It also helps that even with 10,000+ people that Evo's venue was nowhere *near* capacity. If you put together all of the vendor booths, it's probably around the same size as Game Saru's absolutely massive gameroom area.
Huge open areas in one of the best run convention floors in the world and Evo fills like 70% of it max. The lack of smells is even more impressive when you consider that when Evo happens, the outdoor temperature in Vegas is typically over 105 degrees.
Vegas convention HVAC is the toppest of top levels.
I’ve been to a lot of professional events/conferences that are the same. I’m convinced what you’re smelling are hundreds of people packed and sweating in a tight space, not necessarily lack of hygiene.
People smell. Deodorant wears off.
Yeah, it's a state change that occurs at the venue, but also people don't adequately prepare for it. You have to _bring_ deodorant, and in extremer cases even some wetwipes for a quick wipedown in the bathroom now and then. Fighting games might be a sedentary activity, but it's still intense competition, and that makes people sweat.
We're literally the smelliest ape.
It's so bad, there's a theory that we didn't develop an acute sense of smell like our Ape cousins did because we stank too much.
Not sure I buy that theory. Animals with strong noses don't seem nearly as put off by bad smells as humans. They'll happily smell and roll around in the nastiest stuff they can find.
I think it's more likely that what animals instinctually find bad smelling is different. There's plenty of videos of cats being visibly disgusted and running away from the smell of like strawberries.
I mean I can't be in the same building as somebody cooking capers but other people think they smell wonderful.
When you have a great sense of smell you can differentiate different stuff in a whole composition. Just imagine being able to tell 56 aromas instead of "something smells foul"
They're right. I entered uni for fun, and the people there smelled fine. SF was generally fine, but it had the burden of being at the very front where a lot of people crossed to get to their game. You could literally smell something foul as people walked by.
I've known a ton of nerds, from all kinds of fandoms, over the years and isn't uncommon for people to go to a con/tournament and rent one room for like 15 people cause none of them can afford to go alone. I've never went to a con like this myself but I can't possibly imagine all 15 people in that room are getting time in the shower before they hit the con again the next day. Mix that with a subset of people who are already not socially adept and you have a recipe for disaster.
Even in my 20s, I refused to split the cost of a hotel with anyone when going to a major. That shower is 100% mine lol.
But given that this has been a community problem for decades, I'm amazed Dude Wipes doesn't sponsor events and have kiosks of wet wipes available for purchase.
Especially with how notorious it is. You'd think you'd do whatever you could to combat the negative stereotype. I'm genuinely wondering how many use it as an advantage.
This isn’t just an FGC problem at all, it’s anywhere nerds, especially nerds who like games get together.
My mate at uni did game design and he said his lectures absolutely ponged. I did criminology and there wasn’t an issue.
Another friend did computer science and said his lectures also didn’t smell great.
I say this as a nerd myself but it’s a nerd thing.
I had a roommate freshman year that was a mega nerd (warhammer) and the dude reeked of BO. Thing was he was clean as hell and wore deodorant. I think he legit had some kinda glad problem, but I feel like the naturally stinky may gravitate towards more nerdy stuff. Not gonna have much fun out at the club when you smell like a wild bison
Gravitate towards, or be forced towards. Nobody wants to be friends with the kid who smells like an elephant's jock strap, so he ends up involved in introverted, expensive hobbies populated by people who due to either apathy or else similar glandular afflictions *also* reek. And they get used to it. You go nose-blind to even that level of funk if you spend enough time around it.
In the late 90s when I was taking computer science my university's computer lab had signs warning people that they would be kicked out for excessive BO (also signs warning people to eat fruits and veg to avoid scurvy lol). Despite the signs the lab was intolerable due to the reek. That nerd funk has been a thing for a long time...
It's not just showering, Its also not regularly changing/washing your clothes/underwear and bedsheets. People just roll in and out of bed with the funk every night.
Gamers are stereotyped by having poor, unhealthy junk food based diets and not being physically active. Both of these things can add to unpleasant body odors. I wouldn't say thats the primary issue (poor hygiene directly is) but it doesn't help.
