The New Era Outlaw's Dojo of Hard Knocks. Enter and be Enlightened.

[New Era Outlaw]

You know, I've been into gaming for a very long time.
I've been in it so long, I wouldn't be surprised if I was born with a Duck Hunt cartridge in one hand, and a Nintendo Zapper in the other.

With that said, I can certainly tell you that it's a long, twisted road to becoming the best there is at what you do.
And, along the way, you'd inevitably run into various types of people.
You've got your seasoned, hardcore gamers, who'd roast you on a spit and gnaw on your ankles while you BURN.
You've got your casual gamers and up-and-comers. Nowhere as good as the pros, but they can hold their own.
And then, we've got the noobs. Scrubs. Mashers. People who bang on the knobs frantically as if they're trying to play 'Whack-A-Mole' on pure CRACK.

Sadly, believe it or not, we've got quite a few who fall into the latter two categories, but only a handful (if even that much) who you can say are good to the point where they'd take the next noob that plays them and use them as a toothpick. The competition level in Trinidad and Tobago is rather, well.....POOR, to say the least.

Granted, we have a LOT of capable gamers out there, but how many times have you heard this before?

"Nah boy. If I only go up there in America or Japan, dey go REEAL wash meh."

.....want to know the saddest thing about that statement?
More often than not, the person saying that would be absolutely correct.
We, as gamers, are remarkably behind when it comes to our local gaming standards versus those of America and Japan.
Things we're pulling off now that would blow any Trini gamer away is old news away.

In some cases?
It's not our fault.
Wailing on noobs 24/7 like some of us are forced to do on a daily basis leaves very little room for improvement, and we're practically on our KNEES, praying for the day when a worthy challenger would come and attempt to royally kick us in the NUTS.

And, in others?
It is our fault.
That's right...some of us have actually poisoned our mentalities out there by believing that by adhering to imaginary rules with no real bearing on reality, we'll remain eternal champions, and anybody else is a dirty no good cheater who doesn't play fair.

But, all in due time.
Now, then....it is time to enter:

THE DOJO OF HARD KNOCKS

Of course, this being a dojo, it is time to learn some fundamentals. Keep in mind that while the focus of this is really Fighting Games, some of this may actually apply to most any game you can think of. Except for Russian Roulette. But, you wouldn't be here at all if you were losing at that game.

Now, remove your shoes, and observe the:

SACRED RULES OF THE DOJO:

This applies to anywhere you game- at home, in the arcade, or at your local internet cafe.
Once there is competition, and interaction with your fellow gamers commences, observe these rules of the road as you game:

RULE #1 - ALWAYS BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL TO YOUR OPPONENTS.

Now, this is ironic coming from me, seeing as how I've got a mouth like a loose cannon in a gunpower factory, but I cannot stress how important it is to be as courteous as you can to your opponent. Now, here in Trinidad, we love to give each other talks. It's the Trini way, after all. As such, I don't discourage it at all, because it's seriously funny. However, there are instances where things do get out of hand:

"Boy, yuh MUDDA!"
"F**K you nah boy!"
*gestures to hit*

NO, NO, NO. Those actions will most likely get people ticked off at you,  and will break out into fights- or worse.
Never, EVER let things get out of hand to that point. If you're going to say something that vicious, bite your tongue, or drop a rubbish bin on your head and scream into that. Giving people chats is okay, but outright disrespecting them only makes you a super a**hole.

Long story short, when your folks told you:

"If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything AT ALL."

...they sure as hell weren't kidding.


RULE #2- RESPECT YOUR ENVIRONMENT: A CLEAN DOJO IS A HAPPY DOJO.

As many of you could recall, nothing, and I mean NOTHING kills it for me more than to see people acting like utter PIGS at a gaming event. They eat, toss their garbage wherever they please (and even stuff it into every nook and cranny) and just generally don't give a crap about what happens concerning their gaming environment.

Well, just a heads up from me to you, fellas.
STOP DOING THAT. AS OF RIGHT NOW.

Garbage belongs in a bin. It does not belong on the floor, wedged between PCs, lying sideways on the keyboard, or even on your neighbour's HEAD. Put your rubbish in a bin, where it should be.

