With several early 2016 majors on the horizon in both the US and Europe, the stock count in Smash 4 has once again become subject to debate. In an effort to gather more data on the various perspectives, SmashEurope has launched a global poll on the subject. Below you will find an excerpt of the accompanying article. All community members are encouraged to participate in this poll, as the results could have consequences for the way events are run in the future. As it stands, the US and Japan mostly run 2 stocks, while some US regions and Europe prefer to run 3 stocks.
For the perspective of the initiators, you can view the full article over on SmashEurope. For a history lesson on stock counts in the competitive Smash Bros. scene, check out the overview by SmashCapps.The stock count in Smash Bros. for Wii U has seen a global split between Europe and the US, as well as Japan, since very early in the game’s lifespan. Most American nationals since APEX 2015 have opted for 2 stocks, which lead many US regions to follow suit in preparation for these events. In Europe 3 stocks has been the norm since the very start as a result of various TOs polling their local community and the settings working out well with Brawl, the game’s direct predecessor. This difference in philosophy has recently become more relevant with events such as Genesis 3 and BEAST 6 hoping to attract overseas attendance.
We are now one year into the game and a census regarding the current state of the game seems appropriate. It is in the interest of the global scene to find out which demographic prefers which setting, as we are dealing with several groups relevant to the growth and survival of the game. For our purposes, we differentiate between the preferences of players, viewers and TOs. Although we will shed light on our own perspective in the remainder of the article, we want to stress that we are approaching this subject with an open mind and could very well be proven wrong about our prior assumptions.
The poll can be found here. The Google Doc was created by Tom Scott (G~P). You can respond anonymously, but all questions other than your (nick)name are mandatory in order for us to gain the best possible insight into the desires of the community at large. The poll closes within one week (on December 24th). We eagerly await your responses!
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