History Main / AbridgedArenaArray

** The original game on the Nintendo 64 had only a few stages, but basically all of them had weird proportions and stage hazards, making many of them a LuckBasedMission. As such, it has only a ''single'' tournament-legal stage, Dream Land. Battlefield, Final Destination, and Metal Cavern all have no stage hazards, but they are single-player only stages and cannot be used in multiplayer without hacking the game. This is a big reason why competitive play didn't take off until ''Melee'', but even then, stage hazards were a big problem, and {{Game Mod}}s like ''VideoGame/ProjectM'' modified many stages to remove the hazards.

** Nintendo started to recognize this pattern, and in ''for 3DS/Wii U'' they introduced "Omega mode", which allows you to play any stage in the Final Destination style -- a single wide platform -- but keep the music and aesthetic from each stage's original game. Its online mode was bifurcated into "For Fun" mode (original stages, items on) and "For Glory" mode (Omega versions, items off). However, the Omega stages are still distinct from one another, as the positions of the blast lines are different between them and only some of them allow you to jump under the platform; this affects tournament play enough that even some of ''these'' stages were not considered tournament-legal. EVO 2015 outright banned Omega stages (although that was mostly because the "flavor" of the original stages led to music rights concerns). ''Ultimate'' resolved the problem by making the Omega modes identical and introducing a Battlefield-style option for all stages as well.

* To the surprise of some, ''VideoGame/KirbyFighters2'' actually has a bit of this. It's not quite to the extent of other fighting games but at least two stages, Springy Hand Land and Castle Lololo, are completely banned from ''Kirby Fighters 2'' tournaments (yes, ''Kirby Fighters 2'' has tournaments), Springy Hand Land for having absolutely obnoxious stage hazards (though, similar to ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' tournaments, stage hazards are usually turned off) and Castle Lololo for having a very annoying stage layout that is not conductive to tournament play.

** ''VideoGame/Splatoon3'' still has the rotation time set for two hours, but allows for more options by splitting Ranked Battle into three modes, each with their own map rotations: Anarchy Battle Series, Anarchy Battle Open, and X Battle (which unlocks once a player reaches the X rank). Salmon Run is also now available at all times, with the stage and weapon loadouts being changed every day or two.

** Final Destination is particularly appealing to wannabe tournament players, as it is a single wide platform, making it the closest to a "traditional" fighting game stage. However, this ''does'' provide a slight advantage to certain characters with powerful long-range attacks (like Fox's blaster or Pit's arrows) or strong ground games (like Little Mac) -- but that advantage is slight, so it's still tournament-legal. Competitive players have come to accept platforms as ideal for ''Smash'' games, and the Battlefield setup with its three fixed platforms became the gold standard for stage configuration. In fact, the ''Brawl'' stage Smashville -- which is almost the same as Final Destination except for a single platform that floats back and forth -- was so popular that it even relegated Final Destination to counterpick status for some tournaments.

*** ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' even cashed on that: that map is the original setting - the first five seasons are ''The Blood Gulch Chronicles'' - and even as the characters moved onto other places, they're known as the "Blood Gulch Crew".

** ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' added another mode, League Battle, which also has two map available at a time. The game also reduced the rotation time for these [=PvP=] modes to two hours. There's also the new [[PlayerVersusEnvironment Salmon Run]] mode, which is only available at irregular intervals and only has one playable stage per shift.
** ''VideoGame/Splatoon3'' still has the rotation time set for two hours, but allows for more options by splitting Ranked Battle into three modes, each with their own map rotations: Anarchy Battle Series, Anarchy Battle Open, and X Battle (which unlocks once a player reaches the X rank).

** This is also the reason why whenever a MOBA game introduces an alternate map or gameplay mode (with the sole exception of the 5v5 single-lane map), it inevitably ends up being a niche mode with little to no tournament backing after the first few months or gets removed entirely (such as ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' Dominion mode): the base 5v5 map derived from ''[=DotA=] All-Stars'' is the only "pure" experience for the game.

** ''VideoGame/Splatoon3'' still has the rotation time set for two hours, but adds even more modes. Ranked has been split into two (Anarchy Battle Series and Anarchy Battle Open), in addition to X Rank now constituting its own mode rather than still being a part of the regular ranking system, and all three have their own rotations.

** ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' added another mode, League Battle, which also has two map available at a time. The game also reduced the rotation time for all modes to two hours.
** ''Splatoon 2''[='s=] Salmon Run mode only has one playable stage per shift.

* Averted with the map rotation system in the ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' series. There are only two maps available for regular Turf War battles, two others for Ranked Battles, and another two others for League Battle (introduced in [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 the second game]]) at any given time. In the first game, these sets changed every four hours, while the second reduced the rotation time to two hours. This is in addition to a different mode of Ranked Battle (such as [[RiskStyleMap Splat Zones]], [[EscortMission Tower Control]], or [[CaptureTheFlag Rainmaker]]) being available during each of these rotations as well. Map selection in these sets is random and out-of-player control, preventing players from gravitating towards one or two specific maps outside of private matches. ''Splatoon 2''[='s=] Salmon Run mode also has only one playable stage per shift. WordOfGod states that this is meant to fight ComplacentGamingSyndrome, in hopes that players would learn and experiment with different weapons.

