Stiltzskin
Smash Apprentice
First off, I know everyone will not agree with this idea. This idea is meant to appeal to the players who play this game for fun, for the competition, and for the friendships they've made through this game, be it melee or brawl. If money is the biggest factor for you to be in competitive gaming, then please be gentle with the criticism.
Anyways my point is, I don't believe money should be the governing force for gaming tournaments. Yes I know, the world is run by money. But that doesn't justify why so many players give monthly, almost weekly, allowances to the same few players time and time again. Back before I was a washed up veteran in brawl, I was a nobody in melee. I got into the scene towards the end of melee's run, entered a few tournaments and lost every one of them. I began questioning why I continued to give my money to the same players over and over. I've asked the same question to other players in the same situation, a majority telling me they entered to test their skills, to have fun, or simply because that's how it has always been. I always ask the follow up question, "Don't you get the same thing out of friendlies?" The majority always answers, "People don't play the same unless money is on the line." Once again, the factor of money rears its ugly head. People are being forced to pay others just to get an enjoyable competitive experience.
I'm not just familiar with the losing money side of tournaments. Before I was a washed up veteran in brawl and after I was a nobody in melee, I placed pretty well in tournaments and won my fair share of money. I'll admit, it feels great being handed a big stack of twenties, but it doesn't justify me taking money from others just because I was better at pressing plastic buttons faster and more accurately. Some players may find it justified since I'm sure you can make any process of attaining money sound just as mundane. But I want the players who aren't used to receiving a weekly allowance at the expense of other players to ask themselves, "How do I feel knowing the five or ten dollars I pay every week goes towards another players car notes, bills, clothes, etc?"
I'd like to provide an example. I enjoy the game of basketball. I enjoy it so much, that I can get quite competitive in it. Am I good? No. Does that stop me from being competitive amongst my friends and having a good time with it? No, it does not. Me and my friends play quite a few pick-up games. Money is never on the line, yet each of us is trying our hardest to win the game. As impossible as this sounds to some smash players, this is an instance in which people are being competitive in something to the point of trying with all of their will without being motivated by the idea of monetary gain. The point I'm trying to prove is, money does not have to be on the line for a player to try with all of their will to beat another player. Money does not breed competition. I will admit it is a very good catalyst, but it is not a necessary one.
The idea of a free tournament is not an entirely new one. In fact, I've witnessed much of the Houston scene have many tournaments like this but masking it with the entry fee of one or two dollars. Do the players really have that much to gain if they win the pot? No. But they still try their hardest since they want to prove they're the best. Or maybe they just want to have fun, either way money isn't the governing force.
I'm not the "all talk and no action" kind of guy so that is why I will be holding a tournament of this nature in the near future. Of course there will be a venue fee, but players will not have to dread the thought of giving up an additional ten or fifteen dollars. I would prefer it if the results of my tourney would be treated just the same as any other tourney's results, but I would understand if it wasn't since my tourney would be missing the "important" factor of money being the governing force. The reason I ask for my tourney results to be treated like any other is so the participants still feel that pressure of competition; that their ranking amongst other players is still on the line. That way the sense of fun players get from being in a competitive environment isn't lost. Not to mention this would solve the splitting problem so many people have complained about.
In the end, each player must evaluate their own reasons for playing a video game competitively, much less play a video game. Personally for me, it is a temporary escape from the problems (lack of money, college, work, etc.) of my life. A chance to be competitive at something that I enjoy. Why would I want to taint my escape from these problems with the very thing that causes the problems in my life in the first place?
Discuss.
Anyways my point is, I don't believe money should be the governing force for gaming tournaments. Yes I know, the world is run by money. But that doesn't justify why so many players give monthly, almost weekly, allowances to the same few players time and time again. Back before I was a washed up veteran in brawl, I was a nobody in melee. I got into the scene towards the end of melee's run, entered a few tournaments and lost every one of them. I began questioning why I continued to give my money to the same players over and over. I've asked the same question to other players in the same situation, a majority telling me they entered to test their skills, to have fun, or simply because that's how it has always been. I always ask the follow up question, "Don't you get the same thing out of friendlies?" The majority always answers, "People don't play the same unless money is on the line." Once again, the factor of money rears its ugly head. People are being forced to pay others just to get an enjoyable competitive experience.
I'm not just familiar with the losing money side of tournaments. Before I was a washed up veteran in brawl and after I was a nobody in melee, I placed pretty well in tournaments and won my fair share of money. I'll admit, it feels great being handed a big stack of twenties, but it doesn't justify me taking money from others just because I was better at pressing plastic buttons faster and more accurately. Some players may find it justified since I'm sure you can make any process of attaining money sound just as mundane. But I want the players who aren't used to receiving a weekly allowance at the expense of other players to ask themselves, "How do I feel knowing the five or ten dollars I pay every week goes towards another players car notes, bills, clothes, etc?"
I'd like to provide an example. I enjoy the game of basketball. I enjoy it so much, that I can get quite competitive in it. Am I good? No. Does that stop me from being competitive amongst my friends and having a good time with it? No, it does not. Me and my friends play quite a few pick-up games. Money is never on the line, yet each of us is trying our hardest to win the game. As impossible as this sounds to some smash players, this is an instance in which people are being competitive in something to the point of trying with all of their will without being motivated by the idea of monetary gain. The point I'm trying to prove is, money does not have to be on the line for a player to try with all of their will to beat another player. Money does not breed competition. I will admit it is a very good catalyst, but it is not a necessary one.
The idea of a free tournament is not an entirely new one. In fact, I've witnessed much of the Houston scene have many tournaments like this but masking it with the entry fee of one or two dollars. Do the players really have that much to gain if they win the pot? No. But they still try their hardest since they want to prove they're the best. Or maybe they just want to have fun, either way money isn't the governing force.
I'm not the "all talk and no action" kind of guy so that is why I will be holding a tournament of this nature in the near future. Of course there will be a venue fee, but players will not have to dread the thought of giving up an additional ten or fifteen dollars. I would prefer it if the results of my tourney would be treated just the same as any other tourney's results, but I would understand if it wasn't since my tourney would be missing the "important" factor of money being the governing force. The reason I ask for my tourney results to be treated like any other is so the participants still feel that pressure of competition; that their ranking amongst other players is still on the line. That way the sense of fun players get from being in a competitive environment isn't lost. Not to mention this would solve the splitting problem so many people have complained about.
In the end, each player must evaluate their own reasons for playing a video game competitively, much less play a video game. Personally for me, it is a temporary escape from the problems (lack of money, college, work, etc.) of my life. A chance to be competitive at something that I enjoy. Why would I want to taint my escape from these problems with the very thing that causes the problems in my life in the first place?
Discuss.
