Smash Brothers & SkullGirls: Bonding Communities?

BrandX · February 1

Well as we all know, the donation drive has ended, and Smash Brothers has come out on top. We were all not saddened though, as SkullGirls currently has a future to look forward to (Xbox Patch, Squiggly, PC Version) and it seems that in the end, both sides won.

Not many of you have noticed, but I was on the smash boards a ton during this whole donation drive, my name has literally spread all over those forums, I'm seen as basically the ambassador of both of the communities (though none of you would know because you guys were focusing on the drive and more important things). Literally everyone on there likes me, and even during their spirit bomb stream everyone was chanting my name.

From my time there, everyone has seen SkullGirls as a great and legit game, and tons on there are willing to support it. People are constantly suggesting that SkullGirls be added to the line up of Genesis 3, basically Smash's evo which takes place a week after Evo, and many people have ended up buying the game because of the powerful efforts SkullGirls had put into this entire competition. They respect us dearly and no amount of trolls that come to put us down can change that.

I am friends with many of the Smashers there and I have become a smasher myself, been playing Project M, and that community is actually one of the nicest communities I've ever met. I was astounded by how welcoming they were, they were shaky about me at first, but then they accepted me with open arms.

So my basic message is, we should support smash as they are willing to support us. We should bond our communities and support each other. Separate we are strong, but together, we are invincible.

I say, we should take the opportunity and get ourselves into Genesis 3. They are still deciding everything, but if we show them enough hands, maybe they'll consider.

I say, lets bond our communities. They even have a SkullGirls topic on their boards, so we can spread the love there as well. What do you say guys?

Trekiros · February 1

As a first response from a smasher would be anticlimactic, I'm only going to answer 1 thing :
I'm gonna buy SG tonight.

Zidiane · February 1

Smash Girls or Skull Bros.? We gotta pick a name.

And yeah, I was thinking a few days ago, why don't we have special streams, one where a Skullgirls player is taught how to play by a smash player, and one where a Smash player is taught by a skullgirls player? We could learn each other's respective games, help both communities grow, and have fun at the same time? I don't know much about how Melee players get together, but I'm sure something could be worked out. And it could be a weekly thing. I'd like to see this happen.

SillyGoose · February 1

I've been smash for life, but I purchased SkullGirls this week. This donation drive has honestly been a life-altering experience.

Shoutouts to BrandX, don't remember people chanting your name on stream but I do feel like I've witnessed some growth in maturity in your posts on both srk and smashboards

gf Skull Bros

BrandX · February 1

SillyGoose, post: 7961361, member: 83968 wrote:

I've been smash for life, but I purchased SkullGirls this week. This donation drive has honestly been a life-altering experience.

Shoutouts to BrandX, don't remember people chanting your name on stream but I do feel like I've witnessed some growth in maturity in your posts on both srk and smashboards

gf Skull Bros

It was in the chat, didn't last very long lol

Xyless · February 1

Skull Smash Girls & Bros

Eternal · February 1

You know what is perfect? Remember who was talking about trying to mod Skullgirls waaaay back in the day? Dantarion. You know what else Dantarion did? he works on the Brawl to Melee mod ProjectM.

Skullgirls and Smash been tied for longer than you even know!

Also: I never played Smash comeptitively but I've ALWAYS argued that it was a legit fighting game and I dislike the idiocy surrounding that argument. Can't wait for Smash 4

deadacid · February 1

Zidiane, post: 7961356, member: 22679 wrote:

...one where a Skullgirls player is taught how to play by a smash player, and one where a Smash player is taught by a skullgirls player?

Someone teach me how to be Salem-godlike with Zero Suit Samus, and I'll teach you how to be very bad with Cerebella

Qoheleth · February 1

Number 13 · February 1

-Probably the most hyped up moment for a shave

GG Smash,things really escalated quickly with the time winding down making things interesting in the end while at the same time contributing $ 200k+ for Breast Cancer Research. This probably surprised Wizard as well.

This event delivered alot of excitement before Evo even began with the places going back and forth. Originally thought this would be boring with FiM taking it for free, but since the rule tweaks this was one hell of a roller-coaster from the start to finish. Smash is not my cup of tea game, but not gonna deny the community dedication that game has. Gl with your game and hope you guys avoid any misfortunes like a Sudden Black List due to a douche donator or any negative press about stolen equipment sticking to you

Enough Rabbling from me, Tired and have to finish up some computer work -_-

King Funk · February 1

deadacid, post: 7961376, member: 51112 wrote:

Someone teach me how to be Salem-godlike with Zero Suit Samus, and I'll teach you how to be very bad with Cerebella

Too bad Melee doesn't have ZSS. =p

Shawn_P · February 1

'Twas an epic battle with to many hype moments to count.

