USA Organizing Skullgirls' Event Calendar 2016-2017

[Zidiane]

Other thread was closed. But this is still an important discussion. Everyone is excited at the notion of focusing on specific events, so we should continue to have an open discussion about the things we will be doing for and in response to these events

If you aren't caught up to date on something, this spoiler is for you:

Spoiler

Focusing Community turnout thread is the community discussion leading up to now, which you can read up on in this thread. There was also a more recent thread about this "Skullgirls Tour", but it was locked and can be viewed here. There was an Open Letter to TO's containing the list of events that the community has decided to collectively support, posted here, as well as an SRK article on the matter, posted here.

TLDR; the community decided to make five specific events this coming year as big as possible. These events were chosen because they've treated us well in the past. An open letter stating this was posted, and it caused more heads to turn to SG, leading people trying to figure out how to capitalize on the attention.

edit 8/25/16: Here are some updates, based on what has transpired over 3 pages. I'll be updating as new important info is provided.

It became clear that we needed stronger infrastructure moving forward, so I have volunteered to be in charge of this organizational process, and thus will take responsibility for us moving forward. If you have any questions or concerns, direct them to me or one of the others on the team. That team consists of @keninblack, @Dolfinh, @Kazmer, @Hawt Salsa, and @dapurplesharpie.

Also, while he isn't on the team, I'd like to give special thanks to @Kai. He has been actively putting in a lot of work for the community, and I know his time is a little less easy to part with considering his family and career. While he won't be on the team, I'm considering him a member in spirit due to his starting this "SG Tour" conversation. Some of us may not have considered organizing in this capacity without him starting that conversation, and despite any misgivings people may have had about him or internal conflicts community members have had with him in past threads or in private, I personally consider him an important part of where we are today and where we are headed in the future. Thank you for the work you've put in, Kai.

As far as the events we are targeting, the solid list appears to include CEOtaku, GUTS4, Revolution 2016, Frosty Faustings, NWM, and Combo Breaker.

Spoiler: edit: old op

What we know without a doubt is that the community is by-and-large behind the list of events that we are focusing attendance on. I haven't heard a single person with any issues with the list. That's basically set, and should be considered the bedrock and guideline for everything we do from now through 2017.

Moving forward, though, we have a few things to discuss. I think the first real question to be asked is: how are we going to follow up on the momentum of these events? The list of events is first and foremost for us to enjoy. Having a blast attending any event on the list is honestly enough to make everything worth it in my eyes, but extra can be nice. How do we go about boosting attendance and reception at these events? Is just shouting about what we're going to at the top of our lungs enough, or can/should we do more? If so, what?

The previous thread on the subject suggested "Points", though the exact details weren't fully fleshed out before it was closed (this image was drummed up). The reception seemed mixed to this model, but feel free to continue the Capcom Cup style point system discussion here.

Community content is another avenue on following up on events. Could be anything as simple as a logo for events we're supporting to use, posters for the "tour", or videos and other content to support/add onto the visibility of these events seem like a neat avenue (I'm talking with some community members about content, but more is better in this department). Videos could be anything from content directly based on the players, the event, the play, or even simple guides and/or comprehensive tech videos that can be submitted to news sites. The more of a steady stream of content we have, the easier it is to stay in the public consciousness.

As far as logos and posters go, this mock-up image I made was from the previous thread (the Bella logo is by @Kai), and it seemed to be a decent concept with the least people upset at it. Obviously not a finalized anything, just a concept of the kind of poster we could have to help easily advertise to others where we're going. Could even have it printed out or something and displayed at events we attend? A massive sign to hold in the crowd during stream? Postcards to hand out to people?

Spoiler: other logos and posters created in the last thread

I think another thing we need to be doing is dissecting events, both good and bad. Figure out why the good are good, the bad are bad, and reflect on events on the list afterwards to find areas we can ask them to improve on or areas to let them know we loved about their events. This will help increase longevity, I think.

There was also mention of other parts of the world, like EU and JPN and BRZ, being represented on our list of events. Events that will host SG don't seem super common or stable in those places, from what I've heard, but we can and should still do our best to be vocal about those. Every bit helps, even if it's just retweeting something or sharing a link.

The thing I'm most excited about this whole thing is the potential that we have. We've collectively declared that we own this year for us. We're going to make it work for us, unlike every other year which we've just been trying to survive in. We can make a lot of head way, and I'm incredibly excited to see where it goes.

