Shout out to EVO2003 participants

Thats better, ill keep an eye on you tough.
You better not disrespect da zero again.

 

[ QUOTE ]
tragic said:

[ QUOTE ]
mukatsuku_shun said:

I would just like to thank everyone who came to the tourney, as even though the tournament organizers themselves were not exactly as accommodating as you'd expect someone who got a few thousand dollars and huge international exposure from us, the players themselves made the event worthwhile.

[/ QUOTE ]

How were we (the tournament organizers) not accomodating? VF had big screen all of thursday night for casual. If the community has brought more discs (re: if Myke had organized more players to bring discs), I would have set up 2 or 3 more casual stations.

VF had the bigscreen for all of the pool play.

VF had special guest announcer (which, despite what phoenixdt will tell you), I organized weeks in advance.

Aside from that... what else could we have done?

ben

[/ QUOTE ]

Look, I simply stated what I heard many times from many people. I think overall it was a great event in which I was very excited to have the chance to partake. And many of the things you have said above are also true.

One thing that I think upset many people was that on the second day--the day of our finals--there was not a single setup there for us to play on. We had to bring our own stuff to play.

If Yamagishi had been asked to do the announcing so far in advance, he must be either A) mentally retarded, or B) have severe problems with his memory. When I told him people would be excited about him announcing, he was taken aback, and said to me that he had no idea that it was even a possibility.

And once he did announce a match, the MC very rudely took the mike from him and said something like "Okay, hope were done with hearing that" or something equally derogatory. There was no necessity for that.

International recognition is also an interesting subject, because as I'm sure you are aware, VF is KING in Japan. Go to any arcade and count the number of machines allloted to the other eight games, and then the number of just Evo machines, and see which one is greater. VF means shittons more to the Japanese than any of the other games, and perhaps more than all of the other games combined.

So maybe I should have changed accommodating with respectful? I realize that we were the smallest game there--and that other people apparently have some fantastic hatred for us and dont even want us to be there--we should just thank them for letting us invade their space. It is small discrepencies such as those listed above that made we fellow VFers scratch our heads and think, hmm...do they even want us here?

 

Oh yeah, shout outs to Baton Rouge crew and Tenn. Nice to meet you guys. And anyone else I forgot to mention again.

 

Fishie, do me a favor and shut the fuck up /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I just had to get that off my chest, and I'm feeling better now. No hard feelings. I'll say hi to zero now so you don't feel the urge to reply! /versus/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

Fuck you bitch /versus/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

I guess i'll add in my two yen. I'll make it quick. I'm sitting in Kansai (Osaka) airport right now trying to burn my freaking 5 hour layover before I fly out to Oki. Anyway, evo2k3 was the first real exposure to any big tourney. It was very cool overall.

Of course playing against and meeting the jpn guys and most of the NA and VFDC VFers was awesome. Needless to say, the after party at Sean's and at the hotel were just too damn awesome.

It was also really cool seeing Yamagishi (beat tribe dude) going off about Sean's 4 burner stove with "people cooking" oven, and the gigantic jar of jelly in his fridge. People might see Sean's kitchen in the next beat tribe video or something. heheh

What was especially cool was talking to the two Arcadia guys (Sawatari and ?) (I can't remember their names for the life of me) about the next Super Battle Opera, Arcadia, Gamest, and a bunch of other stuff. They said they were thinking of holding a US qualifier tourney for VF for the next SBO.

Well, that's it for now. When I get home, I'll post more!

 

[ QUOTE ]
vf4akira said:

What was especially cool was talking to the two Arcadia guys (Sawatari and ?) (I can't remember their names for the life of me) about the next Super Battle Opera, Arcadia, Gamest, and a bunch of other stuff. They said they were thinking of holding a US qualifier tourney for VF for the next SBO.


[/ QUOTE ]

This is so freakin' cool. It's amazing what a little (or a lot) of effort and positive exposure can do. I only experienced the first party at Sean's, I guess the effect of the whole event really hasn't sunk in for me. Wish I'd been there for more of it.

It would be so great to see some of us qualify.

 

dude, creed makes me laugh!!

