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Greater Toronto Area Thread - The other other other other other other other other Pokemon Thread

Rikana

Smash Champion
Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
2,125
I want to read it right now but I can't. In class + tons of homework. I'll read it when I have the time to, Ryan. Thanks for posting your side of the story instead of avoiding the issue.
 

SmashCentralOfficial

Voice of SmashCentralOfficial
Joined
Nov 13, 2008
Messages
984
Location
Toronto
I want to read it right now but I can't. In class + tons of homework. I'll read it when I have the time to, Ryan. Thanks for posting your side of the story instead of avoiding the issue.
I'm with you on this one.

I'm on-air right now on 96.9 Radio Humber!
 

Kason Birdman

Smash Champion
Joined
Aug 6, 2009
Messages
2,240
Location
519, Ontario
My uncle used to always say "there are three sides to every story; yours, mine, and the truth."

I'm not going to concern myself with any of them, because it's not really my business whatsoever, but I will say that I hope things work out for the both of you individually. I hope you guys over come what ever problems you are currently facing.

You've both always been super cool guys, good luck.
 

SmashCentralOfficial

Voice of SmashCentralOfficial
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Toronto
Just as I thought, the other side of the story is very different. Smh at those who instantly threw Ryan under the bus. I'm still not crossing any lines or taking any sides, but thank you (Ryan) so much for posting.
 

Rikana

Smash Champion
Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
2,125
Just read it. The suspense was killing me. Its good to have another side of the story. There will always be "truths" that are fabricated; its just a matter of which ones. Honestly, it doesn't matter to me because it isn't an issue that I should be involved in. I don't think either of you differently. I just rather not be in the middle of this and hope that there will be a positive conclusion. Like mentioned, if you guys still need someone to talk to, I'll try my best to squeeze in time. Otherwise, good luck to the both of you.
 

SmashCentralOfficial

Voice of SmashCentralOfficial
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Messages
984
Location
Toronto
Just read it. The suspense was killing me. Its good to have another side of the story. There will always be "truths" that are fabricated; its just a matter of which ones. Honestly, it doesn't matter to me because it isn't an issue that I should be involved in. I don't think of either of you differently.
The exact same feels here.

Personally, I feel like this shouldn't have even been dealt with over SWF, let alone Online in general.
 

Europhoria

Smash Lord
Joined
Feb 24, 2007
Messages
1,476
Location
Toronto, Ontario
I don't understand how people think this was something that shouldn't be brought to the attention of the community. If a member is secretly beating up another 1 repeatedly it concerns all of us. Even if your conscience is so ****ing non-existent that you feel no need to deal with this problem on the level you're referring to (IE, David getting space and David's Safety), it still affects you directly.

Some of you disgust me
 

X- Sylar -X

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
258
Location
Cambridge Ontario
As a friend of you both I'm shocked to hear such problems have been going on. I Could tell that you werent as friendly as always but i assumed it was because you had been broken up. I would like to tell a Story of the day I first went to Davids and the second time I ever went to anything GTA smash related. Although I did not know why at the time Ryan was upstairs all night on smash boards in Davids Room because of some incident that involved Ryan getting upset over smash. David and ultimately the community that night made the decision to keep Ryan out of the tournament as punishment for his behavior. Ryans passion and love for the game and community wouldn't keep him away also we wouldn't reject him as a member of our family just like David said.


So I ask David now why would you reject all forms of contact with a Friend even above an ex lover. I cannot imagine the way you must feel when you are around him, I also don't expect anyone to realize the multitude of those feeling and emotions that you're going through. I can tho ask you to find it in your heart to realize that Ryan has had a problem with violence and I know hes been working on that. Think about what he'd be like if he hadn't had us this whole time. Also relationships can get tough as it is. Let alone one that was done is such a secretive manner, I respect your strength for reaching out to the community and hope you can find resolution.


Ryan this is something that you might not want to get help for but you definitely got to work on somehow. Like we've been saying this has been going on since we were 17. Frustration of smash induced a lot of it but I think its maybe more than that. It's not okay to hit people especially those your care about, you're a lot bigger than David and a such you need to understand that your actions can cause a ton of physical and mental harm. You said your working on it though and I believe it, I don't think anyone would want to feel that angry that they would attack a friend. David was there for you above all else as the closest one to you back in those days. He has given you a ton of chances and is now reaching out to the community for help. If you 2 can patch things up which I hope for the sake of your friendship and our family you do. You gotta control that temper.


These are 2 O.Gs in the scene and they both deserve respect. That's a big **** you to anyone who talked massive **** about Ryan the day David posted, also a big **** you to those who claim David is doing this for attention or w.e bull**** you claim. Knock that **** off right now that's some bull****.