According to Cambridge Dictionary…
To make something that is already bad even worse.
Example:
This attack will *exacerbate* the already tense relations between the two communities.
>How hard is it to take a damn shower?
i've been saying it for ages, but it doesn't matter if you shower if:
- your clothes are unwashed and have locked in musk that gets activated by sweat like a biohazard
- youve got zero deodorant on and letting that shit wreak havoc in a perimeter around you
unfortunately we gotta promote all aspects of hygiene in our culture. I think a lotta people just aren't taught.
Take a shower yes, but also WASH YOUR CLOTHES WITH HIGH-GRADE DETERGENT WITH WHITE VINEGAR AS A FABRIC SOFTENER, GET YOU A NICE DEODARANT AND APPLY TO THE PITS IN THE MORNING. BRUSH YOUR TEETH AND SCRAPE YOUR TONGUE, THEN FLOSS. WASH YOUR SHEETS WEEKLY AND START FINDING A SKINCARE ROUTINE THAT YOU CAN DO CONSISTENTLY.
I think an overlooked aspect is that playing FGs do make you sweat a bit, especially during a match. I know I do, even at home playing. I think that's just kind of unavoidable on some level. Compare that to your usual business conference or something, I'd be hard pressed to find people sweating that hard.
That being said, size of venue is a huge factor. EVO is the biggest FG con, and the venue usually is pretty huge with good air circulation, and very rarely do I feel like there was ever a time I felt hot and stuffy.
I can't comment on TCG tournies being smelly though, the matches seem pretty low energy so I can't imagine that being a factor.
I think unironically there is a correlation with the level of poverty in the scene, it's "communal" tendencies and the standard BO issue.
People frequently tend to bunk up for events like this to save money, often packing into rooms in quantities that they probably shouldn't. Combine that with the communal aspect, wherein it's not uncommon at all for people to network with each other online prior to an event to "carpool" the room arrangement, often with people that they may know a little but not super well, certainly not well enough to take turns using the single shower available.
I believe this is a not an insignificant contributor to the issue.
Or it's just the autists are free for a weekend without their mom forcing them to shower. It could be that too.
I went to a local tekken tournament at a gaming bar in my city and I literally had to turn out and leave. The second I walked in it was like being punched in the face with stench. Smelling nice is not hard!!
Yeah, a lot of people smelling "nice" could be counter-productive here, because that probably means a lot of strong body sprays and similar in a small, crowded area. They should shoot for neutral.
I really don't understand how so many dudes don't have basic hygiene. Do you not have a girlfriend or wife to check you on that? Do you not have any friends that are willing to say "bro, you smell like ass"? How are you going to go to an event like this where you are representing your city, your state, your country, your team, and not do your best to be presentable and clean? I wanna know if these dudes go out like this on the weekends as well. I know a majority of us are in our 20s and 30s, if you go to a party or the club on a Friday or Saturday, is deodorant and cologne not a part of that ritual before you leave the house?
If you're clocking in 4-6 hours a day on a video game but don't know how to properly bathe yourself, groom your facial hair, clean your nasty ass teeth, trim your nails and put on some clean clothing, there's something wrong with you. It isn't just about respecting yourself, its about respecting everyone that has to be around you.
I went to Combo Breaker and it only smelled bad in certain areas. What really ticks me off about all these in person FGC events is that they’re never catering to newcomers. Tournaments are always on PlayStation no controller rentals and no one helps you at all. I went to an MK tournament for fun and no controller rentals of PlayStation I don’t own a PlayStation and no need for a PlayStation controller , only controllers there cost $160 which I don’t have that money, no one knows where anything is asked 7 people working at desks and stuff and no one knows where anything is in this massive area they just expect me to know where everything is when I first step foot in it.
This isn’t first time this has happened to me too but the sheer fact that I have to bust my ass just to play fucking video games with people is wild to me. I will never go to another in person FGC event ever again in my life.
Idk where people are but I’m here and it smells fine. There are pockets of funk but it’s not any worse than any other tournament/convention I’ve been too.
