Some in the Smash community may know KirbyKid from, well, playing Kirby. KirbyKid has been around the Smash Bros. scene for some time, and recently he has been looking to give back. He is currently conducting a survey regarding Project SMASH, a project designed to help bring new players into our community with the advent of Smash 4. His goal with Project SMASH is to eventually "represent the plurality of voices in the Smash community in a fair and clear way" through building a website that can create a healthy environment for all types of Smash Bros. players. I sat down with KirbyKid to talk about this noble cause - take a minute to read about Project SMASH and how KirbyKid hopes to influence the Smash community going forward.
The Derrit: What types of players do you think the Smash Bros. community are overlooking, and how can we reach out to them?
KirbyKid: Most of us think “casual smashers” when they hear this question. One thing I love about using clear language to communicate is that sweeping, generalized categories are replaced with more accurate terms. I don’t see the Smash community as casual vs competitive. There are many shades to both these types of Smasher. So to answer the question, we’re overlooking the shy, the quiet, the lurkers, and our fellow Smash sisters (female gamers). We’re overlooking the gamers who don’t instantly dedicate themselves to Smash from observing our hype and high level play. We’re even overlooking the tournament attendees who enjoy our events but have concerns about a few bumps in their overall experience.
I meet people all the time who still have no idea that competitive Smash exists let alone how they fit in. The first step to reaching out to these players is being open, honest, clear about who we are. Competitive Smashers are more varied and complex that even we give ourselves credit for. The next step is to recognize that these overlooked players exist and that they’re not valuable to us because they’re potential competitive Smashers, they’re valuable because they’re Smashers and potential friends.
Where do you think Project Smash will fit as a website alongside established hubs such as MIOM and Smashboards?
Simple answer: right in the middle. Websites like Smashboards and MIOM were born out of the community to fulfill certain roles. They have their own goals, followers, and culture. Project Smash aims to connect to these sites and needs these sites to keep up the good work. Project Smash will create snapshots of these sites and present them in a clear, digestible way for Smashers, gamers, and even non-gamers to understand them better. Project Smash will also provide tools and moderate discussion between different sites. Think of Project Smash like a traffic light communicating to all sides to help everyone get to where they want to be most effectively.
Richard Terrell, a.k.a. KirbyKid
What was your initial inspiration for Project Smash?
Two sources:
1) The Dallas krew from the grassroots days of Smash. Back in 2002 the D-krew worked hard to show Texas that putting Smash and friends together in the same room was a winning combination. Back then, there were no Smash pros. No big pots. And hardly any tournaments. Just Smash and good times with friends forming the bonds that made up the foundation of our current Smash community.
2) Masahiro Sakurai, one of my favorite game designers. Sakurai designed Smash to have a wide appeal to many types of gamers. This accessible design is what allowed competitive Smasher to find their identity. To be the kind of person who embraces the diversity of Smash fans and to work hard for all of our unique and sometimes contrasting differences, is nothing short of amazing.
How will the Smash Bros. community benefit from a wider 'voice,' and hearing the opinions of more players?
The Smash community is like a gathering of brothers and sisters. We fight together, laugh together, eat/travel/room together. We successfully tackled the big problems together, and now we’re left to take on many of the smaller problems like diversification of members/rulesets, bullying, professionalism, etc. How can we move in the direction we want if we don’t know what we want? If most of our thoughts about the Smash games, the community, and tournaments aren't voiced and organized, how can we make the right adjustments? Currently TOs, commentators, and top players are in the Smash spotlight. You can say they’re leading our community. However, they make up less than 1% of the competitive smashers. By listening to more voices we can better know and serve each other.
There is a real tension in the Smash community over certain issues. The negative effects of the Smash arguments and flame wars (many of which started within the competitive community) have echoed out everywhere, even to the conversations between casual Smashers and non-Smashers. Our community wasn’t ready to handle the stress of a new game and thus the Brawl v Melee schism happened. The root of the problem wasn’t the games, but how we treated and communicated with each other. Since 2008 the communication between the different sides hasn’t improved much. Have hope. Project Smash will create a safe space for every Smasher to learn and express themselves. It will facilitate healthy communication to lessen the internal tension in our community in a way that no amount of hype or high level play can do. Instead of fighting each other, internalizing this tension, or passive aggressively taking sides, with Project Smash we can truly act like a family of brothers and sisters.
