MBR Application Process is Closed

i already wished i found melee sooner, now seeing this **** just makes me regret not finding it sooner even more.

Currently viewing this thread:
kishsquared'swife

JPOBS said:

have you read their applications?

i honestly think that ship has sailed

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You mean creating a jokes application? Or creating a legendary out of this world application?

man the kishes sound amazing

i read the one still as a post, soooo good

I voted for slice dicing.

Haha, Jeff's a slacker that never posts anything interesting to Ankoku. He's off the Ship.

Divinokage said:

You mean creating a jokes application? Or creating a legendary out of this world application?

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the latter ^__^

How can that be quality when he's clearly missing a question mark in his second paragraph.

Ankoku said:

I have a couple of random stuff on my webspace that I blame the Ship for. Let's see..

http://theviashino.com/ssbb/joshujump.txt
http://theviashino.com/ssbb/kishprime5000.jpg
http://theviashino.com/ssbb/kishprimearticle.txt

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I like that, I just finished reading all of it.

Sheesh, you guys think those are good? Have you never seen the links in my sig?

EDIT: Okay, what the heck, I have 'show sig' checked and it's not working. Just go back to my application, it has it there.

Man that one joke about mcdonalds and expanding would have been so much better if it wasnt explained

Smashboards Username: Skler
Region: New Hampshire (lol).
Primary Character(s): Link
Secondary Character(s): Samus, Fox?

1. Q. How long have you been playing competitive melee?
A. 2005, I sorta forget what month. My first major was Cataclysm 3(citation needed) though.

2. Q. How often do you attend tournaments? How familiar are you with your local scene? Your regional scene? The national/international scene?
A. Lately I haven't been very often due to school, but that's changing in the summer. I know the local scene like the back of my hand, local being NE. If it's New Hampshire I sort of am the local scene.

3. Q. How would you classify yourself as a player relative to the current metagame? (beginner, average, high level, pro, etc.)
A. High level I guess, I've only not made it into brackets at one national I went to.

4. Q. Do you think the other individuals in your region would support you being a member of the MBR? Why?
A. Yes. I'm probably one of the only Link players who even bothers posting anything, I place fairly well and I once wore a Link costume to Pound 3.

5. Q. Do you consider yourself a discussion leader? Why?
A. I generally just contribute if I find something interesting, but that's mostly because of time constraints right now.

6. Q. Are you an active Tournament Organizer? If Yes, what are some recent tournaments you have hosted? If No, what are some ways you feel you contribute to your local scene despite not being a TO?
A. I hosted the first tournament I ever went to without using a computer. I don't host though. I definitely contribute to my local scene. I recently converted two folks to melee players and have been teaching them advanced techs. I go to every UNH video game tournament and try to get smash played. I play flashy for new players to get them interested. I'm a blade breaker too, for those who know what that means.

I also hug sleepyk as often as possible.

7. Q. Do you feel that the current tier list is accurate? Why?
A. It's the best yet! I was almost in total agreement according to that chart. Go me.

8. Q. Do you feel that the current MBR recommended stage list is fair? Why?
A. Brinstar is a bucket of crap, but the other stages are fine. Kongo Jungle is a bit bad too due to circle camp potential, but other than that I don't really mind it. You know why from Operation Lava Kill.

9. Q. Do you feel that the current MBR recommended rule set is fair? Why?
A. It's great. Stage striking is the way to go, but I believe we need hard rules for DQs to make it easier for TOs to run their tournaments. It always seems harsh when they DQ people, hard rules would make it the norm.

10. Q. What is more important to you: Tech Skill or Strategy? Why?
A. Strategy, if only because I have no tech skill. Either way, you can be able to shine infinite Peach back and forth on FD, but it doesn't matter if you keep jumping into the ****.

11. Q. What is more important to you: Combos or First Hits? Why?
A. First hits are more important because without them there is no combo. If you can 0-death me but can't hit me then you still lose.

12. Q. Does SSBM have a limited lifespan as a competitive community due to its age or any other factor? Why or why not?
A. I do believe it has a limited lifespan, but the factor isn't so much age as it is that a better game WILL eventually be released. Melee only survived because Brawl was a competitive flop, if it had been good then Melee would have become the new Smash 64. It's just a fact that people will move toward the better game.