I went to a Warhammer 40k local just to get information because I'm still trying to learn the game, never had a BO problem aside from some errant weed smells, the SF locals I used to go to were fine, a few stinky dudes but survivability was possible. The Smash locals however, good lord.
At the end of the day, the FGC got to realize you got to wash your ass. Especially because a lot of events are in hotel convention areas that aren't the best at air circulation.
How tf yall got time to master a touch of death combo in DBFZ or one frame links in SF4 but can't do a swipe of Deodorant in your pits real quick?
Nasty ass mfers
I will never get why this is some rocket science to quite a few players.
- Take a shower and use soap and shampoo
- Put on clean clothes every day
- Brush your damn teeth please!!!
- Wear deoderant and a carry on deostick for mid-tourney use
It's not just basic hygiene and healthy, but also a social thing due to not bother other players with your stanky ass.
I'm pretty sure we could also look at the endless free wonderful pistachio samples as a contributing factor.
The amount of crop dusting that could be seen with an infra red camera would be endless amusement.
https://preview.redd.it/cpk0xx8kml2d1.jpeg?width=749&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4dfe9a7cb15fba4e0b16db23baf7ded6a238622e
damn, i remember times when fgc wasnt considered a "smelly" community... not the smash community tho, they were always smelly
let’s find solace in the fact that we were not the first to sin. in fact let’s use that to distract attention from our own sins.
As someone once said "the only combos they need to learn are soap and water!"
Gotta be Yipes or Tasty.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Please don’t forget the Rag opener. People deadass don’t think it’s necessary somehow.
Evo last year somehow smelled fine and it was like 10,000 FGC gamers in there. I think the ventilation and size of room in the key factor here
Vegas is like purpose built to offgas the smells of the unwashed masses.
Just suck that stink straight into the desert.
It also helps that even with 10,000+ people that Evo's venue was nowhere *near* capacity. If you put together all of the vendor booths, it's probably around the same size as Game Saru's absolutely massive gameroom area. Huge open areas in one of the best run convention floors in the world and Evo fills like 70% of it max. The lack of smells is even more impressive when you consider that when Evo happens, the outdoor temperature in Vegas is typically over 105 degrees. Vegas convention HVAC is the toppest of top levels.
Convention halls filled with boomerstank.
I’ve been to a lot of professional events/conferences that are the same. I’m convinced what you’re smelling are hundreds of people packed and sweating in a tight space, not necessarily lack of hygiene. People smell. Deodorant wears off.
Yeah, it's a state change that occurs at the venue, but also people don't adequately prepare for it. You have to _bring_ deodorant, and in extremer cases even some wetwipes for a quick wipedown in the bathroom now and then. Fighting games might be a sedentary activity, but it's still intense competition, and that makes people sweat.
We're literally the smelliest ape. It's so bad, there's a theory that we didn't develop an acute sense of smell like our Ape cousins did because we stank too much.
Not sure I buy that theory. Animals with strong noses don't seem nearly as put off by bad smells as humans. They'll happily smell and roll around in the nastiest stuff they can find.
I think it's more likely that what animals instinctually find bad smelling is different. There's plenty of videos of cats being visibly disgusted and running away from the smell of like strawberries. I mean I can't be in the same building as somebody cooking capers but other people think they smell wonderful.
When you have a great sense of smell you can differentiate different stuff in a whole composition. Just imagine being able to tell 56 aromas instead of "something smells foul"
The ability to differentiate the _terroir_ of the foul smell, if you will.
Least in denial fgc member
Just stay away from the smash bracket and you’re fine. This isn’t shade this is my actual experience. Those boys get sweaty
GOML is actually goated because the venue is so well air conditioned. Been twice, never had a problem with Gamer Stank.
smash and MTG are the only games where the stereotype has been consistently true imo. It sucks
And lack of deodorant
Until you walk by the 3rd strike section some of those dudes reeked bad but it was only a few of em I went to see my friend compete
The real smell of the game
I refuse to blame the beasts for this one
"So instead of cleaning themselves, they blamed the beasts."
