Are fighting games too hard to play for the average casual player?

Current Fighting Games Fighting Game Discussion
101

You’re much more likely to fight against an experienced player online for fighting games in comparison to FPS with large player bases where (due to the larger pool) you are more likely to run into people of your skill level. Plus, since it isn’t 1v1 (Unless Quake3/Live etc…) teams can cover slack/give you a helping hand.

That’s why it seems easier to get into. Once you take that casual FPS player/team to the tournament level they’ll have the same issues a casual FG player going to a tournament will have. I’ve seen really bad one sided matches at COD tournaments. In any competition you, for the most part, don’t just skip directly to playing pros you gotta get used to the game with people at your skill level or slightly above and keep working up.

This is why great netcode and keeping a community for the games is key. A lot of people also fall for the “I’d play it if other people played it” trap that can lower the skill variety in communities.

102

Look how popular Mortal Kombat is?

103

I know I shouldn’t be coming in to defend FPS games, but when people bash Call of Duty it always makes me chuckle a bit. I’ve played Call of Duty competitively since '08 and it requires a lot of teamwork and individual skill, mostly reflexes and much more prediction in the Search and Destroy gametype. The learning curve is as steep as Fighting Games and Map Memorization, dealing with people with different personalities and egos/agendas while playing and the only really thing in common you have with them is the goal: winning.

Fighting games are on a completely different level, as it’s an individual competition most of the time so your mistakes are usually your mistakes and nothing regarding miscommunication with people. Personally, I transferred over to Fighting Games due to not being able to dedicate myself completely to the game with other people organizing practice sessions and stuff.

The bigger reason why FPS are more popular is because a player can learn how to play the game with a much larger amount of new people or equal skill level compared to the fighting game world. My first FG was Mortal Kombat 2011 and thankfully, the game’s engine was new so people were learning to play on a similar (not to mention casual fans) level to mines. You imagine I would have entered the FGC playing something like 3S or SSF4 AE at the stage it was at? Nah no thanks.

104

Are you kidding me? MK9, UMVC3, and Persona 4 ALL cater to the casual player.

105

You Are Correct! Sir!

106

There’s a right way and a wrong way to appeal to casuals. If you think VF, KoF and especially TTT2 don’t appeal to casuals you are mistaken and need to look at them closer.

107

Not enough to derp yourself to victory compare to other fighters, but thats just my opinion, your entitled to yours.

108

This confuses me a tad…about people and mentality of those playing the video games now compared to yesteryear (especially those who looked at it as a ‘nerdy’ hobby before video games got HUGE, hypocrites…):

Fighting Games take some effort to learn, so nearly anyone can play to some extent.
Now, most FPS games (while easy on the outset) can still take some effort to learn.

So this is presented to me: What is it about a fighting game that drives people away from not wanting anymore to do with it…but that same person will GLADLY sit their ass down on Call of Duty and do their damndest to learn all the nuances of that game?
Wouldn’t it make sense that, if that same person put about the same effort into a fighting game, they would also be good and maybe enjoy it better?

109

That on FG’s the blame when you lose is entirely on you, while in FPS (at least the post CD4 FPS) you have the advantage that even when you suck, you can be dragged to victory by your teammates, and when you lose you can simply shrug it as its the fault of the people on your team, notice how more methodical FPS games or FPS games that put a lot of emphasis on the skills of every member of the team are less popular.

110

Fighting games are too hard for casual players in the sense that the information and practice needed to get better in the game is only really possible with stellar netcode or if you have a local scene willing to compete. Also, the no one to blame but yourself type thing. There’s also the flip side of the coin, where some people dislike playing team games because they want the brunt of the blame to be put on them if they perform poorly, but given Internet/gaming culture, I think that’s a minority.

Think about how much information about a fighting character is instantly perceivable in a match. You can get a general grasp of your normals, specials, supers, and movement. However, exact frame data, gatling opportunities, hitbox information, or system limitations in combos (how many ground bounces available per combo for example) aren’t things that can instantly be learned, and some of them are pretty important for even mid-level casual play. Plus, you don’t learn how to deal with the toolset of different characters without playing against others, you only get to learn about your own. This isn’t even getting into footsies or character matchups, this is just learning about the game.

