The BB Community, EVO, Netplay, and the FGC.

[huey253]

People have to understand the connections Evo has with the Capcom company, and how much the company actually speaks with the people around them. Never have I seen Aksys of America attempt this with any other tournament in trying to help spread the word of there game having a fighting game scene, hence the lack of support. Only time I've seen this type of support was Cali-only events, and only advertising in one state isn't a good idea.

I was actually able to talk to the people of the main 'heads' of Namco and Capcom personally, and they took my feed back really well. Even through email, they remember me and others that they got in contact with them at Evo.

Never had I had this kind of experience in anyway from the Aksys of America, and it's bad enough for me to even try to get info from them on anything through emails or on there own message boards.

Examples: more info on the BBR info, or lack of, anyways.

And there is a topic on it, and it's only one topic, which is mine, asking about the event with no real answers other than that no one knows what's going on.

Not only that, but there poor advertisement has almost no excuse.

Mentions of CS2 of changes or the update patch itself came out of no where, and never in detail did we get info on what was going on with that.

As well as in the past when first release Blaz CT english version to America, a lot of screw ups there in terms of advertisement, as the company failed to advertise outside of dustloop.com, which was a huge mistake. Just too many things that the company is doing is leaning to the wrong direction, yet no one is helping them go into the right direction. And thus, the end result is this...

This post is completely irrelevant as it only brings questions that have already been asked but never answered about this event.

Even now the date isn't 'official', and still no solid info on a venue, setups, or anything that might happen during the tournament in terms of other game related events.

At this point and time it will only be last minute to bring up 'official' info, and all in honestly it's hard to call it a 'major' due to how poorly things are being ran/advertised.

Stop yelling at Evo guys, and look at the true mistakes the community is doing here.

We need to get these issues fix to even be noticed in the gaming community for BlazBlue. Because let's be honest here, this a completely joke right now.

i honestly don't see whats so unofficial about the company posting THE date for the event and the location.

its not like this information is from second hand or something

[Eshi]

Good luck with CEO. I'll try to make it down if you plan to make it big. I heard it ran well (without a hitch) until BB was supposed to be streamed. Shit happens.

To be honest, CEO is definitely a good target for injecting more Blazblue hype. They had drastically higher numbers than most average majors for BB and it was mostly just Florida players, and miami is still really damn far from most of them (plus as he said, it competed with revelations). BB didn't get streamed because the tournaments got behind schedule and SCIV took ass long to finish. Jebailey/CEO is totally legit.

[St1ckBuG]

This post is completely irrelevant as it only brings questions that have already been asked but never answered about this event.

Even now the date isn't 'official', and still no solid info on a venue, setups, or anything that might happen during the tournament in terms of other game related events.

At this point and time it will only be last minute to bring up 'official' info, and all in honestly it's hard to call it a 'major' due to how poorly things are being ran/advertised.

Stop yelling at Evo guys, and look at the true mistakes the community is doing here.

We need to get these issues fix to even be noticed in the gaming community for BlazBlue. Because let's be honest here, this a completely joke right now.

Pozer, could you chill out?

No one is yelling at EVO anymore. Please move on.

BlazBlue Revolution, or BlueRevo for short, is the biggest open invitation BlazBlue team tournament in Japan. Participants from all over Japan are gathering their strongest allies and heading to their local qualifier sites for a chance to battle it out in the BlueRevo Finals. And now participants from North America have also been invited for a piece of the action!

Here in the United States, a single team of three will be chosen to participate in the prestigious BlueRevo Finals in Japan on March 24th, 2012. Aksys Games will provide full airfare and hotel accommodations to the selected players; all you need to do is prove that your team is the strongest in all of North America at the BlazBlue Revolution US Finals on Februrary 25th, 2012 in Los Angeles, CA.

If you plan to compete, get your passports ready.

Ready to battle it out? Check out the Events or Rules section for more info on BlueRevo at www.blazbluerevolution.com. Updates about the preliminary events held all over the US and the US finals will come next week!

