Explosions and Dependability

I generally refrain from posting my thoughts on DOJO updates because there are too many personal reviews out there already, but today's update on explosives brought something to mind regarding the absence of items in competitive play. While explosions were primarily responsible for items' demise, at least the specific explosives (bob-ombs and hidden mines) were 100% dependable. The DOJO explains now states otherwise:

It does seem that they occasionally fail to explode. You might throw it, only to watch it not detonate. In those cases, you’ll want to be careful, because you never know when it might go off.

So, now these explosives are essentially lose/lose situations. You cannot count on them to detonate when you need them to, but you would be an absolute fool to let your opponent obtain such a powerful item. It was bad enough before knowing that items spawn in a random sequence in preset spawn locations. Now, even after the item is revealed, it is a gamble to chase after it. It is no wonder that items are generally disliked by the competitive community. If they actually added some genuine depth instead of turning the game into Russian Roulette, item tournaments might have had a chance. It seems many items are still reserved for casual smashfests where everyone is there just to have a laugh.

Poll Review #1 - Items in Brawl Tournaments

Should items be permitted in competitive Brawl?
Always! (8 votes)
Only in special events. (18 votes)
Never! (19 votes)

This does not speak for the entire smash community (obviously), but the results are fairly expected. There is a minority who want items in all tournaments with no questions asked. The bulk of the competitive community is split between even allowing them for special events (on top of having item-free events) and disallowing them entirely. The reality of the situation will be interesting to see as Brawl tournaments are finally organized starting in February. With the advent of online tournaments, there may actually be item tournament followers this time around. While online tournaments will never become the accepted mainstream tournament standard (I reference Halo 2 at MLG), the community will grow as a result of online participation.

The Fate of Items in Smash - Part 2

Today is a continuation of yesterday's article. Be sure to read that first to catch up on the story.

So, what will become of items in the Brawl era of competition? Well, that question can be answered with an absolutely indisputable... depends. In other words, items did not behave so well when Melee competition was developing. As noted in AlphaZealot's response, the competitive community actually did use items for a long time. However, being unable to disable exploding capsules, boxes, and party balls was items' undoing. With unfair explosions occurring within a fraction of a second, items became intolerable in the competitive environment. There were too many upsets during the final matches of tournaments.

As competitive play has evolved over the years, other more blatant issues began to present themselves regarding items. For instance, even without random explosions, the randomness of items gives one player an advantage that cannot be matched by the opponent. A capsule appearing near one character gives him or her unearned added leverage. Consider Falco knocking Fox off the stage. In the time from when Fox starts his fire fox to when he actually starts moving, Falco can watch a capsule spawn at his feet, pick it up, and KO Fox with no effort since Fox is immobile. (A member of SWF witnessed this very event in competition, so it is not unheard of.) These kinds of events pull emphasis away from character control and place more on luck of the draw. That leads me to my next point.

Many argue that smash is supposed to be a game of chance just like Poker and Blackjack. Despite luck being a common factor in all gambling games, there are professionals out there who win consistently because they know how to best handle the elements of randomness. Why can't the same be applied to smash? Well, technically it can be, but the current competition simply chooses not to. Competitive smashers today view the game more along the lines of a sport. They believe there should be no coin tosses or outside interference. Victory should come as a result of hard work and discipline while playing the game. Losses should be traceable to a single mistake (or series of mistakes). Allowing items is like allowing spectators to throw junk onto the field during a football game.

So, we have two strongly opposing perspectives on the same game. Why have item-free tournaments blossomed while item-filled tournaments become nearly extinct? My theory is that is has to due with the very mentality behind both sides. Competitive smashers take the game very seriously and thus are adamant about making sure competition happens. They tend to look for opportunities to compete, even if it means hosting their own event because winning matters. Items tend to cater more to the casual smashers who do not take the game as seriously and are tolerant of random elements in the game. However, since item supporters are generally more casual, discovering who is best is not of utmost importance to them. Therefore, not many item tournaments take place because just smashing at home with friends is usually sufficient for this type of smasher, even if they do strive to increase their ability and win more.

The future of items seems bleak in Brawl. Many tournament hosts have agreed to at least allow items in tournaments for the first while. Disabling random explosives will be a step in the right direction, if it is even an option. There are still two major barricades to overcome. First, many smashers have become so comfortable with item-free environments that hosts may ban items from the get go just out of habit. This will only hinder adoption of items in competitive play. Second, even without the explosions, players may slowly become frustrated with the unfair advantages that items throw around. While a coin flip's odds remain at a constant "fair" 50/50, there is nothing to stop it from landing on tails eight times in a row.

TO READERS: What is your take on the items situation? Post your response in the comments!

The Fate of Items in Smash

No items. Fox only. Final Destination... The only way to play! OK, not really, but many would have you believe that that is how the competitive smash community likes their Melee. The big question on many smasher's minds is this: Why were items banned? What happened? Did a smasher wake up, decide he did not like items, and ban them from his matches that day forth? Why are items banned so universally in tournaments now? I recently attended a tournament hosted by Play N Trade. The hosts had no connection to Smash World Forums or Major League Gaming whatsoever, but they still banned items (despite permitting all stages).

I sent an inquiry to AlphaZealot about the history of items, and he was kind enough to provide a detailed reply:

The east coast has been functioning with itemless tournaments since 2003, the west coast since 2004-2005. For a long time there were two camps of smash thought, one that argued for items and one that argued against them. The pro-item argument usually centered on the idea that items spawns were not random; they were on a timer and rotated between spawn points. Therefore, the location of these spawn points could be controlled and added a risk/reward type idea. The only problem left then were the exploding capsules/crates, something that could not be predicted in any way. In the end, the east coast won the argument, and Matt Deezie finally changed his rules to no items for TG6, which signaled the end of the debate.

The east coast for many years played with 5 stock. This went on until sometime in 2005 when MLG rules became the way to go. The west coast was using 3 stock until around this time. Again, MLG rules and 4 stock sorta took over in the late 2004 early 2005 era.

[...] There were really only a few tournaments that set the standards we use today, and they occured back in 2004. If you looked at it, the most influential tournaments would be FC in the midwest (and maybe JV's Michigan tournaments), Gauntlet, BOMB, H2YL's tournament series (game over/live or die), and TG on the west coast. MLG modeled their rules (with M3D being the person who did so) after these tournaments but particularly over the tournaments around DC because that is where he first began playing smash competitively. Once MLG functioned, their rules became a consistent force for tournaments; the rest of the community began adopting their rules as almost a standard (the idea being something like this: when we hold tournaments, do it with MLG rules, so when we go to MLG tournaments and large sums of money will be on the line, we will be ready).

Article is continued in the following update.