Keeping your dojo clean shows consideration, both for the place where you game as well as the people who are there/are soon to come.

Likewise, do NOT go and start banging on the machines just because you missed a move or you got royally wasted by an opponent.
Beating up on inanimate objects won't make them work better, you know.
Also, remember that what you're beating up on costs money, and doing that and causing damage will only be an inconvenience to the other players who have to use that machine after you as well as the person who owns it.

RULE #3- RESPECT YOURSELF, EVEN IN DEFEAT.

If you lose, accept defeat gracefully, or at least with full intent to return the favour.
Don't throw tantrums, cuss and start acting like a lunatic on a sugar binge.
Humiliating yourself like that will only make a fool out of you, and annoy everybody else.


Well, now that I've covered the rules of the dojo, time to cover some bases:

RULES OF THE BATTLEFIELD - FIGHTING GAMES 101:

In theory, one can really know his way around the gaming scene. In practice, it's a whole different story.
Remember that you face off against people, just like yourself, who come from different walks of life, and as such, have different experiences than you.
As such, a battle can either be a landslide victory or a crushing defeat.

There are some key things that you should know that could very well mean the difference between a win and a loss:


RULE #1 - THROWING IS A PART OF THE GAME. ACCEPT THAT.

I am sorry.
I have run into WAY too many people who whine about being thrown. Even more so who claim that the 'Well, it's a part of the game!' rebuttal is nothing more than an excuse.

I am terribly sorry to say, that such people are actually the ones who are making excuses, and pretty bad ones at that.
Just a few tidbits about throwing:

> Throwing prevents players from being overly defensive. Without them, a player can inflict a lot of damage and win by default simply by guarding everything. Throws are unlockable, so they create an avenue to prevent that sort of thing from happening.

> The majority of fighting games played nowadays have Throw Escapes, Reversals and Safe Falls. You have three whole avenues to counter throwing, or at least reduce the impact of it.

> You can easily prevent being thrown by jabbing or launching a quick attack as your opponent approaches. Your opponent can only grab you from up close AND if he's not hit in the process of doing so. Jabs are the easiest way to interrupt a throw in progress.

So, given all of the above, if you keep getting thrown about and feel the need to complain about it, remember that, for the most part:
IT'S YOUR OWN FAULT FOR GETTING THROWN IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Seriously, you have no excuse, and any you can cook up is going to be a rather poor one.
If I throw you, you really have no right to complain, especially if you're not smart enough to avoid or mitigate it in the first place.


RULE #2- YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO PLAY AS YOU PLEASE.


Any strategy you can think up, any at all, is what makes you, as a gamer, unique.
As such, do NOT allow yourself to be cowed into thinking that your strategy should be 'disallowed' by others, especially when it's working for you.

Take Roll, for example.



Isn't she just adorable?
And the source of MANY headaches down here, to boot.
Some fellas just can't believe it when their big, hardback Wolverine, Spiderman and Srider Hiryu strategies get royally PWNed in the face of this little girl, and, as such, you get to hear some pretty weak excuses:

> "She TOO SMALL!!"

Yup. I know. But if that's your reason for losing, then that's no fault of hers, really. Players need to learn how to adjust themselves. Sure, she is small, I'll give you that. But try aiming your attacks closer to the ground on her level, and you'll see better results. A character's size could be his/her advantage/disadvantage. Don't knack her just because she's tiny, because  I can think of quite a few tactics that will render that MOOT.

> "She does RUN!!"

Actually, I'm playing defensively, which happens to be where Roll's strength lies.
I am seriously sick and tired of people trying to goad me into playing offensively with Roll.
IT JUST DOES NOT WORK.

Roll's moves have little priority, is slower than most, and does minor damage.
Hell, compare Roll to the Hulk in the same game she comes from. She's barely half the size of Hulk's ARM.

As such, if you expect me to rush Hulk with Roll, you're extremely crazy.
Roll's strategy involves capitalising on mistakes, tick throwing, and chipping with Beat Plane.
All of these are defensive tactics, and all have holes, if you care to examine the situation closely enough.

Long story short, if it bothers you that much, then shut up AND FIND A WAY TO BEAT IT.
If you must whine about it, go away and play Pac-Man, or something.