13. Q. What do you think could be done to expand our community?
A. More outreach to casual players. I've gotten dozens of people interested in melee by showing them how cool advanced play is. After that you just need good tutorials and a friendly community to get the new players into it.

14. Q. What do you think the MBR could do to stimulate the community?
A.

Create better, more clear rulesets

Run more tournaments.

Promote amateur brackets.

Become more transparent.

Other stuff probably.

15. Q. How do you think the MBR would benefit from your input?
A. I love pushing stage discussions and ruleset discussions. Just look at the utopia the MBR became after I joined!

Optionals!

1. Good posts:

Most of my MBR posts that aren't one liners. Also the Link guide I made. **** took forever to make and, not to toot my own horn or anything, but it's the best damn Link guide anyone will ever see. At least until I update it again.

2. Pass!

3. Yes, and apparently he can't even practice his own theories. I remember how he treated smash.

Edit:

Additional Comments:

I'm Skler. The man who removed sacrificed 1/6th of his name for Smash Brothers. I have been to hell and back. I have slept 10 people in the same room and lived to tell the tale. I love talkin' bout stages.

rhan said:

2 year old forum rule that if your post is smaller then your sig your sig will not show.

Welcome to the new school SWF. <3

Click to expand...

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat???

Sig sig sig
Sig sig sig
Sig sig sig

Test test test
Test test test
Test test test

Fun fun fun
Why won't my sig show up
Fun fun fun
Okay this is dumb

I don't get it
My sig really isn't that long
How is it still not showing up
Someone help meeeeee

Signatures are fun
They are hard to make appear
Kind of strange, ain't it?

Okay now, this is
Just a bit ridiculous
Come on, what the heck

Last attempt at this
If this doesn't work again
I finally give up

YAY THERE IT IS!!

Smashboards Username: JPOBS
Region: EC Canada
Primary Character(s): Falco
Secondary Character(s): Fox

REQUIRED

1. Q. How long have you been playing competitive melee?

A. Been playing competitive melee since 2007.

2. Q. How often do you attend tournaments? How familiar are you with your local scene? Your regional scene? The national/international scene?

A. I attend every tournament thats hosted in my region. But given that its a smaller region, there aren't many, so for how often I attend, probably about once every few months. I'm very familiar with my local and regional scene. I've attended 4 national/international tournaments over the past year, so I'd say I'm fairly familiar with that scene as well

3. Q. How would you classify yourself as a player relative to the current metagame? (beginner, average, high level, pro, etc.)

A. I consider "high level" to be players that consistently make top 32/48 brackets at major tournaments. I'm not quite at that level. So one the scale provided, I classify myself as average.

4. Q. Do you think the other individuals in your region would support you being a member of the MBR? Why?

A. Certainly. They all know my passion for the game and my knowledge and will to share and improve said knowledge.

5. Q. Do you consider yourself a discussion leader? Why?

A. Yes I do. If a discussion interests me, I will take it and run with it.

6. Q. Are you an active Tournament Organizer? If Yes, what are some recent tournaments you have hosted? If No, what are some ways you feel you contribute to your local scene despite not being a TO?

A. I am not currently an active TO. Last year circumstances allowed me to host tournaments at my university and I did so twice a month for the year. This year due to circumstances out of my control, I was unable to do that. I hope to TO tournies again next year provided the opportunity presents itself.

7. Q. Do you feel that the current tier list is accurate? Why?

A. For the most part. Although I very strongly dislike the powerful influence a single (or few) successful player using a character has on that characters placement (read: jiggs, pika). I also dislike the inconsistency of it all. A peach player gets 2nd at pretty much every major tournament and yet peach remains at 6th position. the inconsistency baffles me. Other than that, the tier list is pretty accurate.

8. Q. Do you feel that the current MBR recommended stage list is fair? Why?

A. Yes. its the best stagelist we've ever had imo. provide fair balance between "the floaties" and "the fast fallers" which is what discussions of fairness typically boil down too. each group has 2 traditionally favorable stages to play with.

9. Q. Do you feel that the current MBR recommended rule set is fair? Why?

A. I have no qualms with it. It works well as is.

10. Q. What is more important to you: Tech Skill or Strategy? Why?

A. A strategy is largely useless without tech skill. Tech skill can actually still win games without strategy. The first step anyone making progress in the game begins with overcoming the technical barrier. As such, I feel tech skill is the more important. However, they are both pivotal to the overall success of a player, and strategy becomes increasingly more important the higher level competition one faces.

