Meh.
First of all, there's a lot of stereotyping here. I applaud the people who are trying to get to the core of the problem, but I don't think anyone's gotten it.
I think the best definition of a casual smasher in this community's context is someone who doesn't try to play as a competitive player. This runs the gamut of people who pick it up just because it's a game, people who are just getting into it, and even people who love the series and its incarnations but still don't want to be a competitive player. I think the majority of us who bother to read the posts here with any seriousness fall into the third category, and I think casual smash fans are an important and large member of the fandom.
The competitve players, while seemingly largely represented and important in places like this, actually represent a minority and a niche group among the people who support this game. Frankly, a hardcore fanbase isn't enough to generate the sales that this game gets. There's an inflated sense of self importance that a significant amount of competitive fans that they're the only ones that matter.
I'm not saying competitive fans are "bad fans." It's the attitude that's spread around that turns off most people like myself. And yes, trying to crack the game and work hard is something to be rewarded. But waving around terms like "noob" and "scrub" and acting as if we're lazy, stupid, or misguided only ends up coming across as obnoxious. In other words, most of the attitude is like a high school foot ball star picking on someone in a smaller social hierarchy. And because the VISIBLE fandom - the one here at Smashboard, and other places, and NOT the majority of people playing and buying it - seems to have a majority of competitive players, there's an inflated sense of importance. Add that to the blatant antagonism and posturing due to having a higher post count, and it doesn't engender a positive sense of interaction. In short, casuals are generally seen as "not true fans" and made to feel like outsiders.
And then there's the sense of entitlement. There have been a significant amount of people who have undersold Brawl and demonized its producers based on it not owning up to their expectations. Earlier I stated that the competitive players are not the majority, they are the minority. The game is not neccessarily intended to be "for competitive", and neither was Melee and Smash Bros. before it. However, people either inflate the importance of making it "for" competitive players (due to the mistaken view of themselves as the core audience), or blame the casuals, "scrubs", and "noobs" for what Brawl "has become." Add to that the fact that the serious players could be jumping the gun - which is a very real and very distinct possibility - that there will be "nothing" for competitive players, and the competitives end up coming across to us as casuals as overzealous and unfair. It's also not correct to say the game "sucks" depending on the standards of the actual minority, as there's an even larger number of standards that need to be considered there.
Not to say that casual fans are completely blameless, and far from it. I myself have gone into multiple arguments without understanding or being mistaken about advanced techniques and concerns. Even more still fall prey to the act of stereotyping, and making worthless arguments about how "Brawl isn't Melee" without considering the full scope of the situation. The biggest problem is that there's a complete lack of diplomacy on ANY side, and we're all too quick to judge the other side as "true fans" as a whole. I realize my argument may sound stilted as I've focused on the competitive players far more in this write up, but even then - I'd say there's a significant amount of "blame" leveled at both sides.
But then, pointing fingers isn't the answer. It's quite simply getting over it, and going about your day. This is the INTERNET, and trying to make people realize they're being, to be frank, total morons over a video game - an admittedly awesome and signficant piece of work - is a futile effort at best. But even then, if this keeps more people from labelling one another as trolls, who am I to object?
I celebrate Smash because I love the franchises represented in it, the opportunities Brawl has given me to try new things, the artistic and programming aspects that ended up creating this whole package. I like trophies, I like music, I like celebrating my favorite franchises and getting a look at new ones. I like being able to interact with my friends on-line and playing with them. And I enjoy the thrill of combat using video cartoon characters, the idea of a match up between Sonic and Mario that's been years in the making, and just plain beating the crap out of something. That's no more or less pure than someone whose spent hours, days, or even years honing their Marth or Falco to near perfection. I may find it personally trite and unworthwhile, but in the end, we're all here for the same god ****ed reason.
We want to have fun.
