P4U at MLG

If you want to go straight to petition, go to the bottom of this, click the link and sign it. Ignore anything about donations.

Now, for those actually interested - my name is Steve, but a lot of you know me as Lord Knight. I'm a two time EVO 2nd place finisher, I've traveled all over America, and even internationally (Canada, Japan, and soon to Brazil) to compete in fighting game tournaments. To be frank, I been had tournament wins.

The main reason I'm posting about this is because we are on the eve of an event I haven't seen since Blazblue: Calamity Trigger's release - an anime fighter that a lot of people are excited to play. If you are a newer member of the community, BBCT was released shortly after SF4, but fell quickly to obscurity in America because it was "too scrubby and broken". This stigma still hangs with BB to this day, despite the game being in its fourth iteration.

Even if you don't want to see the game at MLG for some reason, the first thing I want to push is positive image. Image is important in everything, but especially in the FGC, as a negative image can literally destroy a game before it gets off the ground. Fans of the game are put down, the game gets shoved to the corner at tournaments and sometimes blatantly ignored. Even Capcom games are not safe - look at SFxT. Thankfully, I've seen nothing but positive feedback about P4U leading up to the console release.

On to the main topic at hand - P4U at MLG, and P4U as a tournament game in America in general. Right now, as far as non-Capcom games, we have -

1) MBAA - On its last legs. If you live in SoCal or the tristate area you have good competition. Outside of that, there is nothing much outside of mediocre netplay and small patches of 5-6 people in random locations across the US. The game is also a pain to run at tournaments since it's PC.

2) BBCS:EX - On its last legs. Had some hype earlier this year with GODSGARDEN and Blue Revolution, but it's not at Tougeki this year. Tournament entries in the US are dwindling - last year's ECT had 50-60 entrants, this year we had just over 30. CEO had around 80 last year, this year I heard it had just over 30 as well. To put it in perspective, Season's Beatings BBCT had above 80 entrants, and in CS1, it scratched 90. BBCS2 was not a main event at the tournament. NEC BBCS1 had about 80 entrants, BBCS2 had just over 50.

3)KOF 13 - Hype game that people like, but its tournament entries seem to vary wildly. Removed from MLG due to lack of attendance. Honestly, I'm unsure about this game's future after EVO (like most anime games).

4) GG - A well respected game, but difficult to get into. This game is getting an update so maybe we'll see a change in the US scene...

5) Skullgirls - Very well received at release, but balance complaints have hurt entries. However, a patch is on the horizon, so that might help.

In essence, there's no real flagship anime fighter in America right now. Although P4U clearly has that position in Japan, with the right push, it can gain that title in America as well. There are definitely a couple of issues that need addressing on both sides.

1)Our own community - Not only is it our job to promote the game and keep up its positive image, but we need people to support the game at tournaments as well. The first P4U major, Summer Jam, is looking good as far as entries, but we need to keep it consistent. Support the game by going to locals and majors, coming in droves to watch it on US streams, especially at majors, and ask/demand for top 8 (or more) to be shown. You don't need to travel the country to support the game, but helping on the local level helps a lot.

2)MLG itself - This year, MLG had a pretty consistent track record of having events the same weekend as FGC events. While it is not totally their fault (as, to my understanding, they have to reserve venues a year in advance), we should encourage them to engage FGC tourney organizers so that events don't fall the same weekend as our own. While I want us to be willing to work with MLG and support them, they too must work with us and support us.

3)FGC organizers - While we have to respect tournament organizers for running tournaments (because it takes a LOT of effort to run a big event), we have to acknowledge and try to get them to address problems with their events concerning our games. There are some majors you should definitely support, as they always work with us - Jebailey, BigE, SweetJohnnyCage and LI Joe come to mind. There are other majors that don't put too much effort towards non-Capcom games, and we should aim to address that first by having a large amount of entrants, and second by getting our concerns across to the tournament organizers directly. Season's Beatings comes to mind in that regard.

With that being said, there is about a month until the Japanese release, and about six weeks until the North American release. Our first priorities, of course, should be getting and playing the game, and getting a large amount of entrants at Summer Jam. On top of that - sign this petition. MLG begins next year, but show them you have an interest in supporting your game. Right now, they have no 2D titles, just MK, SCV, and likely TTT2 when it's released. Capcom refuses to work with them, and KOF13 failed. Show Atlus that we are willing to support this game, so we can see it at more events at MLG. If we can get a good dialogue and cooperate, P4U can have a long life in the competitive scene.

MLG is a special event to me because it was my first tournament. I attended MLG Philly 2006 to play SSBM, and I've kept up with them for a while. I know what mistakes previous games (including SSBM) have made. We know what to do. For now, please sign this petition, and keep supporting and hyping up this game like you have been for the past couple of months.

See you at Summer Jam.

TL;DR

1) There's no big anime fighter right now, so let's make it P4U.

2) Go to locals and majors in your area!

3) Support tournaments that support anime games, and complain about tournaments that don't (in a civil way).

4) Sign this petition.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/persona-4-arena-for-mlg-2/