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University of Texas - Austin

What events do you want to see at our meetings?

  • Brawl Singles/Doubles

    Votes: 2 18.2%
  • Melee Low Tiers

    Votes: 2 18.2%
  • Brawl+ Singles/Doubles

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Smash 64 Singles/Doubles

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Brawl Minus Singles

    Votes: 3 27.3%
  • Random Character/Random Stage tourney (any game)

    Votes: 3 27.3%

  • Total voters
    11
  • Poll closed .

JOS.fm

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
363
Location
Austin-UT/San Antonio
thanks for the offer, but I need it for work so it's imperative I fix it. :urg:
plus i stress too much with things like this so it'll be in the back of my mind if i try to have fun.

edit: guys look at this.
 

lasershadow

Smash Rookie
Joined
Dec 18, 2006
Messages
22
Location
pittsburgh
ahhhh if rohan reads this i would love a ride there... apparently he's in west campus too so it wouldn't be that out of his way... rohan if you read this call me 2402059532
 

garrR

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
123
Location
Austin, TX
What, Edgar! Well, everyone who is planning on coming should let me know. I think Rohan and Clay are coming.

Also, I don't know who changed the thread's title to "Austin Melee Club," but can we avoid changes like this before at least discussing them?
i'm coming! probably around like 4 or so.
 

lasershadow

Smash Rookie
Joined
Dec 18, 2006
Messages
22
Location
pittsburgh
DEATH POOL!!! all the 3rd round pools were horrendous

also thanks rohan i live on 29th and rio grande so just call me when ur leaving your place and i'll come outside
 

garrR

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
123
Location
Austin, TX
btw i vote for a facebook group guys, just like houston has. the chat makes it much easier to meet up randomly to play, and it's also quite fun. i already made the suggestion to edgar since he's also in the houston melee group.
 

Kal

Smash Champion
Joined
Dec 21, 2004
Messages
2,974
Well, we have a Smash Club group. We don't have an "Austin" one because the Austin thread is pretty much dead. However, if you think we should start a separate Facebook group or Smashboards thread for Austin smashers, I think it's worth discussing.

Here is the link to the Smash Club group on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=262157755122

I actually sort of forgot about this group, because I think Facebook is lame. However, in the future I will make a habit of posting about smash fests on the Facebook page to try and encourage people to come. If the turnout is any good, we could even have little tournaments.
 

garrR

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
123
Location
Austin, TX
Well, we have a Smash Club group. We don't have an "Austin" one because the Austin thread is pretty much dead. However, if you think we should start a separate Facebook group or Smashboards thread for Austin smashers, I think it's worth discussing.

Here is the link to the Smash Club group on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=262157755122

I actually sort of forgot about this group, because I think Facebook is lame. However, in the future I will make a habit of posting about smash fests on the Facebook page to try and encourage people to come. If the turnout is any good, we could even have little tournaments.
yeah so this is an "old" facebook group. the new ones are a little different, the biggest difference for me is the chat feature, where you can talk to everyone who's online that's in the group in real time. you can come back and read through the chat later too.

i just think having the chat feature is useful, as well as having a wall to post stuff on, like future events and tournament results (which the old groups also provided). the chat is nice for things like "hey, anyone want to play right now" and stuff like that, which is lower latency than posting on a forum thread. i think edgar can attest to the usefulness of the chat since he's also in the houston melee group and i see him in the chat all the time =P the only requirement though is that people need to use facebook.
 

Kal

Smash Champion
Joined
Dec 21, 2004
Messages
2,974
You don't need to argue in favor of a Facebook group. I was just unaware that the one we currently have is out of date. I'll see about making a new one.

I'm not sure if I should make this thing open or closed. I guess I'll make it closed for now and change it if necessary.
 

blackfox51

Smash Cadet
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Messages
72
Location
Austin, Texas
Just dropping by to say "hi". I'm coming back to Austin for the school year.
I'll be living near Arcade UFO (north part of UT campus), so if anyone gets tired of SSFIV or MVC3, you can drop by my place for some Melee.

Also, if anyone is around the Alief/Sugar Land area, I'll be down to play. Trying to get back into Melee, after months of inactivity.

But yeah, that's all I wanted to post lol.

EDIT: Smashboards looks really colorful. It's disturbing.
 

garrR

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
123
Location
Austin, TX
Just dropping by to say "hi". I'm coming back to Austin for the school year.
I'll be living near Arcade UFO (north part of UT campus), so if anyone gets tired of SSFIV or MVC3, you can drop by my place for some Melee.

Also, if anyone is around the Alief/Sugar Land area, I'll be down to play. Trying to get back into Melee, after months of inactivity.

But yeah, that's all I wanted to post lol.

EDIT: Smashboards looks really colorful. It's disturbing.
hey, are you the guy living with anthony nguyen?
 

garrR

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
123
Location
Austin, TX
Yup, that's me. How did you know?
i think i asked him who he was living with and he mentioned you played smash or something, i can't remember. but anyway, i'm pretty good friends with anthony so i think i'll be over at the VIP a lot. we should play!
 

blackfox51

Smash Cadet
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Messages
72
Location
Austin, Texas
i think i asked him who he was living with and he mentioned you played smash or something, i can't remember. but anyway, i'm pretty good friends with anthony so i think i'll be over at the VIP a lot. we should play!
Yeah, definitely! I'm still pretty bad at this game, so don't expect too much haha.
 

