Who hasn't heard this line before? I used to hear it a lot from my brother when we were kids, but now I hear or read it a lot more than I ever did when I was younger. And it's extremely prevalent in Injustice to get this kind of message after a win.
I'm not here to complain about the complaining, I'm more making this thread to try and be informative. I've made general gameplay and mentality topics before, and I feel compelled to make one again. I'm not the greatest player in the world, but I do share a certain mindset with the best players, and that's the mindset of playing to win.
There has been a lot of new players to Injustice and a lot of new members here on TYM specifically for Injustice and DC lore. It's completely understandable that most of these players are either brand new to fighters, or only play fighting games casually. That's fine and that doesn't make you some kind of bad person. But whether you're a casual, competitive, tournament, or any other type of player, I really must insist you read David Sirlin's book/article on playing to win. It isn't a short read, but it isn't long either, at least not for a book. Some things in the book may seem foreign to players new to fighters, but you don't need to know specifics or have much in depth knowledge to understand the message. The best part is that it's free and you can read it entirely online. Link to Sirlin's playing to win online book: http://www.sirlin.net/ptw
Now, on to the discussion at hand. Zoning is very effective in Injustice. The term "Zoning" in fighters refers to keeping your opponent at a distance with whatever moves your character has that can accomplish this. So you're keeping them in that certain 'zone' while dealing damage and trying to keep them there without letting them advance out of the zone. For any type of player, it's annoying to deal with. Even tournament players have a tough time getting around zoning, but there's a key difference in the actual mindset of the players that allows the tournament player to overcome this tactic. And to be clear, not all casual players are scrubs, so I'll go ahead and start using the term "scrub" instead of "casual". Scrubs will get frustrated with the zoning and label it "spam" and really let it effect their emotions and overall gameplay. They will call YOU a scrub for "spamming" and usually not even attempt to be patient and try and beat the zoner. No one is saying it's easy to beat zoning, against the best zoners, it's honestly not easy. But scrubs don't want to have to work for their win, even the idea that they would have to put in more effort than their opponent is sickening to them. They would rather the match be played up close, while each player takes turns doing combos or even simply just mashing special moves. Yeah, sounds like a lot of fun... right!?
It's not only zoning that the scrubs cry about using the same move over and over, it's nearly any move you use in succession. For instance, Superman's f23. Granted, this move is very very good and safe when canceled into Super Breath, but that's besides the point. Scrubs simply just want combos and different specials and supers to be done. They don't want to out think or out play their opponent, or apply strategy or even think for that matter. They'd much rather just label you or what you're doing cheap, and quit or refuse to ever play you again. Not realizing that the only way to improve, is by losing.
I made an article awhile back on how losing helps you improve, much more than winning will. Check it out, I did modify it slightly for Injustice, just by adding the word "Injustice" a few times, lol. Link here: http://www.testyourmight.com/threads/tips-on-becoming-a-better-player-part-1-how-losing-helps-you-get-better.3674/
I realize I sound a little condescending towards the scrubs, but I am a competitive player with a playing to win mentality. And this is a competitive site, built by competitive players, geared towards competitive players, and influenced by competition. It really irks me when I see the horrible mentality some of you guys have. But as I said, it's understandable. I too was once a scrub, and I changed, as you too will change. If you don't want to improve and not only become a better fighting game player and better gamer overall, but actually learn that this type of mentality that we advocate can actually carry over to the real world... if you don't want that, fine. I would say then, maybe TYM isn't the place for you. I'm not saying we're some kind of elitist cult and if you don't think like we do you should leave, not at all. What I am saying is that that is the type of atmosphere and discussions that takes place here. We want to level up as much and as quickly as we can, and you can't do that when you're just complaining about everything all the time. And it's not about "oh if you can't have these discussions then leave", it's more of "hey, this is the type of site and players we are, you don't HAVE to stay here if this isn't the site for you or you're unhappy here". This is kind of getting slightly off-topic, but I don't want to make it seem like I'm forcing my "ways" down your throat and if you don't accept it then leave. You can be whatever type of person or player you want to be on here, just letting you know, if you want to truly improve, having the right mentality is a must.
I know this has been a lot to read, and I honestly didn't want to make this thread that long, kinda just got away from me. And I certainly didn't say all I wanted to. I may make another "tips on becoming a better player" sometime, I'm just wondering what I should do it on. I was going to choose this topic, but I feel like there's a lot more that needs to take place before that happens. Such as reading this thread, the playing to win book, my other "tips on becoming a better player" threads, and many more things. But, in an effort to shorten this thread, I'll say one final thing.
I will do everything in my power to win. As long as it's tournament legal, I will abuse it until YOU stop me. It's not my responsibility to take it easy on you or to make my play more entertaining, it's my responsibility to win. If I can win by pressing one move over and over, there's absolutely no reason why I wouldn't. You can make the "that's not fun" argument all you want, but fun to me is winning. I'd obviously much rather play someone who gives me a challenge and makes me think at a high level, but in the end, a win is a win. It is YOUR responsibility to learn how to beat my tactics, it's YOUR responsibility to hit the lab and learn how to get around or beat what I'm doing. And labeling it "cheap" or "unfair" will only hurt you, because you're shifting the responsibility so you don't HAVE to deal with it. Take responsibility, hit the lab, and level THE FUCK UP!
