LatexRhombus
Smash Journeyman
Clearly, one the greatest, yet seldom addressed issues in the melee community is the lack of ability to attract new players, which comes as no surprise considering there is no suitable online play available (and likely never will be), tournament entrance fees coupled by venue fees and travel expenses and time can get quite expensive, especially to players who are not expecting to receive a portion of the pot, it can become both very frustrating and discouraging to consistently lose, and, most of all, it can be difficult to get involved with the community in the first place, which tends to be broken up into a number of cliques, largely based on region.
Over the years, I have seen a number of small-time local players come and go, some taking the time to actually become fairly decent at the game, but still deciding never to attend a tournament. The only players who could legitimately be classifed as "melee players" were the players who got involved with the community on some level.
The melee community at present is more of a brotherhood, with players who know they have no chance whatsoever to take home part of the pot spending entire weekends traveling and large amounts of money to enter tournaments just to play a game they love and hang out with people who have grown to become their friends.
This deep level of commitment stems not only from their initial enjoyment of the game and their drive to improve as a player, but from their feeling of belonging and value within the community. That being said, I will propose a few potential suggestions for ways to increase new membership, although I will admit it may be too late for any change to really attract new players as the game is many years old. I am not implying any of the below are "correct," and am merely speculating, however, I have very logical and well-thought out reasoning behind each, so I would hope any dissenting views would share the same depth of thought.
1) Move the Back Room to the "Front Room" - The concept of the Melee Back Room, that is, the most knowledgeable, experienced, and, now, enthusiastic players discusses the future of the game and the community amongst each other without input from the rest, is essentially a very important part of the way the community works and I would argue has done a lot to move the community forward. However, the vast majority of the community are not the most knowledgeable, experienced, or enthusiastic players. It can be difficult for individuals to get involved or feel that they belong to a group wherein they cannot even see what is being discussed. I do support the notion that not everyone should be permitted to comment on "backroom" discussion, as it would make it as ineffectual as the discussions we normally have in the "front room," but I think it would be beneficial to the community, especially in attracting new players to allow people to see what is being said. Following the "Pound fiasco," I think it became pretty clear that more transparency was needed in tournament organizing, would more transparency in the Back Room really be detrimental to the community? Doubtful, especially if only Back Room members were permitted to post. If anything, it would lead to them better representing the whole community and prompting parallel discussions in the forum, which just serve as more opportunities for newer players to get involved.
2) More Opportunities for "Amateurism" - To the newcomer, or the inexperienced player, it isn't unusual for the community to seem like it is ruled by the few dominant players (especially based on the structure of the Back Room as mentioned above), which can be pretty intimidating to newer players. Amateur brackers are one way that has emerged to give less skilled players more of a chance to do well in tournaments and meet higher level players who can help them improve rather quickly. Aside from this, I think some consideration should be given to amateur entry fees, or cheaper entry fees to totally new players or players who have only attended one tournament who have absolutely no chance to take home part of the pot that would not have entered the tournament otherwise. For example, imagine a small local tournament with all the same faces, in this case, 7 players who each paid a $5 venue fee and a $15 entrance fee for singles. (I know this is a crappy example, but just hear me out) Now imagine there are some inexperienced players who know the local players but do not want to throw away $20. Is it too farfetched to think that if you offered them a $5 venue fee and a $5 entrance fee (halfing the total entrance, again just for newcomers) that this may get their foot-in-the-door and allow them to become involved with and a part of this community? Not to mention since they will not win, it just adds $5 extra to the pot and helps cover part of the venue.
3) Cheaper Venues - Although the venues used for the national tournaments are quite immaculate and the players who wish to attend them prefer that, newer players who simply just need to get involved with small tournaments would more often prefer cheaper venues. Now don't get me wrong, I think the venue is an important part of bigger tournaments, but I've seen some venues with a bit too much space for the amount of people participating, thus suggesting everyone had to pay more than they would have needed to otherwise. If the tournament is small and you want to attract new players, it may not hurt to offer a cheaper option.
4) Advertise - I've seen threads that suggest putting up posters and such, and I'm sure that wouldn't hurt, but likely much more effective than posters would be to use social media, such as Facebook and Myspace. Advertising via Facebook events, for instance, is a great way to see if there is anyone in your area has any interest in playing. Note - I am in no way suggesting paying for advertising on Facebook; there are a number of free ways to accomplish this goal.
5) Get People to Play - Perhaps, the most obvious, but the last that I will post on here, just simply get people to play and look for people who appreciate or are interested in the deeper aspects of the game. You do not have to call for a smash fest or meet up with a new player solely for the purpose of playing melee all day or night, just casually ask people in normal situations if they would like to play a game or two with you at the present time or a later time. Before people can even begin to try and get involved with the smash community, they need to play the game smash.
