"Improving NZ - One scrub at a time" Article 1

[Lennysaurus]

"Laugh Less, Think More"

I recently read an article that made reference to a Japanese phrase “Makatsu Agatsu.” It means “True victory is victory over oneself”. It's an interesting article on sales, and somehow although completely unrelated, made me think a lot about our scene. I realized that our scene is continually dominated by the same people over and over again, and that although the game was released a fair amount of time ago, and despite having had regular get togethers, most of our players are still at the same level they were months ago. Don’t get me wrong, sure some of us do better combos, and some of us have a new gimmick here and there, but fundamentally our scene is stagnant and our individual approach to the game requires a paradigm shift before we as a whole can become more competitive.

So I thought some more about this, and have decided that I will write a few articles and post one each week on NZism. Obviously there are hundreds of articles floating around on the net by people that are a lot better at Street Fighter than I am, but my point of difference is that I will be challenging our community directly to think about and to understand what holds us back, and how we can overcome this.

These articles won't have a roadmap to becoming the best.  In fact they contain no tips at all.  They are about challenging your personal thinking about our community and the game.  In fact, if you read these articles and reply with "oh yeah I learned this OS and it made me heaps better" you will have missed the point entirely.  The challenge isn't being thrown down to your execution, your zoning, or your reactions.  The challenge here is being thrown down to your attitude and your thinking.

So in saying that, how many of you guys come to ranbats/gatherings and lose, have a chuckle about it, go get something to eat, then turn up 2 weeks later and repeat the process? This in my opinion is one of the big things that holds us back. In our scene there is a clear separation between who is good and who is not, and over the course of however long we have been playing these games, most people have remained at the same skill level. The best continue to place highly, the worst continue to place poorly, and the average players remain squarely in the middle. The problem is that we are happy with this. We aren’t hungry to get better, and most of us will go back, jump on xbox live, and continue to mash away the same way we did months ago without improving our fundamentals.

This attitude is the first thing that needs to change. If we as individuals are content to not improve, the direct result is that the community as a whole also fails to improve. No single person alone can become the next Daigo, it will take every single one of us striving for the best to raise our level, and not make us look like the bunch of scrubs we really are. How can we expect to go to OzHadou Nationals and be taken seriously if we aren’t even prepared to take ourselves seriously? Continuing to mash at every ranbats seems pretty hilarious at the time when we all call you a scrub, but the laughter will fade when our best players are at OHN next year trying their hardest, only to be beaten because the rest of our community is happy to stay mediocre and not push them further.

At the end of the day, sure it’s just a game. But the very nature of the game is to be competitive, to have the most life when the clock reaches zero, or to wipe out the last of your opponents lifebar. If your goal isn’t to do that to every opponent you face in a serious game, then what are you here for?

So in short, be more salty. Get angry even! When you’ve been knocked out of the ranbats 3 weeks in a row by the same guy, go home and sulk. Think about what you did, and vow to return to take the throne from him! When someone tells you to stop playing like a scrub don’t just laugh it off. When Auckland tells your city that you’re all free, and that you don’t have a hope of beating any of us, then take it to god damn heart and do something about it!

"Cheers Fluxcore for editing my terrible grammar and the guys on IRC for your input"

[Rorooze]

I'm pretty guilty of almost everything noted in the post above. I guess mainly because I'm not fussed about losing because I don't play the game enough to be competitive, so I just play for fun. Otherwise I'd probably have quit playing ages ago :p With uni almost finished this should change and hopefully I can start looking to be more competitive.

Regarding the scene/players becoming stagnant, I think it's a half-truth. There are definitely some people leveling up seriously (karizzma and rumble come to mind), though it's hard to gauge their skill when kevin/simon/andy/hue who are some of the top players don't come to ranbats.

The other thing I think holds everyone back is online play, no one can take it seriously with the lag and XBL/PSN scrubs, mashed DP's and ultras. It's hard to improve fundamentals when playing online encourages poor play to win.

Based on my fairly short time around here, I think the best levelling up was when there was going to be a bar fights event, with west vs south vs central auckland + other parts of NZ. Heaps of offline training sessions. The bar fights meant you had to earn a spot to get on a team, you couldn't buy your way into the comp. It also meant all the top players couldn't make top teams, they were split up, so their whole team had to level up together to stand a chance.

Who's training hard for Christmas Damager?

