Mama
Smash Ace
Actually competitive play is already there. We aren't pushing anything onto it but trying to discover it. I think what you mean is people are sort of putting the kart before the horse or trying to run before they can even walk. I think thats due to the fact that scrubs hype advanced play so much that thats the first thing they talk about when it comes to Brawl and the competitive players are rushing to shut them up. I think regardless of what road people choose the meta game will still move on by players who don't even frequent the forums. When something really important is discovered it will be noted and posted about. Meanwhile players like you and I will be playing friendlies and getting a feel for basic mechanics. The scrubs will likely take an even more basic approach and ignore any talk of advanced play completely though.Besides the facts that the game has now been out a week and the majority of the people talking about it haven't played it, it annoys me that we're trying to force competitive play immediately onto Brawl.
Why are we looking for tiers when no one has mastered a single character? Advanced techniques instead of basic strategies?Right now is the time for friendlies. Things will lay themselves out naturally. We were used to the feel of things because of six years of play, but we've got to approach this as a new game. Casual evolves into competitive.
For a scene analogy, think of the Ice Climbers. They were low tier until Chu picked them up and showed their potential. Every character right now is Ice Climbers. For newcomers, there is no tier list to guide their character choice. We're all newcomers. Pick characters and make them good.
Anyway, I hope the tier list in this game will be much less noticeable. Some characters might be easier to win with, but I doubt they will dominate because of it. I just want the least amount of unplayable characters.
Oh, and have fun. That's what it's about.
As for tier lists, just think about them as preliminary. I think they're a necessity. People may see a character who is considered low tier and decide he looks interesting. Then he realizes the character is a diamond in the rough and the rest of the community takes notice and boom the character winds up shooting through the tiers. Meanwhile theres a character sitting in the high tier that that same player would look at and say "there are probably enough people playing as him" and over look the character.
Situations like that are how tier lists evolve. Its just something that happens in fighting games.