 

[GrunkleBarlowe]

I think it's safe to say that a lot of people feel the point stuff isn't for us. We're plenty set on the tournaments we support for the year.

I think the only thing left is just working out an international presence. A new infographic that mentions Revolution would be awesome. What if we did something like crowdfund the winner of revolution to come to Combo Breaker? And if it ends up being someone planning to pay/attend themselves (Peck, Peanuts, etc.) we just fund the highest placing person after?

I bet we could contact Milton and GONTA and have them come up with something similar for Japan! Brazil would be more of a stretch because the region is REALLY spread out but i bet they could get something together too.

I would say that while it's hard for US players to attend international events- we should reward the international players who are dedicated in their regions. We could make it a sort of "Crowd Qualifier" or something.

 

[Zidiane]

I think the only thing left is just working out an international presence.

I do want to say that while this is important, there are still a lot of people in the US that are starting to play SG. Between all the news coverage, the hit CB was, SonicFox being so visible while yelling at everyone to play sg, Yipes picking it up, all these other things have a lot of people who stay fairly quiet most of the time starting up. I've seen two TO's for smaller tourneys talk about how SG just started picking up in their scene after CB, and I've seen so many people say things like "wow, are people playing this game again? I didn't know they were playing, I'm picking the game up/up again". There are a lot of very vocal players who won't ever play SG, but there is a very good number of potential players that are coming around. We shouldn't stress not convincing anyone, but we still need to think about them.

A new infographic that mentions Revolution would be awesome.

I would do another poster and add Revolution but I'm dead tired right now.

we should reward the international players who are dedicated in their regions. We could make it a sort of "Crowd Qualifier" or something.

I like this thought

 

[Mike_Z]

Okay. So I saw the main point of the last thread as "let's get more people to attend these events". Assuming that's generally the goal, VISIBILITY is important, in the FGC at large and in the SGC.

Some thoughts, in no particular order:

- Branding the group of tournaments collectively as a single entity, like The Skullgirls Tour or Launch Party Every Day 2017 or something, makes sense because then you can easily refer to it. Branding is IMPORTANT!

- Combo Breaker has become the main event, the "if you can only afford to go to one SG tournament this year make it this one!" place to be. I know Rick wasn't trying to make it that, and would be just as happy if GUTS got 500 people, but the 24-hour venue ALONE is an immense reason to go to CB, not to mention any side events we might generously be granted again. I think people should be able to understand/accept that, even if people wish it were some other one instead.

- I DEFINITELY think including international events in the branding is a good idea! Revolution, FinalRoundbats or something in Japan, more EU, something in South America, etc. As long as they can get the same level of respect/visibility as all the other events, we should totally not restrict this to just the US.

- If the goal is to get people to attend something rather than not, then tying the events together with any kind of incentive that requires attending multiple events is IMHO a very bad idea. If you live in Nebraska and can only afford to go to Frosty, having points or any other system that rewards SonicFox for being able to go to all of the things, actively discourages you from attending Frosty because you won't be able to rank anywhere with just one attendance.

- Instead, rewarding the winners of EACH event with something like allowing them to attend OTHER events / an individual reward per event from the community, makes more sense to me because it encourages attending ANYTHING. Crowdfunding the winners to fly to Combo Breaker, maybe a "Launch Party Winner 2017 [Skerdeverdeweldeberten Annual Fighting Game Celebration, Olso, Norway]" trophy series for the winners of each...something that makes them feel like a group rather than separate individual events.

- If we can come up with a cohesive group of events, I can try to get Autumn to agree to some minimum pot bonus/sponsorship for each as long as it's a reasonable number. NO PROMISES, I AM JUST GOING TO SAY THAT IN ALL CAPS, BUT I CAN TRY!

"Become a Launch Party Certified event! Pledge to give Skullgirls main stream time for at least top 8, event-provided consoles/monitors/space to run the tournament, promote Skullgirls as a main game, and pay the winners within one month; in exchange for your event receiving a guaranteed pot bonus of at least $___, publicity as part of the Launch Party 2017 series, mentions from Lab Zero, and increased visibility in the worldwide Skullgirls community!"

Or some junk, provided I don't ruin the game and nobody wants to play it anymore. :^P Coming up with a minimum standard of quality for all events ensures the brand has some meaning.

