Seriously… We ARE posting on a forum about fighting games. That’s about assuming anyone here actually has a life to begin with.
I don’t. Meh.
And anywho, who doesn’t cheat like a mofo when they play? Or at least try. Everyone has some cheesy combo they learned/made up/heard about in EVERY game! Seriously…
Tao of the Warrior and the Selfless Self
The question you pose Crickett is an interesting one, and chances are this is a question anyone who wants to be at a professional level of anything often has to ask themselves, and I think is a post that warrants some true discussion.
If your own personal path is to become a professional level player, then you will have to immerse yourself in the game and as much competition you can, its a sentiment that is reverberated throughout this entire site, and is a cornerstone of Domination 101. Top level players will drive hundreds of miles just to be a part of a “good” tournament. Others will play as hard against an eight-year old as they do a #1 seed in a tournament. As was mentioned, it has a lot to do with commitment and execution.
With that said, there’s something that you posted that caugh my attention:
If it’s “scrubby bullshit” as you mention and you’re losing to it, then you need to rethink your gameplan when playing your friends and find a way to successfully deal with the scrubby bullshit every single time they try it. Part of being a top tier anything in whatever you choose to do is being able improvise, adapt and overcome any problem/tactic/cheap trick that others might throw your way. Therefore, it sounds to me like these friends still have something useful to teach you. This is what I would call the “Tao of the Warrior” for those who are into the nifty martial arts references and innuendos.
The flip side of that coin is, if you are indeed the higher calibre player of your circle, and I am not doubting that you are, then rather than worry about them lowering your game, why don’t you consider raising the level of their game. Share with them your basic game plan, show them tactics that you have found effective, those you have found inept and make them better players. If competition makes for better players, and if you are unable to go to the better competition, then why not try to grow your own? This is a cornerstone in Daoist and Zen philosophy of the selfless self: by placing your own needs in the back (by helping your friends), they are thrust forward (helping them helps you become better).
This will do two things for you: 1. You will learn more about the game by teaching. and 2. It’s going to force you to be a better player because you will now have to think of new ways to handle them. The tactics and strategies that you have become comfortable with will no longer work like before, and it will end up raising both your game and theirs.
As far as tournaments go, keep having them. Even if it’s 4 of you doing a round robin in your apartment/house/dorm or some other “scrubby” kind of event, do it. Place yourself in that competitive environment as much as possible, and treat each one just as you would if you were going to Evo or <prestigous event of your choice here>. Again this is referred to in Domination 101. If other people criticize your tournament for whatever reason, take you can from it to make it better. If they’re just trying to piss in your cereal, screw em: they’re only actively trying to get in your way.
As far as a bottom line answer to your question: about having an isolationist mentality for getting better? While the image of the solitary shaolin monk practicing kata in a seculed ancient monastary or the prodigal master of Ansatsuken facing his inner ememy on the precipice of some remote cliff is extremely attractive, I direct your attention to the annals of history. Did isolationism work for China in the end? Did it work for Japan? Did it work for Apple Computer in the mid-late 80’s? I would make the assertion that the more people you can surround yourself with, scrubby or pro then the better off you’re going to be. As I see it, the Tao of the Warrior and the Path of the Selfless Self, particularly in any kind of martial art or 2D fighting games go hand in hand: with out one, you lack the drive to become the best, with out the other, you lose the ability to do so.
These are just thoughts and opinions, but perhaps they might help you in accomplishing your objectives.
Get a prostitute.
You’re from Rockville? I’m from Silver Spring. What’s your name?
Touche, you really got me there! LOL:rock: By the way, stop checking back on a thread, that you don’t even like, to see if anybody thinks your one-liners are witty. It makes it seem as if you don’t have a life.:wow:
I was gonna post something worthwhile, but strakka pretty much covered what I was gonna say…damn it.
Sure, how much do you charge a night? Do you do birthday parties?
i think i have the same problem as the cricket. Well in terms of me having no competition (no one betta than me) and im completely on top of my own gang. And the thing is, i go hard on them. I’ve always wanted to ask, is it betta for me to only play them occasionally and just do tag with them when other ppl challenge? or should i keep doin’ wot im doin’ now and dominate them completely?
Hahah sup Yahn, it’s Aaron from MC-R…you might know of me through Pat / Hanwei…your A-Hibiki is the sickest yo 
To keep on topic I really do appreciate all the commentary especially Celestrian’s. I suppose it’s really just about doing what Bruce Lee said to do: be like water. If you really want to be at the top of your game I suppose the perfect skill is adaptation, being able to improvise to the point where you can meld around anything thrown at you.
