Max Ketchum
Collegiate Starleague Smash Director
So naturally, like any reasonable Smasher, I am attending *Pound* 4. I've been very lax about keeping updated with the thread, but I just checked it and saw that there are 127 pages (note that I'm set to 40 posts per page, for all you 10/page users that'd be 508 pages). The thread title lists interest from Canada, Puerto Rico, the UK, Sweden, Colombia...you name a country with a Smash community, it's there.
I'm not sure if you've grasped the concept yet, but in case you haven't, that is a HELL OF A LOT OF HYPE. People are coming from all over the world to come play Smash for three days in this gorgeous venue Plank has acquired for us. I went to scope out the prereg page for prices and such to look at how much I'd have to acquire to pay for the tournament. I saw there was a "Players" section on the website, and looked at it to see how many hundreds of people had signed up.
Now, to anyone who decided to skip ahead and do this, you surely will be sharing my dismay. You want to know how many people were signed up? A mere 70 for Melee, and a PATHETIC 26 for Brawl! That's just sad, guys.
Most of you are probably saying, "But Doom! The tournament is in three months, why worry about preregistering now?! Of course everyone's gonna come!" Well, you're wrong for two reasons.
Reason #1
Plank is increasing the cost of preregistration by $2.50 every month that you wait to sign up, starting with August. Even though that's not that much money, I know most Smashers are cheap (like myself) and want to avoid spending any more than they should. This means that the registration has already gone up $7.50. By procrastinating, you kids have cost yourselves:
Look at all the things I can think of to buy with $7.50. Instead, by waiting, what have you bought yourselves? Absolutely nothing! If you want to wait until January, you're flat out wasted an entire $15...and don't even get me STARTED on what you can do with $15.
Reason #2
The second reason that you're wrong is because no matter how much hype a thread title produces, no matter how many posts that thread has from players from all over the world, money speaks louder than words. If you see hundreds of pages of posts, you'll certainly want to come to this tournament. However, if, like me, you looked at the list of registrants and saw a puny 70 or 26 (depending on the game you are interested in), you would be much less inclined to go, right? If the tournament isn't living up to its hype in concrete evidence (people who already paid to go rather than just expressing interest), it's not as appealing.
Even if you don't think the same way (I actually don't, but it doesn't make the point any less valid), there are people out there who do. Your registration can mean the difference between an entire region of Smashers coming out to this tournament. Will SoCal want to come if they look at the registered list? No. They'll say "Oh wow, this tournament is way overhyped, I don't wanna go and only see 26 people there." By them doing that, that's another solid chunk of missing registrants on the list, which would in turn influence the opinions of another region.
*Pound* 4 aims to be the largest tournament in history (or at least, at its time). Don't become responsible for it not achieving its goal.
Footnote
No money johns. If you're too broke to preregister NOW, you have an excuse...temporarily. The cost of this tournament is $52.50 for singles and teams in one game, and $42.50 for just singles. Let's say (worst case scenario) you can't find free/cheap housing around the area, and you're rooming with only four other Smashers at the Marriott because you have no friends. $89 a night for two nights (Saturday and Sunday) between four people is $45 per person. If you eat cost-efficiently, you can feed yourself for three days with $30 (this is expensive for me, though). You drove there, so you're paying your driver $15 for gas. (Flying is a different story, but I'm assuming everyone who plans to get here by air is quite comfortable financially)
Total cost for the weekend, assuming singles + teams + hotel + food + gas: $142.50.
Scary number, huh? No, it isn't. This tournament is in 96 days as of today, October 12. To raise $142.50 in 96 days, you need to save a whopping total of $1.50 per day. This is a joke for people with jobs, but in case you're too young/lazy/busy/whatever to be employed, it can still be done very easily.
Simple solutions:
For the student
Ask six different kids to borrow a quarter in school at lunch every day.
Opt for a small fries at lunch rather than large, fatty. Or better yet, lay off the fries entirely.
Sell your sandwich to the fat kid at the table across from you if you bring your own food.
For those living at home
Do some chores or some ****. Take the garbage out, mow the lawn, rake the leaves, vacuum the living room, dust the refrigerator, **** if I know. Make yourself useful and ask your parents for a $10/week allowance or something.
For those not in school or living with their parents
Sell yourself on the street. (A++ recommended!)
Look for handiwork around the neighborhood. Do some outdoor work for the old lady down the road. Hell, set up a lemonade stand.
Trade in games/game-related items to GameStop. This doesn't pay over time, but it's likely that most of the people here can amass $150 with their merchandise.
Footnote v2.0
No johns about the lack of a credit card or anything. Ask your parents or a friend, or a friend's parents. In case nobody likes you, Visa gift cards are readily available at multiple stores, and making a PayPal account is easy as cake.
THERE IS NO REASON ANYONE SHOULD NOT MAKE IT TO THIS TOURNAMENT.
tl;dr:
PREREGISTER FOR *POUND* 4 NOW OR I WILL EAT YOUR CHILDREN.
