Players are the lifeblood of any fighting game’s competitive scene. A game’s competitive community must first be able to support itself if it has any hope of growing and gaining the support of everyone (organizers, sponsors, publishers, developers, etc.) involved in running tournaments.
These are the sentiments expressed by Team NINJA creative director Tom Lee in a recent Facebook discussion started by multiple Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate tournament champion Kristian “Mr. Kwiggle” Mclean in regards to players not wanting to come out to tournaments.
While Lee’s post is addressed towards the Dead or Alive community, the message itself is relevant to any group that wants to grow within the fighting game tournament circuit. You can read his message below.
I don’t usually jump on these threads. But I want to share my thoughts with you guys here because I think it’s an important issue for our community.
I understand that not everyone enjoys competing and socializing at tournaments. And that’s OK. And I also know it’s not easy for a lot of folks to make it out to an offline event for various reasons… I get it. But let me give you a very simple breakdown of how this all works and how this affects all of us, including me.
First of all, it’s really not just about whether you can compete or “win” at offline tourneys, especially at the majors. Because the truth of the matter is majority of players will not be able to beat champs like Kristian, Matt or any of our top fighters offline. That’s not meant to be insulting or mean to anyone. That’s just reality, plain & simple. And people need to understand that.
However, everyone who attends an offline major will have a chance to play, meet new people, hang with the FGC notables, champs, [Tournament Organizers], learn new things you can’t find online and most of all… have a blast celebrating the game you love with people who share that same passion. That’s not meant to be a sales pitch. That’s just me being 100% REAL. So, if you haven’t attended an established offline tournament like the ones Eric Small puts on, you really owe it to yourself to get out there.
Here’s the point I want to make. People like myself behind the scenes can’t continue to support the scene if the scene can’t support itself… Much in the same way as if everyone stopped going to live sporting events and watched their favorite games at home, those stadiums would eventually shut down, the pros would lose their sponsors/contracts and eventually the league would go out of business. It would be a huge loss for the fans and the sport itself. That’s the harsh reality and that’s ultimately the same situation we face if we don’t support the offline scene. We have thousands of fans around the country and around the world who play this game. I know this, because I see our sales figures each year. We just need a small percentage of our player base to come out to these offline events. It would make a huge difference for our community and to maintain its survival. If you love fighting games and you want to see DOA live to fight another day, please try and make it out to some of these tourneys in 2015.
Sorry for the long message. Thanks for listening. See you at the tournaments!
