Make your game spectator friendly!

Hey everyone, this is Tafo again on a paste bin, talking about Apex and the boo's.

Point #1 that I want to make is that there was 0 right for players to boo Zero and Smash 4. I'm going to be very clear. I am also clear that harassment and bullying should also not be tolerated based on game preference and this is something that I'm going to look into as we move forward.

I would also like this to be a moment of action for Smash 4, specifically. Admittedly, I'm primarily a Melee player that has lightly dabbled in Brawl and Smash 4, so that may automatically make you dismiss me as being genuine.

Over the past 2 years, I've done my best to make Melee as interesting as possible to the casual spectator by creating articles to give backgrounds and insights to players, rivalries, and gameplay. I've built a yearly ranking system called SSBMRank to highlight players that everyone should be looking at. Not just myself, but others have tried their best to share the storylines of melee to the general outsider and we've captured a great market, including those that once despised melee.

Why am I saying this?

If you're heavily involved in Smash 4, build the scene up and make it interesting for the average spectator.

Over the past months (and I've seen this in Brawl), I've seen countless players complain about the game engine itself from top players. There was the Diddy fiasco after Sky's tournament. Every week, I saw players on r/smashbros and on twitter complain over the latest fad (Little Mac, Diddy, Lucario, you name it). From an outsider's perspective, this makes me view the game as shallow because of all of the complaints that are being presented from TOP Smash 4 Players. This isn't just melee players complaining about smash 4, but smash 4 players complaining about smash 4. It doesn't put a nice framework if the vocal minority are putting out a louder voice that the game is trash. (even if it isn't). Keep in mind this is the perception I gather from looking on social media from an outsider's view.

Now let's take a step back from looking at gameplay. Look at a Melee Tournament.
Mew2King vs Leffen, everyone knows what's at stake. Leffen is on the verge of beating the final god of the "big 5". People are emotionally invested in the results. Can Leffen do it?
Armada, can he win with Fox? Is Peach good enough? Will he redeem himself and win his first major since unretiring?
Can Hungrybox beat 20xx? Can PPMD win despite taking a break?

Look at all of these narratives that have me invested in the results and players. This is the tip of the iceberg. Also notice that most of the larger audience also knows these narratives. This isn't just a happy accident. People from melee have been deliberate in fleshing out these narratives for years. Notice how commentators tell a story or how blogs post about rivalries and statistics. The narratives are built out of some degree of intentionality.

Smash 4
Granted the game has only been out for a few months, but this is still THE FIRST EVER SMASH 4 NATIONAL. There were several narratives that could have been fleshed out for an audience. Why was it so difficult for me to figure out who are the favorites for the tournament? Why did it seem like there was really nothing at stake?

Empty narratives make it hard for people to appreciate a game. Look at League, Dota, Football, Basketball, CS, Starcraft. They are all competitive games that excel at getting people to care about a game even if they aren't enthusiasts themselves.

I'm not saying that the negativity from Melee is justified, but I also do feel Smash 4 could benefit from telling the world why their games and players matter. Make us (and me) excited to watch a Top 8 of a national. Make me excited to see who can steal Zero's Throne. Make me excited when a player discovers new tech to counter a Diddy. I'm not going to be searching deeply within the inner cloisters of Smash 4 to find this and neither will be the people that you are trying to draw as spectators. You have to bring the stories to us.