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Do you have to play a character to understand them?

REO

REO

Undead
I was thinking of creating and posting some of the various character guides I have planned for Injustice. But I don't want to be attacked by the mass who say "YOU DON'T EVEN USE THAT CHARACTER, WHO CARES WHAT YOU THINK". So I ask you guys, is it possible for someone to understand how a character works without playing them? And by "playing" them I'm not just talking about fiddling with them in practice mode here and there. I assume "using / playing" them would refer to actually grinding the characters out and using them in tournament.

I guess an easier exmaple for some to understand would be: Do you think Daigo plays everyone in SF or he just knows the ins and outs of characters simply through knowledge?

Ultimately what I want to know here is if I should continue making guides for characters I don't use or should I just not waste my time.

Oh, and the background to this post for some of who probably think this is so out of the blue is: 1.) I'm getting a new PC this weekend. (yay) 2.) Making guides has always been one of my hobbies to do on the side when I'm bored.

Also anyone who has read any of my guides for past MK games should definitely be familiar with my style. I try to post up info focusing on strategy and am very to the point. Pretty much as brief as I possibly can be.
 
Qwark28

Qwark28

Joker waiting room
Of course you don't have to. If you're good at analysing what a character has and seeing him bein used at a high lvl then you have a pretty good knowledge of a character, assuming you can pick things up fast.
 
RM AtK!

RM AtK!

aka - RM_AtK !
I honestly think you can completely understand a character by grinding that matchup out for a while with a few high lvl (so and so's) but i also think having some practice mode with that character to get some hands on exactly what is goin on also tops off the knowledge. I don't believe you have to absolutely go balls deep and do tournaments to understand a character.
 
fr stack

fr stack

Noob's saibot or noob saibot's?
R.E.O. said:
I was thinking of creating and posting some of the various character guides I have planned for Injustice. But I don't want to be attacked by the mass who say "YOU DON'T EVEN USE THAT CHARACTER, WHO CARES WHAT YOU THINK". So I ask you guys, is it possible for someone to understand how a character works without playing them? And by "playing" them I'm not just talking about fiddling with them in practice mode here and there. I assume "using / playing" them would refer to actually grinding the characters out and using them in tournament.

I guess an easier exmaple for some to understand would be: Do you think Daigo plays everyone in SF or he just knows the ins and outs of characters simply through knowledge?

Ultimately what I want to know here is if I should continue making guides for characters I don't use or should I just not waste my time.

Oh, and the background to this post for some of who probably think this is so out of the blue is: 1.) I'm getting a new PC this weekend. (yay) 2.) Making guides has always been one of my hobbies to do on the side when I'm bored.

Also anyone who has read any of my guides for past MK games should definitely be familiar with my style. I try to post up info focusing on strategy and am very to the point. Pretty much as brief as I possibly can be.
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show me how to use grundy !!!! id love a guide
 
DevilMaySpy

DevilMaySpy

Mama's Little Bumgorf
It's always interesting to see different perspectives on how characters are played. Character mains could see something useful that they've never thought about, ie your meaty heat zap tech.

Things we deem useless now may end up being worthwhile in the future. No one should call you stupid for trying to share information.
 
Vagrant

Vagrant

Champion
No. Not to understand how the character works.

But obviously someone who plays the character will have more knowledge of the "little stuff" like how with deathstroke how it's actually a pain in the ass to do walk back d1 spin because if you try to slide your thumb you'll get low guns. You either have to wait a short second return to neutral and d1 or you have to do the d1 by hitting df1.

If I screw this up and you see me do low guns you would probably think I was trying to catch you walking forward with yolo low guns (which would be a questionable descision) but I actually just screwed up my inputs.

So I think that's part of where "You don't understand, you don't play this character" comes from. you may know everything you need to know about the meta but not the execution aspect so much. How it can be hard to do stuff that usually would seem like the most brainless simple thing. Usually when players say this, they're being defensive about something.
 
Big Pampering

Big Pampering

Master
It depends on how you look at the game and it also depends on the character, some characters are easier to understand with just a few days in the lab(at least the basics of the character). Back in Mk9 there was a balance suggestion thread and people suggested Kung lao's spin to be 8 frames instead of 6, without understanding that it cannot be any slower than 6 frames because he doesnt have a mid. People who didnt play kung lao would just judge the matchup on whether they could punish the teleport or not.
 
