I often think of playing fighting games as an extension on one's personality. You can tell a lot by their decision. The example of the player berated for the flashy combo... I feel entertaining your opponent (and onlookers) can be just as rewarding as winning. Wherever possible, I aim for hilarity and surprise. VF gives plenty of opportunity to express that.

Thanx Akai! for posting(re-posting this)

I totally agree with AlexMD here!


AlexMD makes so many crucial points in this article, I wish there was some way to just build them into the game. There is a lot to be said about quality of wins vs quantity of wins. Especially when both players are aiming for quality and fun.

VF4 and VF4EVo use to have player analysis (although the concept needed improvement they were on the right track). The game would do a simple analysis of your play style, possibly letting you know some strengths, some weaknesses, and perhaps opportunities for improvement. I thought the analysis in VF4 was far superior to what was in VF4 Evo. But the point is that was the kind of tool that could help you get out of the auto-pilot wins. You know when you've developed 3 or 4 killer combos, and you know you're going to get one or two of them off in every round, its just matter of time, so that's what you bring match after match racking empty wins in many cases. Everything has become so mechanical, so auto-pilot and you don't even care who you're playing , not to mention whether they are enjoying the game our not.

If there could be a way to display the quaility of the match not just the win/loss statistic.

For example: In boxing and the UFC games you get a post fight analysis where you're are shown stats like where did most of the strikes land, how many strikes/kicks were thrown vs landed, how many throws were attempted vs throws successful, how many transitions were tried vs successful. How many high vs low attacks were performed. In both games the post stats show where the damage was actually inflicted on each fighter.

Of course these kind of stats don't necessarily lead to a higher quality fight. But it does allow both players to see a little more than win vs loss. When you see these stats you have the opportunity to see how you won or loss in more concrete terms.

Post Fight Quality Stats VF could definitely have

#Throws attempted, Throws successful
# of low attacks attempted / successful
# of high attacks attempted /successful
# of side attacks attempted /successful
#2 hit combos
#3 hit combos
#4 hit combos
#5 hit combos
# Attacks Successfully Evaded
# Attacks Successfully Blocked
# OM Successful
# DM Successful
Avergage Duration of Rounds
# Advantage situations
# Disadvantage situations
# Advantage situations taken
# Advantage situations dropped
# of wall Attacks attempted/successful
# of wall Attack opportunities Missed
# of Ring outs
# Average Remaining Health Bar
# Of Low Attacks Received
# Mid/High Attacks Received
# Times Thrown
# Inahsis successful
# sabaki's successful

Some Carrer total Stats could be:

Average # Attempted/Successful Low Attacks per match
Average # Attempted/Successful High Attacks per match
Average # Attempted/Successful Throws per match
Average # Successful Throw escapes per match
Average # Successful Evades per match
Average length Combo perfomed per match
Total Dojo Time (in actual hours/minutes)
Player's Class (A,B,C,etc)
Player's Win/ Los Ratio

No I don't think Stats are a cureall for some of the points AlexMD was making in the article, but I do think that they could help lead to higher quaility games with less emphasis on the Win vs Loss statistic. I do think they can help intermediate to good players get out of the "string-of-wins" auto-pilot rack-em-up rut. A post fight analysis would give both players a way to really see what their opponent hit them with. Sometimes if a fighter is far far beyond your skill set, you lose, but have no F'N idea what just happened. A post fight statistics would give you objective analysis of what just went on. You could see, what he did right, and what you did wrong, but also what he did wrong and what you did right!

I know for some of you bringing up stats in the context of the AlexMD's article is odd, but the stats are one of the ways that you move toward game quality

I would love to see Post Fight Stats on some of our LionHeart, GrimSlayer, DragonFang, etc players. I think a stat analysis along with the replay would off an excellent opportunity to raise the quaility of all of our matches

Great article Alex. Your article can be very usefull for new players and VF veterans.

The most important thing about VF (and fgs in general), is to respect your opponent. VF is a 2 player game, so if your fellow player enjoys the games with you, then you will enjoy it too. That's a fact.

I am very proud to be a member of a community with so many players who are willing to help new players learn about VF. I'm more than happy to see that our community is open to anyone who loves a good fighting game.

