There is something I'd like to say regarding this manner, something that I do think is a bit overlooked. Long post by the way, if anyone cares to read.
No community is perfect. While I can't speak on behalf of TOs and tournaments as i've never been to one, I can tell you that alot of the shit that happens here in the NRS community, happens elsewhere when it comes to how toxic a scene can get.
NRS scene is still relatively young. Although Mortal Kombat has been around for years as it's own franchise, it really didn't start to make an entrance as a "true" (I understand games like UMK3 were played in tournaments, but they weren't striving for competitive play I think) competitive fighting game until MK9. That was back in 2011. Three years have passed since then, that is honestly not a very long time. I remember playing MK9 when it first came out like it was yesterday.
When Injustice came out, I knew the community was going to be up in arms about it. However, people should not be obligated to play a game they don't like. Street Fighter players don't always play Marvel, for instance. Some prefer just one or the other. But they don't shit on it. Unless the game is very bad and plays terribly and doesn't run like it should, you shouldn't just shit on a game that's trying to be different than what some are used to. I'm happy to see some people are at least getting this lesson, but I wish it was a bit more widespread. Not trying to be condescending, but as people mentioned before in this topic this community is teething with negativity alot. Though it should be noted, that it's a smaller percentage of people than one might think.
I was introduced to MK9 via online. I was apart of clans (my TYM tag shows that, though I wish I could personally change it as i'm not in any clan right now.) and that brought me into the world of TYM and other sites to talk about competitive Mortal Kombat or NRS games in general. Although I'd love to enter a tournament someday, I currently cannot due to financial and living situations i'm still trying to manage. I've played some other fighting games online, mainly Arcade Edition v.2012 and recently Ultra, along with BlazBlue ChronoPhantasma and The King Of Fighters 13, and even older games before then that I played but was too young to really compete in or understand fully.
My point being as I mentioned when it comes to toxicity, the fighting game community has always had drama. For example, it's well known FilipinoChamp doesn't exactly get along with IFC Yipes, or even more recently: Sanford Kelly, someone who's been around since MVC2 mind you, is more well known now for his salt rather than his in game ability which is a shame, but he put the spotlight on himself for not keeping a level, cool head and slamming his stick on the ground.
Those guys I mentioned? All won tournaments of various degrees. I want to say I think they all won EVO in some capacity, but don't quote me. I'm still really new to the scene. The shit talking has always been around. It's just the NRS scene makes it a bit more... Well known. Not that it's a bad thing, but as we saw in this topic... Alot of it really should stay private and not have it be thrown around as much as it is to a public degree. However, when the Capcom players talk about games, and what they feel is broken or silly or nonsensical, most people just leave it as that: Their opinion.
I respect the top players, but something I wish that the FGC would note is that nothing is ever set in stone. A matchup can be really bad for a long time, until someone discovers something crazy, like T. Hawk's negative edge command grabs that literally bumped him up the tier list years later after the game had been out for quite sometime. There's always something new to learn or exploit or crack in a game that hasn't been discovered yet. Just ask @
SonicFox5000 when he figured out Batgirl's infinite. No one had yet dared to try, so why not? Luckily it was quickly patched, but that's some food for thought I suppose.
I know lately Alex Valle has been tweeting that he wants players to be more accountable for their scenes, and that if we want the FGC to be a big thing, then we must treat it like it's a big thing. Alot of that though does account for personal behavior. I can't speak for too many people, but this is just my opinion:
Play your games, but never think you're bigger than what you actually are. Alot of people see you on stream and you can either choose to be a positive influence, promote your events and communities, or you can be really negative and influence people wrongly, or drive them away.
Also, it should be noted that you should never just follow the opinions of someone just for the sake of doing so. Even if they're very vocal about it and judge you immensely for it. I've come on here, and there have been times where "Top" players shit on the opinions or views of others because it's not how they perceive things or so on and so forth. I think it should be known, that people must feel free to express themselves regardless of who you are or what you do. This is a public forum. It is not governed by the elite few that believe they are the be all end all to NRS games, and fighting games.
Lastly, I think that any effort to bring the community together is a big deal, and should always be given more attention than a callout topic, someone getting salty, you know the deal. At the end of the day, we only have us to promote the scene. NRS has been nice to give pot bonuses in the past of course, but when the tournament's over, it's just us going back to doing what we do. The results get posted here, at SRK and other sites that give a damn for what we do.
@
tylerlansdown I was really hoping to hear what you had to say. I think that if NRS can be helpful in some manner to this, I would certainly love to see what could be done or said. We really do care about the scene and these games. Don't let the vocal minority who would rather just sling insults from a computer screen deter you from hearing the rest of us out.
I may of not worded this very well, so if someone wants me to explain further, go ahead and say so lol. Oh, and this post isn't calling out anyone in particular. I left names out on purpose because it's time we start putting some of this petty shit behind us. We can still have our friendly blow ups, call outs and what have you, but let's just leave that as competition, and not make it personal anymore for the sake of the scene.
top floor with a balcony!!