11. Q. What is more important to you: Maximizing Punishments (Combos) or Initiating Punishments (First Hits)? Why?

A. Maximizing punishments I feel is more important. the ability to devastate your opponent for a small mistake is the difference between inning and losing, and maximizing punishments is how comebacks happen.

12. Q. Does SSBM have a limited lifespan as a competitive community due to its age or any other factor? Why or why not?

A. I feel it does unfortunately. CRT tv availability is probably the biggest factor. Its age also slightly hurts it, new people who have never played smash will likely opt for newer games with flashier graphics and bigger boobies.

13. Q. What do you think could be done to expand our community?

A. Getting sponsorships from companies would make our tournaments more legit and intice more people to travel and gain interest in the game. This is of course easier said than done.

14. Q. What do you think the MBR could do to stimulate the community?

A. Open up the MBR, make it readable to everyone. having the posts of intellectual players be seen by all could only help and inspire others.

15. Q. How do you think the MBR would benefit from your input?

A. I consider myself knowledgeable of the game, both from a technical perspective (frame data and such) as well as mental. I also spend more time on smashboards than i really should. That being the case, I'd be very active in any ongoing processes and discussions.


OPTIONAL

1. Please provide up to 5 examples of contributions you have made to the melee community. Links to exceptional, informative posts are highly valued here.

Description: I haven't done anything particularly ground breaking, but I answer questions, give critiques and help where i can.

2. List up to three players you feel demonstrate good discussion ability or have outstanding contributions to the community and explain why you think they are a good example.
1. Player: Magus420
i. Reason: frame data 101. If something needs to be understood, summon magus.
2. Player: Kirbykaze
i. Reason: Influential in many areas, knowledgeable of seemingly every character in the game and always gives good advice (when he's being serious)
3. Player: Dr. Pee Pee
i. Reason: arguably the best player in the world and he still takes times to mingle with the commoners. his advice thread in the falco boards is probably the best thread on smashboards, real talk

3. Have you read Sirlin's theories regarding "Play to Win"? Do you agree or disagree? Why? How do you think these theories affect and apply to the Melee community?
1. Answer: Yes I have, numerous times. I agree with just about everything, its very concise and I've shown and explained it to multiple casual players who just don't "get" the spirit of competitive gaming. In terms of melee, I think it translates really well.



ADDITIONAL COMMENTS/FINAL WORDS:
I by the power of truth, while living, have conquered the universe.

KishSquared said:

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat???
YAY THERE IT IS!!

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pro tip, if you quote someone your sig will always show up

MacDaddy69 said:

pro tip, if you quote someone your sig will always show up

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Wha? I don't think it did. See?

what i heard was the number of characters in your post has to be more than the number of characters in your sig. (like the real sig, not what you see, so hidden links and stuff count)

Vts said:

Since the first date for the picks of who is in back room is April 1st are we all going to be let in for 1 day then kicked out due to April fools?

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I am predicting shenanigans on the day.

Cactuar: "only person who made it into the MBR this time is myself and kish, sorry everyone else.

Second wave of applicants must pay $20 on paypal to apply, a further $30 once you are let in if you pass, then further monthly fees on top..."

this entire thing might be an elaborate april fools joke 2 months in the making.

Redact said:

I am predicting shenanigans on the day.

Cactuar: "only person who made it into the MBR this time is myself and kish, sorry everyone else.

Second wave of applicants must pay $20 on paypal to apply, a further $30 once you are let in if you pass, then further monthly fees on top..."

Click to expand...

At the very least, I'll just add myself to the user group. Again.

Originally Posted by KishSquared
Everyone, even the most pro-Brawl players (should they admit it), are terrified of the possibility of tripping influencing the finals of a major tournament. For example, Azen is about to win himself $10k by landing a finishing blow, trips, and gets killed instead. Azen gets 2nd place and wins $50.

Could it be feasible for major tournaments to make a rule that states "Any match that is recorded can be reviewed by the tournament hosts. If tripping was determined to be an influential determining factor, the match will be reset to the moment the trip occurred." This means that the match would be finished as normal, and judges could take the time to review the recording after it finishes.

The rule is entirely subjective, but it would be used rarely and would certainly place people's minds at ease should something like that happen. It at least allows for the possibility of preventing a match from being decided based on a trip. And since it's only for recorded matches, it will only be used at the end of tournaments.

