I'm glad that they're not doing a Ballot this time.

[Quillion]

The Ballot was an utter farce looking back on it, and that goes for both Nintendo for making it and the fans who voted on it.

For Nintendo, they had barely any method of anticipating whether the character would be doable or not. They had no way of separating first party characters, most of which they would have no trouble getting the rights to, from third party characters, all of which would require a large amount of negotiations.

For the fans, they flooded the ballot with incredibly unrealistic requests. Anything from non-video game characters like Goku to joke requests like a Goomba. It also didn't help that the companies behind the characters started getting in on the action by starting their own campaigns to get their characters into Smash.

This is just a small sampling of the reasons why I think it was just a bad idea, and badly done at that. All of this and more just led to the ballot being an utterly chaotic, disorderly mess that could never really succeed at its goal.

If a ballot is ever going to work again (probably for next Smash), they better take some cues from Fire Emblem Heroes' Choose Your Legends' poll: make it closed in some fashion and force the fans to choice from a vast selection from that. Perhaps even go one step further and after a preliminary voting, close the choices to a top three and have them vote from there. And they should separate first party and third party characters while they're at it.

 

[maxistrife]

I do not really care if there was gonna be a ballot or not. I just hope Nintendo picks characters WE want...basically, in taking the choice away from Sakurai, I hope to not see another Piranha Plant incident XD (although I personally think it looks fun, it is a wildly bizarre choice that kinda came outta left field...I think the final 5 unique characters need to be the most in demand to keep the fan base drooling)

 

[Kagrenac]

Any poll on the internet goes to **** no matter what

 

[Quillion]

I do not really care if there was gonna be a ballot or not. I just hope Nintendo picks characters WE want...basically, in taking the choice away from Sakurai, I hope to not see another Piranha Plant incident XD (although I personally think it looks fun, it is a wildly bizarre choice that kinda came outta left field...I think the final 5 unique characters need to be the most in demand to keep the fan base drooling)

If we had a ballot, we would never get horizon-broadening characters like Piranha Plant.

...actually, I guess they would broaden Smash's horizons, but not in a good way (ie non-video game characters).

 

[maxistrife]

If we had a ballot, we would never get horizon-broadening characters like Piranha Plant.

...actually, I guess they would broaden Smash's horizons, but not in a good way (ie non-video game characters).

I can totally see the argument for broadening the games horizons, buttttttt smash's future is a bit uncertain and I do think we need to get the extremely high demand characters in. Waluigi, Geno, Shadow...and hell, that last one is an echo fighter really. I would prefer to not see normal baddies become staple in smash =P

 

[Arthur97]

I do not really care if there was gonna be a ballot or not. I just hope Nintendo picks characters WE want...basically, in taking the choice away from Sakurai, I hope to not see another Piranha Plant incident XD (although I personally think it looks fun, it is a wildly bizarre choice that kinda came outta left field...I think the final 5 unique characters need to be the most in demand to keep the fan base drooling)

Uh, how do you know the Plant wasn't his idea?

Either way, why do so many people seem to think that Nintendo is just going to ruin everything?

 

[maxistrife]

Uh, how do you know the Plant wasn't his idea?

Either way, why do so many people seem to think that Nintendo is just going to ruin everything?

1) It's Sakurai...it was DEFINITELY his idea XD The dude is a madman. And, for the record, I like PP
2) Nowhere did I say they would ruin anything, but that hopefully they will really cater to what fans want, as opposed to left field decisions. EITHER way, I am sure the characters will be fun and awesome additions.

 

[Al-kīmiyā']

How hard is it to just ignore votes for characters they can't or won't realize? I don't understand why you think this is a good argument against having a ballot.

Besides, isn't it commonly accepted that some of the newcomers in Ultimate were based on the ballot? Apparently it worked for those characters.

OP makes no sense.

 

[ProfPeanut]

RIght idea, but wrong reason. A second ballot could only be compromised, with even more dedicated campaigns to rival the K. Rool Kampaigners.

We already know the first one was kinda sorta a ruse, when they were expecting either Cloud or Bayonetta to win it. Now we also know that King K. Rool actually got in because of that ballot, while similar heavy-hitters like Isaac and Geno didn't. How many of the ballot "winners" actually get in? What's the point if Nintendo just decides to ignore them?

