This isn’t really related to getting more casuals into sf4, but I think it would be a really good idea to have a very large lobby or server you can join that allows text chat. Something similar to GGPO where when you log on you can see everyone else that is currently online and can chat to everyone. This would make matchmaking a lot easier and allow you to chat with others and share strategies etc in a easy and convenient way. There are options like pandaxgaming or creating a chat on PSN, but this could be annoying for some and having a built in function for this would be far better and engaging for people that are playing online.
Honestly SF4 just needs more ways to communicate with other people. I hate it how they didn’t even bother to add text chat in the lobby for PC at least. Console is understandable since most people don’t have a keyboard controller but on PC there’s no excuse. A lot of modern console ports do this as well and it’s damn annoying.
-good tutorial mode that actually explains matchups and strategies
-story mode like in MK9
-good online mixed with good match making
-let the game advertise when major tournament streams occur, and let it open an app to let you watch it
I am of the mindset that you either try to get people legitimately into it, or go the COD route. I would prefer the former. I think the FGC in general can bank on the idea of being involved in the community quite well if we’re helped by the developers.
Make a completely separate online section for the newbs. Super easy inputs are allowed in this section, and special moves perhaps can even be mapped to a single button. There is a cap on the amount of points you can earn in the Newb Online Section. You can choose to stay, or you can choose to move into the real online section if you like.
This allows newbs to not feel pressured by complex motions to do specials. That is probably the most daunting thing to them.
Another suggestion of mine is to have an extremely well put-together interactive training room, with Dan as the teacher of course. Make it simple, make it educational, make it fun.
“Hey kids, here’s what a chain is! You try! Great job!”
“Hey kids, here’s a link! You try! Great job!”
“Hey kids, I’m gonna jump and attack you! Use your anti-air normal to defend! Great job!”
“Hey kids, I’m gonna try and throw you! Throw me first or at least break my throw attempt! Great job!”
“Hey kids, it’s easier to execute a special when you wake up. This is called a reversal. You try! Great job!”
If you don’t get the idea by now, I am willing to flesh things out further.
Most humans don’t like to work hard, and fighting games are pretty much the hardest, makes sense they would stray to CoD. People want results and fighting games don’t allow you to achieve results right away. It’s more of a subconscious thing. I think people feel good about themselves when they see +10 , +20, Killing spree, ect. All of this adds up on a subconscious level making them feel a sense of euphoria and just draws them to it. I remember when I started winning a lot more and heard " Yun wins!" from the sick ass AE announcer and would get hyped. Yeah as weird as that sounds it has to be something at a subconscious level like that. The feeling of accomplishment can be attained so quickly with other genres… while fighting games it takes awhile… but when you do learn those sword loops, HD combos, tough links, and land them in a real match… well, there’s nothing like it. Can I get an Amen?
This makes sense and I agree to an extent but the skill curve and popularity of each game also makes an impact.
SF does take a lot more effort to get good at yes but this wouldn’t be so much of a problem if you could play with other people who were on the same skill level as you. From my own experience, a lot of players online are already good and as a beginner it’s really hard to compete with them due to the huge skill gap. (I have 24 losses and 1 win with Sakura in ranked for example) however if I play against someone that’s new like me it’s a lot more fun because we both have a chance to win.
League of Legends is also a relatively hard game to play however it’s very popular so if you go into match making you’ll fight people who are new just like you.
What I’m trying to say is that complex games can be popular too but it’s up to the community and the developer to figure out how.
All I know is that them releasing half finished games is what kills the online population. I remember a bunch of my casual friends bought marvel 3 before I got into fighting games besides Melee, and the game felt half finished … like it wasn’t worthy of being called mvc3… Then boom ultimate comes out… I couldn’t help but feel that ultimate should have been the first product… and guess what? None of my friends bought umvc3… to theyre casual mind its just “oh wow a few more characters and modes” They don’t give a shit about rebalance…haha’ Yeah and they played SF4 Vanilla and thought it felt unfinished and that it was trash, cause IT IS trash compared to AE… And never gave AE a shot=[
I don’t know, I think the first step is going all out on the first version… then maybe surprise us with a super sf5 3 years later… and that’s it…
Congrats bro. This is the most intelligent post i’ve read thus far. I enjoy the current execution and frame links of SF4, and I even like the dumbed down motional inputs, as you can now do option selects. Many players here, probably, prefer the execution training curve. But guess what friends, things change and evolve! We just have to get with the times really.
I’ve always wondered how SF would work with motion controllers, and I refuse to take NO as an answer. 
