How do we get better? We have to show up to tournaments.
"But I don't wanna!"
First and foremost, we need to take a look at some of the reasons people aren't going to tournaments. When I got angry about Texas Showdown being a bust, I got on the IRC chat and asked people why. Here are some of the excuses that I frequently heard:
- "I don't have anywhere local to play."
I had this rule when I was in management: If you complain about something -- you just volunteered yourself to fix it. If you're complaining about not having anyone local to play, then congratulations -- you are now a local event organizer. Talk to Comic shops, game stores, LAN gaming centers. These people will commonly have one night a week that's slow. Tell them you'll help get traffic in the store if they'll let you do a fight night once/twice/four times a month. This works. Also check Universities.
You don't have friends who play the game? If you don't, introduce the game to a friend. If there are local gatherings where they play stuff, show up with a setup for Skullgirls and sit down in training mode. Be nice to people. Smile (and make sure you take a goddamn bath). Encourage people to try it out. Be prepared to made fun of. Grin and bear it, and for God's sake -- DON'T TALK SHIT ABOUT OTHER GAMES. The fastest way to get someone to disregard your game is to talk shit about theirs. Lose the salt. If you have a friend sit down and play with you, get hype, but don't be insulting.
Barring all that, there's probably something somewhere near you, unless you live in Montana, where you'll be dealing with this shit no matter where you play.
Which brings me to the next complaint I hear...
- "Four or five hours is too far to drive."
I know one guy in the Melty Blood community who drove sixteen hours to get from South Mississippi to Philadelphia, PA to go to one tournament. That guy is awesome. We need more players in the SG community like him.
If you live within ten hours of a major tournament, you should look into attending it.
If you do not have a ride, try to find one. Finding a ride to a tournament is as easy as going to your local scene's Facebook page and saying "Hey, can someone give me a ride to (tournament)?" If there isn't a Facebook page for your local scene? Make one!
If it's your last resort, meaning you have no chances to ever play the game offline, then yes. It may be. However online is not local. Tournaments are local. They have an electricity in the air that you'll never get offline. People don't see you playing online. Online play does not increase community. Case in point: KoF13 has more turnout than Skullgirls, and its netcode is horrid.
Note concerning Skullbats: Skullbats is wonderful. Keep up the good work with that. If you enter Skullbats, then good for you. Keep that up! Try to make it to a physical tournament, though.
- "I'm only 16. What can I do?"
Don't let age stop you! There's always something that can be done! When I was twelve, I held tournaments for SF2 in the front of a Wal-Mart lobby using the back of a receipt to run brackets. I WAS TWELVE.
keninblack helped tournament organizers run 3S tournaments when he was thirteen. The game's older than he is, yet he was huge in keeping that game alive in Virginia. Incidentally, he helped run SG at Civil War last weekend and did a damn fine job. Kudos to him.
- "I'll enter if it gets more than (x) people."
This part might offend some people. If you've ever said this, take your arcade stick, give it to someone else who will actually use it, and then give up ever being good at fighting games. There were four people who came up to me at Texas Showdown and told me this. I wanted to strangle every one of them, but I held my smile. If they'd have entered, we'd have had eight people. Still a joke, but at least it didn't get cancelled.
Please don't ever say this. People saying this is what kills tournament attendance. It's a lazy excuse -- enter anyway. What's the worst that could happen? If the tournament doesn't make because of a lack of players, you'll just get your money back.
When in doubt: ENTER ANYWAY.
(and if you don't enter a tournament because JWong, ChrisG, Duckator, WingZero, AB Stone, or any other player entered and you don't want to lose your money, then please consider that you may be playing fighting games for the wrong reasons. Most people play them to get better at something, and you don't get better by ducking better players.)
I understand this one, as I'm a 360 player. You should still show up, though. Try to get casuals in to knock the rust off. It's really best to just play the game anyway. If you have a friend with a PS3, play with them. The patch should be out anytime within the next two weeks anyway (as of 4/23), so don't worry! Soon, this won't be an issue!
- "But I have a job/family/responsibilities to attend to!"
This one is legitimate. A little time management helps here. If you have a job, you have time to get off to go to most majors. Most places are cool with you requesting off a month in advance. Most tournaments open pre-reg months in advance. If you have a family, plan it around a vacation! Make it a family event! I promise I won't hit on your wife (much)! If you have other responsibilities, ask for time off in advance. It never hurts to ask!
- "But I don't have a job, so I don't have any money!"
This one's legit, too. It all comes down to finding a way to make money that allows you to go to tournaments.
I used to have an awesome job. I lost it, though. I still wanted to go to tournaments, so I found a way to make money at them. I started modding sticks. Now, I pretty much get to go to tournaments for free because it takes care of the costs. Now, I'm not encouraging you to take up stick modding. It's dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. I know what I'm doing and I still went blind in one eye because of it. Also, showing up to tournaments and expecting to make money is a bad idea, because you'll piss off TOs who want to be paid for you using their space. You still have options. If you're an artist -- sell art. If you do bead sprites, sell those. If you're good at the game, money match people (Note: Skullheart doesn't endorse gambling!). There are ways to make money, you just have to be creative.
Tournaments can be expensive, yes. Ask for help! Someone may let you sleep on their hotel room floor for free, or at their house if they're local. Ask if anyone is driving through your area and offer to split gas (if they won't let you ride for free). If you're concerned about food costs, get some bread and some cold cuts (I do this one a lot!). If you play your cards right, a tournament can be as cheap as $100, with most being around $250 if you drive.
I suck too. I know how much it sucks. Showing up to tournaments is the fastest and most reliable way to get better at a game, though. You just show up, get your ass kicked, and get better at a game just from seeing first-hand what other people do. That line from the Matrix about not knowing a person until you fight them? It's totally true. There's something amazing about actually being there that you'll never get from watching a stream.
Going to tournaments also has an unexpected side effect: It gets you seriously on fire for the game, and makes you so hungry that you're wanting to play it all the time just so you win more.
In short, you shouldn't be avoiding tournaments because you suck, you should be running TO them because you want to get better!
Okay, I'm ready to help. What now?
The first step to getting this thing fixed is to step up, identify what's keeping you from tournaments, and then and learn how to
defeat those excuses. If you need help, ask around. We can help! Getting this fixed helps us all, so we'll help you out!
In all seriousness, though, this is an uphill battle. The damage has been done, and we look like a joke to most of the community. I already chewed out the local Skullgirls Texas scene. They're getting their acts together, showing up for local gatherings, and even organizing smaller events at the local university. I myself have recruited four new players and organized a bi-monthly meetup at our local arcade. Soon we won't be part of the problem. Now it's your turn. Get out there.
Get mad at the problem. Most importantly -- show up!
I'll try to make one of these a bit easier.
If you would like to go to UFGT9 but do not have a ride (and live between Austin, TX and Chicago, IL), then tell me and I will pick you up on my way to Chicago. I have three spots in my car, and I'm leaving Thursday and coming back Monday. Please try to reserve this for people who want to go to UFGT9 but don't have a ride.
To the rest of you -- I'm giving you all homework. Go find one person who has never played it and help them through the tutorial. Ask them questions. Answer theirs. Don't just beat the hell out of them and make them wonder what they're doing wrong. Help them pick a character and show them some basic combos. Ask them questions about what they like to accomplish in a match and help them find a team. I think finding one person by the end of this week is a realistic goal. Now let's get out there and get attendance up!
Also, feel free to post your excuses to why you don't show up to tournaments, and we'll be more than happy to address them.