You're asking for answers we don't have yet.

This was posted 2 days ago by Aksys. We already told you Xie is posting the rest of the information when he gets back from his vacation in Japan. This is a big BB event and should be hyped up. Anyone that wants to go to a BB event this year should come out and team up.

[Sanoshi]

Alright so people want ideas and plans. I have one. Feel free to break it down, take ideas from it an what not. But here's what I think we should do.

So far the BB community is split into different categories. We have:

• Tournament Regulars
  
• Casual Players
  
• Netplayers
  
  
  
  We need to reach out to these communities by getting known representatives for each region. The following regions/states are what I'm aware of as an active BB scene in North America:
  
  
  • NorCal (west coast)
    
  • SoCal (west coast)
    
  • PNW (more or less west coast too)
    
  • Arizona (i think?)
    
  • Canada
    
  • Texas
    
  • Illinois
    
  • East Coast (grouping it all together. It can be seprated from NY, PA, VA, etc)
    
    
    
    Knowing this, we will need community leaders from these states to work together. Here is my basic idea:
    
    
    Like how Evo started, it originally had separate tournaments for specific regions. (IE EvoWest, EvoEast, etc).
    
    But being a "poverty" community, it would be difficult for TOs to get their own venue for an entirely separate. Also, we should take into account that the average number of people, although it might increase, will not be substantial enough to hold our own.
    
    However, we can create a new "revived" event within pre-existing majors. For example, Seasons Beatings, Texas Showdown, Norcal Install, Final Round, Winter Brawl, etc.
    
    Since we have people who hold these tournaments at majors, it's up to these community leaders to take the events into their own hands and create something bigger.
    
    
    So, we would essentially have a "BB major/minor" within a fighting game major". Not to cause inception or anything, but the idea would roughly be be:
    
    
    • East Coast Major: CEO
      
      
      Within CEO, Stickbug would hold an exclusive BB event called "BB Revival Series".

      
      

      Top 3 Winners will be seeded at the BB Evo tournament.

      
      
      

      • West Coast Major: SCR
        
      Within SCR, Xie would hold an exclusive BB event called "BB Revival Series".
      Top 3 Winners will be seeded at the BB Evo tournament.

      [*]EVOLUTION 2012

      Top Winners from East Coast, West coast would meet up at EVO and compete at Evo for the championship.

      So within each region we would have BB tournaments that would be seeded towards to "Main BB event" at EVO.

      For netplayers, each region will also hold a netplayers tournament. Top # will also be seeded for Evo.

      PROS:

      [*]Gives TO's a break from finding a venue and spending their own cost

      [*]Encourages Netplayers and casuals for a reason to go out to tournaments and EVO

      [*]Still interacts with the overall fighting game scene

      [*]Creates competition or rivarly among regions (Remembre GG 32v32?) Competition is healthy because it creates an active scene.

      [*]Many opportunies to get practice and expose our game.

      CONS:

      [*]Too complex and confusing for new players

      [*]Potentially can cost more money than needed.

      [*]etc

      I have to post this idea real quick, and this idea is unrefined because i have to. But if you don't get it, i'd be happy to elaborate and make it more organized.

      I WILL BE BACK TO EDIT, just the general ideas and concepts.

[Darkside937]

Thank you for reopening the thread, shtkn.

A few random ideas:

- Make majors easier/more rewarding to attend. Some people in the thread mentioned earlier that many players don't go to majors due to a general "Why should I?" attitude, either because they think they'll get bodied so it will be a waste of time/money, they don't have money to cover the expenses in the first place, or they don't think the turnout for BB will be worthwhile. However, I don't think they should be more materially rewarding to attend, but rather intrinsically, as those type of rewards are proven to be more effective. We need to make players realize the point in attending majors or even tournaments in general isn't about a chance at the prize pot, but about the awesome experience of going, of making and keeping friends out of state, of getting a chance to play against some of the game's top players, of witnessing the hype firsthand. My first major was FR XIII. Did I place in the money? No, but I had such a fantastic time that I immediately knew I was attending next year. Money can always be a factor in attending, but nothing makes a player try their hardest to attend (saving up whatever possible, working extra hours, etc) than their own personal motivation for going. If we can solve the first two problems I mentioned, the third will solve itself. Maybe some TOs would be willing to waive or reduce venue fees for first time attendees?

