Poll: What do you want most in a Newcomer?

[Kero the Invincible]

Everyone wants someone in Smash. Looking around this very forum will prove that much.

However, I'm always curious as to the reasoning behind people's opinions. What are you hoping for in the grand scheme of things?

If more than one applies to you, choose the one you feel strongest about (and try to be honest).

 

[Sabrewulf238]

It's a whole mixture really.

At the end of the day, Super Smash Bros is a mascot fighter, so I think it should represent as much of Nintendo as it can. I voted for series representation because I feel like new series have more potential to bring diversity and a sense of wonder to the roster. Granted not every series can get represented, that's unrealistic, but I'd like to see the roster go in this direction.

Of course there is one character I'm more than a little bias for right now (guess) but I'm not completely blind. I wouldn't support him this heavily if I didn't think he was ticking other boxes.

 

[LIQUID12A]

It's a mixture of series/character representation, and bias, but I'm heavily inclined towards bias, honestly.

My own support thread(see sig) exemplifies this; I want another Metroid rep(c'mon, Samus twice?), but at the same time I'm heavily biased to one character I like.

 

[Sir_Zedd]

Fighting style is the most important thing to me, if we got that awesome character, lets say Ridley, and he was just a clone of Charizard how disappointing would it be?

Interesting fighting styles can also get you interested in characters/ series you didn't quite like before. 'FALCOWN PAWWNCH!" Single handedly got me interested in F-zero after playing smash 64 and I still love that series to this day.

 

[ItsMeBrandon]

Series Representation: I think this is a big draw for most people, including me. Smash Bros. brings a plethora of various Nintendo characters together to fight- the chance to represent a series that fans love is part of the fun, I think. This is the option I voted on.

Character Representation: While I do like to see some character diversity in each Smash Bros. roster, I'm more for balancing the gender and human/non-human ratios, not so much the hero/heroine/villain ones. I don't mind having more antagonistic characters though, we probably could use a few more, but I'm personally more interested in seeing a balanced roster in terms of, well, gender and all that. But in all seriousness, this isn't a huge factor for me.

Fighting Style: I'm not a competitive player, but I imagine most people want each newcomer to have some viable tournament potential. I'm not terribly interested in playstyles that are necessarily new, but, when you think about it, more diverse playstyles lend to better representation of the characters and series. And different playstyles can be fun- I'm trying my hand with Villager and Robin a lot lately, and their strategies are somewhat different from a number of other fighters, but at some point I start to understand how to play as them, and it can feel pretty satisfying. I would say this is the second-biggest factor for me.

Bias: Personal bias for a character getting in just because you plain like them, I understand. I'm on that boat, though only with Banjo and Kazooie as possible newcomers, but I know that's pretty much not happening. (And at this rate, it's probably better that way.) But I don't have any interest in playing as a character I'm attracted to. I just don't. I don't see the draw. I know others do, and that's fine, but, bias in that way, I guess, is not for me. General and platonic bias for a character you like can be appealing for the Smash games though, it influences fan-favorites getting in. At least, I think it does, like Lucina and Mewtwo. Heck, it might apply for Dr. Mario.

Third Party Characters: I don't know what to think about this. I don't have a problem with characters like Sonic and Snake getting in and whatnot, but I think I personally draw a line where some third party characters, in my opinion, just shouldn't be in Smash. Maybe it's just me, but I think I feel that if certain characters, especially ones not related with Nintendo (take Goku, for example), became playable in Smash, then the series would feel more... cheap? Something like that. It just doesn't feel right to me. However, if they use third party characters like Mega Man and Sonic, which feel a lot more fitting, I'm okay with it. I don't really desire to see any more third party characters make it in at this point.

I apologize if this is a long post. Basically, I consider series representation to be the thing I want most in a newcomer, and fighting style is the thing I want second-most.

 

[Diddy Kong]

Am tempted to go with Series Representation for the serious lack of representation.

 

[WeirdChillFever]

Series representation.

I want a new Mario character.

 

[Kero the Invincible]

Character Representation: While I do like to see some character diversity in each Smash Bros. roster, I'm more for balancing the gender and human/non-human ratios, not so much the hero/heroine/villain ones. I don't mind having more antagonistic characters though, we probably could use a few more, but I'm personally more interested in seeing a balanced roster in terms of, well, gender and all that. But in all seriousness, this isn't a huge factor for me.

This is precisely what I meant. That's why I said heroes/heroines, etc, instead of just heroes/villains. I just had a little trouble wording it with limited characters.

 

[Delzethin]

I think for me, it's mostly fighting style...but not necessarily in the way you described. Competitive viability is a total crapshoot more often than not, and claiming a character should be in because they'd be competitively viable is...misguided.

Interesting playstyles, though? I'm all over that. The main reason I get interested in supporting a character for Smash is if they have high potential for a unique moveset, something they could bring to the series that no other character has.

Of course, there are still other factors, but moveset potential is a big deal for me.

 

[Lilfut]

I voted for moveset potential, but bias is a huge secondary factor. And then they overlap for Wonder-Red!

 

[loganhogan]

For me it's bias.

 

[RobinOnDrugs]

Mine is a mix of bias and fighting styles.

To me, pretty much any character can get in for as long as they bring something unique to Smash. That and I have favorite characters that I wish would be in the game.

 

[ShinyRegice]

I think it's a mix between series representation and fighting style (the later option I voted for). Series representation not as described in the poll (tbh I think that the "[insert name here] series should have at least/no more than [insert number here] playable reps" logic is dumb, it's somewhat of a criterion, but it's seriously overrated), instead it's more about how a character could be taken from his/her universe with his/her source material, and fighting style for how the source material could be adapted in Smash, in order to create a character who helps to represent his or her series not only by his or presence on the playable roster alone but also by the moveset and has an unique play style no one else could have. I feel that most newcomers in SSB4 match those criteria perfectly, they were designed to have a lot of references to games related to them (and not only in the special moves) and they generally manage to adapt them to the Smash format very well. Though there are a few poorly implemented moved like Water Shuriken and Shadow Sneak being chargeable despite being fast priority moves in the Pokémon games.

Character diversity is somewhat of a criterion, I especially like non-human characters in Smash, but it's not that important for me honestly.

I almost wanted to vote for bias or third-party because of my bias toward Rayman, but there are other characters I'd also like to see in Smash because they fit the important criteria I already talken about above!

 

[Megadoomer]

I'm wanting a mixture of things. Series representation would be nice, seeing as the new game only really focused on Mario, Kid Icarus, and Fire Emblem as far as returning series go, and there are tons of possible characters for the series that got nothing. (plus, there were plenty of series, like Golden Sun and the Wonderful 101, that were left out)

As well, character representation would be good, particularly where villains are concerned - while this game did a good job with adding women (which Brawl was lacking in), they added a grand total of one villain this time around while removing the closest thing that Star Fox could have to a playable villain.

Adding new and interesting playstyles would always be a nice touch, but from my perspective, the first two would take priority in my eyes. Getting more third party characters would be nice, but I'd be fine with just Snake added as DLC, and my own biases aren't as big of a deal to me (if they were, I'd be wanting more Kirby characters).

 

[the smash nerd]

Am tempted to go with Series Representation for the serious lack of representation.

Me too. Masahiro Sakurai serious lack of DK representation.

 

[Erotic&Heretic]

Objectively, the serie representation and the character originality (both in look and fighting style) are the two most important things.

But personally, it's pure bias. During the speculation times, I loved to think about who is likely or not, but what I enjoyed more was talking about characters I love and how they could work in Smash.