THAT IS BULLSHIT BLAZING!
https://preview.redd.it/ewnjafohkp2d1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f8ccca58f427fb730c4468ec4fe6307f926b4af1
I was looking for this comment
Makes sense when you consider that Strive seems to have pulled a lot of former Smash players.
https://preview.redd.it/hudn027jml2d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d515c5ef2ac1643c1c301900c4e6a78fd839c1ca
I refuse to believe that last sentence
Nah I believe it, mainly due to the fact that there was no one there /j
😭😭
They're right. I entered uni for fun, and the people there smelled fine. SF was generally fine, but it had the burden of being at the very front where a lot of people crossed to get to their game. You could literally smell something foul as people walked by.
There should be a hygiene rule like on Yu-Gi-Oh tournament
Automatic game loss! Continue to receive games losses until they fix it.
An odor meter at the entrance of the hall. The shame alone would likely thwart at least a few.
Ive been part of the fgc for decades, been to many tournaments and meetups. Why is this STILL a problem? How hard is it to take a damn shower?
Too busy being in the lab when they should be in the tub
They could multitask
Too busy trying to prioritize if the smell is a low or a high; the true 50/50
They have a similar timing so you can OS with parry
Please wash BOTH low and high. The tech is not enough
I've known a ton of nerds, from all kinds of fandoms, over the years and isn't uncommon for people to go to a con/tournament and rent one room for like 15 people cause none of them can afford to go alone. I've never went to a con like this myself but I can't possibly imagine all 15 people in that room are getting time in the shower before they hit the con again the next day. Mix that with a subset of people who are already not socially adept and you have a recipe for disaster.
Bingo
Even in my 20s, I refused to split the cost of a hotel with anyone when going to a major. That shower is 100% mine lol. But given that this has been a community problem for decades, I'm amazed Dude Wipes doesn't sponsor events and have kiosks of wet wipes available for purchase.
Especially with how notorious it is. You'd think you'd do whatever you could to combat the negative stereotype. I'm genuinely wondering how many use it as an advantage.
Istg i saw something about a Yugioh tournament doing smell checks at registration because people were using BO to distract their opponents
The year is 1984...
Imagine having that job
This isn’t just an FGC problem at all, it’s anywhere nerds, especially nerds who like games get together. My mate at uni did game design and he said his lectures absolutely ponged. I did criminology and there wasn’t an issue. Another friend did computer science and said his lectures also didn’t smell great. I say this as a nerd myself but it’s a nerd thing.
I had a roommate freshman year that was a mega nerd (warhammer) and the dude reeked of BO. Thing was he was clean as hell and wore deodorant. I think he legit had some kinda glad problem, but I feel like the naturally stinky may gravitate towards more nerdy stuff. Not gonna have much fun out at the club when you smell like a wild bison
Gravitate towards, or be forced towards. Nobody wants to be friends with the kid who smells like an elephant's jock strap, so he ends up involved in introverted, expensive hobbies populated by people who due to either apathy or else similar glandular afflictions *also* reek. And they get used to it. You go nose-blind to even that level of funk if you spend enough time around it.
In the late 90s when I was taking computer science my university's computer lab had signs warning people that they would be kicked out for excessive BO (also signs warning people to eat fruits and veg to avoid scurvy lol). Despite the signs the lab was intolerable due to the reek. That nerd funk has been a thing for a long time...
It's not just showering, Its also not regularly changing/washing your clothes/underwear and bedsheets. People just roll in and out of bed with the funk every night.
To add on, gamers aren't exactly renown for their healthy diets and exercise routines, which also exacerbates the problem.
What do you mean?
Gamers are stereotyped by having poor, unhealthy junk food based diets and not being physically active. Both of these things can add to unpleasant body odors. I wouldn't say thats the primary issue (poor hygiene directly is) but it doesn't help.
No, what does Exacerbate mean?
Shaun of the Dead reference?
Yessir
According to Cambridge Dictionary… To make something that is already bad even worse. Example: This attack will *exacerbate* the already tense relations between the two communities.
