This is basically resolved but I'mma cast my vote, and offer my input, as well.
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I am pro custom moves.
I am against equipment.
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First off, I'd like to sum up some stuff on equipment. If it is allowed, and becomes commonplace, then it becomes a severely limiting gateway into the competitive scene. A character with universally buffed stats is without a doubt superior to a character without the universal buffs. This wouldn't be a problem, but, from what I've read in this thread and in others, getting equipment specific to your character, and providing substantial benefits without significant drawbacks, can be extremely time consuming. It also brings forth the point that not all equipment is created equal, it is completely luck based or based on how many dozens of hours you've sunk into grinding for equipment whether the equipment you have is even good or not. This is a serious issue to a community that wants to expand. Most people that I know don't have the time to spend hours grinding for that perfect piece of gear they need. Or for that matter even would want to! It puts a pointless and time-consuming gateway on entering the competitive scene without being a severe disadvantage.
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Equipment is also horrendously imbalanced, as some people have pointed out in this thread. From things like Link's Death Arrow to a Lil Mac being able to KO with Counter at 0% to a flying, healing, Jigglypuff that will run away from you and laugh at your vain attempts to do damage. Without heavy restrictions, equipment would lead to niche strategies like this that would completely overwhelm and dominate the competitive scene. Why play X character like this when you could play Y character like this and have a move that will one-hit most opponents? No one wants to see two Jigglypuffs flying around the stage, always at 0% because of health regen and defence buffs for eight minutes or whatever the time limit ends up being.
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And if you support the banning of certain equipment and regulation to stop the use of ridiculous strategies like those that have been mentioned, then I hope you're willing to run your own tournaments, because I highly doubt any sane TO would be willing to. The first issue is that a large chunk of equipment you're getting from grinding becomes obsolete because of its effects or because it falls outside of the equipment limits, meaning in order to get the ideal equipment set you have to grind for even longer. Te second is enforcement of these rules. A TO would have to check EVERY player's equipment for EVERY one of their characters potentially EVERY match or EVERY time another player thinks something is outside of the established limits. It is a massive time-sink and hassle that would make tournaments last for even longer than they already do. It would also be fairly easy to cheat and break the system, especially with 3DS or online tournaments. It sounds great in theory, but in practice would undoubtedly fall apart.
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Custom Equipment just doesn't add enough value to the competitive scene to justify its impact. It would prove a barrier to newcomers, a massive hassle for organizers, and would eventually devolve into specific, niche strategies that are detrimental to the scene as a whole.
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On to Custom Moves. I am a firm supporter of Custom Moves. They appear to be fairly well balanced, though some appear innately better than others, and would diversify and improve the variety of characters and strategies shown in the competitive scene. I have yet to see a custom move that is outright broken or straight better than any of its variants. If any custom move does end up being broken, or straight up better than its counterparts, then rules can be implemented around that. With regards to the actual process of implementation of these rules, or concern about similar hassles with equipment, I say that it is significantly easier to tell which custom moves a player is using that tiny differences in stats. It is extremely obvious a character is using a banned custom move as soon as they use it, rather than a player equipping a badge that allows them to star KO more easily, or a similar effect.
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With regards to player knowledge, in order to be active in the competitive scene one already has to understand the moves and capabilities of any character they will face. Back in my League days I spent time learning champion's abilities, so that I might know how to react to them. I memorized, or developed a "feel" for, the cooldowns, ranges, mana costs, and speed of a large chunk of the abilities in the game. I did the same with Smash. One already has to know all the variations of Special moves, the variations of the normal ground attacks, smashes, and aerials of characters in order to play against them effectively. Custom specials add just another eight moves per character to understand, and many are very simple. X projectile pierces opponents but does less damage. Y recovery goes further but doesn't have a hitbox. Etc. It is fairly simple, and does not impede newcomers to the competitive scene significantly more than they otherwise would have been. And to top it off, players could simply be required to say what custom moves they're using before a match. It would take less than a minute to get it all sorted out if there was any confusion. Example: "As Sheik, I'm using Instant Warp, Piercing Needles, Inviting Grenades, and the Fish." "Which one is the Fish?" "It's the one that goes mostly horizontal and autocancels when it touches the ground." "Ah, gotcha."
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Well, this turned out to be longer than I thought it would be. TL;DR: Boo equipment. Yay custom specials.
cough*
