First tournament experiences may be intimidating for the average person. It's a new group of people, you don't know what's going to happen, and you don't know your place in the community. Sometimes a loss may come at a shock or you may win when you think you won't. Things are unpredictable and you definitely learn something about your actual interest in the game or its players.
But whether or not you make the decision to stay committed, there are tons of dynamics and personalities in play that really make or break a Smash Crew, a Smash Scene, a Smash Region, what-have-you. And it really, it all boils down to attitude...
"Serious and Playful"
Ever hear the complaint that pros just don't give newbies the time of day? Or that pros are elitist and that they only think about themselves and what their interests are? For the people that raise these complaints, take note: a professional, or talented individual in their field, does not owe TRAINING to ANYONE with less talent than them. Respect and time are not entitlements; respect and time are shared because they were EARNED.
Before you press PAGEDOWN and type out your flames, please give me a chance to explain the situation. Let's start with a hypothetical: have you ever BEEN a PRO or LEADER in your community? Have you ever had anything of value that people desperately wanted?
A professional or talent in their field is usually bombarded constantly with requests for training, skills, tips, etc. It comes with being good at something: your services are requested. With such a high demand for people to play with them, they cannot play and teach everyone. It's impossible! So requests and newbies are all filtered.
When I was President of the Multicultural Greek Council at my school, I used to get requests for funding, or questions about hours or something. It was physically impossible to satisfy all incoming questions so I usually gave my time and energy to the people I thought were "cool." People that did not inundate me with details about technical bi-laws or greek bull****. People I could be A PERSON, with.
Here are the individuals that are usually FILTERED AND NOT PLAYED WITH:
The Know-It-All
This is someone that keeps talking about the game, even when the TVs are off and everyone wants to eat Carne Asada Fries. This is the guy that knows the frame advantage of Yoshi's forward-tilt on Donkey Kong at 65%, and always seems to question a pros EVERY MOVE.
Usual Culprits: people on SmashBoards with high post counts in their character boards, SmashBoards mods, Wifi Players
The Negative Nancy
This is the guy that gets frustrated at the status quo. The person that just can't accept the ways of the world around him at that point in time. The person that just keeps living in denial about why his character sucks in certain match-ups and is always one loss away from throwing his controller in frustration.
Usual Culprits: people on SmashBoards with high posts counts in their character boards, most pro-ban players, the entire state of Arizona from 2005 - 2009
Robin
These are the ****y ****s that think just because they have some semblance of natural talent or may have gotten a lucky win, they think they're too cool to play with people that are actually better with them. They stay with the "Teen Titans" for fear of getting whomped on by the "Justice Leagues." They're predatory, needy, and afraid, and you can smell them from a mile away.
Usual Culprits: you can hear them asking Nexus for a money match, you can hear them crying about not being on their region's PR, you can hear them bragging about learning a characters match-up from someone worse than the person they beat in that match-up
Sure, I had a little fun with the list, and I think every single one of us has exhibited these qualities at some point or another, but the fact remains that your behavior, and attitude, as a player, determines whether or not people will want to play with you, and train you.
People usually like Young Blood in their communities. The second I realized that TearBear was determined to go to Genesis 1 when he had only been visiting Havok's House for a month, I made it a point to integrate him into the community and make him our own. Veterans love Young Blood and newcomers; but they just have to avoid the personalities listed above, they have to shut up, and they have to be "cool" in the sense that they have to be fun, normal people.
Here are some things to facilitate your welcome into a community:
- Be serious and playful: play your matches like you want to win them; lose with some dignity, and laugh at your mistakes and learn from them.
- Smile and say "Hi" to people: be social, and meet people; no one is going to hate you or avoid you unless you outright disrespect them or exude a negative vibe.
- Step away from the game and be normal at appropriate times: when discussions are about carne asada fries, KEEP THEM ABOUT carne asada fries.
- Don't ever, ever, ever talk about your wins or losses unless someone asks you about them, and EVEN THEN, BE BRIEF AND THAT'S IT! I think this is self-explanatory.