MT_

Smash Ace
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
791
Location
Austin, TX
Yay Justin is back.

I'm so ready to play Melee btw. Austin we are gonna play so much this semester!!!! And Ivan why do you have a marth avatar...
 

garrR

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
123
Location
Austin, TX
Yay Justin is back.

I'm so ready to play Melee btw. Austin we are gonna play so much this semester!!!! And Ivan why do you have a marth avatar...
it's from brawl cause i played marth in brawl. don't kill me. been too lazy to change it.
 

JOS.fm

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
363
Location
Austin-UT/San Antonio
yup. biweeklies and maybe 2 big tourneys for each semester?

I think we need to re-register the club. Once that's done I'll schedule each meeting like a month ahead. I'm thinking we should also advertise our club.
 

Kal

Smash Champion
Joined
Dec 21, 2004
Messages
2,974
I think a meeting every week is actually not a bad idea. We tend to not do it because there's a precedent set, but I think it would work out. Since it seems that I will be keeping this ****ty, ginormous-*** van for a while, I have the capacity to transfer pretty much all of North Austin, as well as bring along a couple of TVs.

Thoughts?
 

JOS.fm

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
363
Location
Austin-UT/San Antonio
i don't know. I tend to believe that the more meetings we have, the lower our attendance will be on average. I know I wouldn't go to all of them since I juggle going home, hanging out with my non-smash friends, and all types of other junk that I do on the off-weeks of Smash club.

and I actually love having snacks at our meetings. we should collect member fees this year (I know i said this last year and didn't try) to have snacks and water/sodas.

we should also hold little tourneys with money on the line with a cut to go to a prize bonus for a bigger tourney, or paying for a top player to attend one of our meetings in hope that it increases attendance.
or maybe we could forget the member fee and just fund snacks and drinks with that cut.

we could maybe have a tourney series, like von pointed earlier. (i know kal said he wouldn't like getting involved with tourneys ran under the banner of UT Smash Club since the little dispute over the stages)
 

Kal

Smash Champion
Joined
Dec 21, 2004
Messages
2,974
i don't know. I tend to believe that the more meetings we have, the lower our attendance will be on average. I know I wouldn't go to all of them since I juggle going home, hanging out with my non-smash friends, and all types of other junk that I do on the off-weeks of Smash club.
It's probably true that the more meetings we have, the lower our average attendance will be. But, it's not necessarily true that any of our meetings will be worse off for it. That is, if we were to have four meetings rather than two, I would not expect the turnout to be worse at all four than the two meetings we would have had. In fact, I would expect the turnout to be the same for at least two of these meetings.

and I actually love having snacks at our meetings. we should collect member fees this year (I know i said this last year and didn't try) to have snacks and water/sodas.
Member fees are fine, but I don't personally care either way if we have snacks.

we should also hold little tourneys with money on the line with a cut to go to a prize bonus for a bigger tourney, or paying for a top player to attend one of our meetings in hope that it increases attendance.
or maybe we could forget the member fee and just fund snacks and drinks with that cut.
I don't think taking a cut from a really small tournament is a good idea. However, I like the idea for any tournament where we expect a turnout of more than 20 players. I think that the cut should go towards a pot bonus for a national tournament. I'm not a fan of the "fly that national player over here" idea, because it feels too risky and somewhat wasteful. It also feels like there is no fair way to decide whom we should bring.

we could maybe have a tourney series, like von pointed earlier. (i know kal said he wouldn't like getting involved with tourneys ran under the banner of UT Smash Club since the little dispute over the stages)
As long as people don't act like ****ing *** holes, I don't mind running events. Basically, don't call me a tyrant and accuse me of being unwilling to change my mind on stage bans when I obviously am plenty open minded, having moved Jungle Japes and Green Greens to the banned stage list due to convincing arguments from Xelic and Edgar. And, while I don't want to start a debate here, I'm really not ok with people pushing their personal preferences and trying to disguise them as "a different standard." That is my fundamental problem with what happened at NSIC.

And I don't care about the ruleset that much, especially if it's not my tournament. Another large complaint with NSIC was that the reason I was forced to change the ruleset was because it was not my tournament, but then, save for some much appreciated help from you, José, I ended up running the entire event.

But, if you guys have a tournament with your own ruleset and you just want me to run it, I don't necessarily have a problem with that. I do want people to be a little more understanding of how difficult it is to run a tournament, and moreover how difficult it is to perform well (both sexually and at smash) at a tournament while you're simultaneously trying to run it. And keep in mind that smashers are, almost ubiquitously, rude and impatient at tournaments.

Also, I like the idea of a tournament series. With such a series (a circuit!) we could fund a large first place bonus for a national tournament.
 

MT_

Smash Ace
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
791
Location
Austin, TX
I guess it's time to go ahead and say something.

Having different standards on what people ideally think competitive Melee is is the source of almost all dispute on stages. Take this thread for example (which I read most of while it was still active) concerning banning Brinstar and RC: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=292049

You notice that while both sides present good arguments (and of course bad arguments too), no one really changes their mind on what stages should be legal or banned. This is because everyone has their own personal preference (yes, personal preference) on where they should draw the line between two things: 1) having to adapt/learn a variety of stages and 2) having a standardized game play.