- We need to reinvent the game's reputation. BBCSE is a solid competitive fighter, but there are too many negative stigmas surrounding the game that are hurting its image. Someone mentioned that the only real BB vids on Youtube (aside from the excellent Beginner Mode series, which is a great start) are JP match vids and a few combo vids, and it's true. Combine that with the minimal amount of advertising afforded for the game, and you've got a product that most players don't understand, are misinformed about, or have never even heard of. We need more of... Well, everything. We need in depth character tutorials (maybe even specific matchup tutorials as they're so important in BB). We need videos that explain the metagame and how it's just as complex as any other popular fighter. We need personal pieces, top player interviews or "Bang the Machine" type stuff to let people see into our community and what ways we differ from the SF FGC, but also how we're similar. We need videos to showcase the hype, the Daigo Parry type moments. BB has caught a lot of flak for things in the past that aren't true anymore or were never true in the first place. The game is balanced, the roster is now sizable, there's technical depth for hardcore players but accessibility for beginners. It's a great game, but we need to dispel the myths that keep people from giving it a chance.

Edited January 14, 2012 by Darkside937

[Kenny tuty]

I haven't read this much English for long time. lol

So so far, I see few approaches from everyone.

1.local gathering.

Ask your friends to play, find the players who play, get together and play just simply to keep the game up.

by flyer, online, mouth to mouth, something we can do right now.

2.Online

As everybody knows, majority of BB players are broke.

So have event or help that can create some sort of hype through online.

This sounds a little tough, but by seeing the situation, definitely worth a shot.

3.tourney

Big one, small one, provide the experience.

But how we gonna pull it up especially big one with a game that not even big enough for evo?

Sounds like big topic, but big stuff won't come before the small steps I guess.

4.Game itself.

I see many people (including me) think the game itself has problem.

Other than wait and hope that it'll get better, is there anything we can do?

Or maybe we (like me who think bb suck) are wrong.

How can we make those realize that it's actually good game if it is?

I tried to read all the post and these 4 were the main thing that we can or want to do.

From here, let's talk about each topic?

And those are just throw out from me that's not well planned yet, but such as

for 1, look for the people to be the region organizer, (town level is fine.)

And each of them talk about how they brought people in and how's the number,

if the number goes down, what was the reason they left,

something like that.

for 2, Run survey and learn what the netplayers are looking for.

and construct the plan based on the answer.

something like that.

I think all level approach is needed.

Not only online, not only tourney, not only local, and of course not only complain about game itself.

We should discuss the way and actually set goal for each levels approach.

I'm quite surprised that I still care about this game this much. haha

[Sophisticat]

You know what I like best about this thread? People care.

And that's all you really need. The will is there, but sometimes you need a catalyst to get it going.

So perhaps being excluded from EVO might turn out to be the best thing that could ever happen to North American BB. Let's keep these ideas flowing. But we especially cannot forget that we have to capitalize on them. This can't just be about ideas, we also need guys who get stuff done like Stickbug. He hustles, gets tourneys going, gets the community together. That's awesome, that's what we need.

I firmly believe there is a future in FGs as an "e-sport". I also firmly believe it should be as much about the people as it is about the games. If people care about a game, it should be represented no matter the number of participants. Forget money. It's about the people.

As soon as you guys post the event you're thinking about having up there in May I'm going to say I'm 100% coming.

We'd be glad to have you, dude.

We'll get it going asap. MTL is full of budding talent. It would be a waste not to capitalize on it.

[Nemesis]

Thank you for reopening the thread, shtkn.

