Personal Discussion (Integrity versus Interest)

Classic Fighting Games Ultra Street Fighter IV
1

So I’m a fan of picking the brains of the fighting community. I was far too young to really have a lot to say about my Arcade days outside of “I use to play Street Fighter II in the arcades!” I did well… that’s about it. Out of five regular players, you’re bound to do okay I suppose.

As such I enjoy the aspect of hitting the community here at SRK and exploring topics that pop into my head while playing Ultra Street Fighter IV. As a side note I made 7th Best Decapre! That’ll change REAL fast as I then proceeded to crap my points away in a much too long series of terrible I MEAN terrible losses.

That aside. I sometimes wonder if I’m an average player a decent player or a good player. I feel that I’m a ‘decent’ player. I’ve hit A with Bison back in AE2012, got Decapre to B+ yesterday, rank 7 (for now!). Yet I can’t help but wonder if I suck. This isn’t a plea for pandering admittedly because that’s not how We Fighters handle things. However being insightful and thoughtful about our own gameplay is what helps us get better (I hope). This is what brings me to this topic.

Integrity versus Interest.

I’d like the community to be a bit honest here. No judgment! How many of us have fought someone at a lower level, beat them narrowly and decided 'You know what… "(Insert excuse to not fight them again)

When I was struggling to get the glorious B+ there were a few times when I faced off against a C or C+ player and just groaned at how absurdly good they were/bad I was playing/Stupid life was and won the match. When the rematch came I hovered over whether or not to kick them, suddenly log off with shifty eyes, or go ahead and engage them in their desire to see if they can take my head!

I do try my best to be an honorable warrior! A True Street Fighter (At least as far as super powered people who fight because ‘reasons’ is concerned). Showing integrity by not sending salty messages, not throwing my controller at my room mate’s head, and helping others when asked for tips! However every now and again I lose sight of the true goal! To get better. Sometimes The Points, the allure of Big Numbers calls to me and I find myself straying from the path!

So I’m wondering if it’s just me, or do we all share this crippling Points Addiction. When we’re on the cusp of the next upgrade, or rebuilding our rank from an ass beating. Usually I give anyone and everyone a rematch. Sometimes however when the D+ player kicks my ass because I just woke up and haven’t had my cocaine I cringe at the idea of having to fight him again. If I win? I get one point! Huzzah! If I lose I lose 100!

At the end I sometimes dodge them by going out for a smoke (Winners don’t smoke!..wait…) hoping that when I return they’ll leave me the hell alone! Other times I’ll go into Quick Match (Usually I camp in Create). Other times I’ll specifically pick someone from the Custom match. I’ve also had times when I’ve faced off against someone who is genuinely better than I am and I win by the skin of my teeth! Those times I’m ashamed to admit it I either log off “Time to end the gaming on a good note!” I don’t do it all of the time! In fact it happens rarely!

What I’m curious about is the community outlook on this type of behavior. When you lose do you rematch reliably? If you’re playing against match ups not in your favor do you give the person a rematch when you win or lose? When I face off against a Rufus (Dear God I hate him) I HATE having to fight him again. I’ve gotten better but my new hated enemies are Elena and Honda! For Honda I can manage but with Elena when I see the person is using HEAL I just want to pull my own teeth out and then choke them with them! Ahem… Players who turtle, or use cheap tactics! Do you rematch them, or do you skip them or kick them?

I like the idea that I’m good enough to rematch anyone and everyone regardless, win or lose. Sometimes however the reality is that I freaking hate Grapplers (FYI I tend to hate every in game character I fight against, including mirror matches I don’t even know why I play this game.) and that Zangief won because he caught me in his Ultra because I did a hard kick and it destroyed half my life! SCREW HIM!

Let me know what you guys think! This can also branch out into the famous Salty Sayings. For the match ups you’ve hated where you’ve been forced to send a nasty message. I admit I haven’t done that yet but dear lord I’ve been tempted. Most of the salty messages I share are with my monitor, under my breath so as not to offend baby angels. Or the times you’ve gotten them due to your lack of integrity in not providing a rematch!

Also any tips for Decapre players versus: Hugo, Honda would be super helpful! I play on the PC as Blacque!

2

Online points and rank doesn’t matter anyway.

Now if this were in a tournament setting, then interest all the way over integrity.

3

I’ve heard that the points don’t matter from various sources. I’ve played for a while and noticed that I rarely ever have an easy time against someone who plays an A+ character, versus someone with a D+ character. I think the points do serve as a measuring stick (Broad though it might be) for the skill of the player, as intended. I do think that there are obvious hiccups in the system but as a general rule when I see someone with over 4k player points I prepare for a hell of a fight.

Then I lose.

Ah where does the time go?

4

I always just do what I feel I want to do regardless of the situation.

