Frustration With Fighters Online?

[asukaevaunit02]

Ok, firstly I will say I'm not a hardcore fighter player (ie. will not master the game and learn every single move and 10 hit combo etc).

Thought this was interesting, though I'm not concerned about lag, rather what he says before it.
» Why Online Gaming Has Ruined Fighting Games.

Also there was another article I found a month ago on Soul Calibur 4 specifically, expressing similar thoughts (but lost the link) such as its such a varied mix, mostly noobs or insanely good players.

But, lately I've notice while playing Soul Calibur 4 online, I'm getting really frustrated and bored with the game. Its the same thing, either fight cheap noobs that spam 1 or 2 moves as fast as they can allowing for an annoying match, or against those that are ridiculously good, that are impossible to lay a finger on. This being repeated over and over is not fun, now I get bored and frustrated often walk away and don't bother. I mean its not every day I want to play hardcore and try super hard to fight.

I've met a few people online who play Talim (SC4) and it is ridiculous to play against, once they get going there combos just go on fo ever, this really pisses me off. We are playing for fun, yet how is having your ass beaten without a chance of even getting up or to block fun? Whats really funny is that these players will continue to do all those combos etc even if I walk away, and think they are so good.

What also annoys the hell out of me is, when you get messages (mostly from noobs) saying "you got owned, you're sh*t" sorta messages, when you tell them there is more to the game than pressing 1 button as fast as they can. Often follwed by stupid insults about your mum and other odd things...

Ok, between the 2 extremes of players, has online play made fighters somewhat less enjoyable? Do you get frustrated playing fighting games online?


And please don't reply "you suck and need to learn to play properly", I find that annoying also. I don't want to sit down and spend countless hours to master every move in the book so I can beat everyone, I have better things to do.... I want to play for some fun

[Jessweeee♪]

This is exactly why I haven't been eager to try online fighting games xD

My brother and I totally got into fights IRL over cheap ass combos, btw.

[Slothy]

What also annoys the hell out of me is, when you get messages (mostly from noobs) saying "you got owned, you're sh*t" sorta messages, when you tell them there is more to the game than pressing 1 button as fast as they can. Often follwed by stupid insults about your mum and other odd things...

I'll agree that that is stupid, though it isn't something I've ever seen on the PS3. Not saying it never happens there, but stories like that seem to be about experiences on Xbox Live more than anything. Regardless of where it happens though it would be nice if everyone playing online had some class.

And please don't reply "you suck and need to learn to play properly", I find that annoying also. I don't want to sit down and spend countless hours to master every move in the book so I can beat everyone, I have better things to do.... I want to play for some fun

I'm not going to say you suck, but if you're getting beaten by moves you see as cheap in a well balanced fighting game then you have two choices. Either take ten minutes to learn what the counter is and how to do it or stop playing the game online at all. I've never seen a case in a legitimately well balanced fighting game where there is a move that is so broken that there is no way to counter it. If you don't want to take the time to master the game and learn the counters then fine, but you shouldn't be playing online when there are obviously plenty of people out there who play these games because they like to learn them and improve. If you just want to play "for fun" as you put it (and your definition of fun in this case isn't going to match other people's necessarily) then that's what Arcade mode and friendly games with your friends are for.

If you're going to play online without taking the time to really learn the game because that's not what you consider fun, that's fair enough. Just don't complain when you get beaten by someone with more knowledge of the game than you have (even if the extent of their knowledge is knowing one move or combo that your average player doesn't know how to counter effectively). It's like playing an FPS and complaining because someone is a better shot than you. It happens. Get over it.

[Momiji]

Seriously, if you don't want to go out of your way to become a better player, you should stay out of the online matchmaking, because you're going to get torn apart by people who play competitively all the time. If you just want to have fun, play against a computer at a difficulty you're comfortable with. It's that easy.

[Psychotic]

I'll agree that that is stupid, though it isn't something I've ever seen on the PS3. Not saying it never happens there, but stories like that seem to be about experiences on Xbox Live more than anything. Regardless of where it happens though it would be nice if everyone playing online had some class.

