I'm only going to say one thing about this thread: If you don't want to compete simply for the tournament experience, whether it's because you want to win or simply because you want to meet other players, there's no point in going. Obviously, everyone would love to make money for playing fighting games if it's something they enjoy doing, but that's the underlying distinction: It has to be something you enjoy doing for its own sake. It's different for someone like Justin Wong, who gets a portion of his income from tournament play. For someone like you, someone who's just getting into the competitive scene, you really need to just go for the experience. This is ESPECIALLY for a game like MK, with little to no payout. Unless MLG goes full-tilt with MK9 (and I think it will, in all fairness), winning MK tournaments is not going to be a particularly lucrative venture.
