Got Hype? Let's Build It!

Did you ever want to mash more than SF4? How about blazing your friends blue like candy? Or, perhaps, you want to level up accidental core colleagues with Guilty Gear? Oh wait, "My friends don't play Fighting Games and I don't know how to find other people that play the same one. Oh well, that's life!"

That's wrong; if you have two people playing, and one person watching, then you can build your local fighting game scene. The purpose of this article is to tell you how to construct your FG community from scratch and organize successful, non-trollworthy tournaments.

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Where Do I Begin?

From Super Turbo to Streets of Rage; from Darkstalkers to Blazblue; from King of Fighters to Naruto; from Guilty Gear to Street Fighter; every gamer needs to answer this question, ‘Why do I like the games I play and what should I do to make the best of it?’ If you can respond to this question, then you are ready to begin your journey; let’s build some FG hype!

But wait, I Don’t Have Any Friends To Play Against

I am oblivious to most of quantum physics and, likewise, I’m oblivious to what you do at home. But if there’s one thing that I learnt from people who are socially inept, then they embody themselves with their own anime pillow and/or have out-spoken obnoxious personalities. So here’s my tip for you, ‘Learn how to interact with another human being; you’ll need it.’ Go on twitter, facebook, dustloop.com, shoryuken.com or –even better- call your friend over to check out that Blazybloo.

Find a friend that likes to play the same games you like and/or dislike. We live in a world where you can build social networks within your very home, so make the best of it. If you can’t get past this step, then I don’t know how else to help you.

I Wish Everybody Played the Same Game as Me

I wish everybody were created females so we could make drama hype. But no, we live in a world where having an opinion –supposedly– matters. Here’s the crux; nobody else will play your favorite game unless you show him/her. Find a friend and play a game you both can mash happily together. In more ways than not, you’ll probably beat your buddy. So be very constructive and patient. Not everyone is born to be a champion, but a champion is born when they have opposition.

What’s Wrong with Playing Online? Everybody is Doing It!

Life is short, but it’s even shorter if you eat garbage; online is garbage. I understand that you can build that social network to escape your loneliness, but the online play does the following things:

Granted, playing casually is the only exception to playing FGs online. But if you’re doing it because nobody else plays the game in your hometown, then you should reconsider your options.

Alright, meanie, what do I do now?

The answer is simple; play a fighting game with your friends. Don’t make it a onetime gig, but be consistent (perhaps a bi-weekly ranbat or a casual session at your friends house). Be creative and name your little event, “BroCarolina Gamelock.” Well, probably nothing that cheesy, but you get the point.

Your fighting game scene will not grow unless someone takes initiative to build it. The needs are different, but the game is the same. So it’s up to you to develop that hype!

Step 1: Decide What Games You Should Run

Find a game you want to play and run it back!

Step 2: Secure a Venue

From the depths of your basements, to the spare outlets in the parking garage, to the spare Snapple machines across from Safeway, find a place where you can play with others everyday - every way. And if you do, then invite everyone you know to come and join the festivities.

But There's No Venues Where we Can Play Our Games

Do you know of a local PC cafe or a pizza shop nearby? Buy a suit and learn how to make a first impression! All you have to say is, "Our friends and I would like to rent your party room to host our event. We are willing to pay you for your services and help to give you business incentive." Or perhaps you have a local university next door. Reserve a room+date through Administration several weeks in advance through a Club Officer (e.g.: Comp Sci Club or Gaming Club). There is always an opportunity for you to find a place to play your games. If you scrounge a few dollars from your buddies to help cover the registration, then you can play anywhere within your means. Just don't be a scammer or a troll like Blanka707. If you are going to be the face of your community, then rep it like it's your life.

Step 3: Choose a Date

There are two things to consider when choosing a date. First don't have it clash with, or be very close to, another major event. Second, ideally you want to choose 3-day weekends but those get chosen first by all the other major tourneys. You want ample time for people to plan their school/work schedules around. - Courtesy of Zenmetsu

Step 4: Market! Advertise! Market! Advertise!

Spread the word like your selling hotcakes! Build connections with local FG advertisers: Broketier.com, IPW, Capcom, or MadCatz. Running a event with big names under your belt will give you legitimacy and stronger incentive for a bigger turnout.

Step 5: Execute!

Have all the rules, date, venue address, and time schedule for your tournament listed concisely when you make your post on DL [, SRK and/or MeltyBread]. For example, when does the venue open/close? When does registration time for each respective game end? You asked how I established my integrity for hosting a tournament, but well, it's not really possible until you actually do it. If you want a good turn-out the key is a lot of good planning, communication, and advertisement. - Courtesy of Zenmetsu

Part of running a successful event requires thoughtful planning & consistency. Running bi-weekly or monthly sessions will strengthen community, but you'll get lower turnouts and burnout. So regardless of where you are with your community, NEVER forget this rule;

ALWAYS Work Within Your Means

Never bite more than you can chew. And if you do, then chew it till there's nothing left. Nobody wants to play under a scumbag or scammer, so clean up your act before you run legit events. Even if you have the venue; even if you choose the right date; even if you advertise the right games; prove that you can run events. And if you do, then people will want to attend your sessions.

Tournaments such as WCW1, Triple Threat and Blanka707 were notorious for people working outside of their means. When you have two people busting their ass off to organize a 120 man bracket while handling registration; when you have one person managing a 60 man bracket while stealing fight money; when you have a group of disillusion people handling registration on their iPhones; then you are bound for ultimate failure - know your limits and work accordingly.

Basic Tournament Terminology

Below are a list of links to help you understand the significance of the following the most common tournament terminology:

Estimating Duration of Tournament

Think about the number of games you are going to run and make estimates for what you need in terms of resources. Think equipment needed to run multiple tournaments (CRTs/LCDs, consoles, copies of respective games, power strips, floorspace, TIME). You should do worst-case scenario time calculations. Take BB for instance. Worst case scenario for running a Double-Elim, 2 out of 3 rounds, best out of 3 for a 32-man bracket can be calculated by multiplying the maximum number of seconds per match and multiplying this across total number of matches necessary to determine a winner. About 44 matches takes place in a 32-man DE bracket, so:

(99sec/round)*(3rounds/set)*(3set/match)*(44matches) = 39204 seconds, or 10.89 hours.

Thus, if you only had one console it will take you almost 11 hours to complete a BB tourney if every match went to the last set and every round was won by a time-out. Notice, however, that if you have two setups you can divide this in half to 6 hours, and even better if you have three setups because now it only takes 4 hours. Three setups is ideal, any more is better. You should also allot 1 hour before each tournament for drawing brackets. Granted, your tournaments shouldn't be taking 4 hours to complete since these are worst case scenarios, but this is a good way to get estimates when you are building your schedule - Courtesy of Zenmetsu.

Running a Tournament is About a Community Effort

If you forget everything I've written, then do not forget this one, 'Running an event is done by the community for the community.' You should never handle everything by yourself, but you should look at empowering individuals to do their job right. My motto towards running a tournament is, 'I'll provide the space as long as you provide the hype.' Can't run brackets? Empower someone who has the experience to handle it! Don't know how to setup streams? Pay IPW to handle it for you.

Doing these events is a sacrifice and will often leave you with less money than what you had before. I do warn you; not everyone can handle the criticism to do the job right and people will cut you down if they feel like the event was unsuccessful. So don't lose sight of your goal and keep pressing forth! As long as the community wants to work with you, then you have every reason to work with them. So build the FG hype that you longed for and you'll see the fruit of your hard work!

Peace!