Smash and the FGC are friends these days — usually © Robert Paul/@tempusrob/rmpaul.com

The summer is a time when fighting games come together. It regularly reunites the larger fighting game community and the Smash community at events such as Combo Breaker, CEO and Evo, and it’s great to see the FGC’s top players such as Filipino Champ, Flux, Ricki Ortiz, Justin Wong, among others, cheering for players like Mango, Leffen, Hungrybox and Wobbles these days. For smashers, it’s a nice change of pace to watch high level play in other games and mingle with players that have the same level of passion in their respective games.

But relationships between the two communities haven’t always been the best. The FGC has a history of taunting Smash players, belittling them and calling Smash a party game. But over the years, these relationships have improved significantly. Figureheads are seen regularly collaborating with one another — for instance, Smash TO Robin "Juggleguy" Harn meets with FGC veterans Rick "Hadou" Thiher and Alex Jebailey to talk about how to run better events. Wynton "Prog" Smith is a regular in the Marvel, Street Fighter and Smash communities. FGC top players such as Kenneth "K-Brad" Bradley regularly chat with Smash players and makes a point to tune in to the finals of each event.

Of course, things still aren’t perfect, and there's still plenty more work to be done.

The catalyst

During the Guilty Gear Top 8 finals at CEO 2016, chants of "Melee!" and boos came from the crowd at multiple points of the event, reportedly from an impatient crowd waiting for the next on-stage game, Melee. Many of the Guilty Gear players and figureheads pointed out how disrespectful this was, while Smash figureheads were quick to point out that many of the chants and boos were in response to the MC’s cues.

The intent of the each individual cannot fully be determined. Some were upset upon hearing Melee was delayed for two hours and some were excited upon hearing "Are you ready for Melee?" Understandably, Guilty Gear fans felt disrespected that they were not able to enjoy their Top 8 or their award ceremony without the distractions of other fans, regardless of intent. Social media chatter was not much better, as responses created headaches for everybody and built ever-greater walls between communities.

Where do we go from here?

This begs the question: How we can go about improving relationships up ahead? Granted, the MC could have timed the questions better, and additional mods could have improved Twitch Chat, but our community can also do better.

Although online sub-communities such as r/kappa or Melee Hell will always have its questionable behavior, we can improve relationships and dispel stereotypes with face-to-face interaction. One thing I admire about Prog is how proactive he is with meeting people from different communities.

In addition, when we denigrate other communities, we denigrate some of our own. Names like Forward, Chris G, Juicebox, Alukard, King Funk, Lord Knight, among many others aren’t just spoken about in the realm of Smash, they are discussed in other scenes; events like Combo Breaker, CEO and EVO have turned Smashers into fans of other games, making them as interested in modding a MadCatz as they are in getting a new controller. These relationships have helped bridge the gap between communities over the past several years.

Outside of our own worlds, it’s also interesting to hear about the stories and passions of other communities that often mirror our own. Building relationships with individuals helps us get a greater understanding of what drives other communities. Furthermore, it’s also easier to give the benefit of the doubt to a community of friends than a group of strangers. With the recent chants, most melee players probably weren’t targeting Guilty Gear, but it’s easy to see why other communities would assume so, given Melee’s prior run-ins with chanting against Smash 4 and Brawl. In addition, last year’s EVO was notable for relationships between the two titles, as Guilty Gear fans were unable to view their matches, mostly due to overcrowding and sharing a space with a humongous Melee crowd.

It’s also understandable to hear the frustrations of how the Smash community has been neglected or bullied over the years, and to that I say, let’s be better. Take a chance to introduce yourself to another community at Evo. Watch some of their matches. Ask questions. Be proactive. Cheer for their accomplishments. Chances are you’ll build some long lasting friends that share the same passions you do.