 

and a week later.... it's time to shout out!

to stl: tim, david, shou, you guys were great. from hosting gatherings in your room to translating for everyone else to buying sake, y'all kicked ass all around. i really enjoyed playing you all. shou, your sarah is great, and dave, you stayed on the stick forever with your shun. tim, your kage is, as we say in btr, stylish and dramatic, but your aoi just gave me all kinds of hell.

to cali legions: it was really cool getting to see a lot of you again since tit5 and meeting those of you who weren't there. i'm going to have to reiterate thanks to willy for playing real-life crazy taxi with everyone, that was really fucking cool. also, sean, you're the man for letting us abuse your house for two straight nights and into the wee hours of the morning. brisal, if i get giant swung out of the ring one more time... /versus/images/graemlins/crazy.gif there are just too goddamn many of you california people to give individual shoutouts to everyone else, but you're definitely not forgotten. much love, guys.

colo: juno, modest, good showing at the tournament. especially modest, man, you did a bang-up job. have a little more faith in the navf scene guys, we're on the way to being able to play with the japanese, i think.

austr: myke! great job at the tournament! your kage was amazing. you were by far the most sporting, most instructive player at the tournament. you owned scrubs such as myself with an eye towards instruction, which i thought was really cool. you had a great attitude throughout, and you made a real effort to reach out to everyone (unlike some other western foreign players).

fla: rich, it was great flying with you. i think that you and i were voted most likely to crash on someone's floor during the tournament. see you in october.

and my boys from baton rouge: sean, you're getting better. stop being so obviously 18, though /versus/images/graemlins/grin.gif fred, keep working on the fast hands, and big boy... yaaaaa! my favorite matches that weekend were against you for elimination.

i know, i'm leaving people out... srider, vulcan, good playing you guys. vulcan, i'm glad that you could come out and rep new york when no one else could/would. srider, you rep tennessee well. heidi, good playing another vanessa that's not the cpu for a change. it was good meeting you. to everyone else: hello, much love, and duck the freaking guard crush tornado!

shout-downs:
someone behind the tournament desk ganked my neck tag. grrr. you're on the same list as the guy who stole me and sanjuro's shit, whoever you are.

i don't want to make any accusations, but why didn't ryan hang out with the other english-speaking vfers or come to our gatherings or generally make eye contact? that's less-than-cool.

and while it may be fun, attempting to hurt someone's feelings doesn't tend to be cool. inherent superiority of the game aside, one of the strengths of virtua fighter is the strong community that we have across the nation. we've already seen the alienating and cooling effects of bullshit rivalries and politics and shit across the board. honestly, some people at evo2k3 were saying "i'm not going to florida because i don't want to get involved in the bullshit politics." so basically, if you didn't like someone at the tournament, leave it there, and let's play the game.

peace,

william

 

[ QUOTE ]
sean, you're getting better. stop being so obviously 18, though

[/ QUOTE ]

There's only one response to this... you can choke on a wing ding ding-a-ling down yo throat. I'll be 18 all I please, lol.

 

This is what I call a post. Hopefully I will someday be a part of this.

 

[ QUOTE ]
Myke said:

The James Brown "waaatch meh" for Jeffry's BT d+K is too fucking funny man! LOL!


[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, it's especially funny when like me you are stupid enough to get hit by it 10 times. /versus/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

If I forget anyone, big apologies.

Myke, thanks for making the long trip to Pomona. I think all of us were a bit surprised at how strong you are (since we figured that there wasn't much of a scene in Australia). I think I ended up playing you more than anyone else, and all of our matches were tight and really fun, particularly that Kage-Pai run and the silly Jeffry-Aoi marathon. I'm pretty sure that all of VFDC were cheering their asses off for you during the finals. You should have heard the gasps and groans when you missed your first TFT combo! Still, though you do not think so, especially considering how nervous you probably were, you really played well. Oh, you have made me hate Kage's , , and + all that much more! /versus/images/graemlins/wink.gif

To the STL crew: Dave, thanks for being instrumental in getting the Japanese guys to play with us after the tournament and for all your translation work. We only played a couple times, but I learned that it's very scary to tech-roll against your Shun! Tim, thanks for letting us use your room before we were thrown out. It was great talking to you here and there, and dump Kage for Aoi! Eric, well, now we see that my Sarah is indeed more competitive than yours. /versus/images/graemlins/wink.gif Nevertheless, I still learned that + is somewhat abusable. Good job in the tournament also (wished I had seen it).

To the Batoun Rouge crew: I only formally met 2 of you (William and Fred), and only played William's Vanessa a couple of times, but it's nice to see that someone is playing VF4 in Louisiana! You guys are really hilarious, and William, I'm glad to see that someone out there is devoted to Vanessa. Cool playing with you!

Srider, it's too bad I didn't get to play your Lau, but it was still fun playing with your Wolf. Oh, and the Akira "lite" combo is great! , , , ! Who knew?

Ghostdog, I think I played your Akira once, and unfortunately didn't get to talk to you much. Most of the time it looked like you were halfway asleep, but your comments and facial expressions were hilarious!