Get a job.
Just to add to theCeletrians and cricket_egg’s topic. Sometimes to beat bullshit you have to resort to bullshit your self. Turtle it up and sit there and wait to punish whatever dumb shit your opponent is pulling off. In SC2 this might mean block everything then punish with a BB or a 3B.
… cheah… I was speaking about the peeps who beat me in tourney.
Phil Mcfly is the only other Phil who beat me.
Doctor B, and AfroCole are the darkness of getting KOd.
Chikyuu and Takayuki are teh 1337 japs > america.
My post wasn’t serious. I was just thinking of Phils.
to beat bull shit just turtle they will obviously do something that’s punishable if all they do is sweep or throw fireball or air hurricane kick or high low sagat bull shit.
just adapt man.
adaptability, consistency, and knowing the game inside and out(all matchups that are improtant, even the ones that arent’) are the roads you must travel to pwn.
just work that ass when they fuck up.
That was a pretty good post, its a shame that there are so many assholes fagging up this thread. Its true though, your mental state alone is half of your game.
Good advice man:tup: I wonder why I never thought of that.
You don’t have to have the initiative to have the confidence. Often times, I feel at my most confident when someone is rushing me down, because I can often spot the timing in their rushdown, and punish.
There are the three true scrub strategies.
The three scrub strategies go into a Rock-Paper-Scissors relationship, spazzers beat grapplers, grapplers beat turtles, turtles beat spazzers.
Now, one you get skill, it becomes more complicated, but the basic rock-paper-scissors relationship does maintain, the key is getting technically better at each strategy, and learning how to disguise it. I’ll admit, my rushdown is my weak spot, but I do have a rushdown I’ll bust out when I see someone going into a grapple heavy style.
Also, different games weight different styles more. For example, VF weights grappling heavier then most other 3d games (Throws lare easier to land in VF then they do Tekken/SC), while a game like KOF with its hops rewards the aggressive style- making it easier then playing either of the other two styles.
I dunno, I don’t have a problem beating scrubs. Even in 3D games where solid strings are easier to mash into, I usually stay at my chars optimum range and keep up my attacks there, and if they somehow get past my range and get inside on me then I simply turtle it up and weed out their garbage. Scrubs can’t respect your chars strengths because they don’t know them, always remember that.
Losers are not your friends.
Losers are people who diss you or stop being your friend over a game.
If you are gonna let something as trivial as getting beat in a video game come between you and a friend, you arent a real friend to begin with.
Getting beat by “bullshit.”
Sometimes things wont go my way, I will get frustrated and scream out “BULLSHIT!” and headbutt the screen.
Its not because I think the other player is being cheap. (or because im pumped full of inexpensive liquor)
Its because im frustrated by my own play.
The opponent has nothing to do with you losing.
The burden of victory always resides on your shoulders.
If you lose, its your fault.
(FUCK THESE STICKS!!1)
Id like to think im a good player, and good players do not lose to roll throw, roll uppercut and roll super.
I however, get hit by them all the time.
I feel like I should NEVER EVER get hit by such a scrubby tactic.
But I make mistakes, and recognizing my mistakes makes me want to correct them.
And correct my opponent for making the mistake of using such a flawed strategy.
(PUNISH THAT SHIT!1!)
I will have to argue with you a bit, passively and respectfully of course…=)
I must say that throwing does not clearly indicate that someone is a scrub. I’ve seen many instances where good players will do nothing but throw in one round in the interest of being unorthodox in a sense, even though they are capable of far more in depth mixups. I also want to say that in my experience for Tekken, top players and even just good players practice recognizing the throw animation so that they are able to break them on reaction, effectively nearly nullifying that option for the attacker as a whole. This is also true of Soul Calibur if only at the highest level (throw breaking is a bit harder in SC vs. Tekken to say the least, since recognizing which throw your opponent used requires a much smaller and specific window, but it’s still very possible to nearly perfect this). I would also like to say that your right about VF being heavilly influenced by throwing, but at the highest level throwing isn’t as simple as just throwing it out, since there are techniques that allow you to input the break commands for more then one throw at once which limits the opponents throw options. This in turn then creates situations where the opponent must go for deeper setups which leads to more advanced counter tactics such as fuzzy guard etc to prevent a near perfect setup. Anyway Im sure you know this, just wanted to clarify that while you were right about VF’s powerful throw mechanic, it still gets a bit deeper on both the ends of the spectrum when you include the more advanced techniques.
On the flipside you do not have to respect the strengths of a scrubs character.