My thoughts on games being dropped from WNF and TRB lineups : first i would like to say i have no favoritism towards which games i will support and which game i try to keep alive at our weekly tourneys. i will always support any game that has players who show love and support towards their community and put for an effort to keeping it competitive and prosperous. with this said it saddens me to see Virtual Fighter being dropped from WNF as of now due to a lack of support.
One of the strongest supporters of this game "laakira" tried everything in his power aside from driving a bus to come pick up people at their house and bring them to our arcade. mind you laakira lived about 90 mins from the arcade, has a full time job, and isnt your typical teanage kid anymore. he offered a $50 bonus coined "rising star" to the top placing new player out of his pocket to attract a fresh player to the scene and even put a $10 bounty to anyone he could beat him 1 game in the tourney. this basically means he was forced to win the tourney to break even on his investment of money, not including time, gas, food expenses while attending this event weekly. this type of dedication led to about 25-30 people entering VF5 for the first couple weeks it was introduced to the WNF roster. then as any other game it eventually lost some steam and the numbers hit a solid 16, then dwindled to 8 and sadly down to 3 or 4 for the last couple weeks.
This should be an example of how a game will technically "die" in a community. top players have a responsibility to show up and help their community strive. if you are a local or even semi local like laakira, you should come show support for the game of your interest to help keep it alive and around for not only yourself to enjoy, but other players as well. VF5 gained steam in america the launch event in los angeles and not its not even on life support. the community had a strong voice online through the forums and many people reacted when the newer version wasnt being released in america. eventually sega accommodated them and it seems all for nothing unfortunately.......
Before i drag this post out, just keep in mind that your game could be dying too. dont just sit at home if you are able to come out and complete and play, or even just hang out with the community once a week, a month, or whenever you can. show some effort and help your game survive not by playing online, but by attending events, bringing friends to events, and participating in your local tourneys. this is the only way to keep this from happening to other games. king of fighters and persona, im talking to you guys right now, spread the word, do something if you care, otherwise dont complain when Street Fighter and Marvel are the only games in tournament lineups and you no longer have an option to play what you want......
Sorry for such a long post, and thanks for reading. i hope this opens peoples eyes and they return something to the community that has provided them with countless hours of entertainment and hopefully great times.