Even though I play VF since 1995, I didn't have any serious VS Player experience before VF5FS. but the majority of the players I have met, helped me to learn the game, respect other players, but above all they've made me believe that I am on the right place.

It's a good article, but there's just some people who's egos are put first no matter what they're doing; playing a fighting game, writing an essay, picking a restaurant for their party to eat at, critiquing a film, etc. Unfortunately, I've run into many people with huge egos...sometimes warranted (i.e. a well known and respected artist) and sometimes not (joe schmoe with no established body of excellence on a random forum) and you'd think that people just experiencing life would slowly shave away the ego, if at least a little bit. Unfortunately, some of that is so built in and established at an early age for various reasons that it stands to never go away, which is sad (just take a look at the majority of the Republican Party in the United States for lots of egotistical pricks, all pushing the age of 50 or more!...okay, sorry for that political piss rant!). I think part of life is acceptance of people with these inferiority complexes (which is, to me, all it is). It's not so much "Imdabes" but like "Ihopedayduntinkimlamezsoillposture". But then we start getting into psychology and much like VF itself, I don't know a lot about that.

This was a very satisfying article, especially since it so strongly relates to what I do to foster my own local community. It isn't much more than my roommates and a few friends, but it's enough to get a nice buzz of competition going. Every time we play, I always encourage them to mess with the system; learn new moves or just apply them differently. We always have fun, and that's enough for us, even if they never touch the dojo.

Recently, I hosted a little Final Showdown tournament for my birthday. It was great; I even lost! Some thought I'd be upset, since I usually trash everyone when we play for real. But the point of the tournament was more to get their minds in a direction not dissimilar to this essay's topic.

A fun little related bit is that one friend of mine who participated certainly didn't get it. His losses brought down his mood to the point where he was quiet (aside from numerous insults to us and the game), but luckily, we otherwise kept in good spirits and even recruited a new player, so to speak.

It's just interesting that it wasn't very long ago when getting friends to play Evolution and Vanilla 5 and even Guilty Gear was like pulling teeth. Amazing how people almost shield themselves from having fun.

I've had this problem for a while...maybe I'll make a post about it, but it almost ruined my love for fighting games. I have a much different perspective now, tks to actually seeing what's most important in life. Fighting games should be an extension of yourself, and it's even taught me a few ugly aspects of my persona that I didn't like, and immediately needed to change.

There is a key difference that is not noted here and that is skill level. Some people no matter how much time they put in and knowledge they may read (not necessarily learn) will never get to the same level as top players because they lack some sort of skill.

As a top fighting game player (not as a person), do you really believe that the top player who puts in all of the time to be the best he/she can be deserves the same level of props as the fanboy in the stands who may follow every game but is not putting in the same type of effort (or simply not able to)?

A simple analogy would be is that would a Chicago Bulls fan deserve the same level of respect as Michael Jordan as a basketball player? No, because the fanboy may love him some b-ball, but he is no pro player while MJ is a legend in playing on the court.

Don't read this as not everyone shouldn't get respect as a human being as long as they act like a decent one. This is more about giving props to players in a field and developing as a competitor. Yes, you should treat every person as a decent human being who deserves it but at the same time, if you're a competitor at heart, you want to develop the skills and traits which will make you a winner. Playing and trying to develop players who are not getting better is a waste of time for the competitor. For example, if you had the choice of spending 40 hours of playing Chibita or 40 hours of playing random guy on XBL who only knows how to spam low P and thinks that is fun, who would you choose?

I'm all for building the community but it needs to be done in the right places. I speak from my own experience coming from a Capcom/Namco dominated city with no one near my skill level and building up my own competitive skillset to become a world level competitor in VF4/VF5/VF5R. It was a long road and I met many players on this site from across the US, UK, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan who had varying approaches to the game. Some aspired to just do Akira's SPOD or just mash away considering those aspects fun for them. More power to them, but for a competitor like myself, that isn't fun. I want to continue to develop my core game so that every part of my game has purpose and is a component to winning at a tourney level. That is fun to me.

