Xie Posted August 11, 2010 Posted August 11, 2010 So, who's going tonight? I'm thinking of coming by if the traffic home is bad.
Kapwan Posted August 18, 2010 Author Posted August 18, 2010 let me know if I should bring my setup again.
render Posted August 18, 2010 Posted August 18, 2010 Alright, guys. Time for some actual discussion to happen in this thread. Level|Up presents an opportunity for the BB community to grow, but it doesn't seem to be really striking a chord with the community and I think we need to be vocal about why, and see if we can change that. The first week was in conjunction with Game With Heart, and was more of a PR event, so there wasn't much for the community to go on. We got some stream time, and Aksys Games was there with a couple setups - one of them with the new character Makoto - to keep us all occupied. Also, food was free. The second week had 1 setup for a couple hours, and then another setup (2 total for the night) later on. Those that showed up started a round-robin style tourney, which came nowhere close to finishing, as it was run on a single setup for the majority of the time. Those that made it on the stream for a while played some casuals, since there was no way to determine any sort of "winner." I did not attend the third week (last week, 8/11), and I may not attend tomorrow either, but I still see the potential for this to be a way for the community to grow, and I know that it's not going to if we don't figure out WHY it isn't just taking off on its own. Here are the gripes that I have: - Not enough setups This is difficult to address. I know they can't just pour thousands of dollars into providing this kind of thing. - No structure Level|Up is not providing anyone to run tournaments, which means the community has to, and so far only James/Xie has been willing to take the banner and make anything happen. Even then, we had to cut it short so we could get people on the stream, so the tourney never finished. It's not clear to anyone what is happening or what is going to happen. People show up and just start playing casuals and... that's about it. - No incentive The idea is to provide a competitive environment for everyone to step up their game, but as far as I can tell, that's not the case with anything but SF4. Having the top 4 players play on the stream would matter if a real tournament was taking place that was allowed enough time to finish, and there was a reason for people to care. Otherwise it is essentially just another casuals station for like 30 min. - Little value I recognize that there's a cost for hosting at that venue. However, with no food provided, and no real incentive besides the prospect of playing some casuals, there's no reason to spend $6 each week to go to this event. I don't see how it's much better than 4-5 friends gathering at someone's apartment and practicing there. Here are some of the things that I think could help improve the situation (some are meant for the people running Level|Up, and some are general suggestions for things the community should do): - Designated space for BB Depending on how many setups are available, dedicate a whole table or two to JUST BlazBlue, and physically separate the tables from the other games. Make it clear that THAT'S where BB happens. SF4 is completely separate from everything else, whereas the rest of the games are basically on other tables in what at first glance seems like the BYOC area at EVO. (This also ties in with the not-enough-setups problem.) - Someone run some goddamn tournies If someone stepped up to run a tourney each week that started at the same time consistently, and was given plenty of time to finish, then I think people would start giving a crap. It would be even better if there was some sort of incentive, like free entry the following week, or a free drink, or free food or something. I would suggest a single elimination 16-man bracket. Make the tournies happen before worrying about getting stream time. If there's no hype, the stream won't be hype either. I suggest the tourney start around like 8:30 or 8:45. LA traffic is a punk. - Setups Bring setups! Last time I was there, there were around 12-15 people and 1.5 setups (1 for a while, and 2 later on). Unless you're winning every time, you're not going to be playing many matches. If you're not playing very many matches, that $6 isn't going to be very worth it. Okay, other people post up! What does the BB community need to make this thing worth everyone's time and money?
render Posted August 18, 2010 Posted August 18, 2010 Love your avatar, Kapwan! http://kotaku.com/5613592/scott-pilgrim-vs-some-badass-animated-gifs
TaoFTW Posted August 18, 2010 Posted August 18, 2010 Okay, other people post up! What does the BB community need to make this thing worth everyone's time and money? Find people that care.
pulsr Posted August 18, 2010 Posted August 18, 2010 Does it need me to bring my setup? lol. Anyways, if I go will we have Mu or will I be sad. Render you have know idea how maddening it is not being able to read these comments lol.
