Kombat Tomb Podcast - Ep. 42 with AK Smarrgasm

[usbigboy]

Yea!!!!! I got mentioned in a pod cast

 

[legion666]

Really good episode.
@GGA Slips
I think the whole "some people are just good" thing isn't really true. How long have you been playing fighting games? It seems to me that you have just put in a shit ton of time and have become good because of that. Have you ever REALLY cared about being good or traveling for FPS games? You probably just enjoy fighting games more and are willing to put in more time. A perfect example of this is Glass Sword, who will admit that he was trash in MK. But after putting in a ton of time and becoming comfortable in tournaments he is now a competent fighting game player that is a threat to make top 8. There might be some truth to "some people are just better" but I think that everyone can improve and become top if they care enough.

I think Cowboy is the prime example of how people become top from average

 

[Hades]

Im not completely buying into this whole specific skill set stuff. There was a guy at my school who was a genius academically, like one of if not the top smartest guys in my year. He was also really good at soccer and represented our countries under 18 team. on top of that he was the best guy id ever played with in cod or gears of war. I mean in cod he had between a 2 and 3 kdr in every cod and in gears of war his kdr was above 2 in every gears of war game. He also had amazing aim and reaction times that lead him to some sick snipes and amazing search and destroy clutch finishes. Honestly i think some people just naturally pick things up faster than others i mean this guy was the kind of guy who after you spent weeks trying to get s high score hed beat it in a few hours . Also isnt check4900 an example of this as well? Im not 100% sure how good of a mortal kombat player he was (he did have some sick combos) but also he was top of the world for a lot of leaderboards in both batman arkham asylum and arkham city. Just my view on this skill cap talk.

 

[coolwhip]

That is without a doubt the worst thing you could say to defend them. Every time people say this I laugh out loud and shake my head. You are in fact making them look WORSE. When someone says, I have been doing this for years, you expect them to run a tight ship. What you don't expect, is for them to give shitty excuses of "you don't understand", "you're looking at it out of context."

The failings of the "leadership" of this community is astounding at times. Never have any of you tried to start up tournaments that focus on the game you love. Nope. Just gotta follow the TOs that started with Capcom games cuz we just don't get it. We have to follow their lead. You have to PAY THE SAME PRICE as the capcom players even though you are getting HALF the service. Is this the TO's fault? Hell no. They are like shit, if people want to pay us to play their game to the side, why not?

The Smash community was shit on for YEARS. They didn't even have a scene at these tournaments. Yet somehow they have grown off a 13 year old game and actually made TO's offer prime finals times, meanwhile this community has to just sit there and follow the old FGC guard. Can't do your own thing at all, nope gotta follow the guy's who "have done things for the community in the past"

And if you complain about something, well oh boy. You are a liar, you don't understand shit (as though it's some complicated rocket science affair), and my personal favorite, durrr why don't you tell us this to our face? oh cuz you say one thing, and then the opposite happens.

Oh and newsflash, being apart of the FGC does not mean you are all bound to eachother permanently. There is no reason why every tourney has to have 10 games. You can have less then 100 players and still put on a good show with good talent that people will watch. But i guess i just dont get how complicated it is to get a bunch of people together to play a game

Hey man, regulating KTP threads is my gimmick!

 

[coolwhip]

Regarding the "some people are just good debate," (which I'm only reading about in this thread as I didn't get to that part on the podcast yet) 3 words: Christopher Fucking Gonzalez. If he doesn't have talent more than most mere mortals, I don't know who does.

 

[cR WoundCowboy]

Regarding the "some people are just good debate," (which I'm only reading about in this thread as I didn't get to that part on the podcast yet) 3 words: Christopher Fucking Gonzalez. If he doesn't have talent more than most mere mortals, I don't know who does.

Yes, and Chris literally does nothing except play fighting games. It takes time to become good at anything: motivation is really important.

 

[haketh]

Chris was also getting his ass beat for a long time before he got really really good.

 

[Digit]

Just checked out the vid. To clear up who took me out in top 32, it was Deg's Zatanna, who did hella good! Sucks he barely lost to REO in the last match of the night to get to top 8 D:

And I believe anyone in this game can be a threat as long as the player is dedicated. Anything can happen and you can't underestimate anybody in this game imo.

Good episode btw and thanks for the mention! =]

 

[coolwhip]

Holy shit, that Slips transvestite question followed by the shifting orgasm sound effects. God damn.

Question to @K7L33THA: These Slips questions always seem out of place and random (which is why they're awesome). Is there an edit in there or does Slips just transition from Smarr talking about the BA of America to a question about transvestite orgasm?

 

[EGP Wonder_Chef]

Shoutouts to @GGA pimpimjim for making the name "hashi-meta" which @AK Smarrgasm mentioned several times.

Hashi-meta's Tech Shop now open for business! Now selling fan favorites such as "Safe Jump Option Selects" and "8 Side Switch Combos"!