I never said that my desire for stages to be banned wasn't a result of my personal preference. The only argument I ever made for having those stages banned was essentially "because most people want/are accustomed to the MBR ruleset". Now why did I not try and argue the reasoning for banning the stages?

Because arguments that, to me, warrant a stage to be banned, aren't necessarily "compelling" for someone else to warrant a stage being banned. Now I'm not saying that my standards are any more "correct" than anyone else's, but I am saying that your standards, Kal, are NOT necessarily more "correct" than anyone else's.

You always say "if someone can provide me an argument to ban a stage that I find compelling, then I will move that stage to the banned list". Well I don't think that's really fair, since your standards ARE different. You can't simply just say that having different standards is irrelevant to any stage discussion, when in reality it's the biggest reason why there is any stage discussion in the first place.

Also, I apologize for not really helping run the tournament (save for providing a laptop to use). Next time I'll try to step it up. And another note: I highly doubt the success of a national tournament happening in Austin. It just doesn't seem realistic with how small our smash scene is already, and (correct me if I'm wrong) I don't even think anyone here has any experience with running tournaments on that scale.
 

Kal

Smash Champion
Joined
Dec 21, 2004
Messages
2,974
It's not about having to adapt and learn versus having a standardized gameplay. It's about what standards should exist for banning a stage. The standard I abide by is that, unless proven to be broken, I leave stages unbanned. This is the competitive standard, for otherwise your decision making process is arbitrary.

I don't have time to read the thread, since I have class soon, but I am unaware of any evidence, whatsoever, that your stage list "standardizes" gameplay. What does it even mean to "standardize" gameplay? Very compelling arguments can be made for banning a stage like Hyrule. That is, specific examples, as well as actual evidence, which shows that the stage is broken. Can you provide similar arguments for banning Pokefloats or Mute City? You can't just claim that it standardizes gameplay without explaining why, or elaborating on what that even means.

As I've said before, this is just an example of people getting together and deciding that, because they don't like something, they want to ban it. I'm not going to stand for it because a majority gets together and rules on this. In fact, I don't see how these stage bans are any different than character banning; the justification seems identical. If someone wishes to ban Peach, for example, they could just provide their arbitrary standard for what "standards of gameplay" they wish to test, and conclude that Peach should be banned in this interest. This "standard" is, unless you can show me otherwise, completely ****ing arbitrary.

Combine that with the fact that many of these banned stages have been legal for a decade, and out of nowhere get banned, and I can't help but think that it's nothing but scrubs getting together and trying to force their scrubbiness down our throats.

And you have, of course, missed the point as to why I'm upset; we can argue this all day, and I have no problem with open debate (in fact, I encourage it). However, your behavior in the NSIC thread was unacceptable. It was clear that I was being as open minded as I could when I moved Jungle Japes and Green Greens to the banned stage list, yet you insisted that I was unwavering in my stance (going as far as to call me a tyrant) solely because it disagreed with yours. I really don't care about the ruleset at one tournament.
 

MT_

Smash Ace
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
791
Location
Austin, TX
Just to note, I actually don't care that much about the ruleset either.

First off, I have no issue with you disagreeing with me, but rather with the majority disagreeing with you. I can understand why you think the simply yielding to the majority is bad, but I also think that your idea that the current ruleset is a result of "scrubs banning stuff they don't like" when these scrubs you are talking about are the MBR, who are actually pretty good at this game. (Unless your use of the word 'scrubs' does not mean to imply anything about how good people are at the game; you'll also notice in that Ban Brinstar/RC thread that the only significant player in favor of keeping those stages legal was Wobbles while countless others want those stages banned).

Also, moving Jungle Japes and Green Greens to the banned stage list to most people is an obvious move because of island camping. I am pretty sure that no one would have been able to convince you via argument to ban the rest of the stages because I think you draw the line around that area (which I don't think is necessarily wrong). Pretty much, since you were the one taking responsibility of the ruleset, and because I felt like no matter what anyone would say as an argument to ban the other stages would convince you to ban them, I felt like you were acting like a tyrant.

Your whole "a decade of not banning stages" thing falls apart when we look at Europe who has only had 5 neutrals allowed since forever ago (not to clear, but I always see Armada saying that Europe has had the best stage list for a long time and America should follow lol). Just because Melee used to have the stages allowed in the past doesn't make those stages any more legit in the first place anyway.

The stage list that I would prefer would include: BF, YS, DL64, FoD, and maybe FD, PS, and KJ64. There is something these stages all have in common, the main points being that they are static and don't have stage hazards. This standard (read: that I personally would like to adhere to) is simply that the stages don't move and have no stage hazards.

What I'm pretty much trying to say is that the gameplay found on these stages is significantly different to the gameplay found on stages like Rainbow Cruise, Poke Floats, Mute City, Brinstar, and Corneria.

For example, I would argue that because Rainbow Cruise is a constantly moving stage, it differs too much from the neutral style of gameplay found on neutral stages. In other words, RC doesn't fit into the standard that I've derived from neutral stage gameplay. Therefore, in my personal ideal ruleset, RC would be banned, because it isn't part of the standardized gameplay found on neutral stages.


