Jim
Emperor of the Moon
I want to tell a little about myself and the story from yesterday's Frosty Fostings from my perspective but if you don't care about that skip everything below and just answer these questions:
How strictly do you feel a tournament organizer/bracket runner should enforce the rules? If there is a pause should it be talked out by the players or just given to the non-pauser by default no questions? Should hype matter? After all who would want to see a tournament end in last match of grand finals because of a controller instead of the skill of the players? What about stage select rules, if the other player breaks them do you yell for a TO or just say fuck it and play it out? Looking for everyone's honest opinion's on this.
Now for the back story of this post for those that care to read it. I want to tell a bit about myself so people know where I'm coming from. I'm a local Chicago NRS player that first got involved in the scene at UFGT7. I've always loved fighting games and Mortal Kombat has always been my favorite but I'd never played more than casually. I started watching tournaments for all fighting games in 2009 or so and was super excited to hear MK9 would have tournaments too. I signed up for UFGT7 and couldn't wait for it.
When I got there I quickly found out my first opponent was EMP Perfect Legend who'd just won Power Up 2011. I didn't take a round off him, but still did better than I'd feared. I met GGA MOE30W and GGA Jeremiah and GGA 16 Bit there and quickly became a regular at GGA. I loved MK9 but I'm not a great fighting game player and I didn't have a ton of time to practice besides when I went to GGA once a week or less.
Fast forward to CoCo last year. 16bit GGA HAN GGA soonk are planning on going to CoCo. I decide what the hell I'll go too. Get there to find out my first opponent is Perfect Legend again. I was toying with Kenshi instead of my main, Freddy and he absolutely destroys me free. Though I doubt Freddy would have done much better.
Not too long after this I started working as QA at NetherRealm Studios with 16bit and GGA Slips. Unfortunately I can't say much of anything about working there because of the NDA but it is a great place to work and I can assure any of you that the people there give their all and then some to make the best games they can.
Because of this Injustice is a game that really means something to me. I was on the inside and know I personally sacrificed a lot to make this a great game. I went weeks without seeing my girlfriend, went days and days with only getting 4 hours of sleep just to wake up and come back into work.
Fast forward to Ghost Battle Series. With Injustice having a great revival in Chicago I decided to dedicate myself to improving my game and overall tournament skills. I really started to break down match ups, constantly asked 16bit Slips and ImNewbieSauce for tips or to run different match ups or to tell me where they see weakness in my game. I've started to really improve but I'm not a great player and I need to work really hard to just make waves.
So we arrive at Frosty Faustings. For the third time in tournament I find out my first opponent is Perfect Legend. When my match is called I walk to my station but before we start 16 bit calls me over. He knows the history, he knows I get nervous in tournament in a way I don't in casuals. He tells me, don't let his name or past wins intimidate me. He tells me I've put in the work and I can do it. His speech helps a ton, I'm not nervous when I sit down.
I ask if he wants a button a check, he says yes. I pick Flash (my main) he picks Martian Manhunter. We double random the stage. I check, he checks. We both say we're ready. He goes to player select. I thought we were going to just rematch and play like we do at GGA. However I don't know if those rules are the same here so I say nothing.
He picks Batman and I pick Flash. 3 seconds in the match I hit him with back 22 and do a 50+% combo. We go back and forth and he takes my first bar while having about 10-20% health himself. I'm not nervous, I feel very strong I can take this. It would be my first out of town big scalp, and I'm excited.
Then the Xbox menu pops on the screen. I look around quickly to see if someone has another controller. I'm pissed. Then I see Perfect Legend is scrolling through the options. I say "What the hell are you doing?" He says "My controller vibration is on, I need to shut it off." 16 bit asks "Who paused?" I say he did. 16 bit yells "Jim you take that shit!" I turn to Flying V who is running the bracket. He asks who paused and when he finds out asks me what I want to do.
I've said this previously and feel very strongly about this. This call should NEVER be in a player's hands. Do you look like a pussy that can't handle a small pause or do you take any win you can? I feel that if you are going to have leniency on rules the TO should make that call, not either player. You run a tournament, you be the bad guy.
So I say to Flying V, "I'm not making the call, you do it." If he had said "Play it out" at that point I would have. While all this is happening Perfect Legend has now accidentally exited the game. When I see this I say "Alright, I'm fucking taking it." When Flying V sees the game has been exited he too says "I'm giving it to him, you exited the game."
When we finally go back into it Perfect Legend destroys me two matches in a row, free. I was frustrated, distracted and back to the shitty mindset from before the match. I did my best to recover, but it didn't work. Not saying I would have won without that but it really didn't help. This is why I feel the TO needs to be the bad guy (or good guy) and do it right away. I'm not calling out Flying V, he did what everyone in the fighting game scene does. I just want it to change going forward. Imagine how different it would be if he said "Just unpause it and play it out now." Perfect Legend says "I want to turn off vibration." He says "Do it after this match." We're done, and we play it out. Or he says "Too bad, you paused, you lose, next match." We're done and we move on.
My personal opinion is that the rules should be strict even at the expense of hype. This is going back to UFGT7 but I was always mad that Keits didn't give the match to Michelangelo when Justin Wong paused in top 8. May not be a hype but I hate seeing players be put in that position. You'd never see a football game where the ref asks each coach to figure out what they want to do.
So what does everyone think. Should I have said "ok we'll play it out", should I have said I'd take it right away. What about if the game hadn't exited, would you feel differently? I just want an open discussion on everything the tournament organizers should and shouldn't do with game rules.
