DoH
meleeitonme.tumblr.com
That was 2008.M3D said:I don't see the Melee scene as sustainable. I think its fun to have as a side tournament if your event is large enough, but otherwise I think we should consciously choose to kill it when possible. Yes, a small portion of the community will split off and run Melee events until people stop coming or they are all old and still play the same handful of players and matchups over and over again, but its not a "growth industry" as far as Smashboards is concerned. It can only drain resources away from the real growth product, which is Brawl.
If people want to continue to play Melee, it's not like we can stop them from doing it. But I don't see any value in encouraging people to split the community further by trying to keep Melee alive as long as possible.
Since then, times have been rough for Texas smash. We've seen our attendance dry up, Brawl take over, and several prominent members disappear.
I'd like to reverse that trend. I was going through some old threads from back when I was first starting out - JF and I arguing about who was the best Zelda in Texas, trolling Oklahoma for the first time, the Texas thread, the origin of no johns, etc - and it brought me back to not only a better time, but the feeling of wanting to get better. Our state has a fairly dense population, even though we're much more spread out. To compensate, we must have increased drive, willingness to travel, and dedication. I've been the Dallas taxi since...2006, and it would be nice if other regions stepped it up in terms of travel as much as we did.
So, I'm looking for ways to revive our little scene. Texas was one of the top regions in the nation, just behind MD/VA, Cali, and Tri-State. With our current talent pool and untapped potential, I believe we could work our way back to being a threat. Current ideas that can help:
1. Retired Smasher Outreach: Whatever happened to...we all have players in our community that have stopped playing. We need to find out why, and try and see if we can get them back. Travelling in different areas across the country I've seen a lot of older players coming back, even older school players coming back from Brawl. It can never hurt, especially when these older folks don't have obligations to school and probably can provide transportation, except for Drew and Chang because they fail.
2. A Real Texas Circuit: I know we tried this...but then Scav kind of moved and we lost track of what we were doing. So we could revive the idea, with monthly tournaments in Dallas, Houston, Austin, etc. This would require commitment from all cities, as well as experienced TOs and organization at the statewide level. This could culminate in a end of season championship, with extra prizes, etc.
3. Rankings: Whether it be circuit points or power rankings, that's up for you guys to decide. I feel like we know who the top 2 are, but there's a lot of turmoil in the ranks below. Wobbles/mods, can you guys add a poll to this?
4. Attracting New Players and Developing Talent: Something I've found from my years of college is that still people play this game because it's damn fun. Not all of them will understand, like, or want to be a part of a competitive community, but some will. So the time has come to do some community outreach. Swift has a bunch of players he's attracted at his church. I went to a tournament in Dallas where I knew like 3 people. We need to get and keep in contact with these people and integrate them into the scene. Get them jazzed about tournaments. Advertise with flyers like these http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=289220
We need to work with them, coach them to get better. Perhaps we could have tournaments with buy-in brackets, or tournaments like the Arcadian tournaments in Cali where the 'pros' aren't allowed to use their mains.
5. Innovation and Hype: Perhaps putting new twists on old standards? A Swiss tournament instead of bracket? Team Teams? Draft Crews? Etc.
6. Travel and Expansion: going to places we've never been before. I've been pretty much everywhere, but I think I might be willing to go to the Valley. They have great relations with Mexico from what I've gathered, and it would be interesting to have our own international tournament with just us and Mexico haha. We also need to strengthen ties between our cities.
7. More professional: Meaning less things like house tournaments. More real tournaments, more hype, more professionalism, and perhaps even pursuing sponsors?
What are your ideas?