Click to expand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_hjMKtbPUA

Start at 4:00

See? Now some kid in Japan could have been crying if they played for money because you didn't push this harder. I hope your guilt consumes you.

Smashboards Username: VirtualVoid
Region: Israel
Primary Character(s): Ice Climbers
Secondary Character(s): Sheik, Luigi, DK

REQUIRED

1. Q. How long have you been playing competitive melee?
A. Since 2005

2. Q. How often do you attend tournaments? How familiar are you with your local scene? Your regional scene? The national/international scene?
A. I attend local tournaments rather often, around two each month. It's hard to define what is local/regional/national scene here because Israel is such a small country, so I pretty much know every serious player here very well, sadly I did not have time and money in the past years to attend any international tournaments besides Gauntlet in NY around 2006.

3. Q. How would you classify yourself as a player relative to the current metagame? (beginner, average, high level, pro, etc.)
A. Although I do not have international experience yet, I would say High level, Judging by my very high win % against other players here and all around comparing my matches to other strong players I see online.

4. Q. Do you think the other individuals in your region would support you being a member of the MBR? Why?
A. Yes, because there are no other players from Israel in the MBR yet and everyone here respected everyone.

5. Q. Do you consider yourself a discussion leader? Why?
A. Depends on the subject, I have a knack for finding new behaviors and technical quirks in games and I like to open discussions about their impact and applications. On more philosophical subjects I prefer joining in because I need someone else to say something about the topic to get my brain thinking in the right direction.

6. Q. Are you an active Tournament Organizer? If Yes, what are some recent tournaments you have hosted? If No, what are some ways you feel you contribute to your local scene despite not being a TO?
A. I hosted more than 10 tournaments that went under the name NAS. Sadly, since around 2009 we entered a drought tournament-wise mostly caused by the negative effects of brawl's release on the scene here. Lately I have personally managed to get the scene active again with weekly fests and hopefully tournaments soon.

7. Q. Do you feel that the current tier list is accurate? Why?
A. Almost, I personally feel that fox should/will go down a bit, not only because of the latest tournament results but because it is time to realize what M2K once said is true - it is simply not possible to play him at the peak level required for him to be at the top of the list for an entire tournament, and once you drop from that level even by a bit, the punishments you suffer are simply too great to put him at the top. I also think jigglypuff should go down 1 or 2 spaces because the recent breakout was influenced by people's lack of experience, a fact that will change soon.

8. Q. Do you feel that the current MBR recommended stage list is fair? Why?
A. Not exactly, I do not think that counterpicks such as Brinstar, Rainbow Cruise and Kongo Jungle should be legal, why should players be allowed to offset some skill difference between them and their opponent by playing on an advantageous (Even if only by a bit) stage after they lose? Shouldn't they win only based on their skill (Which also includes playing around their character's weakness)?

9. Q. Do you feel that the current MBR recommended rule set is fair? Why?
A. Yes but I would like to see a solution to the advantages some slots have over others in terms of starting position when the stage loads, although I do not have a simple perfect solution for it (Yet...?).

10. Q. What is more important to you: Tech Skill or Strategy? Why?
A. Tech Skill, but only by a small bit, I feel that your ability to play strategically suffers quite a bit when your tech skill is lacking and that you can not outmaneuver your opponent if most of your brain is still focused on not failing technical stuff. When your tech skill improves and you have more options opened that you can do without thinking about them, it becomes much easier to get the upper hand strategy-wise.

11. Q. What is more important to you: Maximizing Punishments (Combos) or Initiating Punishments (First Hits)? Why?
A. Both. Unless taken to the extreme of "perfect combo player" vs "perfect first hits player" where the first hits player would always win because only he gets hits, you need a balance of both. You don't want a situation where 90% of your approaches end with you getting hit and you don't want a situation where finally getting a first hit does not lead you to anything.

12. Q. Does SSBM have a limited lifespan as a competitive community due to its age or any other factor? Why or why not?
A. I think not (And hope not!), melee has a large and dedicated community and since it is such a special and different game that plays very differently from all other fighters I think the chances of it being replaced or simply dying are very slim. 10 years after it's release and I don't think it shows any sign of age.

