Right, so basically before Ultimate's final roster was revealed, we had no idea who would end up getting in. As such, a lot of fanbases all thought that their character was more likely for completely different reasons. Whether it be because of chairs in the background, trademarks getting renewed, new games coming out soon, or simply because they really wanted them, everyone was able to sit in their little gated communities and circlejerk about how their character would get in over everyone else.
But when November rolled around, and that final roster was revealed, a lot of these communities had to come to terms with the harsh reality that, unless they were popular enough or had enough going in their favor, their character most likely isn't getting in. No Skull Kid, no Ashley, no Shovel Knight. Even though there was still DLC yet to come, the chances of characters like Slippy or Bandanna Waddle Dee getting included as DLC were slim to none.
As a result, they became cynical and jaded. Speculation became less fun due to the pool of hopefuls being significantly reduced, and those that were left weren't the ones they wanted. They began to deeply resent those remaining fan-favorites more than ever, given that such fan demand was most likely the impetus for the likes of Ridley and King K. Rool making it in to begin with. I think that helps explain in part why Banjo's hatedom pre-reveal was so strong compared to Ridley or King K. Rool, and why Geno's is so strong today.
These people can't stand that their characters doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting in whereas, at this current moment, the likes of Geno, Rex, and pretty much any characters that aren't the ones they want, still do. They'll try everything in their power to shame you and tear you down in the vain hope that somehow, some way, it'll make them feel better about what they don't have. It hasn't, it can't, and it won't. Miserable people dewlling on the past will never find peace.
The only way these people will begin feeling better about themselves is for them to just get the **** over it already. Be thankful for the 80+ characters we already have in the game and stop being a prick.
How do I delete someone else's Smashboards account?
See, what people need to realize is that the exact same scenario of the November 2018 direct had actually happened about 3 years earlier in the Final Smash 4 Presentation, to the point where I am fully convinced Nintendo's Smash Marketing Department is either full of complete idiots or absolute mad-men fully aware of the consequences of their actions (how Ultimate handled CERTAIN Assist Trophies being revealed leads me to believe the latter).
Let's put this into context, November 12th, 2015. It's been 5 MONTHS since the last character reveal at E3 with Ryu, and just over a month since the ballot finished. You've waited through a relatively above average Wii U era direct for one reason, figure out who the hell won the damn thing. And who do they decide to reveal at the very end? CLOUD. It's really difficult to put into context for those who weren't really into this at the time, or even to go back into that old mindset, but Cloud was a meme-pick on the level of something like Sans would be now (or well, a year or two ago I guess). The kind of thing where the moment you bring it up you get laughed out of a room. Cloud? From FF7? Are you insane? He's not even on a Nintendo system! And yet, there he was. And the craziest thing?
He's not even the person that won. HE WAS THE APPETIZER.
Seriously, looking back at how people reacted at the time, the posts people were making after he got announced, people saw him as the straw that broke the camels back, he brought in this idea that "all bets are off now". If they're revealing Cloud now, then who the hell could they be saving for the Smash Direct? Now combine that with the fact that whoever was going to be revealed HAD to be a fan favorite, I mean it was the BALLOT WINNER, it has to be someone fans REALLY wanted. So you combine these two sources of sky high expectations to create this boiling volcano of hype, but being honest hype that, at the time given what we knew, felt justified.
So after 8 months of arguing over the ballot, after completely breaking people with Cloud, with people going in expecting to see some fan favorite ballot winner, who do they reveal? Corrin, ANOTHER anime swordsman, also from Fire Emblem, WHO'S GAME WASN'T EVEN OUT YET IN THE WEST. In otherwords, quite literally the exact opposite of a fan-favorite character at the time, seriously I struggle to even think of a worse possible character to reveal here. So, ok, not a good start, but now we have the REAL winner of the ballot, WHO COULD IT POSSIBLY BE OTHER THAN... Bayonetta? Uhhhhhh...ok?
Now, I think she deserves to be in the game and like that she's here, but from the instant she got revealed it really felt off that she of all characters won. Was she popular? Decently so, but #1 in the world? I've looked myself, I can't even find a single poll that puts her in Top 5 characters from around the time of the ballot. It just felt really underwhelming at the time, and what we've learned since then, that veterans like Snake and other "unrealizable" characters did better than her according to Sakurai, and that datamining (and basic logic based on what Sakurai has said about character development) proves she was in the games data as early as TWO WEEKS after it was announced, just puts this really sour taste in your mouth with the idea that the ballot was more of a promotional stunt than an actual way to gauge fan interest. Obviously with Ultimate that has proven otherwise but again, this was at the time. There was a lot of bitterness about it, especially around Corrin, but it was also the end of a hype cycle so it didn't last long, people simmered down.
Now, lets apply this same sort of logic to Ultimate. E3, who do they reveal? RIDLEY, the most contentious character in the history of Smash Bros, to the point where even Sakurai felt the need to address it. Two months later? Oh yea, here's Simon, oh and one more thing, here's KING K. ROOL, only one of the most popular smash requests of all time. And you know why he's here? Because YOU asked for him in the BALLOT. Yea, we listened this time. Do you know what kind of expectation that sets? Well, if they've revealed Ridley and K.Rool first, they have to be saving something BIG for the last few characters right? If they really are listening it has to be someone popular! And who do they reveal, the final character? A new Pokemon. TRULY THE MOST UNEXPECTED SUPRISE, ANOTHER SHILLMON, EVERYONE ASKED FOR THIS! But wait, theres one more thing! Who could it possibly be other than... a Piranha Plant. A PIRANHA PLANT. A P I R A N H A P L A N T.
See, here's the big difference with this and Smash 4 though. When the bitterness set in for that game, it was at the end of the speculation cycle. When the bitterness set in for Ultimate, we were only 1/2, and now 1/3rd, of the way done. And with us then learning that all the DLC was pre-decided unlike 4, and NINTENDO was at the reigns, the hopes for pretty much every popular first-party character basically died on the spot. Even now, even with Spirits Deconfirmed being chucked out, there's still this general feeling that aside from a small pool of characters, Nintendo isn't nearly as likely as Sakurai to cater to fans, and with what we've seen so far it really has panned out that way. Seriously, out of the 6 DLC characters we've gotten so far I'd argue only one of them was even REMOTELY popular in the Smash community beforehand. That's not an entirely bad thing, but it is a little disheartening.
