I just recently got SFV, and while I’ve been training offline, I’ve been trying to talk myself into going online. The reason I’m hesitant is because of bad experiences in other fighting games, where I, a completely rookie, always seemed to be matched up with players far above my skill, and completely wiped because of that. When I finally dive into SFV, am I going to be having the same experience, or is there a larger user base of newer players given how early it is? Should I stick to casual matches before going into ranked?
You’ll likely be matched with players above your skill level in the beginning since 1( the game needs time to place you at your proper skill level and 2( you may run into advanced players who don’t play online much, so they are low rank. Don’t be discouraged if you get your ass kicked since it happens to EVERYBODY at every skill level and occasionally getting an ass whooping is an important part of growing as a player. That said, SFV is the most popular fighting game right now by a huge margin, so you are almost assured to find other new players to play with (provided that you give the game’s matchmaking system time to work its magic). I’m not sure what fighting games you played before SFV, but it’s a lot harder to find newbie training partners in smaller FGs, so that could explain your negative experiences online.
Don’t worry about ranked vs. casual. The quality of matches may be a tad higher in ranked since people are more likely to goof off or play a character they’re unfamiliar with in casual. But if you want a more laid back experience that won’t tilt you as much when you lose, casual is just fine. Rank itself is not something to worry about.
What?? How does the game need time?
SFV matches you up with players your skill level very well. If you’re a Rookie or a Bronze, you will almost exclusively play against Rookie and Bronze players in Ranked or Casual.
You can stick to casual matches if you don’t want pressure. You’ll find about the same people in ranked or casual anyway since the matchmaking is based on your actual rank. You might sometimes find some veterans on smurf accounts trying out new characters but you’ll mostly find beginners as you.
I suggest you to do a few ranked matches at the beginning still just to “feel” how it is to play for points. You lose nothing anyway since you start at 0LP.
I’d suggest you try out battle lounges, especially with only 2 seats. This way you can enjoy longer sessions, without having to wait for your next opponent in between matches. There is no pressure and you can start gaining knowledge you need to get confident about playing ranked matches.
Casual IMHO has no real value. With longer sets you have a better chance to learn what mistakes you’re making and try to apply an appropriate answer in the same set vs. the same oppenent.
Are you on PS4 or PC?
Which region?
PS4, but does that matter, since the title supports cross-platform play?
US West Coast
You should play other rookies right away, beside the random smurft account you should be fine.
When I started ranked the MM was fucked (they fixed it since then) and still I got rookies and bronze at the beginning.
Because that’s how every ranking system works. More games = more data = more accurate placement.
It seems to be pretty good now. When I started I played platinum guys in ranked, when I was still silver.
Now I am Super Gold, and fight only Gold-Ultra Gold.
I think the best way to play other players who are around your level is to dive right into ranked.
There will be the odd high level player who barely plays ranked or an odd smurf account (do people even do that in this game?) however, matchmaking is quite good at matching you with people of your level/rank.
Battle lounges are good but you’ll probably find a lot more people who are at a higher level. Even if they are Rookie or bronze they may just play battle lounge and not ranked. I’ve played many Rookies which are far beyond the level of me and Gold players.
Or just… Bronze fight bronze, silver fight silver… etc etc
No. You fight against people who are around your rank. The game doesn’t need time to figure this out.
I understand what you’re trying to say, but what you said is convoluted and inaccurate and it might be confusing to the OP.
Given the fact that the OP said that he’s brand new to the game and is hesitant to going online, I’d say the game would be able to figure out his placement within a nanosecond.
Well the first thing you should know is that the definition of a scrub in fighting games is different from other games. A scrub in fighters is someone who complains about stuff in the game. You can be a high rank and having thousands of hours in the game and be a scrub.
Now to answer the question about how new player does, they get wrecked in every fighter. Even at the bronze level you’ll be against people who have learned to player a flowchart Ryu and have grinded their combos enough to mess you up. SFV does tend to be a bit easier though, if only because there are a lot of more people playing.
But really all you gotta do at low levels is have a crappy wifi connection and pick Ken or Rashid and go ham.
Stick with casual matches at first and accept 1 simple thing. U r gonna lose a lot, there isn’t any way around it, but losing is ok when u lose look at why u lost and learn from it.
It’ll take 100 matches, regardless of wins or losses, before you really get a grip of your performance competitively and how to improve. Take every loss in your stride, be open minded, watch your replays, learn to identify your mistakes and take your mistakes to the lab to learn how to beat them. I’d advise sticking to one character to speed up the process too. Don’t care about your rank, nobody is looking, nobody is judging you, just get online and start banking fights!
I always though of Scrub as a similar term for noob. Or someone who thinks they’re great but really they play like a noob, a scrub.
Such as in real life where a man thinks he’s fly and he has money etc and shows like he does but in reality he don’t have shit and he’s broke under the exterior. Hence TLC’s famous ‘No Scrubs’