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[Sinatar]

That's something for them to figure out. But I can't imagine with these numbers something like this would be sustainable for that venue.

10k people are registered. 10. Thousand.

Add in the tons and tons of day pass/casuals that show up and they need a huge venue.

 

[Rentahamster]

How many unique entrants are there relative to last year? Even if they get lower numbers, with the price increase, they could still be making more money.

 

[ShinMaruku]

Yeah, that's definitely a very real and fair point.They need to improve on getting more people to play their games. Prize money is important but the appeal of fighting games are still hurt by their complex nature and the lack of a proper on-boarding process. I see that Arc Sys is definitely trying to improve with Xrd; the tutorials I've seen are robust and Rev 2's been made available as a $20 add-on instead of solely being a new $40 disc release. Unfortunately Xrd is still a much smaller game and I feel its because its still too daunting to play.

Capcom, being the leader, should really be doing much more in regards to the on-boarding experience. Unfortunately, we're 18 months into SFV's life and it still doesn't have a tutorial mode. And with Capcom's support of SFV being so underwhelming, its hard to imagine Capcom will ever dedicate the resources to creating a robust tutorial mode for it (or even MvCI). At this point everyone is better off hoping a new game like DBFZ can convert more casual players into competitive players. Knowing Arc Sys DBFZ will at least do a decent job of trying.

Converting people into playing fighting games is a very hard proposition, it will take both sides to approach that, how people tend to learn can be detrimental to getting more people to play. Simply execution alone is not the issue, it's communicating things so the information does not overload new comers. There is also the need for a gradual skill gradient with enough people for the experience to be fun for players. All these things will take a lot of work

 

[Pachinko]

You wouldn't hear a peep of complaining from me. lol

Nor I, I've always felt the 2 crowds are different people that don't really get along that well anyway. It's all FGC for sure but no one from each community really respects the other. Last year I felt the same way about Pokken actually, it was just this weird slow looking game that took forever to play. It's not so much that they should stop having smash in the building, moreso I think they should have all the nintendo stuff in it's own themed hall (if at all possible). Then the Sunday top 8 is based 100% on tournament numbers / prize pool.

Also have only 4 games on Sunday so it can start at a more reasonable hour (I mean it's Vegas , people are staying up late having a good time ). That time should be 10-12 for game 1 with a 90 minute lunch break(or overrun) 1-3 for game 2 (with a 60 minute overrun/set up break) 430-630 for game 3 (with a 90 minute break for overuns/setups/supper) and finally 8-10 for game 4 with the venue open until midnight in case of a late final.

So given these numbers I'd do the following -

SFV 2622 8-10 slot Sunday events arena

Smash4 1515 430-630 Sunday Events Arena

Melee 1435 Saturday Afternoon Final in main hall

T7 1278 1-3 Sunday Events Arena

Injustice2 883 10-12 Sunday Events Arena

GG 827 Saturday Evening Final in main hall

UMVC3 648 Saturday Afternoon Final in main hall

BB 499 Saturday Morning Final in Main Hall

KOF 375 Friday night Final in main hall


I'm thinking next year could be interesting , we'll still have SFV(possibly Super SFV) as the biggest game obviously , probably followed by Marvel Infinite (it'll get a big promo from capcom and be part of the official tour) . Tekken 7 will be back , probably Injustice 2 (with all the DLC this time) and begrudgingly one or both smash games and then probably Guilty Gear Rev 2.

 

[Blueblur1]

Converting people into playing fighting games is a very hard proposition, it will take both sides to approach that, how people tend to learn can be detrimental to getting more people to play. Simply execution alone is not the issue, it's communicating things so the information does not overload new comers. There is also the need for a gradual skill gradient with enough people for the experience to be fun for players. All these things will take a lot of work

Right. From my experience, today's best fighting game tutorials aren't enough for non-competitive players because of those things you touched on. Everyone learns a little differently - someone at a faster rate than others - which is one large hurdle. The other large hurdle is implementing the things you've been taught (which normal buttons to use in neutral, which button or special to anti-air with, using bread-and-butter combos, implementing meaties into your game, etc.). With SFV I started to play fighting games competitively and I was really lost for a while; I kept losing matches online one after another. It wasn't until I played matches with my more experienced friends watching that I learned what I had to work on and started improving.

As you said, building something that really addresses the on-boarding and improvement process would take a lot of work.


I think its doable provided a developer wants to invest the time into it. The tutorial should be robust and progress through fighting game basics like the Xrd's tutorial and r/StreetFighter's Gief's Gym guide do - including exercises and the option to repeat said exercises - along with AI matches in between certain lessons to allow the player to practice the lesson & exercise they just completed. Additional smart tweaks would be really helpful too such as slowing gameplay during combo demonstrations and using freeze frames and colors to queue when to press a button. (As a beginner I had a really hard time with combos and I always wanted something like that.) I think the inclusion of frame data as an advanced tutorial with specific exercises that demonstrate moves a player can use to punish an opponent's moves and strings would be extremely helpful as well. There should be a feedback system included along with a stats system. Something that can tell the player 'You got jumped in on [and did not anti-air] X amount of times' or 'You took damage on wake-up X amount of times because you pressed a button', etc. so he/she knows where to improve and doesn't just give up on learning the game. And finally, a reward system would extremely helpful as well. Something that informs you are improving and pushes forward with rewards/incentives. The online play rank up system simply isn't fit for that.

In In the absence of a local community or a friend that can teach you, I think features like that would be monumental and would result in more players taking the game seriously. I think its also important to include some community info in the game so players can know of at least a forum or site they can connect with others and what events are coming up that are officially supported. Of course, all of that would take a large amount of effort. I seriously hope that someone takes a stab at it someday though.