At any rate, a second ballot wouldn't give us any real new information in regards to what the people want, aside from Waluigi and Sans (Undertale) sweeping their way to the top.

 

[Fell God]

Can't rig the ballot if they don't have one

 

[MacDaddyNook]

I do not really care if there was gonna be a ballot or not. I just hope Nintendo picks characters WE want...basically, in taking the choice away from Sakurai, I hope to not see another Piranha Plant incident XD (although I personally think it looks fun, it is a wildly bizarre choice that kinda came outta left field...I think the final 5 unique characters need to be the most in demand to keep the fan base drooling)

Eh, I'm kinda getting sick of seeing talk for them same handful of characters. To be honest, I find their inclusion would be quite dull at this point. I'm glad we get surprising inclusions like Piranha Plant that nobody sees coming to make things exciting.

 

[ｐｓ＿]

The ballot probably got K. Rool onto the roster. I can't fault it for that.

 

[Makai Wars]

We already know the first one was kinda sorta a ruse, when they were expecting either Cloud or Bayonetta to win it. Now we also know that King K. Rool actually got in because of that ballot, while similar heavy-hitters like Isaac and Geno didn't. How many of the ballot "winners" actually get in? What's the point if Nintendo just decides to ignore them?

I agree with this entirely, while I believe the ballot was one of the key reasons we got EVERYONE IS HERE I also feel Nintendo straight up ignored a ton of requests. That combined with the discovery that Bayo was in the game files right after the ballot was even announced makes the ballot feel more like a publicity stunt than an earnest attempt at reaching out to the fans, and now fanbases like Isaac's or Shadow's are feeling beyond burned thanks to it not really panning out.

Eh, I'm kinda getting sick of seeing talk for them same handful of characters. To be honest, I find their inclusion would be quite dull at this point. I'm glad we get surprising inclusions like Piranha Plant that nobody sees coming to make things exciting.

I cannot possibly see how adding characters with huge amount of demand can be construed into a bad thing, Ridley and K. Rool were the best additions to Ultimate by a mile. Piranha Plant is a quirky and fun addition, sure, but I would take a requested character over a joke "surprise" character any and every day of the week. I have no real feelings toward him but if someone told me to pick between the plant and Geno I'd choose Geno every single time. Imagine if instead of Ridley and K. Rool, we got a playable Rattata and one of the ghosts from Pac-Man. There are always going to be people who don't care and say "yeah well theyd be cool lol" but significantly more people would prefer getting actual requested characters who have been requested for over a decade.

Either way, why do so many people seem to think that Nintendo is just going to ruin everything?

This is uncharted territory and after Smash 4's last two DLC characters were promotional fighters people have every reason to believe Nintendo is more willing to put their investors over the fans, that's why even though that leak about the GranBlue character turned out to lead to nothing, it sounds exactly like something Nintendo would do considering how eager they are to sink their teeth into the mobile market. Until we see the first DLC fighter people have every reason to be apprehensive.

 

[Idon]

Sounds more like reasons why the old ballot was poorly done than a reason not to have another ballot.

 

[Quillion]

How hard is it to just ignore votes for characters they can't or won't realize? I don't understand why you think this is a good argument against having a ballot.

Besides, isn't it commonly accepted that some of the newcomers in Ultimate were based on the ballot? Apparently it worked for those characters.

OP makes no sense.

Because it's clear to me the ballot was utter chaos and the way they would count it would either be impractical (count every text-based vote individually) or only cause them to take a small sample, which may cause an inaccurate representation.

I suppose the problem was that the ballot was entirely write-in, not that it existed.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Sounds more like reasons why the old ballot was poorly done than a reason not to have another ballot.

Overall, the thread topic definitely feels like Japanese logic to me.
"let's try something different"
*it fails spectacularly*
"let's never try that again, let's just do as always"

I say that a ballot is best saved for a later season pass, if any.

 

[KirbyMonadoBoy]

I would love a Ballot for everyone who has the game. For instance they could implement a Ballot in the Online Mode of Smash Bros Ultimate where every owner of the game can cast one vote. This way the voting process is much fairer and the threat of cheating is eliminated.

