Is it wrong to play in your own tournament?

[BloodL10N]

Hey I'm pretty new to the whole hosting and organizing tournaments, so far there are about 8 regulars that show up to play biweekly, Melee and Smash 4.

I've run into the problem of people (not the regulars) that don't want to take part in the tournament because they feel the host should not compete in their own tournament.

Couple details, the tournaments are not being held at my house or somewhere free, they're ran through a card shop that takes a percentage of the door fees and I'm left with around five dollars at the end of the tournament, in other words I'm not making money off of it by any means I'm only doing this because of my love for smash.
And if I do end up coming in 1st the door fees go to 2nd 3rd and 4th instead.
The other one being that I'm above average in terms of skill in Melee and Smash 4 its almost automatically a win if I enter the tournament even among the actually competitive smash players in my area.

So should I just let it go and not worry about it? Or should I take a step back and not enter into my tournaments?
Any answers will be beneficial, thanks in advance.

 

[Siledh]

Don't worry about it. I don't see how organising a competition somehow benefits you in the game. And you're even willing to give up your winnings because of your position.

And if you're better than others, then they should up their game. Taking you out allows them to relax and not try.

Don't let their salty tears get to you. No johns, remember.

 

[BloodL10N]

Right makes sense, there is one other player that shows up and his one goal now is to get better at the game and beat me at Melee, if I wouldn't enter he would enter and win Melee hands down every time. I just didn't know if there was some kind of etiquette on the matter or not I don't want people to feel unwelcome or like I'm taking their money when I'm not, I'm pretty sure I'm poorer after every tournament I host lol

 

[Siledh]

Right makes sense, there is one other player that shows up and his one goal now is to get better at the game and beat me at Melee, if I wouldn't enter he would enter and win Melee hands down every time. I just didn't know if there was some kind of etiquette on the matter or not I don't want people to feel unwelcome or like I'm taking their money when I'm not, I'm pretty sure I'm poorer after every tournament I host lol

I mean, most tournaments start because a couple of people want to play others and they just grew and grew. It's pretty daft to state that organisers can't play. Now, being a judge as well as a player is a different issue.

I would definitely state that judges shouldn't play in tournaments they are judging. That creates a conflict of interest if a judgement about a rule ever has to be made.

 

[BloodL10N]

Right, everything is based off of http://smashleaguegaming.com/tournament-rules/ etc. It just makes everything simple and straightforward for the most part.

 

[Raijinken]

As long as you're fair in your rule enforcement, there's no issue.

But the moment you give an impartial judgement or bend a rule for a friend or yourself, your validity could be nigh-irreversibly ruined.

 

[BloodL10N]

Thanks for the heads up, that's something I've thought about, and its not something I have a problem with making a stance with the rules, although some stages I have banned in Smash 4 that aren't banned I.E. Halberd because of the stage hazards (not trying to argue over it or have someone get pissed off because of the things that happen on the stage).

 

[HeroMystic]

TO's play in their own tournament all the time. Just continue abiding by the rules and everything is fine.

 

[BloodL10N]

Alright thanks, like I said I just wasn't too sure being new into the scene and if this has come up before, I'm learning that so far that the people who really want to play smash are going to play smash and play everyone. TO'ing is definitely like a part time job and the amount of work just for locals still surprises me.

But its fun to see people get better over the weeks and pushing each other to get better at a game that anyone can play.

Thank you again.

 

[BSP]

Until your own involvement in the tournament causes significant problems concerning running the tournament, I don't see it as a problem. This is coming from someone who has run locals and such.

Now if you start getting 100+ people and you need pools + staff, I'd refrain from entering and focus on making sure the tournament runs smoothly.

 

[Kurri ★]

KIDGoggles plays in his tournaments, I should know, he bops me all the time.

If it's a small tournament it shouldn't be a problem. Larger one's you may want to focus more on TOing unless you have a sizeable dedicated team.

 

[BloodL10N]

Yep, that's the hard part, when there's only one set-up, one tv one gamecube or Wii U, its manageable and I'm able to play but as soon as there's more than three set-ups going, I can still kind of play, but I have five people talking in my ear at once about their matches and its like... Okay I'm not going to be able to keep doing this (playing). This happened the last time and it made me feel kind of bad because you have everyone who's excited about their matches and you just don't have time to do all of it sadly.

My personal advice for someone just starting out same as me, would definitely be having one other person to just help manage the brackets and nothing else, that's like five pounds off of your shoulders right there knowing you have someone able to help even slightly if you're trying to compete.

 

[DavemanCozy]

I've run into the problem of people (not the regulars) that don't want to take part in the tournament because they feel the host should not compete in their own tournament.

Couple details, the tournaments are not being held at my house or somewhere free, they're ran through a card shop that takes a percentage of the door fees and I'm left with around five dollars at the end of the tournament, in other words I'm not making money off of it by any means I'm only doing this because of my love for smash.
And if I do end up coming in 1st the door fees go to 2nd 3rd and 4th instead.
The other one being that I'm above average in terms of skill in Melee and Smash 4 its almost automatically a win if I enter the tournament even among the actually competitive smash players in my area.

Tell the complainers (as nicely as possible) to stop crying and get better. I would do thay.

Also tell them that TOs regularly compete in their own tournaments. No one has the power to stop you from playing the game you enjoy.

 

[Drippy]

Tell the complainers (as nicely as possible) to stop crying and get better. I would do thay.

Also tell them that TOs regularly compete in their own tournaments. No one has the power to stop you from playing the game you enjoy.

This so much. I find it very selfish if they don't want to play just because you're competing in your own tournament. I know if it was me I'd definitely join my own tournament because it's one of the few chances I'll be able to play other competitive players in a offline environment to actually improve.