13. Q. What do you think could be done to expand our community?
A. That's a hard one, most games that attract unbelievably large communities are ones with strong online play, which melee obviously lacks. I think that once fully functional online SSBM play is reached similar to SSB64, it will have a very positive impact on the community.

14. Q. What do you think the MBR could do to stimulate the community?
A. That's another toughie, basically the best would be to get more players involved, which is much easier said than done considering the game's age. Maybe having side events in big tournaments with a ruleset that is somewhat of a mix between the current MBR ruleset and all out all-stage all-items that casual players play.

15. Q. How do you think the MBR would benefit from your input?
A. I love researching and experimenting and like I said, have a knack for it. Therefore, I can usually provide an accurate and detailed opinion on how certain decisions, ideas and discoveries in different aspects will affect the community.

OPTIONAL

1. Please provide up to 5 examples of contributions you have made to the melee community. Links to exceptional, informative posts are highly valued here.
1. Link: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=298588
i. Description: IC related discoveries, even in 2011 I manage to find new stuff that I believe will have effects on certain matchups/situations.

(Rather ironically I only got very active after brawl's release and posted more about brawl even though I barely play it now... So feel free to ignore the other links because they are brawl related, I still think they show my abilities)
2. Link: http://www.smashboards.com/showpost.php?p=4047010&postcount=8 (Not just this post, all my posts in this thread)
i. Description: Arguing with G-Reg and other people about "Aerial Canceling" (Really auto-cancel) and explaining why what he said isn't true and why other people are flat out wrong, don't understand anything and are simply "Following the leader".
3. Link: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=153814
i. Description: Research and discussion about IC grab related stuff, some false and outdated information in this thread/video but this was quite revolutionary when brawl first came out.
4. Link: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=4293028#post4293028
i. Description: Argument against the need of excessive amount of tech skill in melee. Again this is outdated but I still believe it would be better if melee had a tiny bit less technical requirements to make it a bit more noob friendly
5. Link:
i. Description:

2. List up to three players you feel demonstrate good discussion ability or have outstanding contributions to the community and explain why you think they are a good example.
1. Player: Wobbles
i. Reason: His thread (http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=94597), his recent vlog and very detailed and deep matchup analysis changed the way I look and play melee, he knows how to give you the feel that he knows what he is talking about and puts his tournament experience into the text. Only by reading his posts I learned how to effectively analyze videos of my matches and look at every detail in them.
2. Player: FluxWulf
i. Reason: I might be biased, but this thread (http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=3424953&posted=1#post3424953) had such an amazingly positive impact on my overall game it would be a sin not to put him here, very long thread and every word is needed.
3. Player: Dr. PeePee
i. Reason: An inspiration to everyone showing that almost anything is possible - If you are dedicated, serious and want to improve, you will see the results.

3. Have you read Sirlin's theories regarding "Play to Win"? Do you agree or disagree? Why? How do you think these theories affect and apply to the Melee community?
1. Answer: It all depends on the environment you are playing at. If you are at the finals of a huge international tournament and wobbling is legal, I think that it would be an insult to your opponent not to wobble him 4 times if he got grabbed, while it is true that having fun is important and by doing that you hurt your opponent's fun factor, he has to understand that by actually winning the whole thing YOU are having fun, its a fair trade off. Now when playing on some small-scale smash-fest things change. If your opponent keeps getting grabbed I think it would be better to tell him that you think he gets grabbed too much because of XYZ and not just 0-death him for it, you already know you got the grab and could have punished him, no need to ruin the fun for him completely just so you can win 100% instead of less and risk losing the match and your current spot.

Umbreon said:

At the very least, I'll just add myself to the user group. Again.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_hjMKtbPUA

Start at 4:00

See? Now some kid in Japan could have been crying if they played for money because you didn't push this harder. I hope your guilt consumes you.

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Whoa... I think they need to let me back into the Brawl Backroom. For realz, I could have saved that kid nightmares. This is just like when Bruce Wayne watched his parents get killed. A hero has been born this day.

Ummm... one other point of order. Seeing as they clearly hacked the Wii to allow for saves past 3:00, why didn't they remove tripping?? lolol

KishSquared said:

Whoa... I think they need to let me back into the Brawl Backroom. For realz, I could have saved that kid nightmares. This is just like when Bruce Wayne watched his parents get killed. A hero has been born this day.

