That's the thing. A lot of these fan-made polls are nice in that they allow us some kind of perspective or idea on where characters stand. I always applaud their efforts. However at the same time, it's pretty much impossible to account for all potential facets of support. For instance, one fan poll might get some support on a few sites (some more than others), but to be able to spread their reach to over hundreds of thousands of different outlets would just take too much effort.
It truly is exciting to see what will happen with Nintendo's Smash ballot. I don't think we'll ever get to actually see the results ourselves, but we know it's going to be the most reliable (at least for Nintendo). It easily has the most participation out of any Smash DLC poll. Nintendo will eventually see the results and consider who to create based on what factors they deem appropriate.
October 3rd is steadily approaching...
What are your predictions for September 30? Do you think we'll get Krystal at some point and who else would you say will be part of this upcoming DLC wave?
My predictions for September 30th? Aside from what we already know is coming, it's entirely possible that they have already been looking into the submissions for the ballot to get a good idea of where it's heading. If this is the case, I would think it's possible to see a pre-ballot character + a post-ballot character; there are no guarantees, however.
Y'know, when Smash 4 was announced at E3 for the first time some years ago, I asked my brother about how he feels Krystal's chances were at getting in as a playable character. He was shocked at my question, as if I had given him déjà vu...
Here's what he said: "
Actually, as I watched the announcement, I felt a strange tug in my gut; Krystal is going to get in."
Now I don't have all the time to explain, but my brother had a weird way of being able to "predict" a few things that would happen to us with his "gut feeling". I'm using the word "predict" very loosely here. It's more like it was a "premonition of something big happening in the future". Usually it's been followed by really good things happening. Of course it's just coincidence, but I still enjoyed the followups nonetheless. I don't subscribe to those kinds of conspiracies.
Honestly though, I just don't know about Krystal's strict chances. One thing I can say is that I'm more hopeful now than I've been in a
long time--and that's a good thing.
Some people might not be able to see Krystal getting in before/without Wolf. I can see both. I can also see her getting in
alongside Wolf (which in my opinion would be the best way to handle the situation, so as to not "rock the boat" too much in the Star Fox fanbase). It really all boils down to what Sakurai and his team feels would be best.
I used to think too much into the idea that Sakurai liked to associate reveals alongside what might be selling at the time as a marketing strategy--bolstering the content that is right in front of the public already. In some ways, it's correct. In others, it's simply not. The announcement of the ballot and confirmation of DLC sort of destroys that thought process. Anyone can make it in now, and
virtually anyone will sell--as Smash 4 itself is now
always relevant until they stop making the DLC. That basically means that relevancy as a character
isn't an important trait to have to make it in as Smash DLC. Before Smash 4 was released, it was
a little more important to be relevant as a character because recency and promotion tend to go hand-in-hand. But like I said, Smash DLC makes it a lot different because they don't really have to worry about that stuff anymore; the game will promote the new characters now that it has been out for a while (like in the case of Ryu).
I think Krystal's chances are pretty fair, all things considered. It's like all the other highly requested characters. They all have a good shot at making it in. So it's not the characters that are hard to predict, it's how Sakurai will
feel about the suggested characters that is hard to predict. I honestly have no idea what they're going to do with the ballot.
In the end, I think I'm siding with my brother. I think she will eventually make it in. I don't think she'll be part of the September 30th DLC pack, nor am I confident she'll make it in before the end of this year, but I think she will make it in sometime.
As a personal sidenote, I'm also a supporter of K. Rool and Isaac as popular requests. I'd like to see them make it in at some point too. I'd be down with some sort of Indie pack (but not before other more requested mainstream Nintendo characters or characters introduced by, say, Rareware) at some point in time as well (maybe a Shovel Knight / Shantae / Quote pack; one can dream...).
And of course, I'd prefer there to be a Star Fox pack (maybe alongside SF: Zero) that features both Wolf
and Krystal getting in. At that point, I'd be fine with whoever else they add. I'm pretty close to having all my dream characters getting in (just a few left to go). It's just unfortunate to see that my
biggest dream characters (i.e. K. Rool, Krystal, etc.) aren't in. It's like all the characters I wanted are in
except for my
most wanted. It's kind of a weird feeling...