Suprised this topic has 90+ views, 0 comments :p

[CaptainHook]

Suprised this topic has 90+ views, 0 comments :p

I was gonna post "Yeah, good shit Lenny, keep it up" but i decided i would rather keep this thread clean.. oops.

[zos'la]

@Lenny,
Great article, good read, its what I've had in mind since I first joined back in later 2008. Youhit it spot on, Attitude towards teh game.
Good shit, ~~~!!!

@Rorooze
Lets put it this way, I don't know about the others, but me, Kevin, Simon and Hue and Cody have all been busy with Work and Uni as its getting near teh end of the year, things are getting pushed to finish on time, projects and exams etc etc. How much practice you say we do? ZEROLOL. Apart from all that, we also have family and partners to worry about, I am sure you guys are the same but personally I don't really have the time to put any practice in, thats why I go to Yifans at lunch time when I can and try to atleast make sure I remember how  to play HAHAHA.

@Mobious,
I don't know why you say Tournaments kills the fun? its the best way to see where you are at compared to everyone, and give you some motivation to improve. But of course that is if you're taking it seriously, if its casuals for fun then entering a tournament is for the laugh and having fun with the community? I don't see why it KILLS the fun...? I guess it might just be a personal thing?

[[NIUE] weazzyefff]

Hard i was gonna comment before but i got high.

That is bang on, nail on the head sorta shit there bra. I've always thought that, wondered why people don't wana beast at a game they love, and regularly play. I know people that were on the same level as me when i first started and then drifted off as i got better.

Me, Fong, Jack and Skullator. I think wer'e the most improved from last year. I don't know about them but i had that exact attitude that lenny's talking about.

Other people i wish had that attitude are most of the peeps on PSN who don't really get better.

But tbh Len. I think those people don't care. So they never gonna have that attitude. they like where they are at. Better than average. I would like some more input from them.

[geneterror]

That is bang on, nail on the head sorta shit there bra. I've always thought that, wondered why people don't wana beast at a game they love, and regularly play. I know people that were on the same level as me when i first started and then drifted off as i got better.

That would be me haha. The simple fact is time or lack of. My competitive peak for Street Fighter was CvS2 but I was about 24 and had no girlfriend at the time, was studying (across the road from Yifans) so I had a lot of spare time and I had a flatmate that played as well so we played for about 3 hours a night!
Fast forward to 2010, I'm 35 I have a fiance soon to be wife and a wedding to organise, a full time job, bills to pay and design work I do at home amongst other things. I now probably play less in a week now than I used to in one day and most of that is pretty crappy online which I think actually makes me worse. I just don't have the time to invest anymore.
Andy can talk about how they don't practice anymore but I guarentee the 1/2 hr lunchbreak offline at Yifans against actual people is way more practice than I get in a week at the moment.
Should I stop playing Street Fighter, am I dragging down those that want to get better by going along to play for fun? I still love fighting games and it's still fun to play. I'm just never going to be at that competitive level again like I was 10 years ago.

[CaptainHook]

I think the focus of this particular community is for everyone to get better and play competitively WHILE having fun.
But it was obvious to me on my first visit that people take it seriously, which is why i joined up here.

[[NIUE] weazzyefff]

I think the focus of this particular community is for everyone to get better and play competitively WHILE having fun.
But it was obvious to me on my first visit that people take it seriously, which is why i joined up here.

Yer maybe we take it too serious sometimes.

More fun when you no more too imo. Or you might as well go a completely random char and buttonmash.

edit: I still come to ranbats and shit drunk lol. I only ben to 2 events not. The last 3v3 and the Nats. Hows that for playing for fun lol.

[zos'la]

I totally agree with Graeme, you can chose to play at whatever level that suits you, my opinion with attitdue is that even tho I am busy with this and that, I still have it in mind everytime I play. I might be improving slower, but its better than not...

As for Mobious, I was meaning towards you, not everyone. But as stated I said at teh very end, it might just because how you think and take it (attitude towards this whole thing) but that doesn't mean you're wrong, its jsut we all have our own perspective for this.
But for those who are wanting to imrpove, attidue is a key factor.

[HoneyBadger]

Already, I think this has gone off topic. This thread isn't about how much time you put in the game, whether you're having fun or whether you're playing Street Fighter properly, it's about the general mindset the community approaches this game as a whole. Do you go 2 and 0 at ranbats and just go "LOL I DON'T EVEN PLAY THIS GAME ANYMORE"? Do you lose to someone and go "Man the only reason why I lost is cause he is a scrub". Most people here so far are just reinforcing what this article is stating our community lacks: A competitive mindset. The fact that most of you guys are using time or fun as an excuse just shows how much this mindset really needs to change.

