Saikyoshi said: Then why is high level play worth admiring?



Like I said; it's the same problem I have with ACTUAL sports. It's just the same jerks repeatedly stroking their egos year after year, their authority forever unchallenged because nobody can ever even TRY to catch up to them.



It's like Dragon Ball Z; nobody cares if the side characters are on screen because we already know in advance that they're going to get completely thrashed and that Goku will save the day without a problem because no matter how hard they try, nobody can ever hope to be a decent match for the champ because he's getting stronger faster than all of them combined. For everyone else, training is a big pile of wasted effort. Just like everyone outside of the top couple dozen in Melee is just wasting their effort if they train for that.



No, Little Billy can never hope to get into the NFL no matter how hard he dreams while playing high school football. And no, Little ShineDestroyer9000 can never hope to get into EVO no matter how hard he dreams while playing locals. There's just no point in even bothering! I don't play Melee or PM anymore because I'm not going to break my hands over something ultimately pointless. Click to expand...

High level play is worth admiring because of the insane level of skill, determination, dedication, innovation, and creativity. I can watch a video of two skilled players and enjoy and appreciate the gameplay without knowing anything about the players, who they are, what their personalities are like, etc. Those things can add onto the enjoyment to some extent, but for anyone who actually likes the GAME, it's always going to be secondary.The latter half of your post is just straight wrong. You explain Little Billy can never hope to get into the NFL, but who do you think is playing in the NFL today? Everyone started out as just the best player on his block, and then his school, then his county, then his state. It's easy to forget, but the pros all started playing little league the same as everyone else. There are some exceptions, especially with older sports where children are basically trained to be good athletes by their parents from birth, but every single Melee pro was the EPITOME of ShineDestroyer9000 when they started out. You act like the 5 gods are LITERALLY gods, but they aren't. In fact, the current era of Melee is one of the most competitive, where we see multiple players taking sets off gods, and perhaps the best example of what you want to see is Leffen, who is the only person to beat all 5 gods. It may take a decade, maybe even two, but a player outside of the 5 gods will eventually become the best, and the fact that they held onto the top for so long will only make it that much more meaningful. What meaning can being the best possibly have if any half-assed attempt at getting good can net you the title?If the only "point" you see in competing is to be the best in the world, then you are quite simply missing the point in competition, and in life. Becoming the best may be someone's ideal goal, something to work towards, but if never making it to the top meant the time was wasted, there would be a LOT less players competing in something as difficult and as popular as Melee. Ask any player on the top 100 if they would regret their time competing in this game if they knew they could never be the best, I guarantee none of them would.