How do you deal with rage after repeated losses? (SSF4AE)

Newbie Saikyo Dojo
1

How do you deal with rage after repeated losses?

I cannot manage the anger I feel. I just can’t. Not when I lose 95% of matches. (I actually calculated it.)

I got a lot of advice here on SRK. I feel like all the advice made me a better player. Yet, I still lose. Not just lose, but lose constantly. I lose to players of all ranks and ability. It doesn’t matter which character I play or my opponent plays. It’s just endless losing.

I can accept losing. Sure. It’s going to happen, but it’s just too often for me to deal with. I can deal with a loss when I learn something, but I never learn anything. I watch my replay and it’s like, “What happened?!”

So, I taught myself how to record and upload video. I put it up here for analysis. I get advice like, “Oh, you jump too much. See right here at xx:xx, you jumped and you got AA’d. Mistake.” That seems like good advice, but in practice it means nothing. I get baited into doing things my opponent wants me to do. (Such as jumping-in.) I can’t help it. It always seems like the correct decision at the time. I’m getting outplayed like this every match!

And before it’s suggested, I’ve gotten all the noob advice. All of it. I’ve done it all: Watched my replays, watched pro replays, looked up match-ups, learned about frame data, learned my normals, improved my execution, learned footsies… all of it was a waste. For as much as I’ve improved, it’s meaningless. I get stomped nearly every time. I could put down my controller, and it would be exactly the same as if I had tried. It’s the same result: lose.

I’ve gotten to the point I’m starting to hate this game. I can’t even think about playing without getting angry. I don’t want to play anymore. It’s no longer fun. I force myself to play, because I really want to be good. Then I fight someone that hits me with a combo that drops me to 50% of my life. I can’t comeback, and I lose. Then I fight a defensive/charge player. I punch, I get punished. I kick, I get punished. I jump, I get punished. It’s easy for them. They just crouch and wait. They’ll wait all day long. They won’t attack! They just wait! It would be okay if this was rare, but these 2 examples make up 95% of my matches! They either wait/punish or are so good I can’t do anything.

Then… I read comments like, “Street Fighter 4 is the most accessible fighting game for newcomers.” That is a total lie. I have never in my life had so much difficulty with a game! Never.

I’ve given up several times now. I take a break, and I convince myself it’ll get better. I pick up the game, go online, and it’s endless losses. Never-ending. Then it’s back to raging.

I don’t know how to handle it.

2

Don’t play to win in the first place.

3

well, starting to play a fighting game 5 years into it’s life cycle is never a good idea. Obviously anyone who still plays it after 5 years has a lot of experience (even tho a good 80% of the players still suck/use online tactics) and will beat you all the time, even if they’re bad players, just because they have way more experience than you do.

You should just find someone willing to train you online and do LOADS of games to learn the basics of the game, then you can start going against random opponents.

Oh and stop jumping.

4

I know what the situation is. My question is: how to deal with the rage?

5

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6

If I was you I’d take another break from SSFIVAE. Because if you’re not having fun playing a game then why the hell do you keep playing that game? Wanting to be a better player is admirable, but if it’s not fun, if you don’t feel like your learning anything then it just becomes an exercise in frustration.

But don’t abandon fighting games all together. Pick up another fighting game and play that for a bit. That’s what I do when I get tired of getting my ass kicked (which happens a lot) or when I feel like I’ve plateaued (which also happens a lot). Variety is the spice of life, after all.

Maybe you won’t fare any better at that game. But I guarantee that you will learn something that will help you when you eventually come back to SSFIVAE. Maybe your execution will be improved a bit, or your feeling for spacing will be better, or your defense, or your footsies. Whatever it is, something will improve because you’ll be forced to deal with different circumstances.

Playing multiple fighting games will improve your game no matter what level you’re at.

And maybe SSFIVAE just isn’t your game. I know I can’t play KoFXIII or UMvC3 worth a damn. These are great games (and I still play them occasionally) but they just don’t suit me for various reasons. There is nothing wrong with deciding a certain game isn’t for you. But you won’t find the fighting game that really suits you until you try out a wide variety of them.

Go out and explore the varied landscape that is the Fighting Game genre these days. And above all… have fun!

7

get better so you won’t lose all the time?

Then again, I still rage with SF4 even tho I win 80% of the games I play, so the fuck do I know. It’s easy to get randomed out once in a while when playing online

8

The point you are at right now, you mustr take a break of at least two weeks.
To stop yourself from losing significantly more than 1 game you have to laugh about a single loss.
If a single loss means nothing to you, you won’t lose more often than 2 times in a row if you play different opponents each time.

9

It sounds like you would benefit the most from playing people who are in the same boat as yourself. If you’re getting that frustrated in endless matches stop playing randoms and start a lobby of about 4 people in which you can learn different things from and not fall into repetitive habits.

PSN: Murciealago229

I’ll play you anytime I’m on.

10

When I get upset, I play a different game. Not a fighting game. For me it would be a shmup, or blitz chess on the internet, or something like that. Those games keep my mind and my hands occupied so that I’m not even able to dwell on my losses. The activity could be anything. The important thing is to stay active.