Shoutouts:

BrandX- who I'm pretty sure already has more posts on Smashboards than I do. Good stuff.

Raz0r- 90% of your posts make me laugh out loud.

Number 13- So glad you're snipe wasn't as scary as you made it out to be LOL.

Master Chibi- Pretty sure I didn't see a single post of yours that didn't have the word fuck in it. While abrasive, you did make plenty of good points and I learned a lot from reading your posts throughout this donation drive. Good stuff.

Guy with mohawk picture (can't remember his name LOL) - Keep up the trolling. You make me laugh every time.

Mike Z- Realest guy in the world. I can see why your fans are so passionate about your game and about you. Good shit man.

I'd be happy to see Skullgirls at Genesis 3, but that isn't up to the community, it is up to the TO (Boback) so you'll have to find him on Smashboards.

It's 5:30am and I need to sleep. Night everyone. gg

Zidiane · February 1

Number 13, post: 7961387, member: 67851 wrote:

-Probably the most hyped up moment for a shave

GG Smash,things really escalated quickly with the time winding down making things interesting in the end while at the same time contributing $ 200k+ for Breast Cancer Research. This probably surprised Wizard as well.

Is that an Adventure Time reference? To the episode Davey?

Also, slightly under 226k was raised, yes sir. And I don't think there is a single person who knows of this drive that wasn't surprised at the outcome.

Danx · February 1

My 2 cents.

The SG and smash community had a strong bonding moment IMO. In being fiercely competitive against each other I think both communities were able to see the determination and drive from both sides and in the process developed a strong mutual respect. Its probably the 1st time I've ever seen 2 communities be so openly hostile towards each other and competitive....and for this last week it really seemed like it could go either way. I think after all the fighting and bloodshed it only makes sense for both communities to combine their efforts into something stronger then what each community was able to accomplish by itself.

In saying this I already saw some post on smash boards which instantly rejected the idea saying that both games are too dissimilar and that we dont need to unite together but rather work on building our communities stronger separately. While I agree we have to strengthen ourselves apart to become a stronger whole, we also have to remember that there is only so much a single community can accomplish in the FGC. Capcom fighters have the benefit of being under a single publisher which makes it easy to overlap the player base between games like SF4 and UMVC3. Its very common to see top players from SF4 be top players in UMVC3 and as such when there are SF4 tournaments its a organic fit to include UMVC3 and vice versa.

Other fighters in the FGC don't have this benefit so instead we see smaller more fractured communities building their own scene. It's not a thing mind you, but it means a massive reduction in exposure and resources because each game is sustained by a single community for the most part. For whatever reason each game community has this tribalism tendency to split people into groups and make it a "us"vs"them"situation when in reality we all need to work together in building a stronger cohesive unity. The very fact that evo is the only venue in the FCG where multiple games can be showcased in a important relevant matter speaks volumes about just how limited we have made ourselves by restricting games to certain events or communities. It doesnt mean we have to lose our unique charms by joining forces but rather just bringing the best of what we have into a bigger pot. Maybe it would be possible to have more"evo"like events in the FGC if other communities stopped insisting everyone should just play in their own sandbox instead of just erasing the lines and coming together for a common goal.

The capcom community has been doing this for years which is why they have always been the biggest scene in the FGC. Could you imagine major SF events that didnt allow UMVC3/SFXT and if each game had to build separate events that were completely self sustained ...a good half of the player population from each community would drop off instantly. This isn't to say that each game cant build its own identity but what I think should happen is that more major events per community should make a better effort to include other games and to maybe even build new events through combined resources and effort. A new tournament event featuring both smash and SG could have amazing potential just like if the tekken/VF/DOA5/SC5 community all combined into 1...I think its worth a shot and Id loved for both communities to become brothers in arms after this past week.

Roustane · February 1

So much love has been spread around the world of many communities and I'd just like to say I've been completely overwhelmed by the dedication and passion everyone had. I could not even express it properly on stream... it was way too much. <3 I will definitely support SG when it comes out on PC for the future of the game and I really hope both smash and SG can feed off each other to create something even greater!

nekro_surge · February 1

Just wanto pop in and say GG! it was emotional not gonna lie. Not good with words so just go to stream archive and watch MIKE Z speech! Epic man gives epic speech! And if you want to see awesome pic I took of him go to twitter @nekro_surge
Wouldn't say bonding, more like mutual respect... until we meet at a tourney then anything goes!

vermanubis · February 1

The FGC (Smash included) truly is something else. Though it takes a good bit of explaining to elucidate to some people that I travel the country playing fighting games, I'm very proud to be a part of this community.