So, here, in a nutshell, is what I'm saying.
If you have a strategy, and it works for you, then go ahead and use it. It's your right to do so.
Unless it involves a gamebreaking glitch (such as the 'Vanishing Gambit' glitch from MvC2), then nobody has the right to complain.

RULE #3 - NEVER UNDERESTIMATE YOUR OPPONENT.

A tragic mistake many gamers make when they strap on those gloves and prepare to battle is that, sometimes, they take a lot of things for granted.
As a matter of fact, they would assume that just because you didn't choose the usual MSP team that everybody else plays, that you're one easy target. Perish the thought if you play characters unversally considered "low tier", because that's a sign to some that you're easy pickings.

If you are one of those people who like to underestimate people simply by the characters that they play, then, I implore you to do one thing.
STOP LIVING IN LA-LA LAND.

No matter how disadvantaged a character might seem, remember that even though they might need to fight a lot harder to do so, they are still capable of winning matches. If you take it upon yourself to insist that Magneto = instant win and all other characters are guaranteed to lose, and you end up getting totally destroyed, remember that it's your own fault for taking the underdog so lightly.

Just last night, I met up with an acquaintance of mine online, and no matter how much I tried to explain it to him, he insists that Roll cannot win matches, and actually implied that my 'fanboyism' is causing me to make up stories about winning with her, ending off his message with a rather indignant "Keep practising with Roll, kay? *snigger*"

Of course, he never actually faced off against me in a match, nor has he ever seen me play.
How can he make such assumptions, you might ask?
Aside from sheer ignorance, he's doing exactly what a hardcore gamer should never do- underestimating his opponent, especially one he does not at all understand. I'm almost willing to be that if I actually do face him, he would most likely get creamed, all because he blindly puts faith in higher tiers always winning matches without truly understanding how capable I truly am with a low-tier.

Now, here's so homework.
Go look up Joe Zaza online, and see how the guy fights.
He competes using low-tier characters, and, despite that, he still manages to kick all kinds of a**.
I'm almost willing to bet that he had to put up with a lot of crap as well when he was an up-and-comer, and look at him now.
Also, Justin Wong took a bunch of bottom tiers at one time and still managed to beat people senseless.

So, long story short, underestimating any character, no matter how 'weak' they may seem, can be dangerous.
Try understanding each character's unique styles, strengths and weaknesses, and see for yourself how capable they are.
Of course, a lot can be said about how much pride you take in said characters, which, believe it or not, can actually impact upon your own style.


RULE #4 - THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS EASY MODE.

Now, I have this philosophy about people who choose 'Easy Mode' in Marvel vs. Capcom.
I tend to view them as players who just do not want to get better.
Want to know why?

On Easy Mode:
> You recover a lot quicker;
> Super Moves and Hyper Combos are done at the push of two buttons;
> Basically, you're having the computer do your combos for you.

Seriously, where's the skill in that?
That is like competing in the BMX Championships using training wheels and a motor.

Now, I know I just said that everybody has the right to play as they please.
And I don't blame people new to the game for using Easy Mode to ease themselves into the game faster.

However, people who insist on using Easy Mode as a crutch are just denying themselves the ability to take their game to the next level.
You are playing in a mode that doesn't take skill, takes shortcuts, and basically gives you a recovery boost over a Manual player.

If you want to evolve in this game, do it the HARD WAY.
Train in Manual, compete against others using your own skills in wringing, and evolve your game to the next level.
Want to know why some players in Trinidad and Tobago claim to be boss on Easy Mode but get easily destroyed by players such as myself? It's because you never even bothered to take the training wheels off of your bike.

Long story short, Easy Mode = Breakfast.


RULE #5 - DO NOT CHEAT.

A few years ago, somebody tried to cheat me out of a match by hitting my taunt button during my game.
Angry, I proceeded to mash his fingers the next time he tried that.

He clearly deserved that, but, that's not the lesson I wanted to portray.
What I'm saying is, if that if you have to resort to cheating to win, then not only will you lose all respect, but don't blame anybody when they look to knock your behind out for that crap. Play with honour, do what you can to win, but never, EVER resort to cheating. You will only prove NOTHING.

RULE #6 - FIGHT TO WIN, AND MAKE NO MISTAKES.