11

SF4 is full of turtles. Try 3rd Strike. It also has a steep learning curve, but it’s a more enjoyable fighter than SF4. Take a break and play other games and consoles. Pick up a Sega Saturn and try the MANY fantastic US and Jap fighting games on that console. Then come back to SF4 and see that you’ve improved while away. Then hate it all over again and repeat.

12

I stop playing for the night. I mean, it usually doesn’t get to me, but sometimes after a long day I’ll sit down, lose 5 matches in a row, and just put the stick away for the night.

13

Do you have any people you play with on a regular basis, online or offline? I found it helping immensely that i could simply talk to my opponent during a fight, for fun, talking strategies, a bit of friendly trash talk, asking questions etc. It keeps me from raging as i’m not thinking about it so much, also having a mic on or sitting next to somebody you become more self aware if you start to rage haha. Even if i’m not good of a player myself and i keep fighting against other people who beat me 20-0 i still have have fun while playing random people just annoys me.

You said you played alot of endless so me suggesting to stop playing ranked or giving a shit about points won’t help for you then. Personally i hardly play ranked because play crazy, though i might go hard in ranked right before Ultra comes out to see how far i can get.

Having different games you are competitive at, be it other fighting games, or shooters, RTS or whatnot can alleviate alot of stress and it might reignite your interest in SSFIV. Taking a break from a game isreally needed , otherwise you’ll get burned out and there is nothing left but frustration everytime you start up the game.

Lastly, try playing a character that is difficult to keep out, so you can make them uneasy while you are right in their face, they will make mistakes, simply waiting isn’t going to help them, they’ll have to play ,more pro active to stop you. Or play a character that controls the neutral game. This way they have to atleast do SOMETHING.

14

I love it when people make threads about help with their favorite game and people like you come in and tell them that their favorite game is shit and that they should play your favorite game instead.

Might as well not say anything.

Edit: And those people who down voted my initial comment are morons.
What I meant is when you’re a noob in a 5 year old game and you go into a match thinking “Well I’m not gonna jump, anti-air everytime and use this great combo I learned to do a lot of damage.”.
The thing that will happen is that you’re gonna get jumped on, won’t anti-air for dick, you’re gonna jump cuz the guy beats you so hard on the ground and gonna get anti-aired every fucking time and when you hit the first hit of your combo, you’re gonna fucking drop it because you’re stressed so much.

When that happens you’ll stop doing all the things you promised yourself to do because you fucking panic and think you’re gonna lose the match if you don’t use the tried and tested shoryuken mashing, back jumping, hadouken, sweep rinse and repeat bullshit.

This mentality hinders your growth as a player.

Rather write down a list of things you are shit at, pick one of the things you suck at and practice them in practice mode and after that in 20 real matches in a row.

If you suck at a combo, tell yourself that you’re gonna use the combo at every chance you get in a match even if it fails for 20 games in a row.
If you suck at defending throws, crossovers, overheads, and/or lows, go into 20 matches and instead of pressing buttons, you try to survive as long as you can only by blocking, back/forward dashing and teching throws.
If you’re bad at anti-airing with shoryukens or normals, play 20 games where all you fucking do is defend and anti-air jump-ins.
If you’re bad at using your normals, stop using special moves for 20 matches.
etc. etc.

This way you focus your attention on only one thing at a time, rather than 200 and are actually able to improve on them faster and another thing that it helps you with is setting yourself realistic goals you can actually achieve and be proud of.

Winning all the time versus people that play the game for 5 years or SF in general for even longer, is not a realistic goal and you’re gonna ram your head into concrete until it bleeds.
If you do the shit I mentioned long enough and stop playing to win, you’re gonna be a complete player way faster and start winning like a boss.

Check out UltraChen, James’ last show was exactly on that topic and perfectly reflects what I think myself about the learning process in competitive gaming.

Like you don’t go into a fucking martial arts school, trainer tells you to put your gi on cuz you’re gonna have your first fight now.
You’re gonna repeat the same fucking movements in small training sessions for month and years before you get into your first real fight.
Basketball, guitar classes, all the fucking same you can try to play a real game or a real song right away but it’s gonna look/sound like fucking ass if you don’t work on the different pieces of the puzzle for a long ass time.

Fighting games and everything that is hard and people get admired for for doing them well, need a lot of hard work, dedication, time and proper training methods to get good at.

15

if you want to get better. stick with one character. now im not saying use ryu, because he really doesn’t help anyone. but play with one character YOU like and experiment and play. i know how you feel practicing all day long and a tatsu/sweep/mash dp ryu appearance and beats your ass.

I say your looking at the game in a generic way. see to get good you have to look at the game in another way. meaning the person your most likely gonna play isn’t going to respect anything you do so he’ll probs mash dp or sweep when ever he can. all i’m saying you respect the other player too much. if you can see he doesn’t care you can anti air or pressure him then don’t respect him. you play with too much on your mind. thats all i have to say. hope this helps somewhat. sorry if come across as rude.

16

If your raging it means you want to win, that’s not a bad thing.

Take it in baby steps. Make it your target to beat one of the guy’s you can’t beat.