Like I keep saying, it all comes down to each individual's personal preference. I'm not OK with a moving stage that has no edges (Pokefloats), or with a stage which has a hazard that can deal 50-60% damage without anything you can do about it (Brinstar). Do I feel that this is so broken that you can't play Melee on it? Not necessarily, but I do feel that this kind of gameplay is not fit for competitive Melee. But again, it's my own opinion.

I really think that it isn't possible to have a completely objective way of determining whether a stage is broken//unfit for competitive play//should be banned etc. This becomes apparent when you have a 25 page debate over banning Brinstar and RC, but no one ends up changing their mind despite arguing for 25 pages (with 40ppp, btw). Neither side is wrong, because there isn't such thing as a "right" way in the first place. Though you probably disagree with that idea too, which is why my argument probably doesn't hold any weight to you lol.

Anyways I acknowledge I overreacted in calling you a tyrant and whatever, but at the time the tournament was coming up pretty soon and it was slightly frustrating seeing multiple people express discontent with the ruleset but just thinking "whatever" because they didn't want to argue stage stuff with you, who was the ultimate decision maker for the ruleset. In any case, I apologize anyway because it's true that it was a **** move on my part regardless of the circumstance.
 

MT_

Smash Ace
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
791
Location
Austin, TX
Another way to explain what I think has been "standardized":

The smash community has already come to a general consensus to stages being in three groups: neutral, counterpick, banned. The very fact that we have a category of stages called "neutral" indicates that a standard has already been agreed upon - that is, neutral stage gameplay.
 

Kal

Smash Champion
Joined
Dec 21, 2004
Messages
2,974
First off, I have no issue with you disagreeing with me, but rather with the majority disagreeing with you. I can understand why you think the simply yielding to the majority is bad, but I also think that your idea that the current ruleset is a result of "scrubs banning stuff they don't like" when these scrubs you are talking about are the MBR, who are actually pretty good at this game. (Unless your use of the word 'scrubs' does not mean to imply anything about how good people are at the game; you'll also notice in that Ban Brinstar/RC thread that the only significant player in favor of keeping those stages legal was Wobbles while countless others want those stages banned).
Scrubbiness is independent of skill. I've met plenty of scrubs who are good at smash. If, for example, you drop your main because you think he's too easy to get good with, then you're a scrub. But you can still be good at the game.

And for the future, I think you should avoid placing so much value on the opinions of good smashers. They are (possibly) qualified to discuss how to be good at smash, but they did not go to school to study smash, and thus their opinions with regards to what is fair are not necessarily better than anyone else's. There are no qualifications from which you can determine whether someone is informed on relevant issues that come up. Smashers are fallible, and there is no safeguard in place to prevent good smashers from being wrong about these issues.

Also, moving Jungle Japes and Green Greens to the banned stage list to most people is an obvious move because of island camping. I am pretty sure that no one would have been able to convince you via argument to ban the rest of the stages because I think you draw the line around that area (which I don't think is necessarily wrong). Pretty much, since you were the one taking responsibility of the ruleset, and because I felt like no matter what anyone would say as an argument to ban the other stages would convince you to ban them, I felt like you were acting like a tyrant.
Island camping, combined with falling apples and blocks, as well as the absurdly low ceiling, is what convinced me to ban Green Greens. Jungle Japes was a combination of things, of which island camping was a factor. However, the camping has not, as far as I've seen, been shown to be severe enough to warrant a ban. Keep in mind that there is also significant potential for camping on any stage with three platforms, and that this sort of camping is acceptable, as evidenced by the overwhelming majority of players who resort to this tactic.

Your whole "a decade of not banning stages" thing falls apart when we look at Europe who has only had 5 neutrals allowed since forever ago (not to clear, but I always see Armada saying that Europe has had the best stage list for a long time and America should follow lol). Just because Melee used to have the stages allowed in the past doesn't make those stages any more legit in the first place anyway.
How does it fall apart because there's a different standard, in a different country? Your obnoxious rhetoric of my argument "falling apart" is only that; there is no content to this argument you've provided. I don't think you even understood the paragraph fully in which I mentioned the decade during which these stages were legal: it is clear that I used this fact to indicate that the sudden change in the stage's legality is an indication of the reasons for which the stage is banned being arbitrary. I'm not advocating that the stage remain legal because it has in the past.

This right here is an example of a fundamental problem you have when you argue, Matt. You distort other people's arguments and resort to rhetoric, rather than actually addressing what we actually have to say.

The stage list that I would prefer would include: BF, YS, DL64, FoD, and maybe FD, PS, and KJ64. There is something these stages all have in common, the main points being that they are static and don't have stage hazards. This standard (read: that I personally would like to adhere to) is simply that the stages don't move and have no stage hazards.
As I've mentioned before, this standard is arbitrary. If I were to say that "I personally adhere to the standard that characters should not have projectiles," and proceeded to ban Fox, Falco, Sheik, Peach, etc., would anyone agree?

Most certainly not. People would contend that my standard is unfair; some people like projectiles, and if I don't, well I can QQ moar. The game isn't provably worse in any reasonable way when these characters are left unbanned, and thus it's absurd to allow my personal taste for what the game "should be" mandate how everyone gets to play.