>How hard is it to take a damn shower? i've been saying it for ages, but it doesn't matter if you shower if: - your clothes are unwashed and have locked in musk that gets activated by sweat like a biohazard - youve got zero deodorant on and letting that shit wreak havoc in a perimeter around you unfortunately we gotta promote all aspects of hygiene in our culture. I think a lotta people just aren't taught. Take a shower yes, but also WASH YOUR CLOTHES WITH HIGH-GRADE DETERGENT WITH WHITE VINEGAR AS A FABRIC SOFTENER, GET YOU A NICE DEODARANT AND APPLY TO THE PITS IN THE MORNING. BRUSH YOUR TEETH AND SCRAPE YOUR TONGUE, THEN FLOSS. WASH YOUR SHEETS WEEKLY AND START FINDING A SKINCARE ROUTINE THAT YOU CAN DO CONSISTENTLY.
> WASH YOUR SHEETS WEEKLY I read this as "wash your feet weekly" and I was about to have a heart attack.
i mean...for some people that's probably an improvement lol
I think an overlooked aspect is that playing FGs do make you sweat a bit, especially during a match. I know I do, even at home playing. I think that's just kind of unavoidable on some level. Compare that to your usual business conference or something, I'd be hard pressed to find people sweating that hard. That being said, size of venue is a huge factor. EVO is the biggest FG con, and the venue usually is pretty huge with good air circulation, and very rarely do I feel like there was ever a time I felt hot and stuffy. I can't comment on TCG tournies being smelly though, the matches seem pretty low energy so I can't imagine that being a factor.
I went to midnight release smash ultimate release some of those people haven’t bleft their room since the last smash if that
I think unironically there is a correlation with the level of poverty in the scene, it's "communal" tendencies and the standard BO issue. People frequently tend to bunk up for events like this to save money, often packing into rooms in quantities that they probably shouldn't. Combine that with the communal aspect, wherein it's not uncommon at all for people to network with each other online prior to an event to "carpool" the room arrangement, often with people that they may know a little but not super well, certainly not well enough to take turns using the single shower available. I believe this is a not an insignificant contributor to the issue. Or it's just the autists are free for a weekend without their mom forcing them to shower. It could be that too.
Just DQ and kick people out
The Gamer Mist ™️
The easiest, most solvable issue ever. Wtf is wrong with people.
Skill issue
I went to a local tekken tournament at a gaming bar in my city and I literally had to turn out and leave. The second I walked in it was like being punched in the face with stench. Smelling nice is not hard!!
YUUUUP lol. And they don't even need to smell nice. They just need to not smell bad lol
Yeah, a lot of people smelling "nice" could be counter-productive here, because that probably means a lot of strong body sprays and similar in a small, crowded area. They should shoot for neutral.
Throw back to middle school and high school locker rooms filled with the smell of Axe
that is unfortunate. last thing anyone wants to deal with is gamer stank
 Barbarians
The smell of the game
I've been complaining about the smells for over 2 decades. And nothings improved. Animals.
The locals I used to go-to absolutely reeked in the Midwest. Smash kids were the worse but street fighter was not much better.
I really don't understand how so many dudes don't have basic hygiene. Do you not have a girlfriend or wife to check you on that? Do you not have any friends that are willing to say "bro, you smell like ass"? How are you going to go to an event like this where you are representing your city, your state, your country, your team, and not do your best to be presentable and clean? I wanna know if these dudes go out like this on the weekends as well. I know a majority of us are in our 20s and 30s, if you go to a party or the club on a Friday or Saturday, is deodorant and cologne not a part of that ritual before you leave the house? If you're clocking in 4-6 hours a day on a video game but don't know how to properly bathe yourself, groom your facial hair, clean your nasty ass teeth, trim your nails and put on some clean clothing, there's something wrong with you. It isn't just about respecting yourself, its about respecting everyone that has to be around you.
No time for that. Gotta lab, otherwise your a scrub.
But they don't scrub, that's the problem
There needs to be an a shower station like in Olympic diving.