And yeah I cried when I made top 8 too. Shit is intense as fuck.

We still get to make fun of you for losing to Soonk though.

 

[fr stack]

shout outs to crack cocaine

 

[coolwhip]

@GGA Slips Dolphins do not destroy sharks. They're actually some of the great white shark's natural prey. Most large sized sharks (Tiger sharks, Great Whites) hunt dolphins. However, dolphins are known to protect humans from sharks in packs. As in a pack of dolphin will form a barrier between the shark and the human and even attack the shark to push it away.

 

[K7L33THA]

Holy shit, that Slips transvestite question followed by the shifting orgasm sound effects. God damn.

Question to @K7L33THA: These Slips questions always seem out of place and random (which is why they're awesome). Is there an edit in there or does Slips just transition from Smarr talking about the BA of America to a question about transvestite orgasm?

Thats no editing.

 

[StevoSuprem0]

Thats no editing.

That makes it soooo much better hahahaha

 

[BehindTheLight]

Yes, and Chris literally does nothing except play fighting games. It takes time to become good at anything: motivation is really important.

^^this

Chris G is godlike, no doubt, but like Wound said, he plays FG's more than anyone. That is what he does, he better be great.

 

[Slips]

Really good episode.
@GGA Slips
I think the whole "some people are just good" thing isn't really true. How long have you been playing fighting games? It seems to me that you have just put in a shit ton of time and have become good because of that. Have you ever REALLY cared about being good or traveling for FPS games? You probably just enjoy fighting games more and are willing to put in more time. A perfect example of this is Glass Sword, who will admit that he was trash in MK. But after putting in a ton of time and becoming comfortable in tournaments he is now a competent fighting game player that is a threat to make top 8. There might be some truth to "some people are just better" but I think that everyone can improve and become top if they care enough.

I stopped playing fighting games for a year and played nothing but Call of Duty. Although I'm certainly better at it, I don't consider my skill at the game to be very special or above anyone else's. My aim is whatever, my movement is average, ect. I love playing it and it's super fun. I wish I could get better. But there are roadblocks I haven't been able to get passed and I don't know if it's a knowledge barrier, mental barrier or skill barrier. Whatever it is, it's certainly not instinctual to be good at like fighting games were for me.

Like I said in the show, it took about a year to get pretty good at Tekken. That didn't happen in FPS's.

I know super passionate players back in Saint Louis that love Tekken. When I took a year off from playing, I thought they might quit knowing I wasn't there to help represent them. But they didn't. Even after I've moved to Chicago they play relentlessly and try to get better...

It's been 6 years and a lot of them aren't any better from the Tekken 5 days. And it's not from lack of trying. For some reason there are road blocks they can't get passed. Much like me in FPS's.

Glass Sword I believe is an example of just being better at a certain type of fighting game. MK9 wasn't his thing, but he gets Injustice...or gets Raven at the very least. Each fighting game caters to some different skills. But that's a different debate.

 

[CrimsonShadow]

Glass Sword I believe is an example of just being better at a certain type of fighting game. MK9 wasn't his thing, but he gets Injustice...or gets Raven at the very least. Each fighting game caters to some different skills. But that's a different debate.

To be fair, playing Glass at the very end of MK9, his Smoke was starting to get better. If we were still playing MK9 heavily at this point instead of IGAU, I have no doubt that the 'click' would have happened for him around the same time anyway.

Also he is a completely different player in IGAU now than he was when I played him earlier on. It's like night and day.

So I'm thinking this was just the culmination of him taking fighting games more seriously, practicing a lot more, learning from a lot of people and training actively every week.

 

[Slips]

I think Cowboy is the prime example of how people become top from average

It took Wound about a year to become the great player he is now much like myself in my early years. He was always decent even from the get go, but some players stay just being 'decent'. That's the issue.

 

[nuttyAFA]

Hey man, regulating KTP threads is my gimmick!

my bad lol

 

[Slips]

To be fair, playing Glass at the very end of MK9, his Smoke was starting to get better. If we were still playing MK9 heavily at this point instead of IGAU, I have no doubt that the 'click' would have happened for him around the same time anyway.

Also he is a completely different player in IGAU now than he was when I played him earlier on. It's like night and day.

So I'm thinking this was just the culmination of him taking fighting games more seriously, practicing a lot more, learning from a lot of people and training actively every week.

Again, so about a year and Glass Sword has overcome a lot of the barriers that some players haven't. Good for him. There are plenty of feel good stories out there. But I'm talking about the players that have remained stagnant for more than a year. For some people, it might not ever 'click'.

 

[CrimsonShadow]

Btw as far as shooters, I used to play Counter-Strike seriously, and the 'click' for me happened about 2 years in. I was always a decent player, but at one point a disagreement with clan leadership led a friend and I to leave the clan. At that point, I wanted nothing better than to become amazing and show up and bop all of my former teammates in their public server. So I started taking it seriously, playing every day, finding the best possible servers to play in with stacked comp, playing 1v1s -- and even took a couple lessons at some point.

