SSBM Tournament Rules Poll

[gemineye42]

Set # 1 is how they are currently defined:

4 Player FFA, semi / finals 1on1
Stocks: 4
Time Limit: 5 minutes
Damage Ratio: 1.0
Stage Selection: Random
Pause: Off
Self Destructs: -1
Item Drop Rate: Off / Low (If people agree upon it)
Available Items

Ray Gun, Super Scope, Fire Flower, Lip’s Stick, Star Rod, Beam Sword, Home-Run Bat, Fan, Motion-Sensor Bomb, Parasol, Screw Attack

Available Stages

Peach’s Castle, Kongo Jungle, Jungle Japes, Yoshi’s Story, Yoshi’s Island, Fountain of Dreams, Green Greens, Corneria, Venom, Onett, Mute City, Pokemon Stadium, Fourside, Mushroom Kingdom 2, Kongo Jungle (Past), Yoshi’s Island (Past), Dream Land (Past), Final Destination, Battlefield

Set #2:

2 Player 1on1
Stocks: 4
Time Limit: 8 minutes
Damage Ratio: 1.0
Stage Selection: Random
Pause: Off
Self Destructs: -1
NO ITEMS
SINGLE ELIMINATION
Available Stages

Peach’s Castle, Kongo Jungle, Jungle Japes, Yoshi’s Story, Yoshi’s Island, Fountain of Dreams, Green Greens, Corneria, Venom, Onett, Mute City, Pokemon Stadium, Fourside, Mushroom Kingdom 2, Kongo Jungle (Past), Yoshi’s Island (Past), Dream Land (Past), Final Destination, Battlefield

Thanks for voting!

[HellSap]

Please note that voting for 2 gets a player cap at around 128, instead of vote 1 being more forgiving of a cap, with at least 256 or greater.

[HeavenscloneX]

Smaller, faster tournaments are a preference.

[JUDEKO]

Smaller, faster tournaments are a preference.

Larger tournaments are fine if you have the means to run them.  With a time restriction of around 4 hours with only 4 to 5 stations and limited space to set up more stations, a larger tournament can take up more than 4 hours.  Especially if you want to keep track of a loser's bracket.  Now if the tournament was smaller, a loser's bracket is not out of the question because your first bracket will go by quick if its best of 1 match.

PAX 2007 changed their ruleset this year.  They did away with items, 4 player FFA, and it is only single elimination.  They have it scheduled for 4pm to 8pm with a cap of 256 players.  It also sounds like they only have 4 stations to work with (I am basing this off of the "32 pools of 8 players, 1 vs 1".  They also say that if time allows, finals will be best 2 out of 3 or best 3 out of 5, but if there is not enough time, it will be best of 1 match.  A cap of 128 is fine, but 256 is still possible if it is single elimination.  One thing that is different is they have 6 minute time limits verses option #2's 8 minute time limits.  I would venture to say, if you want to save on time even more, cut it down to 6 minutes.  A typical 1 vs 1 match takes anywhere from 4:30 minutes to 6:30 minutes.

Something to take into consideration.

PAX 2007 Console Forum Thread:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=18373

Judeko

[hitokiri]

I would want #2 for sure... but I'd be great if the stage was only Final Destination on that, to make things even!

[Truedoogie]

I would want #2 for sure... but I'd be great if the stage was only Final Destination on that, to make things even!

Final Destination favors projectile characters.  Also, if someone knows how to do the pillar of death with Fox or Falco, it is much more difficult to do it on, say, Pokemon Stadium.

Really though, there should only be about 6 stages.  If you want people to be upset, leave the stages with random occurances like Arwings in.  Losing a match that you paid for because of an environmental hazard that is totally random is one of the worst things a player can go through.  There is no reason why any stage with any random occurance should EVER be at any tournament.

[gemineye42]

Actually, nobody is paying to play in these tournaments. We are giving away real prizes for them and they have no entry cost aside from having a con badge, which I hardly think people purchase just to play in tournaments. =)

[JUDEKO]

Actually, nobody is paying to play in these tournaments. We are giving away real prizes for them and they have no entry cost aside from having a con badge, which I hardly think people purchase just to play in tournaments. =)

I believe he means paying into the convention for the sole purpose of playing in the tournament and losing because of those stipulations.

