Earlier today, the official Pound 2016 Twitter account announced that it would be launching a “Rewards Shop” on their Smash.gg event page. The Rewards Shop is an attempt to address the issues that have been raised regarding compendiums, which were used to fund recent nationals such as The Big House 5 and Genesis 3. No one can argue that these compendiums were not financially successful (The Big House 5 raised $36,410 while Genesis 3 brought in $43,060), but many people in the Smash community thought that compendium goals were problematic. One of the main issues with the compendium’s tiered-funding model was that if a smasher was interested in supporting a specific event, player, or game, they could only donate money and hope that the overall funding reached the specific level they desired. In the example of Genesis 3, a Smash 4 fan may have wanted to see top Captain Falcon main Fatality enter the competition but had no interest in funding the other perks and players that are a part of the other reward levels. With the new Reward Shop system, players will be able to directly donate to events and players that they would like to see, while also being rewarded some tournament merchandise depending on the size of the donation.
Since the Rewards Shop is potentially the maiden voyage of a new standard for Smash tournament funding, we decided to bring in one of the Head TOs Tantalus (better known as the TO of the popular Xanadu weeklies) to shed some light on this new system.
STOB: What inspired you and your TOs to try to break the mold of the compendium model that other nationals have been using as of late?
Tantalus:
As organizers, and especially given the history of the Pound series, we have always had a focus on the experience of the player. Given the recent feedback we saw from the compendiums at other events, we thought it was time to change things up. So we worked directly with Smash.GG to create a new kind of shop and format that gave more power to the contributors and attendees. So far, the feedback I've seen has been 100% positive, so we're really happy about that.
STOB: Why do you think the Rewards Shop model will better serve the fans?
Tantalus:
This reward shop is going to be unlike most of the others in the sense that all of the goals, for the most part, are directly benefiting all parties involved and not targeting a specific party. For instance, the European smash goal benefits those players, yes, but it also benefits the viewers as they will get to see aMSa square off with Amsah if the goal is met. It also benefits the in-person attendees because they will get to meet up with people who are a big part of Pound's history. The biggest thing in my mind is that the contributors get to choose where their money is going. We often times remark at how unique all of our game scenes can be, and we thought it wouldn't make sense for people to contribute to goals that they aren't passionate about.
STOB: Is there any chance that more goals would be added if this was a success?
Tantalus: “At this time, we don't have any plans to add goals.”
STOB: Do you think the Rewards Shop model will become the new standard?
Tantalus:
I think it will become the standard if people like it. We think people are going to love the merchandise in the shop. We've gone out of our way to pick merchandise and artists that are the cream of the crop that we think people will be excited about. This concept about a rewards shop is still a little new, so I'm sure there are things that can be improved on that we haven't thought of yet. In no way are we trying to set a precedent, we are just trying to do what we think works best for our event. If other people enjoy that, then that's a bonus to us.
STOB: What is next for you?Tantalus:
What's next for me? Well actually, it's not Pound, it's Glitch, next Saturday. We're going to have 250+ attendees at Xanadu for a strictly Wii U only tournament. That sounds crazy, but we're basically going to turn it into a giant cookout. When I run pre-planned tournaments at Xanadu like this, I treat them and run them just like a major, so people get a similar organizing experience that they get at EVO, CEO, and of course Pound. That's what's coming up for us, and we'd love people to tune in - check us out at http://www.twitch.tv/vgbootcamp for both Glitch and Pound, as well as our Xanadu Weeklies. Want to give a big shoutout to Nintendude, Plank, GimR, Aposl, HAT, and my wife Jess (The Pound Series team). Couldn't work with a better crew.
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Will the Rewards Shop take the place of tournament compendiums? Or is this just a flash in the pan? Check out the Rewards Shop here and let us know in the comments below!
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