Remember, the objective of a game is to WIN.
Anticipate your opponent's moves, make them reveal their weaknesses, and, once they're exposed, GO FOR THE KILL.

Now, I've seen people spout nonsense about, "If only I got so and so move" and "Yuh DAMN LUCKY!".
While in some cases that could be genuine (for example, a button sticks and it costs you the match), but in others, it's just utter BULLS**T.
The mere fact that you are making mistakes means that you have yet to get a good grasp of the situation.

For example, one guy I played hit me with Colossus, and, the general idea would be to use Proton Cannon afterwards to nail me for a lot of damage.
Unfortunately, he kept missing for Proton Cannon, wringing for the move far too late.
Other times, he'd wring for the Super, but he'd do it far too early. (For example, when he summons Psylocke, he instantly uses Shinkuu Hadouken, regardless of whether or not I am blocking or the move outright misses.)

In a nutshell, he knew the moves, but lacked the proper timing to do it. As such, he whiffed a lot of his attacks, and that cost him a lot of matches.

When you train in games, make sure that whatever strategy you cook up ACTUALLY WORKS.
In high level play, game can simply mean "the first person to make a mistake."
Ponder on that for a while.


And...that should do it for the Dojo of Hard Knocks.
There are many more lessons that can, and will be included in here, but, in the meantime, I implore you all to focus on this advice and gear yourselves.
Only by upping the ante and recognising our own flaws can we really enhance our own gaming standards, and truly be a force to be reckoned with.

Outlaw, OUT.

[rb]

http://forums.shoryuken.com/forumdisplay.php?f=176

i also encourage ppl to read these as well

[shivadee]

an interesting read there NEO. Good stuff. I stomp them as i see em, as many of you well know.

[New Era Outlaw]

RULE #7 - DO NOT BE A FISH OUT OF WATER.

Have you ever heard crap like this from people you've beaten before?

"Come play meh in this game, nuh! I go real frog yuh in that one!"
"If this was the console version, I go beat yuh SAD!"
"Pfft. Come play a REAL man's game!"

I have, and, quite frankly, they are all sad, pathetic reasons for losing.
Let's break it own, shall we?

"Come play meh in this game, nuh! I go real frog yuh in that one!"

What this says to me, is that you are so desperate to save face, that you're going to challenge me in a game I may or may not play.
This comment is like draping a big old security blanket - you got whipped in Street Fighter, so you try to reason it out that you will utterly kill me in Tekken? How...in the hell does that even make sense? Sure, you can probably blow me out in Tekken. But the fact doesn't change that I am still better than you in Street Fighter.

Challenging a person who soundly beat you in one thing in another game is like challenging Mike Tyson to a game of Yu-Gi-Oh! after he slugs your a** out cold in a boxing match. You're not proving anything at all, save for the fact that you're a scrub outside of your own natural habitat.

"If this was the console version, I go beat yuh SAD!"

A.K.A., the 'Merryl Strife' excuse.
These people constantly delude themselves into thinking that, had this been on a different machine under different circumstances, they'd win hands down with no problem.

While that may be true for some (and, if it is, you seriously need to improve yourself), it's not true for people who may be adept at multiple platforms hosting the same game. For example, I used to have trouble with using a gampad to play Marvel vs. Capcom 2 when the game first came out, but, after enough practice, I got very adept at it. I can now safely say that I'm dangerous on both versions of the game.

As such, your prissy comment holds no meaning to me. My skills in that game are UNIVERSAL.
So, seriously? Accept that you lost or GET OUT.

"Pfft. Come play a REAL man's game!"

Oh suuuure. A while ago, you were intent on schooling me in this game, and now that you've been hung to dry, you suddenly determine that the game's not a 'real man's game'?

Seriously? LAWL.
Those grapes sure are sour, aren't they? So sour to the point of being rotten.
My whipping you in a game that I'm good at doesn't make me less of a man, regardless of what you say.

Also, you see this 'Street Fighter II is more of a man's game than Marvel vs. Capcom 2' crap some of you out there are pouting?
It's BULLS**T. BULLLLS*****T!!
Just because you can't play something like another doesn't mean that it's inferior.
As a matter of fact, anybody who says crap like that ARE inferior.