On the other hand, look at shooters. Not only do they usually have a much more robust single player experience to teach you basic application of your toolset (the different guns), the games are designed symmetrically in that both teams usually have the same (or extremely similar) weapons so that you don’t need to learn a completely different toolset to compete with your own.

This is part of the design philosophy of League of Legends, and one of the reasons why I think that game is so popular. The game is designed about rewarding knowledge of your own character, not actively punishing you for not knowing what your opponent’s character (or team) can do. Of course, knowing what your opponent’s character is capable of is necessary if you want to start getting competitive at the game, but at the more casual level of play, mastery of your own character is rewarded much more.

I don’t think fighting games can reduce the reward of knowing character matchups without grossly simplifying the genre, but I do think they can help teach players more about their own characters so they can get to that level faster.

111

The problem is more the… maybe I’d say the environment?

If you sat down with say MvC2 or 3S in total ignorance, you could have a hell of a good time. If you were aware of all the high level videos and how it ‘should’ be played, you might be intimidated and turned off… They make the games seem harder and more complex than they strictly need to be if you’re just having fun.

112

This does factor into it, When you bought SF2 or Tekken 1 or Mortal Kombat you used to have the “luxury of ignorance” in that you could have fun because you didn’t know what you were doing was extremely low level and in many ways counterproductive to you actually getting better at the game. If you didn’t go to an arcade your theories about the game and how it worked would never be proven wrong. Now that people are being draw into the game by high level play they have no choice but to realize their own shortcomings the first time that they play the game. Anyone who gets into the scene after watching EVO or any major will have to face a more accurate picture of the mountain they are actually attempting to climb tha casual players in the 90s did.
It’s not that the games are harder, it’s more that new players know how bad they are at them now.

113

There may be more resources or mechanics to manage but in the end much of it boils down to this. ^^

114

older fighting games are hard for casuals but the new ones are not just gotta put in the time

115

This post is 50% gibberish and 50% wrong.

116

with the exception that the way you were playing isn’t automatically self-destructive or self-limiting.

It’s not about them actually playing wrong or having bad habits, its about them having the perception they’re playing wrong because they can’t do the most advanced techniques.

117

I feel like someone already brought up the monkey see, monkey do point already but it may have been another similar thread and not this one.

118

so agree with you sir :slight_smile:

119

As i have been saying on other threads, one of the problems is this false perception that you need to play at high level to enjoy the fighting games.
Of course, all of this comes to the instant gratification mentality that seems to be predominant this day, imo

120

I won’t talk about my fps experience, but I’ve main’d fps games for a long time and am very good at them and understand the style and mechanics that most shooters have to offer.

Been starting to learn fighting games, trying anyway, and the problem I have personally is not with “combo’s/specials/ knowing what attack to use when”, that is obviously practice.

But when I hear about things like plinking, doubletapping, option select, and a bunch of other things I still don’t understand. Makes me realise that without anyone explaining these things to me, how would I ever be able to play effectively with people who understand these tricks.

Seems like theirs so many secrets to fighting games than it seems and that most players won’t ever even hear about these words thus always being behind, it’s not just learning your timing/combos/execution. Compared to a shooter where you can obviously see that a grenade blows up after 4 seconds, or that your gun recoils a certain way. Which are ways that anyone can realise on how to increase their skill level.

But when I hear someone tell me that you gotta use TK motion. and superjumpcancels to land certain combo’s. I’m writing these terms down but it’s still doesn’t mean anything to me.

Imo this is why people like myself have a hard time in games like street fighter and don’t know how to get good at them. But games like shooters it’s easy to note what you gotta improve on and how. Even mvc type games don’t seem to bother me cus I can land to combo’s and stuff, even if I most likely don’t know anything about advance play on mvc.

Sorry for the long and probably badly writen/explained post.

This is just my personal view. That their’s so many little tricks to street fighter games that you can’t really figure out on your own. When you can’t even complete a trial because it requires a superjumpcancel QCF+K even tho It just asks you to execute QCF+K. Or that you see guille’s spam sonic boom’s and you can only release 1 every 3 he does because apparently you can shoot a sonic boom by pressing ‘back’ after you did forward thus charging your next.

This is my reason and all of my friends reasons aswell to as why we like yes, but usually avoid street fighter games. We just don’t know/understand the tricks and exploits to get better, where skill doesn’t matter anymore but knowledge which the games booklet/trials don’t have to offer.

Maybe everything I said is wrong. But this is sadly how I view it.