Northwest VF (Pacific NW, North America)

When I played FS at PAX, the general trend for VF was the same--the better player wins by a large margin.

However, if you're playing reckless (on purpose or not), you can lose once in awhile to a much weaker opponent but only because of the damage level of the game.

It's still very much VF, though I guess the damage level might be more like a VF2 or even a Tekken game. And this is not a bad thing at all.

There is no real "comeback mechanics" in VF5 FS as far as I was able to tell. It was all about risk being increased by the overall damage level of the game going up.

One of my most embarrassing games was against a fun Vancouver player on the Saturday night (the night after the livestream). I was playing reckless kind of messing around and toying with people, and he decided to use Jacky's kickflip like a Dragon Punch so he would wait long range and just interrupt my (now reckless) mid-range empty pokes. He earned the win, he punished me for not focusing and punishing the crap out of him for doing that. And not only was I being reckless in game, but mentally I just wasn't looking at the damage. It was in the final round that I realized that with a counter-hit that kickflip was like knocking around 1/3 of my life and suddenly I was wondering if I was playing VF1 lol (for the record, I have no idea what the damage in VF1 was, I just remember seeing chunks of the bar go off on certain counterhit attacks).

But whenever I played seriously and with focus, I almost always won. And in that state, when I lost rounds, I really felt like the opponents really earned it.

It still feels like Virtua Fighter and that sense has not gone, but the power level is higher in this game and it gives the "lesser skilled players" a bit more opportunity to at least go all-in for the occasional upset.

And that's fine by me--it reminds me of how Yosuke would define one of the traits of a player that not many people talk about: "Whether a player can beat somebody better than them."

What he meant by this was that... Some players are willing to--and are able to--make calculated gambles for greater damage against players who generally have faster reflexes, better input ability, and even wins more guessing games.

It wasn't so much about how often you did this, it was more like an awareness that you will have to properly do this against an opponent who outmatches you on general skills.

At the time (this was like 5 year ago), he implied to me that as awesome as Adam Yuki was at the time, building on this part of his game would make him so much better and quite a bigger threat in the VF world than he already was.

The way he would say this was like: "Adam is a very good player. Like, very-very good. Probably best in North America. But he cannot beat a player better than him."

For awhile it confused me until I understood that he was talking about calculated gambles and self-awareness (realizing when you are fighting someone better than you and then creating a path for victory).

I think just by the greater overall damage, more opportunity is given for big all-in calculated gambles for those skilled enough to go for it against better opponents. But VF is still a game that rewards the fundamentals and is an arena where the better player almost always wins for sure.

Regarding KOF XIII: Like many 2d fighters, I think KOF rewards natural skills (reflex and execution) by a large margin. From the looks of it, at the highest levels there is a very high skill barrier (preventing lesser skilled players from competing) because the power level of the majority of the game has been reduced but the often more difficult HD combos (execution skills) are such a huge way to do damage that at some point that alone can separate the top from the pack at some level. But I'm not a good KOF player, just one that loves the game ^_^

ANOTHER THOUGHT (Comeback Mechanics vs. Skill Separation): While a lot of games have built in "Comeback Mechanics" I don't think FS has done that. However, FS seems to have followed the "let's reduce the skill separation" route and this is similar to what I think bothered VF4-era players about VF5. VF4-era had a huge amount of skill separation because more margin and new mindgame options were given to those who were able to graduate to a crazy amount of execution skill. Final Showdown seems to have cut-down on a lot of this. The mindgames are still there, the better player is still better. But the extra (some say excessive) amount of techniques that could separate one player from another, that created more options to factor into the mindgames--that seems to have been reduced. The better player should still not be losing to the lesser player. But the mountains the lesser player has to climb seems to be a lot less than before. As far as I can tell anyways.