Quite frankly, I think it is relevant from a competitor's perspective who is trying to grow in a community which is limiting his/her development. To people who are not wanting to be competitive, there is no reason to be a dick to them unless they themselves are deserving of it but as a competitor, you will not actively seek them out as these people are not creating a competitive community for you to have fun in. So, how can this type of person who views himself/herself as different type of player flourish with non-competitive types? Sorry, just don't be a dick isn't going to grow a community of competitors and will likely lead this person to exit the community.

I see what you did there. I'll be very unsubtle, give me props for doing what I did.

This reminds me how back in vanilla I got more enjoyment for landing brad's phase shift knees than anything else. Landing those moves feels more like a win! They look so flashy and cool, and are just SO impractical most of the time.

Its not just about winning and losing its about having fun !

Also, I agree with respecting medium level players. It isn't that they deserve to be on the same level as upper level players, its just that EVERYONE who belongs to a small community deserves respect. They are playing this game in spite of its small scene and giant learning curve!

(edited grammar)

Wonderful article!

Spamming Wolf's OM grab in vanilla gave me endless joy. It never got old. I apologise to all the people who copped it, but I was having too much fun.

@Shou, two important things: Competitor and Community, both of these terms are relative!

There are many VF players (that we might call intermediate or even casual) who play the game fairly regularly within small groups of friends and family. They may play VF, Tekken, SF, DOA at the same level and they consider themselves competitors, certainly within their cliques. They pride themselves in how well they do with whatever characters they play with, and whenever VF comes out with a new version, they purchase it. These folks are part of the VF community and they consider themselves competitors of a sort.

obviously our community members that travel to play VF and that support tourneys, and participate in tourneys are competitors operating at a very different level, and the travel time, travel costs, efforts to coordinate and host tourney's plus practice time, indicates a level of committment that is beyond the 'average VF player'. Both types of VF competitors deserve respect, but those who travel, host and coordinate tourneys, and have dedicated their play time primarily to VF deserve not only respect, but a certain amount of gratitude and praise from the rest of the community.

A Third type of competitor is the guy that doesn't really travel to play, doesn't really organize tourney's per say, but is online all the time, normally hosts a room, 8,12,16 plus hours a day. This person may also have a great amount of dedication to the game, mentors a lot of new comers and intermediate players, and in many instances is an 'Ambassador' for VF. This person may not really even participate in any offline scenes , but does put in mad training time, and serious online time. Of course this guy is a competitor and part of the VF community. He may have no idea whatsoever what VFDC is and may not know anything at all about the legendary Japanese players, but his time playing and promoting the game online earns him a place in the community and as a competitor. This is another person that at the very minimum deserves respect if not a certain amount of gratitude for always hosting an online room.

News Alert:

To have a community and competitors, we need a game! In order to have a game Sega has to at least believe they're gonna make something from the consoles. And believe it or not The majority of the ppl that buy and play VF on consoles fit primarily in the category of casual (VF players) usually serious fighting game fans, but players who just play VF for fun without the need or desire for tournament level competition. These folks dabble online for a week or so when the game first comes out, and then occasionally, during breaks, vacations, holidays, or whatever they pop in online have a few fights and then move on. I can't count how many ppl I have on my friends list that bought the game, like the game, played a few dozen ranked matches, but are right now enjoying Tekken Tag 2. Hell, a lot of these players spend the vast majority of their time in single player mode!!!! These kind of players represent the majority of the ppl who buy VF, and should they be considered part of the VF community? Do they deserve respect? Do we even call them competitors?

Those that travel for VF, host and organize VF tourneys, those that create and maintain regular online rooms for VF, simply aren't enough justification for the financial argument to Sega. Its the casual VF player but serious fight game fan to which owe the majority of our sales. Many of which spend maybe half of their VF time in single player(Quest Mode, Kumite Mode, Arcade Mode). and without them we might not have even have a game, not to speak of a community and competitors. Should we show them respect when they make the occasional appearance on XBL?, VFDC? PSN? because we probably would not consider them competitors.

IMO any fight game fan, that is able to recognize the beauty and depth of VF, to buy each version of VF and and play it at any level should be considered part of this community and should get our respect.

@shou players at your committment level not only deserve respect, but a certain amount of gratitude and praise, that's the difference my friend.

