-Ran
Smash Master
I created this thread to get the thoughts of the community during a troubled time. I believe that due to the [mostly] intelligent discussion that took place here that certain things were pushed through quickly in the Back Room. Typically when someone states that they want a revolution, it's because they want to achieve accountability through compromise. I believe what occurred after the release of the rule set was that players and the Back Roomers held different definitions and ideals of how powerful the Back Room was.
The players viewed the Back Room as an organization that wielded power, and that their judgments and the composition of their posts should reflect the sway in the community that they had. The BR members however, constantly described themselves as a private club, that was merely posting their individual findings. Both sides understood the shortcomings [lack of activity], but the weight of it and the disconnect of the rules/findings varied gravely by the perceptions of each side. It did not help, that the Back Room seemed so ready to wield power during the Meta Knight polls and discussions. It created a view of perceived power.
PlayersPeople yearn for a government body to structure their world. If it isn't from instinct, then it is beaten to us as children the moment we can talk. They don't want suggestions, but rather form and function. Unfortunately, the Back Room is neither a government body, nor would it have the capacity in its current incarnation to create any lasting impacts. Almost every Tournament Organizer follows their own rules at this point, regardless of what nation or state they hail from. The only way an oversight community would ever be constructed, is if the vast majority of it was constructed by Tournament Organizers, who would then invite top players to speak on issues. At the end of the day, the TOs have total power, but remain disjointed in both ideals and rule structure. Popular opinion rules Smash, rather than logic, results, and debate.
I'd like to thank everyone for their contributions though.
If anything, the latest snafu of the Rule List 3.0 has demonstrated to us as a community that the Backroom as it stands now is broken. Currently, there are over one hundred members in the BR, but if you look at the voting that has taken place, to even state that less than half of them have participated in the voting would be a joke. For stages that dramatically effect the outcome of a match to be suddenly legal with only twenty votes of a hundred being counted, it's just too much to ask for me, as a member of this community.
There is a general disconnect with our community and the BR, and it needs to be resolved. I have thought this for a long time, but unfortunately there was never a moment to capture the wave of similar feelings that others would have. The BR as it is structured now is flawed, and must be replaced with new members and new rules to promote activity with in. Having top players dictate the course of the Meta Game seems as if it would be a great idea, until you realize that top players often do not post on the forum enough to represent their ideas or thoughts.
This isn't the first time that the BR has had issues where they had lack of votes, yet still pushed policy out. This has been a problem from the ledge grab limit to Meta Knight being allowed in tournament, to even the very first stage bans. Isn't it time to resolve these issues? At the moment, I have seriously lost faith in the ability of the BR to watch over the metagame of Brawl. Until this is resolved, I will simply run my tournaments with the rules that my state has voted on prior to all of this. However, we run the risk of our entire community becoming fragmented due to the failure at the hands of the BR.
If you feel the same, join the social group. Post in this thread, and keep the idea alive.
http://www.smashboards.com/group.php?groupid=2321
Perhaps it is time that we put the onus of creating the rules for our community in the hands of an organization composed of Tournament Organizers. Choose the main TO from every state, and have them create the rules with a slight blend of the top players for every region. As it stands now, the BR is broken.