** Vashj'ir in ''Cataclysm''. You'll not find many people in that zone because at launch it left a bad taste in many peoples' mouths. Many claim the zone is an example of AtlantisIsBoring, but the zone is actually quite diverse, with seaweed forests, massive palaces, deep ravines, underwater caves, and enormous sea creatures. Its reputation seems to come mostly from the fact that people just don't like underwater levels. For all its diversity, because the zone is in deep water it's necessarily darker than most zones and always a shade of blue, giving a constant feeling of heaviness and sneaking claustrophobia. People just generally see water more as a place to ''get out of'' rather than a place to stay for an extended period of time (possibly an evolutionary thing in our subconscious). There ''are'' two objective problems with the zone however. When first released it was incredibly buggy, preventing some people from even progressing through it (you can still get screwed on the final quest if you're unlucky). Secondly, the whole theme of the zone was a build-up to a confrontation with underwater [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch abominations]] which, while planned to be released later, [[OrphanedSeries never happened,]] making the whole thing feel pointless.

* Averted with the map rotation system in ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' and ''VideoGame/Splatoon2''. There are only two maps available for regular Turf War battles, two others for Ranked Battles, and another two others for League Battle (introduced in the sequel) at any given time. In the first game, these sets changed every four hours, while the second reduced the rotation time to two hours. This is in addition to a different mode of Ranked Battle (such as [[RiskStyleMap Splat Zones]], [[EscortMission Tower Control]], or [[CaptureTheFlag Rainmaker]]) being available during each of these rotations as well. Map selection in these sets is random and out-of-player control, preventing players from gravitating towards one or two specific maps outside of private matches. ''Splatoon 2''[='s=] Salmon Run mode also has only one playable stage per shift. WordOfGod states that this is meant to fight ComplacentGamingSyndrome, in hopes that players would learn and experiment with different weapons.

* ''Warcraft II''. Garden of War.

** Don't forget that in the original ''Left 4 Dead'', players only ever want to play the first campaign, No Mercy. Part of this is because at launch, only the first and fourth campaigns featured versus mode; since then all four campaigns have been released for versus, but people still rarely choose anything other than No Mercy over and over. Mirrored in the sequel where for VS games, people will only play Dead Center and The Parish, though ever since the original campaigns were officially ported No Mercy is once again the only one ever played. This is mostly due to Death Charges, a technique where a Charger player can charge into a survivor and hurl them to instant death. Dead Center and No Mercy have several spots where survivors can be instantly killed if they are not careful, so infected players pick these maps to get a shot at killing survivors in one shot.

* In the fan patched netplay version of ''[[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Guilty Gear X2 Reload]]'', a lot of players tend to choose Slayer's stage even though stages really have no impact on gameplay in this game. To elaborate, Slayer's stage is a large open cathedral-looking area with a gigantic bearded skeleton wearing armour in the background. It is likely because they want to hear [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Slayer's admittedly cool theme tune]]

** This is also the reason why whenever a MOBA game introduces an alternate map or gameplay mode (with the sole exception of the 5v5 single-lane map), it inevitably ends up being a niche mode with no [=eSports=] backing past the first few months (if at all) or gets removed entirely (such as ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' Dominion mode): the base 5v5 map derived from ''[=DotA=] All-Stars'' is the only "pure" experience for the game.

* Multiple [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] games have added alternate maps to the game, such as a smaller 3v3 map with two lanes or even a map with different objectives like ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends''' Dominion mode, but apart from the single-lane 5v5 maps that are more for fun than anything else, they drop off in players quickly and have very limited to no presence in tournaments.

* Multiple [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] games have tried adding alternate maps to the game, such as a smaller 3v3 map with two lanes or even a map with different objectives like ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' Dominion mode, but apart from the single-lane 5v5 maps that are more for fun than anything else, they drop off in players quickly and have very limited to no presence in tourmanents.

Green = can be always legal.\\

* Well over 50% of the custom map ''VideoGame/WarCraftIII'' games on Battle.net are for ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients''. This ''map'' is so popular it's inspired a separate genre (which includes ''VideoGame/HeroesOfNewerth'', ''VideoGame/{{Demigod}}'', ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'') and its own theme song ("Vi sitter i ventrilo och spelar [=DotA=]" by Basshunter).
** There are some people who got Warcraft III just to play the custom maps and have never touched the unmodded game.

