Say what you will about video games being a massive time sink, but the one cool thing about offline fighting game competition is that it’s an inherently social activity. You can’t go to an arcade, or a local game night, or a tournament without meeting new people, making friends, forming rivalries, dealing with pressure, and learning things about yourself.
Personally i’ve never been the extroverted type. I could count my high school friends on one hand – possibly because i wore headphones through the majority of my senior year.
Yet somehow my phonebook filled up to a hundred names just for being an SHGL arcade regular. I’m not talking about fake facespace “friends” either. I’m talking about real people that i actually hung out with, who i considered friends, who tried to help each other when one of us needed something. I still expect to run into at least fifty of these people every year i can make it out to Evo or any other major community event.
If you’ve been playing Street Fighter online or on your own this entire time, you simply owe it to yourself to broaden your horizons. Check out SRK’s Regional Matchmaking forum and find out where the players in your city get together to practice. When you go, don’t be shy. Introduce yourself to everyone there, ask questions when you need to, and most importantly, step up and play your best regardless of your skill level.
Think big picture, not short-term. Learn as much as you can from watching everyone around you. Set realistic goals for yourself and tackle them step by step. For example if there’s a Zangief player in the group whom you can never beat, just focus on winning a round at first, then a single match, and so on. Every night, try to identify one troublesome tactic he relies on and find a practical counter for it.
No matter what happens, don’t get frustrated. The last thing you want to do is alienate someone for being too good. Remember, you can only be as strong as your competition, so don’t act like a spoiled brat. All it takes is a simple “Nice” or a standard “Good game” to make sure that your opponents know you appreciate the opportunity to play against them. Every now and then, ask yourself if there’s anything you can do to improve or contribute to your local community. It’ll pay off in the long run.
Then there will be times when you end up playing the same guy thirty matches in a row. The mood is bound to get tense at least once during that period. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because those conditions make for excellent tournament practice, but it can’t last forever either. You’ll just have to use your judgement here. When you begin to notice your opponent’s body language implying that they’re really not enjoying themselves anymore, maybe it’s time to crack a joke or take a break or something.
Another approach to these marathon sessions is to play your main character for five or so matches, then switch off to some random oddball character for one match. A little variety can help your minds stay fresh, while keeping the mood from becoming too serious.
Perhaps most important of all, you have to know when you’ve had enough. When you sense yourself feeling tired, zoning out, losing focus, playing on autopilot, committing careless mistakes, or getting agitated over minor annoyances, it’s probably time to call it a night. You won’t learn much from grinding out another hour of braindead matches anyway.
At the end of the day, it’s all about building and maintaining a healthy community. Even through all the oldschool “play-to-win” rhetoric, we never lost track of this goal. On several occasions, i can remember thinking, “I’ve never seen this guy before but i want him to put another quarter in the machine, so maybe i should take it easy this first match?”
Most players don’t bother worrying about scaring away potential competition in the post-SF4 world. In fact, a huge portion of the social aspect of side-by-side fighting game competition gets lost in the transition to online gaming. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to bring some basic, friendly, common sense to the unruly online realm. If you wouldn’t say something to someone in person, do your reputation a favor and don’t say it online either.
This rings so true! I had quite a time finding people here in MO that I felt I could identify with. Luckily, I found a few friends through the MetaGames here in town. There is nothing cooler than being able to really get into the mechanics of SF with friends…
I do believe it is a good idea to go to your local arcade and get to know people. It’s kinda hard for me since the UK is not so big on arcades, and i have no arcades near for me towns, so i normally stick to online play. I still get to socialise with my brother, and other friends who have the game, but not at a level i think id like to be in terms of new competition, as in reality, ive never faced someone online to have a bit of fun, its all do or die with them.
I like endless battle for this, as I live in the middle of nowhere in the uk, but even on ranked I make a rule to never message anything but good game, nice “whatever”. I’m playing Sak at the moment and have noticed that people don’t seem to get angry with you perfecting them if it’s with a character that they recognise as “low tier”, like I just beat a Gouken with 11700bp and I mean he must have been pissed off but he just said nice Sakura.
Well, even in LA we’re down to like two arcades and they’re an hour away from everyone. So the vaaaaast majority of players meet up at each other’s houses or get-togethers or whatever. If you look through SRK’s matchmaking forum, i think you can find (or set up) a regular weekly gathering in most areas, with SF4/SSF4 being as popular as it is.
The community aspect of the “fighting game community” is easily the main reason i’ve stuck around for so long. I can’t guarantee that our community is for everyone, but i think everyone who got into SRK through SF4 owes it to themselves to check out what Street Fighter is like offline.
Ugh, I feel like I’m missing out on so much!
I live in SF, but I don’t have the money to be a arcade regular, so I saved up for a PS3 when I heard that they were coming out with SF4. Anyways, I don’t even remember where the arcade is, maybe there are some more now.
But still, paying every time I wanna go play is to much.
i went to a few get togethers here in AZ, it was good times. i wish i had more time for it, actually, but life just seems to get in the way (not to say everyone who can make it has no life, i’m not “that guy”).
a word of advice, as maj mentioned a simple “nice” or “good game”, yelling “aw balls” every time someone combos their ultra against you doesnt help make you fit in, even with the good game after the match :p
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My closest arcade is with SF4 is Sunnyvale.
Do arcades have SSF4? Like, they bought TVs and PS3/XBOX’ and just have some guy who takes their money? or what?
@Maj
Hmm, i thought SRK was only US based, i guess i’ll give it a whirl. I’ve always been a fan of street fighter, and was first to get SF4 when it debuted. In all honesty though SF4 did make me aware of the fighting game community.
Excellent write-up, Maj. I’m one of the unfortunate people who doesn’t have much of a scene where I live but I’d love to either find or start one. This post has definitely given me some inspiration to do so!
I’ve met some really awesome people playing CvS2 at the arcade in my campus in Vegas as well as some other cool peeps setting up SF4/SSF4 over there.
Though there are a group of people who are serious about the fighting games but are really clique-ish, salty, and are generally dicks about them. They typically win against me in CvS2 and I don’t understand why they can’t shake hands, say good game, or just not be salty even when they win.
I’ve met some of the right people around here but it makes me wonder if these people I’ve mentioned are scaring off people who would want to join the scene or have recently joined it here in Vegas.