Mods, I put this here because it was from an Injustice match but move if you need to.
How strictly do you feel a tournament organizer/bracket runner should enforce the rules? If there is a pause should it be talked out by the players or just given to the non-pauser by default no questions? Should hype matter? After all who would want to see a tournament end in last match of grand finals because of a controller instead of the skill of the players? What about stage select rules, if the other player breaks them do you yell for a TO or just say fuck it and play it out? Looking for everyone's honest opinion's on this.
Now for the back story of this post for those that care to read it. I want to tell a bit about myself so people know where I'm coming from. I'm a local Chicago NRS player that first got involved in the scene at UFGT7. I've always loved fighting games and Mortal Kombat has always been my favorite but I'd never played more than casually. I started watching tournaments for all fighting games in 2009 or so and was super excited to hear MK9 would have tournaments too. I signed up for UFGT7 and couldn't wait for it.
When I got there I quickly found out my first opponent was EMP Perfect Legend who'd just won Power Up 2011. I didn't take a round off him, but still did better than I'd feared. I met GGA MOE30W and GGA Jeremiah and GGA 16 Bit there and quickly became a regular at GGA. I loved MK9 but I'm not a great fighting game player and I didn't have a ton of time to practice besides when I went to GGA once a week or less.
Fast forward to CoCo last year. 16bit GGA HAN GGA soonk are planning on going to CoCo. I decide what the hell I'll go too. Get there to find out my first opponent is Perfect Legend again. I was toying with Kenshi instead of my main, Freddy and he absolutely destroys me free. Though I doubt Freddy would have done much better.
Not too long after this I started working as QA at NetherRealm Studios with 16bit and GGA Slips. Unfortunately I can't say much of anything about working there because of the NDA but it is a great place to work and I can assure any of you that the people there give their all and then some to make the best games they can.
Because of this Injustice is a game that really means something to me. I was on the inside and know I personally sacrificed a lot to make this a great game. I went weeks without seeing my girlfriend, went days and days with only getting 4 hours of sleep just to wake up and come back into work.
Fast forward to Ghost Battle Series. With Injustice having a great revival in Chicago I decided to dedicate myself to improving my game and overall tournament skills. I really started to break down match ups, constantly asked 16bit Slips and ImNewbieSauce for tips or to run different match ups or to tell me where they see weakness in my game. I've started to really improve but I'm not a great player and I need to work really hard to just make waves.
So we arrive at Frosty Faustings. For the third time in tournament I find out my first opponent is Perfect Legend. When my match is called I walk to my station but before we start 16 bit calls me over. He knows the history, he knows I get nervous in tournament in a way I don't in casuals. He tells me, don't let his name or past wins intimidate me. He tells me I've put in the work and I can do it. His speech helps a ton, I'm not nervous when I sit down.
I ask if he wants a button a check, he says yes. I pick Flash (my main) he picks Martian Manhunter. We double random the stage. I check, he checks. We both say we're ready. He goes to player select. I thought we were going to just rematch and play like we do at GGA. However I don't know if those rules are the same here so I say nothing.
He picks Batman and I pick Flash. 3 seconds in the match I hit him with back 22 and do a 50+% combo. We go back and forth and he takes my first bar while having about 10-20% health himself. I'm not nervous, I feel very strong I can take this. It would be my first out of town big scalp, and I'm excited.
Then the Xbox menu pops on the screen. I look around quickly to see if someone has another controller. I'm pissed. Then I see Perfect Legend is scrolling through the options. I say "What the hell are you doing?" He says "My controller vibration is on, I need to shut it off." 16 bit asks "Who paused?" I say he did. 16 bit yells "Jim you take that shit!" I turn to Flying V who is running the bracket. He asks who paused and when he finds out asks me what I want to do.
I've said this previously and feel very strongly about this. This call should NEVER be in a player's hands. Do you look like a pussy that can't handle a small pause or do you take any win you can? I feel that if you are going to have leniency on rules the TO should make that call, not either player. You run a tournament, you be the bad guy.
So I say to Flying V, "I'm not making the call, you do it." If he had said "Play it out" at that point I would have. While all this is happening Perfect Legend has now accidentally exited the game. When I see this I say "Alright, I'm fucking taking it." When Flying V sees the game has been exited he too says "I'm giving it to him, you exited the game."
When we finally go back into it Perfect Legend destroys me two matches in a row, free. I was frustrated, distracted and back to the shitty mindset from before the match. I did my best to recover, but it didn't work. Not saying I would have won without that but it really didn't help. This is why I feel the TO needs to be the bad guy (or good guy) and do it right away. I'm not calling out Flying V, he did what everyone in the fighting game scene does. I just want it to change going forward. Imagine how different it would be if he said "Just unpause it and play it out now." Perfect Legend says "I want to turn off vibration." He says "Do it after this match." We're done, and we play it out. Or he says "Too bad, you paused, you lose, next match." We're done and we move on.
My personal opinion is that the rules should be strict even at the expense of hype. This is going back to UFGT7 but I was always mad that Keits didn't give the match to Michelangelo when Justin Wong paused in top 8. May not be a hype but I hate seeing players be put in that position. You'd never see a football game where the ref asks each coach to figure out what they want to do.
So what does everyone think. Should I have said "ok we'll play it out", should I have said I'd take it right away. What about if the game hadn't exited, would you feel differently? I just want an open discussion on everything the tournament organizers should and shouldn't do with game rules.
Mods, I put this here because it was from an Injustice match but move if you need to.