5

Decapre vs. hugo don’t pick decapre, vs. honda pick u2 and keep pressure up by comboing to hands

6

It’s really easy to get caught up in believing your skill revolves around the amount of points you have. I’d be lying if I said I *never *placed too much importance in them. I’d often get on a nice streak, start thinking I’m the shit–but would eventually start getting my ass kicked and start feeling like I’m the worst player in the universe. Street Fighter in general has its way of humbling you.

Whether it’d be a solid Cody who’d frame trap me to hell, a weird Blanka player who’d do whatever, or a solid Yun, I’d just do my best to avoid them simply because I wanted to maintain my points (which was stupid) and protect my (useless) online ego. My logical self would realize that points really didn’t mean shit, but the competitive side of me felt like shit whenever I’d continuously lose points; especially when I knew I had most of those fights won.

I’d just wait until I get matched with someone unfamiliar and go from there. At first it felt safe and smart , but it eventually made me realize that I wasn’t really having fun anymore. It was a vicious cycle. I was more focused on gaining points than allowing myself to get *better *and enjoy Street Fighter. I hated this feeling. I mean, it’s just a game. There’s really no reason to get so ridiculous over something as meaningless as points. With the amount of boosting going on nowadays, that only further adds to the fact that points aren’t the best indicator of skill.

After that, I stopped avoiding and just played whoever. The only time I didn’t play someone was when there was horrible lag. Even knowing the match wouldn’t give me nothing but 1pp/bp while they’d gain more by winning. As odd as this might sound, I actually liked that sometimes, since it meant I had to really do my best.

My journey continued and I eventually reached A rank with Rose and was #1 with her on the leaderboards. Did it feel good? Yes, it certainly did. I can’t even lie about that. I never thought I’d be capable of doing that. Did it ***really ***matter in the long run, though? Fuck no. It’s just a brief sense of validation seeing that you’re #1, but you know you’re *clearly *not the best player of said character.

When I won my first tournament with Rose, however, I ***truly ***felt I had come a long way as a player. Being #1 on the leaderboards did not compare to this feeling one bit. It was my very first tournament, too. The competition was pretty strong, and I had a some doubts along the way, but I trusted in myself to adapt and went on to win it. That’s what growing as a player is all about–not going out of your way to hold on to some silly points that are just for show.

Losing is apart of the process. No one is above it. It made a world of difference once I was able to internalize this. We all get frustrated, we **all **have bad nights–but we also have good days. Just keep playing and don’t place any significance on your points when it comes to gauging your capability as a player.

7

I got my 4k PP and 15K BP A rank and retired from rank, fuck that curse of a mode. Personally I’m going to give a best 2/3 to anyone although to answer your question. Only exception is horrible connection. Offline is always fun and enjoyable so I don’t get salty or anything like that.

8

I don’t get the point (heh) of grinding points then “retiring from ranked.”

9

I sometimes kick Blanka’s and Fuerte’s when I had like 4-5 already.
These characters bring my piss to a boil.

I hate playing vs grapplers as Ken but I never feel like kicking them from the lobby, those 2 retarded fuckface characters drive me nuts though.

10

it was a goal i set, i reached it, and got out. Ranked mode is a horrible culture. You have people intentionally lagging the match for an advantage (i have a replay of cmpunk losing to me in the final round, and then 5 minutes straight of “waiting for player” pop ups, before im frozen and he walks up to me with t hawk, neutral jumps and lands and does his 720 to KO half my life), you have people joining your lobby with a yellow bar connection, but XBL loves to do this thing where when you join a yellow bar, you come into the lobby as a green bar when you are really a yellow bar, the host just sees a green bar and readies up, and the match starts and its shit connection. Go and join a yellow bar connection and you can see what i mean, you join and boom “green bars” every time and the host doesn’t know any better, which sucks when you host lobbies. You have people joining your room, scrubbing out a win and never running it back, avoiding you for the rest of their gold membership, you got people kicking you out because you beat them, people being annoying as fuck with their mics they turn on after the match starts to mess with the in game audio as it pauses the in game audio so you hear their mic. oh and all the lovely rage mail. I think we all can keep going. I set my goal, hit it and got out, play only endless with people i know, and head out to casuals now. The less online the better.

11

I can’t say i’m addicted to points, you fight hard for your points only to lose 150PP to a laggy cocksucker who plays on wireless. Most of all i’m looking for a challenge, i’m looking to play strong players, I don’t care for giving up points if it means I can level up playing against stronger opponents. Of course endless is where it’s at, but offline is the real deal.

12

Ken got buffed quite a bit, Chris, a high level Ken, thinks that Ken beats Gief now. I agree with him, Ken is far better against grapplers, I feel it is much easier now.

13

I don’t have enough hours in the game to worry about points. And lately I’ve been playing more at meetups and tournies (Oktoberfist was hella fun even though I got rekt).