Sumeragi, my Jacky is scrubbier than yours but my Shun will never be as scrubby as yours! /versus/images/graemlins/grin.gif Your Lau is very strong and I really enjoyed our matches. Too bad you couldn't stick around until the end.

The colorado guys (MM and JS) - I don't think I ever introduced myself to you (though I spoke briefly to one of you) and I barely got to play with one of you, but I must say that those joysticks were hot!

To the Pomona guys (Tokyo Mafia) - To all of you, it is amazing how much better all of you have become in so little time. Alex, [Evade Stance]+, , + is truly annoying - but nice job staying one step ahead and mixing it up. And I really hate that Goh sidestep low kick. But, great job in the tournament, and thanks for driving everyone around and helping out all over the place. Brian, good job beating the Japanese guys a few times! I wish I felt confident enough to use the dragon cannon as much as you. And I really want to be in flamingo when the opponent tech rolls like you. And Sean, you are a god for putting up with all of us two nights in a row at your place. Even though our Aoi(you)-Akira(me) match was definitely the ugliest match to ever be played, it was still very fun. Go Lion cheese!
Willy, remember that if you know the opponent is going to throw in a non-guaranteed situation, attack for an MC! And if you get a steak dinner....

Brisal (LA Low Punch Cut) - It is so funny to see you constantly baiting low punches for the sabaki/shining wizard and still get it all the time! I always get hit with so many catch throws when I play you. /versus/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Talis and Catherine - Barely got to see/talk to you Talis and, Catherine, it was great to see you at the tournament and afterwards. Talis, it's too bad your schedules was so busy so that you could not have made the tournament - (I missed it too because of work).

To SD (MBP) - Did I play you guys at all? Mike and David, was this the last time that LA gets to see you? You left too early on Sunday because I ended up going to Sean's again and Ohsu and Kofu were both playing. Mike, I really want to see those Chibita clips sometime! KTallguy, boy you are tall! And any Vanessa player gets my respect. Nice meeting you, and don't be so hard on yourself.

Bryan - It sucks that you got stuck in the bracket with 2 Japanese guys - I think we all know how hard it is to beat Neotower's Jacky. But third in that bracket is a great finish. And good job (along with whoever was there also) convincing Maru-Y to commentate! That one finals "comment" that you made will never be forgotten!

Oh, and thanks to Tragic and the Evolution staff for including VF4 and running a spectacular tournament.

And finally, thanks to everyone who let me use their joysticks.

 

/me hoards all the chibita clips /versus/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

I wonder if there were any frenchies like me in this tournament!
I suppose no! Ha I wish I've seen that! Boohoo...

 

=)

I figure since I'm going to Japan in a year I have to work on being constantly apologetic and humble.

I'm getting better though, thanks for the encouragement!

 

"And once he did announce a match, the MC very rudely took the mike from him and said something like "Okay, hope were done with hearing that" or something equally derogatory. There was no necessity for that. "

Uhh. That is a complete lie. I (being the MC) never said anything derogatory about Yamagishi or his announcing. That's pretty far fetched... to say that someone who went out of their way to get Yamagishi to announce, would just turn around and say derogatory things about him after he started announcing. In fact, I disrespected myself by saying "OK, I officially quit announcing" and "I retire from now on". Anything else I said was to signify the awesome job Yamagishi was doing. Example: if I said "ooooooooooook then!" or something similar... it was like "wtf! this guy is crazy!". All of the crowd loved it, and I certainly wasn't doing anything to detract from how much he was rocking.

"International recognition is also an interesting subject, because as I'm sure you are aware, VF is KING in Japan. Go to any arcade and count the number of machines allloted to the other eight games, and then the number of just Evo machines, and see which one is greater. VF means shittons more to the Japanese than any of the other games, and perhaps more than all of the other games combined."

Sure, go to More Amusement and there is 1 VF machine... on the third floor... that never gets played. Mind you, thats probably the fighting game capital of the world... but for 2D games only. There goes the theory of "any arcade". When I went to Sportland (Kanispo), they had more GGXX machines than VF. Something like 7 or 8 VF's, and about 10-12 XX's. When I went to Nishispo (the VF arcade), they did, in fact, have more VF's than other games. Something like 15 VF's. Being the primary VF arcade... that makes sense. I went to another popular arcade (popular by means of "known players going there") in Shibuya, and they had 2 STurbos, 1 CVS2, 1 VF, and 3 GGXX's. I went to PlayMax (the Namco arcade) and they had 3 or 4 TK3's, 2 TTT's, 2 or 3 SC2's, and 3 GGXX's... and only one VF. All the random arcades I passed by (the little hole in wall places that were pretty much everywhere) had about the same number of VF's and XX's. One arcade might have 3 VF's and 2 XX's, while the next might have 3 XX's and 2 VF's. It was like this all over Japan during the time of SBO. Maybe it changed greatly since then... but I doubt it.

