With a new year, new fighters releasing, and XIII eventually coming this year, there may be more attempts at building a fighting scene. With a lot of success and failures I've heard and experienced, I've got a few tips and suggestions to make.
1) GO WHERE THE FIGHTERS ARE. This one I shouldn't have to mention, but I've seen people put up flyers for things and expect 5 to 10 people to show up automatically; not the case. If you've got ranbats in your area for other fighters, spread your message there.
2) BE WILLING TO PLAY WHAT OTHERS ARE PLAYING. I know there's an issue with this depending on what game they're playing (SSF4 for instance), but unless you're 100% dead-set against ever touching a controller or stick when a certain game is on the screen, give it a try. Doesn't matter if you suck or don't like it, you're showing others you can be open to certain things, which is important since you're soon to aske the same of them.
3) REALIZE IT WON'T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT. It won't. It just won't. If it does happen to you, congratulations you lucky bastard. For the rest, just keep putting the stuff out there. You might get more interest from passerbys than people knowing exactly what you've got planned.
4) BRING MORE THAN ONE FIGHTER. Versatility is key for many ranbats. If you're planning one, or attending one, don't plan on just playing one game. Most of the time you'll see ranbats with SSF4, BB, Tekken, instead of just one of them. Bring a few SNK games if you can, and not just KOFs. Garou, Last Blade, SS; even these games can appeal to those playing today's popluar stuff.
5) BE AWARE OF STIGMAS AND NICHE THINGS. SNK has a stigma in America, and probably many other places worldwide. Fighters are still niche, no matter how much SF4 (and maybe MVC3) have revived the fighting game community. They've revived interested in those games but not others. In a sense, you are trying to appeal to a smaller group than hype would suggest you are. Whether or not it grows beyond that is up to supporters/promoters like yourself. And getting into arguments with people on why one game is good or bad may come natural, but might not help what you're trying to do. Don't state a games goodness/badness like it's fact. You'd be surprised how "I like this game because..." gets your point across much easier, and gets people to consider what they might like about it once they play it.
6) DON'T BE AFRAID TO TEACH AS MUCH AS YOU PLAY. You should know what this is like if you're the only person in your area that plays SNK fighters. Don't get frustrated; show new players the basics, the need-to-knows. Relate them to other fighters (Ryo & Robert like Ryu & Ken, Vanessa similar to Dudley; I know these are stretched and broad generalizations, but how else is a new guy to relate?). If all fails, show them something flashy, SNK fighters have that in spades. Any of this will give you better competition, something every fighting fan loves.
7) NETWORK; MAKE CONNECTIONS. Keep communication up with other fighters if you can. As it goes, you can hear about a ranbat, attend one, attend another you heard about from the first, attend a tournament. Eventually, you might be asked by some to bring your SNK stuff and even hold your own tournament. (Worked for Nilcam, I believe).
8) MENTION DREAMCANCEL.COM/THE WIKI/OTHER RESOURCES. A big reason why some fighters that are great get overlooked is people don't know where to find out how to play. Just by mentioning this site, you can tell them about how there's a SNK community with lots of tips, links to vids, and even the most comprehensive Wiki for SNK fighting strategies that's growing as we speak. If they seem to be only into visual stuff, memorize some YT users with lots of XIII vids and mention them (like the AI streams, DesmondDELGHATTO, GAMEacho, kusanagistyle, etc.)
This is what I've got so far. If I think of anything else, I'll update.
Anyone with comments, disagreements, questions, or other suggestions, feel free.