I'll remember to reference this drive next time someone looks at me funny for committing time from my life to playing fighting games. Not too many people can say that their community raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for something just to support the games they love.

I know it's trite right now, but we should be thankful that we've adopted such an aggressively burgeoning phenomenon in its infancy, and that we're the pioneers of what was, has been and will to continue to be something absolutely fantastic.

I know that the general perception of Smash is that we pine for acceptance, and that there'll no doubt be folks who'll view the fat stack of benjies in Melee's donation pool as one would view some poindexter soliciting a popular kid to be his best friend with money. However, I hope that Evo gives Smash another chance to show everyone that the distinction between Smash and FGC is vacuous.

The way I see it, competitors in the FGC are still gravely misunderstood. I know that when I tell 98% of the people that I meet that I play competitive Brawl, AE and MK9, they give the same bemused look. I think it's pretty--nay--profoundly retarded on either side to compartmentalize each others communities. If you don't make the distinction to strangers, don't make it in the community. The FGC is still in its grassroots phase all things considered, and it's a little silly to quibble rather than just respect each other as competitors.

Edit: Not to mention, I respected SG from the beginning ever since hearing that they had the mind to hire Michiru Yamane for the OST. I can't possibly withhold reverence from a game touched by Yamane.

Leafbarrett · February 1

Zidiane, post: 7961356, member: 22679 wrote:

Smash Girls or Skull Bros.? We gotta pick a name.

We will be... Skullsmash.

Seriously though, great showing from all of you guys. In retrospect, this whole event has been a blast, and for a while, we were sure that you were going to beat us out, with how remarkably quickly you closed the gap. (I mean good lord, you raised $40k in what, 12-18 hours? That's what you call determination.) I don't think... No, I know for a fact that we wouldn't have raised even a fraction of the amount we raised without you guys pushing us along. And for that, I give my sincerest thanks. You guys rock.

I personally haven't played Skullgirls, and I don't have the means to on my own, but thanks to the magic of my college's game room, I may just have access to it, and I will be all over that if I get half a chance. Skullgirls for Genesis!

JakeWasHere · February 1

Spoiler:

(PLEASE NOTE: THIS IMAGE MAY NOT BE ENTIRELY SERIOUS, AND ITS CREATOR AUTHORIZES IT FOR USAGE IN ALL NON-SERIOUS SITUATIONS. AND PERSONALLY, I THINK "SUPER SKULL BROS." HAS A CERTAIN RING TO IT.)

Kmatador77 · February 1

Any smashers wanna play SG though?

Srsly, PSN: Kmatador77

Yakal · February 1

Just poppin' in to say I have a crush on the SG community.

Shouts to BrandX for being a homie.

AerodynOmyx · February 1

I think my respect will be shown IF things go well for Smash at EVO.

Don't screw this up guys.

Yakal · February 1

We've been at evo before and it was a success. We got this.

Doshington · February 1

I would be lying if I said the trolls from the melee community didn't bother me at all (especially towards the end of the SG stream before Mike made his statement there were LOTS of people saying some nasty stuff to the SG community to the point where the mods couldn't even ban them quick enough), but I am glad that many melee players are reasonable and pretty much the same as us.

I'm mature enough to look past what's happened (can't go wrong with forgive but don't forget!), so congratulations, everybody from the SSBM community!

Mister Eric · February 1

As a Brawler, I'm happy to see even the idea of a particular FGC wanting to join forces with the Smash community. We've always been a grass roots community, and during my 4 years of traveling, I've seen the community, at least in the Midwest, grow, diminish and grow again; it's always a tug-of-war battle to get smash out there. Nintendo wants nothing to do without our competitive side which is why even though we had like seemingly 3x the amount of attendance at MLG 2010 events than Tekken did, we had zero exposure, no permission for a live stream, nothing (but a poorly updated blog). We weren't even considered for another season, and I don't blame MLG. So, like many of you, I see this as a great opportunity for a branch of the FGC to just give us a chance and I'm interested to see what the smash community will give back <3. We're awesome people for the most part, I wouldn't be so dedicated if people weren't so chill in this community.
Anywho, thanks for all the donations for such an amazing cause, and if SG can't make it to Genesis 3, then definitely try to get into APEX 2014, which is really Smash's evo.

Overlord_Haze · February 1

I love all you Skull Bros :pleased:

Naerasa · February 1

I played the crap out of melee for like five years after it came out, and the only reason I switched to brawl was the bigger character roster. I'll never be the type of person who wants to play that series tournament style - I think it's more fun with bananas and smash balls and weird stages - but I have total respect for those who do and it's awesome how much their community raised. I'd love to see the SG and SSBM communities get along!