If the goal is to get people attending SG tournaments in concentrated numbers, doing nothing won't help, but fighting amongst ourselves won't help either.
Publicizing ALL the tournaments is important - giving ALL the tournaments weight. The events are what is important, not the individuals.
Once something is decided, as the overall aim, we should have people who know the organizers of each tournament talk to them, but with a COMMON AIM, not individual recognition, as the goal. (Yes, I am talking to multiple people here.)

(And don't forget I might try to organize something, ha.)
(Forget the Dems or the GOP, vote Launch Party in 2017!)

 

[Pickles]

Crowdfunding the winners of international events is a really cool idea and I like it a lot.

RE: international vs domestic presence, I feel like just putting out this infographic should be sufficient for directing people in the US towards Skullgirls events. Things like TOs adding the game to their lineup and people deciding "oh this game isn't dead, maybe I'll give it a go" will come as a result of the scene growing at these events first. As more majors become popular they can be added to the list.

As it stands now however, SG players in other regions don't really seem to have much for events like people have noted. I think having big offline events in other regions act as qualifiers to come to the US and play at the biggest skullgirls tournament in the world would not only be a great way to reward players for doing well but also to sort of rally players in other regioins around events like we are doing here.

edit because mike pointed it out: the idea of having a standard events much reach to be considered for the list is important, and should be decided on by the community. I think "top 8 streamed, SG promoted as part of the event, consoles provided, reasonable payout times" is good but if people think those conditions should be looser or stricter that input is important as well.

 

[Mike_Z]

Massively edited my post. :^P

 

[Zidiane]

Mike you can't just come in here and drop bombshells and just put on your scribble cat shades and just chill.

- Branding

I think "Skullgirls Tour" is the easiest to stick with at this point. A lot of people have already seen it and probably associate it with what SG is currently doing.

- Combo Breaker has become the main event

I don't think anyone would disagree. GUTS treats us amazing and would be nice to be as big as we can make it, but CB is the destination for the time being.

- Crowdfunding the winners to fly to Combo Breaker

I really like this thought, but I think crowdfunding that many players a year might get difficult, especially if we're adding non-US winners into the fold. I like rewarding players per event would feel a lot better, though.

- NO PROMISES, I AM JUST GOING TO SAY THAT IN ALL CAPS, BUT I CAN TRY!

If this would happen, it would honestly do a lot to help. It would solidify everything. We wouldn't just be seen as "some young boys willin'" as far as everyone else thinks, it would be super legit.

Coming up with a minimum standard of quality for all events ensures the brand has some meaning.

I like this a lot. I doubt they would, but how would we respond if an event bowed out of one of the agreements at the event? For example, at Evo 2014 when we suddenly got our stream time chopped back to Top 4? Would we just remove that event from next year, or what?

(And don't forget I might try to organize something, ha.)
(Forget the Dems or the GOP, vote Launch Party in 2017!)

just wanted to quote this

 

[Lex]

I don't think that this should be called the Skullgirls Tour as that implies some big, separate end event like the CPT and Tekken have. It also draws unwanted comparisons to the aforementioned tours. I think something more like "The Skullgirls Events Calendar" or whatever might better represent what this is meant to be.

 

[Zidiane]

I never see the phrase like that. For me it just feels like when a band goes on tour, it's just that band playing at set venues. Can we get everyone to chip in names and then vote on which one sounds best? Also, for branding, atm Skullgirls Tour is easier, but if Autumn steps in it'll be super easy to rebrand it with whatever we want to use seemlesly to everyone.

 

[mcpeanuts]

I think the only thing left is just working out an international presence. A new infographic that mentions Revolution would be awesome. What if we did something like crowdfund the winner of revolution to come to Combo Breaker? And if it ends up being someone planning to pay/attend themselves (Peck, Peanuts, etc.) we just fund the highest placing person after?

I like the idea of this, I just want to add if we do it I don't think Peck should be left out. I didn't actually realize until I started planning this trip to Revolution how expensive it was to go to a tournament on the other side of the pond, and Peck is nuts for doing it multiple times a year lmao. He should be able to earn a free trip. You can probably just say if an American wins, it goes to the highest placing non-American.

 

[Mr Peck]

I like the idea of this, I just want to add if we do it I don't think Peck should be left out. I didn't actually realize until I started planning this trip to Revolution how expensive it was to go to a tournament on the other side of the pond, and Peck is nuts for doing it multiple times a year lmao. He should be able to earn a free trip. You can probably just say if an American wins, it goes to the highest placing non-American.