* Most of the attention in ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' is on Versus mode, where you simply pick either Puyo Puyo or Tetris and play against other people. There are four other modes in the game - Swap, Fusion, Party, and Big Bang - but they are far less common such that there are almost never any rooms open for those modes. Most likely, this is because players gravitate to either regular Puyo Puyo or Tetris, and the other four modes force players out of their comfort zones in various ways (and while most modes balance the two games against each other pretty well, Party is considered horrifically unbalanced against Puyo Puyo players). In Puzzle League, the ranked mode, players can disable modes as they wish, meaning you will mostly see Versus there too, with other kinds of matches being quite rare. That being said, Swap has been established as the standard mode for tournaments, leading to slightly higher Swap play; even then, it's rarer than Versus, as it requires adeptness at both Puyo Puyo and Tetris, as this mode is played on two playfields at once, one for each game, with the players [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin swapping between the two]] at set intervals. As for the other two modes, Fusion is unpopular because it not only requires adeptness at both games, but further complicates them by having both take place on the same board, and Big Bang forgoes strategy in favor of simply memorizing preset patterns and playing as blazingly fast as possible.

* In ''VideoGame/GoldenEyeWii'', expect to play a lot of Jungle, Docks and Outpost. Seeing as they're basically the only high-visibility maps with plenty of levels and indoor/outdoor play, it's justified. Try playing Sewer for a few minutes--your eyes will literally hurt from strain.

* Even in "traditional" [=2D=] and TwoAndAHalfD fighters like ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' where obstacles aren't an issue, tournaments will generally be held on the training stage (and you can expect most of your opponents in online play to choose it as well). The pro-training players arguing that it's less distracting than arenas that have background animation, while the pro-variety players argue that the other stages are there for a reason. On another level, modern training stages tend to be marked with grids intended to help players figure out the spacing of attacks; while nobody questions this utility for practicing, critics have accused tournament players of being unable to play the game without their "training wheels".

* Due to ''[[{{VideoGame/Tekken}} Tekken 4]]'''s engine allowing for various forms of weirdness and other game-breaking moments, tournament play was very often restricted to a handful of stages (the Arena being the most common). That didn't stop the possibility of potentially broken combos still being executed even on the most fair of stages.

** Nintendo started to recognize this pattern, and in ''Smash 4'' they introduced "Omega mode", which allows you to play any stage in the Final Destination style -- a single wide platform -- but keep the music and aesthetic from each stage's original game. Its online mode was bifurcated into "For Fun" mode (original stages, items on) and "For Glory" mode (Omega versions, items off). However, the Omega stages are still distinct from one another, as the positions of the blast lines are different between them and only some of them allow you to jump under the platform; this affects tournament play enough that even some of ''these'' stages were not considered tournament-legal. EVO 2015 outright banned Omega stages (although that was mostly because the "flavor" of the original stages led to music rights concerns). ''Ultimate'' resolved the problem by making the Omega modes identical and introducing a Battlefield-style option for all stages as well.

* ''VideoGame/RivalsOfAether'' shares many of the same rules as ''Super Smash Bros'', considering that their respective fandoms are generally made up of the same people. Similar to ''Smash 4's'' Omega Stages, each stage has two different forms; ''Aether'' and ''Basic''. ''Aether'' stages typically have some sort of hazard or gimmick, whether it be something as mundane as a wall on Fire Capitol or a ManEatingPlant that deals a OneHitKO on Treetop Lodge. ''Basic'' stages have no gimmicks and are geared towards competitive play.

-->-- A [[MemeticMutation infamous]] description of any given competitive ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' match.

* Averted with the map rotation system in ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' and ''VideoGame/Splatoon2''. There are only two maps available for regular Turf War battles, two others for Ranked Battles, and another two others for League Battle (introduced in the sequel) at any given time. In the first game, these sets changed every four hours, while the second reduced the rotation time to two hours. This is in addition to a different mode of Ranked Battle (such as [[RiskStyleMap Splat Zones]], [[EscortMission Tower Control]], or [[CaptureTheFlag Rainmaker]]) being available during each of these rotations as well. Map selection in these sets is random and out-of-player control, preventing players from gravitating towards one or two specific maps outside of private matches. WordOfGod states that this is meant to fight ComplacentGamingSyndrome, in hopes that players would learn and experiment with different weapons.

** Casual players have this issue, too -- they tend to default to stages which allow for maximum chaos. ''Melee'''s Hyrule Temple is a particular favourite, because it's very big (but not too big, as in the weird massive novelty stages like the Great Cave Offensive), allowing players to screw around, but still has no artificial stage hazards or unique mechanics.

* Dust 2 in ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'' is one of the most iconic maps in the history of gaming for being well balanced between the two sides. ''Webcomic/{{Concerned}}'' [[http://www.screencuisine.net/hlcomic/index.php?date=2005-08-19 parodied this way back in ''2005''.]] It even has it's own [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_II Wikipedia Page!]] It's popular in every incarnation of the game from the default 5v5, to super high pop servers with 20+ players per side, in team deathmatch and gungame modes.