I've got a lot to say about the role money has in determining the state of our community.
The primary goal of our scene has always been in the sustainability of it. We have feared its death from the beginning . This fear forces us to innovate and think of new ways to keep the wheels going. Our motivations are fundamentally driven not only by our social interactions when we play, but our love for the respective games, which act as the social liquor.
The role of the community provides everything about why we love these games: everything from respect levels, the metagame, personal development and the sense of inclusiveness which makes players feel comfortable around each other.
The introduction of a large sum of money injected into a Smash tournament, would only bring about a mutual sense of goodwill and long-term sustenance for the community-at-large, if the benefits of that money are felt universally throughout our smash scene.
Thus, I believe that the injection of exorbitant amounts of money into the pockets of a select few is actually detrimental to our community. You didn't read wrong -- money, if not used properly, can take our scene backwards.
Let me demonstrate this in several ways:
'Why sponsorships can be bad'
Sponsorships, once introduced, set up unrealistic expectations that are not sustainable. Let's just say, players within Australia are sponsored, even if they didn't need to be; these players could have afforded it on their own. This lowers the motivation people would have had in making trips to foreign territories on their own, since they now expect handouts.
Further, it draws on a particular bias towards players with a good social and/or performance record, at the same time, ignoring the rest of the smash community, whom collectively, are more important than the big players.
I'm not stating this to discredit the positive role of sponsorships: they are great in attaining players that we would have otherwise never have been able to witness. However, assurances need to be made to ensure sponsorships don't hit murky ground, where local players are sponsored at the expense of other local players.
'Why money can be bad'
The Smash Community will never reach the stage of monetarily valuing players based on performance -- we are a very small and fragile community and we run on the principle of fun & mate-ship -- not monetary gain. We should not jeopardize what we have by corrupting things with an overemphasis on money as a reward.
Money has its place in rewarding players for doing well (a solid argument for why money should exist in a competitive environment), but this reward should not be at the expense of players in the community, and it should not compromise why we exist as a scene.
Excessive rewards will reach a tipping point in the community, where players will begin to economize their friendships based on monetary gain. Let's say you're in the grand final. You'd subconsciously think: "What's worth more? $3000, or the friendship with the person I'm versing?" Excessive divisions based on monetary differences breeds jealousy. Jealousy breeds hate. Smashers aren't used to having or dealing with large sums of money. It will do nothing but leave a negative mark on the community in the long run.
Interestingly, the scenario could have a different outcome: some friendships between finalists are so strong, they will attempt to broker a pot split. This defeats the purpose of arguing for such a high prize in the first place and discourages competition on the basis of a monetary advantage over another person.
'Why money can be destructive'
Corruption can affect us, but we can be blind to it.
We've seen this with Zelgadis and what he did to Genesis 2. We've seen this with rival factions in America amongst the best players fighting for the top prize (Ken doesn't add Hugs/DSF on Facebook). We've seen it between Dekar and myself. We didn't really connect properly as friends until I started becoming less competitive (or just accepting that I suck, lol). Friendships aren't encouraged. Rivalries are.
We can't afford to feed our competitive fantasies and act as if we're bigger than we think we are -- not with such a small scene.
Does money really motivate us, even the top players? The answer: Only after it has been introduced as an expectation. Thus, considerably ramping up the payouts in a one-off bonanza, will have a negative effect on expectations after we settle back to normal tournaments. In fact, pouring a lot of money into a pot of a single future tournament will amount to nothing more than an expensive money match between ranks #1 and #2.
'We'd do it for free anyway'
We are built on a movement of self-sacrificers. Everything that has been reliable in securing the future of our scene has rested on some form of sacrifice, mutually appreciated by all. This not only applies to the managers of our scene, but also the players. Believe it or not, almost 100% of all smashers have committed to competitive Smash on operating losses. We all travel to tournaments with the expectation of having a net loss in our bank accounts.
So how are we motivated by money?
I don't know about you guys, but one of the best Smash tournaments I've encountered was one with a high entry fee and no monetary prizes (Don't Come, 2008).
'How money could be invested in the future of Smash'
If you were to ask yourself how can we use money to maximise the benefit for the community, you need to consider what adds value to the scene. Right now, we are suffering from a combination of things. But the underlying factor which stands out most, is a lack of new blood to replace those who have ventured onwards.
Without a community, there would be no one to validate a good player like Ted, Tibs or Attila, reducing their motivations to play for honour and respect amongst their peers. That's what it's really about.
Also, think about what makes some players come back. A lot of us are tired of versing each other, and a dose of new blood is exactly what everyone needs -- not a pot of $5000+ for the top three.
As our scene is diminishing, the final effort required to salvage what we once had, would be to reinvest in the promotion of our scene -- to make it more public and universal in all ways, through an expanded payout system to reward more players, through to the hosting/advertising our events in more public domains (think: Mana Bar, Nintendo Experience). Our relationship with CouchWarriors has begun to run its course, in my opinion.
These are the keys to our future, and money could go a long way in fostering this need. You could even boast a sizeable pot and run with that in promoting our scene, as long as the community-at-large receives something at the end of the day -- even if it means acquiring a new smash buddy.
Strategically, our best intentions would be to spur community growth, right?
