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Fighting Games Weekly | Dec 29 - Jan 4 | 2015: An Esports Odyssey

Kimosabae

Banned
I find the lack of throw tech complaint sort of odd because I've personally never witnessed an intentional tech in AC anyway.

I have, but it is indeed, very rare.

Throws in Xrd are mostly good for setting up Oki and CH pressure, with the option to spend meter to do more damage. Seems damned sensible to me.
 

thehadou

Neo Member
If you're coming from 3S, then yes, I agree with you. However, I didn't find that to be the case at all if you were coming from ST.

To be fair SF3 did the same thing to people who were into ST hard core.

Its long been my understanding that SF3 outright butchered interest in large portions of the, then, player base with its new everything gamble. New fighting games, at least in a series, have a tough balancing act of carrying on old traditions while exploring new visuals, mechanics, and/or characters. I think its easy to go too far or to play too safe - its one of my concerns with SFV.

Oddly I have zero concerns about MKX, which is absurd considering the ups and downs of the franchise's history.
 
I can't sympathize with most of the criticisms against Xrd at all. It's no +R for sure, but the game is absolutely good enough, and the revisions are coming. People just seem to be criticizing without perspective at all. There's FG sequels like SF4 and Brawl that will almost literally decimate your commitment to the previous game with their changes. Xrd doesn't do that, and is still fun to explore.

I think people are happy with Xrd for the most part. If they're not happy now, they'll be back for the revision and that game will likely address their issues.

In defense of the Smash community: the broad stroke cartoon as a community entrenched in conservatism isn't analogous. The sequels to Melee are almost universally considered to be poor competitive fighting games.

I find it weird that you can't sympathize. You seem to acknowledge that the game has problems, but because you're hopeful it'll get better with revisions instead of worse you can't sympathize with people unhappy with the current version?
 

Spuck-uk

Banned
It still baffles me that this is the case. It's like the dev team are living in 2005.

"We need that casual money"

"But there's like a million games out there that cater to hardcore players and make bank"

"But the CASUALS man"

I can 100% guarantee that sales of Smash to casual players outnumber serious players 1000:1. I mean, it's a game where you can have Pikachu fight Mario and Link.

I'm far more surprised that a tournament scene arose from it, and though I don't like it as a competitive game, credit where credit is due to the players who keep it going.
 

kirblar

Member
It still baffles me that this is the case. It's like the dev team are living in 2005.

"We need that casual money"

"But there's like a million games out there that cater to hardcore players and make bank"

"But the CASUALS man"
So, who exactly do you think was buying the millions and millions of Smash games that made it such a success?
 

casperOne

Member
Notice the wording. A consistent pattern of the SF series is the developers make drastic changes that alienate the core base of the previous game.

I don't disagree, but I think the SF series is a little different in that you had a large number of people who skipped SF3 completely and were able to feel comfortable in SF4.

But generally, the SF series will do that. The question for the future is, how much will it mix it up in SF5 (so far, we're not seeing anything so radical).
 

Kimosabae

Banned
I find it weird that you can't sympathize. You seem to acknowledge that the game has problems, but because you're hopeful it'll get better with revisions instead of worse you can't sympathize with people unhappy with the current version?

I didn't say anything about the game having "problems". I just said it's not as good a game as +R. No game is perfect. There's shit I don't like about that game and there's shit I don't like about Xrd. But Xrd is good enough of a GG game to help bring in new people, help grow the scene, and give competitive players something to explore and compete in.

No, I can't sympathize. Again, it's about having perspective on the issue. This could have been more of a sequel to Persona or been SF4-ized with huge nerfs to offensive pressure and movement. Instead, the game is very much a Guilty Gear game that doesn't trample all over my commitment to the previous game and that's what counts most for me.
 

kirblar

Member
Its long been my understanding that SF3 outright butchered interest in large portions of the, then, player base with its new everything gamble. New fighting games, at least in a series, have a tough balancing act of carrying on old traditions while exploring new visuals, mechanics, and/or characters. I think its easy to go too far or to play too safe - its one of my concerns with SFV.