Alright, I wrote a little more than I had planned and I have to head out to class soon, so let me know what you think. Again, dissenting opinions and/or new ideas are, of course, welcomed, just please try and be respectful, because I think if we want this game to continue, this is a very important issue that we all need to be involved with.
Over the years, I have seen a number of small-time local players come and go, some taking the time to actually become fairly decent at the game, but still deciding never to attend a tournament. The only players who could legitimately be classifed as "melee players" were the players who got involved with the community on some level.
The melee community at present is more of a brotherhood, with players who know they have no chance whatsoever to take home part of the pot spending entire weekends traveling and large amounts of money to enter tournaments just to play a game they love and hang out with people who have grown to become their friends.
This deep level of commitment stems not only from their initial enjoyment of the game and their drive to improve as a player, but from their feeling of belonging and value within the community. That being said, I will propose a few potential suggestions for ways to increase new membership, although I will admit it may be too late for any change to really attract new players as the game is many years old. I am not implying any of the below are "correct," and am merely speculating, however, I have very logical and well-thought out reasoning behind each, so I would hope any dissenting views would share the same depth of thought.
1) Move the Back Room to the "Front Room" - The concept of the Melee Back Room, that is, the most knowledgeable, experienced, and, now, enthusiastic players discusses the future of the game and the community amongst each other without input from the rest, is essentially a very important part of the way the community works and I would argue has done a lot to move the community forward. However, the vast majority of the community are not the most knowledgeable, experienced, or enthusiastic players. It can be difficult for individuals to get involved or feel that they belong to a group wherein they cannot even see what is being discussed. I do support the notion that not everyone should be permitted to comment on "backroom" discussion, as it would make it as ineffectual as the discussions we normally have in the "front room," but I think it would be beneficial to the community, especially in attracting new players to allow people to see what is being said. Following the "Pound fiasco," I think it became pretty clear that more transparency was needed in tournament organizing, would more transparency in the Back Room really be detrimental to the community? Doubtful, especially if only Back Room members were permitted to post. If anything, it would lead to them better representing the whole community and prompting parallel discussions in the forum, which just serve as more opportunities for newer players to get involved.
2) More Opportunities for "Amateurism" - To the newcomer, or the inexperienced player, it isn't unusual for the community to seem like it is ruled by the few dominant players (especially based on the structure of the Back Room as mentioned above), which can be pretty intimidating to newer players. Amateur brackers are one way that has emerged to give less skilled players more of a chance to do well in tournaments and meet higher level players who can help them improve rather quickly. Aside from this, I think some consideration should be given to amateur entry fees, or cheaper entry fees to totally new players or players who have only attended one tournament who have absolutely no chance to take home part of the pot that would not have entered the tournament otherwise. For example, imagine a small local tournament with all the same faces, in this case, 7 players who each paid a $5 venue fee and a $15 entrance fee for singles. (I know this is a crappy example, but just hear me out) Now imagine there are some inexperienced players who know the local players but do not want to throw away $20. Is it too farfetched to think that if you offered them a $5 venue fee and a $5 entrance fee (halfing the total entrance, again just for newcomers) that this may get their foot-in-the-door and allow them to become involved with and a part of this community? Not to mention since they will not win, it just adds $5 extra to the pot and helps cover part of the venue.
3) Cheaper Venues - Although the venues used for the national tournaments are quite immaculate and the players who wish to attend them prefer that, newer players who simply just need to get involved with small tournaments would more often prefer cheaper venues. Now don't get me wrong, I think the venue is an important part of bigger tournaments, but I've seen some venues with a bit too much space for the amount of people participating, thus suggesting everyone had to pay more than they would have needed to otherwise. If the tournament is small and you want to attract new players, it may not hurt to offer a cheaper option.
4) Advertise - I've seen threads that suggest putting up posters and such, and I'm sure that wouldn't hurt, but likely much more effective than posters would be to use social media, such as Facebook and Myspace. Advertising via Facebook events, for instance, is a great way to see if there is anyone in your area has any interest in playing. Note - I am in no way suggesting paying for advertising on Facebook; there are a number of free ways to accomplish this goal.
5) Get People to Play - Perhaps, the most obvious, but the last that I will post on here, just simply get people to play and look for people who appreciate or are interested in the deeper aspects of the game. You do not have to call for a smash fest or meet up with a new player solely for the purpose of playing melee all day or night, just casually ask people in normal situations if they would like to play a game or two with you at the present time or a later time. Before people can even begin to try and get involved with the smash community, they need to play the game smash.
Alright, I wrote a little more than I had planned and I have to head out to class soon, so let me know what you think. Again, dissenting opinions and/or new ideas are, of course, welcomed, just please try and be respectful, because I think if we want this game to continue, this is a very important issue that we all need to be involved with.
