Pitching a Brand New Tournament System

[Boss N]

WARNING: BIGG READ
Sm4sh Bros is well under way and it's release is both exciting and impending, but with the game being a supposedly perfect balance of casual/competitive play and with Nintendo supposedly doing more tournaments, the public's attention to the competitive scene is definitely reaching a pique, so now is a good time as any to make a good impression on them. I've been speading ideas around the boards how we can better welcome this new huge influx of players and doing so this system was inspired. I propose having different styles or 'levels' of tournaments,

Before I continue let me just explain the reasoning behind this system's design: In searching to expand our community we've always tried reaching out to others who are interested in competitive play, but unfortunately this is realistically a very small minority, the big fish is with the casual crowd, but we never tried to approach them because for the most part, casuals disagree with the way we play or even outright hostile towards it. The whole Fox Only Final Destination Items Off trope spawned from the fact that many competitive players refuse to play in an environment that doesn't warrant neutral conditions, and because of that it removes the elements that make the game fun for everyone else; the spontenatiality and being able to quickly think on your feet and adapt to any situation. It adds a variety that no one single match would play the same. And that's what smash means to a majority of people and is why people are always calling out to us saying we're playing the game wrong, that we're not playing it to it's fullest potential.

So if we really want this community to grow and be more recognized as a respectable eSport then we NEED the casual audience, as unlike other fighting games we have a huge audience outside of the professional crowd already interested in the game, giving us a huge potential advantage over other fighting games, but we CANNOT force it unto them, we need to ease them into our scene and our idea of play. & that's what this system is aiming to do.

Here's the break down:

Level 1:
Default characters ( no Mii Fighter), all possible stages, most items on medium (the most broken & unfair excluded)
FFA 4stock &/or standard smash, &/or event Smash

Level 2:
Default characters, including Mii Fighter, bit more selective stages (think page 2 of Project M) & far more restrictive item list on low.
FFA 4stock 8min &/or 1v1 4stock 8min

Level 3:
All Custom characters allowed, only neutral stages, no items.
1v1 4stock 8min

The biggest events like MLG, EVO, & CEO will only use level 3.

The reason why I have custom characters only on Level 3 is because when trying to teach new players the concept of match ups, which is something probably gonna be especially important with the huge roster Sm4sh will have, throwing in players against custom characters will not only be jarring and confusing for them but also overwhelming since they're still learning about the characters and they already need to know the additional possibilities in order to compete. It's like forcing a new street fighter player to memorize combos for EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER. This is also the reasoning why Sakurai has removed them from online play. Mii Fighter is enough of it's own unique identity to be an individual matchup and can be a "transitional" element to help players get comfortable with the idea of custom moves.

The other reason I had mii fighters on level 2 and custom fighters on level 3 is because it gives them extra incentive to try these other styles of play and adapt to those conditions if they really want to experience those elements of the game. But at the same time we're letting them know they don't have to give up the game they love so much and we're just as accepting to their idea of play, which will lead them to accept ours.

Last thing to note that players don't have to go through all the levels, the numbers are only there to help give the newer players a place to start and where to go, but those hungry and ballsey enough to think they got what it takes to immediately jump with the champs (or just prefers this play over anything else) can dive straight into level 3, potentially cause upsets, and never have to touch 1 or 2 if they don't want to. Like wise for those who wish to remain at the lower ones.

So what do you guys think? Ya like it? Think it needs improvement? Or perhaps you have ideas on how to adjust tournament settings to invite this new influx of players. Not suggesting we completely give up our current ways, they can definatly be high level tournaments that don't allow custom moves and such, just trying to help open up the idea of having different styles to make it more inviting for casuals. The invitational has proven without a doubt that they can be just as invested, or even more so, than we are in competitive play. We just need to give them the right conditions.

I'd also like to know where else/who I can pitch this to like TO's, if enough people like the idea behind it we can get a group together to give it some experiments and test runs with either the current games or when the 3DS comes out. (Since I have a feeling the pro scene won't truly kick in until the WiiU release)

 

[Sailor Princess Twenty-Two.]