Also if you are playing ranked (which it sounds like you are) , good luck. You won’t learn anything in there but playing hundreds of random characters with random play styles that are desperate to hold on to their fake points by using every shitty tactic in the book.

Play endless, small room, 3 players, character specialists or good players. Play them for hours and hours and you’ll start to figure out habits and spacing. SF4 is quite badly designed since a jump in will always lead to a massive combo and anti airs can sometime’s be beaten. Noobs do what’s easy. Good players get good at what’s difficult.

As for the rage, just let it out, swear, hit something but whatever you do don’t send a shitty message, just don’t touch the message system period unless you want to say GGs or ask a question.

17

Look man, if you are not having fun don’t play. The whole point of games is to have fun. Within the genre of fighting games there is so much variety. Try another one, maybe SF4 isn’t a fit for you. Maybe you’ll be the best Marvel or Virtua fighter player. Who knows?

18

Playing to win is fine, just remember the whole reason why you started playing fighting games in the first place, because they are fun. I think that’s what you meant to say. ^_-

19

I quit for a month, that’s how I dealt with it. This game’s fucking stressful.

I think the trick is to find the right people to play with. When I find an opponent that’s at roughly the same level as I am then the game is fun. When I run into someone who can double perfect me then I want to beat small fuzzy animals to death with my stick. The problem is that there’s no real metric for determining that skill level so people can find good opponents.

20

(Quotes reduced for sanity.)

LOL! Y’know… I actually know a guy that has a Saturn with a bunch of fighting games. I can sum it up my feelings for Saturn Fighters with 2 words: LOADING TIME. …and… Oh man, those controllers?! Ah geez. Can’t get 'em to work right. Speaking of Sega, I do have a Dreamcast, but it no longer reads disks. :frowning: I found a guide that will provide a temporary fix. Of course, I’ve worn-out all three of my controllers playing 100s of hours of MvC, MvC2 & CvS. So there’s not much point. Now that I think about it, I do still have a PS2. I have MvC2 & CvS2 for that. I suppose it couldn’t hurt to play those for a day.

I gave up on RTS entirely. My experience with League of Legends, C&C3, C&C4 and SC2 was extremely poor. I realized that I lack the ability to be truly successful. It worries me though. The same reasons I gave up RTS are the same reasons I’ve thought of giving up on SF4. (One-sided matches, inability to think about 10 things at once, being too slow to react, getting baited into doing things my opponent wants me to do.) Makes me wonder if I quit RTS too soon. Either that, or I’m lacking je ne sais quoi. (To put it another way… “I may be lacking that certain special something we can see in certain players that are able to pull all aspects of fighting together with style.”) Maybe I’ll load-up some Team Fortress 2 though. (For some reason I can enjoy that without being exceptional.)

Wow… strong consensus! I’ll try a break. Thanks everyone. (Including those I didn’t take the time to quote!)

Based on the comments though… I just want to point one thing out. I didn’t just have a “bad day”, or “losing streak”. It’s… pretty much every time I play. Just so we are clear on that.

I know part of the problem is the hours I’m online. (Typically ~3am - ~11am US CST) At those times, there aren’t many people online that I can get a good connection with. There’s a handful of really good players that always stomp me. Then there are a few lower ranked guys that I rarely lose against. So, I often play against the same players over and over. (I think someone asked about that.) I would prefer to play during daylight hours, but there are no good ISP options where I live. I currently have DSL, and it’s pretty much unusable from 3pm - 11pm. (Presumably because all the nearby, phone-based infrastructure is very old.) I would drop the service, but there is only one other provider. There is a cable ISP. I would greatly prefer to use their service. However, just before I decided to switch, they changed their pricing. They now charge per GB, just like a smartphone data-plan.

Let’s see… someone mentioned “Endless Battle”. Yeah. I’ve tried that. Most players won’t play more than one match against me. For whatever reason, everyone lags super-hard when I join Endless with more than one person. (Even when my ISP is operating properly!) I guess I’ll always be a bit limited by my internet.

Lastly, I just want to say why I’ve been pushing myself so hard. Day9. Day9’s advice for SC2 was not just good for SC2. It was good for life. I’ve been trying to apply it towards SF4. To paraphrase, (Because I will NEVER find the video where he talks about this for a proper quote! (The guy has 100s of LONG videos!)) “Play. Every. Day. Make it a part of your life. There are going to be bad days. Especially when you first start. You gotta keep going. If you need a day off, that’s fine. Even I take a day off, but don’t give up, and don’t stop playing for too long… but regardless, you have to keep playing. Even when you don’t want to. Force yourself to play just one match. You’ll find that if you can play one match, you’ll want to play 2 or 3 or 4, and pretty soon you’ve been playing for an hour. Even if you are losing, you’ll get that drive. You’ll want to play more.” I can’t quite remember what else he said, but… this is something I remind myself whenever I don’t want to play. (Of course, it wasn’t enough to keep me from permanently rage-quitting SC2…) For the most part, he’s right. I do find if I push myself to play, I’m at least driven to keep playing… if nothing else.

Just a reminder, (I need to put this in a sig.) I play on GFWL as “Minrus”.