Smash Brothers & SkullGirls: Bonding Communities?

Classic Fighting Games Skullgirls
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Well as we all know, the donation drive has ended, and Smash Brothers has come out on top. We were all not saddened though, as SkullGirls currently has a future to look forward to (Xbox Patch, Squiggly, PC Version) and it seems that in the end, both sides won.

Not many of you have noticed, but I was on the smash boards a ton during this whole donation drive, my name has literally spread all over those forums, I’m seen as basically the ambassador of both of the communities (though none of you would know because you guys were focusing on the drive and more important things). Literally everyone on there likes me, and even during their spirit bomb stream everyone was chanting my name.

From my time there, everyone has seen SkullGirls as a great and legit game, and tons on there are willing to support it. People are constantly suggesting that SkullGirls be added to the line up of Genesis 3, basically Smash’s evo which takes place a week after Evo, and many people have ended up buying the game because of the powerful efforts SkullGirls had put into this entire competition. They respect us dearly and no amount of trolls that come to put us down can change that.

I am friends with many of the Smashers there and I have become a smasher myself, been playing Project M, and that community is actually one of the nicest communities I’ve ever met. I was astounded by how welcoming they were, they were shaky about me at first, but then they accepted me with open arms.

So my basic message is, we should support smash as they are willing to support us. We should bond our communities and support each other. Separate we are strong, but together, we are invincible.

I say, we should take the opportunity and get ourselves into Genesis 3. They are still deciding everything, but if we show them enough hands, maybe they’ll consider.

I say, lets bond our communities. They even have a SkullGirls topic on their boards, so we can spread the love there as well. What do you say guys?

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As a first response from a smasher would be anticlimactic, I’m only going to answer 1 thing :
I’m gonna buy SG tonight.

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Smash Girls or Skull Bros.? We gotta pick a name.

And yeah, I was thinking a few days ago, why don’t we have special streams, one where a Skullgirls player is taught how to play by a smash player, and one where a Smash player is taught by a skullgirls player? We could learn each other’s respective games, help both communities grow, and have fun at the same time? I don’t know much about how Melee players get together, but I’m sure something could be worked out. And it could be a weekly thing. I’d like to see this happen.

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I’ve been smash for life, but I purchased SkullGirls this week. This donation drive has honestly been a life-altering experience.

Shoutouts to BrandX, don’t remember people chanting your name on stream but I do feel like I’ve witnessed some growth in maturity in your posts on both srk and smashboards

gf Skull Bros

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It was in the chat, didn’t last very long lol

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Skull Smash Girls & Bros

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You know what is perfect? Remember who was talking about trying to mod Skullgirls waaaay back in the day? Dantarion. You know what else Dantarion did? he works on the Brawl to Melee mod ProjectM.

Skullgirls and Smash been tied for longer than you even know!

Also: I never played Smash comeptitively but I’ve ALWAYS argued that it was a legit fighting game and I dislike the idiocy surrounding that argument. Can’t wait for Smash 4

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Someone teach me how to be Salem-godlike with Zero Suit Samus, and I’ll teach you how to be very bad with Cerebella

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[media=youtube]hU-oajnGeaE[/media]

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-Probably the most hyped up moment for a shave

GG Smash,things really escalated quickly with the time winding down making things interesting in the end while at the same time contributing $ **200k+ **for Breast Cancer Research. This probably surprised Wizard as well.

This event delivered alot of excitement before Evo even began with the places going back and forth. Originally thought this would be boring with FiM taking it for free, but since the rule tweaks this was one hell of a roller-coaster from the start to finish. Smash is not my cup of tea game, but not gonna deny the community dedication that game has. Gl with your game and hope you guys avoid any misfortunes like a Sudden Black List due to a douche donator or any negative press about stolen equipment sticking to you

Enough Rabbling from me, Tired and have to finish up some computer work -_-

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Too bad Melee doesn’t have ZSS. =p

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'Twas an epic battle with to many hype moments to count.

Shoutouts:

BrandX- who I’m pretty sure already has more posts on Smashboards than I do. Good stuff.

Raz0r- 90% of your posts make me laugh out loud.

Number 13- So glad you’re snipe wasn’t as scary as you made it out to be LOL.

Master Chibi- Pretty sure I didn’t see a single post of yours that didn’t have the word fuck in it. While abrasive, you did make plenty of good points and I learned a lot from reading your posts throughout this donation drive. Good stuff.

Guy with mohawk picture (can’t remember his name LOL) - Keep up the trolling. You make me laugh every time.

Mike Z- Realest guy in the world. I can see why your fans are so passionate about your game and about you. Good shit man.

I’d be happy to see Skullgirls at Genesis 3, but that isn’t up to the community, it is up to the TO (Boback) so you’ll have to find him on Smashboards.

It’s 5:30am and I need to sleep. Night everyone. gg

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Is that an Adventure Time reference? To the episode Davey?

Also, slightly under 226k was raised, yes sir. And I don’t think there is a single person who knows of this drive that wasn’t surprised at the outcome.

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My 2 cents.

The SG and smash community had a strong bonding moment IMO. In being fiercely competitive against each other I think both communities were able to see the determination and drive from both sides and in the process developed a strong mutual respect. Its probably the 1st time I’ve ever seen 2 communities be so openly hostile towards each other and competitive…and for this last week it really seemed like it could go either way. I think after all the fighting and bloodshed it only makes sense for both communities to combine their efforts into something stronger then what each community was able to accomplish by itself.

