With the latency and whatnot (I have a great connection) is it worth playing online? Most of my matches seem to be fine, but to the pros actually get better online? None of my friends play so I’m trying to determine whether or not its worth investing time into getting good. Is there a lot of online support? Online tournaments?
Thanks in advanced.
Some pros do improve with online play, but not alone. For example, Latif spends the majority of his training time playing online for SF4, but he also frequents offline sessions. So he trains in the online environment to learn match-ups and how to beat certain types of players, but takes his skills to an offline setting, to local tournaments and sessions to test out how well he’ll do against top players where latency isn’t a problem. So sure, you can get better online, but the number of online tournaments are quite few.
Your best bet is to train up online, but also consider checking out your local scene.
http://shoryuken.com/forum/index.php?categories/regional-matchmaking.110/
Look around there for a local scene near you. It’s worth a shot.
You can get pretty decent through Xbox Live, same for PS3 although it may take a little longer to hit the ceiling where you need offline comp to improve. If you’re in Europe, maybe you can play PC, but if you’re in the US, I wouldn’t bother trying to level up on there (just not enough players.)
I played some tournament level players recently (famous gamers who shall remain anonymous) and got bodied quite quickly.
Online play teaches you bad habits and you can get away with abusing moves without being punished (im looking at you Blanka & rose & tech throwing). Try the same stuff offline and you get hit pretty hard. You have to re-evaluate your entire moves and offence.
Use it to learn match ups, but know you will experience a different kind of play when playing offline.
^ I agree with this. The trick is to self-censor how you play online. Just because you can get away with full-screen balls/rush-punches/etc, doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can pick Juri and jump around like a gymnast, doesn’t mean you should.
If you are familiar enough with offline play to realize what stuff is shenanigans and what’s not, then playing online can help to expose you to a wider variety of characters and play-styles than you might get locally. But, it’s going to be harder to react and punish dumb stuff. Still, if you don’t take it seriously, I think it can be helpful practice.