To Kage- Try to stay a little more neutral on this one with me man, don't count Ryan out cuz of his past we family tho. Much love to my homies out in QC

To Falsefalco - Great post dude I met you once at my first ever even Transcanada 2. you ***** me then and you showed huge maturity in that post. Much love to all the Smashers out WEST

to Omni- I miss you dude we gotta hang out sometime. Much love to all the KW smashers who helped mold me into the player I am.

To the GTA community stay strong as you always have. From PR bull**** to Fighting between Friends Ive seen you come out of all of it. Stay smashing and stay supportive behind our brothers as they struggle through this hard time in their relationship as friends. We know that Ryan can change lets help him do that and then time can help David learn 2 forgive. Pz out from Cambridge!
 

trash?

witty/pretty
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vancouver bc
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I apologize for my misunderstanding, as I cannot pretend to fully know the GTA smash community as much as you all do. I can personally understand mental stress and the problems that come from it, even in its most extremes. most people tend to take "please get help" as some sort of insult--and again, I know how that feels, but I swear, seeking a good therapist can only help in the long run, and while I'm a bit north of GTA, I can say that there's options that are relatively inexpensive, if not outright free. I don't want to take sides, I simply want you all to be happy, which it clearly currently isn't, and I want that to change
 

Rikana

Smash Champion
Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
2,125
Think about what he'd be like if he hadn't had us this whole time. Also relationships can get tough as it is. Let alone one that was done is such a secretive manner, I respect your strength for reaching out to the community and hope you can find resolution.
+10bajillion.

Edit: LOL Heroes sig. That show just got soooo horrible.
 

SmashCentralOfficial

Voice of SmashCentralOfficial
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Nov 13, 2008
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Toronto
Some of you disgust me

If you're going to stoop so low as to say "some of you disgust me" right after expressing the contrary opinion to everything I just said, you can at least man-up and call me out or quote me instead of hiding behind an ambiguous statement.

If a member is secretly beating up another 1 repeatedly it concerns all of us.
Repeatedly as in the "6 times on 5 separate occasions" that David mentioned, which Ryan denies? Sounds like you've already chosen your side of the fence.

As all of you saw on the previous page, all it takes is ONE person to make a scene about someone else online and then a whole army of people come to their aid. I've been on the other side of a similar situation before, and it's a pretty swell feeling to know that someone can just snap their fingers and turn all of your friends against you (sarcasm). This is the power of social media.

I still remain Switzerland regarding this situation, but I would just like to suggest everyone consider's both sides of the story before making any judgements.

Also consider that David posted his side of the story the same night Ryan left for Canada Cup in BC. This could have been appropriately timed so that Ryan would not be able to reply and damage control the sh*tstorm that immediately occurred.


Clearly jumping to conclusions, making quick judgements, and having bias are the only disgusting things there.
 

unknown522

Some guy
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Aug 17, 2005
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Location
Toronto, Ontario
As a friend of you both I'm shocked to hear such problems have been going on. I Could tell that you werent as friendly as always but i assumed it was because you had been broken up. I would like to tell a Story of the day I first went to Davids and the second time I ever went to anything GTA smash related. Although I did not know why at the time Ryan was upstairs all night on smash boards in Davids Room because of some incident that involved Ryan getting upset over smash. David and ultimately the community that night made the decision to keep Ryan out of the tournament as punishment for his behavior. Ryans passion and love for the game and community wouldn't keep him away also we wouldn't reject him as a member of our family just like David said.


So I ask David now why would you reject all forms of contact with a Friend even above an ex lover. I cannot imagine the way you must feel when you are around him, I also don't expect anyone to realize the multitude of those feeling and emotions that you're going through. I can tho ask you to find it in your heart to realize that Ryan has had a problem with violence and I know hes been working on that. Think about what he'd be like if he hadn't had us this whole time. Also relationships can get tough as it is. Let alone one that was done is such a secretive manner, I respect your strength for reaching out to the community and hope you can find resolution.


Ryan this is something that you might not want to get help for but you definitely got to work on somehow. Like we've been saying this has been going on since we were 17. Frustration of smash induced a lot of it but I think its maybe more than that. It's not okay to hit people especially those your care about, you're a lot bigger than David and a such you need to understand that your actions can cause a ton of physical and mental harm. You said your working on it though and I believe it, I don't think anyone would want to feel that angry that they would attack a friend. David was there for you above all else as the closest one to you back in those days. He has given you a ton of chances and is now reaching out to the community for help. If you 2 can patch things up which I hope for the sake of your friendship and our family you do. You gotta control that temper.