Ra Helios

Ra Helios

Omnipotent God-like Selina Kyle Player
Do its I would like to here what you say. Then I will comment. Like other people will. But personally. The only way to get attack is grading the character
 
Big Pampering

Big Pampering

Master
Also you have to understand it is infuriating if you just see people talk out of their ass about your character and try to get him nerfed just because they don't know how to fight your character or play your character, just hearing people say ''why does kung lao have 4 options off of his teleport, that is so broken, they need to nerf it'' makes you want to rage. Just look at what happened to scorpion in injustice.
 
Eric The Scruffy

Eric The Scruffy

Warrior
Nobody should really get held up on whether or not someone "understands" a character enough to write a guide about them IMO. If you don't play a character and grind it out with them you most definitely don't have all the matchup or situational knowledge necessary to "understand" a character at the highest possible level......but frankly that kind of knowledge is almost impossible to communicate in a guide anyway. A guide is just a general overview of a character....not a frame by frame breakdown of a characters idiosyncrasies.

If you play the game at a high enough level to understand matchups and the tools, you can write a character guide and then have a specialist come in to add additional info or clear up misconceptions. I've been hopping to do a video series on this subject and that was my plan at least.
 
ScorpionRules!!!92

ScorpionRules!!!92

I no longer main characters on any fighting games.
If the character is brand new to their respective fighting game series then the way they talk and act as well as their moves and their reason for fighting in the first place could be a great way to both understand and relate to them however if they have been in several games before then general knowledge of both previous games and the character itself are also good ways to relate to a character.
 
Youphemism

Youphemism

Gunslinger since pre patch (sh/out to The Farmer)
ThirdStrikeYun said:
Also you have to understand it is infuriating if you just see people talk out of their ass about your character and try to get him nerfed just because they don't know how to fight your character or play your character, just hearing people say ''why does kung lao have 4 options off of his teleport, that is so broken, they need to nerf it'' makes you want to rage. Just look at what happened to scorpion in injustice.
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Kung Lao is an annoying little bitch, seeing him nerfed would make me tingle in all kinds of places. But I understand that's not going to happen :(

But on-topic...you don't need to understand how to play a character because there is no "HOW TO play a character" since everyone is going to play their character differently. Making a guide to all their universally good tools would be the best idea because it's agreed that it IS the characters best tools, not just what's useful to one person or another.
 
coolwhip

coolwhip

Master
If it's a good guide (and it will be, since it's coming from you), who's going to tell you "oh but you don't understand the character!"?

I know what the background for this post is, but I'm sure you realize the difference between making a useful guide about a character (even if you don't main him) and telling someone who mains that character 24/7 and has spent countless hours in the lab with him, has had the most success with him, and plays against people who know the match up, that said character is "not as bad as you think." Obviously there are exceptions (ie you don't have to main Sinestro to realize that Wound was downplaying the hell out of him post pushblock scare).

Anyway, make the guides, we'd all be grateful.
 
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P

PLAYING TO WIN

Champion
No. I have, arguably, the most experience of anyone in the entire community vs zod bc i have played m2daves offline and online for thousands of games at this point. i understand the character just fine and what he is capable of.

edit
this is also a trait of top players, they sometimes know characters better than their opponent from experience. not saying they could pick up a stick and use them just as well... but they for sure know what the character is capable of.
 
Cabronium

Cabronium

Stream monster: Qperg.
I think you should make the guides! I think everyone has a unique style of playing a character and bringing more info or tips to the table is always helpful!
 
I

its_ezie

Apprentice
R.E.O. said:
I was thinking of creating and posting some of the various character guides I have planned for Injustice. But I don't want to be attacked by the mass who say "YOU DON'T EVEN USE THAT CHARACTER, WHO CARES WHAT YOU THINK". So I ask you guys, is it possible for someone to understand how a character works without playing them? And by "playing" them I'm not just talking about fiddling with them in practice mode here and there. I assume "using / playing" them would refer to actually grinding the characters out and using them in tournament.

I guess an easier exmaple for some to understand would be: Do you think Daigo plays everyone in SF or he just knows the ins and outs of characters simply through knowledge?

Ultimately what I want to know here is if I should continue making guides for characters I don't use or should I just not waste my time.

Oh, and the background to this post for some of who probably think this is so out of the blue is: 1.) I'm getting a new PC this weekend. (yay) 2.) Making guides has always been one of my hobbies to do on the side when I'm bored.

Also anyone who has read any of my guides for past MK games should definitely be familiar with my style. I try to post up info focusing on strategy and am very to the point. Pretty much as brief as I possibly can be.
Click to expand...
say nomore. please post whatever information you have reo. i say as long as it can help this community grow and increase a players game in any way then by all means post away. on top of the fact that your a top player who has earned respect around here im sure many woulnd have much negative things to say.
 
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