 

[BloodL10N]

I know if it was me I'd definitely join my own tournament because it's one of the few chances I'll be able to play other competitive players in a offline environment to actually improve.

That's been my train of thought on the matter, I don't get to play against other people too often except against my roommate who up until recently was just kicking my ass, anyways, I do appreciate the advice and nice words people have said so far, thank you.

Now I just need lackeys...

 

[Drippy]

That's been my train of thought on the matter, I don't get to play against other people too often except against my roommate who up until recently was just kicking my ***, anyways, I do appreciate the advice and nice words people have said so far, thank you.

Now I just need lackeys...

I've noticed that playing against the same one person isn't always the best practice or at least it wasn't for me. I have two friends who I would play against everyday and than one day at a tournament I play against a rather "spammy" player, and I've never played against such a "different" play-style from my friends who are always so aggressive and trying to get in my face. I of course lost, and it was because of my failure to adapting to the situation and unfamiliarity with a different type of play-style.

 

[BloodL10N]

and I've never played against such a "different" play-style from my friends who are always so aggressive and trying to get in my face. I of course lost, and it was because of my failure to adapting to the situation and unfamiliarity with a different type of play-style.

Yeah there's about 3 different play styles at the tournament so far, one guy plays super defensive, one guy plays villager and just does Loyd Rocket dash attack over and over and over and over and over and over and over. Its not hard to deal with, just boring as all get out.
It wins him matches though so I don't blame him for using it.

 

[Drippy]

Yeah there's about 3 different play styles at the tournament so far, one guy plays super defensive, one guy plays villager and just does Loyd Rocket dash attack over and over and over and over and over and over and over. Its not hard to deal with, just boring as all get out.
It wins him matches though so I don't blame him for using it.

I feel ya, I tend to lose to a lot of spammers but I take it more as my own fault for not learning how to adapt / play around it and take it as a chance to learning experience. Still having a pretty hard time to learn how to beat it but hopefully I get there soon.

 

[BloodL10N]

I feel ya, I tend to lose to a lot of spammers but I take it more as my own fault for not learning how to adapt / play around it and take it as a chance to learning experience. Still having a pretty hard time to learn how to beat it but hopefully I get there soon.

It takes a lot of patience to play against that sort of play style, could try friendlies, I do it just so I can help others get better at the game even asking what character they want me to play as and what style, for instance if they're having trouble with projectiles I'll switch to Mega-Man and just have them deal with it for the entire match then if someone wants to practice against super-aggressive in your face its just on to the next.

If its something that you're having trouble with and you know it, I would ask a friend to pick said character and just use spammable moves to get you accustomed to it, training through exposure.

 

[Drippy]

It takes a lot of patience to play against that sort of play style, could try friendlies, I do it just so I can help others get better at the game even asking what character they want me to play as and what style, for instance if they're having trouble with projectiles I'll switch to Mega-Man and just have them deal with it for the entire match then if someone wants to practice against super-aggressive in your face its just on to the next.

If its something that you're having trouble with and you know it, I would ask a friend to pick said character and just use spammable moves to get you accustomed to it, training through exposure.

That's actually a pretty good idea, I'll ask my friends the next time we play.

 

[teluoborg]

The most logical solution would be as has been said above to tell people to eat it, and prove them that there is no consequence to you playing or not in the tournament.

But if it affects the growth of the community (if people leave just because of that, or it's preventing new people from joining) then you could just change the rules, like have people play the tournament without you then the top 3 can have a go against you for a chance to win more money, I bet nobody would be against this kind of tournament and you still get to play against good people.
There might be other ways to make the tournament enjoyable for everyone, just use your imagination.

 

[Comboman77]

I organized a non-profit, but also no expense Smash Club at my school, everyone thought it was entirely fair for me to play in tourneys, I think you should be able to play in your own as well.

 

[BloodL10N]

The most logical solution would be as has been said above to tell people to eat it, and prove them that there is no consequence to you playing or not in the tournament.

I'm honestly thinking about doing Round Robins since I started using Challonge just recently I didn't want to do it before because of the complications but with Challonge its like a cake walk. Yeah its been mainly one person that seems to think that I shouldn't be playing in Melee or Smash 4 just because of a skill gap, which is true I've been practicing hardcore for about two months. But honestly I feel like I have to set a goal for them, like, beat me, then beat the next guy that's better than me. I'm honestly slightly scared I feel like they're bringing out notebooks and studying what I'm doing just to beat me next time around (not quite that dramatic) but still, its kind of nice being the Senpai for this short little while.

 

[teluoborg]

You're right, though I could understand that if you were to get first place at every single event it would kill the hype on the long run.

 

[wedl!!]

if the tourney is small, there's no real reason you can't enter. if it's huge (as @ BSP said), you should probably just focus on management.

 

[BloodL10N]

if the tourney is small, there's no real reason you can't enter. if it's huge (as @ BSP said), you should probably just focus on management.

Yeah at around 3 setups it's way too much to try and play and keep the bracket in line because I was doing everything on paper, now everything is going to be done on Challonge thankfully.

 

[SphericalCrusher]

I'm a GA TO and organizer also. There is nothing wrong with playing in your own tournament. PB&J does it. GIMR does it. I do it... but it does make it harder to run an event while also playing (which is why I bring assistant TOs). It also takes time away from training the game. I've never won any of my larger 20-40 player tournaments but I usually host 8-14 player tournaments at my house that I win frequently. If someone has a problem with it - they may have a problem with something else - possibly how you are seeding the bracket, or that your attention during your matches is taken away from the tournaments, etc. I would speak with them and try to find out more details. Good luck and GA REPRESENT!!!