"So if we really want this community to grow and be more recognized as a respectable eSport then we NEED the casual audience"



Because nothign screams respectable like a free for all with items

 

[Delzethin]

It's an idea, but the problem with your setup is how the lower level tournaments would put off more current competitive players than the number of casuals that'd get interested. Who would want to play in a tourney with so many luck factors, many of which can singlehandedly decide a match, over a standard one?

I think our bigger issue is how elitist the community comes off to outsiders...which is more difficult to solve, since it's a vocal minority making the rest of us look bad. That said, I've been out of the loop for a while, so I might be off the mark.

 

[Boss N]

It's an idea, but the problem with your setup is how the lower level tournaments would put off more current competitive players than the number of casuals that'd get interested. Who would want to play in a tourney with so many luck factors, many of which can singlehandedly decide a match, over a standard one?

I think our bigger issue is how elitist the community comes off to outsiders...which is more difficult to solve, since it's a vocal minority making the rest of us look bad. That said, I've been out of the loop for a while, so I might be off the mark.

True that is also a factor, the one thing we can do is be even more vocal and loud than them and try to communicate to this minority that they need to be more open minded.
As for the setup I'm not saying all items be on, obviously ones like stamen would be removed and it's not like they're on high. In fact using items in itself can be a skill because many of them have draw backs as well as benefits. Like the Hammer, yeah it's powerful but that doesn't mean you can't be hit from a projectile while using it, and if they get a good combo off you while it's still active then they have no way to recover back on stage.

These shouldn't be things a skilled player should be afraid of, it's like getting paired with a matchup you're not familiar with, you don't call it unfair you just have to adapt, and a skilled player can do that in an item match, you have to remember Items where allowed in west coast tournaments for a long time.

Also I don't buy the argument that stage hazards are another luck factor, they're not.
Almost all stage hazards are very clearly telegraphed or have a set patterns there's no one to blame for getting killed by it but yourself for not paying attention. If there are players who can mentally keep track when Randall will appear on Yoshi's Story then they can definitaly see when shy guys are driving down the road in Mario Kart or notice the stage is transitioning in Castle Siege. Blaming luck for letting such an obvious thing escape you, or worse let your opponent take advantage of it in their favor, is johning

 

[Acryte]

Or the fact that the existence of these 'casual friendly' tournaments being an option for them will hurt the attendance of level 3 majors provided level 1 and 2 majors are around. Most players who attend a large tournament are there to improve yes, but no one likes being 3 and out. If they feel like they can do better at a level 1 major vs a 2 or 3 they will go there instead (most people have jobs and take time off for tournaments so they may not be able to attend both)

 

[Raziek]

This idea is bad and has a number of glaring flaws, but to save myself time, I'll just point out the most obvious one.

The level system is inherently an awful idea. The premise behind it is that it helps 'ease them into competitive play'.

It doesn't. Starting someone in babby mode just wastes their time. If they're interested in being part of the competitive community, they will take the time to learn the game as the competitive community plays it. Varied levels of rulesets are unnecessary gating. Competitive play is and always has been a daunting experience because of the level of DEPTH involved, not the type of ruleset. Being able to compete with someone who is skilled at the game is where all the challenge is.

Further, anyone who wants to just play on babby mode is likely never going to want to get rid of those 'training wheels', and if they eventually do, well, we've wasted a lot of their time having them play with items on and different rules. If they've got the motivation, they almost ALWAYS have it from the start. It doesn't just randomly appear. You can tell within 15 minutes of playing someone whether or not they actually care about improving.

Take a look at any competitive video game. League of Legends, Street Fighter, what have you. There is no 'babby' mode, like you're suggesting. That alone should tell you it's not a great idea.

Also, I think you might actually be crazy if you legit think this game is going to be played with 4 stocks. The fact that the first tournament finals went to time in the last game RIGHT AWAY should tell you 4 is too many. I suspect 3 will be the most common due to familiarity from Brawl, but 2 might also be plausible.