Oddly I have zero concerns about MKX, which is absurd considering the ups and downs of the franchise's history.
So many changes in MKX show that they were listening to people's issues with MK9/Injustice- I'm not worried about it at all either.

GG will also get updated - it's an ASW game. The only developer where you kinda have to fear stagnation right now is Nintendo, since they've been very schizophrenic about what they want to do with the game w/r/t balancing it through patches.
 

thehadou

Neo Member
So many changes in MKX show that they were listening to people's issues with MK9/Injustice- I'm not worried about it at all either.

I absolutely agree that everything about MKX looks like a positive step for the future. I was more some commenting that MK has normally been a series where every new title has been a cause for concern in some respect. Its fairly astounding, and delighting, to me that NRS is doing such a solid job of creating new expectations while also level-setting past concerns with the MKX promotional campaign.
 
I didn't say anything about the game having "problems". I just said it's not as good a game as +R - but no game is perfect. There's shit I don't like about that game. No, I can't sympathize. Again, it's about having perspective on the issue. This could have been more of a sequel to Persona or been SF4-ized with huge nerfs to offensive pressure and movement. Instead, the game is very much a Guilty Gear game, that doesn't step all over my commitment to the previous game and that's what counts most for me.

If a game isn't perfect then doesn't it have to have problems? Even if they're not fundamental design flaws like tripping and only minor annoyances like double tap to dash instead of two button dashes, they would still be a mark against the game, right? Basically, I wasn't reading too deeply into your personal thoughts about the game. Not trying to put words into your mouth about how you feel about it.

But more interesting to me, do you think it's impossible to create the perfect fighting game? Topic change, everybody answer this.

I think as long as we divide into subgenres, that every subgenre can have a perfect entry, one that gets everything right.
 

Tizoc

Member
It's probably not ready yet. I can wait. 2015 will be likely when it's ready to show off.

SNK's getting used to Steam and releasing their products there. They JUST NOW have a social media outlets to get in touch.

Would've been nice to get an update of sorts though =/
 

Kimosabae

Banned
I never said Xrd was perfect and was lacking in issues? What are you getting at?

And, no, no game can be 'perfect' because nothing in this world is. It would be improbable that an entire society of people with even a passing interest in fighting games could even come to something resembling a consensus regarding what the ideal FG is.
 
So, who exactly do you think was buying the millions and millions of Smash games that made it such a success?

People who want to be Mario and fight their buddy playing Link. That's the core appeal. But there's no sense in deliberately babying everything, making the game slower etc because that's what you think casuals want.

You don't want to cater to casuals. You want to create fans. Making a deeper and more rewarding game is, it has been shown, more bankable. Look at Blizzard's games.

Smash mastered the "easy to pick up" part but I think the dev team actually runs away from the "hard to master" bit.
 

kirblar

Member
People who want to be Mario and fight their buddy playing Link. That's the core appeal. But there's no sense in deliberately babying everything, making the game slower etc because that's what you think casuals want.

You don't want to cater to casuals. You want to create fans. Making a deeper and more rewarding game is, it has been shown, more bankable. Look at Blizzard's games.

Smash mastered the "easy to pick up" part but I think the dev team actually runs away from the "hard to master" bit.
That's not what casuals want, that's what casual gamers (and very young gamers) find easier to play. Melee's speed was a legitimate issue - I had a hard time with it for a while coming from Smash 64.
 

Mr. X

Member
No one is worried about MKX because no one cares about quality when they're playing it regardless. It could be MKvDC bad and they will support it.
 

Kumubou

Member
For you, maybe. But it wasn't an issue, generally, no.
I can barely remember my initial impression (it was about 13 years ago!), but I remember being taken aback initially by the difference in speed from 64 to Melee... but then you get used to it, and you can't really go back. So I can see people having an issue with the speed initially -- you can get used to it, but their concern is how many people won't be put off by it? That sort of thing is actually very hard to scale well; it needs to be something that new players can have some feeling of control over while having the capacity to challenge experienced players.
 

thehadou

Neo Member
No one is worried about MKX because no one cares about quality when they're playing it regardless. It could be MKvDC bad and they will support it.

