a single vision *very* consistently.
For balance specifically, Sakurai has talked publicly about his process.
In Melee, which was made frantically in 11 months, they pretty much just played games whenever possible and Sakurai frantically changed things daily however he felt.
In Brawl, they had more time. Sakurai internally had the development team compete, and had the best 4 members assemble as a "monitor team.". They recorded all their matches (a mix of FFA and 1v1, with items and without), and were require to submit reports with recommended changes. Sakurai would then approve changes personally--if he rejected a change, usually because it made a character too different from the source design (like speeding up a heavy character too much), he'd demand alternatives.
In Smash 4, Sakurai increased the monitor size team to 12, to provide vastly more character coverage and avoid someone like MK slipping through. He commented how he plays with them two nights a week to understand their perspectives, even though they always beat him. He also said the monitor team has the For Glory data and reads Japanese message boards, which they use to review and "sanity check" their decisions. (He commented specifically after the game came out, that the monitor team was very surprised at one of the characters with the highest FG win rates, and was struggling to understand why that character was winning so much and decide if anything needed to be done. It was never revealed who this was.)
One thing that is likely certain, based on Nintendo's international certification process, is that any balanced changes we get are completed 4-6 weeks before we get them. Additionally, outside of FG data and maybe a very vague awareness of EVO, the Japanese-speaking monitor team probably doesn't pay much attention to the western scene.
Why is powersuit Samus not included in that list? She was used.
Well, only once, and as a hail-Mary. But... it was loser's finals of a national tourney. And I've always said I care infinitely more about the character you lost with than the one you won with, because the former was the character you truly believed you had the most chance with
when it mattered the most. I've now listed Samus in the op (by which I guess I mean second reply) with a note.
Not to mention, Nairo himself pulled out Robin and Meta Knight for a single match each against ZeRo, to no success.
Yeah, but I think we all agree that was Different. Nairo himself has stated that while those games were "serious", the goal was not to win but to collect data on Zero's mood, habits, and tendencies that day. (Without revealing his own, with his true character.)
Again, I think that in tourney the character(s) top players lose with say more than the character(s) they win with. But there's a line, and in this case Nairo's exploratory picks were imo on the other side.
New thread: well written ruleset Thinkaman, but do "tiers" really need to be in the title of the thread?
Yes, because the title isn't for you and me. It's for random new-user billy who is trying to figure out where to post his totally sweet tier list. It's better for him to click this thread and
maybe read it and not get modded (let me dream) than post it elsewhere.
Personal thought: I do wish in any future patches released that they bring new improvements to the lesser-used characters such as Marth and Lucina. They deserve better.
- Marth/Lucina is one of the most buffed characters across patches. Not saying that means they are automatically good or don't "deserve" more changes, but still.
- Marth/Lucina (particularly Marth) is nowhere near the worst character(s) in the game, at least according to public opinion. Not saying that this means they shouldn't be improved further, but still.
Ryu's Collarbone Breaker is frame 13, does 37 percent shield damage and is now a block string.
Uncharged Shield Breaker for Marth is either 33-34 percent shield damage and is frame 19.
Nerf Shield Breaker Kappa
Comparing moves directly is often unfair, and I think this case is particularly bad.
Shield breaker is chargeable, which means it can beat spot-dodge. The added value of beating
two defensive options is more than twice that of beating one. Additionally, it is much longer range and disjointed.
Of course, Collarbone Breaker is a great move on its own.
I've never had trouble reading my posts. If it's so hard to read, why is it allowed as an option?
I mean, obviously the Xenforo post options are a common set of tools for any Xenforo message board, regardless of default theme/background.
Regardless, the lighter blue is much more readable, thanks!
So that the subject is not derailed further
@Mr. ShinyUmbreon and
Kaladin
you can change your settings so ALL text shows up as white despite what someone puts it as. Go to your preferences here on the forum.
Correct, but then you'll miss out on
cool highlights like this! I would advise people to use legible text on the default theme wherever possible.
But on the subject of Sheik I too agree it seems odd to say she isn't capable of having any even matchups but she DOES seem significantly better than most all characters in the cast. I don't know if that means she just has itty bitty advantages over some characters but if that's the case it's probably not enough to matter. I'd say she does have the best matchup spread in the game though.
Maybe more controversially, I'd say she also makes a nice chunks of characters probably not worth touching in tournaments if more and more people pick her up. I get this game is one of the best balanced Smash titles but I still cannot understand why folks seem to think everyone could still snag a top 8 at a major event. There's a point where some characters just plain can't do work on a national or international scale and we need to stop using locals to justify them as tournament viable.
The big question is how many more Sheiks will we see, and what impact those Sheiks will have on the metagame. Or, more specifically, what is the relative disadvantage of everyone learning the Sheik matchup?
DunnoBro
Is there anything to MVD counter picking Mega Man with Duck Hunt? Does DHD have a better MM MU than Diddy, or is it purely a comfort pick?
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