I don't think the skill separation itself bothers the more skilled players. I think what makes them less excited, more easily bored, is having less "skill separation toys/techniques." I think this is and will be the beef some of the "way higher level players" will have with Final Showdown. The same mindgames are there, yes on the fundamental level (and some new ones), but there's just less to explore for them--and they'll still win almost all of the games they should be winning.

But I'm still excited about FS and I think it's going to be awesome, and I love what I played. But I was never at that level that was able to enjoy what a few on these boards were able to achieve in VF4:FT and even VF4:Evo. I was only able to read and try to comprehend how those matches played out before them.

 

Fiending for FS so bad, lol. Playing a lot of VF5 when I can. Going down to California for spring break, I hope I can visit Southtown Arcade and try out their FS cab. I'll be down there during some ranbats, maybe I can see some good American players. :3

 

Southtown doesn't have the arcade, Sega brought it for that tournament. Sega North America is in San Francisco though (I think) and the machine is over there. That said, Southtown Arcade seems sweet ^_^

Which areas of California are you going to?

With regards to Sportswear... umm... hope we can get rid of that spam!

 

OK... Sorry to say, but I've been so busy since I've been in Seattle that I never got around to checking this thread... and tomorrow is totally my last day in town. We probably could have arranged something for this past weekend, in particular that trip to Portland you mentioned Chanchai! Damn it all

Sorry for the letdown guys, but hopefully I can meet you all after FS comes out!

 

I'm actually going to be in Santa Barbara for most of the time, which is a hell of a lot closer to LA than SF, but I might be close to SF at one point and according to their thread there's a FS ranbat going on on the 30th. Maybe Sega brings it in for those things? I did assume that ranbats meant people played it a lot, or that at least the arcade had their own machine or something. How do they practice?

I've never been to a well populated arcade. Not even any in Seattle lol.

3s is the other reason I'm specifically looking at southtown, as one of the last places in the US to find good competition.

 

Femto:thanks 4 the FR on XBL

Chanchai:hey man hope 2 play you and Femto in the future been busy with stuff and all so i'll be around sometime soon laterz.

 

Ladon: It's been so long since we met, but I hope we get to meet again soon and play! Don't worry about missing out recently, I was really busy myself. But I am really looking forward to the next time we meet!

Panda: Tilt used to be really populated, technically it's still well populated ^_^ Wunderland is generally well populated too, but none of the games we play (but they used to have a Virtual On Oratorio Tangrem machine!). Have a great time at South Town and Santa Barbara!

Kil: Looking forward to playing you in the near future man!

 

Kil, busy myself man but the summer should be good since I'll have free time and Final Showdown.

I really hope it comes out in June or July. August would be the weakest thing ever.

I'm gonna sell my VF5 disc, UMvC3 and some dvds since I want to upgrade my HD to a 120gig one. I'm running out of space on the 20gig after almost 5 years haha.

 

So there's a new Pacific Northwest fighting game forum.

http://www.seattleversus.com/


Just popped up yesterday at the time of posting. Thinking about deleting the fake account I have at the central hub everyone goes to now. I like the forum layout better, the other one is too random.

I'd like to mention an awesome spot I've only been to a few times. It's called Game Breakerz. It's located in Auburn, WA about 20~30 mintues from Seattle.

Here's the address: <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=gamebreakerz+auburn+wa&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=530l4156l0l4307l22l14l0l5l5l0l218l1947l2.10.1l18l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=667&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl
" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Game Breakerz</a>

This is a cool spot and Shandor, the owner, stays open late for fighting game players on Tuesday by closing at 11pm on Tuesday and Tuesday ONLY. Right now it's a main hub for UMvC3 because they show up on EVERY Tuesday and the players bring their streaming equipment and run tourneys. Other games are played as long as they are brought and there is room. For games other than Marvel it's a first come first serve basis, seeing as how the Marvel crew worked to get it. He's a very cool guy and very welcoming, especially for giving the Seattle NW FGC extended hours on Tuesdays.

