This "waste of time" mindset is pretty interesting. I'm not quite sure I get it. Obviously, yes, it's best to be using the toolset you'll be using competitively. But playing a character with any variation is still experience with that character, the changes are not so radical that the experience you gain is completely worthless. You may as well say that every minute people spent in the beta and stress test was "wasted" because the characters have gone through various balancing changes since that iteration, and we certainly didn't have access to the "final" variations.
"You spent 60 hours playing Jade during the beta? Heh, too bad... you're now completely equal to my hour 1 Jade because you didn't have the Official Jade... nice job, dumbass. They call it beta because only betas would waste their time with that bullcrap." - ALPHAgamer420
ALPHAgamer420 proceeds to get run over by SoulGlow69. But this cannot be! For in the beta, SoulGlow69 had spent all that time using a longer sweep! Their Nitro Kick didn't side switch on amplify! They didn't have the sweet, sweet midscreen damage that she has now! The very foundation of their gameplay should be crumbling, how are they whiff punishing with B2 so well?! How do they have such good defense???! It is simply incomprehensible how they are good at the game.
Obviously, I'm not saying you need to spend any time with kustoms. There is no intrinsic core benefit to doing so.
But looking down on players who spend any time on them as simple casuals who will not be learning the video game is pretty questionable! Variations matter, but they're not so significant that general fundamentals and a baseline understanding of your character are not the most important things. Once you have a handle on the game and character, changing up the special moves is not going to completely hamstring your gameplay.
Of course, in general, the notion that your time spent playing a game is bound to bear proportional fruit is a common fighting game fallacy. Players learn at different rates, and some players simply never learn. This won't change regardless of what mode you play. Mans could play 900 ranked matches and never figure out why he's losing. Mans could also have played 900 casual matches and never figure out why he's losing, either. He spent 10 hours in training mode grinding combos, what's the deal! Some other mans? 2 hours in training mode and 100 matches in whatever online mode he wanted and he's leveled up a ton, because he's paying attention to what's really happening on the screen and used all his time in the lab learning simple stuff like common punishes and pressure using largely universal character tools.
Sorry for the tangent, but at the end of the day, whoever is better at the simple act of learning is gonna be the one making good use of their time. Variations are pretty minor in comparison IMO. Unfortunately, I'm pretty terrible at learning.
Thanks for reading this entirely overdramatic essay! Have a nice day.
