i think the reason why georgia doesn’t compete with top players in new york and cali is semi-complex and then again, really not.
first off, georgia is at a disadvantage just by the nature of the beast. they have a bigger scene, in a smaller area, and therefore spend less time travelling locally for better competition. it also helps that they have old school gamers/top players, who have excellent fundamentals, so whatever game they take on, they, on average, are a lot better initially. but this can be overcome (especially in 2010/2011, xbox live and psn network…more xbox live though)
second, its just that people’s passion isn’t into the game. i can’t blame them, it is impossible for me to be passionate with sf4, or mvc3, no matter how balanced it is. i personally, just do not like the mechanics. my qualms aside, in order to be good at a game, you have to be somewhat passionate about it (preferably, very passionate). this means sacrificing in order to gain an advantage on your opponent, whoever it be. so if that means, after coming home from school and your job, practicing unblockable setups, or mixup setups, or crouch teching, or whatever strategy it is for a couple hours every day, thats what you do because your passionate about it. PERSONAL training is the #1 way to improve your game. not fucking experience or traveling, if you do not put in the necessary amount of time into training/practicing, you will not become better by tournament experience or traveling.
if you are constantly placing top 3 in georgia tournaments, then maybe it is time to consider traveling and meeting top players from other areas to play online a lot. but i just know from experience (not just myself, from observing other people that are good in other games) it is PERSONAL training that is the biggest key factor in determining how fast you advance. competition is a big key, but it will go nowhere if you do not take your losses seriously, and try very hard to correct the mistakes you know you are committing and shock the same person who beat you next time.
look at anakin, he didn’t freaking travel all over the united states to play tekken casuals. he only went to two mlgs. he doesn’t go to east point as much as many people believe. he puts in a lot of time by himself. he goes to east point to implement and try new strategies he has learned from personal training.
when mvc2 started, the east coast was not the powerhouse coast. it was west coast easily. i remember seeing/listening to an interview of jwong talking about when the game dropped, he was playing 10 hours a day (for around 6-9 months). i also remember listening to another podcast by jwong about third strike, and how he improved so fast. he told the interviewer he went into practice mode, on ps2, and put the computer dummy on random gaurd, and practiced landing c.mk super with chun-li on reaction, for 3 or 4 hours a day, until he had a success rate of 9/10. that is all personal training. that is what HE felt made him improve so fast. of course experience is a plus, but it is not the MAIN ingredient. if you want to be a champion at something, you need everything, personal training, travelling, experience, and some other minor things.
this is not trying to boast about my mvc2, but i sacrificed (more than i should have probably) a hell of a lot to get to the skill level where i was at. me and joe would play every tuesday and thursday (or m/w, i forget which), and grind for like 7-8 hours when we first met. we didn’t even speak at first. and i hated losing so much, i would go home and practice SO hard hoping to kick his ass next time we played. we recorded on a vcr some of our matches, then went back and watched them. it was not all work, it was pretty fun after we got into the routine. we started betting lunches every session, so shit counted. somebody owed somebody a damn #3 or whatever from wendy’s if they lost a 4/7. we went to florida to play mixup, sentinaaal, blazinflo, and dbs. and it paid off in huge dividends.
georgia can be wherever it WANTS to be. just right now georgia is content on beating up TN, SC, NC, maybe FL? AL? the passion isn’t there to begin to take shots at big name nyc or cali ssf4 players. maybe a couple players have passion, but if thats all, it makes it very difficult for them to stay motivated.
and about the splitting pot thing, who freaking cares. if you dont like it, do something about it. its not like they are holding you back. you dont have to split with them.