What I'm pretty much trying to say is that the gameplay found on these stages is significantly different to the gameplay found on stages like Rainbow Cruise, Poke Floats, Mute City, Brinstar, and Corneria.
And similarly, there has been no valid argument made which suggests that, when these stages are left unbanned, the game is any worse off. It's incredibly unfair to force other people to play by your arbitrary standard.

For example, I would argue that because Rainbow Cruise is a constantly moving stage, it differs too much from the neutral style of gameplay found on neutral stages. In other words, RC doesn't fit into the standard that I've derived from neutral stage gameplay. Therefore, in my personal ideal ruleset, RC would be banned, because it isn't part of the standardized gameplay found on neutral stages.
Keep in mind that "neutral" is just a word, not suggesting any real standard of gameplay. Historically, the neutral stages arose as a result of our stagestrike system, and because they appeared to be the most "fair" stages (and I put "fair" in quotes here to emphasize that it's not really any fairer) in that no characters had any significant advantages on them. However, with a stage-strike system, calling them neutral is silly.

Like I keep saying, it all comes down to each individual's personal preference. I'm not OK with a moving stage that has no edges (Pokefloats), or with a stage which has a hazard that can deal 50-60% damage without anything you can do about it (Brinstar). Do I feel that this is so broken that you can't play Melee on it? Not necessarily, but I do feel that this kind of gameplay is not fit for competitive Melee. But again, it's my own opinion.
I'm not ok with Falco. Do I feel that he is so broken that you can't play Melee with him? Not necessarily, but I do feel that this kind of gameplay is not fit for competitive Melee.

I really think that it isn't possible to have a completely objective way of determining whether a stage is broken//unfit for competitive play//should be banned etc. This becomes apparent when you have a 25 page debate over banning Brinstar and RC, but no one ends up changing their mind despite arguing for 25 pages (with 40ppp, btw). Neither side is wrong, because there isn't such thing as a "right" way in the first place. Though you probably disagree with that idea too, which is why my argument probably doesn't hold any weight to you lol.
No one will deny that there is no 100% objective way to determine a ruleset, save for "anything goes." However, it's undeniable that the standard of not banning anything until it's proven to be broken is, in a very real sense, "more objective" than your standard, which is to ban stages you have a personal distaste for.

Anyways I acknowledge I overreacted in calling you a tyrant and whatever, but at the time the tournament was coming up pretty soon and it was slightly frustrating seeing multiple people express discontent with the ruleset but just thinking "whatever" because they didn't want to argue stage stuff with you, who was the ultimate decision maker for the ruleset. In any case, I apologize anyway because it's true that it was a **** move on my part regardless of the circumstance.
There were, conversely, several people in agreement with my ruleset. DoH, and most of Houston, liked the stage list. So did King Mosquito, SoS, and Hylian. Several players, at the very least, told me that they had no problem with it. The most vocal people are always those who dissent, so of course it appeared as though I was telling the majority to **** off (which we agree is not necessarily a bad thing to do; we shouldn't just pander to whatever the majority wants). But, in reality, the stage-list issue was, at worst, a bit undesirable for most smashers.

Another way to explain what I think has been "standardized":

The smash community has already come to a general consensus to stages being in three groups: neutral, counterpick, banned. The very fact that we have a category of stages called "neutral" indicates that a standard has already been agreed upon - that is, neutral stage gameplay.
As I mentioned before, "neutral" is just a word. Even if it implies a standard (which I doubt; I sincerely think the term arose from the stage-strike system), that does not suggest that the standard is worth keeping.

It's important to note that, with all issues like this, people will argue for what they personally want, regardless of how fair it is; Fox mains will try and get Mute City banned, Peach mains will try and get Green Greens banned, and so on. In order to prevent such unfairness, as well as to allow everyone to have the options they deserve to have, we maintain a standard of banning only those stages which are provably broken.
 

MT_

Smash Ace
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
791
Location
Austin, TX
1) I read too much into your paragraph about the decade of non-banned stages, apologies for my obnoxious rhetoric. Though I did say that the banning of the stages wasn't just arbitrary, as it was a decision of the MBR. And I do realize that simply listening to better smashers must be done with caution, but if the smash community wants to set a standard ruleset, the most important/reliable (though agreeably not infallible) qualification would be player skill, would it not? Being good at the game usually implies experience and understanding of the game. I wouldn't want people with just 2-3 tournaments under their belt in the MBR making decisions that determines what smashboards considers standard.

2) The idea of not banning until proven broken I feel is like your own personal standards to adhere to. In the first place, "broken" isn't easily definable and is already subject to personal ideologies (I don't even remember how many times Mew2King said Fox/Falco are broken and unbeatable on RC and Poke Floats). Is it broken when the matchup becomes 100% more difficult? or 70% more difficult? or even just 10% more difficult? I think the word "broken" just represents a particular extreme in the range of gray area.

3) And my standard isn't just "ban stages I don't like". It is "ban stages that promote gameplay that differs significantly from neutral gameplay". I know that neutral is just a word, but the fact that we have these select few stages categorized into one group (with wide consensus in the smash community) is very significant as to differentiating between gameplay on this category of stages and the gameplay on other stages, whether labeled neutral or not.

