No, my comments were not specific to anything I specifically think, but more of an observation about how the Smash community is starting to both look inside and outside. We already have a roster of 80 characters including several of which who haven't had major appearances in years and tons of third parties. Smash has already exceeded the expectations of basically everyone multiple times over. It's such a goddamn impressive achievement when you start to actually understand how much effort and commitment has been needed to get to this point. The game probably shouldn't even be able to exist, especially not in ****ing 2018-2019 when most game companies are being devastatingly awful in their practices, cut content, etc. Lots of people are just impressed with Smash at this point who don't even really care all that much about who's in or can be classified as hardcore fans.
But I've seen a slow burning resentment with the community from the outside just continue to grow over the past year. Parts of our fan base are nigh unapproachable to outsiders. We have a horrid reputation with straight up smell of all things at tournaments, and some of those tournaments also devolve into madness and salt pretty quickly. And the way we deal with newcomers? Take the number of people who ***** every time a character isn't exactly to their liking or isn't exactly who they wanted. Look at the ones who make every single thing about which newcomers are getting in and compose the most asinine theories from a whole bunch of nothing, regardless of it it follows any actual logic or even has something to do with Smash. Look at people making death threats because Waluigi wasn't in the game. Look at people saying a goddamn Nintendo Direct was moved because Isaac had earth based powers and it was insensitive. Look at the ****ing massive fallout from the Grinch leak and how insufferable everything was for about a month. Look at people who treat major third parties as **** additions to Smash despite how goddamn wide of a player base both the home game and Smash has. I can keep going on is the truly sad part.
We can go, "oh, well, those were only the bad eggs" of the community. And we're right to say that. But to outside people who don't really care enough to just give us benefit of the doubt and take the time to understand the details of every nuance, especially when you see all of those situations and near constant repetition of ****ty behaviors? Character support can also be problematic, just take legitimate supporters of Steve and how they were harassed too. Then there's stuff like the hierarchy problems I've talked in length about in the past that further negative perceptions. It all adds up over time, and I think while Smash the game has gotten considerable boosts in reputation, the Smash fan base has gone the complete opposite direction in the eyes of the public.
So, we have a community that isn't particularly well received pushing for characters in a game that already has so much fan service and work put into it. All stars have an easier time attracting attention and supporters just because they're better exposed and more likely to be a noticeable exclusion from the game. A more recognizable character is more easily supported by people than a less recognizable one, at least in the early stages of the process. That said, the issue is that there aren't genuinely many noticeable missing first party characters anymore. Of Nintendo's traditional all-stars, they're all B-list stars or below. A short list of Dixie Kong, Toad, Waluigi, and Bandanna Dee is all I can really come up with. You have a couple of hold-outs like Isaac, who while popular in the Smash community, don't exactly originate from super popular or mainstream games. Without the all-star status, it's a harder to sell to most people overall.
And here's where the real issues pop up. Characters that have less support and less mainstream success than others often become the source of a certain vitriol against Sakurai, Nintendo, etc. when fans don't see them as playable. The previous perception of Smash as largely complete/stupid impressive already makes those characters that aren't included seem like much less of a deal than people are making them. People generally understand that not every single fan request or supported character will get into the game and that there are just limits to everything in the world. And the weaker the character's all-star and notable status (which can include fan support, recency, importance to genre, etc.), the more likely this already public is going to be with the character's fan base and inevitably end up at the "entitled" comments. A character like Mach Rider being absent seems like an absolute non issue compared to the likes of King K. Rool and Ridley getting in, who had both massive fan support and operated in a certain level of all-star status as primary villains. It very much becomes a moment of oh, you didn't get
everything you wanted and
only most of what you wanted, I feel so bad you didn't get all your hopes and dreams... /s
This video probably describes this specific idea best honestly:
Some of this is a little bit of hyperbole and picking more obvious examples of a character like Mach Rider to be a bit of a punching bag for the sake of my commentary (I still think Mach Rider would be dope, but he's a convenient example to turn to when discussing things), but I've heard the phrase, "The Smash fandom probably doesn't deserve Sakurai at this point" more than a couple of times in the past year. The character status plays into how much wiggle room a character has in the eyes of the public. If it's someone who you can point to as an All-Star that they recognize, it's a much easier task to win them on to your side. But the further removed from that we get, the more work you have to do with arguing your case for your newcomer and why your newcomer should be in Smash with so many other choices. You lose more sympathy the further removed you are from recognizable and clearly absent from the roster. And then certain fan bases make perceptions better or worse on themselves depending on how they feel. Hence, a lot of characters can become vilified super easily with all of this in mind.
In some ways, I do unfortunately think bigger name characters get to get away with more aggression than smaller ones. Which is awful and I don't think that should be the case, but it's a pretty standard behavior people do when presented by hierarchy, often inadvertently. Take a look at famous people who get away with so much bull**** when most of our lives would probably be ruined if we committed similar offenses/actions. The underdog always has the harder fight to the top and is held to different standards from those around them.
And to be completely honest, if nothing Ultimate has done has appealed to you in some way, maybe it's time to reassess a lot of things. Nobody is ever going to get everyone they want and everything they want, that's why Smash has gone for such an impressively wide selection of characters from different genres, eras, and games. And a good majority of the content in the game has come directly from big fan desires, requests, and feedback. If you didn't get any of your most wanted characters in the game, I'm sorry, but that's just sometimes the luck of your particular draw in life. It's an entertainment product that appeals to 14 million people, chances are people aren't going to get everything they want and that some will get none of what they want. That's just probability at a certain point.
I don't really agree that certain characters should be held to higher standards than others or that some fans can get away with certain terrible behavior that others can't. It's unfair, but humans tend to pretty unfair by nature when given the opportunity. I don't think the negative route leads anywhere positive for any fan base though. If it continues/gets bad enough, I think you stand a decent chance of being entirely misrepresented for the remainder of the speculation cycle or disowned from the community in general. It's all super frustrating, but that's why I think every fan base already sort of straddles the "line of entitlement." It's getting harder and harder for all fan bases at this point, and I don't think it really gets easier as we move forward.
Keep in mind everyone that this is of course based on personal observation and anecdotal evidence. I'm not trying to claim this applies to all Smash fans, hardcore or casual, or that all fan bases are in any way greater than others/worse than others. It's just a phenomenon I've seen a bit more of and I wanted to give my take on. Thanks for coming to my long-winded and probably desperately in need of editing Ted Talk.