From a sales perspective sure, but there are quite a few people interested in the quality of the game's tournament value. Why be so harshly dismissive of the competitive following MK9 & Injustice built up? Particularly when NRS has verbalized an ongoing focus to developing with them in mind.
 

Kimosabae

Banned
I can barely remember my initial impression (it was about 13 years ago!), but I remember being taken aback initially by the difference in speed from 64 to Melee... but then you get used to it, and you can't really go back. So I can see people having an issue with the speed initially -- you can get used to it, but their concern is how many people won't be put off by it? That sort of thing is actually very hard to scale well; it needs to be something that new players can have some feeling of control over while having the capacity to challenge experienced players.


The thing is, is that our brains (healthy ones) are more capable and willing to adapt to stimuli, or varying frequencies in stimuli, than most people are willing to give it credit for. Once it adapts, it's very good at noticing minute changes in details.

I never heard the complaints about Melee being too fast until Brawl released. Why? I believe that the amount of people dedicated to Smash 64 over a long period of time were relatively few.

Brawl essentially gave people a real point of reference for Melee's speed, since 64 wasn't relevant and it really wasn't until then that a lot of people felt it was uncomfortable and it became a talking point.

How many people complained about Marvel 3 being too fast when that released? IIRC: too damned many.

No one complains about that game's speed anymore and if they do, they're an unheard minority at best.
 

Onemic

Member
I feel like most peoples favourite Smash(casuals and hardcore) is Melee anyway. The speed really wasnt an issue for me or anyone else that I know who played it(we were all casuals) back when Melee first came out.
 

xezuru

Member
That's not what casuals want, that's what casual gamers (and very young gamers) find easier to play. Melee's speed was a legitimate issue - I had a hard time with it for a while coming from Smash 64.

Utterly baffling me, I've hosted and watched Smash meetups both casually and competitively for a number of years and I've never seen anyone of the casual sort complain about the speed of any Smash game. People have thought it was weird that in Brawl jump sizes were way higher and floatier but that was about it. Casual Smash is seriously just hit tag with alot of direct, head-on chases, rolls, and smashes and noone really cares about the speed in any of the games at that level. Even in Melee fox wasn't even fast (Falcon was mr insano still) at that level because noone was SDing shining or even doing anything much past dash attacks. I have no idea where you getting this problem from as I actually see the exact same patterns and speed of play now that Smash 4 is a new game too.
 

NEO0MJ

Member
I feel like most peoples favourite Smash(casuals and hardcore) is Melee anyway. The speed really wasnt an issue for me or anyone else that I know who played it(we were all casuals) back when Melee first came out.

Smash 44 is doing decently with my group for now, but yeah. When Brawl came out it didn't take long for us to get back to Melee. Even the ones who didn't practice ro even own the game preferred Melee to Brawl.
 

cHaotix8

Member
eh, going to melee from 64 wasn't that huge of an issue to me. It was a bit faster but it was still as enjoyable to me as the 64 version was because in 64 you always had mobility.

What made me dislike brawl was that the game was slowed down and designed around preventing mobility. The inclusion of tripping and removal of canceling removed so many options that for me, the game lost all it's enjoyment.
 

Infinite

Member
I personally remember melee being hard to get into initially because of how fast it was compared to 64 answer literally played smash 64 up until the day melee was released. But then I got used to the speed and then I couldn't go back
 

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
That's not what casuals want, that's what casual gamers (and very young gamers) find easier to play. Melee's speed was a legitimate issue - I had a hard time with it for a while coming from Smash 64.
I don't know if it was an issue necessarily, but the game is targeted at children first and foremost, so really it's hard to get upset at those concessions for me.

The slower speed really does help kids that aren't frequent gamers think and plan their attacks out from my experience.
 
Smash 44 is doing decently with my group for now, but yeah. When Brawl came out it didn't take long for us to get back to Melee. Even the ones who didn't practice ro even own the game preferred Melee to Brawl.

man fuck Nintendo, they've already made 44 Smash games, talk about milking the series /s
 
So how would that affect continuous dash like Sol's?