 

[Arthur97]

This is uncharted territory and after Smash 4's last two DLC characters were promotional fighters people have every reason to believe Nintendo is more willing to put their investors over the fans, that's why even though that leak about the GranBlue character turned out to lead to nothing, it sounds exactly like something Nintendo would do considering how eager they are to sink their teeth into the mobile market. Until we see the first DLC fighter people have every reason to be apprehensive.

Have a little faith. EA this is not. It just feels like people are resorting to the mentality that they are a corporation so therefore they must be evil.

 

[Oddball]

I also feel Nintendo straight up ignored a ton of requests

Of course they did. Do you realize how amy requests they must have got? Think of every idea and every support thread we have on this forum and multiply it a few thousand times.

Piranha Plant is a quirky and fun addition, sure, but I would take a requested character over a joke "surprise" character any and every day of the week. I have no real feelings toward him but if someone told me to pick between the plant and Geno I'd choose Geno every single time.

I'd choose the Pirahna Plant. Just goes to show that you can't please everyone.

There are always going to be people who don't care and say "yeah well theyd be cool lol" but significantly more people would prefer getting actual requested characters who have been requested for over a decade.

You act like the people who WANT suprises are some weird minoirty fringe. There's a lot of people that enjoy the unexpected. just because you don't see thousands of posts in a Pirahna Plant support thread doesn't mean there aren't just as many people that liked the plant as there would be people who enjoyed Geno.

And to be honest, I feel there's more people that say "Geno is a highly requested character and he should get in" then there are people that actually WANT Geno in the game. They're just saying it because other people have said it time and time again. I could be wrong. I've been wrong before, but nothing I've seen really tells me that there is a huge desire to have Geno in for any other reason that it's become a thing to say that Geno should be in.

... I was about to say "but at least he's not Shadow... or Waluigi, then i stopped and thought about it for a second and realized at least those two still make apperances and have been in more than one game.

Also, I think people are looking at the ballot the wrong way. It was never "who ever gets the most votes wins and gets in the game." It was more of a way for Nintendo to directly see people's ideas and demands.

 

[MacDaddyNook]

I cannot possibly see how adding characters with huge amount of demand can be construed into a bad thing, Ridley and K. Rool were the best additions to Ultimate by a mile. Piranha Plant is a quirky and fun addition, sure, but I would take a requested character over a joke "surprise" character any and every day of the week. I have no real feelings toward him but if someone told me to pick between the plant and Geno I'd choose Geno every single time. Imagine if instead of Ridley and K. Rool, we got a playable Rattata and one of the ghosts from Pac-Man. There are always going to be people who don't care and say "yeah well theyd be cool lol" but significantly more people would prefer getting actual requested characters who have been requested for over a decade.

I'll respectfully disagree on this one. Excluding Echoes, Ridley and K. Rool were, hands-down, the least exciting newcomers to me this time around (fortunately K. Rool looks fun to play with his wacky abilities and personality) because Smash talk had been so over-saturated with them. Given the choice between Geno and Piranha Plant, I will always pick the plant because at least it feels fresh and new, and it's just so out-there that you can't help but love it.

Sure, it's fine to listen to the fans every now and then and grant a couple of their requests, it's not necessarily a bad thing to give the fans what they want. However, when the vocal fans are never satisfied, EVER, catering to them exclusively becomes a moot point. Heck, Sakurai finally caved and gave everyone Ridley, but instead of being happy, the fans went on a tirade over how Waluigi was an AT. Even if the Grinch hoax was real and we got all the characters from it, you know the fans would immediately resume screeching over whoever didn't make it in.

Yes, there are characters I have wanted that got it or others I would like to see make it in, so I understand every fan's desire. I'm not saying not to support or like who you like. But there are loads and loads of other characters that don't top the online polls that would make fantastic and fun additions that shouldn't be discounted, or frowned upon, just because they don't have vocal fan support.

 

[Quillion]

Also, I think people are looking at the ballot the wrong way. It was never "who ever gets the most votes wins and gets in the game." It was more of a way for Nintendo to directly see people's ideas and demands

This is a good way of looking at it. But perhaps it wasn't the best choice to have the write-in be the only round of the voting. They could've closed the vote to a limited number of choices after the first round, then close the choices to a top 3 or so.

Also, they should have separated first party and third party characters.