Orion D. Black -They/Them- · @DungeonCommandr
19th Jul 2016 from TwitLonger
The Global Smash 4 Discussion Group
I'm here to clear some air on what this group is and how we function. Because of recent events, the community has a lot of questions as to what the group is and what it's for.
First I want to make it supremely clear that it is not a "back room" in the way that Smash knows it in the past. It was made in February of 2015 because I and some others (Bear, D1, prog) wanted to see the Smash 4 community communicating with each other on a global scale, hence the name. THE INTENT AND USE IS NOT TO BE A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS WHO WANT TO DECIDE EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE. If that was the case, we wouldn't have over 100 members. Some are heavily anti-Mii or pro-Mii. Some still use 3 stocks over 2. We have never sat down to make a decision representing the entire Smash 4 community, even now. It's simply a group where TOs, community leaders, and experienced individuals (mostly from Melee) can go for advice or assistance, or even promotion of smaller regions like Ireland or Kuwait.
Today, a statement was released somewhat quickly from our group. Based on the recent events with Hyuga, many people expressed concern about having him at tournaments, and many people have been expecting TOs to express their stance on the situation. So we did we we do and a discussion began. Before it was completely reviewed, it was posted and will be followed up with more clarity as to what events will be upholding the ban.
Honestly I think that things moved rather quickly because of the concern for the community's safety and the need as a concerned and caring TO to calm and remind the community that your leaders are listening. There was some misuse of our group's intent and function, and I can see why it's upsetting to some.
"We didn't elect anyone."
"Who are these people."
"Why should we listen to them."
I think that authority needs to be an action item for the smash 4 community, but the discussion group doesn't focus on that. Nor do I want it to, personally. It's the best tool we had at the time the statement was made and it makes sense to me. But I would ask instead, that we DO move towards finding individuals that the community trusts and CAN elect into a position of authority for situations such as this one. But that's a whole other topic on it's own, so I'll end here.
tl;dr: a mistake was made due to the desire to resolve a situation quickly. the discussion group is actually just for discussion. this is a new situation and it will take time for many TOs to figure out where they stand on the matter, but the community will be informed on where the ban applies. I highly recommend reaching out to your local community pages to discuss this and how your region wants to handle it.
REMINDER: If you want to message me about this because you have questions, please don't send a series of tweets. We already do each other the disservice of spending less than 140 characters to convey complex ideas often enough, let's skip that part this time around. Feel free to post my answers publicly if I don't do so myself.
Oh, and the group is a "secret FB group" because it gives people a chance to think and process an idea before moving forward, in case you were wondering.