Remember this:

Everybody's good at something, but NOBODY is good at EVERYTHING.

And while it is desirable to be as diverse as you can in your skills, sometimes, it's better to stick to what you're good at.

[TaC_uP]

Number 2 depends on the game IMO, camping in a Team based FPS and letting your team die, even though that's your playstyle is not looked very well upon, infact I don't like players who have those kind of tactics in team based games, since they bring down the team they are on.

[New Era Outlaw]

Number 2 depends on the game IMO, camping in a Team based FPS

....

RULES OF THE BATTLEFIELD - FIGHTING GAMES 101:

Reading is fun.

[shivadee]

Number 2 depends on the game IMO, camping in a Team based FPS and letting your team die, even though that's your playstyle is not looked very well upon, infact I don't like players who have those kind of tactics in team based games, since they bring down the team they are on.

You walk right into that one.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda....u knew the deal before you played. To bother to think there is even competition from the time your own team acts like that doesnt even warrant a sensible argument.

[TriniXaeno]

lol, a big point is to understand when you're dealing with a human, the interaction is unpredictable at best.

Trying to rationalize any of this will be a lost cause if the person isn't willing to reason in the first place. They aren't out to "make sense". Bark, Brag, Blow Smoke, making noise in genral yeah....make sense...surely not.

Finding a good competitor sans these less than admirable attributes is gold to begin with but be wary. Some of the most patient gamers will bite your head off if you prod them on a bad day.

Unfortunately, in the pursuit of competition, you'll likely suffer quite a few of these scenarios.

Nice catalog.

Some of our greatest gamers have quickly de-evolved into creatures exhibiting these "symptoms" after a humiliating beating.

The human psyche is a delicate thing indeed. lol

[shivadee]

indeed.....it does happen
its actually a huge reason many of us stop playing HALO 3 and switch to COD 4
more mature ppl on COD 4....plenty little boys on HALO 3......OMG BEST GAME EVARRRR......
its damn good.....but once you think so stay there....we go play COD 4

[TaC_uP]

Number 2 depends on the game IMO, camping in a Team based FPS

....

RULES OF THE BATTLEFIELD - FIGHTING GAMES 101:

Reading is fun.

Whoops I thought it was gaming in general that is a crap load to read so I was just skimming through your actual thoughts since you numbered them

Number 2 depends on the game IMO, camping in a Team based FPS and letting your team die, even though that's your playstyle is not looked very well upon, infact I don't like players who have those kind of tactics in team based games, since they bring down the team they are on.

You walk right into that one.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda....u knew the deal before you played. To bother to think there is even competition from the time your own team acts like that doesnt even warrant a sensible argument.

Nah I talking about in Pubs in online games. I not actually talking about team/clan battle.

*No double posting pease*...(CaptainAwesome)

[Crixx_Creww]

doesnt easy mode also have a downside?? increased damage taken from projectiles whilst blocking??
thats how it is in xmen vs  sf.  guessing its the same in mvc2, dont play the game so cant say for sure.... but in xmen vs sf. when people pick easy mode, experienced players usually just steups and non stop projectiles to death for the insult of picking easy mode..

as for international competition, yeah, small island curse of not having large exposure to new things... but i will say, ive played at arcades in new york and i got alot of stupid talk from the new yorkers ( who are of course known for their charm )
i remember when time i was playing xmen vs sf at the arcade in times square.
and i was there for a while beating the computer, then beat this one guy easily and this little thug wanna be comes on the machine and starts talking trash cause he heard my accent, asked me where i was from and was like oh for real. at that moment, my dad, being an ole school , dem nimtendo tingies go mash up meh tv... tells me is time to go.. so i just lose the game quickly against ny guy.

and as i walk off, this stupid little cretin actuallyy shouts, YEAHH SONNN THATS HOW WE DO IT ON THE STREETS OF NEW YORK!~! TAKE THAT BACK TO YOUR ISLAND!!

i was like.... !!! O.O ohh nooeezzz dis mmmmmmfffffffffccccccc didnt just say dat!!

