The Roster Going Forward

[DBPirate]

A big draw (perhaps the biggest draw) of Smash is the roster, specifically the newcomers that are introduced in each game. It's possible that in Smash 5, the roster may exceed 70 characters if there are no cuts.

Following Smash 5, should the roster continue to expand to 100+ characters or should there be 10-15 cuts every game so that it remains more balanced/doesn't get too "crowded"? Would people still care about the roster as much if they knew that several of their favorites/mains would have a substantial chance of being cut every single game?

 

[Awakining]

I'm down for as many characters as the team wants to add in each game with as few cuts as necessary. Characters are the biggest draw for a crossover title like smash, and contribute much more to financial success than any gameplay mechanic ever could, as well as adding enormous levels of diversity in gameplay when playing casually/for enjoyment. Furthermore, I'd say that people would care a whole heck of a lot more if they had to consider their favorite missing out on a spot each game. That's certainly enough to get character loyalists heavily invested in the roster, and casuals to consider boycotting the installment.

 

[Nebunera]

I'd like some cuts, because I don't want it to be hell to balance the game. I'd also like clones to be pallete swaps and there are some characters I would cut due to how I felt about them but that is opinion... (They took out Squirtle and Ivysaur and kept Charizard )

 

[UltimateWario]

Honestly I’d prefer a smaller roster. Despite the horrible problems with the gameplay, I think Brawl had the best roster. It didn’t feel ridiculously huge or bloated and I can’t think of any characters off the top of my head that make me say “...why though?”. I think a roster with all the fat trimmed and a healthy amount of newcomers would land in between Brawl and 4’s roster sizes. Then you can have all your c-list literally who clones included as bonus characters in packs with more popular DLC characters.

 

[Al-kīmiyā']

Unless they use the same engine for every sequel, they can't just cut and paste characters into a new game. Veterans will take time. It's unrealistic to think Smash will just keep adding more and more characters without cutting anyone.

Your poll options are pretty vague. Apparently you mean 'few' to refer to fewer than 'several', since you say the roster would continue growing. What I expect is that about the same, if not more, characters will be cut as are added, assuming the lifecycles of these games remains similar.

There are a few characters I want cut, and a lot whose omission I wouldn't mind.

 

[osby]

Honestly I’d prefer a smaller roster. Despite the horrible problems with the gameplay, I think Brawl had the best roster. It didn’t feel ridiculously huge or bloated and I can’t think of any characters off the top of my head that make me say “...why though?”. I think a roster with all the fat trimmed and a healthy amount of newcomers would land in between Brawl and 4’s roster sizes. Then you can have all your c-list literally who clones included as bonus characters in packs with more popular DLC characters.

So people have to pay extra money if they want to have at least last game's character number?
Also "fat trimming" is way too subjective.

 

[UltimateWario]

So people have to pay extra money if they want to have at least last game's character number?
Also "fat trimming" is way too subjective.

I figured that was implied, yes. I certainly hope that you’re not implying that quantity trumps quality. As someone who is a pretty big Nintendo fan and found like...maybe one of the newcomers from the last game interesting, I really don’t care about how many new characters the new Smash has. I want the characters it does have to be interesting and deep. I’d prefer a new Smash game with only a few new characters but veterans like Samus, Link, Wario, Ganondorf, etc revamped to be more fun and more representative of their actual characters and careful care put into balancing the roster. I’m far past the point of being wowed by big numbers.

 

[CrusherMania1592]

(They took out Squirtle and Ivysaur and kept Charizard )

Nothing's wrong with that though. Charizard does better on his own than being in a group


I'm fine with the idea of a few cuts, but do NOT cut my boy out!

 

[CodakTheWarrior]

I am of the opinion that making huge cuts to Smash's overall roster will definitely end up killing the series. The whole point of the small roster is to merely cater to the competitive side of the fan base, which, while of course very important, should never be the end-all be-all focus of the series, especially considering the competitive side of the fan base is probably somewhat small compared to the rest of the fan base. I'm of the opinion that the more characters the better, meaning I am 100% for clones and think they help fill out the roster and should never be removed. And, if I were director, I would bring back every previously cut character and make it my personal mission to NEVER cut characters again (barring legal issues). I realize these are some possibly controversial views, but they're my views nonetheless.

 

[Pokechu]

Nothing's wrong with that though. Charizard does better on his own than being in a group


I'm fine with the idea of a few cuts, but do NOT cut my boy out!

Squirtle and Ivysaur should still retain their playable status though. They're more deserving than a number of characters already on the roster.

and if you ask me, Charizard played the worst out of all three.

 

[NobleClamtasm]

I am of the opinion that making huge cuts to Smash's overall roster will definitely end up killing the series. The whole point of the small roster is to merely cater to the competitive side of the fan base, which, while of course very important, should never be the end-all be-all focus of the series, especially considering the competitive side of the fan base is probably somewhat small compared to the rest of the fan base. I'm of the opinion that the more characters the better, meaning I am 100% for clones and think they help fill out the roster and should never be removed. And, if I were director, I would bring back every previously cut character and make it my personal mission to NEVER cut characters again (barring legal issues). I realize these are some possibly controversial views, but they're my views nonetheless.

I'm not sure how cutting certain characters will kill the series, but there are plenty of reasons to cut characters outside of the competitive-centered ideology. For one, if the series is to continue well into the future, certain characters will no longer be relevant to Nintendo's interests. This is inevitable, as Nintendo will always want to push newer characters to represent their more recent games, and they generate the most hype. Moreover, development time is limited, so unless you want barebones single player content, necessary cuts to the roster need to be made.

 

[CodakTheWarrior]

I'm not sure how cutting certain characters will kill the series, but there are plenty of reasons to cut characters outside of the competitive-centered ideology. For one, if the series is to continue well into the future, certain characters will no longer be relevant to Nintendo's interests. This is inevitable, as Nintendo will always want to push newer characters to represent their more recent games, and they generate the most hype. Moreover, development time is limited, so unless you want barebones single player content, necessary cuts to the roster need to be made.

Ok, I get what you're saying and, yeah, I do realize that some cuts are basically vital. The main thing I'm against is some people saying that Smash needs to have a WAAAY smaller roster, like around 30 or so. I feel like this would just be overall unimpressive to the mass public because, especially to casuals, people would look at the game and just think "well, this games just has less characters than the last one, what's the fun in that?" I also think since, at its core, Smash IS a party game an do should be treated like one. There are tons of other fighting games that have really small rosters as to focus on the actual fighting exclusively (like ARMS and Pokken), but Smash is absolutely not that and has never been.