Without a doubt the one way to kill hype is to kill variety.
Do I even need to post the most famous FG video which is also the hypest? And in that game, there's almost no variety at high level. Killing variety doesn't kill hype. It can in some specific cases, it doesn't in others. A game doesn't need balance to be good, hype or fun to watch. It can achieve all three even with only 2 playable characters.
Regardless of the argument, it actually doesn't matter if it indeed does kill hype. As a tournament player, you're not supposed to worry about making the game hype or behind the scenes shit. All you're worried about is winning, THAT'S IT! That's not saying you can only worry about winning or that's the only thing top players worry about, not at all. However, that
IS the only
requirement for being a top player. You don't have to worry about how others perceive the game, or how fun it is to watch. That's not your job, it just isn't. If you do take it upon yourself to make it your job, that's when you start losing focus, and losing in general.