Judeko

[Truedoogie]

Actually, nobody is paying to play in these tournaments. We are giving away real prizes for them and they have no entry cost aside from having a con badge, which I hardly think people purchase just to play in tournaments. =)

There are some people who pay to enter the con JUST for the tournament.  We had people willing to pay to get into Sakuracon JUST for the Smash tournament there as well.

I'm sure a large majority of the attendees are there for more than just Smash, but there are some who are there just for Smash.

[gemineye42]

We will try to keep the rules as neutral as possible, but this is why we are holding the poll. The majority votes will decide the rules set and anyone coming to the con for the tournament will have had ample time to read and understand the rules before they play. Thanks for voting, everyone!

[aaero]

4 Player FFA just adds too much of a random element. Any time there are more than 2 "teams" in a game you introduce factors outside of player skill - if the tournament is to find the days best Smash player, option #2 is the better option.

[HeavenscloneX]

If there is an amazing smasher in a 4-man FFA, then it is most likely that the other players will team up an eliminate him or her.  That seems a bit unfair, also.

[gemineye42]

I am very pleased with all the debate on this topic, since it has been a large debate with the tournament organizers. Keep putting your thoughts forward and don't forget to vote! We will take the most popular choice for rules this year, and next year we'll have a whole new game to argue about!

[DMStudios]

and next year we'll have a whole new game to argue about!

Brawl FTW!!!

[Zinchack]

Yay for option two. I would like to say that they ran the S-con 07 tournament and it went very well.

[balmno]

Choose option 2. If its a 4 player FFA, anything can happen. Even people who are horrible do alright in a FFA match. Also a lot of times people just stand around avoiding battle.

[DMStudios]

So, have the final rules been decided?  And if we are doing the 1v1, what is the cap?  And when and where do we sign up for the tourney?  I must know!!

[Radien]

Personally, I think two-player SSBM is not nearly as fun as 4-player FFA.  Having 4 players opens up quite a few new strategies that people must master. The chaos is also hella fun.

But then, when it comes to 4-player, I blame the whole "cowardice wins" accusation on the fact that everybody plays Stock. Timed battle doesn't have that particular problem.

Anyway, I may prefer 4-player Timed Battle, but I'm probably not going to play in the tourney (I'm not very good at SSBM...Soul Calibur's my forte). That said, 2-player is probably a more accurate determinant of sheer skill, even though it's not as fun to watch. But since I'm not  participating... no vote.

[VenusGospel]

All i have to say is, Rule set #2 ftw, and see you there tudios, this should be epic, i hope, training with Riot and MGLR may have gotten me a bit better, so i guess i'll cya there

oh yeah, curious, what's the prize?

[gemineye42]

Prizes will be EB Games gift cards or Kumoricash.

[Ryanne_monday]

Okay so there are of course draw backs of double teaming in the first set but isn't that what Brawl is about? Crazy, quick thinking combo, and cut throat tactics. Give to set 1. I mean, are players going to be right next to each other durring this? Or are we going to be seperated by some means. If their's talking and direct conversing with each other then the double team is much more likely, and perhaps even more interesting, but if not, no worries. More chaos, more fun.
Simple as that.

[HellSap]

So, have the final rules been decided?  And if we are doing the 1v1, what is the cap?  And when and where do we sign up for the tourney?  I must know!!

1v1 has a 128 person cap. Might be able to beg for more if theres A) enough copies of the game. B) enough angry mobs.

Pre-reg for tournaments - Opening day, there will be a signup sheet.

[laharlsama]

well when I played it was a 1v1 this year wasn't it? well anyway, I got the boot in the first round due to a silly character pic *hee hee nes for the win* hahahaha to bad I lost as him, but I hdnt played in some time.

on the basis for the turney id say 2 is the way to go. when you got 4 people at one battle, what if you are in a 4 way battle with your mortal enemies, anything can happen heh heh, but yes. 2 ftw!