NorCalSamurai
Bacon Lettuce Tomato
We've been hearing a lot of talk. Rumors of cash for performance in Street Fighter 5, Harada coming out and saying that Tekken 7 will be easier to pick up and that one of TTT2's failings was it's steep learning curve. And this worries me, because the fix is simpler than these big devs are making it out to be.
Now, I'm all for expanding the demographic.
More players = bigger tournaments = more exposure = bigger pots for top players to take = more hype.
The math is simple. But should the gameplay cater to newbs? Couldn't this theoretically take away from high level play? I for one think that fighting games should have a learning curve. It should take skill to win. The player should be the one to improve. Not the developer improving for them.
So how do you fix this without changing well-loved core gameplay? In my opinion, the answer is better, deeper tutorials.
Go out and ask your average non-fg specific gamer what "minus on block" or "+6 on hit" means. Ask them what an option select or a safe jump is. Go ahead. I'll wait.
You're back. They didn't know what the fuck you were talking about, did they?
Now run them through the tutorials in Skullgirls: Encore or BBCP, and ask them that same question. They might not fully understand frame data, but at the very least they'll understand that some moves, when blocked, have recovery and get punished, and that after you hit someone, sometimes you have the ability to keep attacking.
The current format for tutorials in FG's basically assumes that you have some knowledge of the basics. Frames, spacing, how hitboxes work, etcetera. If you don't know those things, you're gonna have a false sense of knowledge when you finish a game's intro, and then when you go online and get blown up by that dude who knows your frames, you're gonna salt out and go "This is too hard!"
Character specific tutorials should also be standard. They weren't perfectly executed in BBCP, but the idea was solid. Teach the player their characters normals and Drive (read: trait) in a simple format that gives them a good idea of the neutral game and what to do on hit or block. These are very basic tips that give the player a good idea of how to operate their character with minimal hand holding. With character specific lessons and a good basics tutorial, you can teach the player, before they've even played a human opponent or looked on a forum:
These things we take for granted are golden information to that guy who knows how to throw a fireball but not much else. And if we can get those guys to level up, then we get bigger numbers. And bigger numbers is what's going to take the smaller scenes in the FGC from a niche to a fully respected eSport. Which means more pot bonuses, bigger and better majors, and better competition.
Thanks to @ShotgunInsanity for sharing this video. Covers my points with some alternate options as to teaching tools.
Now, I'm all for expanding the demographic.
More players = bigger tournaments = more exposure = bigger pots for top players to take = more hype.
The math is simple. But should the gameplay cater to newbs? Couldn't this theoretically take away from high level play? I for one think that fighting games should have a learning curve. It should take skill to win. The player should be the one to improve. Not the developer improving for them.
So how do you fix this without changing well-loved core gameplay? In my opinion, the answer is better, deeper tutorials.
Go out and ask your average non-fg specific gamer what "minus on block" or "+6 on hit" means. Ask them what an option select or a safe jump is. Go ahead. I'll wait.
You're back. They didn't know what the fuck you were talking about, did they?
Now run them through the tutorials in Skullgirls: Encore or BBCP, and ask them that same question. They might not fully understand frame data, but at the very least they'll understand that some moves, when blocked, have recovery and get punished, and that after you hit someone, sometimes you have the ability to keep attacking.
The current format for tutorials in FG's basically assumes that you have some knowledge of the basics. Frames, spacing, how hitboxes work, etcetera. If you don't know those things, you're gonna have a false sense of knowledge when you finish a game's intro, and then when you go online and get blown up by that dude who knows your frames, you're gonna salt out and go "This is too hard!"
Character specific tutorials should also be standard. They weren't perfectly executed in BBCP, but the idea was solid. Teach the player their characters normals and Drive (read: trait) in a simple format that gives them a good idea of the neutral game and what to do on hit or block. These are very basic tips that give the player a good idea of how to operate their character with minimal hand holding. With character specific lessons and a good basics tutorial, you can teach the player, before they've even played a human opponent or looked on a forum:
- The shit I don't need to list (movement, blocking, etc.)
- The idea of frame advantage and disadvantage (and possibly how to read frame data)
- Their character's important normals and special moves
- Their characters neutral game and safe/unsafe moves
- A couple BNB's
- Spacing
- Mixups
These things we take for granted are golden information to that guy who knows how to throw a fireball but not much else. And if we can get those guys to level up, then we get bigger numbers. And bigger numbers is what's going to take the smaller scenes in the FGC from a niche to a fully respected eSport. Which means more pot bonuses, bigger and better majors, and better competition.
Thanks to @ShotgunInsanity for sharing this video. Covers my points with some alternate options as to teaching tools.
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