Possibly Dohnut · February 1

Great stuff. SG's future looks really good from where I'm standing and with the 360 patch dropping (hopefully) sometime soon plus all the other good news as of late. I'll definitely be trying to keep momentum going for this game along with everyone else. I'm glad that in the grand scheme of things the Smash people turned out extremely respectful and very open; sans a few, but what can you expect? And we turned around from being a game that was thought to barely have anything to it anymore and showed that was hardly the case. We raised an insane amount money for a great cause and in doing so helped out the community and really everyone in-general. Oh, and BrandX I think you answered your own question of how to generate interest from a few weeks ago. :)

Anyways, enough of this sappy feel-good stuff. Great job to everyone and I hope to see you around one way or another.

zferolie · February 1

Man, 170,000 plus dollars for breast cancer just from us and Smash. That alone is a achievement, and should be applauded.

While I wish skullgirls won, the smash community did a great job, and I congratulate them, and wish them luck at evo. You guys deserved it.

As for the future of skullgirls, I don't think we need to worry about that. The amount of money we donated, PC version, Squigly news, and the love this communities and creators have for this game is amazing, and I see this game going for a long time. I think we should all be very happy.

Now, did Alex post all his sketches he did? I donated an extra hundred last night and was hoping he made the pictures I asked for. I really want to see him draw Myrine again, and also see Peacock and Marie before they were taken by the slavers.

I also had Personasama draw me a bunch of pictures to. Can't wait to see those. All in all, I am happy I donated over 200 dollars to this cause.

Rekano · February 1

http://rekano.tumblr.com/day/2013/02/01

Smash and Skullgirls teaming up?
Well shit. I'm down.

I'm....so hungry. LOL.

Didn't really know where to post my link...but. Fuck it. It has a message to Smash in there too.

GHNeko · February 1

BrandX is the homie.

My vote is for Skull Bros.

Melee x SG. OTP.

Getting SG PC when it comes out.

Lets get SG into Genesis 3 or Apex 2014. <3

klaww · February 1

If this means SB4 could come out a bit faster, then I suppose I'll take it.

gluemchen · February 1

My heart is working in a normal fashion again. This night was crazy. Mad props for Melee to hold together and see it through until the very end. A fierce opponent indeed. But in the end every single one of us that had a reason to strife onward won tonight. You Smash Brothers deserve respect where respect is due. If anyone tells you otherwise, they probably just don`t understand you guys yet or just do not want to understand just for the sake of it. I hope you can represent what you stand for at EVO and prove those guys wrong. Am i sad that we lost?! I`d be lying if i said that i wasn`t. But atleast by doing this we helped show the world that Skullgirls is here to stay and is not dead. I might be from another continent, but i can still state my oppinion and share my dreams with others. So i guess i did just that. As for bonding goes, we both had to prove our standings in our community. With that said i feel you guys! Congratulations

DrinkingFood · February 1

This is the best thread on forums

Also we could just be super bash sisters

The Martian · February 1

Gg, Smash community. This was a sight to see indeed. Even though Skullgirls lost I'm glad everything turned out the way they did.

Also, let's get some SG matches going smashers. PSN: Shadaloo_Martian

alphazealot · February 1

The biggest strength of the Smash community is that it lives on it's own site and has existed separate from 'the hub' of the FGC. If the Skullgirls community wants to see success, the key is building up your community and part of that requires having your own site that you can call home. For Smash, this gave a huge advantage for the donation drive - a whole forum was created for organizing efforts, the Spirit Bomb could be promoted on the home page, etc. In all, Smashboards as a site for a single game has over 120,000 members and typically ~800-1,000 people online at a time (compare that to Shoryuken where a dozen games get ~1,200-~1,500 people online at a time).

Where the Smash community is today would not have been possible had we been accepted into EVO back in 2002 or 2003 when we just started holding tournaments. The community would have been absorbed into the FGC and lost it's identity, not built a history, not struggled to fight for every little inch of exposure, not become self sufficient, etc.

Today, there are over 500 Smash tournaments a year in North America, hundreds more occur all over the world, and almost all of these occur without other fighting games present, no developer support, and only the biggest actually have sponsors. Skullgirls shouldn't wait for CEO, EVO, Season's Beatings, Genesis 3 etc. to add their game - just start holding your own events! Don't piggyback on the work of others - that gives the control of your community to those who are outside of it.