4) Providing me counter examples (like Falco not being appropriate for competitive Melee) isn't really making sense to me because my entire argument is revolving around other people having different opinions, and no one actually being "correct". Yes, the standard is arbitrary, even if it's derived from the group of neutral stages or not, because the standard for selecting neutral stages ends up being arbitrary also.

But is this standard one that enough people will agree with? Well, yes.
Is your standard (also arbitrary because "broken" is yet another arbitrary term) one that enough people will agree with? Also yes.

To be honest I really can't see a way to agree to a ruleset other than by making compromises. We both don't really care that much about the ruleset in the first place, and in reality the differing stagelists probably won't make any difference anyway. Maybe we can compromise by alternating rulesets every tournament or something like that.
 

JOS.fm

Smash Journeyman
Joined
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Messages
363
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Austin-UT/San Antonio
Though I'm aware that nobody in our scene uses low tiers in tournament, I think that the MBR ruleset makes these characters just slightly more viable.

Just wanted to throw that out there. :reverse:
 

Kal

Smash Champion
Joined
Dec 21, 2004
Messages
2,974
1) I read too much into your paragraph about the decade of non-banned stages, apologies for my obnoxious rhetoric. Though I did say that the banning of the stages wasn't just arbitrary, as it was a decision of the MBR. And I do realize that simply listening to better smashers must be done with caution, but if the smash community wants to set a standard ruleset, the most important/reliable (though agreeably not infallible) qualification would be player skill, would it not? Being good at the game usually implies experience and understanding of the game. I wouldn't want people with just 2-3 tournaments under their belt in the MBR making decisions that determines what smashboards considers standard.
Look, I'm not saying that they can't have input, or that we should ignore what they say. But their opinions mandate nothing by just the virtue of their skill. If they want to make a ruleset, they need to provide more than just their personal preferences.

2) The idea of not banning until proven broken I feel is like your own personal standards to adhere to. In the first place, "broken" isn't easily definable and is already subject to personal ideologies (I don't even remember how many times Mew2King said Fox/Falco are broken and unbeatable on RC and Poke Floats). Is it broken when the matchup becomes 100% more difficult? or 70% more difficult? or even just 10% more difficult? I think the word "broken" just represents a particular extreme in the range of gray area.
You're arguing semantics. Yes, it's a standard I prefer, because it's more objective than yours. No, there's no way to objectively define what's necessarily broken, hence there is a grey area. But the premise here is that, until we can reach a conclusion about whether something is broken (and I am certain that you've reached no such conclusion with stages like Mute City), we avoid banning things.

3) And my standard isn't just "ban stages I don't like". It is "ban stages that promote gameplay that differs significantly from neutral gameplay". I know that neutral is just a word, but the fact that we have these select few stages categorized into one group (with wide consensus in the smash community) is very significant as to differentiating between gameplay on this category of stages and the gameplay on other stages, whether labeled neutral or not.
You're reiterating the same argument here. The stages are listed as neutral primarily because there is little deviation in how well characters do: most match-ups won't change fundamentally from neutral stage to neutral stage. Again, this is no reason to give them special privilege, or to ban other stages, because the notion that these stages are more "fair" (which is fundamentally why these stages are listed as "neutral") is erroneous.

Even if you can prove that there is some "standard" in place here which causes these stages to be labelled neutral, it hardly implies that the standard is fair or appropriate. However, we are beginning to see the inherit problem with debates of this nature (that is, debates on a forum, in which we address things point by point): from here, we shall proceed on a discussion of why the stages are called neutral, which has almost nothing to do with my fundamental reason for not banning certain stages.

4) Providing me counter examples (like Falco not being appropriate for competitive Melee) isn't really making sense to me because my entire argument is revolving around other people having different opinions, and no one actually being "correct". Yes, the standard is arbitrary, even if it's derived from the group of neutral stages or not, because the standard for selecting neutral stages ends up being arbitrary also.
It's not a counter example. It's applying your argument to my opinion of Falco to show you how absurd your argument is.

But is this standard one that enough people will agree with? Well, yes.
Is your standard (also arbitrary because "broken" is yet another arbitrary term) one that enough people will agree with? Also yes.
Please don't equate my standard with yours. It's bull ****. Yes, there is leeway as to whether something is broken, but that does not render the entire premise arbitrary. We don't just go around choosing haphazardly which stages we consider broken. There is argument and debate; it is not arbitrary.

To be honest I really can't see a way to agree to a ruleset other than by making compromises. We both don't really care that much about the ruleset in the first place, and in reality the differing stagelists probably won't make any difference anyway. Maybe we can compromise by alternating rulesets every tournament or something like that.
Maybe you can stop trying to push a stage list you can only justify with "this is how I like to play?" You've spent this entire discussion pushing this premise that our "standards" are equally valid (rather, equally arbitrary) when in fact mine tries to respect that every player deserves the right to play the game the way he sees fit, and tries not to limit what other players can do based on an arbitrary preference for how the game "should" be played.

Though I'm aware that nobody in our scene uses low tiers in tournament, I think that the MBR ruleset makes these characters just slightly more viable.

Just wanted to throw that out there. :reverse:
First of all, you need to keep in mind that it's not our responsibility to try and balance the roster. You don't ban stages in the interest of balancing the game. Moreover, banning stages like Brinstar and Mute City just serves to cement the power of the already incredible characters; Fox doesn't need Green Greens or Jungle Japes to survive, but Peach has an intensely difficult time dealing with Fox without Mute City or Brinstar. While this doesn't necessarily prove anything about whether the MBR ruleset makes the game more balanced, that's actually the point I'm trying to push here: whether a stagelist is "fair" in that sense is a complex issue, and is incredibly difficult to determine.
 