I've played Soul Calibur IV and UFC Undisputed, two of the games mentioned, on Xbox Live, and I have received precisely three messages. All of them congratulating me on my victory and telling me I am good.

Playing any game with strangers isn't really all that fun. If you want to grind for achievements, go for it, but if you really want a good time, play with friends, or a group of people from an online community you visit.

[Depression Moon]

Lag's my main issue. I hate most of the matches I get on Tekken 6 online because occassionally you'll get some random laggy connection and I would lose to a player that's way below my level because it's hard to dodge, block, or escape something with the lag. It also throws off my juggle combos as well.

I don't like throw abusers in the game either in Tekken it's hard to escape throws for one because there's three escape methods. You have square, triangle, and triangle square. You can sort of see throws in the game when they're coming, and can determine the button press to escape them based on the opponent's hands, the deal with that is that the hand motions flip when you switch sides and some throws are deceiving on which button you have to press to escape. Not to mention it's a lot easier in this game to abuse them over SF4. In SF4 I can mostly determine when an opponent's going to throw. For one they'll be close to you and through all the countless Kens and Ryus I've played online they have patterns when they're going to throw mostly in a combo. Another thing with it is that in SF you can stay a good distance away from your opponent and mostly avoid it, while in Tekken practically everyone has to stay in close range.

I don't really like a lot of juggle abusers either. That just justifies the many criticisms that Tekken is just a juggling competition. I didn't even really even know that people did that until I started with 6.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I don't play fighters online specifically to completely stay away from lag issues, I already play FPS online and the lag is crippling sometimes. It really bothers me when someone is lagging out my Gears match and then that team just runs around charging their chainsaw.

I have a couple of cheap friends at Smash though, which is the fighter I play the most. I have one who will do his best to avoid all combat from the beginning of the match until everyone is down to 1 stock or there is only one other fighter left. It's a pretty gay way to play, but he's a legitimately good player and probably the best in the group.

[Roogle]

I play some fighting games on a tournament level in my local metropolitan area and I understand what you are saying about lag. It is a necessary evil for me because I rarely meet with my friends to play heavy gaming sessions in person.

There are some solutions. GGPO is a networking library that game developers can use to add networked gameplay support to arcade style games. I play Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3 over GGPO when I can, and I am able to play with anyone in the world with very little latency issues. The technology was acquired by Capcom, but they have yet to use it for any mainstream title.

If this technology was adopted by more fighting games, then the issue with lag would be much less than it is now.

[Madame Adequate]

I've played SC4 and SF4 online a good bit, and never had problems like that. I came against the occasional move spamming nub, but I could beat them, and I'm usually good enough to deal with someone who is very good. My only real problem was, in fact, lag.

[Rocket Edge]

I love fighting online. Still, as mentioned above some players can do the most annoying things. For example in Tekken 6, I've seen some people abuse the same move over and over. Law & Alisa are the main culprits here. Almost everyone picks them because they are user friendly, and amateurs can get to a decent grade by just doing that. Also, grabbing. People can tend to grab an awful lot and it just gets annoying.

But I enjoy playing online because I believe it makes me a better player, and in a strange way its a little important to me because I love Tekken, regardless of how bad the lag can be online. If anyone wants a game with me online just holla. Currently ranked 12th in the world with Yoshimitsu.

[Lionx]

I play some fighting games on a tournament level in my local metropolitan area and I understand what you are saying about lag. It is a necessary evil for me because I rarely meet with my friends to play heavy gaming sessions in person.

There are some solutions. GGPO is a networking library that game developers can use to add networked gameplay support to arcade style games. I play Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3 over GGPO when I can, and I am able to play with anyone in the world with very little latency issues. The technology was acquired by Capcom, but they have yet to use it for any mainstream title.

If this technology was adopted by more fighting games, then the issue with lag would be much less than it is now.

