How can a 15 year old play with the community?

[GCS Gaming Customs]

Hey,

Ive been playing for about 6 months now. I am decent, not that good (only been to one tourney, got *****) but I have NO1 to play with. There is not a single person I know in my area or in my school that plays smash and is remotely decent (I ask around a bit, too). Im not 18 with tons of freedom and are able to just meet up at random smasher's houses and game, there is no way my parents would let me do something like that and drive me there. My brother is the only one I can play with when he is home from college and only when he feels like it. How do I play with more people? How did you guys do it?

BTW, I live in Mooresville, about 30 min away from Charlotte. Any help appreciated, Im bored with ****** lv 9 cpus.

Edit : Should I really try to get some other people into it, competitively? If so, how do I motivate casual players to actually play for real and learn to play by watching vids and reading on the boards?? I know one person sorta trying to get good, but Im not sure if its going to happen (pbly not )

 

[DewDaDash]

I started competitive melee when I was like 12. I am now 21 >_>" But yeah that situation is rough I've been in it until I went to college. If your talking about brawl, you could play wifi to practice a bit. For melee I'd just practice tech skill against lvl 3 or lvl 1 cpus. Lvl 9 cpus just act random and don't really reflect what a person would normally do, the point mostly is just to be creative with combos and increase your speed.
If you're really dedicated you could consider taking a bus elsewhere. I used to go to a tourney about once every 3-4 months and still managed to place well just training with my cousins that lived closeby. Every tourney was a case of a 2hr drive or more.

 

[GCS Gaming Customs]

Thanks for the advice. I will try to train with my friend and my brother more. I see a tourney in Raleigh coming up, but I don't think I can make it. It would be nice to go, play friendlies and meet new people.

 

[GCS Gaming Customs]

Any1 else have any thing to say??

 

[Escapism]

Post in this thread for starters. Everything else will fall into place

 

[GCS Gaming Customs]

Thanks, I haven't worked with region threads too much

 

[KOkingpin]

If getting a ride is the problem most groups of smashers are pretty generous when it comes to helping new people out.you just have to ask the right people. If it has to do with your parents that is a different beast.

 

[GCS Gaming Customs]

Parents. The ride isn't usually the problem

 

[KOkingpin]

You gotta see what it would take for them to trust you (and the smashers you are trying to hang out with)

 

[GCS Gaming Customs]

Thanks, I hope I can work it out, I'd really like to get better

 

[-Ran]

Every scene has a stellar big brother type guy that will take you under their wing. For a long time, I was the guy that would sit down and ease the minds of parents so their kid could have fun. Ultimately, your parents need to let you make your own mistakes; at least, they'll know where you are, and the chances of you making a GameCubeScrubb Jr. are incredibly low. More importantly, it gives them something that you value to hold over you. Not doing your school work or your chores? No tournament for you.

 

[Bl@ckChris]

charlotte is a great place to improve, but with you being a decent distance outside of it, it's kind of hard. most of the scene is college age/post college age, so your parents can either look at it as being around responsible adults, or being around older guys who may or may not be a good influence.

I myself live in greensboro, and frequently travel when i have the time. we have had people start at a younger age than yourself, but getting the parents to allow it really is the biggest challenge, i imagine. however, being in this community has been a rather rewarding experience.

 

[GCS Gaming Customs]

Thanks for all of the advice, I'll try to make it to every NC tourney I can.

 

[gringo66]

hey GCscrubb, a lot of us know what you're going thru and I especially can relate to your issues. Its hard enough trying to find players in your area that are interested in playing a game thats over 10 years old. But being 15 and doing it is even harder. When I first got into competitive smash I was the same age as you and like you, didn't have a lot of freedom. My parents were always at work, my older brother was out doing his own thing and I wasn't old enough to drive myself around and didn't have a friends house nearby that was into smash like I was. My parents definitely sacrificed some of their time to take me to tournaments quite often and I thank them so much for that. But aside from them taking me to tournaments once in a while, it was hard for me to get to know the smash community. But here are a couple things that helped me with my training and getting involved in the community that may do the same for you!

