I can only assume Namco's interest is due in part to seeing how well Capcom's direct involvement with their community has increased the profile of their games. EVO and the SSF4 is a hard spectacle to ignore. So regardless of what the motives are; its just smart business.
My suggestions would normally be of a gameplay nature; but in this case it's more of a gameplay aesthetics nature. This may piss off some purists, but SC4 is boring as shit to watch. Now before all you forumites get all up in arms, remember- your the educated viewer. SC4 requires some understanding of it's nuance in order to appreciate as a spectator. Let's compare to something like SSF4, where the bar of understanding to appreciation is lower, and yet at the same time the player pool is big; and the game is considered to have depth (not to argue it's depth compared to other games in the SF catalog).
The first priority of the design team in my opinion is to quite honestly, make the game LOOK GOOD when people watch it being played, so the game itself becomes it's own advertisement. Streams will inform peoples impressions; and whether we like it or not; SC4 at EVO 2k9 did not win us new players; despite having a HUGE audience to work with.
Enough with the safe poking, safe stepping type of enviornment the game mechanics encourage at high level play. This needs to be changed, or SC as a competitive game will continue to be a niche fighter, forever in the shadow of Tekken (unless Tekken happens to suck, as was the case in Tekken 4... ever notice how tons of people played SC2 after leaving Tekken?). Encourage players to take risks; and reward players for higher risks with higher rewards- both mechanically and aesthetically. The hard stuff should LOOK the coolest. It's that simple.
An execution curve also goes a long way to helping make the game "look good" believe it or not. Once again; I have to draw a comparison to SSF4. Even the lamest layman knows a hard combo when he see's it. The hard combos, interestingly, tend to do more damage or give a better reward in other fashions within the microcosm of that system (better wakeup, more meter, whatever). SC has always had an easy execution curve in the RIGHT places in previous games- movement, move motions, ect. The problem is, where getting damage is concerned that execution curve is also easy. The combos your seeing month 2 are the same combos you are probably going to be seeing forever. That's boring, and not at all cool looking.
Beyond that a gradual execution curve also gives the game a longer life, because it gives novice players SOMETHING TO STRIVE FOR. Notice the word GRADUAL there. As long as a player feels they have something new to learn or see, and the game rewards him for learning it, the longer a lifespan it will have. The longer lifespan a game has, the more exposure it gets in tournaments, videos, streams, ect. THIS IS FREE ADVERTISEMENT!!!
These complaints go into alot of other aesthetic concerns too- When costumes explode off a character and leave them in their underwear; that's ugly. When you allow people to make characters with a pink helmet and a bikini, that's ugly too. When you allow characters to juggle inescapably for more than 3 seconds at a time... that's boring. The game needs to be distinct from Tekken, not Tekken with weapons and ring-outs.
Beyond aesthetics, the game MUST have a GOOD online. The netcode need to take American and European internet infrastructure into account, not Japan's super internet. The Western Audience for this game is MUCH LARGER than the Japanese audience for this game. With a decent netcode, more people learn the game, thus more people participate in the game culture, thus more FREE ADVERTISEMENT.
More on that point, obviously the game needs to be patchable after release. I don't think ANYONE here has a problem paying for DLC characters/content in order to pay for the costs of creating these patches. I sure don't.
The designers should pay attention to Western Tournament results and videos with regard to it's balance concerns, NOT just Japanese. I would suggest looking to France/Europe for balance suggestions, as they have had the strongest (as in longest lasting with the highest median skill level) overall community for SC for a long time now.
Anyways; back to my cave. Good luck filthie and SC community.
-Idle
PS: The T&A in the game is getting a little ridiculous. Class it up a little, please.
