True Blue Kiro · @CFS_Kiro13
28th Jun 2016 from TwitLonger
RIP True Blue's Tourney Experience
CEO was fun because I got to talk with all the people I normally cannot or don't talk to unless I see them at a big tournament. Everything was cool and fine as I competed on the first day of CEO and played through my bracket pools matches as instructed until I would reach Winners Final where I got my chance to play on stream, for once. Cause normally I don't make it far enough or I am still on Loser's side where those matches are not necessarily a priority to have on stream.
Though I was excited this year because with some unfortunate turn of events for me I was able to make it out on Winners Side of my pool, which got me pretty excited because that meant I would have another chance to play on stream and try my hardest infront of people who are cheering for me from home. But then when the second day came around and they called all the winners to the stream set up they had started putting matches on stream and called me out to get ready to play Nakat. Though with my luck I was only being called to be told to play on a setup in the back of the ballroom off stream. At first I was like, "Eh, it happens. There are a lot of matches." But I wanted to check just to see why and see if there was even a remote possibility of playing on stream and when I confronted and asked I was simply told, "No, we are not putting you on stream because you play Sonic." That ultimately hit me in and stuck in my head throughout the weekend and actually made my time at CEO worse. Especially when later on I found out that the same scenario happened in my Bracket Pool where they were going to have my match on stream and someone came by and told my Bracket TO, "No, this guy plays Sonic. Have them play off stream."
So as the day went on I played my Losers Matches and kept thinking during the sets, "Is it even worth it. In the end I am just playing in the back of the room where no one is willing to watch nor cares what is happening." And practicing/competing for Smash can and usually takes up a big portion of my week. But I just think that every time I play it won't matter unless I get to Winners Finals at any event because no matter what, since I play Sonic, they will not put me on the stream unless there is no other option. And it is not just me, I saw it happen to other Sonic players as well through out the weekend. And it honestly is not right. Because of that you fail to give players acknowledgement in the community. And if a player can't get acknowledged on a stream how else can they be known.
I would want nothing else to potentially get a sponsor and rep them, and I know I need to get better, but at the rate that people handle things at tournaments it probably won't matter. Because what sponsor would want to sponsor a player whose character is less likely to give them stream time. The fact that people choose specifically to not showcase players because of their characters is actually hurting those players. And people come up with the same excuse about Sonic players playing lame. Well that in itself is just dumb, because EVERY one plays lame with their character. Whether it is a Rosa player sitting there pressing jab 1 > Jab 2 over and over until they get a confirm, or a Pikachu spamming T-Jolt and Quick Attacking from one platform to the next or heck even Mario's doing nothing but short hop Back Airs or fireballs. Every character in this game plays lame in their own way. Just people don't want to acknowledge that because it is either their character, their favorite player or etc.
When I play, I take a lot of things to heart. I usually have music to drown out a lot of the hate when I play because I have mega low self esteem. But that can't always stop me from hating what I am hearing. In the end this all sucks how one character that I feel at home when playing, the one character whom I feel I can play optimally because I suck with any other, the one character I grew up liking and playing games of... It is the one character that gets me the most hate from people in the community to the point where no one cares. There are plenty of moments where I wonder why I still play. Probably because I put a lot of time into it already? Or maybe cause I am hoping for something to change. Or it is probably all my friends who still cheer me on from home and look at the bracket and see me progress through it. But I want people to see ME, not some name on a screen moving from one box to the next.
Maybe I am taking this too much to heart but I felt that I needed to post and say this. It was definitely something that ruined my weekend at CEO and will probably ruin my time at any events I go to from now on since most of the TO's and Streamers are the same people at other events, so it definitely wasn't CEO's fault just the people running smash.
I love this game too much to stop playing and I know I have people out there who are fans of mine, so I definitely won't be quitting any time soon. But if the way things are run stay like that I don't know how long I will be happy going out to events.