These are 2 O.Gs in the scene and they both deserve respect. That's a big **** you to anyone who talked massive **** about Ryan the day David posted, also a big **** you to those who claim David is doing this for attention or w.e bull**** you claim. Knock that **** off right now that's some bull****.

To Kage- Try to stay a little more neutral on this one with me man, don't count Ryan out cuz of his past we family tho. Much love to my homies out in QC

To Falsefalco - Great post dude I met you once at my first ever even Transcanada 2. you ***** me then and you showed huge maturity in that post. Much love to all the Smashers out WEST

to Omni- I miss you dude we gotta hang out sometime. Much love to all the KW smashers who helped mold me into the player I am.

To the GTA community stay strong as you always have. From PR bull**** to Fighting between Friends Ive seen you come out of all of it. Stay smashing and stay supportive behind our brothers as they struggle through this hard time in their relationship as friends. We know that Ryan can change lets help him do that and then time can help David learn 2 forgive. Pz out from Cambridge!
oh yeah, that was way before any of this stuff happened. Even before the relationship. I do remember that though.



Also I should add that this has nothing to do with him feeling unsafe. He's just doing that thing where a person breaks up with their ex and doesn't want to be around with them because of awkward feelings.
 

swordgard

Smash Hero
Joined
Jul 27, 2005
Messages
5,503
Location
Canada
Unknown said: He was only saying this because he knew that I couldn’t house on Friday, basically trying to get on my nerves. I then pushed him over his chair while choking him.

What the ****...

Didn't unknown also choke inui?

I honestly fail to see why anyone would let you go to tournaments if you have a proven history of violent behavior... Nobody should have to fear for their own safety at tournaments... I really hope GTA community steps up and stops this ****.

edit: KKaze you should proceed with legal actions. What he did was far from fine. You don't choke people because they get on your nerves.
 

Rikana

Smash Champion
Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
2,125
So **** gets loose and people start judging based on that? What if this was never brought up? What if this was already settled between the both of them and then brought up later? Yeah, then we'd all be lovey-dovey and pretend that nothing ever happened. Heck, there has been other cases of violent behaviour displayed by other members in the Smash community with real video evidence of them. For some of the serious cases, what did the community do? They reached out and tried to help. I'm convinced that there have been many people that probably did **** just as worse or even worse than Ryan, but the community doesn't judge these people since they never exposed themselves at a personal level like Ryan and David just did. In fact, some people are way too judgemental and don't allow themselves to view it from a different perspective. They jump to a conclusion way too soon. Think with an open-mind please.

You're telling KK to actually go seek legal action when he clearly stated that he doesn't want to. I don't think that is what he wants; this seems more like a reflection of your inner thoughts. If KK really wanted to, he would've done so already. Not saying you still can't though, KK (but don't let other's suggestions persuade you because this is completely on you and your call only).

Like I said. I'm not taking sides. I'll defend both Ryan and David. I just feel that bias should be left out the window as much as possible. Obviously, if I was in David's position, I would've approached it MUCH differently. But seeing that NONE of you are him, nor Ryan, you should only try to be supportive. Honestly, pointing fingers doesn't encourage anything. I'm confident in the fact that help can be sought only if we motivate them as a community. In the end, its up to them to decide what they want to do.
 

Luke McCloud

#NooooooDeeeeeeeeEeeeeeyyyyyyeeee
Joined
Sep 27, 2013
Messages
36
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Canada, ON
I don't know much of all this, but what from what I got from Ryan's post was that there was drama between him and another Smash player, obviously. I don't take sides, but there was physical abuse done to the other player, and Unknown admits to this. He doesn't try to defend himself and make it seem as if it were not his fault, nor was it appropriate thing to do. If there is fear because Unknown is going to a tournament, then there is precautions we need to take before Unknown can start attending again. I don't believe in that, because after this whole jeopardy, I hope Unknown, which he must have, is to never harm another Smasher for game related reasons again.

I could see if a man came to you with a knife, and you protected yourself, but nothing more than that. All in all, I wish the best to these two. I hope they can but their differences aside and forgive each other for the better of the community, and themselves.

Hope you all have a great day, or night. Luke.
 