MT_

Smash Ace
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
791
Location
Austin, TX
Kal, you think that the game "should" be played by allowing the most diversity in the game (not banning stuff) without crossing your line for something in the game being "broken".

Is this true or false?
 

Kal

Smash Champion
Joined
Dec 21, 2004
Messages
2,974
The fact that you even need to set up the argument in this fashion is incredibly insulting. Just come out with what you have to say, MT. My guess is that you're going to emphasize your use of the word "should" if I respond "true," and explain (erroneously) that we both just mandate how we think the game "should" be played.

I'm not going to waste time on this line of thought. You can't tell the difference between "I think the game should be played on my arbitrary stage list" and "I think we should avoid banning stages until we know they're broken." Seriously, read my post. It says "arbitrary standard for how the game 'should' be played."
 

MT_

Smash Ace
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
791
Location
Austin, TX
Kal, the point I'm trying to make is that because "broken" can't be properly defined since everyone has different views on what they feel makes a stage "broken" the entire concept of "broken" is also arbitrary.

I think your main issue with my case is that I haven't truly tested/given each stage a chance before wanting to ban them. Well you're right in that respect. But there has been plenty of argument about the specifics of each stage before (again, 25 pages at 40ppp, link again here: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=292049) and guess what? The argument always boils down to the same thing, every single time: "Where do we draw the line for what is broken and what isn't broken?" And you already know where I am going from there...

Axe said something pretty nice in that thread, and that was that he felt competitive Melee should be as close to Player vs Player, instead of Player vs Player vs Stage. But in the end, this standard is also arbitrary, just like everything else about this discussion.

My guess is that you're going to emphasize your use of the word "should" if I respond "true," and explain (erroneously) that we both just mandate how we think the game "should" be played.
Yes, because this has been my entire argument from the start. The current dispute is that I don't think that the line for "broken" in actuality any less arbitrary than the line drawn for what is "standard". I'm sorry if presenting my point this way was incredibly insulting. It really wasn't meant to be.
 

Kal

Smash Champion
Joined
Dec 21, 2004
Messages
2,974
No, MT, it's not arbitrary. Whether a stage is broken is not ****ing arbitrary just because there's debate involved. And you can give a definition for what's broken. Since you're completely ignorant on the issue, I recommend you read this:

http://www.sirlin.net/ptw-book/what-should-be-banned.html

And no, the argument has never boiled down to where we draw the line. Sirlin very well explains what is worth considering broken, and fundamentally the reason stages like Pokefloats and Mute City are banned has never been because of how broken they are. It's because people dislike them.

You keep insulting my point of view by calling it arbitrary when it's most definitely NOT arbitrary. The question hasn't been where to drawn the line for what's broken and what isn't; we know something is broken once it can be shown so, i.e., once a significant change in tournament results occurs as a result of it. But there has been no such change as a result of these stages. Instead, we have people getting together and making up rules about how it should be "player vs. player" not "player vs. player vs. stage," which is about as loaded (and entirely erroneous; I really hope I don't need to explain to you why it's 100% absurd to suggest that a stage like Brinstar doesn't force a "player vs. player vs. stage" dynamic anymore than Final Destination) as calling the people you disagree with "anti-life."

Your arguments are completely devoid of content and just seek to equate the worth of my point of view with yours. It's ridiculous.
 

MT_

Smash Ace
Joined
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Messages
791
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Sirlin's article there, in my eyes, is really just another opinion.

If "broken" means causing a significant change in tournament results, then we have to look at just how much those tournament results change. PP beat M2K in RoM3 GFs by CPing to Rainbow Cruise in game 5. It's arguable that RC significantly helped PP take the win, getting him first place while M2K got second.

Is this change in tournament results significant enough? Did RC's idiosyncrasies affect the match enough to give PP the win? Some people might think that just (possibly) influencing the top two placements in a tournament is enough to warrant a "broken" label. Some people might think that the stage must affect multiple tournaments are all skill levels to warrant a "broken" label. Some people think that RC's idiosyncrasies (moving stage, etc) are too significant when influencing the course of the match. Some people thing that they aren't significant enough.

When stage discussions happen, especially after 10 years of Melee, usually most of the stage is analyzed. After that, it becomes an argument of "Brinstar's lava comboing you for 50% is just too much!" versus "Brinstar's lava comboing you for 50% doesn't make the stage broken!" and etc. I know you don't agree, but I feel the reason for this is because these two different viewpoints draw the line in different places, thus my reasoning for believing that "broken" is, in actuality, just as arbitrary, regardless of whether debate is involved or not.

But since we disagree on the term "broken" being arbitrary or not, I think you'll agree that we can't really continue discussing anymore.




I'm not going to go into the stage discussion anymore, but I will mention that whenever you call my arguments "absurd, bull****, ridiculous, ignorant, insulting (when I'm trying my best to not imply any insult)" and etc, it makes debating with you incredibly exhausting. Even if they ARE "completely devoid of content", I feel like you should avoid these extreme words, because it really deters people from wanting to debate with you. If you didn't mean to project that kind of image (that comes off as a little condescending), then I blame the internet and your sarcastic personality. But for now I'm done.