Ummm... one other point of order. Seeing as they clearly hacked the Wii to allow for saves past 3:00, why didn't they remove tripping?? lolol

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You know what? I wouldn't be surprised if some people were able to sneak in these things at tournaments.

Please let the Israeli in, my jewish heart bleed for him to get in

Vts said:

Maybe but this is little extreme for a joke since our community needs more active people helping expand and also possibly make better rules.

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thats exactly what they want you to think.

no no our april fools joke is revealing that mango and dr pp have secretly been the same person all along and have been running a series of FC tournaments where only joshu is allowed to win.

Smashboards Username: SuperMatt
Region: Midwest
Primary Character(s): Shiek
Secondary Character(s): Falco, Fox, GaW

REQUIRED

1. Q. How long have you been playing competitive melee?
A. Since 2006

2. Q. How often do you attend tournaments? How familiar are you with your local scene? Your regional scene? The national/international scene?
A. I go to about one tournament a month, but sometimes I don't go anywhere for a few months. I know my local scene and regional scene well because we all go to the same tournaments. I don't know the national scene well except that I follow everything that happens via the web.

3. Q. How would you classify yourself as a player relative to the current metagame? (beginner, average, high level, pro, etc.)
A. Midwest pro....high level anywhere else lol

4. Q. Do you think the other individuals in your region would support you being a member of the MBR? Why?
A. Yes. I am nice and I am knowledgable.

5. Q. Do you consider yourself a discussion leader? Why?
A. If the discussion is about something that interests me or that I feel strongly about, yes. Otherwise I watch silently, ready to pounce.

6. Q. Are you an active Tournament Organizer? If Yes, what are some recent tournaments you have hosted? If No, what are some ways you feel you contribute to your local scene despite not being a TO?
A. No. I've helped with pool sheets and venue cleanup and registration but I wouldn't consider myself an organizer.

7. Q. Do you feel that the current tier list is accurate? Why?
A. Top and high tiers are very accurate I feel. Obviously with so many things going on, we can never all agree on a list but we have as fine a list as possible. Mid to bottom tiers could use a little work because they are so rarely seen but with time everything will fall into place.

8. Q. Do you feel that the current MBR recommended stage list is fair? Why?
A. Yes. Once again, we can't all agree with everything but the current list promotes fairness which is all that can be wished for.

9. Q. Do you feel that the current MBR recommended rule set is fair? Why?
A. Yes, fairness is the point and it accomplishes this.

10. Q. What is more important to you: Tech Skill or Strategy? Why?
A. If you play fox/falco I think tech skill can help you more than being smart, but with any other character strategy is more important. If you can see two moves ahead of what your opponent is doing, you can counter whatever he tries to do.

11. Q. What is more important to you: Maximizing Punishments (Combos) or Initiating Punishments (First Hits)? Why?
A. First hits are more important. If you never get hit (ie always get the first hit) you can never lose. Even if you only get one hit at a time you will still win.

12. Q. Does SSBM have a limited lifespan as a competitive community due to its age or any other factor? Why or why not?
A. As long as people continue to play the game and host tournaments, the community will exist.

13. Q. What do you think could be done to expand our community?
A. We need to recruit new players to replace people who are retiring. This can be done by having great videos to watch and having huge tournaments.

14. Q. What do you think the MBR could do to stimulate the community?
A. Have TOs from acoss the nation sponsor a national circuit of tournaments to determine an official national champion. Then you could do something like chess does where you have a candidates tournament where the winner plays the champion for his title.

15. Q. How do you think the MBR would benefit from your input?
A. I play almost every character and I follow everything that goes on in the community so I have a well rounded smash education. Combine that with my tournament experience, and you have a lot of knowledge on your hands.


OPTIONAL

1. Please provide up to 5 examples of contributions you have made to the melee community. Links to exceptional, informative posts are highly valued here.
1. Link:
i. Description:
2. Link:
i. Description:
3. Link:
i. Description:
4. Link:
i. Description:
5. Link:
i. Description:

2. List up to three players you feel demonstrate good discussion ability or have outstanding contributions to the community and explain why you think they are a good example.
1. Player: KirbyKaze
i. Reason: He makes a lot of silly posts but also has a lot of good tricks that I always like to read about
2. Player: Cactuar
i. Reason: Also has a lot of tips and tricks learned throughout the years
3. Player:
i. Reason:

3. Have you read Sirlin's theories regarding "Play to Win"? Do you agree or disagree? Why? How do you think these theories affect and apply to the Melee community?
1. Answer:



ADDITIONAL COMMENTS/FINAL WORDS:
tournament in chicago this saturday!!!!!