~ CAOTIC
The primary goal of our scene has always been in the sustainability of it. We have feared its death from the beginning . This fear forces us to innovate and think of new ways to keep the wheels going. Our motivations are fundamentally driven not only by our social interactions when we play, but our love for the respective games, which act as the social liquor.
The role of the community provides everything about why we love these games: everything from respect levels, the metagame, personal development and the sense of inclusiveness which makes players feel comfortable around each other.
The introduction of a large sum of money injected into a Smash tournament, would only bring about a mutual sense of goodwill and long-term sustenance for the community-at-large, if the benefits of that money are felt universally throughout our smash scene.
Thus, I believe that the injection of exorbitant amounts of money into the pockets of a select few is actually detrimental to our community. You didn't read wrong -- money, if not used properly, can take our scene backwards.
Let me demonstrate this in several ways:
'Why sponsorships can be bad'
Sponsorships, once introduced, set up unrealistic expectations that are not sustainable. Let's just say, players within Australia are sponsored, even if they didn't need to be; these players could have afforded it on their own. This lowers the motivation people would have had in making trips to foreign territories on their own, since they now expect handouts.
Further, it draws on a particular bias towards players with a good social and/or performance record, at the same time, ignoring the rest of the smash community, whom collectively, are more important than the big players.
I'm not stating this to discredit the positive role of sponsorships: they are great in attaining players that we would have otherwise never have been able to witness. However, assurances need to be made to ensure sponsorships don't hit murky ground, where local players are sponsored at the expense of other local players.
'Why money can be bad'
The Smash Community will never reach the stage of monetarily valuing players based on performance -- we are a very small and fragile community and we run on the principle of fun & mate-ship -- not monetary gain. We should not jeopardize what we have by corrupting things with an overemphasis on money as a reward.
Money has its place in rewarding players for doing well (a solid argument for why money should exist in a competitive environment), but this reward should not be at the expense of players in the community, and it should not compromise why we exist as a scene.
Excessive rewards will reach a tipping point in the community, where players will begin to economize their friendships based on monetary gain. Let's say you're in the grand final. You'd subconsciously think: "What's worth more? $3000, or the friendship with the person I'm versing?" Excessive divisions based on monetary differences breeds jealousy. Jealousy breeds hate. Smashers aren't used to having or dealing with large sums of money. It will do nothing but leave a negative mark on the community in the long run.
Interestingly, the scenario could have a different outcome: some friendships between finalists are so strong, they will attempt to broker a pot split. This defeats the purpose of arguing for such a high prize in the first place and discourages competition on the basis of a monetary advantage over another person.
'Why money can be destructive'
Corruption can affect us, but we can be blind to it.
We've seen this with Zelgadis and what he did to Genesis 2. We've seen this with rival factions in America amongst the best players fighting for the top prize (Ken doesn't add Hugs/DSF on Facebook). We've seen it between Dekar and myself. We didn't really connect properly as friends until I started becoming less competitive (or just accepting that I suck, lol). Friendships aren't encouraged. Rivalries are.
We can't afford to feed our competitive fantasies and act as if we're bigger than we think we are -- not with such a small scene.
Does money really motivate us, even the top players? The answer: Only after it has been introduced as an expectation. Thus, considerably ramping up the payouts in a one-off bonanza, will have a negative effect on expectations after we settle back to normal tournaments. In fact, pouring a lot of money into a pot of a single future tournament will amount to nothing more than an expensive money match between ranks #1 and #2.
'We'd do it for free anyway'
We are built on a movement of self-sacrificers. Everything that has been reliable in securing the future of our scene has rested on some form of sacrifice, mutually appreciated by all. This not only applies to the managers of our scene, but also the players. Believe it or not, almost 100% of all smashers have committed to competitive Smash on operating losses. We all travel to tournaments with the expectation of having a net loss in our bank accounts.
So how are we motivated by money?
I don't know about you guys, but one of the best Smash tournaments I've encountered was one with a high entry fee and no monetary prizes (Don't Come, 2008).
'How money could be invested in the future of Smash'
If you were to ask yourself how can we use money to maximise the benefit for the community, you need to consider what adds value to the scene. Right now, we are suffering from a combination of things. But the underlying factor which stands out most, is a lack of new blood to replace those who have ventured onwards.
Without a community, there would be no one to validate a good player like Ted, Tibs or Attila, reducing their motivations to play for honour and respect amongst their peers. That's what it's really about.
Also, think about what makes some players come back. A lot of us are tired of versing each other, and a dose of new blood is exactly what everyone needs -- not a pot of $5000+ for the top three.
As our scene is diminishing, the final effort required to salvage what we once had, would be to reinvest in the promotion of our scene -- to make it more public and universal in all ways, through an expanded payout system to reward more players, through to the hosting/advertising our events in more public domains (think: Mana Bar, Nintendo Experience). Our relationship with CouchWarriors has begun to run its course, in my opinion.
These are the keys to our future, and money could go a long way in fostering this need. You could even boast a sizeable pot and run with that in promoting our scene, as long as the community-at-large receives something at the end of the day -- even if it means acquiring a new smash buddy.
Strategically, our best intentions would be to spur community growth, right?
~ CAOTIC
