Am I the only one who hates the, "This character is deserving!" argument? Ugh. I hate it. Every character is arbitrarily deserving for arbitrary reasons. If you were truly "deserving" to get into Smash, why aren't you in there already?
If the reasons a character is "deserving" were so important, why didn't they get in over a character who "isn't deserving"? So K.Rool is completely deserving, yet Palutena, Shulk, and Greninja got in with not even close to the same amount of "deservingness"...it makes no sense and means nothing.
I love K.Rool too. I think he should be in, and I think he will be in if Sakurai and the dev team look at how many votes he gets. He'll get in because of his popularity and moveset potential. Not because he's "deserving" by fan standards. He's a long time villain and classic villain of a big name Nintendo franchise. Sure, that's a good quality. But if that didn't get him in yet, I think it's much less important than what he can do, and how many people want him.
I personally believe that the poll is going to show a few things. First, it's going to show stuff we already knew: Veterans will get a good amount of votes. So Wolf, Snake, arguably Ice Climbers...they'll all get a good amount of votes. Second, very popular newcomer choices. Your K.Rool, Banjo, Inklings, Isaac...probably will top the chart, possibly followed by Wonder Red.
Then it's going to come down to, why add this character over that one? What can they provide? Suddenly some fans think this ballot throws all the rules out the window on character speculation. If a character tops the charts and they're super boring, they probably still won't be added because they're always looking for diversity. Too often do I see people freaking out about how if a random character gets a good amount of votes, that character will get in. The other day somebody said Kratos from God of War. They have to have had a title on a Nintendo platform...so no. Kratos won't happen unless he suddenly is on a Nintendo platform. Same thing with Super Meat Boy.
On another topic, as much as people want say, Shovel Knight or Shantae, I just don't think Indie characters will happen. Again, Sakurai holds his 3rd Party choices to a high standard. We've got three video gaming legends in Sonic, Mega Man and Pac-Man. The next Third Party is...Shantae? That's a major leap. Obviously I'm biased towards Snake, but I could easily argue his and MGS's legacy in gaming.
Anyway, back to my original argument. While I firmly believe K.Rool is in, not every character is going to be picked simply because they are atop the ballot. There is no winner. This is a vote to see who people want as DLC and for future Smash titles. The standards we all know will still be in effect. Don't let the ballot hype cloud your judgment.
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Now, based on what I've already said, I have a feeling we'll get something nice in regards to Smash Bros. at E3. That will be the next Nintendo Direct if I'm not mistaken. If Sakurai and the team have been working on further DLC already (which is a possibility, although I have no evidence to back that) we could see a newcomer at E3 to make hype just absolutely explode. Who do they reveal? I would say K.Rool, Inklings or Wolf. Wolf because he's a veteran, K.Rool because it would cause Crashboards to return from the grave, and Inklings just because I could totally see it happening.
Thoughts? (I always go on rants. Sheesh. Sorry)