How many of you walk away after your matches at ranbats, nats or whatever and just put your loss down to "Oh this guy is just better than me" or "This cunt plays heaps more than me"? You don't need to have 20 hours a week of time to put into Street Fighter to even realise something really general like "Oh man the way I apply pressure on their wakeup is really weak" or "I love going for the overhead way too much". Even you guys who don't play much, even if you got smashed, get salty, get angry. If someone tells you you were handling that matchup the wrong way, take that nigga to our best of 3 salty suite setup and prove you can smash him or at least try to take the matchup differently.

I think at the same time this puts a lot of responsibility on our better players to be more open with their opinions. If you can see an obvious aspect where someone is lacking, point that shit out. A lot of us tend to go on autopilot for some matches and bad habits and shit can really become apparent. The community has put a lot of these tools in place and we're really lucky imo. I think a lot of us just need to start taking better advantage of them.

[CaptainHook]

This thread isn't about how much time you put in the game, whether you're having fun or whether you're playing Street Fighter properly, it's about the general mindset the community approaches this game as a whole.

I agree with what you're saying in your post in general, but the general mindset to the game actually does reflect if people
are just trying to have fun, or if they don't have the time they would like to put in.

You just gotta accept that some people won't fit into what you may want the community to be.

Also, it would be interesting to get a vote on how many people actually WANT the community proposed here, versus people
who just like the actual "community" aspect of it in itself.

I'm here to get as good as i can personally, but i can totally understand others who don't have that goal. And if it isn't,
is there anything wrong with them going to ranbats and going "LOL"? Should they be excluded because they're not
competitive in mindset how you'd like?

I'm a general believer in the "lead by example" ethos. So i think it will start there.

I personally would like training sessions every week/fortnight and maybe a ranbats once a month so there's actually an active
attempt of improvement for people being there. Rather than just trying to win their match. Everyone will have their own
opinion on how to best press forward, but i think whatever it is should just be DONE, rather than talked about forever.

[geneterror]

Fair enough Smoof, I was really just responding to weazzy.

OK lately I have been wanting to improve again, fighting games have kind of been on the backburner for me recently. SCR actually got me quite psyched, more than I have been in a while.

I'm gonna throw something in the mix here for Auckland and see what kind of result I get:
Some (I think a few of us) in Auckland are a bit older and have some more responisbilities (including kids for some of us, not me) so I think it's just a matter of juggling things. It kills me when I see people going "I'm about to go down to Yifans who's gonna meet me" because I would love to but just can't drop things or rearrange them that quickly.
Fortnightly Ranbats just isn't enough. I go there I get a few games, maybe a few casuals, I learn a few things but then the next Ranbats is two weeks away and anything I learnt isn't being put into practice enough and it's gone by the next Ranbats. I think "consistent" and "good" practice is important. By good I mean offline, in a situation to discuss stuff and not against scrubs haha.
Can we Aucklanders get something like CHCHs mashups going once a week for a few solid hours? It's the consistency of a timeslot that matters for me and I'm sure a few others. Could we do every Weds at Giga from 6-9pm (just an example) or something? Something like that I can make I just can't make things on short notice. It would help people like me immensely. We could start a thread in the Auckland section and keep it updated. That way if none of us could make it we could all post a few days early and cancel it so nobody shows up on a day nobodys there.

Anyway just chucking it out there. I'm prepared to commit the time and I want to get better, my fundamentals are OK I mean c'mon I've been playing SF in various forms since II but I need matchup practice. I just need help/time from people doing it.

[CaptainHook]

Can we Aucklanders get something like CHCHs mashups going once a week for a few solid hours?

That's basically what i said in the post above yours, so i'm keen.
I'd even like for it to be called "training sessions" so there's actually a focus on learning, rather than winning games.

[geneterror]

That's basically what i said in the post above yours, so i'm keen.
I'd even like for it to be called "training sessions" so there's actually a focus on learning, rather than winning games.

Yeah I saw your post right after I posted, I must having been typing it all up while you were posting. Great minds think alike

[HoneyBadger]

Keen for weekly meetups. That post wasn't really directed at you Graeme lol. I was just trying to point out that the point of this article wasn't so much about everyones' skill levels rather than the desire to get better and learn shit. Which is obviously lacking in our community