A few random ideas:

- Make majors easier/more rewarding to attend. Some people in the thread mentioned earlier that many players don't go to majors due to a general "Why should I?" attitude, either because they think they'll get bodied so it will be a waste of time/money, they don't have money to cover the expenses in the first place, or they don't think the turnout for BB will be worthwhile. However, I don't think they should be more materially rewarding to attend, but rather intrinsically, as those type of rewards are proven to be more effective. We need to make players realize the point in attending majors or even tournaments in general isn't about a chance at the prize pot, but about the awesome experience of going, of making and keeping friends out of state, of getting a chance to play against some of the game's top players, of witnessing the hype firsthand. My first major was FR XIII. Did I place in the money? No, but I had such a fantastic time that I immediately knew I was attending next year. Money can always be a factor in attending, but nothing makes a player try their hardest to attend (saving up whatever possible, working extra hours, etc) than their own personal motivation for going. If we can solve the first two problems I mentioned, the third will solve itself. Maybe some TOs would be willing to waive or reduce venue fees for first time attendees?

- We need to reinvent the game's reputation. BBCSE is a solid competitive fighter, but there are too many negative stigmas surrounding the game that are hurting its image. Someone mentioned that the only real BB vids on Youtube (aside from the excellent Beginner Mode series, which is a great start) are JP match vids and a few combo vids, and it's true. Combine that with the minimal amount of advertising afforded for the game, and you've got a product that most players don't understand, are misinformed about, or have never even heard of. We need more of... Well, everything. We need in depth character tutorials (maybe even specific matchup tutorials as they're so important in BB). We need videos that explain the metagame and how it's just as complex as any other popular fighter. We need personal pieces, top player interviews or "Bang the Machine" type stuff to let people see into our community and what ways we differ from the SF FGC, but also how we're similar. We need videos to showcase the hype, the Daigo Parry type moments. BB has caught a lot of flak for things in the past that aren't true anymore or were never true in the first place. The game is balanced, the roster is now sizable, there's technical depth for hardcore players but accessibility for beginners. It's a great game, but we need to dispel the myths that keep people from giving it a chance.

seriously +1 this

I especially agree with your statement on increasing the beneficial effects of attending the tournaments. It shouldnt only be about the pot or the top players kicking each others asses but also about hyping up the game teaching noobs or even us "veteran noobs" better abilities. Tutorials, parties, beer, and whatever... These kinda ideas make me want to get off my netplayer ass

because I'll be honest -- im a netplayer mostly due to the fact I havent had the time to attend "local" majors or minors (that and my scene is nonexistent) but reading this thread actually hypes me up to show up to this kinda stuff we are debating here and at least participate somehow (hopefully my wify will let me)

Edited January 14, 2012 by Nemesis

[Chris Chaos]

@Sanoshi, Illinois does not have a BlazBlue scene, that I can vouch for since I live here. The only place close to Illinois that has a BlazBlue scene is Michigan. Even with that being said, these are some great idea coming out of this thread and I'd like to thank shtkn for re-opening the thread.

[A.X.I.S.]

@Sanoshi, Illinois does not have a BlazBlue scene, that I can vouch for since I live here. The only place close to Illinois that has a BlazBlue scene is Michigan. Even with that being said, these are some great idea coming out of this thread and I'd like to thank shtkn for re-opening the thread.

^This.

The biggest BB scene in the midwest is michigan not to say they are not people in that region that plays but they don't have gatherings and can't always travel.

I do like your idea Sanoshi.

[Errol]

Just a thought.. I wonder if it wouldn't help more to throw money into the pot so that players don't have ot pay an entry fee, than to make it so that the top 1-16 players get more money?

[St1ckBuG]

Just a thought.. I wonder if it wouldn't help more to throw money into the pot so that players don't have ot pay an entry fee, than to make it so that the top 1-16 players get more money?

If there's anything we've learned from pot bonuses, is that it doesn't affect tournament turnout.

BB players like to hold on to their money until they can afford to travel to a big/local major, or feel like they have a good chance of placing top 3.