On the bright side, at least Combo Breaker and CEOtaku (and NEC last year) are way closer to the UK than Evo. I don't even want to think about how much I had to spend for Evo 2013...

Edit: If something like that happened and I ended up winning a paid trip to Combo Breaker, I'd probably use my extra savings to travel to another US tournament that I otherwise would have missed. Tournaments are fun!

 

[clawmaster]

I don't think that this should be called the Skullgirls Tour as that implies some big, separate end event like the CPT and Tekken have. It also draws unwanted comparisons to the aforementioned tours. I think something more like "The Skullgirls Events Calendar" or whatever might better represent what this is meant to be.

I am actually on board on this. While the SG tour is a great name for this, I feel like having it name this also give us a comparison to the other games (Street Fighter, Tekken, Killer Instinct) that also have the brand name of something something tour and the expectations that comes with it. Would the brand name legitimize Skullgirls like the other games? It could, but I rather see the SGC come up with something original, and not what the others are doing. It be the same idea obviously, but I would like to see something different name to it.

 

[Zidiane]

 

[thehadou]

Have you considered having a "Skullheart Seal of Quality" and/or "Skullheart Approved" events instead of the tour labeling? To an extent quality assurance is what this proposed event collection is. You could still whip up a nice icon that means such, produce a collection poster for general advertising, and have it work up storytelling needs. In my opinion this would reduce the expectation of bonuses and/or interweaving presentations while showcasing equal importance for the selected events.

Should Mike establish Autumn supporting selected events it can also be shown as "Autumn Approved" or something.

Given that Skullgirls & Skullheart don't have direct control over these event products I think this kinda messaging/branding makes sense. It also lets you add or reduce events as desired without much issue. I mean, it was good enough for Nintendo to uptick game sales in the 90s no? If you go this route you can produce Skullheart pins or other collectibles that can be collected and/or given out to event registrants.

@Mike_Z I'm okay with CB acting as a crown for SG since its sorta done that for a couple years. I've just wanted to, at every turn, make sure that status stays recognized as a community driven placement and not something coming down as advertising from me. This way other events can rise up to hopefully meet that recognition where warranted.

 

[erkicman]

Yay! Times New Roman is gone!

I missed something... when did Final Round Bats support SG again? I thought they dropped it a while ago

 

[mcpeanuts]

Have you considered having a "Skullheart Seal of Quality" and/or "Skullheart Approved" events instead of the tour labeling? To an extent quality assurance is what this proposed event collection is. You could still whip up a nice icon that means such, produce a collection poster for general advertising, and have it work up storytelling needs. In my opinion this would reduce the expectation of bonuses and/or interweaving presentations while showcasing equal importance for the selected events.

I like this idea a lot more. It does the same job of improving visibility without having the implications that a "tour" has.

 

[clawmaster]

Have you considered having a "Skullheart Seal of Quality" and/or "Skullheart Approved" events instead of the tour labeling? To an extent quality assurance is what this proposed event collection is. You could still whip up a nice icon that means such, produce a collection poster for general advertising, and have it work up storytelling needs. In my opinion this would reduce the expectation of bonuses and/or interweaving presentations while showcasing equal importance for the selected events.

Given that Skullgirls & Skullheart don't have direct control over these event products I think this kinda messaging/branding makes sense. It also lets you add or reduce events as desired without much issue. I mean, it was good enough for Nintendo to uptick game sales in the 90s no? If you go this route you can produce Skullheart pins or other collectibles that can be collected and/or given out to event registrants.

@Mike_Z I'm okay with CB acting as a crown for SG since its sorta done that for a couple years. I've just wanted to, at every turn, make sure that status stays recognized as a community driven placement and not something coming down as advertising from me. This way other events can rise up to hopefully meet that recognition where warranted.

I can picture the Skullheart seal of approval being @Mike_Z 's surprise face when Skullgirls was first funded :P. but in all seriousness yea I like that idea. Question is how do go about this, if this is indeed the direction we want to go

 

[Zidiane]

So, we need to drum up what our "seal of quality" means exactly (get it in writing like the TO letter on the news page? Or are we more discretely bringing this to specific TOs?), and figure out the best way to apply it to events. I still think it is beneficial to call them all collectively something (whatever we're calling it). A seal of approval looks neat, but it seems like it would be more for existing players, where calling it "Launch Tour Party Spectacular" or whatever attracts outside attention and helps to market it.

