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Competitive Growth

Started by Zotis, May 02, 2016, 01:18:24 am

Zotis

Hey guys, so this is actually something I have been thinking about for a very long time.  I know I haven't been around for almost two years, except for the tournament last summer.  But FFHacktics has still been in my mind this whole time.  Free tournaments are fun, but other than people like us who just love the game, they do not really promote or support growth in the scene very much.  For one thing there is no career potential or chance that this could take off and be an event at major gaming conventions without the growth that prize money would bring.

I have been playing Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo Gamecube competitively for a year and nine months now and in that time I've seen it grow.  I just got back from a tournament that had 90+ entrants and a first place prize of over $7,500.  It was larger that any other tournament at the convention including Smash 4, Street Fighter 5, Dota 2, CS:GO, CoD, and more.  The seating area for the top 8 finals was overcrowded to the point where people where standing blocking booths, and the food area, and taking almost all of the chairs from other games' spectating areas.  And that's a game from 2001 that is dominating over current gen games.

All that is just to say that an old game can be successful at current gaming events.  Although being a mod means it will probably never get official support to be endoursed at major gaming events, we can still nourish and grow this community and this game competitively.

That being said, I seriously want to support the growth of this by offering $100 for the prize pool of the next tournament we run here.  Hopefully that will attract more players.  But we also need to be a bit more serious about how the bracket is set up because random seating simply will not do.

People should be given a seating number based on past results and the quality of their team.  Players expected to do well should not meet each other too early in the bracket.  So lower seatings are given to novice players and flawed teams while higher seating is given to veterans and solid teams.  Pools are a very good way of giving more than 2 matches to players likely to be double eliminated.  They are also excellent for determining seating based on results.  And that way any number of entrants turns into a rounded bracket with no buys.

Any thoughts?  Any interest?  Let's get this scene growing and the competition serious!   :cool:

Barren

If you have ways to help promote this and get other other to come over and participate in the tournaments we host then hell yea we would do it. The problem is that we don't know where to start exactly, and as far as money as a prize, that also is going to take some time setting up. But again if we have someone that can help us out in that way then I'd be all for it as well. Plus we would need to find some connection to where we would hold these events at conventions and have hosts (like myself and CT5Holy) commentate and live stream the tournament. Maybe have some PvP (if we can pull it off if not then no biggie) and have it played at 180 FPS to keep things moving
  • Modding version: Other/Unknown
You dare cross blades with me?

Shintroy

Was on board for this the when it was brought up months ago. No idea where we'd start with this though.
Some day my people will be free.

Barren

Quote from: Shintroy on May 02, 2016, 08:04:21 am
Was on board for this the when it was brought up months ago. No idea where we'd start with this though.


That's what I mean. If we can find someone that will help us out then sure we can try it
  • Modding version: Other/Unknown
You dare cross blades with me?

Andrew

I don't believe that this would be legal; and, if attempted, would attract the wrong kind of attention.  Like you said, we'd be hosting a tournament with prize money for a game hack that's not supported by the game's original developers.  Unfortunately for us, Arena ain't no DotA, and FFT is nearly twenty years old now.  If anything, we would have to create our own FFT Arena clone, which has been attempted by at least a few individuals, but with no success (or, at least, finished product).  Tethical is a prime example of this, which only received a tenth of its Kickstarter funding goal.  I'm cool with free tournaments that are hosted by Arena regulars and maintained via the forums, and that's about it.
  • Modding version: PSX

Zotis

At this point I'm just talking about doing the tournaments here online the same way we do the free ones, but with pools and seating.  The payout would just be through paypal.

Doing tournaments live in person would be cool, but we're probably too spread out for that.  I live in Toronto, Canada.

Andrew, of course it's legal.  Mods have tournaments too, they just don't get sponsored at major events because they aren't endorsed by the company that made the original game.  I've been to Project M tournaments, which is a mod of Smash Bros. Brawl, and Counter Strike started out as a mod of Half-Life.

Andrew

Those that decide to do something like this, I wish you all the best.  Have fun!
  • Modding version: PSX

silentkaster

Zotis, my suggestion would be if you want to do something like this is to offer non-cash instead. Perhaps an online gift card or a copy of a game (digital so that personal details don't have to be disclosed preferably) or something like that. Cash gets a little tricky.

I would also keep it as two separate events. In other words, don't call it a "payout" or "prize pool" because that sounds like people paid in, like a slot machine, and that would be illegal in at least some areas in the U.S. Instead, keep the tournament as one event (where a player battles others) and then the award as a separate (in other words, you are donating something to someone because you were so impressed with their team which happened to win the tournament.)

I would also talk to the owners of the FFH forum to see if they are okay with you doing that.

That being said, either way I'm fine. I'd make a team for it if it got the okay, though I'd prefer to wait until 1.4 changes are finalized. But also fine just having our regular summer tournaments.
You've stepped in puddles less shallow than me.

Zotis

I'm pretty sure no where in the U.S is it illegal to offer prize money for competitions.  Major league gaming has been a thing since the 90's.

Chemist

It is purely possible to just start streaming on twitch and see if it garners popularity. The more exposure we give this the better it'd be for the scene.

And being a mod doesn't necessarily exclude it from anything, I mean DoTA started out as a warcraft mod before anything else. It's the lack of player interaction that would exclude it from the competitive scene.

It's like making a basketball team of four or (if anyone's played it) Xcom Team and not being able to do anything but make a strategy for the AI to follow, sadly there will always be a winning formula until it gets patched. Where as other games don't necessarily have such issues simply cause of player interaction.

(I know my two cents doesn't count for much since I'm relatively new, just throwing it out there xD)
  • Modding version: PSX
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