Kotaku Interview with Sakurai - He knows we exist, but we aren't a focus

[Jack Kieser]

First off, I think you got the quotation tags mixed up, Duderino.

Second, if all we're concerned about with balance is damage percents and attack speeds and such, maybe he should ask us. But, take a look at Balanced Brawl; AA and co. did an AMAZING job balancing the game, but even they couldn't stop from messing with some mechanics / character designs. We are incapable of just looking at the numbers; if Sak started asking us only for numbers information, we WOULD start hounding him about other stuff. "You know, we wouldn't need to change these numbers if you just gave us back wavedashing; it'd be much more balanced that way." No thanks. I'd rather just keep to my expert team of Tekken designers, too.

Besides, he's not viewing us as an obstacle... we are an obstacle. We've proved that again and again since the late days of Melee / all of Brawl's lifespan. Now, you can totally say that he should ignore how much of an obstacle we are and work with us anyway, sure. That's a valid move to make. But, I'll just counter by saying that Sak ignoring how much of a whining group of self-entitled brats we've become is supererogatory, at best, and that he's well within his rights to simply keep us in mind but stay FAR away from actually talking to us.

 

[Vkrm]

We're are not an obstacle. He doesn't want to listen to us because we didn't like brawl, and we don't like brawl because didn't listen to us. He even collected feedback during the e for all demo pre brawl.

 

[El Duderino]

Second, if all we're concerned about with balance is damage percents and attack speeds and such, maybe he should ask us. But, take a look at Balanced Brawl; AA and co. did an AMAZING job balancing the game, but even they couldn't stop from messing with some mechanics / character designs. We are incapable of just looking at the numbers; if Sak started asking us only for numbers information, we WOULD start hounding him about other stuff.

That is true, but I'm not at all suggesting we are capable of giving blind feedback or that say Sakurai should personally come to Smashboards to ask questions. We both know how that would go down. There are a number of more controlled ways they could start getting a broader range of feedback and interacting with the community including but not limited to:

• Hosting events with the specific intent of getting feedback.
• Appointing a rep to the role of community manager.
• Working with Smash stream providers to present the game.
• Creating opportunities for key members of the community to play and provide feedback.
• Get the team out there to actually talk to people at events. Maybe not as practical in the US, but they certainly could in Japan.
• Hosting a panel with Q&A, perhaps at EVO or another event if they feel more comfortable.
• Bring it to PAX or similar non-press excluse events.
• etc

These are not radical new ideas. They are realities of how fighting game outreach is changing both during and after development. Creating an impenetrable wall between development and players is no longer the de facto practice and is even less appreciated today.

To their credit Nintendo did do one thing right by bringing Brawl to E4All, but it's hard to say how much they were in it to gather playtest feedback and listen to the variety of players in attendance. Unfortunately, this Kotaku interview does suggest Sakurai probably wrote lots of it off. With E4All being dead now I also do wonder if this community will get any hands-on time with an early build.

Besides, he's not viewing us as an obstacle... we are an obstacle.

Only through years of negligence and no steps forward to correct it. I never said it would be easy, but surely, even with your negative view of this community, you can see the benefits here. You might not agree with me, but I don't think it's a lost cause at all. Wouldn't be criticizing them for taking a dated, reclusive approach if I felt otherwise.

 

[TheCatPhysician]

It's pretty wild that Sakurai has acknowledged the competitive community and addressed questions about us multiple times in the past few days, after a decade of almost total silence. But it bothers me that we've had no part at all in those communications. There are so many things we're dying to say and ask. I'm thankful to the interviewers who are bringing us up in their discussions with him, though it would be great if one of them came here first to see what questions we want to ask.

But is our community as a whole really unable to establish any contact whatsoever with the guy? Maybe Smashboards could collaborate on a polite, well-written open letter to Sakurai -- an official message from the entire competitive smash bros. community, for what that's worth. Would that mean enough to warrant a response?

 

[nLiM8d]

Honestly, we shouldn't need this interview to know he hasn't forgotten about competitive players. Why do you think he got rid of tripping?

Are you sure that you're addressing the right person?

In any case, the grand majority of people that have any say in the development process (who even come close to competitive players) are hired playtesters. The talent found on the programming side will have skilled, knowledgeable input as well.

The problem is how much of the moveset implementation was based around one person's view on how characters should play. While I can give mad props to a guy that can balance an array of character profiles, that sort of implementation seems rather obsessive. The result would be a limited sense of dynamism in those profiles, at least in the sense of giving them well rounded options.

 

[Big-Cat]

In other words, you think it was wrong for Sakurai to design and balance the characters on his own?

 

[nLiM8d]

I can't say whether it was right or wrong, I can gauge that it was problematic to the community as a whole. This is a game directed towards broad demographics, so there is where we should focus.

 

[memememe]

Yeah, he makes a valid point.
Sakurai for SSB4

 

[Norm]

That was actually a good read from what I can gather about how he views the hardcore scene is that he knows we're there and while his main focus isn't us it's about brining smash to as many people as he can. However he still wants to make it as enjoyable as possible for us without excluding the more casual crowed.

 

[EdreesesPieces]

Sounds to me like good news. He isn't actively trying to shut down the competitive play. He's just designing the game for all people to enjoy. I'm pretty sure this is exactly how Melee was designed. Brawl wasnt designed for for "All" groups but specifically for "NEW" players to get into the series, so this is a different approach than taken in Brawl it seems. Seems more like a melee approach than brawl based on the quote from my perspective.

It's not like Melee was designed for high level play either. It just turned out that way because the mechanics of the game. If Sakurai's not set out to REMOVE competitive play (which the article makes it clear is not his mission) then it could end up similar to Melee despite appealing to a wide audience that he's set out to do.

 

[GreenKirby]

With such a misleading original post, Overswarm could apply for Fox News.

 

[Vkrm]

We would all benefit if they implemented the info you can only gain from the top level of play. Both casual and competitive. It can be argued both ways if we should be the central focus, but sakurai plugging his ears is only gonna hurt the final product. He's either really prideful and can't stand criticism, or he thinks saying what he said will win over more anti competitive people.