----
Much thanks to KirbyKid for sitting down and speaking with Smashboards. We wish you the best in your endeavors! Help him out by taking the Project SMASH survey! You can also reach him on Twitter at @ kirbykid or at his website at Critical-Gaming. Learn more about this project by reading this blog on Project SMASH.
The Derrit: What types of players do you think the Smash Bros. community are overlooking, and how can we reach out to them?
KirbyKid: Most of us think “casual smashers” when they hear this question. One thing I love about using clear language to communicate is that sweeping, generalized categories are replaced with more accurate terms. I don’t see the Smash community as casual vs competitive. There are many shades to both these types of Smasher. So to answer the question, we’re overlooking the shy, the quiet, the lurkers, and our fellow Smash sisters (female gamers). We’re overlooking the gamers who don’t instantly dedicate themselves to Smash from observing our hype and high level play. We’re even overlooking the tournament attendees who enjoy our events but have concerns about a few bumps in their overall experience.
I meet people all the time who still have no idea that competitive Smash exists let alone how they fit in. The first step to reaching out to these players is being open, honest, clear about who we are. Competitive Smashers are more varied and complex that even we give ourselves credit for. The next step is to recognize that these overlooked players exist and that they’re not valuable to us because they’re potential competitive Smashers, they’re valuable because they’re Smashers and potential friends.
Where do you think Project Smash will fit as a website alongside established hubs such as MIOM and Smashboards?
Simple answer: right in the middle. Websites like Smashboards and MIOM were born out of the community to fulfill certain roles. They have their own goals, followers, and culture. Project Smash aims to connect to these sites and needs these sites to keep up the good work. Project Smash will create snapshots of these sites and present them in a clear, digestible way for Smashers, gamers, and even non-gamers to understand them better. Project Smash will also provide tools and moderate discussion between different sites. Think of Project Smash like a traffic light communicating to all sides to help everyone get to where they want to be most effectively.
Richard Terrell, a.k.a. KirbyKid
What was your initial inspiration for Project Smash?
Two sources:
1) The Dallas krew from the grassroots days of Smash. Back in 2002 the D-krew worked hard to show Texas that putting Smash and friends together in the same room was a winning combination. Back then, there were no Smash pros. No big pots. And hardly any tournaments. Just Smash and good times with friends forming the bonds that made up the foundation of our current Smash community.
2) Masahiro Sakurai, one of my favorite game designers. Sakurai designed Smash to have a wide appeal to many types of gamers. This accessible design is what allowed competitive Smasher to find their identity. To be the kind of person who embraces the diversity of Smash fans and to work hard for all of our unique and sometimes contrasting differences, is nothing short of amazing.
How will the Smash Bros. community benefit from a wider 'voice,' and hearing the opinions of more players?
The Smash community is like a gathering of brothers and sisters. We fight together, laugh together, eat/travel/room together. We successfully tackled the big problems together, and now we’re left to take on many of the smaller problems like diversification of members/rulesets, bullying, professionalism, etc. How can we move in the direction we want if we don’t know what we want? If most of our thoughts about the Smash games, the community, and tournaments aren't voiced and organized, how can we make the right adjustments? Currently TOs, commentators, and top players are in the Smash spotlight. You can say they’re leading our community. However, they make up less than 1% of the competitive smashers. By listening to more voices we can better know and serve each other.
There is a real tension in the Smash community over certain issues. The negative effects of the Smash arguments and flame wars (many of which started within the competitive community) have echoed out everywhere, even to the conversations between casual Smashers and non-Smashers. Our community wasn’t ready to handle the stress of a new game and thus the Brawl v Melee schism happened. The root of the problem wasn’t the games, but how we treated and communicated with each other. Since 2008 the communication between the different sides hasn’t improved much. Have hope. Project Smash will create a safe space for every Smasher to learn and express themselves. It will facilitate healthy communication to lessen the internal tension in our community in a way that no amount of hype or high level play can do. Instead of fighting each other, internalizing this tension, or passive aggressively taking sides, with Project Smash we can truly act like a family of brothers and sisters.
----
Much thanks to KirbyKid for sitting down and speaking with Smashboards. We wish you the best in your endeavors! Help him out by taking the Project SMASH survey! You can also reach him on Twitter at @ kirbykid or at his website at Critical-Gaming. Learn more about this project by reading this blog on Project SMASH.
Last edited: