I’m sorry if I put this in the wrong place but I need some advice on how to get started in serious competition for fighting games. I’ve been playing fighting games since I was a little kid and I love them dearly and I would love to play what I love in tournaments. I currently own Smash Bros For Wii U, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Guilty Gear Accent Core + R, King Of Fighters XIII, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Persona 4 Arena and Killer Instinct. I am fairly good at these games and would love to start competing but I have no idea on how to start. Any and all advice is much appreciated.
Look around for a local scene, actually go out and play (be prepared to lose a lot), and no matter what never stop playing and trying to improve.
That’s the problem though, there is no local scene for me unless you mean 5 guys just doing a “tournament” for fun in their parents basement and not for competition. I need to know about anything somewhat big, I mean not Evo big but bigger than 5 guys in someones basement. I also have played in tournaments before but they were several hundred miles away from where I am and that was a one time thing that I cannot afford right now. I play fighting games at least 8 hours a day for 5 days a week so even if I had any local options I would not be too concerned about losing.
Also a big part is travelling to the nearby locals. Being from OKC I had to travel a lot to Dallas and other texas majors to get better. You don’t need to go to final round or evo to improve, the players that top those play somewhere locally on a semi-regular basis also. You can face high level players without travelling across the country, but you may have to go every other month a few hours away for a weekend. If you have 5 people travelling together it can be super cheap & fun.
That’s what I did at least. Where are you from? I hear this question a lot then find out the person lives in a major metropolitan area where there are dozens of players all the time.
I live in Pennsylvania but nowhere near Pittsburgh or Philadelphia and I don’t have a car (I have to ride my bike or walk to work which normally is 40 hours a week doing inventory at a retailer). The town I live in has hardly anything even to work I have to walk or bike at least 5 miles there from my house and that’s also the nearest store to me. Even in town there’s nothing interesting around and there’s one card game shop but it is I think 20 or 30 miles from my home and I would need to prepare to bike there and back home. Then in the winter I don’t really feel like walking through one foot of snow 20-30 miles there and 20-30 miles back. I also have very little friends since 2 of them moved away in the past month and the other friends I have either don’t play games at all or they’re working all the time so the whole 5 people traveling together isn’t really something I can do anymore. This is why I hate Pennsylvania, nobody wants to live here and there’s nothing within biking distance.
Also I can only do something that is face to face with people because I absolutely refuse to pay $50 a year for Xbox Live just so I can play Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Ultra Street Fighter IV and Killer Instinct online. Nobody should ever have to pay to play a game they already spent $60 dollars on that they worked for and set aside to get after paying for internet, the electric bill and gas bill because they have no choice to live with their parents and help pay the bills because it’s impossible to get an apartment for how much you earn.
you can get a PC version or play through PS3 PSN because its free there
I have no reason to buy any Playstation console except to waste money re-buying a game I already have on my Xbox 360 and I would but I only buy through GOG and can’t do online matches because of this
And I do not sell or trade my games, I have no reason to do so because if I sell or trade it then I wasted my time and I always go back to games I play and refuse to lose any saved data.
If you have no transportation and are unwilling to play online, it’s going to be tough to play with people unless you host events yourself.
So you find all sorts of excuses as why you can’t play in your friends basement and also can’t travel out to your local communities, and then you find all sorts of excuses why you don’t want to play online.
What can I say?
Well, bye.
its not that I’m unwilling its that I’m unable to because of shoddy internet and wanting to save money so that I have food.
These are not excuses it’s that I don’t have the money maybe you can’t comprehend the concept of not earning enough money to afford a car. My friends have to pay for insurance on their car as well as for utilities in their houses. I have to pay for the electric, internet and food because that’s all I can afford to pay for while saving a little bit at a time. I can’t afford to get better internet because I don’t make enough, I won’t get a PS3 because that is an absolute waste of money for me when I have all of these games on a system I already own that works, I can’t afford to get a car so I have to bike back and forth to work and the store, there is no local community because I live in an area where the nearest place for games is at least 20 miles away and that is not a distance that I can bike from home and back while I have to worry about getting to work the next day and not wearing myself thin because biking is the only mode of transportation I have. My computer isn’t that great so I don’t use Steam which requires you be online constantly and uses and unnecessary amount memory on my PC which causes games to run slower thus hindering my performance. GOG doesn’t do this as you don’t need third party software that is a waste of viable space on your computer. I’m poor and this somehow offends you or is a hard concept for anyone here to grasp which is honestly sad. I live in a town that has nothing, I can’t afford a car, I need to pay bills, my friends have house payments and insurance to pay for by working 2 or more jobs and I can’t afford to be an absolute moron and buy a game twice effectively paying for another person. What is so hard to comprehend here? Really what about this is hard for you people to understand?
This is really your only answer. You can replace “unwilling” with “unable due to financial constraints”, but the result is the same. You seem to be looking for a perfect, magic solution that just doesn’t exist. If you can’t play online, and can’t play in person, there’s just nothing left.
You could try playing some games on Fightcade online. It’s free and is pretty easy for your computer to run. Or maybe try playing with you 5 local guys. One of them might want more competition like you do, and you’d be able to carpool or something.
here’s some ideas:
go play with those four local players in their basement.
move to a town that has better job opportunities and is closer to a major population center.
find a job that pays better, and allows you income to travel or afford xbl.
you said you play 40 hours a week - cut that down to 20, and find a second part time job for extra income to allow you to travel or afford xbl.
any or all of the above.
At the end of the day If you want something bad enough you’ll find a way. If not you’ll find excuses. Notice how all you’ve been talking about is things that prevent you from playing on-line or off-line instead of talking about ways you can make those things happen. Start thinking positive. You say all you got is you and a few buddies to play tournaments amongst yourselves? Well there’s your start. Use your place or a willing buddy’s to host tournaments and advertise to local gamers in your area and see if you can get them to play too. Who knows? maybe after a few months it’ll grow from just you and your 5 bros to a legit local scene for your area. Started by you and your buddies.
Also not to mentioned. If you’re that poor then gaming shouldn’t be a primary concern for you. You should be focused on a career and getting your money up so you can afford a car and other essential things Because gaming is a luxury. And if you can’t afford said luxury ( which you make it sound like you can’t ) then maybe you might want to put competing in fighting game tournaments on hold until you get better situated so that you can travel to these tournaments and local scenes.
Fightcade is your friend!
Every big scene started with a small group of people who decided to get together and play every week. Do it. Then promote and find new players. More people than the one you know own the game. It take hard work and dedication to find them and get them to come out every week.