I missed something... when did Final Round Bats support SG again? I thought they dropped it a while ago

I added it because Mike mentioned it. Uncertain how to really gauge Japanese SGC without just tagging @Milton_JP. We should include a Japanese event, I just don't know which one we should.

 

[Waasiq]

Would it be worthwhile to crowdfund our own set of trophies that we give out to winners of the selected tournaments? Obviously it works out when we fly out the winners of international tourneys, there's a distinct reward there. But having a unique, cool reward for the winner/top 3/top 8, even if we can't do thousands of dollars or some sorta point system, seems like a way to make the Launch Party events have tangible backing from the SGC.

I don't think it even needs to be a traditional trophy. We could commission an artist within the community to draw something to be put on a nice print (like a Combo Breaker themed SG Art Print) as a poster the winners gets, or a bead sprite thing, or whatever other better ideas someone can come up with.

I'm not sure if tourney organizers would be okay with an external reward coming from outside of their tourney, or allowing use of their tourney names/brands on something they don't have their hands directly on. That'd have to be sorted out and maybe Rick can provide some insight.

Also, if we're going to call it something other than a tour (which is a good idea, I think), can I throw "SG Hype Train" into the mix? Both Hype Train and Launch Party feel way more like our community than something dry and standard like SGCT. Hype Train makes more immediate sense to non SG players, though going in on Launch Party Erryday is probably more fun.

 

[GrunkleBarlowe]

On the bright side, at least Combo Breaker and CEOtaku (and NEC last year) are way closer to the UK than Evo. I don't even want to think about how much I had to spend for Evo 2013...

Edit: If something like that happened and I ended up winning a paid trip to Combo Breaker, I'd probably use my extra savings to travel to another US tournament that I otherwise would have missed. Tournaments are fun!

I like the idea of this, I just want to add if we do it I don't think Peck should be left out. I didn't actually realize until I started planning this trip to Revolution how expensive it was to go to a tournament on the other side of the pond, and Peck is nuts for doing it multiple times a year lmao. He should be able to earn a free trip. You can probably just say if an American wins, it goes to the highest placing non-American.

Sounds good!

 

[clawmaster]

Would it be worthwhile to crowdfund our own set of trophies that we give out to winners of the selected tournaments? Obviously it works out when we fly out the winners of international tourneys, there's a distinct reward there. But having a unique, cool reward for the winner/top 3/top 8, even if we can't do thousands of dollars or some sorta point system, seems like a way to make the Launch Party events have tangible backing from the SGC.

I don't think it even needs to be a traditional trophy. We could commission an artist within the community to draw something to be put on a nice print (like a Combo Breaker themed SG Art Print) as a poster the winners gets, or a bead sprite thing, or whatever other better ideas someone can come up with.

I'm not sure if tourney organizers would be okay with an external reward coming from outside of their tourney, or allowing use of their tourney names/brands on something they don't have their hands directly on. That'd have to be sorted out and maybe Rick can provide some insight.

Also, if we're going to call it something other than a tour (which is a good idea, I think), can I throw "SG Hype Train" into the mix? Both Hype Train and Launch Party feel way more like our community than something dry and standard like SGCT. Hype Train makes more immediate sense to non SG players, though going in on Launch Party Erryday is probably more fun.

not to bite off of CEO, but would love to have custom WWE like belts as the trophy :)

http://proambelts.com/showroom/

 

[Ninja]

not to bite off of CEO, but would love to have custom WWE like belts as the trophy :)

It's gotta be like the belts that Beowulf has, if that's going to be a thing.

 

[thehadou]

not to bite off of CEO, but would love to have custom WWE like belts as the trophy :)

http://proambelts.com/showroom/

Having made these for CEO, from this same supplier, do know that the custom anything gets expensive very quick.

 

[GrunkleBarlowe]

Happy and would love to donate for some kind of prize but let's prioritize players first.

 

[Zidiane]

Yeah, I'd rather put our money to players going to other events before awards. I like the thought of having special Pins or Medals that get awarded to players or given out at registration.

But before even that though, I actually think the most important thing to talk about right now is how uniform these events are going to be. Are we going to do what Mike suggested, set up guidelines to bring to organizers? Can this be done for CEOtaku at all before that starts, or can we get a logo up on anything there in time (@Broken Loose)? GUTS4 (@mcpeanuts)? Who's our guy for NWM? How soon can we have our stuff ready for those events? Would having a formal agreement with a TO change how we think about events we weren't considering going to at all for next time (NEC)? We can always go back and award winners of events with things later, but I would like to iron out the details of what we're doing first.

