Well, since you all just HAVE to have your own opinions and not be my mindless slaves then I'll just have to have everyone vote on thi rule

I kinda voted no here, not because I don't ever want items (frankly, for THIS tournament I WOULD like to have items), but in future tournaments, I'd like the freedom to play as my boys Bowser and Ganondorf without having to watch everyone else snap up all the Hearts, Stars, Laserguns, Smash Balls, Pokeballs and Stickers.

*my Ganondorf and someone else's Fox are both at 200%*
~Maxim Tomato appears~
Fox: *wide grin*
Ganondorf: MOTHERF-
Fox: *saunters over to it*
Ganondorf: *huff puff huff puff*
Fox: Oh lookit this MINE. *snaps it up and pwns me*

...that gets SO old.

I love online gaming and I'm a gracious loser the first five to ten games in a row, but beyond that I become a foul-mouthed, controller-throwing ogre, (as Jugger can attest.)

That's no fun for you *or* me.

You should consider item-pickupability when choosing a character. Just like you consider their weight, etc.

Well there are ways to counteract such items as Golden Hammer, Smash Ball and Heart Container, like beat the crap out of your opponent before they get a chance to use it

Exactly! It's up to you, as the player, to stop these so-called "unfair" things from happening.

Ganondorf: *crawls towards the Smash Ball, all the while taking punch after punch from everybody else I'm forced to ignore along teh way*

Mariorocks i approve of items in tourneys.

It's all about trade-offs, Ditto. Ganondorf and other larger characters are designed to take more punishment for just that reason.