I’m only going to post once and never reply back, I just want to put some food for thought out there.
I think one of the most important questions that should be mulled over, but isn’t at the moment, is, what are the actual implications of such a decision? There’s the obvious answer, it won’t be at EVO 2012, and then the not so obvious answers such as being relegated to a sub-event at majors (if they are acknowledged at all, otherwise a side event) and the fact that anyone who overlaps between BlazBlue and the “money” games will no longer give the time of day (or even consideration) to BlazBlue because it will not be at EVO 2012 and there’s only a finite amount of time you can dedicate to any particular game. These not so obvious implications impact the BlazBlue community a lot more than the “official” presence of it at Las Vegas.
The biggest problem that I see in the BlazBlue community currently is the lack of new blood and stagnation. There are a variety of reasons why this is the case, and there’s also the harsh reality that at this particular time, BlazBlue will never be able to compete on equal ground with any of Capcom’s heavyweights in terms of pure numbers. This in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but in terms of an event like EVO, it is.
Now that those two things are out of the way, the other major issue I see being thrown around is, what do we do now? The way I look at it, BlazBlue (and the “anime” community in general) really only have two options in the future: accept your role as a “side-event” forever (unless the scene changes dramatically), or break off from the “main” fighting game community and establish your own independent niche, similar to what the Smash scene chose to do.
We need to be frank, in order for BlazBlue to register with EVO again, it’ll need to produce substantially higher numbers than it currently does, and superior, or at least on par, with its direct competitors (the non-capcom games). This is going to be more difficult to do with the above mentioned implications of EVO not officially supporting BlazBlue, and even if it DOES happen, what does that actually mean in the long-run? Are you guys really content with playing second fiddle to the main games? What happens if BlazBlue gets cut again? What happens if BlazBlue is STILL not taken back despite the community’s best efforts? Does the scene just die? Is that really ok with you guys?
Maybe it’s time to seriously consider establishing your own major to replace EVO for anime games, but before that can happen, the anime community needs to come together as a whole and stop the pointless (and stupid) in-fighting that you guys have not only between yourselves and the “main” games, but with your fellow kin as well. You guys won’t be able to generate the numbers that EVO would but more importantly, you’ll be able to establish the respect you guys feel you so deserve, and you can run things on your terms, your way. Some things that you guys can consider:
-Have a system similar to the EVO series where majors are set-up and recognized in major areas. Have incentive to compete and place well in these majors. High placers in singles can get points to be seeded in the “main” event. The winner can get airfare to fly out to the main event (to avoid the excuse of the “poverty” reason). Perhaps the top 3 players from each major are allowed to participate in a special team invite only event at the main event with an additional pot bonus to encourage high placers in each region, and to foster rivalries between regions. For teams, spots can be placed down to the next best finisher if certain people can’t go, but seeded points can not. In order to qualify as a “major”, you need to be able to meet specific attendance requirements (which helps encourage the local scene to maximize attendance at their particular major).
-Invite some top international talent for that particular game.
-Have a good stream (from a technical standpoint) going.
-Get some good commentators to hype it up. Not everyone can commentate effectively, even if they are a top player…
-Perhaps take advantage of certain things that can only be done (or are unique) within the “anime” community. The “anime” community will NEVER be mainstream, so why bother advertising or appealing yourself as such? Recognize your demographic and maximize it, there’s nothing worse than pretending to be something you’re not.
You’ll notice that all of these things require money. Yes, some poor soul(s) will have to put in their hard-earned dollars towards a thankless and ultimately, losing proposition from a financial standpoint. They’ll also have to deal with the logistical nightmare, all voluntarily and completely on their own free time. That’s just what’s going to have to happen if you want to make this a reality. It’s also highly possible that the first few years doing this don’t exactly produce stellar results, that’s how it goes for almost any start-up though. Well, I just wanted to throw out some food for thought, I’m not going to be visiting this thread again, so whatever comes of this is fine and dandy.