 

[GrunkleBarlowe]

Who's our guy for NWM?

@Hawt Salsa

 

[thehadou]

Yeah, I'd rather put our money to players going to other events before awards. I like the thought of having special Pins or Medals that get awarded to players or given out at registration.

But before even that though, I actually think the most important thing to talk about right now is how uniform these events are going to be. Are we going to do what Mike suggested, set up guidelines to bring to organizers? Can this be done for CEOtaku at all before that starts, or can we get a logo up on anything there in time (@Broken Loose)?

Since its seeming to not be common knowledge, I co-direct CEOtaku and also handle all of its brand and market materials. If this collective puts together something concrete, even 2 weeks before the event, I can make things happen.

 

[Ninja]

hmmm... Pins might work. Sorta like those Pokemon Badges you would see being sold at conventions. Each Pin could have the name of the event and the year. and then it can be in colours of bronze silver and gold for the placements if need be. hold on... let me look up the price for custom pins like that...

yeah okay... they don't look super expensive... i think...

anyways... I remember saying this in the last thread before it... uh... look I asked Kai if it's okay to do a logo but now how everything is turning out, should I still do a logo for the SGTC? or a SG Seal for TO's to use?

 

[Zidiane]

Obviously WIP, but tried my hand at a Seal of Approval concept. I'm not the photoshop guy, someone else is much better off doing finished versions of things, but hopefully this helps give an idea of things to do.

 

[Hawt Salsa]

Have you considered having a "Skullheart Seal of Quality" and/or "Skullheart Approved" events instead of the tour labeling? To an extent quality assurance is what this proposed event collection is. You could still whip up a nice icon that means such, produce a collection poster for general advertising, and have it work up storytelling needs. In my opinion this would reduce the expectation of bonuses and/or interweaving presentations while showcasing equal importance for the selected events.

Should Mike establish Autumn supporting selected events it can also be shown as "Autumn Approved" or something.

Given that Skullgirls & Skullheart don't have direct control over these event products I think this kinda messaging/branding makes sense. It also lets you add or reduce events as desired without much issue. I mean, it was good enough for Nintendo to uptick game sales in the 90s no? If you go this route you can produce Skullheart pins or other collectibles that can be collected and/or given out to event registrants.

@Mike_Z I'm okay with CB acting as a crown for SG since its sorta done that for a couple years. I've just wanted to, at every turn, make sure that status stays recognized as a community driven placement and not something coming down as advertising from me. This way other events can rise up to hopefully meet that recognition where warranted.

This is actually a really really good idea. I was talking last night with someone about the SGCT idea, and I mentioned that I think a LabZero/Autumn seal of approval (and maybe a pot bonus) would be great to bring players to events. Nothing would make me happier than seeing NWM with someone along these lines.

 

[MysteriousJ]

I think the logo should be very explicit. "Labzero games/autumn games featured tournament" would do the job. If we want to go the community route, I'll throw in my suggestion:
* SKULLGIRLS *
community's choice
TOURNAMENT

I have plenty of free time this week and could make the logo (though if lab zero and autumn want to get involved, I imagine they'd want more time and to make their own logo).

 

[erkicman]

Hmm... an idea just popped into mind. Hey @Mwisk , @CaioLugon , you would know something about this, right? Do you know of any Brazilian tournaments that might deserve a "Skullheart"/"Autumn Games"/"Community's Choice" seal of approval?

 

[CaioLugon]

We've never had Skullgirls be included in a big tournament here, but I know @noaa recently went to a local thing, he might know a bit more about the scene in São Paulo.

Also Mwisk is a TO himself and organizes one of the biggest tournaments in Brazil, he's been trying to get SG into his tournament and I think he was even trying to get L0 to come, but right now I think we just don't have enough people playing the game here...

 

[Zidiane]

If the scenes there aren't big enough, I don't think forcing them into the lineup is the best route.

 

[Hawt Salsa]

If the scenes there aren't big enough, I don't think forcing them into the lineup is the best route.

The name in the schedule could always inspire more people to go?

