i really dont know why SSF2 missed a tourney at apex
Two comps next to each other
NO LAG because theyre next to each other
and if one needs a GCC they can use it

The main SSB tournaments were taking too long, so we didn't have time to do any.

Allow me to explain in full why keyboards should be banned from offline tournaments.

Having a keyboard gives you access to your opponent's controls, no matter if you use separate keyboards. For the foreseeable future, there is no get around. If you were recovering, what's to stop me from pressing a button on your controls? Or if you are holding the ledge what stops me from pressing a button on your config to prevent an edgehog? We can't put controls far away from eachother as possible, as that would mean someone would have to use a wonky control scheme. Having played against someone offline with two keyboards, we were fortunate enough to not have keyboard conflicts but there aren't that many keyboard combinations. I bet that everyone conflicts with 90% of other players in some way. Trying to accommodate for different control schemes is a huge time sink.

So, lets suppose that I did cheat to win a tournament GF. How would you prove that I pressed a key on your keyboard and it wasn't just you making a mistake? There is no way to check these things, outside of having 2 arbiters look at a keyboard to watch for this stuff. Or, what if you make a ridiculous move on purpose, claim I pressed one of your keys, and opt to have me DQ'd? There is no way to prove whether a claim is false or not, and trying to do so is a huge time sink. If arcade sticks or 3rd party GC controllers had a button that made your opponent jump, that controller would be banned from all tournaments for this flaw in security.

I will have this debate for as long as necessary to convince anyone that keyboards should be banned from offline tournaments, but it's always up to the TO.

tbh i don't think the game will ever get big enough to warrant a ban on probably the most popular method to play the game lol
sad but true
just my opinion though
EDIT: okay this might've sounded off-putting. the game has the chance to become big and have big tournaments, but right now when it's still in development and has potential to change for the better (read point at bottom of post), I don't think the BR should be settling on the keyboard banning conclusion yet. but yea, still up to the TOs

still throwing up the local online mode suggestion to TOs
bringing a laptop is like bringing a controller anyway (just more expensive lol)
as time goes on, the game will definitely improve it's online capabilities, so this method only proves to be better and more accommodating as time goes on imo.

Unfortunately, being a nonprofit we have to pay for everything out of pocket. Flying people in from Alaska/Australia/Michigan/Illinois/New Jersey/etc. more than once, MAYBE twice a year is simply unrealistic, no matter much as we'd like it to be. We aren't even sure if Big House can happen at this point due to the extra hotel/transportation expenses that came with the APEX venue controversy.

That being said, a grassroots community has to start somewhere. We need motivated and dedicated fans making the push like Ya Dad did in Indiana. You can do it. Nobody can really say what is possible in the future with that kind of support in any region - imagine if we had a "McLeodGaming Presents:" tournament sponsorship instead of transporting over to an event and running a tiny table. Seems like a pipe dream now, but literally having one die-hard fan making a big scene in a decently sized community can lead to sponsorships even bigger than IndySmash if it's worthwhile.

EDIT: It is also, as far as I know, physically impossible to prevent multiple keyboards from pressing each others' buttons. I dunno if we can do some trickery by detection which USB position is pressing the key - I highly doubt it - but yeah.

EDIT2: Unless we are Super Smash Java or Super Smash C++, deconfirmed. Or those games may have just been confirmed. Depending how you look at it.

Local Online mode would be very fast, but there is the problem that input buffer is fixed at 3 frames for now, regardless of lag. In the future there could be ways to adjust the frame buffer as suitable, though.

Yea it would require some testing, but I think it's the best route to go down
Would only leave the problem of how the UI for lobbies is currently set up in a giant mess of rooms with general filters Lol.

I look at using the online mode for tournaments in an offline setting as very unstable for competitive development. If I'm playing at a tournament, I do not want to play on a setup with input lag at all. Its the reason CRTs are the norm for Melee tournaments, not LCDs. I tend to time things visually, or react to what happens. For instance, if I go to ledgehop with Peach as soon as I see myself drop off of that ledge I jump immediately. In online, I see Peach drop off of the ledge, I press jump, Peach falls for a little bit longer, and then she jumps (her second jump being so short sometimes I can't get off the ledge in this way). I would feel pretty cheesed if this caused me to lose a set. Should I lose for not being able to play effectively blindfolded?

