Paragon is only a few days away, and for the first time in recent memory, Project M will be a large part of a major national tournament. Despite my best efforts, I personally am unable to attend due to work obligations I could not avoid. As a result, however, it has made me realize just what a fantastic occasion it is.
This is a landmark event in the history of Project M. It's a burning beacon that's been lit by the community after a nearly year of adversity.
Project M had several challenges in front of it before it hit full stride in 2014. It was another fan project like Brawl-, Brawl+, Balanced Brawl; one of many, competing for attention. In its early years, Project M was a fun little thing to try out on the side, but no big deal. No one ever paid it much attention early on. But the original group creating Project M had a vision, and they had the drive, the ambition and the dedication to make it happen. They worked harder, surpassing the expectations of all but the staunchest Melee purists and impressing the whole world with the amount of polish that a mod could achieve. This community climbed a mountain, and finally after years of work it came to a pinnacle at Apex 2014, where it stood alongside every official Smash game, as an equal. It still faced criticism from many, but no one cared from the top of the world. Apex, CEO, Big House 4, and a wealth of other incredible events dotted the rich history Project M was now truly beginning to paint.
Then, less than a year later, the community would face a new challenge in the form of involvement in the Smash community by Nintendo and Twitch. After Project M's most incredible year to date with 3.0, it was unceremoniously pushed aside. Tournaments dropped it, and Apex nearly sealed its fate, dropping it from the lineup after a promise of a main stage presence a year before. Nearly every other major followed suit. The lights on Project M went out, the community fell to shambles, and the story ended.
-----
Well, only for a moment. Faced with such a situation, I firmly believe almost any community would be fractured beyond repair. But the Project M community was not content. They would not accept it. They took a hold of the grassroots foundation and beliefs the Smash community was built upon and doubled down. Project M has been a five year direct effort by more than a hundred members of the community and an indirect effort by thousands if not tens or hundreds of thousands more around the world as players. It is, in my mind, the greatest and most impressive collaborative effort the Smash community has been and may ever be responsible for. The PM player base took every blow they were dealt and steeled themselves. They continued to play, and they continued to love the game, with a future fueled on the dreams and passion of the fans and creators around the globe.
And so comes Paragon, an event going against the grain. They made sacrifices for Project M's sake, and placed their faith in the community, a faith that the community was more than eager to reward them for. It wasn't enough to simply have Project M at a 2015 major. The Project M community didn't just struggle to move upstream, they broke into a full run against the current and made Paragon incredible.
It's been almost a year of fighting adversity from nearly every corner of the Smash Bros. space. Nintendo, Twitch, major events, tournament organizers and even community streamers and leaders themselves have attempted to discard Project M. Despite every single one of those things, which should have crippled the game beyond repair, the Project M community made Paragon the biggest tournament in Project M history by crowdfunding more than $10,000 for a pot bonus through T-shirt sales. It's my opinion that if you look down upon Project M or it's community, you simply just don't realize how tall they're standing.
The Apex 2015 trailer gave each game a subtitle. "The Original", "The Competitor", "The Intellectual", "The Newcomer". In that same vein, I give one to not only this game we play, but the community at whole.
Project M. The Immortal.
Warchamp7 is first and foremost a fan of Project M, and is also one of the lead members of PMDev, performing community management, website management and video editing. You can watch him get hype over Paragon this weekend on Twitter @Warchamp7.
This is a landmark event in the history of Project M. It's a burning beacon that's been lit by the community after a nearly year of adversity.
Project M had several challenges in front of it before it hit full stride in 2014. It was another fan project like Brawl-, Brawl+, Balanced Brawl; one of many, competing for attention. In its early years, Project M was a fun little thing to try out on the side, but no big deal. No one ever paid it much attention early on. But the original group creating Project M had a vision, and they had the drive, the ambition and the dedication to make it happen. They worked harder, surpassing the expectations of all but the staunchest Melee purists and impressing the whole world with the amount of polish that a mod could achieve. This community climbed a mountain, and finally after years of work it came to a pinnacle at Apex 2014, where it stood alongside every official Smash game, as an equal. It still faced criticism from many, but no one cared from the top of the world. Apex, CEO, Big House 4, and a wealth of other incredible events dotted the rich history Project M was now truly beginning to paint.
Then, less than a year later, the community would face a new challenge in the form of involvement in the Smash community by Nintendo and Twitch. After Project M's most incredible year to date with 3.0, it was unceremoniously pushed aside. Tournaments dropped it, and Apex nearly sealed its fate, dropping it from the lineup after a promise of a main stage presence a year before. Nearly every other major followed suit. The lights on Project M went out, the community fell to shambles, and the story ended.
-----
Well, only for a moment. Faced with such a situation, I firmly believe almost any community would be fractured beyond repair. But the Project M community was not content. They would not accept it. They took a hold of the grassroots foundation and beliefs the Smash community was built upon and doubled down. Project M has been a five year direct effort by more than a hundred members of the community and an indirect effort by thousands if not tens or hundreds of thousands more around the world as players. It is, in my mind, the greatest and most impressive collaborative effort the Smash community has been and may ever be responsible for. The PM player base took every blow they were dealt and steeled themselves. They continued to play, and they continued to love the game, with a future fueled on the dreams and passion of the fans and creators around the globe.
And so comes Paragon, an event going against the grain. They made sacrifices for Project M's sake, and placed their faith in the community, a faith that the community was more than eager to reward them for. It wasn't enough to simply have Project M at a 2015 major. The Project M community didn't just struggle to move upstream, they broke into a full run against the current and made Paragon incredible.
It's been almost a year of fighting adversity from nearly every corner of the Smash Bros. space. Nintendo, Twitch, major events, tournament organizers and even community streamers and leaders themselves have attempted to discard Project M. Despite every single one of those things, which should have crippled the game beyond repair, the Project M community made Paragon the biggest tournament in Project M history by crowdfunding more than $10,000 for a pot bonus through T-shirt sales. It's my opinion that if you look down upon Project M or it's community, you simply just don't realize how tall they're standing.
The Apex 2015 trailer gave each game a subtitle. "The Original", "The Competitor", "The Intellectual", "The Newcomer". In that same vein, I give one to not only this game we play, but the community at whole.
Project M. The Immortal.
Warchamp7 is first and foremost a fan of Project M, and is also one of the lead members of PMDev, performing community management, website management and video editing. You can watch him get hype over Paragon this weekend on Twitter @Warchamp7.
