I was told to come out and play at casuals instead of waiting for conventions and playing against other players there, and I would like to come out to tournaments and be known, but where does one start? Someone offered to give me rides to casuals and what not, and I’m looking for work as well. Where do you start? How should you prepare yourself? If anyone has a story on how they started competitive gaming, please explain if you like.
I thought FGC just meant liking fighting games. If it instead means being a part of the tournament scene, then just participate in any event you can find. I only get that privilege once a year at AnimeBoston, since no one in my area seems to care about these games, so take advantage of stuff like that. There are things that you can only learn by playing physically with other people.
FGC = Fighting Game Community. It implies anyone who takes fighting games seriously normally to a competitive standard, but can also include your casual players as well.
As for Dramatix I’ve never been to a local event either, but I recently found one that wasn’t in Cincinnati for fucking once and I hope to attend it. My friend Nate told me I should just do a ton of ranked on whatever games I plan to enter the tourney for, because almost no one will have the same play style or character. I’m entering for SSF4 so I can rep the “Almighty Queen of the Feng Shui, Juri”, and then SkullGirls with my solo FIlia. So my work is pretty much cut out for me. Bottomline just play the games as much as possible before the event.
play a fighting game, meetup with other and play a fighting game = FGC
Look at match making thread for sessions.
- start a million useless threads on a major forum instead of playing a fighting game.
you wanna be known? show up to a major and beat well known people
What I did i found out where the biggest scene was to me (an hour away in Detroit) and started going to the Ranbats, getting my ass handed to me and losing my money… Just smile, be cool, be helpful if you can. Showing up with equipment helps (console, asus monitor). don’t try too hard but don’t be a dick. Once people start to recognize you by name find out where the casual sessions are held and ask if you can go. If they say yes, bring snacks, don’t be a dick, clean up after yourself. But most importaint SHOWER!!! There are some stinky motherfuckers in the FGC don’t be one! Soap is your friend.
Step 1) Show up to offline events
Step 2) Play them games. Both casual sessions and tournaments.
Step 3) Say Hi to someone.
Congratulations, you are now part of the FGC. Work hard.
People think it’s a lot more work than it actually is. It’s not like you have to go through a rite of passage before you earn your FGC Bronze-level Membership Card and MadCatz SE stick. Just show up.
That’s pretty much it. Start showing up for casuals. No casuals in your area? Host.
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play some dudes
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you’re in
Does anyone know if any local events happen in Colorado Springs or Denver? I live in Pueblo, Colorado so there’s absolutely no casuals being hosted here or anything even like that. 
You should check the regional forums.
Also for OP, go to the Xanadu sessions.
Why do you have like 10,000 topics on this? There’s no like. Initiation trials or something. Its people enjoying a hobby not a freakin’ cult
Also to be known:
- Pick Magneto
- Probably…train or…practice or…study match ups. Or something lame like that.
- Swag the fuck out.
- Bask in the adulation of 10,000 15 year olds the world over.
“These chips are making me salty!”
-_- it was a joke
…but yeah - I am sad my magneto is so fraudulent. cannot do j.H fly combos ToT
Whaddya’ know, I was bein’ sarcastic. Lol.
I should really learn how to use him though.
go play at a tourney or contribute. it doesnt have to be a ‘stream’ tourney. FGC =/= being the next justin wong.
Left, though you can also start on right.
Heck go crazy and go with both!
The problem with the FGC is accessibility. Since the online is an afterthought for most fighting games, you have to play in person with good players to compete. If you live in a large mega city this is much easier (LA, NYC). For most of us we are busy living our lives, work, school, family, plus the cost and time of traveling.
Speaking from experience with marvel 3 it was just infuriating trying to do complex combos online. You have to develop an ‘online only’ strategy, and this leads to bad habits that don’t usually carry over to offline. I gave up playing marvel 3 since I want to play the actual game, not an online variant.
Contrast this with other popular games like halo, league of legends, starcraft, team fortress, where the offline and online games are basically the same. All you need is a decent computer (everyone has one), a decent video card, or an xbox. Until capcom et al, take their online networking serious, the FGC will just be a niche.
It’s the 21st century and the fighting game makers really, really, need to focus on quality online play.
They can’t come over and fix your infrastructure. If the quality of your connection is awful your online experience will be, too. That said, there is no such thing as lag-free play. That information has to travel first and that will A-L-W-A-Y-S take time.