2 FG Communities..... my Speculation

Hey, I don't usually post big threads here on this forum cause I'm too busy trying to read up on frame data and actually good at this game but I have something that has been on my mind for a while and I felt like posting about it to see what other people though about it.

As some of you know I'm originally a DoA player (I'm not gonna post some non-sense about DoA vs. VF so lets not go there) but I've been involved in the community since around early 2003, maybe even earlier. So I pretty much know the community very well and the ins/outs and villians/"heroes" of the group.

Well a couple days ago while doing CAD stuff for college I decided to go check out old threads and what not on the forums to see what the community here is all about. Some stuff was extremely entertaining (like posts made by Shang). Other stuff is kind of confusing and apparently controversial (stuff concerning the player named Shou I guess). But all the while I noticed this community was very very tight knit groups and also kind of on the friendly side compared to other communities. I also noticed this community is rather old, much much much older than DoA community.

It's kind of funny when you think of two games that started as looking well very similar and having two completely different communities. I wanna make some comparisons:

VF community:
-Kind of small in NA and also Old too, but very dedicated and nice
-Extremely strong base of players in Japan and also in other foreign countries (Korea and UK are good too right?)
-Suffers from a "too deep" syndrome that while gives the game alot of respect makes it hard to convince players to play it competitively.
-Producer company doesn't actively support the game outside of it's home country
-Is still in arcades
-Very little interest from pro gaming sponsors and big money groups (really saddens me, I hope this changes in the future)
-Game is exclusive to Sony, which means it directly competes with other big 3D names (SC/Tekken)
-Community has some of the nicest personalities I have ever met or maybe that's just SoCal. It seems like people actually do care if you want to get better at this game and really help you out alot.

DoA Community:
- By technical numbers, very large, however community is always in strife and there are only a "handful" of true dedicated players.
- Almost non-exsistant Japanese player base (all the japanese players are online players, who didn't even place at WCG). European and Singapore community is fairly strong. But NA is by far the strongest.
- Suffers from "shallow depth" syndrome and most people trash/bash the game with reckless abandon. Everything from boobie/mash fest to glorified rock paper scissors.
- Producer company actively helps out the community by sponsoring tournaments and holding special events in Japan and NA. Also MS pumps this game with so much money it's not even funny.
-Long left the arcades and is known for being one the first and best online fighters.
-extremely high interest from pro gaming rings and sponsors. Just check out gotfrag.com this game is f'ing blowing up out of the seams.
- game is exclusive to MS meaning it has ZERO 3D fighter competition and makes bank everytime it's released.
- Honestly, after playing in this community it only really shows how bad some people are in the DoA community. There are some really trash attitudes in the DoA community, but that's not the bad part. The DoA community is insanely based on "who you know" and favortisim. Despite what people outside might speculate players like Perfect Legend (EVO champ) get absolutely no respect from the community and are constantly screwed over by the heads and in groups of the community. A lot of shady stuff goes on, and really you can't expect stuff to be even relatively fair in that community.

What do you guys think?

 

Hey there. Nice post.

I don't know much about DoA other than I like the graphics.

Regarding your observations about VF and the VFDC community, I think you're right on. I really like to play the game and it wouldn't be nearly as cool for me without the social outlet that comes with it. Regarding SoCal, I'm very lucky to be part of such a group. In two days I get to fly off to NYC to experience East Coast style VF and hospitality. I'm really looking forward to it. This wouldn't be happening if not for VF and VFDC.

I like the self-policing nature of this board. The community cares about what goes on here - the mods care about what goes on here. I think the information found in all sections far eclipses the amount of screwing around. Makes it a cool place to visit and recommend to people looking to get more involved with VF.

Finally, I'm glad you're part of SoCal VFers. It's nice to have new-to-the-scene-and-very-dedicated players. See you at AI and at all the VF5 parties in 2007.

 

I just wanted to thank you for letting me in on a different gaming community that otherwise I would've never known about.
Before I read this I only had the Tekken community to compare the VF community to, but thanks to your thread I get reaffirmation that I chose the right game and community to be a part of.

I like DOA's graphics, visuals/audio (not the music though) and presentation, I only wish that it would play as good as VF but, oh well, you cant have your cake and eat it too.

 

Interesting paralells drawn about both communities.

I, for one, have had some fun with DoA series, even though I've had some issues with the later games in the series. As for my observation of the community (and a few friends of mine), I've seen two sides.....The ones who take the game seriously and the blind fanboys who worship Itagaki.

The game mechanics themselves are good, but I don't feel that it's being taken full advantage of, but that's just me though.

Oh, and since this is about DoA, here's a factiod.....

I share birthdays with Tina Armstrong (December 6). /versus/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

Seems like vfdc takes care of its community nicely. DOAC does have its problems, but I'm not going to bail on a game I like. And I would be one of those guys who's liked the series since DOA1 and plays it hardcore ( started hardcore from DOA4 though). I hope I get the same enjoyment out of this game and this community.