I agree with the overall theme of the article: Having an ego about how good (you think you are) sucks. Before I moved to Japan I used to think I was good at VF. Then I moved to Fukui (ie: the middle of nowhere) and, after playing for a year or two, didn't even make a splash in my local arcade with its small handful of players. It really put things in perspective how completely average (at best) I was at the game. (And that's compared a handful of normal players in the middle of nowhere Japan, let alone a VF mecca like Tokyo).

I also agree with the parts of the article about, after an event, if you look validation from posts by a stranger on an Internet form about how good you played in a video game then that's kind of sad. (I was guilty of this back in the day) And if you get your jollies by putting down other players down based on their skill at a video game - then that's really sad.

Their results in tournaments may differ due to the amount of time spent and experience accrued, but inside they have the same intention towards the game and should be treated with the same respect that Japanese star player X or Y receive.


I disagree with the above quote, mainly because I see myself using "I'm not good at <thing I want to be better at> because I don't put in the time." as an excuse. For example, "If I studied Japanese more I could pass a higher level on the proficiency test." Now, if you're happy with the level you're at then that's great. If you wanna get better and put in the time to get better that's great too. But if you wanna get better, don't put in the time, and then tell yourself "If I put in more time I'd be better, so the reason I'm not good is simply because I don't put in the time" is really an excuse. (I'm not sure if this is what AlexMD meant, or if I'm just projecting my own personal behaviors on his article).

I agree with Shou in that, even if people do put in time, they may still lack the skill. Take a random online opponet who has over 4x my games but isn't a very good player.

All I'm trying to say is that regardless of what resources you have around you to become better at the game, if you display a positive mindset toward elevating the game and the community then you deserve respect. I'm talking about not judging people based on how much they win but rather the attitude they have toward the game and the community.

AMEN!

So many of us have some 'ideal' way that VF is supposed to be played. We also have an 'ideal' of what we think a good player is, and we get so invested that we do start to judge others based on our own notion of how the game should be enjoyed and how the community should accept this person and reject that person.

I've played ppl who I know have far better skills (IMO) than I do, but I manage to win against them, on the other hand I've played ppl who I really believe I have more skills than they do and some how they beat me again and again. From this I've concluded that it is all relative and as a community we should just support each other regardless to what our approach to the game is.

One interesting phenomenon I've found on the PSN, is the ppl who have the highest ranks or rank high in Ranked mode, are a different set of ppl than the ppl who have the highest scores in score attack mode. As of yesterday there were about 89,000 ppl in ranked and about 37,000 ppl in score attack. There is some overlap, but primarily these are different sets of ppl. But the top 50 ppl in score attack mode are not the same top 50 pp in ranked mode.

I'm willing to bet that both groups have different definitions of what it means to be good at VF, and probably identify the superstars from the so-called losers differently. My point is ppl enjoy VF from so many different perspectives and the definitions of who is a good player is so varied, that we should just accept folks for where they are. I've never been to Japan, and to the Mecca of Japanese VF arcades, so its hard for me to even imagine what their diversity of approaches might be, but if the Japanese are anything like the players I've met elsewhere in the world, then the Japanese too have many different approaches and different ways to appreciate the game.

@Namflow there are obviously players that would play you and conclude that you are a VF god, even though you now rate your self(compared to some Japanese) as average. Its all relative my friend. No matter how good you are there is always someone considerably better and no matter how bad you think you are there is always someone considerably worse! Even for the number one Japanese player, there is someone somewhere in the world that can shut that player down with assassin precision (this person could be an unknown to any arcade or Internet forum) but they are always out there always.Remember this fact: King of the hill is a temporary job and unemployment is lurking right around the corner. That's one reason why you shouldn't let your ego get the best of you, because everyone can get demolished(whether they believe it or not), but another reason our community should squash the egos is that the more egos we exude the smaller our community shrinks

Great article Alex! Thanks for the shoutout too.

I think ego tends to make one short sighted. Getting over it gives you a longer term view of the game. Thus I might lose today, but if I can learn something, I'll be better in the long run. Not the same mindset as many other guys, but the clash of styles is part of what makes the fighting community interesting.

Also, I always take inspiration from Chibita because he never forgets that the game is about having fun.

Chibita is still playing? there's hope for me after all.

In terms of EGO I know my Lei Fei is the best dressed Lei Fei on PSN bar none. No matter how bad I get beat up, my customization win's first prize LOL