We've only had 2-3 tournaments that probably deserved a top 16 payout, with none of them being that recent.

[CakeWasBannedd]

Just a thought.. I wonder if it wouldn't help more to throw money into the pot so that players don't have ot pay an entry fee, than to make it so that the top 1-16 players get more money?

i remember someone suggesting this idea a while ago and while i thought it was a neat idea, it's probably not going to change much

new players don't enter tournaments because they're just not interested, not because the tournament fee is insurmountably expensive. if we were talking about travel costs it would be a different matter, but then we're getting way too much into splitting money people pay among random people, and most people won't be for that at all

[St1ckBuG]

Please take take care of all personal stuff through PM's please. Thanks.

Edited January 14, 2012 by St1ckBuG

[Dagon]

I think that in order for things to actually happen, some goals have to be reached, with a time-table and someone to take point on getting them to happen. Things like videos, net-play tournaments, and the like are low-hanging fruit which could help in two ways: one, getting new people both looking at the game, and thinking about it in a competitive manner, and two, they are pretty easy to do and could help get the people involved confident enough to push through on the more taxing challenges.

When I was lurking before, I saw talk within the various character forums of making intro/tutorial videos, but that seems to have withered on the vine; that idea should come back, updated for the changes in CS:E. Having an overview video which gives a break-down on character archetypes to help newbies pick a main, and a v2 of the Beginners Mode videos would be great. We should work on getting character specific tutorial videos as well as the introduction out *before* CS:E is released. Then there could be follow-up vids with advanced tactics and match-ups and whatnot. While I can't capture, I can edit, as well as art skills, and I'd be willing to help in that regard at the least.

Also, how exactly is a decision on what to do going to be reached? A poll, or will St1kBuG or someone step in and say "ok let's do x," or what? Although the sentiment of wanting to evangelize is nice, there should be some method to ensure that this is more than big talk; I would favor a couple people, preferably from the major areas, trying to at least pin down a course of action. Smaller-scale things like local meet-ups, and videos can be done in any case but the type of action that many seem to want will take more coordination.

[ehrik]

I like the idea of having money prizes and/or hotel room + travel expenses paid for netplay tournaments, gives incentives for the stay homers.

Have you guys every tried donation threads to get good players out to tournies? I know for MB we get a donation thread going for people who want to come but have no money, and we usually get a few people out by the time majors roll around.

[Errol]

@stick & @cake

I agree that the entry fee is insignificant compared to travel costs. in that regard, I don't see it making people come out to play BB, totally agree.

Here's a thought though: maybe free entry would get people who are already there to sign up though. Maybe some people will be at the major for other reasons, and if it's free, why not. Granted, to the degree that it gets more entrants, the quality of play would go down as well.. but maybe it'd get more people playing which could possibly lead to something. I guess I also wouldn't be too surprised if there are people that go and watch BB but don't feel quite up to playing when they'll get knocked out quickly..

[Shinobi!]

I don't play much BB anymore (should rectify that soon) but I do support the community and what the general idea here is. Also notice that I have not been following the community regularly until just a few weeks ago. Ignore what I say if it's been said already or has been emphasized on before this post:

- You need to take advantage of these TOs giving your game a chance to expand and expose the community. Don't take what these TOs are offering you for granted. If you can allow yourself to be at these tournaments, now's a good damn time to do so.

- PLEASE do not let inexperience, social awkwardness, and intimidation shorten your chances of getting to tournaments; whether it be big or small. I won't bitch at you if you have the greatest legitimate excuses such as starting to get a life (school), having a life (job/family), or struggling with life (money). I just want those who are able and not so stricken with such ass backward emotions to get some recognition for your game first and foremost, then your own personal status in the community. You are all here for one reason anyway: to exchange skill and knowledge, express love for a common game, and to expose all of those subjects to others. That's it.