 

[noaa]

Okay so... regarding Brazil as a scene we definitely have strong players. There 5 of us at the very least that I know would be capable of getting top8 in a strong tournament. But there is one big issue with us as a community: Brazil is a large country, and we're very far apart from each other.

We have awesome players on Pará and Recife, which are far away up the north; Brasilia has a handful of really really great and committed players located in the center part of the country, and there's at least twenty names to consider of strong people living down at Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and other southern states like Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul.

The main problem is: even though we have a consistent online presence, it is really really hard to get ourselves together in a state and do stuff. There has been only two moments in history this happened that I recall: a get-together in Brasilia in a place called "Sebinho" if I recall correctly and one night in a well-known place down here in São Paulo called "X-Revolution", for an event called FNF, the Friday Night Farofa.

I can't speak for Sebinho and Brasilia's local numbers in general, but FNF was pretty big having in mind how ghetto and unexpected it was: we had at least 11 people judging by this picture, but if I remember correctly we had 17.

In the end, these were get-togethers. FNF runs weekly featuring many other games with Street Fighter, UMvC3 and Melee being the core of it. There is a day where it focuses itself into anime games like Blazblue and Guilty Gear known as Heaven and Hell which COULD be a really nice place to get the Skullgirls community around, but still... what I have to say is...

We don't deserve it. Not yet at least. There's NO WAY we can afford to get an enjoyable enough event to be compared to any other - smallest as is - currently run in the US. It will be really hard to get Brazil people together in one place, and we will still have in mind the difficulties we have in the event itself, there is absolutely no way it would be a welcoming and "cool enough" thing to deserve to carry this community's tour, if it ever is to happen.

Of course, me and other few people are acting as TOs here and then and trying our best to engage Brazil with Skullgirls and get us together. But we're not ready for something like this, and as I said, nor we deserve it.

If the scenes there aren't big enough, I don't think forcing them into the lineup is the best route.

As CaioLugon said, @Mwisk is a TO for CACOMP Arena, which is likely Brazil's biggest tournament for fighting games in general and I'm sure it would be THE BEST place for Skullgirls to be. But he has been facing difficulties to be able to put Skullgirls in the lineup, as I'm sure he's able to explain properly more than I'll ever be.

Anyway, we want it. But don't count on us... for now. Thanks for remembering we exist though <3

 

[missingno]

Regarding a prize or trophy, how about a 3d printed Skullheart? Or something off a 3d printer, would probably be the easiest and cheapest way to make something cool.

 

[Zidiane]

The name in the schedule could always inspire more people to go?

Either that, or it could harm how people look at it and other events. Or both. Especially if we're doing something like Mike suggested and having the seal actually mean that the event is of a certain standard, we shouldn't compromise that on our end.

CACOMP Arena, which is likely Brazil's biggest tournament for fighting games in general and I'm sure it would be THE BEST place for Skullgirls to be. But he has been facing difficulties to be able to put Skullgirls in the lineup

I understand. All of us would love to share the spotlight, but I guess for now BRZ is better left to building its scene first. Keep the communication open though. If you guys need something we can help with or when you're ready to be in the lineup, please speak up.

 

[Pickles]

I definitely understand not wanting to add smaller events to the lineup, especially if the point of the lineup is to ensure a quality standard at the listed tournaments...but at the same time it's unreasonable to expect events in other regions to start out at where we are at now in the US. Skullgirls struggled with 20 man majors for a long time before we got to where we are today, and we won't stimulate growth in regions that have smaller scenes by insisting that their events are on the same scale as CEOtaku/combo breaker/etc. Would having a seperate category for international events be a good solution? I dont want to feel like we're segregating the community, though; I don't really have a good answer to this problem either.

 

[Zidiane]

They don't have to be CB level, there just needs to be a presence. He just said that they've only been able to get together with a handful of people twice so far. If we're providing an event of that size with a seal, why not every event and local? If this seal we have is to mean something, instead of basically a Mike Z sticker we slap on everything we go to, there should be a size a scene and an event needs to be at in order to get one. I think we still need to hash out exactly what those requirements are now, by the way.

As far as their scene goes, I would love it if we could help in some way, I just don't know how. We struggled for a long time, yeah, but we weren't in a position where we could handle pot bonuses or main stage for a long time too. This time around though, we can make waves in the community. Pushing through with this series of events, we can set an example and a model for other players to follow. We can get them excited and interested in playing from here, all we have to do is make a strong showing and trust our Brazilian community to run with it.