I would be fine with two button dash for AD
The same way Ammy and Strider dash in Marvel. Button press to start, hold forward to continue.

I like joystick taps for dashes. It let's you read a dash by the jitter of the character. Or you can fake a dash by jittering your char.

Fighting games with a guard button. Putting up your guard for a split second can be a huge tell to your inner mental state.

Like, games without/with small proximity guard are disorienting. You whiffing attacks in front of someone's face and they don't transition in to their block animation. You can't tell if this guy is afraid or if he's a stone cold killer.
You can still tap of you want, but I think double tap to dash is above even L-canceling as a pointless and annoying execution barrier.

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?fo...witter.com/MikeZSez/status/549397573258444801

Continuing from last week thread.

I kinda agree with the Mike Z pushed fighting games forwards in many areas with Skullgirls such as UI/inputs. I'd rather see him do a traditional fighter instead of an anime fighter in future. I think he'd be better with a game such as say, a new Fatal Fury or maybe even a Last Blade instead of a new GG or Marvel-type game.
Skullgirls really does not get enough credit for pioneering new fighting game features. I am still waiting for other companies to start offering hitbox displays.

Having only recently gotten into GG, I HAAAAATED bursts at first, but now I kind of see their necessity. Offense/pressure is so strong in GG that you kind of need something that can return the game to a neutral situation. Burst means you get to at least play the neutral twice(ish) per round (unless you get burst baited or whatever). I think burst would be kind of dumb in marvel though- I'd rather there be some way to weaken incoming mix-ups (spend meter to delay your incoming timing, etc.), to decrease the odds of it becoming a one player game the moment somebody lands a clean hit.
Bursts are a bandaid to a more serious problem, which is that offense is relentless in GG. If relentless offense is really a problem, then ASW should add a mechanic to deal with it. Preferably, meterless.

Also, I noticed that Ogawa does no hesitate to burn meter on FD for the pushblock when someone gets in on him.

Anyone here bought the Hori V4? Is it good? Thinking about importing it
I hear the buttons get stuck and are squeaky.
 

Kimosabae

Banned
Burst is fine and is meta as fuck, which makes it doubly-fine. If offensive pressure in a FG is a "problem" you might want to consider a different game series, because that's Guilty Gear at its core. There's myriad systems to deal with it and they all have their pros and cons but pressure takes front and center in this series.
 
Burst is fine and is meta as fuck, which makes it doubly-fine. If offensive pressure in a FG is a "problem" you might want to consider a different game series, because that's Guilty Gear at its core. There's myriad systems to deal with it and they all have their pros and cons.
I swear you always take people's posts, change the conveyed meaning, and then try and start an argument about something no one said in the first place. It is like you don't check for context at all. If you just took a moment to try and understand what people post about, you would end up in so many fewer arguments about nothing.

My point was that ASW clearly feels offense is too strong in the game, so they put Bursts in. But I dont think Bursts were the right approach to their issue. I am not complaining, I am reflecting on their design approach.

I love the aggressive gameplay in GG.
 

Anth0ny

Member
I played a couple of games of 8 player Smash with my group of friends last week. It's been a couple of years since we all played Smash Bros together.

The unanimous conclusion? "Why the fuck aren't we playing Melee right now."

THESE GUYS DON'T PLAY GAMES and they'd rather play Melee over Brawl and now Smash 4. They're as casual as it gets. None of them would ever dream of playing Melee, or any other video game, competitively.

It's also as if Melee is just the more fun game, and competitive depth and all that shit is just an additional bonus ;)
 
I played a couple of games of 8 player Smash with my group of friends last week. It's been a couple of years since we all played Smash Bros together.

The unanimous conclusion? "Why the fuck aren't we playing Melee right now."

THESE GUYS DON'T PLAY GAMES and they'd rather play Melee over Brawl and now Smash 4. They're as casual as it gets. None of them would ever dream of playing Melee, or any other video game, competitively.