Umbreon said:

At the very least, I'll just add myself to the user group. Again.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_hjMKtbPUA

Start at 4:00

See? Now some kid in Japan could have been crying if they played for money because you didn't push this harder. I hope your guilt consumes you.

Click to expand...

i would have stood up, unplugged my controller ejected the game disc, broken it, and then never played brawl again

assuming i hadn't already made that decisions a while ago

The MBR Application:

Foreword: As with any test, we strongly recommend that you read through the entire form prior to filling it out. If you don't understand a question, answer it to the best of your ability. No further explanations will be given.

Smashboards Username: Banks
Region: New England (Maine)
Primary Character(s): Sheik
Secondary Character(s): Fox

REQUIRED

1. Q. How long have you been playing competitive melee?
A. My first tournament was in October 2005, the very first Cataclysm. It was run by the Mages.

2. Q. How often do you attend tournaments? How familiar are you with your local scene? Your regional scene? The national/international scene?
A. I attend most every notable event on a local/regional level. Maine itself didn’t have many tournaments post-2007 (although when it did, they were quite well run.) Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island were all state I visited regularly for tournaments.

As for the national scene, I have attended many large events on the east coast. These included Pound 2/4, RoM 2/3, Apex 2010, some no johns/saffron events etc. I am very familiar with almost all notable east coast players, including Canada. One thing I have not done is travel to the West Coast, although I’d like to some day. However, given that WC players travel to EC events, I have gotten the opportunity to meet many people from there.

3. Q. How would you classify yourself as a player relative to the current metagame? (beginner, average, high level, pro, etc.)
A. It is hard to categorize myself because of where I live. In New England I am regarded as a high level player. When I travel to tri-state I am cognizant of the fact that in a better developed region I come across as various degrees of ‘high level’ to different people. I am able to make the bracket at large international events, but I’ve yet to make much of a mark in them. I don’t like to rank myself in a huge list so much as I like to compare myself individually to people on a 1v1 basis. I have both beaten good players and lost to average players.

4. Q. Do you think the other individuals in your region would support you being a member of the MBR? Why?
A. I would think so. I’m pretty socially aware of the dynamics that create a fun environment for players of all skill levels.

5. Q. Do you consider yourself a discussion leader? Why?
A. I believe I have a persuasive personality. I don’t usually try to take the reigns of a discussion and put it on a course of my choosing, but I am able to get a point across.

6. Q. Are you an active Tournament Organizer? If Yes, what are some recent tournaments you have hosted? If No, what are some ways you feel you contribute to your local scene despite not being a TO?
A. I don’t plan events, but I play a part in rounding up my region to go in the first place. I also help to seed brackets for NE events because I have a good grasp of my region’s skill level. I honestly much prefer to play than sit at the computer, but I still like to help during regional events.

7. Q. Do you feel that the current tier list is accurate? Why?
A. I didn’t get a chance to see the intelligent debate on the tier list, so all I currently have is my opinion. I think that the top few characters are all so refined in their strengths and weaknesses it has become a race to see who can abuse what the most efficiently/creatively. I think falco and jigglypuff are the most controversial because their mechanics were ‘perfected’ later on than the others. I definitely don’t think the list is inaccurate in a way that calls for immediate revision.

8. Q. Do you feel that the current stage list is fair? Why?
A. I think the current stage list is as fair as you can make the game without favoring mains of certain characters. The counterpicks aren’t used except in certain situations around here, I would need to hear about examples of them being abused unfairly to consider the possibility that the stage list would need to be looked at yet again.

9. Q. Do you feel that the current rule set is fair? Why?
A. I think it is fair. The only complaint I can see as valid is the redundancy in certain matchups. The striking system, more times than not, causes specific matchups to end up on the same stage first game each time. Everyone knows so well which stages are beneficial to each other’s characters that certain matchups end up on the same stages throughout the set. That is probably unavoidable.

