Saw much of the posts, comments, tweets, etc. about the Salty Suite. Most of the negative stuff is due to a misunderstanding of how things work. Let's cover it:
- Why was doubles shown?
- Doubles was an unofficial side event and the entire doubles bracket wasn't being streamed from the setups in the tournament area of EVO. It appeared the doubles finals would line up with the rough start time of the stream and people would enjoy seeing top players compete. This felt like content the stream would want to see that would otherwise not have been witnessed and been a topic of complaint.
- Why did they move to a smaller venue?
- They didn't. The original plan, explained to Smashers months ago, was to rent out a suite in Bally's. A suite would only be able to hold 20 or so people. They switched to a larger room.
- Due to the issue of cramped space and noise in a suite, at the last moment the sponsors stepped up and were able to find a small ballroom at Bally's to hold the suite. It was larger than the previous plan, but still small and a shared space with Street Fighter IV.
- Did the sponsors force the Salty Suite to be invite only?
- No. Proper planning and people being responsible adults made the Salty Suite invite only. We just came off Apex 2015 where an entire venue was shut down due to fire code violations - seeing the community so eager to break the law shows frustratingly short memory.
- Realize, this is unfixable logistical problem. Tomorrow, EVO staff will close off the main ballroom to non-pass holders specifically for the same reason - there are more people interested in watching than there is space to hold them.
- Are the sponsors killing Smash?
- Not in this case. Without sponsors, the following would have happened:
- VGBC sets up a stream in a Suite and tries to make it invite only
- But there isn't a doorman, so the room becomes filled to the brim as everyone wants to get in
- Hotel security is called and everyone is kicked, out, stream ends, possible legal issues for many involved, etc..
- To be clear: The sponsors (Redbull, Twitch, HTC) actually prevented a dangerous situation from developing that would have ended badly for players, VGBC, and the community. How the action of helping here has been twisted by some as disingenuous is a disgrace and the community needs to step up to avoid knee-jerk, no-knowledge, no-understanding-of-live-event reactions. The vanity, the 'first to print', the endless thirst for drama isn't what built the foundation of the Smash community.
- Not in this case. Without sponsors, the following would have happened:
- Why couldn't the Salty Suite be in the main event space?
- EVO isn't a Smash event. EVO is a FGC event, with Smash. Apex, where the other Salty Suite events took place, are Smash events, with some FGC. Holding the entire EVO space, venue, and staff hostage in order for there to be a Smash Salty Suite that is open to all spectators isn't feasible or agreeable to EVO (who are also looking at an overnight hall-change over for the next day).