Kapwan Posted August 18, 2010 Author Posted August 18, 2010 Last week there was no organization at all. I brought my setup and people just played casuals. The main incentive for WNF is to provide an environment to compete against other skilled players in a tournament type setting, but if people don't show up or don't care it's kinda pointless. I suggest everyone who comes to WNF tonight discuss this there on whether we want this to truly be a place for the BB community to meet and compete, or just become a casual station for people to play at.
CaliPower Posted August 18, 2010 Posted August 18, 2010 Guys, Issue about not enough set ups: 1. We don't own any BB:CS for PS3 (BB community prefers to play on PS3 according to you guys) 2. The xbox's we supply don't have the DLC for BB (My partner doesn't have HDDs or the ones he does have are always moved around) Suggestion: 1. & 2. Bring your own PS3 with the DLC's (TvC community brings their set ups with the unlockables) and we can provide some monitors. But please let us know ahead of time. Issue about no incentive: That depends on your definition of incentive. And really? What we do for incentive: We provide a competitive environment just like kapwan said. We just gave away a Nintendo DSi to a random WNF supporter last week. We announced Team ARMADA and open to acquire other communities than just SF. We give everybody $10 in blackjack chips and half price player cards for food and drinks. (This should cover your monetary incentive) We provide a 'Level Up' stream for the recognition of your community's top players. (This alone is important for the support and growth of the community as a whole) The list goes on... but if you're that guy who wants a hand out because you think you deserve it, this place is not for you. The structure issue: (Every community is responsible for running their own format) We're going to inject our SSF4 training to your respective games. You guys can select the format: round robin/double elim bracket etc. The top 2 players will play a FT5 or FT7 on next weeks WNF. This way we can present a program that sets the standard in competitive fighting games. I'm doing my best to help every community here. I obviously can't do it alone. It's up to you to figure out if what I'm doing isn't helping at all or if we can do something great for the scene together.
evilragnarok Posted August 18, 2010 Posted August 18, 2010 I'm willing to bring a setup if need be. I have DLC content and Mu unlocked. I really want to help the BB scene grow and am looking forward to playing matches with people and learning. If you need me to bring only my PS3, I can do that. If you need a complete setup, I may be able to do that as well, provided that my ride has room for all my crap, lol. Please let me know. =D EDIT: Also, because I'm hitching a ride, I don't know exactly what time I'd be there and how long I'd stay, just letting you know.
CaliPower Posted August 19, 2010 Posted August 19, 2010 I'm willing to bring a setup if need be. I have DLC content and Mu unlocked. I really want to help the BB scene grow and am looking forward to playing matches with people and learning. If you need me to bring only my PS3, I can do that. If you need a complete setup, I may be able to do that as well, provided that my ride has room for all my crap, lol. Please let me know. =D EDIT: Also, because I'm hitching a ride, I don't know exactly what time I'd be there and how long I'd stay, just letting you know. Ragnarok, I appreciate you taking initiative in helping the BB scene. P.S. Warahk (a top SSF4 player) is now learning BB and seems to be having a lot of fun with it. Play nice! =)
evilragnarok Posted August 19, 2010 Posted August 19, 2010 Ok, I just finished reading this thread (was at work when I posted my previous post, so didn't have time to read). In regards of setups, I have one I can bring. And I assume Kapwan is a full setup as well. That gives us 2 setups for sure, not to mention more if someone else brings a system, because Valle is willing to provide us with monitors. The way I see it, we can have 1 station running a tournament and the others doing casuals. In regards to structure, it seems tournament play is what will draw people out, at least, the veterans it seems. I'm all down for having a tournament. I'm even willing to download a tournament organizer and attempt to run things (would be my first time running a tourney myself) if this is what the scene is looking for. I could use help in this department, but after a 1 or 2 tries, I should be able to get the hang of it. EDIT: In regards to this, anyone able to point me in the direction of a program? All I know is tio, is that good enough? As far as incentives and value goes, I'm sure as a community, we can figure something out. I know it'd be a bit much to have a tourney fee on top of the fee to WNF, so maybe we can work something out with Valle where winner of the tourney gets free admission next week or something. We'll start with small incentives until the scene has grown to a size where we can do something more. Heck, I'm