10. Q. What is more important to you: Tech Skill or Strategy? Why?
A. I see tech skill as a foundation, and strategy as a necessary skill. It takes far more tech skill to beat a sound strategy than the reverse. Fox and Falco are unique in that tech skill is worth quite a bit more, but once you reach a certain point, strategy outweighs tech skill in any situation. Currently, almost everyone has gained a certain level of tech skill that becomes second nature. Only when people go above and beyond does tech skill overwhelm the calm strategist. It seems to me that for the most part every character aside from arguably fox/falco have reached a tech skill ceiling where adding anything else would start hindering your success. Having said that, people come up with new **** all the time I’m impressed with, and anything is possible.

11. Q. What is more important to you: Combos or First Hits? Why?
A. I don’t see how a combo would be worth anything without the first hit. My understanding of each game is a positioning/zoning ‘dance’ to see who can score the first hit. Then you go into combos when you land something. Only fox/falco have the ability to run in blindly and start breaking shields at intermediate levels, but once you are playing someone competent the running-in will be seen clearly as ‘failed attempts to score a first hit’.

12. Q. Does SSBM have a limited lifespan as a competitive community due to its age or any other factor? Why or why not?
A. I think any game will have a limited lifespan if the community itself doesn’t work to keep it going. If new players are initiated into the community, and old players don’t retire until they’ve replaced themselves with two or three others, the game never needs to die. Maine as a state has already recruited some new players in the past year.

13. Q. What do you think could be done to expand our community?
A. All that needs to be done is sparking interest in new players. New England somehow keeps getting new people, I’m not too sure where they come from. I think youtube has a lot to do with it, and also videos of melee getting mainstream(internet) appeal. Like wombo combo etc. Basically it spreads like a virus through friends, and the game keeps people playing due to the amazing quality of the gameplay.

14. Q. What do you think the MBR could do to stimulate the community?
A. We could have some kind of order to the things that are planned. Random tournaments willy nilly are fun, but they feel like just that. If some kind of circuit that encompassed everything was kept track of, people would feel as if they are contributing to their future success. Somewhat like xbox live rankings, people play because they know every game means something. Idk if this could be done, but at the very least we should have official power rankings, not random dude’s list #69. People arguing and *****ing about those things is actually beneficial to attendance. Competition is what keeps competitive games going obviously. If players feel like their wins are quickly forgotten or not recognized at all, they won’t feel as good about them. Expecting people to read every results thread to know whats going on would be assuming everyone has the free time to do that.
Also, if we had an allisbrawl type system for melee, [like it used to be on nealtio] then people would have rivals/everything recorded etc. if you beat someone, everyone will know it and you don’t have to tell everyone yourself like a bragging d-bag. Also if you lose to someone, you have a challenge for next time.

15. Q. How do you think the MBR would benefit from your input?
A. I would like to discuss relevant issues with people who actually are in positions to have an effect on the direction of the community.

OPTIONAL

1. Please provide up to 5 examples of contributions you have made to the melee community. Links to exceptional, informative posts are highly valued here.

I don’t really post anywhere besides tournament listings. I usually talk to people on AIM or in person. If you were to look at my previous posts you wouldn’t find much, honestly. I’m more of a reader when it comes to other sections. I’d contribute if the back room is what I imagine it to be.



3. Have you read Sirlin's theories regarding "Play to Win"? Do you agree or disagree? Why? How do you think these theories affect and apply to the Melee community?
1. Answer: I have read them, and I agree 100%. Obviously there are many glitches in melee that may not have been intended to add certain movement options, and allowed for various quick ways to take your opponent’s stock. I think it is only right that they are used, and that people who can’t control the game as it can be controlled should lose.
I also enjoyed the ‘yomi layer’ article, and found it a good description of how someone’s brain works while playing a game such as Melee.

KishSquared said:

Whoa... I think they need to let me back into the Brawl Backroom. For realz, I could have saved that kid nightmares. This is just like when Bruce Wayne watched his parents get killed. A hero has been born this day.

Ummm... one other point of order. Seeing as they clearly hacked the Wii to allow for saves past 3:00, why didn't they remove tripping?? lolol

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they do. most of the tournaments i go to actually have hacked versions more often than regular versions of brawl. they remove tripping, enable unlimited replay length and remove the camera restrictions, and in many cases allow you to put any music to any stage.

Dark Hart said:

Please let the Israeli in, my jewish heart bleed for him to get in

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Oh yeah, that's a reason all by itself to let me in , I should have posted my application like that:

yo... if I ever go to Israel (which I want to at somepoint) we gotta meet up lol