In saying this I already saw some post on smash boards which instantly rejected the idea saying that both games are too dissimilar and that we dont need to unite together but rather work on building our communities stronger separately. While I agree we have to strengthen ourselves apart to become a stronger whole, we also have to remember that there is only so much a single community can accomplish in the FGC. Capcom fighters have the benefit of being under a single publisher which makes it easy to overlap the player base between games like SF4 and UMVC3. Its very common to see top players from SF4 be top players in UMVC3 and as such when there are SF4 tournaments its a organic fit to include UMVC3 and vice versa.

Other fighters in the FGC don’t have this benefit so instead we see smaller more fractured communities building their own scene. It’s not a thing mind you, but it means a massive reduction in exposure and resources because each game is sustained by a single community for the most part. For whatever reason each game community has this tribalism tendency to split people into groups and make it a "us"vs"them"situation when in reality we all need to work together in building a stronger cohesive unity. The very fact that evo is the only venue in the FCG where multiple games can be showcased in a important relevant matter speaks volumes about just how limited we have made ourselves by restricting games to certain events or communities. It doesnt mean we have to lose our unique charms by joining forces but rather just bringing the best of what we have into a bigger pot. Maybe it would be possible to have more"evo"like events in the FGC if other communities stopped insisting everyone should just play in their own sandbox instead of just erasing the lines and coming together for a common goal.

The capcom community has been doing this for years which is why they have always been the biggest scene in the FGC. Could you imagine major SF events that didnt allow UMVC3/SFXT and if each game had to build separate events that were completely self sustained …a good half of the player population from each community would drop off instantly. This isn’t to say that each game cant build its own identity but what I think should happen is that more major events per community should make a better effort to include other games and to maybe even build new events through combined resources and effort. A new tournament event featuring both smash and SG could have amazing potential just like if the tekken/VF/DOA5/SC5 community all combined into 1…I think its worth a shot and Id loved for both communities to become brothers in arms after this past week.

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So much love has been spread around the world of many communities and I’d just like to say I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the dedication and passion everyone had. I could not even express it properly on stream… it was way too much. <3 I will definitely support SG when it comes out on PC for the future of the game and I really hope both smash and SG can feed off each other to create something even greater!

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Just wanto pop in and say GG! it was emotional not gonna lie. Not good with words so just go to stream archive and watch MIKE Z speech! Epic man gives epic speech! And if you want to see awesome pic I took of him go to twitter @nekro_surge
Wouldn’t say bonding, more like mutual respect… until we meet at a tourney then anything goes!

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The FGC (Smash included) truly is something else. Though it takes a good bit of explaining to elucidate to some people that I travel the country playing fighting games, I’m very proud to be a part of this community.

I’ll remember to reference this drive next time someone looks at me funny for committing time from my life to playing fighting games. Not too many people can say that their community raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for something just to support the games they love.

I know it’s trite right now, but we should be thankful that we’ve adopted such an aggressively burgeoning phenomenon in its infancy, and that we’re the pioneers of what was, has been and will to continue to be something absolutely fantastic.

I know that the general perception of Smash is that we pine for acceptance, and that there’ll no doubt be folks who’ll view the fat stack of benjies in Melee’s donation pool as one would view some poindexter soliciting a popular kid to be his best friend with money. However, I hope that Evo gives Smash another chance to show everyone that the distinction between Smash and FGC is vacuous.

The way I see it, competitors in the FGC are still gravely misunderstood. I know that when I tell 98% of the people that I meet that I play competitive Brawl, AE and MK9, they give the same bemused look. I think it’s pretty–nay–profoundly retarded on either side to compartmentalize each others communities. If you don’t make the distinction to strangers, don’t make it in the community. The FGC is still in its grassroots phase all things considered, and it’s a little silly to quibble rather than just respect each other as competitors.

Edit: Not to mention, I respected SG from the beginning ever since hearing that they had the mind to hire Michiru Yamane for the OST. I can’t possibly withhold reverence from a game touched by Yamane.

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We will be… Skullsmash.

Seriously though, great showing from all of you guys. In retrospect, this whole event has been a blast, and for a while, we were sure that you were going to beat us out, with how remarkably quickly you closed the gap. (I mean good lord, you raised $40k in what, 12-18 hours? That’s what you call determination.) I don’t think… No, I know for a fact that we wouldn’t have raised even a fraction of the amount we raised without you guys pushing us along. And for that, I give my sincerest thanks. You guys rock.

I personally haven’t played Skullgirls, and I don’t have the means to on my own, but thanks to the magic of my college’s game room, I may just have access to it, and I will be all over that if I get half a chance. Skullgirls for Genesis!

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Spoiler

http://i792.photobucket.com/albums/yy205/jakesbrain/salty_zps005186b1.gif

(PLEASE NOTE: THIS IMAGE MAY NOT BE ENTIRELY SERIOUS, AND ITS CREATOR AUTHORIZES IT FOR USAGE IN ALL NON-SERIOUS SITUATIONS. AND PERSONALLY, I THINK “SUPER SKULL BROS.” HAS A CERTAIN RING TO IT.)

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Any smashers wanna play SG though?

Srsly, PSN: Kmatador77