The RPG thing reminds me of two things: Quest mode in VF4EVO / Kumite mode in VF4 vanilla and Quest Mode in Tobal / Tobal 2… More games need those. They were awesome.
Heroes and Heralds is what prevented me from selling my UMvC3 disc week 1. It was fun for a while. Parrying…
“Simple mode” and things like it basically serve to teach people to suck.
SSF4 on 3DS had a ‘lite’ mode in which you were allowed to map specials/supers/ultras to the touch screen. It had some undesirable effects though like spamming Hadokens forever and instant Shoryukens.
This went up on Machinima today and thought it was interesting to see a hardcore gamers perspective on the FGC, speaking from outside the FGC.
They make some solid points that put up a barrier between casuals, non-fighting hardcore gamers, and the FGC.
Points I took from the video:
*The dedication is HUGE, even for a hardcore gamer, to become barely competent in a fighting game, you’re throwing in a lot of hours and a lot of practice, which takes you away from other games you want to play.
*Practice is seemingly non-rewarding and until you get online there’s no way of gauging how well you’re doing. (going further than that, there’s still no true way of knowing how well you’re doing til you’re side-by-side fighting at an arcade/club/tourny.)
*The community appears pretty exclusive, isolated, opinionated and can appear aggressive (I think they use the term ‘brutal’ in this vid) which puts off new players and even advertisers and organizers.
*There’s an initial knowledge curve, that, to somebody watching a high level fight makes the whole thing appear like magic. You can be watching a game and thinking “well, that’s all well and good but these guys are pure ROBOTS” It’s not until you get online that you realize most regular SF players have a lot of these “robot” fundamentals down…and once again, as a new player you sh!t yourself haha
- A lot of it gets put down to pure talent, rather than hard work; as though people who play fighters just happened to find something their brain was perfectly aligned for. You initially can’t even grasp the concept of being able to do what most people can do on SF. You don’t realize that one day, with practice, it’ll just click (for me, around 100 online games, per game, seems to be my Eureka moment).
*Even the terminology puts up a barrier.
I’d like to add, even though I don’t think like any of these guys anymore, or agree with a lot of these points, I can remember feeling alot like that before I made the jump. If you’re already invested in other games, it looks like a lot of risk and commitment for potentially nothing but a long line of beatings. Even to a hardcore gamer, the thought of “meh, I’d be better off putting those hours into Halo” is going to trickle through.
Adding a chain system would help it become more casual friendly, but it wouldn’t be an SF game at that point. (Easy to execute “flashy” combos)
Giving the players a competent tutorial that explains the mechanics of the game (Don’t jump, use normals, give default AA moves with a hitbox/hurtbox to show why it’s a good AA… And keep going from there)
Give a demo of the trials.
I was going to say guest characters ala Smash Bros but SFxTK tried it and failed. You could make the argument that no one cared about the dude from Infamous, Pac Man, or fuck you here’s Mega Man as a fat retard. Another example is Playstation All Stars which was fairly easy and loaded with shit but that bombed too.
The one conclusion you could make is that even those games are easy and have quite a few fan favorites they just weren’t fun to play. If the game isn’t fun then it’s probably not going to do very well.
I don’t think Capcom Japan will ever understand that.
How can I care about a character, who is not on my platform(PC or 360)? Not having fat Mega Man there pissed me off.
Add a better tutorial system and matchmaking system. Many casuals are put off once they hit online or play with friends as they get destroyed because the game doesn’t really teach you how to play. So there’s no motivation if you keep losing, there needs to be a sense of progression. Too much self research makes a game seem like work rather than fun.
Hello I am really new to SF I haven’t played a SF game since NES days and just recently bought SSF4AE. The challenge mode for Ryu is pretty confusing I don’t know what all the symbols mean and it doesn’t tell you in the game in the command list. Anyways I bought it because I am pretty tired of MK9 and want to try something new. So anyone who can a noob some advice will be greatly appreciated!
I am stuck on this one challenge it’s a combo, and the ending is EX with a outline of a square around it then it says focus attack.
I’d agree with the suggestion of making execution be irrelevant if only the new guys lost because they couldn’t perform a fireball or a shoryuken on me. But truth is, they can do these motions with no real problems, their issue lies in their lack of gameplans, or in their lack of fundamentals, or in their excessive tries to land that combo that they can perform in training mode on my ass. And guess what? outside of making an in-game tutorial so they can learn fundamentals you really can’t do shit to help them if they don’t want help, and if you make execution irrelevant then you’d only be messing with the guys that actually like the games as they are.
Add a Dive kick mode, problem solved.
Lol makes me think of Nazi Zombies in CoD. So many people i know didnt even fuck with the game online just nazi zombies all day