It's also as if Melee is just the more fun game, and competitive depth and all that shit is just an additional bonus ;)
Could be the nostalgia and familiarity talking as well. If my friends and I wanted to replay a counter strike game we'd all agree on cs 1.6 because we're used to it.
 

alstein

Member
Skullgirls really does not get enough credit for pioneering new fighting game features. I am still waiting for other companies to start offering hitbox displays.

.

Hitbox displays date back to the Saturn and Vampire Hunter. That's not something Lab Zero invented.

The area where SG was revolutionary was mostly in UI design and input ease/recognition. Under the hood stuff that isn't obvious but becomes huge as soon as it's realized.
 

Pompadour

Member
That's not what casuals want, that's what casual gamers (and very young gamers) find easier to play. Melee's speed was a legitimate issue - I had a hard time with it for a while coming from Smash 64.

Frankly, they deviated too far from Melee in hopes of not scaring off new players. I'm of the opinion that you could retain 95% of what makes Melee Melee in a new version of Smash and the casual fanbase that makes up the vast majority of the players wouldn't notice/care. There's a few sharp edges that could be smoothed out (lower the speed a tad) but otherwise I think casual players would be fine with it.
 
Hitbox displays date back to the Saturn and Vampire Hunter. That's not something Lab Zero invented.

The area where SG was revolutionary was mostly in UI design and input ease/recognition. Under the hood stuff that isn't obvious but becomes huge as soon as it's realized.
Vampire Hunter had a hitbox toggle in training mode? I had no idea. Is that the only Capcom game to ever do that?
 

WarRock

Member
Double tap to dash needs to die a horrible painful death.
What is this heresy

The way you say it makes it sound like those are bad complaints. Get that jank out of fighting games.
Zooms are bad but the cut ins that Skullgirls got for super KOs are okay? :V

Wish I could read French to read your reviews.

Sirlin has been raving about Xrd- calling it one of the best GGs ever.
Well, YRCs are the closest mechanic in the market to what he wanted to do with SF Flash.

No one is worried about MKX because no one cares about quality when they're playing it regardless. It could be MKvDC bad and they will support it.
Can't you say the same for SF and Marvel?
 

Kimosabae

Banned
I swear you always take people's posts, change the conveyed meaning, and then try and start an argument about something no one said in the first place. It is like you don't check for context at all. If you just took a moment to try and understand what people post about, you would end up in so many fewer arguments about nothing.

My point was that ASW clearly feels offense is too strong in the game, so they put Bursts in. But I dont think Bursts were the right approach to their issue. I am not complaining, I am reflecting on their design approach.

I love the aggressive gameplay in GG.

This is bullshit. The problem is that you feel I'm attacking you for "complaining" about Bursts, so you're getting hella defensive and being completely uncharitable to my statements as a result.

Bursts are a bandaid to a more serious problem, which is that offense is relentless in GG. If relentless offense is really a problem, then ASW should add a mechanic to deal with it. Preferably, meterless.

I'm pretty sure I didn't twist a damned thing. Bursts are a "band-aid" implemented to fix GG's offensive "problem". This is a matter of perspective. Yes, without Burst, offense would be too strong. Attaching another meter mechanic to address it does, what, exactly? Dead Angle Attack is already there, and is similar, with exception that it puts the user at advantage.

Burst exists because ASW wants offense to be strong, not too strong. Duh, right? As is, it isn't "too" strong due to Burst and other mechanics. If you can think of something better, let's continue the discussion. But I like Burst and all that it brings. You saying that it's a band-aid is a clear denouncement of the mechanic . Without proposing something better and liking GG's inclination for offense, that does no one any good, hence, I contested it.

Stop being defensive.

*edit*

I just realized I misread "meterless". Ooo boy.

In any case, you're going to have to expound further, because Burst is detached from the Tension bar, despite being a meter.
 
This is bullshit. The problem is that you feel I'm attacking you for "complaining" about Bursts, so you're getting hella defensive and being completely uncharitable to my statements as a result.



