Being a member of the Fighting Game Community for only about 9 months, here's some advice that you don't
have to follow, but that you should take to heart.
1. Be patient (mainly in the learning process)
2. Force yourself to read up on a character, matchup, or tech you want to use, and if you don't understand it, keep reading it until you do. Don't ask someone to say it in a different way because chances are, someone already did. Do your best to understand the content of notation guides, combo guides, tech, etc. It'll be like a foreign language at first, but trust me, if you just keep reading it and trying it out in the game, you'll begin to understand things.
3. Force yourself to learn your stuff. If you're trying out a combo and can't get it, devote at least 30 minutes to trying it until you decide to take a break. Learning combos for the first time in any game is hard as hell for a first timer, but once you can do them, you're good. Also, as a side note, don't let not knowing combos discourage you from playing people and playing online. It can still be fun playing without them if you don't know them, just don't be too upset when you lose
.
4. Don't make excuses and don't blame anyone or anything. Even if you think you could beat a player that you keep losing to, don't make that think your character is garbage, you're garbage, or that they're cheap. Just do your best to move past the salt and keep playing. Try looking at losing with a more positive attitude. At this point, you should be happy that people are willing to play you even if you lose all the time. Be happy if you learn something because that should be your goal as a newcomer. Don't aim to win, aim to improve.
5. Don't be afraid to ask questions, especially in this community. I know I said don't ask someone to say something differently if you can't understand what they said, but that was more in the context of within a guide that someone may have written. For example, you might not know what a 50/50 is, and if you're trying to read a guide about a character's 50/50, there are other places to go to learn terminology like that. Aside from that, don't be afraid to ask questions. The TYM community, despite having its issues, is probably the most helpful online community for any game/competitive activity out there. We're eager to help.
6. Don't take anything too seriously. Whether it's a loss or a statement from a top player. Take it to heart, keep it in the back of your mind, consider it with what you know, but don't take anything anyone says here (aside from site rules) as true fact or law.
Some other advice I should give you is please don't make downplaying threads. I've made that mistake when I was new where I would make desperate threads saying that I was stuck and couldn't get any better no matter what. This is where you should enforce rule #1 and be patient about it. The advice you will get on these threads are the same advice anyone can give you about the game and is posted in thousands of different threads on this forum. Don't make threads about how your character sucked, don't make threads about how you suck, and please for god's sake, don't make threads that revolve around complaints. These are all mistakes I've made and regret, and these kinds of threads are everywhere and looked down upon by everyone.
Aside from that, we occasionally get drama here on TYM, but don't worry about that too much. Just try to stick close to threads about tech and guides rather than dramatic threads about how a character is OP, how a player is a scumbag, or any of that other nonsense. Don't take tier lists too seriously, especially this early in the game. In fact, don't take any list you see too seriously here.
Well, that's about all I have to say. I wish you luck on your journey from being a nobody to becoming a good sport and fighting game player. It's a rewarding process and you'll learn so much along the way.