First, when playing by myself I found it more useful to play against a lvl 1 computer oppose to a lvl 9. Lvl 9s dont play anything like humans and are just too sporadic to train against. as much as I could even kill 2 or 3 lvl 9s at the same time, that didnt help prepare me not nearly as much as playing against a lvl 1 computer did. The training mode in SSBM is not that great and prohibits you from using the C stick. I'm not big on the C stick, but there are just some instances when using the C stick is necessary. This was tough to for me to get through in training mode and so I ended up resorting to playing multiplayer mode against a lvl 1 computer. The lvl 1 computer is just so much easier to practice combos against. They wont constantly interrupt you with obnoxious relentless jabs like a Lvl 9 would. One can argue and say that that is important when training, but I think that you can learn that when playing against a human. First its a must to try and understand your character and play style before worrying about the competition. At least in my opinion.

Another thing that really helped me get in the community was earning my parents trust in me. At 15 its hard to convince your parents to let you hang out at a random dudes house with a bunch of other older dudes. But one thing you can do at first is to get your parents to drop you off at a public place where they allow people to play video games. You can meet people on the forums here and start a thread to go find a public place to play at. Or even get someones phone number that is just as interested in you. I made a couple friends on the forums and we lived pretty close by to a lan center and we ended up all meeting there and we had 3 or 4 people practicing melee. I told my parents about who I met and I made it a routine. every other weekend or so I would see if I can get everyone together to meet up at the lan center. Now sometimes it can become difficult for you to go all the time. But one thing that really will help you a lot is to ask your parents to see if you can have a friend come over while theyre home. This will give them the opportunity to meet with your friend. Eventually my friend came over like 2 or 3 times a week and my parents became comfortable with him. All of these things added up to my parents letting me go to tournaments with my friend. I would ask them if I could to to a tournament with "Elliot" and they said it was okay. One time I even hosted a tournament over my house. Granted this was a year after I finally was able to play tournaments and hang with friends outside of the house. Now this does take some time, but it is what helped me get involved. Not just this, but you will get older and things outside of super smash bros will get your parents to see that you're becoming a responsible teenager (Driving permit, good grades in school etc.)

Now, when your parents drop you off or pick you up at a tournament, (mostly pick you up) depending on the venue and the toxicity lvl inside (sometimes it can get really hype) as embarrassing as it may seem, dont be afraid to invite your parents in to show them what you are doing. This definitely is not a must as some parents just wont mesh well with whats going on/you feel like its just a bad idea. But if you think your parents would be cool, then give it a go. As I said this only applies to public venues such as lan centers or hotel convention rooms. That way they'll know that you arent up to no good. My dad was always curious as to what I was doing for hours when he would drop me off at the comic shop or the lan center so he would come in and check the place out when he came to pick me up. I actually wasnt too embarrassed either. Maybe I'm wrong but whenever players saw the parents of another smasher in the same room, the hype lvl was always at a low-medium. At least it was for me. Its also probably because the smash scene is one of the best and friendliest communities ever.

With these tips, you will more then likely be granted some freedom to playing smash brothers with friends and meeting new people in the smash community. I didn't expect this post to be this long but I hope it will be useful to you and to anyone else that is having similar issues. Good luck and hit me up on the forums any time!

 

[GCS Gaming Customs]

gringo66, damn, thanks for the advice.

Sounds like your situation was a hella lot like mine now. I have figured out that lv 9s are ********, and I have avoided them for the past 2-3 months.
The problem with the whole LAN center idea is the closest one is an hour + away. How can I meet people close to my age if I do not have access to a public gaming place? Just make friends at tourneys?

I will offer to show em the venue sometime, maybe they'll wanna see what is going on. They always like to have a lot of assurance that everything is ok and safe.

BTW, I get really good grades and participate in a good bit of extracurriculars, so that is out of the way for the most part

I really appreciate the advice and the long, detailed post, its really nice to be able to follow a detailed description of what you wanted to get across to me. I will hit you up if I ever need/want to!