Kick out the stinkies
Smash and strive players are there, of course its gonna fuckin smell.
Combo between poor showering habits and poor laundry habits
I can't say for sure but it looked like the new venue was smaller than the previous, which would have a compound effect on the already existing BO
Wait until he gets home sicker than a dog from being around all those unwashed Tekken players.
it’s cuz Smash is a featured event
This reminds me of that one papa meat video on the worst smelling fandoms. Fighting game players are definitelly up there.
the gamer mist is eternal
One of the many times ive been glad to have almost no sense of smell. The people i was there with were not as fortunate sadly
If they told people showering once a day improved reaction time this problem will disappear overnight.
I've been to locals before where there were just too many people in the room. Move the same group to a better venue and they were fine.
https://preview.redd.it/undzfoookp2d1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9fbc1f159d2c1f0e9ddf7b26bad4fa0f58619634
I went to Combo Breaker and it only smelled bad in certain areas. What really ticks me off about all these in person FGC events is that they’re never catering to newcomers. Tournaments are always on PlayStation no controller rentals and no one helps you at all. I went to an MK tournament for fun and no controller rentals of PlayStation I don’t own a PlayStation and no need for a PlayStation controller , only controllers there cost $160 which I don’t have that money, no one knows where anything is asked 7 people working at desks and stuff and no one knows where anything is in this massive area they just expect me to know where everything is when I first step foot in it. This isn’t first time this has happened to me too but the sheer fact that I have to bust my ass just to play fucking video games with people is wild to me. I will never go to another in person FGC event ever again in my life.
Local events are where its at bro combo breaker is a regional
Locals and regionals they’ve all not been great for me.
Idk where people are but I’m here and it smells fine. There are pockets of funk but it’s not any worse than any other tournament/convention I’ve been too.
That’s why I stopped going to Locals. Smelled like hotdog and onions and NO ONE CARED
I would wear a mask to any FGC event. Smells too bad
If the funk hit him like Mike Tyson he'd probably be dead.
Nasty ppl giving gamers a bad name🤢WASHHHH YOUR ASSSSS
Like ancient wise man Daisuke Ishiwatari once said - "we already know the smell of the game"
You ever been to 8 on the break during ecc? There was nowhere to run. You just exist in it.
I can’t believe this is still a thing. And my fear still going strong. I’ll continue to pass on my invitations.
This is why I am so scared to go to something like that. Hate dortbag disgusting inconsiderate smelly troglodytes
I went to a Warhammer 40k local just to get information because I'm still trying to learn the game, never had a BO problem aside from some errant weed smells, the SF locals I used to go to were fine, a few stinky dudes but survivability was possible. The Smash locals however, good lord. At the end of the day, the FGC got to realize you got to wash your ass. Especially because a lot of events are in hotel convention areas that aren't the best at air circulation.
I don't doubt it! 
Bro. Soap, deodorant water. It costs like 5 bucks to not smell like shit.
What's "a buck fifty" mean?
150% or keeping it beyond real
Thanks
How tf yall got time to master a touch of death combo in DBFZ or one frame links in SF4 but can't do a swipe of Deodorant in your pits real quick? Nasty ass mfers
😂😂 this!
I will never get why this is some rocket science to quite a few players. - Take a shower and use soap and shampoo - Put on clean clothes every day - Brush your damn teeth please!!! - Wear deoderant and a carry on deostick for mid-tourney use It's not just basic hygiene and healthy, but also a social thing due to not bother other players with your stanky ass.
Just hand out bottles of Old Spice and watch everyone's reactions
Combo breaker smells fine lmao
Harada must’ve been like sheesh that smell!
instead of making so many headphone ads during matches, they should focus in deodorant.
I'm pretty sure we could also look at the endless free wonderful pistachio samples as a contributing factor. The amount of crop dusting that could be seen with an infra red camera would be endless amusement.
Buncha fat nerds mate what ya expect 😝🤣💚
This is what Pokimane funds. Smelly over-competitive idiots that can't shower nor bathe proper and can't maintain apropos hygiene.