Skullgirls already has two huge advantages working for it: a vibrant, dedicated community and Mike Z. The Skullgirls community proved how awesome and dedicated they are with this donation drive and Mike Z showed he cares about this community. It is a great start but if everyone in this thread or on this forum is serious about building and growing the Skullgirls community, the answer isn't partnering with Smash, it's building up your own scene, holding your own tournaments, promoting yourself, and not caring about what other communities think of you or looking for external validation. Back in 2007 there were 8 games at EVO, Melee is the only one of those games that is still played at tournaments around the world every single weekend. In 2008 there were 5 games, and Brawl is the only one that is still played at tournaments around the world every weekend. If the Skullgirls community would like that type of longevity, the answer isn't partnering with other communities, it's about building and finding your own way. Partnering surely wouldn't hurt, but I'm convinced if Smashers simply had a forum on SRK back in 2001/2002/2003, the community wouldn't exist today.

DrinkingFood · February 1

AlphaZealot for Smash World Forums Owner tier
no seriously listen to him he owns SWF and knows what he's talking about

Also with the DLC and PC announcements, was there any word on ~how long before the patch will be out on the 360? That's all I have access to right now and I was wondering if some SG bro wouldn't mind helping me out and practicing with me
I promise I'm not a lost cause, I'm a natural at video games :P

-AEON- · February 1

This is some pretty profound advice coming from the new owner of Smashboards. We would be wise to heed it. The Smash community began the same way as Skullgirls is now - a small, tightly-knit group of people who were wildly passionate about their game. In the long run, that means a lot.

Krisp · February 1

Qoheleth, post: 7961382, member: 83665 wrote:

Just wanted to say our stream was playing your stream at this point, feeling's mutual. Good shit to you guys, when you caught up and our wepay crashed I was freaking out, it was an intense night.

And your new char looks mad cute. I'm guessing the paper drawing transitions are probably because of unfinished animations but I think it'd be cool if she stayed that way, look awesome on your lined paper stage.

edit: also, I'm the one who called Brand X the ambassador, dude has 400 posts on SWF already lol he's been keeping up that mutual respect.

edit: @danx "It really did look like it could go either way"...okay now that was a smash reference right? You're from SWF aren't you :P

BrandX · February 1

You know, that is a damn good idea. Its a super damn good idea. Im going to need to talk to some people...

Possibly Dohnut · February 1

Just a thought: Maybe do some some sort drive thing for the pot for the Evo side tournament or whatever event? That way there's more incentive for the more casual SG people to have an interest with throwing in some cash than just: "People you probably don't know are going to have more reason to play it competitively." Not like it would need 70k+ (that'd work though :-P), but might be worth considering.

mega_buster · February 1

Talk to some of the top smash guys I think you guys could work well together

DrinkingFood · February 1

As Possibly suggests, I think a good way for the skull girls community to start working on this whole self-community building thing that we've been talking about would be to start a fund to increase the pot by a sizable amount for your side-tourney so you guys can have some serious attendance. Think of it as sort of raising the entry fee, but only for those willing, by suggesting that everyone donate 5-10 dollars for the pot, since as a side tourney, both the entry fee and thus the pot will likely be pretty small.

Yes, you will need to put in some extra work and money to help yourselves grow. That's how this works.

BrandX · February 1

We are aware of how it works lol

I Think thats a great idea.

GHNeko · February 1

Skullgirls having it's own forum would be great lol.

Nap1400 · February 1

I think there was talk on one of the other threads about why that forum on Skullgirls' official site never launched. Somewhere on the patch discussion. I'd have to find it...

gluemchen · February 1

Our own SG Website would be delicious!

BrandX · February 1

I personally think it would be a better change then this whole crap hole of a website, I'm sorry to say that but that's how I feel.

It slows down too much and crashes too often for comfort. I personally think that a personal website to the SkullGirls community would be beneficial in so many ways.

CrownAxe · February 1

I agree on getting our own forum, plus we could really show of the game's unique art style and get tournaments advertised.

We just need to find some people to get it started. Any volunteers?

0sh · February 1

Normally I'd volunteer to get it started myself, but are we absolutely sure that the official forums on skullgirls.com are not going ahead? Otherwise we'd just end up splitting the community even more between SRK, dustloop, the new forums and skullgirls.com.

Imposabear · February 1

Sucks skull girls didn't win, i love watching skull girls game play to learn something new. I like playing melee my self and sometimes, i still play it with friends when we are bored. I can't play Melee competitively because it gets really boring. Some times we still play brawl place that i go to. If the community wants to join us, i don't mind, sounds like fun.

Also the best song from Brawl is this song.

Best beat down song ever. LOL

Smash Brothers & SkullGirls: Bonding Communities?

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