 

[DkDkDkDkDk]

Hey,

Ive been playing for about 6 months now. I am decent, not that good (only been to one tourney, got *****) but I have NO1 to play with. There is not a single person I know in my area or in my school that plays smash and is remotely decent (I ask around a bit, too). Im not 18 with tons of freedom and are able to just meet up at random smasher's houses and game, there is no way my parents would let me do something like that and drive me there. My brother is the only one I can play with when he is home from college and only when he feels like it. How do I play with more people? How did you guys do it?

BTW, I live in Mooresville, about 30 min away from Charlotte. Any help appreciated, Im bored with ****** lv 9 cpus.

Edit : Should I really try to get some other people into it, competitively? If so, how do I motivate casual players to actually play for real and learn to play by watching vids and reading on the boards?? I know one person sorta trying to get good, but Im not sure if its going to happen (pbly not )

Yo dude! I'm from Charlotte and I just turned 16. I've been in the competitive scene for only 2-3 months and looks like you're just missing the competitive scene completely. Charlotte has some good players. Go on the facebook group, it makes a big difference. https://www.facebook.com/groups/northcarolina.melee/ I've gotten so much better since I've started playing and playing only bots makes a big difference. Anyway, take my number and we'll play sometime. I play with a friend from my school a lot, like 2-3 times a week and usually go to a tourney or smash fest every weekend. Text me and I'll invite you to my next smash fests/ tournaments that happen at UNCC a lot. 201 398 8523

 

[GreenAce]

I host some awesome casuals in the back of my van. You should come through.

 

[GCS Gaming Customs]

Yo dude! I'm from Charlotte and I just turned 16. I've been in the competitive scene for only 2-3 months and looks like you're just missing the competitive scene completely. Charlotte has some good players. Go on the facebook group, it makes a big difference. https://www.facebook.com/groups/northcarolina.melee/ I've gotten so much better since I've started playing and playing only bots makes a big difference. Anyway, take my number and we'll play sometime. I play with a friend from my school a lot, like 2-3 times a week and usually go to a tourney or smash fest every weekend. Text me and I'll invite you to my next smash fests/ tournaments that happen at UNCC a lot. 201 398 8523​

Thanks dude, Ill hit you up sometime, I am busy a lot of times with school work and weekend activities, but Ill try to get ahold of you on a free weekend or maybe on a break. BTW, I don't have a facebook, but ill try to check up on the page to see whats all going on.

 

[Dark Hart]

hope to see you and your bro at nscu on nov 9th, dude

 

[GCS Gaming Customs]

Hope to come, I couldn't come this week cuz of parents weekend at nc state...
Looking forward to playing with great players, I really need to basically learn spacing so I can actually get better

 

[Purple]

I hope I'm not stepping on other people's toes with what I say, because I have to admit I haven't actually read every post in this thread. My main advice for you however is to not let your age be an obstacle (or better yet, an excuse) for why you can't play smash competitively. For starters, and I do remember someone posting this earlier, get acquainted with the location thresh corresponding to where you live.

You live in/near Charolette right? I'd imagine this is the one you should be looking towards. Ask questions about getting better and make yourself known 'before' you go to tournaments , it'll help you enjoy the smash experience that much more if you aren't just a completely fresh face that doesn't get any real talk time with other players.

Assuming you're referring to parental issues not allowing you play league, you should get well acquainted with one or two of the smashers in that region to the point of having their cell phone numbers. I'm not sure if this is exactly the case for you, but at your age most parents are rather wary of leaving their children along with older men to go to 'some tournament'. Knowing a select few, and calling upon them consistently makes it easier for your parents to trust them, as they don't have to worry about it being a different guy picking you up / dropping you off every time. Give your parents numbers of some of the closer smashers in the community so they can feel more comfortable about allowing you out and about, and keep consistent communication about what you're doing and when you'll be home.

--

On the subject of getting your friends into smash, I'm wishy washy about whether or not you should actively persue recruiting them. Going from playing the game casually to competitively takes some effort, effort that alot of people don't have for just a game tbh. You're better off letting them come to you about getting better than trying to pull them into it yourself.