even willing to put some of my money down and just buy winner a drink every week. Using the stream would be to our advantage, imo. Depending on how much stream time we get though (I am currently not sure how much time or when the stream for BB is), but we'd need to figure out what to put there, whether is the grand finals of our tourney, or the top 4, or even just a FT5 between 2 top level players in the community. We could even do live turorials or something, seeing as there could be new blood interested in learning a certain character. I'm just throwing out ideas, but I hope we can get things rolling. I'm not a huge part of the scene or community, but I'm trying to put myself out there now and help out. Whoever is there today, I'll definitely try to discuss more details of stuff. I'll be wearing a black Blanka Tee tonight (I need to find me some BB shirts, lol). Hope to see some peepz tonight. Ragnarok, I appreciate you taking initiative in helping the BB scene. P.S. Warahk (a top SSF4 player) is now learning BB and seems to be having a lot of fun with it. Play nice! =) Haha, I got him addicted. He plays casuals with me often now. He's a fast learner too O.o
Kapwan Posted August 19, 2010 Author Posted August 19, 2010 Ok, I just finished reading this thread (was at work when I posted my previous post, so didn't have time to read). In regards of setups, I have one I can bring. And I assume Kapwan is a full setup as well. That gives us 2 setups for sure, not to mention more if someone else brings a system, because Valle is willing to provide us with monitors. The way I see it, we can have 1 station running a tournament and the others doing casuals. In regards to structure, it seems tournament play is what will draw people out, at least, the veterans it seems. I'm all down for having a tournament. I'm even willing to download a tournament organizer and attempt to run things (would be my first time running a tourney myself) if this is what the scene is looking for. I could use help in this department, but after a 1 or 2 tries, I should be able to get the hang of it. EDIT: In regards to this, anyone able to point me in the direction of a program? All I know is tio, is that good enough? As far as incentives and value goes, I'm sure as a community, we can figure something out. I know it'd be a bit much to have a tourney fee on top of the fee to WNF, so maybe we can work something out with Valle where winner of the tourney gets free admission next week or something. We'll start with small incentives until the scene has grown to a size where we can do something more. Heck, I'm even willing to put some of my money down and just buy winner a drink every week. Using the stream would be to our advantage, imo. Depending on how much stream time we get though (I am currently not sure how much time or when the stream for BB is), but we'd need to figure out what to put there, whether is the grand finals of our tourney, or the top 4, or even just a FT5 between 2 top level players in the community. We could even do live turorials or something, seeing as there could be new blood interested in learning a certain character. I'm just throwing out ideas, but I hope we can get things rolling. I'm not a huge part of the scene or community, but I'm trying to put myself out there now and help out. Whoever is there today, I'll definitely try to discuss more details of stuff. I'll be wearing a black Blanka Tee tonight (I need to find me some BB shirts, lol). Hope to see some peepz tonight. I won't have a setup tonight, I left it at home and I'm coming from work. If you bring your's all you will need to bring is a console since monitors will already be in supply. We can set up a bracket once the consoles are set up. You can find me wearing an evo shirt and a Bleach squad 11 bracelet.
ZONG_one Posted August 19, 2010 Posted August 19, 2010 so wait, should I bring a ps3 and game? I have hdmiiii, I take it that's fine?
render Posted August 19, 2010 Posted August 19, 2010 Good to see people willing to help get this going. I unfortunately can't make it tonight as a really close friend is leaving SoCal for a couple years and he's not coming, but I am planning to make it next week.
Kapwan Posted August 19, 2010 Author Posted August 19, 2010 Do we know who we are going to have on the stream next week. I recall you saying who should qualify but I don't know if a list had been given to level-up.
evilragnarok Posted August 20, 2010 Posted August 20, 2010 We're gonna put Ike and Warahk on stream. Unless we have other ideas/suggestions.
Kapwan Posted August 20, 2010 Author Posted August 20, 2010 Sounds good to me. I'll bring my console next week so we can have one or more stations with DLC characters.
evilragnarok Posted August 20, 2010 Posted August 20, 2010 Ok, we may need a replacement for Warahk. We forgot that he has school into the evening and he's unsure about whether he can make it to WNF in time for the stream. In case he can't make it, is there anyone else who's going that's up to go to stream?
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