SmashCentralOfficial

Voice of SmashCentralOfficial
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Toronto
I honestly fail to see why anyone would let you go to tournaments if you have a proven history of violent behavior... Nobody should have to fear for their own safety at tournaments... I really hope GTA community steps up and stops this ****.
"...proven history of violent behaviour" - I think we need to back it up a little bit. We can''t just start handing out criminal reference checks to everyone who wants to join the Smash Community, and you can't just bar the doors from people who have gotten into fights in the past. Friends/Lovers get into fights all the time, and occasionally it can get physical. Just because two individual's "dirty laundry" has been exposed for everyone to see, doesn't mean we should all start being Judge and Jury of the Smash Community. Does this issue even involve Super Smash Bros.? Does anyone honestly feel threatened or anxious at the thought of being near Ryan?

I love David, but this issue really doesn't need to be a GTA SMASH issue. I'm sure they can figure things out by themselves, and it kind of sounds like they already did. At the moment it just seems like David doesn't want Ryan in/around the Smash Community, and Ryan would like his stuff back.
 

Divinokage

Smash Legend
Joined
Aug 6, 2006
Messages
16,250
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Montreal, Quebec
"...proven history of violent behaviour" - I think we need to back it up a little bit. We can''t just start handing out criminal reference checks to everyone who wants to join the Smash Community, and you can't just bar the doors from people who have gotten into fights in the past. Friends/Lovers get into fights all the time, and occasionally it can get physical. Just because two individual's "dirty laundry" has been exposed for everyone to see, doesn't mean we should all start being Judge and Jury of the Smash Community. Does this issue even involve Super Smash Bros.? Does anyone honestly feel threatened or anxious at the thought of being near Ryan?

I love David, but this issue really doesn't need to be a GTA SMASH issue. I'm sure they can figure things out by themselves, and it kind of sounds like they already did. At the moment it just seems like David doesn't want Ryan in/around the Smash Community, and Ryan would like his stuff back.

Apparently some people do feel threatened, it's really up to TOs if they can tolerate that kind of stuff. Even I felt anxious back in the day when I beat him at a toronto tournament and then he threw a chair. (Almost hit someone as well) It's not only about violence but what else can come up through the frustration and this happened in the presence of many people IN smash. So ya it is the community's responsibility to know where they stand about that kind of stuff.

But if he needs advice or anything like that which I have provided as well in the past then... its up to him.
 

Linkshot

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Aug 25, 2008
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Hermit in the Highrise
I'm pretty sure any interaction between people isn't supposed to get violent, physically nor mentally. Just because it happens a lot doesn't mean it's healthy. As well, saying that "oh, these people outed each other, but there are probably more that we can't call out, so let's play fair" is also a bit messy to me. We should be trying to get all of these issues out from under the rug so that we can keep our community, the entire Smash scene, clean.

As somebody said, there are three sides: David's, Ryan's, and the truth, and considering the two sides we've heard, the truth is that Ryan resorted to violence, and if he is truly reforming, then I think the approach should be a punishment, but not something permanent. Something tangible to give him more incentive to improve his control over himself, but not so much that these actions in the past completely destroy his career/dreams.

As an individual, I am inclined to believe David's story the most. It is definitely a personal bias based on comfort, and I say this having vaguely met both of them at a few tournaments. It's very likely it was exaggerated, but the general premise of abusive behavior is still there. If David is up to it, I'd like to hear him do a point-by-point response to Ryan's response.

Regardless of the actual truth, let's keep these stories in mind and work toward a good future for Smashing.
 

Jarc

Smash Lord
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TO THE CORNFIELD... BYAAAH!!!!!! (Montreal, Canada
If David is up to it, I'd like to hear him do a point-by-point response to Ryan's response.

They said what they had to say, adding to this will cause more harm than anything else.

4+ years in a relationship is a long time, many things can happen, be misread, details can be forgotten... both were brave enough to give their side, which is not filled with positive stuff, why would you want them to dwell on it some more? It's time to move on.

If you consider either (or both) of these guys as your friend, you should try your best to help them deal with the situation and feel comfortable, as well as prevent any further unnecessary harm (without going overboard with tournament bans or retraining orders).
The last phrase was not directed to anyone in particular.


Stay positive gents.
 
D

Deleted member

Guest
Apparently some people do feel threatened, it's really up to TOs if they can tolerate that kind of stuff. Even I felt anxious back in the day when I beat him at a toronto tournament and then he threw a chair. (Almost hit someone as well).
First of all: hey, GTA - it's been a while.

While it's a little out of the blue for me to be posting here nowadays, recent events have prompted me to discuss exactly the kind of thing that Kage's talking about here. I don't need to go into many details, but I'd like to state for the record that NNR's general departure from the scene (circa 2008) and a sudden rise in dramatic, violent outbursts are immediately linked. There are other reasons that we stopped playing so intensely (post-secondary education was undeniably a factor), but the predominant impetus was an extremely unhealthy vibe in the higher-end pools.