I was thiking for future VF meetings, depending on how many people get in, we could throw down there. There is a $3 venue fee, which is a small price, considering it's neutral-territory. If someone doesn't have enough space, or isn't comfortable with inviting people they don't know to their house this is one option.

 

Sweet, always have to love the Auburn crowd, they always go the extra mile(s)!

Man, I miss Auburn Virtual On!

Thanks a lot for the heads up, Femto!

Hmm... I forgot... Seattleversus is flagged as a malicious site for me...

 

Just a quick heads up to people in the Portland Area:

VF has become active again in Portland and sessions are planned at Best Bout Gaming on Tuesdays.

Some of the currently active VF players in Portland are planning to have some great sessions at Best Bout tonight (April 17th, Tuesday) from evening until late!

April 17th is a very special day for me (my wife's birthday), so I will not attend this session but there will definitely be some good VF tonight.

Late April and Early May is looking to be a great time for Portland VF as more and more players are training in anticipation of Final Showdown!

Cheers!

 

Chanchai are you going to cross post things about from the FB group if there is something important? I'm just wondering because at first it seemed like FB was a good idea but now it's like "...eh..."

I just feel there can be more meaningful discussion on a forum rather than a FB comment. Helps that these forums aren't as buggy and ugly as SRK, either.

 

Well, it's another thing I learned in trying to reach out to the community is to "cross post." I've met a lot of people through all the different ways, and since we are enjoying a niche game in a niche hobby, a lot of effort is required ^_^

So yes, I cross post anything relevant to getting people together

And there is no one best way for this sort of thing. The Facebook groups have actually allowed people to have more direct conversations with known names and all (though somehow it still brings some of their crazy personality, but that's not a bad thing).

SRK and VFDC are still really important because the conversation flow can be different but also because, as I have found out over the years, THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO READ THE FORUMS BUT NEVER POST OR INTRODUCE THEMSELVES. It's not a bad thing, but it means this might be the only way to reach out to them.

 

Just giving a heads up to all VF players around Portland, Oregon.

This Tuesday (April 24th) will be a good night for Virtua Fighter at Best Bout!

I will be there from 7pm-11pm. Quite a few of us are definitely going to be there!

Whether you're curious about VF, want to train more in the game, or really ready for a fight--come on over, it'll be great times!

-Chanchai

 

Had an awesome time at Best Bout tonight! Played VF until quite a bit past 3:00am!

Possibly a report to come within a day.

Thanks for the great games and great times to the following VF Players:

AJS
R Panda
Jetay
Jannon
Yangsing
Michael Yu

Some great matches were put on the livestream. Unfortunately, some more great matches were not on the livestream too.

But I am extremely happy with the level of play in a lot of matches tonight!

CHEERS!

 

Just caught the matches with AJS vs Jannon, vs R Panda, vs Yangsing. Good stuff all around.

I like the differences in characters used compared to the WA players. Up here it's Aoi, Wolf and El Blaze and down there it's Lion, Brad, Kage, Shun and Pai(?).

Thanks for the stream!

 

femto:sup well u forgot leifei since that's my character.

 

My bad dude, hope we get to play each other over the summer and beyond!

 

Oh god the matches were streamed... @_@ I didn't realize people actually watch that stream.

I wish more videos were kept around on Twitch, I can't find any VF matches from Tuesday. *sad panda*
I want to scrutinize my 2p and post-2p game. 2p op, but not if I don't take advantage of it to its full potential.

 

@Femto: Portland also has Jacky, 3 of them actually! Also, I will count my Aoi, though it's not a complete Aoi (too gimmickish right now, my Lion might look like it's full of tricks but it also has a lot more solid stuff to it).

@Panda: Like everyone that night, your play improved over the course of the evening. That said, simple flow charts (mainly High Punch and Low Punch flow charts) are your spinach and veggies in VF. You can practice them against the AI constantly, 30+ minutes a day and you will get better at it--you will hesitate less.