Thread by @SkyWilliams

So here's my 2 cents that nobody asked for.

i've been apart of all 4 competitive communities since 2002. @sheridactyls can attest to this.

it is 100% BECAUSE of the melee community that we even HAVE a well funded competitive scene.

Without them, we'd have nothing. (a thread)

Nintendo didn't want melee to be a competitive Esport at first. Melee was in circuit via MLG in 2006 - but ended up being dropped because Nintendo wouldn't let the game be broadcast.

Nintendo did almost everything they could to prevent competitive Melee, but melee didnt care.

Melee had next to no help from outside sources - and yet it was STILL able to create INCREDIBLE content (Silence/shined blind etc) AND host simply AMAZING tournaments. Players from around the world congregated on Smashboards, we were in our own little world back then.

When brawl released, it was heavily critiqued by Melee, as it clearly was a completely different game and engine. Melee and Brawl made a MASSIVE, hostile, and yet understandable community divide.

(oh i beat larry in 2012 in brawl im going to bring this up until i die)

Even though numbers were dwindling b/c brawl was easier to market as CRT TV's were getting harder to find, they didn't give up. Melee became low key like Wakanda LOL like, no outsiders, no exceptions type of behavior.

Genesis. Every Genesis. That was its yearly revival.

My favorite Genesis moment, is when Silent Spectre was going up against Scar in this crew battle

And everyone from melee AND brawl discontinued their friendlies, and an auditorium packed with sheer awe and excitement erupted into applause when Scar nair reset'd SS and Knee'd em.

so NOW nintendo decided they wanna be happy about the E-sport. I love Nintendo, trust me, but this will always leave me bitter LOL.

Nintendo arrived after most, if not ALL the work had been done by independent community members.

Melee never gave up, and Nintendo finally caved.

Smash ultimate isn't Melee, but the attempt to bridge the two is there. Melee players know what a good game looks like - and that's why I think they are coming to ultimate. It's not like its some AMAZING game but it beats the shit out of smash 4.

Some Melee players are playing for Clout and relevancy

Some Melee players are playing because they can't move forward in Melee any longer

but i think the reality is... most of us are going to be too old to really focus our lives on tournaments. Smash Ultimate is our 'wake'.

The game is fun and interesting enough to captivate both communities and I think that is something to be celebrated rather than detested.

If you feel X way about Melee, fight them in bracket. Simple as that.

Historically, Melee bullied brawl/smash 4

There is no excuse for being a bully - but I would like to give my insight as to why there was so much animosity toward brawl/smash 4. It's not as simple as 'MeLeE wAs tHe bEtTeR gAyMe GuAizE'

Melee wasn't just better, it was 100% Ours.

Melee belonged to the players.

every advanced technique

every glitch

every matchup

every tier list

every metagame switch

every tournament

every org

every story

crafted from scratch by genius melee players for almost a decade.

can't you see why they're passionate?

like real talk, do you know what its like to share a venue with streetfighter players who have regular patches and updates because Capcom cared at least a little bit?

But through it all they never crumbled and that's why you and I are here talking about this.

super fucking cool

the manifestation of all this comes in the form of @TSM_Leffen. A hot headed pretentious villain who talks a lot of shit and for the longest time couldn't back it up.

and then he did. again, and again, and again

and the world fell silent. Incredible storyline example there.

To say that Melee isn't apart of the smash community is simply untrue.

they ARE the community.

And after years of waiting, Nintendo delivered and attempted to bridge the gap with this hybrid of Melee and Brawl and smash 4.

So Melee is here to give it a shot.

im so excited

I just think we should use this game as a genuine chance to apologize to each other for our sophomoric behavior back in the day

because i wouldn't be anything i am today w/o smash

and im hoping that many more lives are impacted positively by this game and its community.

my dream has always been to be a top player, if even only for a month LOL

this is my last shot at this dream

take a second to think of what motivates you to even play the damn game and you'll see it

and you won't ever forget it.

so w/e problem you have with a community or a player

bring that ass to bracket and hit them sticks and let your 3 stocks talk for you LOL. don't need to be fighting on twitter when we can just beat each others ass on battlefield

can't wait to see yall at genesis n beyond =]