Freaking this! This has been one of the things that every fighting game maker needs to get. GGPO basically can hide the lag alot better than every other netcode to date. Its as if there is no lag at all against the majority of opponents. You can play someone in England while living in WC USA, and still play just fine.

GGPO trumps all other netcodes to date imo.

If you just want to have fun, play against a computer at a difficulty you're comfortable with. It's that easy.

Part of the fun in fighting games is playing another human opponent that can adapt to you. So CPU is usually given very very little weight in fighting games. A better alternative is just play with friends online exclusively.

I'm not going to say you suck, but if you're getting beaten by moves you see as cheap in a well balanced fighting game then you have two choices. Either take ten minutes to learn what the counter is and how to do it or stop playing the game online at all. I've never seen a case in a legitimately well balanced fighting game where there is a move that is so broken that there is no way to counter it.

I agree with this as well. If you play against another opponent, you can't just go through the game without thinking because the human will adapt to what you do in the game. With any fighting game theres always things you have to take time out on and figure out...or just stop playing because you don't want to take some time out.

"Cheap" moves are always counterable...always. Any good fighting game always has a way out, just gotta think or look it up. It just feels to me, you are complaining that you are losing.

Ok, between the 2 extremes of players, has online play made fighters somewhat less enjoyable? Do you get frustrated playing fighting games online?

Sometimes the latency/netcodes piss me off if they aren't GGPO because i do silly things. But overall i never take online seriously due to the fact that i have arcades and offline competition to play against which is vastly superior to online play in terms of quality players and latency issues(which is 0!). I do understand though that not everyone is lucky enough to be in these conditions and online is all they have for playing another human.

But the times i do play online i either dislike the lag on SFIV and do something else, or i enjoy the leisure time. Trolls never really get to me, especially if you are armed with the knowledge that trolling to get you angry is a tactic in itself.

[Zeromus_X]

At first I thought this was going to be a thread about lag.

Well, to echo the advice given here, and even though it probably sounds like lame advice, you just have to "get better" in order to overcome cheap tactics online. Online fighting games can be pretty competitive; if you want to just chill and have fun matches it's best to play with friends or find a local arcade.

I've played Soul Calibur IV and UFC Undisputed, two of the games mentioned, on Xbox Live, and I have received precisely three messages. All of them congratulating me on my victory and telling me I am good.

The people on XBL are pretty courteous to me too. I often get a GG message or usually always a response to one of my own.

But I enjoy playing online because I believe it makes me a better player,

I agree. I don't think I'd ever be as good as I am at BlazBlue if I wasn't forced to get better from online competition. I'm a pretty average player, but I'm still way better than I'd try to be just playing "for fun", and for that I'm grateful for online play.

[Bolivar]

What also annoys the hell out of me is, when you get messages (mostly from noobs) saying "you got owned, you're sh*t" sorta messages, when you tell them there is more to the game than pressing 1 button as fast as they can. Often follwed by stupid insults about your mum and other odd things...

I'll agree that that is stupid, though it isn't something I've ever seen on the PS3. Not saying it never happens there, but stories like that seem to be about experiences on Xbox Live more than anything. Regardless of where it happens though it would be nice if everyone playing online had some class.

The only time I've gotten a message like that on PSN was because I left a match halfway through. It was Tiger Woods.... I guess I kinda deserved it.

I've only played MvC2 online a few times, and I was surprised that I wasn't getting destroyed by total gods of the game. I don't think many people play it, but I haven't really had the "god or noob" dilemma.

[Vermachtnis]

I love playing online. I used to play Bleach: Dark Souls online all the time. The one thing that annoyed me more than anything were the turtles. Block and run away all the time and you have to chase them and they hit you while your chasing them.

And I love fighting against super good people. Even when I know them down just 10% I feel like a badass. Constantly getting your ass kicked is gonna pay off eventually. I need someone to play UNL with.

[Rad Bromance]

I get frustrated when people cheese, but aside of that I love playing fighting games online. I had dreams about being able to fight random strangers somewhere else in Street Fighter when I was a kid. Now that's a reality.