Lately, I’ve been thinking that the answer to this might be “yes”, and I might cut back on stuff in the future.
More than anything, this is because I end up never being able to play casuals as much as I would like. One of the main reasons I go to majors is to play against all sorts of different people, but it doesn’t quite work out that way because I end up being in a million tournaments and always have to see where I’m at and make sure I’m not DQed and such. I think this hurts one’s skill development, as well as my own personal enjoyment.
With that in mind, what would a good number be? Right now I enjoy Guilty Gear and SC4 a lot, I will probably love SF4 & HD Remix, and I could see myself getting into Blazblue as well (less sure about this one). Would I have to drop one or two of these?
Would be interested to hear thoughts from other tournament players.
EDIT - Posted before i even read this. :-p You know me, my answer will always be ‘every game i enjoy’. I’ll play my casuals vs many different players online.
I could see how it could be hectic. I mean at SB3 there were players DQ’ed on account of them being in like every game at once and were playing something else when they had a match. You had people runnin back and forth between GG and Tekken and Marvel and the only person that wasn’t DQ’ed was J. Wong when he was called like 8 times to each game.
I should’ve run a betting pool on whether you’d be the first one to post in here. =P
Thing is, Accent Core has no online (and I’m not sure I’d WANT to play it online anyway…even 1 frame of delay drastically fucks up FRCs) and SC4’s is horrible. I really regret not being able to play those as much as I liked at SB3.
Come to think of it, however, all the other games I mentioned are supposed to use GGPO or equivalent code, so this could actually work out. I really may bow out of all the extra side events and such, particularly since my favorite games are going to get bumped off the schedule once all the new stuff hits.
clue: Funny thing is, even Wong forfeited ST after losing in winners bracket finals (thus placing 3rd). I think this was so he could focus more on CvS2…Buktooth may have forfeited ST also (forget if it was that or if he actually did lose) as he was still in that tournament as well.
The more games I play the more fun I have. I get to meet more people and learn a ton of things in different games. I suppose it does spread you thin (and if you’re in some important finals match, you should probably skip or DQ yourself in other games to focus), but I want to make the most of the money I spent to get somewhere.
I’ve been cutting down on entries as of late because they’re the same old games I’ve been playing for the past decade or so. Most I enter now is ST, CvS2, AH, and GG.
I entered a bunch of tournies at FR last year cause it’s FR. Always fun playing everything there.
I have been cutting back. I play damn near everything but there are only a few games I actually care about doing well in. I get annoyed running around trying to compete in four games at once.
I’m aiming to be competitive at a maximum of three games.
I lack the talent to pick up so many games at once, and I have to use the rest of my time to take care of my other responsibilities.
Guilty Gear XX ^Core and Soul Calbur IV are the only games I care about.
I may take up Daemon Bride or Million Knights Vermillion if they’re good.
I don’t see many top level players winning tournaments for many games, anyway.
You have exceptions like Justin Wong and Ryan Hart, but they’re the minority.
I mainly stick to 3s when I go to big big tournys and will only enter like 1-2 more.
Since 3s is my main game, I make sure to get many many casuals before the tourny starts. Ill usually enter GG (although im beginning to loose interest in it) and SNK games like Garou, RB2, and some other randoms.
Ill probably continue to play in Guilty but once STHD and SF4 comes out Im just going to concentrate on those and probably stop playing GG and cut back on 3s a little.
You should probably focus on the main ones, and just play the lesser ones on a whim. With the main ones, there are going to be people that came just to play that game, so they are really going to go all out, no holds barred. For the lesser ones, some people don’t play it as their main game, or only played it a few times, so you don’t have to strain yourself when you are playing the those games, and if you are dominant at those games compared to the tournament players (for you, WHP, RB2), you can even go on auto-pilot, helping conserve energy for the main games. The more serious the competitors, the harder it is to be able to win (as long as the game is good, and the competitors are skilled).
Think of it like Starcraft, which is pretty much a sport in South Korea. There are players that are elite class, but once they lose a few in a row, even in close 3-2 matches, their ability to play is questioned, and them competing in the elite class is on the line. That is how serious Starcraft is in South Korea, but say a lesser played fighting game (I’m going to say Breakers Revenge for example), where you have someone that won a tournament, and they hadn’t played the game in years.
With these new games coming out, its going to be hard to have side tournaments unless they are an attraction, or a branch of the main game (ex. 2 on 2, 3 on 3, for a main game, etc…)
Yeah I kinda worry about the same problem myself at tournaments. I like some games here and there and am probably more open to at least trying different fighting games casually. When it comes to tournament time though I don’t wanna be bothered listening for my name being called from like 4 or 5 different people while I’m playing the only game that I really seriously care about playing. Other than 3rd Strike all of the other fighters I play I simply play just to play them. Sometimes I’ll just leave out of the tournament early after I lose the first match just cuz by that point I just don’t care anymore.
J.Wong and Keits do it somehow but I’m just not the multiple tourney game type. When SFIV comes out…that, HD Remix and 3S will be the 3 games that I’ll start to take seriously in tourneys. If I get back into Tekken enough maybe even Tekken 6. I think I’m done with Soul Calibur though so don’t see myself getting into SCIV.