- Something I have learned through these past few months by way of the Melty community is that social networking promotion can do alot of shit to your game. People do use the internet and use social networks to get a message out to the community at large. You guys use the internet on a general basis right? Start to use it to the community's advantage. Get people knowing about your game and get people hype about incoming tournaments. Dustloop has always been a great place to do that but now is the time to go beyond the forums. Get a video out, get a write up done, talk to a TO or 2 about what you can do to get the game noticed. Twitter maybe if it hasn't been done already.

- I am available to help you guys in any way I can. I do run a doujin-centric radio show on given Sundays with Brandino called Donjon Network: 2nd Phase. If some notable players can step up and come talk to me about a show involving the future of the offline community AND to help spread word about Extend, I'm all for it and I'm sure Brandino would be as well. Granted, the show's fanbase is small yet dedicated and will always put in work on social network outlets.

[Sanoshi]

@stick & @cake

I agree that the entry fee is insignificant compared to travel costs. in that regard, I don't see it making people come out to play BB, totally agree.

Here's a thought though: maybe free entry would get people who are already there to sign up though. Maybe some people will be at the major for other reasons, and if it's free, why not. Granted, to the degree that it gets more entrants, the quality of play would go down as well.. but maybe it'd get more people playing which could possibly lead to something. I guess I also wouldn't be too surprised if there are people that go and watch BB but don't feel quite up to playing when they'll get knocked out quickly..

If you want free entry, then you want to do gatherings.

The point of a tournament is for competition. You take a risk and test your skill in a formal competition to see who's the best. The money in the fee would go towards to overall pot, which rewards the winner(s). I feel asking for a free entry would defeat the point of a tournament.

If you wanted to discount the entry fee to tournaments, It would be hard to find a purpose to do so. Reasons i see valid for doing this would be if you contributed to organizing the event, from running it, providing setups and equipment that helps run and promote the tournament or game.

I feel the only way to possibily "discount" an entry fee for new players that show up, would be to simply recognize them by face (sometimes unreliable because of memory), or you use some sort of registration system or stamp or something to keep track. Almost like working it like a business.

It could potentially help indeed. We would need to find a way to compromise with TOs, companies and players.

@AXIS and Shinsyn: Ahh i see! I appreciate it! I'm really not sure if you guys were, i just kinda took a shot in the dark. If you really feel like your scene is more of a netplaying scene, i think a netplaying major would be pretty cool! That is, unless someone is willing to try to also take a side initiative to do an offline tournament somewhere. Don't know much about the scene there, but i'm glad to know that it's alive :]

On a side note, i'm gonna kinda compile rough ideas that people are spouting out and things we should touch on. Overall, i believe we need leaders to step up from the communities. And i'm pretty sure they know who they are. Even then, if you feel like you want to help and want to contribute, say it!

To comment on those who get shit from the Capcom community and feel that their game is being shitted on: Suck it up and move the fuck on. People who say that shit are close minded and refuse to accept another type of fighter. Just because it doesn't float their boat, doesn't mean you shouldn't stop doing what you love. It's being peer pressured by a bully. You can almost compare it to those being homophobic. Just because someone is gay, they feel grossed out and usually show a lack of respect about them. So, just because a few guys who love capcom guys boast about how it is "so anime" or doesn't compare to the depthness of their game, you shouldn't feel bad or get turned off about it. Be the better person. Either ignore them, respectfully accept their opinion and walk away, or shove some facts in their face about how shitty their game is. The last thing one should be feeling is bad or embarrassed because they are playing a game that they enjoy.

[Errol]

If you want free entry, then you want to do gatherings.

The point of a tournament is for competition. You take a risk and test your skill in a formal competition to see who's the best. The money in the fee would go towards to overall pot, which rewards the winner(s). I feel asking for a free entry would defeat the point of a tournament.

Well, not really.. Big tournaments tend to have much more visibility.. and as far as money goes, I don't think an entry fee is the point of a tournament.

I see $$ as important for just these reasons:

1. Profitable for the organizer to hold the tournament (Can guess that there are more profitable things for EVO to do than BB).