I'm not here to complain about the complaining, I'm more making this thread to try and be informative. I've made general gameplay and mentality topics before, and I feel compelled to make one again. I'm not the greatest player in the world, but I do share a certain mindset with the best players, and that's the mindset of playing to win.
There has been a lot of new players to Injustice and a lot of new members here on TYM specifically for Injustice and DC lore. It's completely understandable that most of these players are either brand new to fighters, or only play fighting games casually. That's fine and that doesn't make you some kind of bad person. But whether you're a casual, competitive, tournament, or any other type of player, I really must insist you read David Sirlin's book/article on playing to win. It isn't a short read, but it isn't long either, at least not for a book. Some things in the book may seem foreign to players new to fighters, but you don't need to know specifics or have much in depth knowledge to understand the message. The best part is that it's free and you can read it entirely online. Link to Sirlin's playing to win online book: http://www.sirlin.net/ptw
Now, on to the discussion at hand. Zoning is very effective in Injustice. The term "Zoning" in fighters refers to keeping your opponent at a distance with whatever moves your character has that can accomplish this. So you're keeping them in that certain 'zone' while dealing damage and trying to keep them there without letting them advance out of the zone. For any type of player, it's annoying to deal with. Even tournament players have a tough time getting around zoning, but there's a key difference in the actual mindset of the players that allows the tournament player to overcome this tactic. And to be clear, not all casual players are scrubs, so I'll go ahead and start using the term "scrub" instead of "casual". Scrubs will get frustrated with the zoning and label it "spam" and really let it effect their emotions and overall gameplay. They will call YOU a scrub for "spamming" and usually not even attempt to be patient and try and beat the zoner. No one is saying it's easy to beat zoning, against the best zoners, it's honestly not easy. But scrubs don't want to have to work for their win, even the idea that they would have to put in more effort than their opponent is sickening to them. They would rather the match be played up close, while each player takes turns doing combos or even simply just mashing special moves. Yeah, sounds like a lot of fun... right!?
It's not only zoning that the scrubs cry about using the same move over and over, it's nearly any move you use in succession. For instance, Superman's f23. Granted, this move is very very good and safe when canceled into Super Breath, but that's besides the point. Scrubs simply just want combos and different specials and supers to be done. They don't want to out think or out play their opponent, or apply strategy or even think for that matter. They'd much rather just label you or what you're doing cheap, and quit or refuse to ever play you again. Not realizing that the only way to improve, is by losing.
I made an article awhile back on how losing helps you improve, much more than winning will. Check it out, I did modify it slightly for Injustice, just by adding the word "Injustice" a few times, lol. Link here: http://www.testyourmight.com/threads/tips-on-becoming-a-better-player-part-1-how-losing-helps-you-get-better.3674/
I realize I sound a little condescending towards the scrubs, but I am a competitive player with a playing to win mentality. And this is a competitive site, built by competitive players, geared towards competitive players, and influenced by competition. It really irks me when I see the horrible mentality some of you guys have. But as I said, it's understandable. I too was once a scrub, and I changed, as you too will change. If you don't want to improve and not only become a better fighting game player and better gamer overall, but actually learn that this type of mentality that we advocate can actually carry over to the real world... if you don't want that, fine. I would say then, maybe TYM isn't the place for you. I'm not saying we're some kind of elitist cult and if you don't think like we do you should leave, not at all. What I am saying is that that is the type of atmosphere and discussions that takes place here. We want to level up as much and as quickly as we can, and you can't do that when you're just complaining about everything all the time. And it's not about "oh if you can't have these discussions then leave", it's more of "hey, this is the type of site and players we are, you don't HAVE to stay here if this isn't the site for you or you're unhappy here". This is kind of getting slightly off-topic, but I don't want to make it seem like I'm forcing my "ways" down your throat and if you don't accept it then leave. You can be whatever type of person or player you want to be on here, just letting you know, if you want to truly improve, having the right mentality is a must.
I know this has been a lot to read, and I honestly didn't want to make this thread that long, kinda just got away from me. And I certainly didn't say all I wanted to. I may make another "tips on becoming a better player" sometime, I'm just wondering what I should do it on. I was going to choose this topic, but I feel like there's a lot more that needs to take place before that happens. Such as reading this thread, the playing to win book, my other "tips on becoming a better player" threads, and many more things. But, in an effort to shorten this thread, I'll say one final thing.
I will do everything in my power to win. As long as it's tournament legal, I will abuse it until YOU stop me. It's not my responsibility to take it easy on you or to make my play more entertaining, it's my responsibility to win. If I can win by pressing one move over and over, there's absolutely no reason why I wouldn't. You can make the "that's not fun" argument all you want, but fun to me is winning. I'd obviously much rather play someone who gives me a challenge and makes me think at a high level, but in the end, a win is a win. It is YOUR responsibility to learn how to beat my tactics, it's YOUR responsibility to hit the lab and learn how to get around or beat what I'm doing. And labeling it "cheap" or "unfair" will only hurt you, because you're shifting the responsibility so you don't HAVE to deal with it. Take responsibility, hit the lab, and level THE FUCK UP!