dad ah comin back now now now

ran back, drop 2 tokens in

and proceeded to deliver one of my personal nasssttieeesttt cyclops sabertooth laventille esque beating!!! on this simpleton!! i mean every nasty throw into supers, jam on wall and double supers into low kick mid punch aerial rave supers into character change and charging summer sault suplex from cyclops into wall followed by aerial rave combo!!

he was stunned! he was like wtf is that!!! and then i made show and hit him the glitchy saber tooth aerial into supers and just walked off on him
leaving him my game to play
had nothing to say

couldnt believe he would disrespect me like that...
*sorry just had to vent there*

[shivadee]

Hoss i with you on that one.
Was reading a book the other day about game production. And they mentioned the target niche for games. They mentioned some people say "make sure you target the 13-16 year olds, you dont want to miss them"

The point I am making is that this demographic is probably considered a market, but the author went on to say "no, they are not. People think they are huge because they make ALOT OF NOISE...the truth is they are only a handful of them"

Many of you MMO'ers out there know about QQ and Pew Pew. QQ is the complaining, pew pew is the action. Tooooooo many times have we grouped up with people with LEVEL attitude. We've had hunters claiming they can tank, and being ignorant about it too, we've had paladins at level friggin 20!!!!! saying "i cant heal im Ret". STUPID STUPID people....but these are people you have to deal with.

I woulda be right behind Crixx on that one. Level his ass and leave him there to burn down in his own pile of sh!t talk.

You ever notice something about people who are at an extremely high level in a title...they NEVER mock someone, or HARDLY ever, ESPECIALLY if it is someone they dont know. Now sh!t talk is sh!t talk. Crixx and I go at it all the time and we talk we crap and its all in good fun. Also on LIVE with the boys.

But respect for your competitor especially when you are at the pro or even amateur pro level is always apparent. The "big talkers" burn down because they waste all this energy on things like this. They are more interested in their style, albeit good or bad, they want to know why they did this, and that..and how, just to learn! Truth is that level of gamer NEVER stops learning. Streets of New York?.....you didnt finish school did you....can you SPELL school? didnt think so.

There are times however where I wish i was uber in my vs games. Im so out of practice its shameful. Is just to find the time to stick with them

[W1nTry]

Nice touch there crixx, lay level cut arse then leave him confused in his ridiculous wanna be thug mentality! island my @$$

[TriniXaeno]

lol @ crixx story.
I'd pay good money to have been a fly on the wall of that arcade.
classic

[Crixx_Creww]

i think that was the day my father realised that dem nimtendo ting eh go mash up he tv lol

[New Era Outlaw]

*snip*

Bravo. That'll teach him.
Folks, Crixx has just demonstrated Rule #8:

RULE #8 - DON'T GET MAD. GET EVEN.

No matter how skilled one is, just remember that, at any given moment, somebody can actually get the upper hand on you....even an outright noob, believe it or not.

Now, I've personally experienced situations where noobs would win a match, and then get supremely cocky.
They get the feeling deep down inside that, just for that one win, they're already better than you. And BOY, oh BOY, would they let you know it, too.

As a novice, talks like that used to outrightly fluster me. I'd go back in, mad as a bull seeing nothing but red, determined to shut the person up. And then, I'd get my a** kicked.

Want to know why?

Because I lost focus.
Because I blinded myself with rage and let my opponent goad me into blind aggression, I went in there without a level head or a sound strategy. All I could focus on is making that DAMN NOOB EAT S**T AND DIE.

(ahem)

No. Like American Football, competitive gaming is mostly a mental game.
As a matter of fact, outwitting your opponents is half, if not more, of the battle.

So, instead of going all red in the face and performing Fatalities on the unscrupulous noob in your head, just buy your tokens, think the situation through, go back in there and just beat him. Shut him up and put him in his place once and for all, and let him be the one tossing more temper tantrums than Britney Spears on an SUV assembly line.

By choosing to go with the flow and not letting your feelings get the better of you in the heat of battle, you can prove that you're the better man. Unless you really do suck. In which case, go and train some more.


RULE #9 - ALWAYS REMAIN STEADFAST IN YOUR TRAINING.

Basically, don't allow yourself to get SLOPPY.
If you are determined to be the best, then you'd btter be prepared to keep those skills sharp.
I really don't care how good you think you are, or how capable you can handle people on paper.
If you are just basing your skills merely on figures and results rather than battling to update your strategies, then you are really a lost cause. I'm dead serious about that.