2. Making players want to take part in the tournament, particularly players that people might actually want to watch on a stream (ad revenue) or in person (viewer passes)

I dunno. I'm not sold on the idea myself. But we already basically know that dumping money in the pot for the top performers does jack for participation. Trying to think of other ways that $$$ could help.

[BladeOfJustice7]

- Something I have learned through these past few months by way of the Melty community is that social networking promotion can do alot of shit to your game. People do use the internet and use social networks to get a message out to the community at large. You guys use the internet on a general basis right? Start to use it to the community's advantage. Get people knowing about your game and get people hype about incoming tournaments. Dustloop has always been a great place to do that but now is the time to go beyond the forums. Get a video out, get a write up done, talk to a TO or 2 about what you can do to get the game noticed. Twitter maybe if it hasn't been done already.

- I am available to help you guys in any way I can. I do run a doujin-centric radio show on given Sundays with Brandino called Donjon Network: 2nd Phase. If some notable players can step up and come talk to me about a show involving the future of the offline community AND to help spread word about Extend, I'm all for it and I'm sure Brandino would be as well. Granted, the show's fanbase is small yet dedicated and will always put in work on social network outlets.

I think these are really great ideas. facebook should be a facility used more often to promote tournaments, along with other internet social mediums.

[Sanoshi]

Well, not really.. Big tournaments tend to have much more visibility.. and as far as money goes, I don't think an entry fee is the point of a tournament.

I see $$ as important for just these reasons:

1. Profitable for the organizer to hold the tournament (Can guess that there are more profitable things for EVO to do than BB).

2. Making players want to take part in the tournament, particularly players that people might actually want to watch on a stream (ad revenue) or in person (viewer passes)

I dunno. I'm not sold on the idea myself. But we already basically know that dumping money in the pot for the top performers does jack for participation. Trying to think of other ways that $$$ could help.

Money is important for tournaments because they pay for 2 basic things:

1) Pot payout

2) Venue cost

Organizers make sure they at least break even. It's important because the TOs would be risking their own money in order to hold an event with an unpredictable turn out. With our scene in the recovering stage, it would be dumb for anyone to pay $500 to rent out a venue, and only have 20 man turn out. If 20 of these people paid $20 dollars ($10 Pot, $10 Venue) it would not be enough to break even.

The point of a tournament is not the entry fee. You are right. But as I stated before, it's the competition. Someone said, people should consider the cost of venue or entry fee as also paying for the experience. You don't go to shelling out hundreds of dollars to just gamble in Las Vegas, you're there for the experience. You don't go to a convention like Comic-Con or Anime Expo for access to merchandise and panels, you are also paying for the experience.

I personally would find it somewhat unfair that someone entered for free, without paying for at least pot or venue. If you talked to the TO, and communicated with the community and found a middle ground where people to SAVE money, then that could be done.

If the aim of your post is to attract more people, discounting and lessening the trip does help. Don't rule it out completely. However, it is true that money doesn't always bring in people. We would need to work on a deeper level if we wanted to bring out people.

Edited January 14, 2012 by Sanoshi

[Mayftw]

If you want free entry to any tournament, find someone to sponsor you. If you want to attract more people, then let's say that [Company X] will sponsor [20 entrants] to play BB. [Company X] holds a [cosplay FG tournament]; winners gets all expenses paid. For the sake of brainstorming, give me the benefit of the doubt. But I notice that people like to spend money...especially free money.

[Critical Edge]

You bring up very valid, nail-on-the-head points St1ckbug. There really needs to be more love for BB from the community as a whole so that the game can grow like it deserves to grow.

People like Xie making Beginner Mode, Kensou with Extend Your Game, people making write-ups for the forums, streaming, leveling up, and overall hyping of the game is very helpful in putting BB out there, but we still need more. Creating our own BB tournament would be a good way to show that we are around - that we exist and we love the game. Getting back into EVO would probably be easier(maybe?), but if we really want to make noise about how much we love the game then creating our own tournament, gatherings, etc. would be paramount.

