BR3N7, competition can bring out the best and the worst in some people, and from competition stems the ?I’m better than you!? mentality. The community here, like anywhere else, is very diverse and so we have people of different personalities. Some people are going to be telling you that you should quit and some will try to encourage you to play more and get better. Personally, I won’t tell you if I’m the top or bottom of the community because I can’t judge that for myself. I can tell you who I can and can’t beat, and who I go even with. This doesn’t mean that I’m a better player than them over all. At the same time, I won’t give you pointers up front on how to get better because I think the best way is to experience on your own, as to what beats what. Also, I can’t tell you the thought process that goes on in my head when I’m playing the game because it would likely differ from what you are thinking when you play. You might have quit because most of the people that you met in the community were jerks to you, but ultimately that comes down to how much you want to play the game.
I don’t think that you should be offended that CBK didn’t want to team with you unless he knew how you played. He didn’t want to take a chance and reflect poorly on Reno and so he just didn’t even enter that teams tournament at all. Of course, he didn’t know for a fact if you were a good or bad player, and we still don’t know. If you were serious about teaming then you guys should have set up some time to play before the tournament. However, it is VERY safe to assume that those (who live in Reno) who do not play with us (us being those that are active in the Reno Street Fighter scene) are not at the same level as we are, and so he would have taken a gamble by teaming with you. There is only one example of someone who we didn’t know that was able to compete with us (Me, Martin, Cameron, Scamp, and Jose, because we were the only ones there that day), and that’s Cameron’s (RenoFRESH / BPC) friend Junior.
You assume a lot from the scene when you’re basing the scene off of what you see in these forums. Jose and Mario are both top-tier, Mario doesn’t play on a joy stick, and Chef Borjan is very up-and-coming and actually gave many of the top players a run for their money, and beat most of them, from what I heard of the gaming night that happened last Wednesday. By the way, you put Derrickson as ?Bottom Tier,? and said that you didn’t even have to try and even had to bring down your level of play. That’s the exact kind of thing that makes people stop wanting to play; exactly what made you stop playing the game. Realistically, Derrickson is a newer player (new on the Reno scene at least) who plays a low tier character, and he’s just going to get better by playing with us.
This game isn’t about technical skill or b&b combos. Yes, it plays a big part in dealing damage, but this game is primarily about reading, tricking, and adapting to your opponent. Secondarily it’s about zoning, knowing what beats what, and capitalizing on patterns. You need to be smart in gameplay. (I know some people may beg to differ but this is what I see the game as.) If Justin Wong were to fight me, I’m pretty sure he could beat me just by using crouching roundhouse as a ?combo.?
I can see that you don’t know the scene very well given that you have only played with a few players from the scene. You haven’t touched the game for several months other than practicing combos and a few games here and there. Several months ago, you were supposedly at a similar level that Mario was at, and you were consistently beat by Jose. I can only assume that you are currently at a level that you would be consistently beat by the Jose we knew many months ago. You probably don’t know the game very well given how much you have played the game, and based off some of the things you said in your post I think that this is a safe conclusion to make.
I’m not telling you that the advice you give to us is not helpful, because it really is. There are some things you said that we haven’t thought of like having a player list, and making a website and those are some really good suggestions. And as far as the segregation of players, I agree with you on that.
As far as you telling us ?how Reno can be a powerhouse,? and as far as everybody going about the scene all wrong, you can’t possibly think that someone who plays this game at, in all intents and purposes, a casual level, will renovate (pun intended) the scene. Yes, competitive card games have similarities to fighting games. However, if I were a professional chess player, I don’t think that I’d have enough knowledge about StarCraft to give a StarCraft community the end-all-be-all compendium of becoming nationally competitive, just by owning the StarCraft game.
We have Koogy, who was basically a pro at Guilty Gear, and we have several OG Street Fighter players. Koogy, and the OG (when they’re around), I believe, are good enough at what they do to be great directors for the scene. Thing is, Koogy just started playing the game again recently, and the other OG’s have become inactive. On top of that, one of our top players became less active in the game a few months ago. What was left of the scene for the past several months was a few cocky players who thought they were the best, who thought they were the top of the scene, and who thought they were nationally competitive. Well, Koogy’s back now and hopefully he will be able to whip us all into shape. We have only seen 1 week of what Koogy has to offer us, and I see Koogy’s plan as a great step in a positive direction.
That being said, is everyone aiming at becoming nationally competitive? SHOULD everyone be aiming at becoming nationally competitive? The answer is no, so we need to share our gaming nights with everyone. The only difference that it makes is how much the player walks away with that night. You learn as much as you want to learn, and you take back in proportion to what you give. We have people who want to be nationally competitive who are not learning spacing and footsies. This isn’t because they don’t want to, it’s because they think that aspect of their game is good enough so they refuse to put the time in to learn it. We have people who are just semi-casual and semi-competitive who are better than our competitive players who want to compete at a national level. We’re a diverse bunch and diversity should make us better, not just desire to quit and exclude.
… I think the issue