Playing and becoming better at this game was a lot of fun. We met some awesome people and shared some memorable laughs. Sooner or later, though, the good was becoming significantly outweighed by the bad: we witnessed walls being punched in anger, controllers being thrown in frustration, and belief systems being rattled to the point where lifelong philosophies were dropped out of desperation (regarding losing at a video game).

It's hard to tell someone that it's just a game, but winning against certain players just didn't feel good or satisfying. It made us feel guilty. Guilty that we were causing depression; guilty in a way that made us feel like we didn't deserve the prize money, in that bizarre self-defeating way. At the end of the day, winning money from the game we loved wasn't worth the interaction with unstable individuals. So we moved on, playing on our own and at a distance from the community.

Maybe this post isn't necessary. At the same time, I'm shocked by some of the opinions expressed here and a few pages back that try to sympathize with reprehensible behavior. If you're downplaying how critical things are to the physical and mental health of community members, know that people have been feeling uneasy about this matter for years. Personally, I feel incredibly lucky that the toxicity only affected my general enjoyment of playing Smash Brothers.
 

Lanowen

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You know what, Jake, I totally agree. We've been there from pretty much the beginning, seen it all, been through that ****.

There is a ton I can say about this subject, but it really isn't for me to say. I am not going to take sides, I don't even think this is the forum to be discussing this **** tbh, but you guys do what you want to do, as long as no one gets mad I don't really care (but don't troll because that is dumb, I will do something about it), I've always tried to be progressive like that in this community. However I don't think any of this conversation is really constructive.

But everything Jake said I agree with. It makes me sad that smash became out the money. Having to pay for smashfests, I really think having to pay for A&C is dumb as **** just to play. I know it's a company or whatever, but wtf, WASTE OF MONEY. Paying to play at a game is dumb, especially if you just want to play to have fun. That competitiveness that is running through the community is killing the community because it drives new people away. Why do you think brawl had such a huge following from the start? Think about it.

Smash is an amazing game (but horribly unbalanced), it was so much better back in the day, now it's just money, money, money. Don't play it for the money, but if you do, that's your prerogative.
 

idea

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Come By Chance Mews
Landy, i disagree actually, from what i've seen it's really not about the money for the vast majority of melee players, including Toronto. the only time i see money being a factor for anyone is when they can't afford to travel somewhere.

paying for smashfests is dumb, but in A&C's case it makes sense because they bought a bunch of tvs, and consoles, and games, and they have to pay the electrical and water bills for that space, and so on. i mean, they're really not making a profit on it, especially since they allow you to donate canned food instead of paying the $5. pretty generous already imo.

but i do agree with your underlying point--some people take smash way too seriously.
 

Kason Birdman

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Aug 6, 2009
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519, Ontario
i mean, they're really not making a profit on it, especially since they allow you to donate canned food instead of paying the $5. pretty generous already imo.

Perhaps this is a rather tasteless response, but does that canned food rule apply to tournament venue fees as well?

And hold on a second.. if it costs 5 dollars to use the venue for friendlies, why does it cost 10 dollars for a tournament? Not like that money goes to the pot. Does it really cost twice as much to maintenance the venue on a tourney day opposed to thursday?
 

Shiny Mewtwo aka Jigglysir

PhD; Smash Community Studies
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And hold on a second.. if it costs 5 dollars to use the venue for friendlies, why does it cost 10 dollars for a tournament? Not like that money goes to the pot. Does it really cost twice as much to maintenance the venue on a tourney day opposed to thursday?
Probably something like that. Think about it, when we go for tourneys we're there from Noon to 9, while we're there from 3-8 on Thursdays, that's almost double the amount of time they're open. Because they're open longer, they're probably paying employees more for working that day (more hours = more money).

We also take up the whole room for the whole day, meaning they aren't getting people coming in to play other games (as much).
 

pidgezero_one

((((((((((( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) gotta go fast!
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Probably something like that. Think about it, when we go for tourneys we're there from Noon to 9, while we're there from 3-8 on Thursdays, that's almost double the amount of time they're open. Because they're open longer, they're probably paying employees more for working that day (more hours = more money).

We also take up the whole room for the whole day, meaning they aren't getting people coming in to play other games (as much).
Not to mention (this is more for the Brawl side) tournaments have frequently run at late at 1am, which is four hours longer than the 9pm we always promise. And despite these guys having families to get home to, they stay open because we're too busy timing each other out. I've been to venues where we get kicked out in top 4.

Maybe I'm biased because I used to work there, but I like to count my blessings.
 
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