Have you run into people sayin something like:
"You won't beat me unless you pick Chun-Li or Yun!"

...only to say:
"I don't understand what happened!"

...when the contrary happens?
You're so caught up in generalised accounts of characters like Ken, Chun-Li and Yun being the most effective, that you fail to keep your skills up to date in case somebody cooks up a new strategy with another character, say Urien, and, as such, you're caught by surprise, you get knocked out, and you're scratching your head wondering "WHY?"

Always expect the unexpected, folks.
Consistent training against all kinds of opponents can make you prepared for anything.
Training just to counter a particular strategy may get you some results,  but it won't do crap for you in the long run.

[Trinitus]

Number 2 depends on the game IMO, camping in a Team based FPS

....

RULES OF THE BATTLEFIELD - FIGHTING GAMES 101:

Reading is fun.

LOL nice read though NEO, and one thing in particular about fighting to win it all comes back down to your mentality, I aint a fighting style gamer but having that mentality surely does give me a better figthing chance!!!

[New Era Outlaw]

I aim to please.

RULE #10- WINNERS NEVER QUIT, QUITTERS NEVER WIN.

There's a little philosophy in the art world that goes something like this:
"Good artists come from crappy artists who wouldn't give up."

...okay, so I lied, that's a quote from 2, the Ranting Gryphon.
But, you do have to admit, he has a good point.

The only way you can be good...or better, in any game that you play, is to be persistent.

....not too persistent, because Lord knows you need money for passage to go home, but you know what I mean.

Even if you lose, use it as a learning experience, and try again to see how best you could overcome it.

Don't go off and say utter CRAP such as:

"No matter how much times I try, I just CAN'T beat Ryu."
"It makes no sense! Once he picks Scorpion, there's no way I'll win!"
"AGH. I quit, it makes no sense fighting that squad."

A defeatist attitude like that will only serve to depress you even more, and further reduce your chances at winning. Even more so, given the examples above, how the hell do you even expect to ever beat those characters if you've already resigned yourself to losing to them? No matter how nasty a character is, every strategy has a hole in it. Find it, and unleash the beast. A confident attitude will go a long way.

And, above all else, never say die.
Unless you get caught in one of Zero's infinites in SVC: Chaos. Then say die.


RULE #11- DO NOT CONFORM TO IMAGINARY RULES.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again.

Some of you out there....I seriously don't know what's wrong with you, but you guys seem to believe that you 'shouldn't' do certain things in games to them.

Such as juggling them with powerful combos.

Such as choosing a certain character.

Such as throwing.

Look, I have no clue why you guys insist on living in this fantasy world where there are no throws, people don't pick the characters that make your lives a living hell, and blocking prevents everything from hitting you, but here's a little message from me to you.

WAKE UP.

All of these things are in the game, DEAL WITH IT. Don't get annoyed just because somebody else caught on as to what works for them in the game. As I've outlined in several of the rules above, if you get caught in anything, it's your own damn fault, and you should know well enough not to fall for it next time, at least with practice.

To quote something that happened to me the other day, somebody went up against me in the arcade. He got a severe whooping from the get-go, and he nearly got killed in less than 5 seconds. The idiot actually threatened me if I didn't back off.

So...why should I back off, exactly?
Are you really going to physically harm me over losing so badly at a game?
Are you really that pathetic?
Just because you fell for the same thing over and over?
Just because mashing buttons does not always yield the best results?
Just because you refuse to block down?

Seriously....get lost, and don't ever come back. To cap off the story, I still beat him, and he left that arcade fuming.
But, the lesson here is that there is no rule in the game that says I should back off. And threatening the player with physical violence? Well, not only is it pathetic, but it's also rather stupid.

So, as a hint, stop whining about things that annoy you in games and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. If there are reliable options to get around it, focus your training around that. And if there aren't, well....blame the programmers for not testing the game properly is all I can say.

[Rten-Kakashi]

Whoa hard to believe i missed this on the way in to the section...

Nice ones NEO, take chakra, i've never seen something so informative yet amusing. This will have to be printed for dem one-track minded fellas ah does hadda deal wit almost every blasted day.