Today, I was looking and the Combo Breaker numbers, and reflecting on something: we have more entrants at Combo Breaker than we had at the first EVO for MK9. I think it’s pretty impressive how our scene has grown, and the FGC along with it.
When I first found this community in late 2011, it was a far cry from what we’re dealing with right now. We were usually given whatever the worst venue space was (tucked away in some tiny basement corner). I think someone actually played pools matches on a setup in a bathroom once. Several Top 8s at majors were not streamed. Numerous pools at majors were not streamed. And streams we did have used to go down all the time, frequently in the middle of hotly contested matches in stuff like Top 32. It was a mess.
(Once Pig used his own cell phone 4G at a tournament he wasn’t streaming, but was competing in, to save a completely wrecked stream for the fans. That’s crazy).
Back then even our absolute best players all saved their own money to travel to events. To hopefully win enough just to do it again. Pot bonuses were few and far between, and mostly regulated to launch events and big esports orgs like MLG. People played for props and because they loved the game.
Our game was also beyond broken. And internet play was highly questionable with a ton of lag and delay. Training mode was of somewhat dubious usage (people used to use second controllers, quick pause menu switching, and other gimmicks to try to test things out).
We depended on a solitary, anonymous donor for frame data, which we didn’t have for much of the game’s early months. It was like Christmas whenever he’d post the fame data for another character.
This year we head into Combo Breaker as the marquee game, with a title that isn’t broken, has a useful practice mode, and probably the best netplay of any major fighting game. We will have a stream. There will be lots of money involved and a league. And a number of players have sponsors paying their airfare. Whoever wins will be able to afford more than just their ticket to the next event. That’s pretty cool.
In any case, I hope we take a moment to just look back and appreciate where we’re standing in the present, compared to the past. I’m excited to see where we go from here.
Here’s to a great tournament run for MK11.. And beyond!
When I first found this community in late 2011, it was a far cry from what we’re dealing with right now. We were usually given whatever the worst venue space was (tucked away in some tiny basement corner). I think someone actually played pools matches on a setup in a bathroom once. Several Top 8s at majors were not streamed. Numerous pools at majors were not streamed. And streams we did have used to go down all the time, frequently in the middle of hotly contested matches in stuff like Top 32. It was a mess.
(Once Pig used his own cell phone 4G at a tournament he wasn’t streaming, but was competing in, to save a completely wrecked stream for the fans. That’s crazy).
Back then even our absolute best players all saved their own money to travel to events. To hopefully win enough just to do it again. Pot bonuses were few and far between, and mostly regulated to launch events and big esports orgs like MLG. People played for props and because they loved the game.
Our game was also beyond broken. And internet play was highly questionable with a ton of lag and delay. Training mode was of somewhat dubious usage (people used to use second controllers, quick pause menu switching, and other gimmicks to try to test things out).
We depended on a solitary, anonymous donor for frame data, which we didn’t have for much of the game’s early months. It was like Christmas whenever he’d post the fame data for another character.
This year we head into Combo Breaker as the marquee game, with a title that isn’t broken, has a useful practice mode, and probably the best netplay of any major fighting game. We will have a stream. There will be lots of money involved and a league. And a number of players have sponsors paying their airfare. Whoever wins will be able to afford more than just their ticket to the next event. That’s pretty cool.
In any case, I hope we take a moment to just look back and appreciate where we’re standing in the present, compared to the past. I’m excited to see where we go from here.
Here’s to a great tournament run for MK11.. And beyond!