SleepyK
Banned via Administration
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2006
- Messages
- 5,871
So I had this really in depth, well written post, but then my power briefly went out yesterday and I lost the whole thing. So here's a winging it at 330 am while tired version omg this is going to be really bad but please let me get my point across
"Melee is a dying game."
As a community, we dread these words. They imply that the scene that captivates and connects us will eventually collapse a lot sooner than most of us imagined it would. This community has survived the release of Brawl. It has survived MLG's direction (thanks DoH for sharing that lovely quote in your sig a while back) and if anything, the turnouts for national sized tournaments such as Event 52, Genesis, and Pound 4 indicate that Melee is only growing. Growing exponentially, in fact. However, I've talked to too many smashers who are quitting or rapidly losing interest due to a lack of tournaments or a lack of players in their area.
This has always been a matter of contention for Melee, as it lacks the easy competitive access of First Person Shooters, MMORPGs, and other online games. It lacks centralized locations for players to gather, as arcade games have formerly had. We pretty much just chill and play Gamecube, bro. In the past, there were usually large smashfests held by key figures in the community. GAWes and Mike G quickly spring to mind, as they held many smashfests in Georgia.
ok i'll make this look better some other time, let me just skip to my points stupid power outrage for top 3 pr on tlnet
here's the main point of what i want to say.
Basically, in areas that are dense with good smashers, the communities are growing and thriving. New York, California, some parts of Florida... they all have sizable communities. In North Carolina, the rise of Dr. Pee Pee has put hope in the hearts of the smashers and they are rapidly improving as a state. However, in places where there aren't many good smashers (such as Georgia), where the community is very scattered, or where there are no tournaments, the Melee scene tends to die. Georgia has been stagnant and I know South Carolina and Alabama haven't been faring well either.
You may think that if the players just stop making johns, the wheat will separate from the chaff and the people who quit wouldn't be tournament material in the first place. This is obviously a lazy solution and results in the loss of many potential new players. Many players have trouble with transportation or money or they live in a bad area for smash.
For example, lately I have been conversing with a Canadian player, samthedigital. For a long time, his only competition was his brother, who recently quit. Sam has stuck through due to his love of the game and is finally able to attend tournaments. His brother, frustrated by only being able to play Sam (who had largely figured him out by that point) quit. Sam's usual competition now is a CPU.. and occasionally, Ally and his brother, Holy... but only at small, local tournaments.
Yet, he lives in Quebec, within roadtrip distance of Bamsoldier, Vwins, Kage, and PKMVodka.
Of course they wouldn't drive to get to him as he's "not worth" driving out to play. He would have to make an effort to get to them, but he doesn't have transportation. If he were more like his brother, he would probably have quit or decided that tournaments weren't worth it because he would "never get as good as the top players" because he had no one to play.
ok time to just cut to the point again cause this is getting as long as lambchops' deeeiiick.
We who live in the lesser Melee areas have to foster the new or smash starved players. If we truly want the community to continue to grow, we must take it upon ourselves to do so. Those who are considered to be leaders in the community, take charge. New players may find out about competitive melee from venues that aren't smashboards, such as: youtube, gamefaqs, reddit, teamliquid.net, and many other sources. Beat the best on the block. Get them hungry for the tournament scene.