So anyway, I don't even understand the point of you saying it's SOOOOOOOOO much bigger. EVO2003 was a US tournament, and we invited international players. Just having VF there doesn't mean it's going to be the biggest tournament... it is, as you know, still in the USA. That being said, I think we all went out of our way to accomodate the VF tournament by giving it the best of everything we had.

"So maybe I should have changed accommodating with respectful? I realize that we were the smallest game there--and that other people apparently have some fantastic hatred for us and dont even want us to be there--we should just thank them for letting us invade their space. It is small discrepencies such as those listed above that made we fellow VFers scratch our heads and think, hmm...do they even want us here? "

Respectful? The EVO staff gave VF basically the best of what we had available. Not a single staff member had anything negative to say about VF or the VF tournament at EVO before, during, or a day or two after. Also, none of the staff received any negativity from other game players about VF. Some of the most diehard Tekken players were saying VF looked great, the tournament was awesome, and they were going to pick it up when it came out. All of the 2D-only players that I asked said VF finals were awesome. These are guys that have never touched VF in their life.

The EVO staff DID want the VF community there. If they didn't, it wouldn't have been there... simple as that. On paper (meaning, when the staff was sitting around discussing having VF at EVO), it looked pretty sad. We estimated around 60-80 players in the tournament. We estimated maybe 3 or 4 solid VF players would come internationally (counting Ryan Hart, and Ohnuki... who were already coming for other games). There was really no benefit to have VF at EVO at all... except to help further the community (of both VF only, and fighting games in general). It's not like it would make EVO2003 blow up into some gigantic 10,000 man tournament. We ended up with a large number of really good players, but only around 50-60 entries.

It really looks like a few members of the VF community are out to make the EVO staff and the players look super anti-VF... when that is totally not the case. All of the staff was happy to have VF, and as I already mentioned... a large number of non-VF players were giving it a lot of credit. I still have yet to hear a single negative thing from a non VF player about "they shouldn't have had VF there" or "man VF sure was boring" or "wth VF is gay" etc.

In conclusion... VF was the smallest tournament at EVO. It probably ran the smoothest. It probably had the least amount of "questionable" things happen during the entire tournament. Yet... it seems to be getting the most backlash by a few members of the community.

This is what baffles the EVO staff. No one is asking for a hand-job or anything... but I mean, come on... picking apart every little tiny detail and using it as an excuse for "why the EVO staff hates us" is just idiotic.

For the last time... SRK and crew was GLAD that VF was there and that the community had a great tournament with high-level competition. Most of the crowd had a GREAT time watching the finals, and the staff of EVO has yet to year anything negative about the VF tournament and finals, except from the VF community itself.

If you want to see VF at next years EVO, then I strongly suggest that certain people don't try to make it look as if everyone hates the VF community (staff and players alike). I mean... if you keep saying it, it will probably come true. As of now, there is nothing but good impressions as to how VF went at EVO2003.

ben

 

Amen Ben! The Evo tourney in CA was like the most perfect tournament for VF the US has ever seen. Plenty of room, good size tv's with a good picture, huge projection screens, a chance to meet the great Japanese players as well as Myke, Ryan, and the US guys from all over, friendly and helpful staff, a smooth flowing tourney, and awesome finals that has to be seen to believe. I know I had no idea the finals would be that elaborate and big since this was my first Evo tourney, and I must say it was kick ass.

So from my experience, no complaints from me. We'd be lucky to have it run that smooth next year, if we get to have VF there again.

So thanks to you and the staff. I understand exactly where you're coming from and right now it does seem like it was a thankless job, all the hard work you guys did, but I know there's plenty of gamers out there who feel the same way I do when I say we were lucky to have VF there, and there's no way in hell I'm going to complain for that simple reason. Well that and I see nothing to complain about. If anyone went to the TiT5 tourney and played VF there, you'd really appreciate what the Evo guys went through for VF and for us. Every problem at TiT5 was non existent at Evo.

Thanks again!

paul

 

Yea.... I was there and I didn't hear you being rude to Yamagishi... I don't know what happened but it all went pretty smoothly. Yamagishi didn't say anything bad about EVO either, at least to me.

Sorry if we rubbed you the wrong way ... we really appreciate you guys allowing us to compete and get our game exposed to a wider audience. We are used to scoffs from 2D gamers, that think all 3D games are shit. Then we have the rest of the 3D gamers who scoff at VF and say it's slow or simple. Eh... I just ignore people like that anyway. I'm just glad we were there =) Thanks again!