The weird thing was, it wasn't like a linear transition.. It's not like I just kept getting better every day. I improved a tiny bit at a time.. And then for some reason one week it was just like "BAM" and things clicked. I was doing things with ease that I'd struggled with before.

I was now starting to beat the friend who I previously always lost to, and I ended up getting banned from my previous team's server because they figured I was so good all of a sudden that I had to be cheating. It was an extremely weird feeling.. And it was the beginning of becoming a competitive player. I still can't explain it.

 

[TotteryManx]

Fighting games do not come easy to me. I believe I'm better than the average casual player, but I can only get to a certain point as a player. For example, I am not godlike in SF, but I GET Blanka...I understand his tools and what they are there for, so I'm solid with that character, but if I put in a ton of time into Ryu(the most common character) I just fail. It doesn't "click" with me. We all have limits imo.

 

[Dizzy]

I agree with Slips point. I think anyone can improve in pretty much any skill-based activity in life by practicing and devoting time to it, but every person has a ceiling they can reach. Some people are very talented at many things, some very few things.

As far as fighting games, I think really good fighting games give lots of avenues for people with different skill sets to excel at. Some people arent that smart, but have good reaction time and spacial acuity and can succeed. Other people have a strategy/game lan or play more into the mind games to frustrate or overwhelm their opponent. I think it's an interesting topic as it seems players skills in different areas can vary wildly between top players.

Im generally good at most games I put time into. I used to play WoW arena like crazy before FGs and was really good at it. Our 3v3 team often did well against the pro teams. Im not particularly good at games when I first start them though. Some people have that instict in all games that gives them an immediate edge, it always takes me time to get really good.

 

[CrimsonShadow]

I agree with Slips point. I think anyone can improve in pretty much any skill-based activity in life by practicing and devoting time to it, but every person has a ceiling they can reach. Some people are very talented at many things, some very few things.

The interesting thing is that most people will never naturally hit their ceiling. It's the reason why most people who want to learn piano take piano lessons, and why Olympic athletes have trainers from a young age. If you left everyone to their own devices and just put them in front of a piano, they'd only become so good by trial and error (except for a select few who are legitimate prodigies)

However if you place people in conditions where their every move and motion can be analyzed by someone who is adept at navigating the road to greatness, they end up becoming far better than they would think possible.

With trial and error you either get lucky or you don't. If you don't, you never figure out the things that are holding you back. And most people assume that's due to their ceiling.

If someone would start a "school" for fighting gamers and break things down in a certain way, use specific exercises to correct common faults etc., most students with sufficient motivation would become loads better than the average player. It's the mentality behind martial arts and it applies to other areas as well.

 

[nuttyAFA]

What are your suggestions?

I think KN has 2 options here:

Option 1) Start being more up front with TO's about what the community expects and how you want things to run. I'm not talking about insisting they do 3/5 matches, or follow a very specific seeding procedure. That stuff is up to our community to come together about and try to sell to tournaments that it is best for our scene and in turn their event. I mean being given proper setups, proper room size, proper internet accommodations, fair finals times, not changing key things the weekend of the event, etc. If the TO can not or chooses not to do these things (which is their right and not some evil thing), then simply decline to be apart of the event. This is not asking you to bash TOs, this is NOT boycotting. Boycotting is everyone getting together and saying this place is bad and we want everyone to know. This is simply about FUN. Players, volunteers, streamers, should not attend if the situation is not gonna be fun for everyone given the price they are paying.

Option 2) Continue to go along with the same "majors" with the same issues, but at least make EVERYTHING abundantly clear WEEKS in advance. If the seeding is gonna be completely randomized or changed last minute, fine make sure everyone knows BEFORE they put money down. Are there gonna be limited setups, fine, make sure everyone is aware of that BEFORE they put money down. We just want to know what we are buying instead of going in with a hope and a prayer.

I think you and your crew are getting shit on by TO's really badly, even if they don't realize they are. You need more control, and to make it clear that them changing shit on you last minute is UNACCEPTABLE. It doesn't matter if they pay you to come do the stream and run the bracket, that does not give them the right to just throw you to the wolves. You are paid to perform a service, and if they are not giving you the ability to perform that service at your best that is on THEM. The Final Round pool merging disaster? The players shouldn't be throwing the biggest fit about it. YOU should. That is the leadership we want. I realize that you don't want to ruffle feathers of the people that have been apart of the FGC for so long, but enough is enough. The players will flock to someone else eventually

We ALL need to start coming up with our own show for once. Does this mean run away from traditional tournaments and never return? Hell no. But where are the options? Where is the vision? Where is the attempt to do something MORE then let's throw 15 fighting games together and hope it works? I don't want to see the old guard go away, but i dont want to see the new blood chained down to the same shit forever either