I'm pretty sure I didn't twist a damned thing. Bursts are a "band-aid" implemented to fix GG's offensive "problem". This is a matter of perspective. Yes, without Burst, offense would be too strong. Attaching another meter mechanic to address it does, what, exactly? Dead Angle Attack is already there, and is similar, with exception that it puts the user at advantage.

Burst exists because ASW wants offense to be strong, not too strong. Duh, right? As is, it isn't "too" strong due to Burst and other mechanics. If you can think of something better, let's continue the discussion. But I like Burst and all that it brings. You saying its a band-aid without proposing something better and liking GG's inclination for offense, does no one any good.

Stop being defensive.
I made this so clear for you. Contextually, I am talking about developer intent. If you can't take a step back and realize that you have a problem that leads you to frequently argue with people about nothing, there isn't much more I can do here. There is no defensiveness on my part.
 

Azure J

Member
Frankly, they deviated too far from Melee in hopes of not scaring off new players. I'm of the opinion that you could retain 95% of what makes Melee Melee in a new version of Smash and the casual fanbase that makes up the vast majority of the players wouldn't notice/care. There's a few sharp edges that could be smoothed out (lower the speed a tad) but otherwise I think casual players would be fine with it.

I guarantee if they took Melee and changed how air dodges work to a shorter duration version of the post Brawl air dodge mechanic and slapped that on a disc, it would be universally loved. The level of technicality that made Melee great would be intact barring the "pariah" that is wave dashing.

On a tangent, the worst thing I've seen in the casual v competitive audience discussions here on GAF and on the net in general is how completely dismissive the former audience is of any element that might benefit the game as a whole because of a perception of it being "overly complicated/stupid looking [never forget dash dancing looking like glitching]/geared towards 'elitists'." It's also one of the reasons why I believe that if Sakurai made a game like Melee again without saying anything about its mechanics, every fan base would eat it up like mana from heaven and it wouldn't be until the games were played that you'd even hear comments like "waaaaah, this is MELEE" :scust:

Casuals don't give a fuck as long as Mario can stomp the fuck out of Link and Kirby, next new hype X character is in and there are a ton of extra modes to play.
 

Kimosabae

Banned
I made this so clear for you. Contextually, I am talking about developer intent.

So am I?

And we're talking about nothing? Seriously? Sure you're not being dismissive?

Look, PSA to you and anyone else in this thread: if you feel I have a habit of getting into meaningless arguments with members here, I implore you to put me on your ignore list. I don't want to waste anyone's time, or make this thread unbearable for anyone.

Thank you.
 
I barely remember playing Smash 64 when I was 6. When I played Melee as a kid I had no problems with the speed.
I also think that Smash 4 is the best casual Smash yet.
 

bobohoro

Member
I hope I'm not out of line by posting this here, so here we go:

I'm looking to get back into playing some fighting games. Not competitively, since my utter lack of motoric skills as well as geographical location would mean I'd get destroyed fast. If I ever find someone playing any fighting games in the near vicinity. I'd just like something to learn, get some analytical thinking going and have some fun training and playing online, whenever my internet connection lets me.

I own an arcade stick, TE R2, and messed around with it a bit a few years ago. I'd say my execution is better than on pad with it, and I like gaming on it, so I'm good to go on that front. Also reading up on stuff with the links in the OP for the theoretical part. What I don't have a clue about is which game I want to play. All my games at home are outdated (Super SF IV, Blazbue CS:E, Guilty Gear XX #Reload) and I'm kinda torn in terms of games available right now.

I played some Blazblue CT, Hakumen and Taokaka, and did decently online. But never got far in terms of combos and mechanical understanding. Bought both CS and CS:E but never played them, just didn't have the time a few years back. Played the original Street Fighter IV a bit, mainly Guile, but it never grabbed me since the art style is a complete turnoff and there is no engaging single player content.

I'm looking for a good beginner's fighter, preferable with some build-in tutorials about fundamentals and a decent training mode, as well as some online activity where I can still find some novice players. Right now Persona 4 Ultimax is high on my list, although the handling of the game in Europe leaves a bad taste in my mouth (late, no free DLC). But I'm open to suggestions.
 
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