Source:
http://shoryuken.com/2012/03/27/evo-2012-sfxt-ruleset-and-registration-information/I can't say that I blame Mr. Wizard or the Evolution crew for making this call-- the game still hasn't received the "Tournament Mode" patch that is supposed to implement a real user interface for gem selection on the versus screen. With the patch promised but no way to test it before Evo, this was really the only call that could be made.
While I agree that it was the right call
for now, Evolution 2012 coming out as non-gem basically means there is a high chance that no one will ever adapt to using gems, with the largest tournament removing support for them. It's very sad that Capcom allowed this to happen by releasing the game with a sub-par gem selection method, because now gems are likely dead forever with no Evo support.
I was--and still am--concerned for the future of gems because of the DLC gems that Capcom previewed. Some of the paid DLC gems were flat-out better than the "free" / "standard" gems that came with the game... I was
hoping that these improved gems would come as part of a universal update, which would nullify the would-be terribleness of allowing people to
"purchase skill". I was really hoping that Capcom wouldn't take the "paid skill" road-- and they still may not... but now it probably doesn't matter because with Evo 2012 pulling out on gem support, no one is likely to use them in tournament regardless of whether or not Capcom does the right thing.
As someone who comes from the Super Smash Brothers community and was/is a part of many of the community's decisions, this has all been particularly worrying to me. The Smash community has had two great games (Melee and Brawl) that have both been torn apart by the community's affinity for arguing over the way the game was "meant to be played". As a site developer and member of the Brawl Back Room, I watched this all unfold while being mostly powerless to stop it. Even in my position of relative influence, I was helpless against the tide of bickering and rule-making that consumed the scene.
The most notable examples of issues that divide the Smash scene are Stage Selection, the Ledge Grab Limit (which is very "scrubby" by FGC standards), and the banning of Metaknight. These issues have sent shock-waves that still divide the community to this day. Many people are adamant that Metaknight should never have been banned and entire scenes do not support the decision, while others do. Stages are another huge source of debate, with "tournament legal" stages varying widely from region to region. You may be playing a completely different game on the East Coast/West Coast with only a handful of stages, but in the Midwest/South you may see stages that are often completely banned in the other regions. Often times a stagelist can even vary within a region simply based off of who is hosting the tournament.
A big part of what I like about the FGC is that they just play the "real game". That's what some of us in the Smash community tried to get Smashers to do for a long time, but many of us realized it was very much a wasted effort. Will the FGC now be poisoned with this same issue? Will the pro-gem players and the anti-gem players be at odds because they can't decide which game is the "real" one? Will each camp look down upon the other?
If this is what the future holds for Street Fight x Tekken and the Fighting Game Community, it means that my dream of getting away from the "Smash community drama" is going to die; the traditional Fighting Game Community is looking more and more like the Smash community with all of these rules and regulations to deliberate. I suppose that Capcom is to blame for putting gems in with a sub-par user interface in the first place, but I still wish that we could find a way to make them work at Evo 2012.
I'll still be practicing SFxT hard and I plan on attending Evo, I just really hope that the future remains bright for the game. SFxT is just too fun--and good--to let an issue like this stop it.
