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This is the year you get into fighting games

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JusDoIt

JusDoIt

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Oct 25, 2017
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"This is the year you get into fighting games" by Patrick Miller (via Medium).

Read it chumps, because y'all all is scared of playing fighting games and you really don't need to be.

For people who play video games, getting into fighting games is the New Year's Resolution equivalent of saying you're going to actually run that marathon. You like the sound of telling people you've been thinking about fighting games. You've seen other people talk about them knowingly and wondered if it was all as cool as it sounded. And you've probably watched Evo and thought about just trying some of the games out for yourself.

If any of that sounds like you, this essay is for you.
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It's a three step plan:

1. Pick a fighting game
2. Play that fighting game
3. Go to a tournament

Now it's time to pick a main, look up all the frame data, watch dozens of YouTube videos, dissect tier lists, buy an arcade stick, do all the trials, NOPE DON'T WORRY ABOUT THIS JUST PLAY THE GAME HOWEVER YOU WANT.

Most advice for learning fighting games comes from players who think about how they wish they had learned fighting games, because if they had learned them the Right Way then they'd have gotten better faster. This is well-meaning advice! It is also terrible advice, and in my experience most people who try to learn a fighting game this way burn out because it's not fun and you mostly feel bad.
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NO ONE CARES THAT YOU ARE BAD SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.
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Patrick Miller is one of the people secretly working on a game at Riot that's totally not a fighting game.

BONUS CONTENT

Woolie (formerly of the Best Friends Zaibatsu) just started a new video series called "Get Into Fighting Games" that does just that: explores fighting games from a beginner's perspective with the help of an experienced guest. First up? Garou: Mark of the Wolves!

 
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Omar310

Omar310

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,704
UK
Best video get genre. You folks are missing out.

If anyone from Europe wants to learn SFV and legit commit to becoming better at it, I would love to take someone under my wing and just guide them through the whole process.

Fighting games can be pretty obtuse about how to improve so it'd be much easier to have someone guide you through the process.
 
Mesoian

Mesoian

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Oct 28, 2017
26,715
Honestly, one of the things about Smash that's helped me just...not lose my fucking mind is knowing I'm never going to get world tier in it, which allows me to just have fun, and that mentality alone effortlessly got me into elite smash. Granted, "the real dark souls starts here" but still, it's the mentality of not deifying some arbitrary rank that helps.
 

sickvisionz

Member
Jan 19, 2018
125
Ahh, I thought it was news about like 2019 being an amazing year for fighting game releases but it was just fighting games are cool and any year is a good year to get into them.
 
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JusDoIt

JusDoIt

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Oct 25, 2017
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Listai

Listai

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I'm bad at Dragonball Fighterz.

Will a fighting stick make me better?, none of my friends play so I get stomped by other players online but have little to no trouble with the CPU most of the time.
 
sixteen-bit

sixteen-bit

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Oct 30, 2017
3,680
Patrick Miller seems like too cool a person to be working in an environment as reportedly toxic as Riot
 
Ferrio

Ferrio

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Oct 25, 2017
18,115
andymcc said:
Street Fighter came out in 92 but nice shit post.
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Wasn't even the first fighting game, go back farther.

Buddy Mcpuddy said:
I'm bad at Dragonball Fighterz.

Will a fighting stick make me better?, none of my friends play so I get stomped by other players online but have little to no trouble with the CPU most of the time.
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Never buy a stick because you think it might make you better, more than likely you'll be worse for quite awhile if not forever. Buy a stick if you find it more comfortable than a controller.

Also you'll always get stomped, everyone always gets stomped. The best of the best constantly get stomped. That's just how the genre is.
 
AlexBasch

AlexBasch

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Oct 27, 2017
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If anything, I appreciate how the FGC seems to be receptive of new players, no matter how absolutely awful they are. Can't say the same of other multiplayer communities, at least in my experience.

I'd rather uninstall Injustice 2 than playing online and getting destroyed by hardcore vets, but I have learned a thing or two watching videos from the pros.
 

Deleted member 2620

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Oct 25, 2017
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in my experience fighting games are very fun if you can accept losing and have friends that are nice

you should give 'em a shot even if you're only playing every once in a while
 
Listai

Listai

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FRS1987 said:
Not necessarily. You just have to use what feels comfortable to you. Pads and sticks each have their advantages though.
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JusDoIt said:
Not necessarily. Sticks aren't really required for modern fighting games. They do have advantages, but pads have their own advantages too. I recommend maybe looking for games with players here from the DBFZ OT. If anybody from Era lives in your region, so lobby matches could be a fun way to learn.
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Thanks for the advice, I think the only thing a stick would help me with is I wouldn't need to be as gentle as I probably am with my DS4.
 
danmaku

danmaku

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Nov 5, 2017
3,237
Good article. I'd say the part about the classic "expert advices" is correct... to an extent. If you don't mind losing over and over to the same move because you're having fun with the game, fine. You'll learn to deal with it, sooner or later. However, if you do mind then going in training mode or asking someone is the fastest way of dealing with it. The mistake is assuming that fun = getting better for everyone.
 
IMBCIT

IMBCIT

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Oct 27, 2017
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But I don't want to go to a tournament....

I like sitting in practice mode doing combos and thinking that I am good.
 

cnorwood

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Oct 28, 2017
3,345
I used to be really into fighting games without really being into strategy. Once I started getting into strategy, understanding frames, etc I realized I don't have the time for fighting games.
 
Plywood

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Oct 25, 2017
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I would totally play a League of Legends fighting game.
 
Woffls

Woffls

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Nov 25, 2017
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If any game was ever going to get me into fighting games, it was Dragon Ball FighterZ. I learned some combos and tried to figure stuff out, but I just didn't enjoy that side of it and seriously don't think I ever will. There's just something different about how I (don't) embrace the difficulty curve in fighting games.
 
AlexBasch

AlexBasch

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Oct 27, 2017
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Woffls said:
If any game was ever going to get me into fighting games, it was Dragon Ball FighterZ. I learned some combos and tried to figure stuff out, but I just didn't enjoy that side of it and seriously don't think I ever will. There's just something different about how I (don't) embrace the difficulty curve in fighting games.
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Yeahhh playing Injustice 2 I learned how some of the basic combos and moves are, but after going into practice mode and watching streams of tournaments seeing those almost infinite juggling combos I kinda stopped playing the game for a bit. It's a defeatist attitude, I know, but I couldn't help going "nah man I'm not learning that shit". :(
 
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