-Doom
I'm not sure if you've grasped the concept yet, but in case you haven't, that is a HELL OF A LOT OF HYPE. People are coming from all over the world to come play Smash for three days in this gorgeous venue Plank has acquired for us. I went to scope out the prereg page for prices and such to look at how much I'd have to acquire to pay for the tournament. I saw there was a "Players" section on the website, and looked at it to see how many hundreds of people had signed up.
Now, to anyone who decided to skip ahead and do this, you surely will be sharing my dismay. You want to know how many people were signed up? A mere 70 for Melee, and a PATHETIC 26 for Brawl! That's just sad, guys.
Most of you are probably saying, "But Doom! The tournament is in three months, why worry about preregistering now?! Of course everyone's gonna come!" Well, you're wrong for two reasons.
Reason #1
Plank is increasing the cost of preregistration by $2.50 every month that you wait to sign up, starting with August. Even though that's not that much money, I know most Smashers are cheap (like myself) and want to avoid spending any more than they should. This means that the registration has already gone up $7.50. By procrastinating, you kids have cost yourselves:
- 7 McChickens/Whopper Jrs.
- 2 packs of Yu-Gi-Oh/Magic/whatever-card-game-you-******s-play-nowadays cards
- 1 and a half delicious Subway footlongs
- A copy of a small paperback piece of fine Shakespearean literature, Hamlet for instance
- A short session with a prostitute
Look at all the things I can think of to buy with $7.50. Instead, by waiting, what have you bought yourselves? Absolutely nothing! If you want to wait until January, you're flat out wasted an entire $15...and don't even get me STARTED on what you can do with $15.
Reason #2
The second reason that you're wrong is because no matter how much hype a thread title produces, no matter how many posts that thread has from players from all over the world, money speaks louder than words. If you see hundreds of pages of posts, you'll certainly want to come to this tournament. However, if, like me, you looked at the list of registrants and saw a puny 70 or 26 (depending on the game you are interested in), you would be much less inclined to go, right? If the tournament isn't living up to its hype in concrete evidence (people who already paid to go rather than just expressing interest), it's not as appealing.
Even if you don't think the same way (I actually don't, but it doesn't make the point any less valid), there are people out there who do. Your registration can mean the difference between an entire region of Smashers coming out to this tournament. Will SoCal want to come if they look at the registered list? No. They'll say "Oh wow, this tournament is way overhyped, I don't wanna go and only see 26 people there." By them doing that, that's another solid chunk of missing registrants on the list, which would in turn influence the opinions of another region.
*Pound* 4 aims to be the largest tournament in history (or at least, at its time). Don't become responsible for it not achieving its goal.
Footnote
No money johns. If you're too broke to preregister NOW, you have an excuse...temporarily. The cost of this tournament is $52.50 for singles and teams in one game, and $42.50 for just singles. Let's say (worst case scenario) you can't find free/cheap housing around the area, and you're rooming with only four other Smashers at the Marriott because you have no friends. $89 a night for two nights (Saturday and Sunday) between four people is $45 per person. If you eat cost-efficiently, you can feed yourself for three days with $30 (this is expensive for me, though). You drove there, so you're paying your driver $15 for gas. (Flying is a different story, but I'm assuming everyone who plans to get here by air is quite comfortable financially)
Total cost for the weekend, assuming singles + teams + hotel + food + gas: $142.50.
Scary number, huh? No, it isn't. This tournament is in 96 days as of today, October 12. To raise $142.50 in 96 days, you need to save a whopping total of $1.50 per day. This is a joke for people with jobs, but in case you're too young/lazy/busy/whatever to be employed, it can still be done very easily.
Simple solutions:
For the student
Ask six different kids to borrow a quarter in school at lunch every day.
Opt for a small fries at lunch rather than large, fatty. Or better yet, lay off the fries entirely.
Sell your sandwich to the fat kid at the table across from you if you bring your own food.
For those living at home
Do some chores or some ****. Take the garbage out, mow the lawn, rake the leaves, vacuum the living room, dust the refrigerator, **** if I know. Make yourself useful and ask your parents for a $10/week allowance or something.
For those not in school or living with their parents
Sell yourself on the street. (A++ recommended!)
Look for handiwork around the neighborhood. Do some outdoor work for the old lady down the road. Hell, set up a lemonade stand.
Trade in games/game-related items to GameStop. This doesn't pay over time, but it's likely that most of the people here can amass $150 with their merchandise.
Footnote v2.0
No johns about the lack of a credit card or anything. Ask your parents or a friend, or a friend's parents. In case nobody likes you, Visa gift cards are readily available at multiple stores, and making a PayPal account is easy as cake.
THERE IS NO REASON ANYONE SHOULD NOT MAKE IT TO THIS TOURNAMENT.
tl;dr:
PREREGISTER FOR *POUND* 4 NOW OR I WILL EAT YOUR CHILDREN.
-Doom
