Cut ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬the crap, you're hurting the community

I understand that Evo is getting user feedback on which Smash game should be included at Evo. This survey has become ugly with its “either/or” proposition, pitting the community against itself. Why isn’t there an option for both? It seems like the decision has already been made if I’m reading between the lines: you don’t want to run Melee, and I’m fine with that.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not being ungrateful. I loved having Melee at Evo for 2 consecutive years. In fact, I would have loved 20. I loved that the donation drive raised $93,000 for breast cancer research. I loved the exposure. The sets were amazing and gave the community much more viewership, reaching a peak 140,000 viewers on Twitch. With that being said, I want to call out a few things.

You (Mr. Wizard) have stated the Melee is a logistical nightmare, which is why you seem so adamant against running melee. To everyone here, I want to make it very clear. YOU did not do very much. Arian + his crew were the ones that went on the CRT hunt to get the 40 CRTs that Evo used. Furthermore, they were the ones that got the U-Haul, transported the TVs, and set up the stations the night before. The fact that you didn’t even mention their efforts until Leffen called you out is appalling. Tafokints was the one that spearheaded the Gamecube/Wii setup situation, since the half-hearted effort by you was very poorly done. Smashers did the seeding. Aside from possibly the main stage and production, smashers did most of the work. So I’m wondering how this is such a burden on your end? If it is a nightmare, Smashers have shown that they are willing to step in where they are needed.

Furthermore from a financial standpoint, we helped out Evo more than any other community. We had 700 unique entrants that entered melee-only and about 100 more that would have not attended Evo if Evo didn’t not include Melee. If venue fee is $50 per head, this means we generated $42,000 in extra venue money for the event, which is nothing to snooze at. Couldn’t we have gotten a third party to get Wii’s/CRTs or use the money towards something? Maybe I digress here.

It seems like you guys have no interest in running Melee. It’s a fair sentiment considering there is no precedence for two games of the same series to be on the main stage. FGC people will complain and I understand that Evo is first and foremost about appeasing the main players such as the MvC and SF groups. I’m fine with that. Just cut the bullshit and say that you want only 1 smash game, which is Smash 4. If Evo doesn’t run both, it’s a decision that you guys ultimately make. Don’t make us speculate and blame Nintendo as a scape goat. Don’t make us prolong an inner civil war between Smash 4 and Melee enthusiasts. You’ve hurt us enough as it is by not including an option for both and pretending to feign interest with Melee.