For that reason, while I'm here in Japan I'm going to level up my game as high as possible, come back a stronger player, and spread BB love wherever I can. When I first got to university as a freshman, I was able to bring together a rag-tag group of BB players and got support from people that were able to drive to get to local tournaments, but in the end we weren't very strong and didn't make much of an impact aside from being there. Our strongest player didn't go to tournaments and most other people were too focused on playing other games like MVC3. As a result, when I left for Japan to study abroad as far as I know they all stopped going to BB tournaments - some stopped playing it altogether.

Reason being that I want to be a stronger player is so that I have more 'influence' and be more helpful. It would be pretty tough to show people how technical, or good a game is if you aren't extremely adept at the game and able to bring other people in to play or to teach. I was able to do it to some extent, but there's only so much you can do when you still consider yourself a scrub when comparing yourself to other players (Shoutouts to Xie for the beatings at Alpha). In the Relius forums I contributed a little bit but as I said before, I'm still a fairly weak player and all I got was a head start.

When I get back to NC I'm going to try my very best to bring all of the BB players back together again and try to make as much noise as possible, bring as many people in as possible, and get BB recognized.

[p-kun]

There are so many ambitious goals in this thread, and yet I haven't seen concrete solutions that the community can achieve. Maybe people should step back and think about what is achievable within this year, rather than thinking big dreams like creating anime Evo. Let's start with something small and doable first:

1. There has been talks about making one big tourney for BB this year. Maybe DL can start by picking one existing BB tournament that the community can support (through a vote perhaps), and start making plans surrounding this one tournament. Working towards an existing tournament with a known date and a known venue is easier than working towards a fictional tournament like anime Evo.

2. About poverty and the small local scene, a local sponsorship model might work. DL members who live nearby can organize local regular weeklies or bi-weeklies where participants can contribute money. Since people say that pot money does not matter much, so how about pooling the pot money (or set aside $1 or $2 per person per event) from the events to sponsor/help subsidize penniless players in your community to attend the tournament mentioned in point 1. If you have a small community, maybe you can only sponsor 1 person. Bigger community hopefully can sponsor more people.

It might seem tough for one person to set aside $400 for travel cost to a big tourney, but with a community of, say 8 people contributing $2 each per week, in 6 months, your community will be able sponsor someone to represent your local scene (the player him/her self might be able to pay a portion of the travel cost, plus there might be some other players in the community capable of paying their own travel cost). Heck, this model is even doable with online community, though organizing the money pool will be very difficult.

In essence, we are basically making local BB clubs/teams similar to Madcatz sponsored teams or other sport teams in the world. This way, if BB has 50 local communities, then 50 players are guaranteed to show up in tourney mentioned in point 1 (who will be some of the best players in their local communities to boot). Players will have the team name in front of their handle names so that their victories will be their team's victory. Teams will have reserve players so that if the sponsored player cannot go to the tourney, other representative can go. Blah blah blah organizational stuff.

3. There are some people unable to participate in tourneys but are willing to contribute, how about DL organizing a paypal account where people can donate spare change and have it used to sponsor the tournament mentioned in point 1, in a similar vein to how some websites have a paypal account to help pay for the bandwidth. Depending on how much can be collected, DL might be able to provide better streams, subsidize entry fee or organize free lodging/meals (priority can be given to the players sponsored in point 2), or even more during the said tournament.

4. In order to achieve point 1 to 3, DL will need to create a committee to help with the organization of the tournament and another committee to provide support and unite local communities.

Strengthening local scenes via weeklies or bi-weeklies (no matter how small your community is), and sending local representative to a national tourney will strengthen player quality local and nation-wide. Pooling the limited financial resources will help the poverty problem. Having local and nationwide communities work together towards the same goal will strengthen bonds too hopefully.

I hope my idea above will be a useful starting point for the BB community to start thinking about concrete/doable steps, rather than wasting time bouncing fague ideas and never doing anything productive.