Thanks for taking the time to tell me your point of view (no sarcasm here, **** you internet).
 

Kal

Smash Champion
Joined
Dec 21, 2004
Messages
2,974
MT, did you even read the article? Broken doesn't mean a "significant change" in tournament results only as far as results differing. It has to be warranted in the sense that the thing being banned must drastically alter results. In other words, you can argue for a ban of Hyrule, because counter-picking Hyrule with Fox would drastically alter results: mediocre players could beat great players this way. In fact, the technique would be so drastically powerful that the game would break (and holy ****, maybe that's where the term "broken" comes from?), i.e., every time it was your turn to counterpick, you would choose Hyrule and camp with Fox. The game would break, Matt.

And please, for the love of God, don't pretend that our interpretations on what is "broken" is your stance on the issue. Your stance changed as our debate progressed. Recall that you posted, as well as told me at NSIC, that you plain and simply don't want moving stages or stages with hazards. It had absolutely nothing to do with how broken the stages are.

And MT, I am exhausting to argue with? Are you kidding me? You can't even go half a post without misunderstanding my argument or misconstruing it entirely. Yes, I call your arguments absurd, because your arguments are absurd. You try to equate a minimalist banning point of view with the view that what should be banned is up to personal preference, and you expect me to call your arguments anything but absurd?

You use rhetoric that undermines the view of your opponent while avoiding any content in your arguments whatsoever. That is what makes your arguments insulting. Regardless of whether you're trying to insult your opponent in a debate, you end up doing it anyway. I mean, just read through your ****ing posts again:

Here, you misunderstand my argument.

Your whole "a decade of not banning stages" thing falls apart when we look at Europe who has only had 5 neutrals allowed since forever ago (not to clear, but I always see Armada saying that Europe has had the best stage list for a long time and America should follow lol). Just because Melee used to have the stages allowed in the past doesn't make those stages any more legit in the first place anyway.
Here, you establish a standard, which you later go on to retcon as somehow simply being a different application of my standard.

The stage list that I would prefer would include: BF, YS, DL64, FoD, and maybe FD, PS, and KJ64. There is something these stages all have in common, the main points being that they are static and don't have stage hazards. This standard (read: that I personally would like to adhere to) is simply that the stages don't move and have no stage hazards.
Here, you get caught up on the word neutral, and go into a semantical rant in which you imply that the word attached to it somehow solidifies your standard, when the issue being debated is about what the standard should be.

For example, I would argue that because Rainbow Cruise is a constantly moving stage, it differs too much from the neutral style of gameplay found on neutral stages. In other words, RC doesn't fit into the standard that I've derived from neutral stage gameplay. Therefore, in my personal ideal ruleset, RC would be banned, because it isn't part of the standardized gameplay found on neutral stages.
Here you imply that my stance demands a completely objective perspective, when in fact it simply wants one as objective as possible, while maintaining a degree of fairness.

I really think that it isn't possible to have a completely objective way of determining whether a stage is broken//unfit for competitive play//should be banned etc.
Here you equate our debate on what standards should be had with a point of view on whether a standard is "right or wrong."

Neither side is wrong, because there isn't such thing as a "right" way in the first place. Though you probably disagree with that idea too, which is why my argument probably doesn't hold any weight to you lol.
Do you honestly expect anything but for me to act the way I do? If you've ever seen me debate with Edgar or José, do you ever see me react this way? The point José made about the low tiers being more viable on the MBR stagelist is almost completely unjustified, and yet I did not refer to his argument as absurd, or ridiculous, or ignorant, or insulting. I addressed him directly because he was not acting like a pompous ****. Don't make me out to be the bad guy here; even if I argue in certain ways, your arguments are just as bad. The fact is that you're so convinced in my wickedness that you aren't even taking the time to look at your own methodology of arguing.

You should go back and read the first two responses I posted. They were entirely devoid of any harsh terminology. But you can't seem to argue like a grown up, and so my frustration builds up, and I begin throwing in terms like "absurd" and "bull ****." Notice that the first time I use any harsh terminology is here:

Please don't equate my standard with yours. It's bull ****. Yes, there is leeway as to whether something is broken, but that does not render the entire premise arbitrary. We don't just go around choosing haphazardly which stages we consider broken. There is argument and debate; it is not arbitrary.
And how do you respond to this post? You ask me a single question in an attempt to trap me into agreeing with you. You don't even address all of the points I've made.

Honestly, it's absurd that you're giving me a hard time about the way I argue when you're, at the very least, no better.
 

Sybawave

Smash Ace
Joined
Mar 29, 2008
Messages
728
Location
Friendswood, Texas
I do not know what the **** is happening in here but y'all need to go to LA.

Don't just send 3 people lol we're sending our entire city =P

Let's **** the **** out of LA! Kal you should come. Everyone else sucks. Plus, it'll be fun having you trash talk the **** out of LA people xD
 

Kal

Smash Champion
Joined
Dec 21, 2004
Messages
2,974
I have plans for Saturday, so I can't go, but I'll see if I can get out of them. I'm not sure I really want to drive for 8 hours for a tournament.
 
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