Oh, so this really can't be done differently? Good enough reason alone to ban keyboards, then.

Just because both computer are next to each other does not even no lag. Running on the same internet network, in the same area itself, can cause lag; even if it's a stable. I've tested at home and at multipe libraries, schools, and wifi-areas. It's 50/50 to be honest on how if the connection is stable or not. And even on the best connections, you still have a minimum 1-2 frames of delay. When a good PC offline can always run better than that.

And that's exactly why they can't be banned. Yet. . .

The keyboard problem is a tough situation, and exactly why I switched. To me, it feels unnecessary trying to hold onto the preference of keyboard uses, when you complete avoid all problems it brings in local-play by using a controller. As a competitor, you would do a tournament-organizer a great service by using a controller.

For my Xpadder, I have a 1-4 player setups for all my controllers. using the in a very organized fashion, avoiding the use of Ctrl, Alt, F-keys, etc. to avoid unintended key-commands. 1-player made up of 16 keys on the far left the letter-board. 2-player is the arrow-keys & number-pad. 3-player is 16 keys in the middle. And 4-player is 16 keys on the right of the letter-board. Each setups uses different keys, but make the controller have the same layout. Meaning, I switch from each player port with ease; it's the equalivant of plugging/unplugging a controller in and from different ports.

Players 1 and 2 are important ones. Having every controller with this setups helps cover the preferences of keyboard players that likes either the letter-board or the arrows/number-pad. That way, one click on Xpadder, and I switch to the opposite side what they're using.

The thing that sucks is that some characters transition more easily to a controller than others. I just tried using my gamecube mote for the first time. Not a big difference with Marth. Astronomical difference with Fox.

The only thing that changes for Fox is how to Shine-Cancel, if you're using the original Smash layout. With keyboard, you have two fingers covering jump and special. To replicate this on controller, you change one of the shoulder-buttons to jump. Or move the special button to 'X' so your thumb alone can cover both special and jump 'Y'.

I really think for technical characters like Tails and Fox, you make it much easier on yourself to change the GameCube layout. The original layout makes you need to have faster finger actions-per-minute than what's truly necessary to pull some tech-skill.

You can't really test local connections' speed with the current Online mode because the delay (lag) is fixed at 3 frames. So even if you're using two computers with a ping of 0.0000001 seconds and communicate at 2GB/s., you'll still have 3 frames of delay. But again, our current net-code is not set in stone.

If you have local tournaments with GC controllers, now you might have to open J2K or Xpadder EVERYTIME someone sits down. This goes back to the problem of assigning keybindings taking forever. An established standard is the best way to get around this.

IMO, using controllers will cause an initial drop in techskill (overall), but players can become faster once again. For instance, Fox's multishine = super easy on keyboard. In using one thumb, it can be hard to do but not impossible (think about SSBM apm, I'm sure ppl can do it). As a workaround, if I try to do any more than a double shine I will shift my grip to claw (index over Y, thumb over B) and perform as many as I want so long as I keep the jump-shine rhythm. I was able to overcome this initial limitation.

An example of something that I'm still working on is aerial->shine->aerial the way it can be done with keyboard. I can't get dair->shine->bair/nair like I could with a keyboard, but since some SSBM players (like Colbol) can do shine->bair with Fox (in midair) I'm sure it is possible to get back to that level of technical ability.

Surprisingly, I find the Tailsdash to be several times easier on a controller than on a keyboard. If you set tap jump on, then when you want to release the spin dash and press jump at the same time, just let go of B and flip the control stick up as fast as possible.

It doesn't take that long, if the players know what they want to assign their key/controls too. Fighting games tournament have to go through that all the time. Also remember one Xpadder Profile file can be used for any controller that gets plugged it. Sticks and D-pad will have the same keys that are put into the profile for any controller plugged in. It's just button layout that changes, but you can quickly rearrange that within the SSF2 control menu. It might be possible to make a Xprofile from one controller that covers layout of most/all other controllers. Most controllers people will be playing this game with are going to be GC, 360, or PS3/DualShock controllers anyway.